Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1870-07-30
A STRANGE SORT OF CEMETERY.

a SIRANGE SOhI VI CEMEIER1.
Travellers in South America have made
many strange discoveries there-as strange,
indeed, as those occasionally reported 10 the
tabled and ever interesting East. One of the
latest is described as sort of cemetery above,
ground. 1t is 10 the desert OF Atacama, a
plateau n the wonderful Andes, at an elevation
of about four thousand feet above the sea.
The only evidence that men ever existed there,
IS that human bodies, as we'll as those OF mules
and horses are scattered about upon the waste,
dried and shlivcl.ed to mummies by the parch-
ug atmosphere. A recent traveller in that
region gives graphic account of what he saw.
from which We select his description of the
cemetery without graves:
Two days journey from Calama, over the
dazzling sand and through the sitting dust,
brings the traveller to Chin Chin, an ancient
Peruvian buryiug place still within the bounds
Of Atacama.
And here in reserve Tor him is spectacle
which one might safely affirm has not its like
upon the face of the earth. 1t is called a GENE.
te,y, by which We understand place for the
nterment Of the dead. But here the dead are
not buried. Seated in large semicircle, one
beside another, are the mummled remains OF
an assemblage Of human beings-men, women
and chidren-to the number Of five or six
hundred, all apparently in the places and att-
fudes which they first occupied, ard which
;hey have kept perhaps for ages. There they
lit in the sand, mmovabe, rs in a solemn
council gazing vacautly, with suuken and dried
egebas, into the arid waste before them
Nearly all are in the same position, though
some have fallen down and are partly covered
wirh the sand The hot Cry air has preserved
them as imperishably as the embaming art
'!e bodies OF Egypt.
What is the explanation Of so strange
Gene? Who are these that now constitute
;hls ghastIy company? Where, and how and
why did they first take their places in this vast
cmi. circle
"A thousand questions may be asked but
lew answered The inhabitants OF the country
who live nearest to tie spot have no know
r:ac on the subject. Some think that the
bodies were brought hither and placed in this
:.0>i;ion after death, and that such deposit
was TO serve the purpose of burial. But where
could the people have lived who brought their
,:ad to this spot There is no habitabe region
At ary convenient distance, and no place of
,ilni!ar design is Known to exist, to prove that
i was custom common to the aboriginal
population.
Others believe that this may have been the
remnant of native tribe. hunted and pursued
!~,ween two impending evils to die by their
act or by the weapons OF their foes. There are
mothers with infants in their arms among the
mummies and it is even thought that the
cried and shrunken countenances retalo suth
cient expression to Indicate that some grieVous
calamity had overtaken or was about to betsIl
hcm 1t may be their fancy. but travellers
aver that gret and despair may be trac.d up
N these shriveiIed features, aud they are rea
dy to believe that their poSsessors might have
been retreatipg before the conqueror OF their
country (perhaps from Pizarro hlmself), snd
that sooner than submit tamely to The rapa-
cious and cruel invaders, they preferred to hide
themselves in this dreary ndi0accessible spot,
and TO suffer the agones OF voluntary death,
sustained by such comforts and hopes as their
own simple faith could afford. We cannot
tell but there is spot on the border OF this
desert called Tucuman, which in the Indian
language means All is lost Perhaps the
name commentaries the heroic resolution OF
these hunted people as they sought the desert
Tor self immolation.
1T is said, too, by those who have studied
he religious ideas of the ancient PeruvlaDs,
that they believed in self sacrifice for their
country that thus dying, they would be
speedily removed to better land toward the
west.
\ CHICAGO STORY.-A curious story has
been circulated in Detroit Michigan, in refer
rnce to the unusually protracttd stay OF DR..
Livingstone, the African explorer, in the il
tclor of Africa. Dr. Livingstone, it is alleged
vas, much against his wish, persuaded to mar
~ a rude and clustering native princess, who,
with her father and mother, prevent bis furth-
prosecution of Typographical Investigations.
This story was received 10 q letter written ky
lady now travelling in Syria, ard who obtalned
the information from Captain Burton, British
consul at Damascus, Syria. Captain Burton
says that this obstruction in L!rngStone's path
has, until now been concealed by his friends.
! Capt. Burton himself, it is stated, is married
q to the handsomest woman in England, so that
81 lie cannot be excited by envy in starting this
& story, and as he speaks fourteen different Ian.
q guarcs huently, his capacity for telling the
truth is considerable.
3 TFXAs.-Itis is estimated that over l00. 600
3 Immigrants have entered Texas within the last
Twelve months and during last December over
4 500 persons came daily into the State. The
crops this summ,r it is believed, will be double
those OF last year. The hIIy regions OF the
western part ofthc State are very healthy, but
the persons who settle on The low, fiat lands,
and Use the water Of the streams, are liable 10
chlls ar6 levers, and the Inhabitants OF the
coast cities are subject to yellow tevcr. labor
is in great demand in the agricultural districts,
and farm hands receive from SIS 10 $50 month
and their board. During the cotton picking
season they are paid from 81 so to So day
and board ln the cities journcymen mechan.
les are paid from So SO to S. day.
HAY.-A correspondent of the New Fog.
land Farmer gives the following plsn of get
ting hay, which he says has been prac,iccd
successfully by several OF his acquaintsuces,
8 who think it great saving of labor ever the
B way commonly practlced OF moving in the
q morniog The hay is all Gu: in the ai:er
noon, when entirely free from external mois-
ture. Next dsy, after the dew is all cit, it is
8 turned. After dinner it is raxed aud got in
& without delay. There is no cooking at night