The record-union., 1891-03-29
MUMMY HUNTING IN PERU.
Interesting Facts About Chile and
Peru.
An Aboriginal Cemetery, Many Miles
In Extent, Where Thousands of
Mummies May be Had for the Dig
gfng.
Especial Correspondence of SUNDAY UNION.
SAN MARCOS NE Arc. Chile


SAN MARCOS DE AFRICA, Chile.
To my mind there is no more interest
ing region on the western side of the con-
tinent than this, which by right belongs
to Peru, but was seized by Chile during
the recent war. Besides the neighboring
nitrate and guano fields, Iquique, Tara
paca, Atacama and other places familiar
to the world, it includes the city of Tacna,
forty miles inland, and africa, its seaport
Approached by steamer, the most con-
spicuous feature of the shore is an enor-
nous promontory just south of africa,
called the Moro, which rises almost per-
pendicularly out of the Pacific to hight
of twelve hundred feet, and then slopes
Off at steep grade to the sandy plain be-
hind it. The face of the great rock is
scanned, wrinkled and corroded, and it is
full of dark caverns and inaccessible grot-
tos. where thousands of seabirds, and no.
body knows what strange forms of ma
rine life, find refuge. The long swells of
the Pacific, dashing forever against this
oDstructlon-now roaring, now signing
as the tides ebb and fow-seem chanting
q requiem for the hundreds who perished
here few years ago; for the headland has
become historic from what will always
- IL
Ca"
1t was fair sample of the engagements
between Peru and Chile, ana occurred in
this way: Upon the topmat peak of the
MORO the Peruvians had placed heavy
battery for the protection of africa,
manned by LOO soldiers; and then the
citizens felt perfectly safe from any at
tack by their belligerent neighbors. But
early one morning some Chilean men-of-
war came sailing into the harbor and en-
gagged this fort in an artillery duel at long
range, which continued until nightfall
without much damage having been done
to either side. Believing their position to
be impregnable, the Peruvians slept
peacefully; but during the night the willy
Chileans landed two thousand soldiers
some distance above the town, and
marched them by wide detour to the
foot of the hill, where they silently rested
till daybreak. Then with a yell they
dashed up the slope on fearful charge.
The Peruvian cannon were useless, being
all turned seaward, and the men, sur
prised in their sleep, became so demoral-
lied that hardly shot was fired. Being
shut OF from escape, many jumped over
the precipice into the sea, preferring to
drown rather than have their throats cut
with the terrible c47'UOS, or crooked
knives, that the Chilean soldiers carry. 1t
is estimated that nine hundred Peruvians
were slaughtered by the curgos that bright
mDrnihg on the MORO, and the rest of the
force perished at it's base in the roaring
surf.
Though sprung from the same stock
and living side by side, the Chilean sold
lers are entirely different from those of
Peru. Before the war, the latter were
quiet and servile Cholos, 'kept under''
all their lives by system Of peonage
amounting to slavery. Being conscripted
into the army and having no idea what
they were fighting for, they had none of
the enthusiasm which gives strength in
the defense of ones country. Whenever
they met the fierce Chillanos in battle,
even though they outnumbered the ene-
my, they invariably fed, for the Chilla-
nos-reckless, daring and combative by
nature, incited by the promise of free
license to plunder, and their innate
deadly cruelty aroused--never remained
in line of battle like civilized soldiers. but
fought with whoop and furious rush.
carrying all before them, taking no pris-
oners but cutting the throat of every man
they could reach.
To the north of the Morro is low
line of verdure, Il cluster of modern built
houses, a rather handsome church, and a
long mole-the latter piled high with
bags, bales and boxes, and crowded with
merchants, cargadores, soldiers and civil
lans. This is africa, the famous port; but
In spite of its mole, steamers must cast
anchor away out in the bay and passen-
gers be rowed ashore in Canoes Howev-
er, they no longer have to be carried
through the surf on the backs of carga-
droes, as OF yore, but they now Chamber up
the stairs of the pier. africa has quite
changed her complexion since the war.
which made her a Chilean instead of
Peruvian city.
But that which attracted us to the place
has nothing to Go with the fitful govern
ments OF these burlesque republics, and
has remained unchanged through many
centuries. Behind the town, sweeping
back from the Morro is a great windroW
OF yellow sand which forms q kind of
amphitheater, unrelieved by tree or
shrub, or blade of grass. All this ridge,
and the desert for miles around it, is one
vast cemetery of the ancient inhabitants.
crowded with the dried-up bodies Of
those who once fished from their balsas
in the bay, or cultivated the narrow val
ley on whose borders they were buried.
When workmen We're digging up the
sand to fill Arica's pier, and were OPEN
ing track for the railway that leads to
1acna, they found mummies everywhere
NOT only humble fishermen wrapped
in their nets, and lowly tillers of the soil
in shrouds or braided rushes, but now
and then the body of chief or other per-
sonage OF extraordinary consequence, en-
yeloped in thin layer OF beaten gold.
These Jared worse than the humber cad
AYERS. for while the latter was left COM
paratlvely undisturbed, los 9fcos-now
grim and CHASTITY as the poorest-were
stripped by rude hands of everything
valuable, and their crumbling bones
tossed, uncovered, by the wayside.
Il seems strange thing to deliberately
set out on grave-robbing expedition:
but i'll this part of the world it is fashion,
able TO go mummy hunting, and to search
ahOrlOln11 al fs,rf fha
articles they may contain besides dead
Indians. The africa burying ground
must once have been of enormous ex-
tent, for though large portion of it has
been washed away by the sea during the
last century or two, miles of it yet re-
mann. The spades of inquisitive people
have dug up considerable areas, in places
here and there; yet the great bulk of it is
entirely undisturbed, and will doubtless
remain so until, in the lapse of ages, the
slowly encroaching Pacific shall swallow
it all.
We went out on horseback, about five
miles from Arica, having sent some poems
ahead with sffovels. 1t is not quite safe
for one or two persons to go by them
selves, for highwaymen are abroad in the
land. and even the workrnen might he
tempted to mischief if anything valuable
were unearthed. However, people bent
on such gruesome errands as disturbing
the dead are not likely to hunt alone. but
prefer plenty of company to keep their
spirits up.
Arrived at the desert, you may dig any
where and cannot go amiss of grave. In
this rainless region, protected by the mag
netic sand, nothing can decay, and the
contents of the tombs look as if they were
put there yesterday, instead of many
centuries ago. There is no consuming
insect, and no moisture to produce decay.
Flesh dries without decomposition, wood
and vegetable matter petrihes, while fab
RIGS and articles of stone or clay will