Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-06-13

plumber, and everybody who was by, over
the precipice, whose sides and oottom were
strewn with fragments OF men ana mules
for mile.
THE SCENIC GRANDEUR OF THE ANDES
Is presented nowhere more impressiyely
than along the canyon of the Rlmac river,
which this railroad follows The noun
tains are entirely bare of vegetation, and
are simply monstrous masses of rock, torn
and twisted, rent and shattered by the tre-
mendous volcanic upheavals which often
occur here At the bottom of the canyon
and where it occasionally spreads ont into
a valley of minute dimensions are the re-
mains of towns and cities whose history is
unknown. Here is region which bears
no resemblance to any other picture of ma
tuTe lifted above the rest of the world rs
coldly and calmly silent, as impenetrable
as the Arctic stars. Here was developed
civilization which left memorials of lis ad-
vancement, genius and industry carved in
massive stone and written upon the ever
lasting hills in symbols which even the
earthquakes have been unable to erase
Here are the ruins of cities more populous
than any that have existed in Peru since.
evidence of industry which their destroy
ers we're too INDECENT TO initiate. and =
skill which could cope with everything bat
the destructive weapons of the invaders.
A survey Of their remains justitics the esti-
mates Of their enormous population, which
are that the people once heried in these
narrow valleys were rs numerous aS those
now spread over the United States The
struggle they had to sustain themselves is
shown By the traces of their industry and
patience They built their dwellings upon
the rocks, and buried their dead in caves
to utilize what soil there was for agricplt-
ure. They excavatcd great areas III The
desert until they reached moisture enough
for vegetation, and then brought euano
from the islands of the sea 10 I'LL these
sUSKEN GARDENS.
They terraced every Hill and mountain
side, and gathered soil from crcvices in the
rocks, until not s2 inch OF surface that
could grow a stalk Of maize was left I'M
productive. The steep mountains along
the Rimac are terraced up to the very sum
nit, the terraces being often rs marrow as
the steps 81 a stairway, and many Of them
are walled up with stone. They are veri-
table hanging gardens, and lie on such
slopes that they look Us If Il were impossi
BILE for any one to get Il ioothold to cult
vate them, or even for the roots of what
was planted there to sustain the mighty
valley. 1t is, at least. certain that the
lncas did not raise pumpkins or watcrmel-
ons. for they would have rolled down the
sides OF these farms, which look Us if they
were standing OH end. The irrigation sys-
tenn OF the lncas was perfect, their bitches
extending for hundreds of miles, curying
around the hills. here sustained by high
walls of masonry, and there cut through
the living rock. They were carried over
narrow valleys upon enormous enbank-
mentS, and show evidences of engineering
skill az great us that which lifted the Meigs
railroad above the clouds into the noun
tains. Massive dams and reservoirs were
erected TO collect the floods that came from
the melting SHOWS, and the water taken to
localities which are rainlcSs Under these
conditions, i'll this great struggle for ex-
istence, the Incas established and sustained
a Government, the first in which the equal
rights OF every human being were recog-
nized. and worshiped being whose at
tributes were similar to those of the Chris
tan God. The great sea- breaking with
ceaselcss thunder upon the rocky coast,
impressed
THE DWELLER IL THE DESERT
With reverence and awe, and he who
shivered in the snow capped mountains
the sun was the source of light AMI happi-
ness. Hence these two objects-the sun
and the sca-were personitied and seated
upon the thrones of the magnificent pan
theons of the Incas. The race which con-
quered them came with dripping swords
and lust for plu.der. Skilled in the arts of
peace but powerless in war, there was no
adequate resistance, and the blood-and-
gold-thirsty Pizarro rode up this valley on
mission of murder, rapine and destruc-
ton. The towers stand as he left them;
roofles5 walls, in a silence which not even
an echo will agitate. Occasionally the
Spaniards built new places of residence to
utilize the Improvements of the Incas, but
three years ago the Chilean army came
down the valley and treated the Peruvians
as PiZarro treated the race whieh lac found
here.
1t takes power Of steam to ascend this
road with its average grade of 4 per cent,
but in coming down the boilers are allowed
to cool, and only steam enough is kept to
hold the brakes and blow the whistle. We
came down part way in hand-car at the
rate of mile in two minutes, and it was
as exciting q ride as one can imagine.