Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-07-22

A letter from the Hassler expedition gives an
account of an excursion on the new railroad in
Peru, from Lima to San Bartoleme. The party
rode in cars built at Albany, n. Y, drawn by a
locomotive built at Patterson, Nj. The road
follows the valley of the Rimac river. The let
ter records some Of their observations of the
country. 1t is printed in the New York Tri-
bune. We extract the following:
TRACES OF OLD TERRACES.
Along the foot of the hills green line was
frequently visible, composed principally of a
native cane, marking out the course of a canal
for irrigaton-an acequa. Most of these ace
quiaS were made before the Spanish conquest,
by the Indians under the Incas aud are frequent
| ly miles in length, admirably constructed, on
well-selected lines, and accurately leveled. There
were abundant other tokens of the prosperity OF
| the country before the conquest. In the broader
| fields of the lower valley, in the midst OF a
| beautiful eXpanSe of clover, or OF cotton, or OF
| Indian corn, you would see immense
| heaps of pebbles, and stones of from one
to fifty pounds weight. These had been gath
| cred from the fields, to leave the ground more
| smooth and arabic; not by white men, nor
under the white mans eye; they had lain there
from before the Spanish invasion, and look so
| fresh simply because there is no rain to clothe
them with vegetation. The irrigation which
keeps. the field green does not rise to moisten
them. They are perpetual monuments to the
industry of the aboriginal tribes. Along the
foot of the hills we also saw many of the old
dwellings of the people, the ruins Of cities and
towns-teStifying 10 the populousness of the
valley in the olden days-and showing that the
heavy floods of rain which seem to have washed
these hills must have fallen before these towns
were built. The great industry and prosperity
of the country under the Incas is further shown
by old acequias leading to terraces for cultiva-
ton, very far above those which are now in use.
The whole hilSides are frequently thus marked
with traces of old terraces. AT San Bartoleme,
for example, you look up the narrow defle to-
ward the east and see your path apparently
blocked, at the distance of a very few miles, by
mountain rising nearly II 900 feet above you.
On its south flank, about 5000 feet below the
summit but nearly $4,000 feet above the sea,
and 5000 feet above you, you perceive q small
cone. Take glass and study it, and you can
see that the engineers who have climbed up
there for investigation are not drawing on
their imagination when they assure you that
this small cone is in reality fortified town,
well fortified, capable of holding about 1900
people, supplied with water from the higher
mountain, and formerly supplied with food
from the slope of the hill, which is terraced for
acequia cultivation from the Rimac at its foot
up to the town itself
SIGNS OF RETRoGREssIoN.
confess that these old ruins and terraces,
and acequias and the specimens of pottery, of
embroidery, and of working in metals, which
had seen from the old town, had more power
over me than the pages of Prescott, and could
not but groan in my heart over the terrible
change brought by so called Christianity in this
once fair land And at the same time the very
road which had brought me there was u com.
forting prophet of third period, in which the
republic of Peru is to repair the great evils done
in the days of colonial serldom to Spain. There
are here, as in Brazil, some native citizens, en-
lightened, philanthropic, energetic, who are
determined to bring their country up to level
with the civilization of our century. They avail
themselves ofthe aid of Americans EngliShmen,
Germans, French, Swiss, Italians, of any and
all men who have wealth, or knowledge, or
skill to aid them. The progress of Peru is with
accelerating rapidity, and promises TO assume
a stable character. Yet, on the other hand,
cannot but regret that this prosperity is at pres
ent so largely dependent upon the export of
guano and saltpetre, The export of saltpetre
the states of Chill and Peru may he able to en-
durc; OF that Will not speak. But the export
of guanO is, in my judgment, a terrible mistake
1t is like the placer mining of California, a
most unnatural sort of larceny plumber
Ing of our pOsterlty for our present benefit. The
guanO beds of the Chiucha islands will be ex =
hauSted in about twenty years, and before a
century has passed all the guano deposits on
this coast will have been removed to the fields of
Europe. Now the real prosperity of Peru under
the lncas was largely dependent upon the use of
guanO in the fields here, and in the future growth
Of the republic the guano will again be needed
for their own crops. 1t is always destructive
policy, in the long run, 10 export raw materials,
and agricultural products in general are raw
materials 1t must in the long run, he a destruc-
tive policy 10 export manures, the raw material
OF agricultural produces; and my hope for Peru
depends partly upon my faith that she will
recognize her mistakes, and, ceasing to ex-
change her guano for the products of European
workshops, will revive again the manufactures
which were her pride under the Incas, and use
her manures in her own fields and gardens.
After a look at San Bartoleme, in which it was
not forgotten that this was the anniversary of
Prof. Agassiz's birthday, nor that to Henry
Meiggs not only we owed this delightful enter
tainment, but Peru owed, in large measure, her
rapid growth in civilization, her railways, high
wars, public works, &C., we returned to Lima
and Callao.