The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-07-18

The energy with which the present government
stimulated by one or two private individuals, d
working towards this end shows that It's import
constfucliSn Il cSiac which Is to cost 600
and rairoads are being built IN every drscton' OF
an e4psm nes 81 e esooss sssen
we were invited 70 take an excursion oyer n the
rafosCs 81 s and b9der Mr. Henry
Meiggs, q gentleman whose name Is Identified with
the recent history and progress Of Peru, and who
one man to advance and ameiiorate lis con.
dition. We started about nine O'Clock on the
Lima, where we were met by number Of ladies
and gentlemen, the party altogether. comfortably
% re @ class Ss Of va the os pss
ul at that hour but early In the morning there had
been one Of the Scotch mists, or 0aruas which are
called rain in any other country. They are heavy
enough TO III the streets with puddes and to neces-
we passed fields Of indian corn and Cotton and
as we assembled the land became more and more
Of gravel. the Rimac, which we crossed thrice,
dwindied 70 noisy brook, tumbling and foaming
Of vegetation, only comparable in our experience
TO that at Caldera, and rendered almost appalling
BY the rudeness and wildness of the mountain
Gorges and ravines apparently bottomess sue
ceeded perpendicular ellis, bare and rugged with
ike and sinnous over their sces and most inter-
esting Of OIL the ruins Of aqueducts temples, great
huacas or burial mounds, and even OF small towns
the remains OF civilization now passed away. AT
height of $500 feet we rose above the mist which
hung over the city, and began to feel the intensity
'verrugas" district not differing In its physical
characters from the adjoining country, but said
be the place where the vast majority noon Of cases ws
fasned road sI@ for trains and about forty
miles from Lima Here stop was made while we
partook OF lunch kindly provided by Mr. Meiggs,
after which we proceeded two miles further on the
yersed ana reached height Of $3.50 feet, or more
than mile above the sea level Directly above us
were peaks 5000 feet higher; beyond we could see
the line Of the road winding over the mountains,
and in the distance the mouth OF tunnel which Is
to burrow beneath them; but we learned that we
which point they expect to reach in 1874, and then
TO connect with the head-waters Of the Amazon.
the obstacles, which have thus far been overcome,
have been immense, but those which still remain
seem almost insurmountable and in the future the
preliminary "Reminiscences will have to be made
from balloons, the localities being nearly unap-
proachable by ordinary methods. The average
grade OF the road s about two per cent the greatest
grade four nr and half per cent and the worst
view is blocked by two mountain Masses the lower
OF which Is fifteen thousand feet high. We were
fortunate enough to have with us one Of the eng
neers OF the road, who had explored this peak and
had himself measured its height rometrcaily He
has found on its summit the remains OF an elabo
rately fortified town, laid out with great skill
and formerly capable OF containing, at least 1900
persons. The sides OF the mountain are terraced,
as could be plainly seen from our point OF view,
some ten miles distant, and had once been irri-
ss on or e Of the t%
the whole slope having then been highly and care
This is but one of many instances which we have
observed during our visit OF the vast superiority of
the ancient Peruvians over the present mixed race,
oea s as e %hsn We O. cone one
slider not only their practical applications OF
scientific engineering and architecture and the
irrigation and agriculture, but also their Skill in
carving, their numerous tools OF copper, the variety
Of their household utensils the beauty and delicacy
the wisdom of their civil and political codes, and
the smplicity-alm0st the snblimity-of their rell-
destruction and humiliation by those who have as
yet failed to prove themselves worthy successors.
skill and patience they have shown in other direc,
tions they might have laughed ut PiZarr0 and his
handful Of cutthroats, but they neglected IT, and
sleep amidst ruins their palaces and their shrines
are tombs, the serpent coils in the grass OF their
' Our return to Lima was safely and PLEASANTLY
accomplished, and we were able to reach Callao ON
the same evening -
A day or two after we visited several OF the
churches for the number and beauty OF which
So as So q be
diminishingI but 1t is not long since the supply so
far exceeded the demand that priests stationed at
the church doors and vcstibues, actually tried to
underbd each other in their prices for reciting re-
sponses for the souls OF the dead.
prising about nine English acres and bounded on
two SIDES by long rows Of stores, on the others by
the government palace, the building where pzarro
ea ed Commenced during the iist%s
years, and costing 6s4 900 piastres. The length Of
the 'front.' is about four hundred and nifty feet, or
ing TWO towers The principal portal
is surmounted by fine frontispece, consisting Of
four nuted Corinthian columns, the inches between
which are occupied by lifesize statues Of Matthew
N s. ns neo Se Is
ana and IN Dser taste an In s @
other churches: II contains large Belgian organ,
Julian, st. Adrian, ST. Faustus, st. Sebastian
and other martyrs In the immense crypt
Of To Which "I repose the remains Of delunct arch.
bishops and viceroys, Pizarros daughter Francisco,
and all that Is left Of the great conqueror himself
As 1t happened to be Corpus Christi preparations
| were being made for grand mass, the body of the
church was rapidly filling with people OF all ranks,
Of heavy silk OF snowy ace-covered cambrc.
During the morning fine display Of military took
place at the Plaza the troops seeming well armed
Later in The day Professor Agassiz, Captain John
son and several others OF our party went down by
rau TO the nttle watering pluCe Ol CnOruOS at TIE
foot OF MORO Solar bold cliff, about seven miles
| south Of Lima, where we were Hospitality enter
| tanned by Mr.. John Meiggs.
While there saw religious procession In honor
| of the day, composed Of priests and nOvices with
lighted tapers, waiting incense, muttering or chant
ing benedctions and carrying in their midst with
much solemnty the consecrated wafer, the symbol
of the body and blood Of Jesus Christ. without re.
gard the truth lsty of the religious principle
Involved such exhibitions are too apt TO be tine
tured with the ridiculous though they have become
less 80 In modern periods. In old times they were
attended by mountebanks in uncouth dresses, re.
presenting "devils" and "giants,' and the first
excited much opposition. One worthy old priest,
rebeiling against decree which nterfered with his
arrangements for a procession on Quassmodo Sun
day, sent in petition to the government Directing
to Its action as both unreasonable and unneces
sary.n
First-Because said devils form an innocent es-
cort to the Divine Majesty.
!yecOnd-Because the giants without frightening
cl,ild Mt a M crowd lIl