Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1891-07-23
PICTURESQUE PERU.
HOST INTERESTING OF SOUTH
AMERICAN COUNTRIES.

Mines or Fabulous Value and Mar
velous Engineering Monuments
Devasted by wars-A Rich Lands
Possibilities.
From an historical standpoint Peru IL
the most interesting of South American
countries. To Peru came the yiceroys OF
Spain, representatives OF fhe king. hold
ing regal powers, and from Peru Spain
ruled all her American colonies. The
civilization of tho Incas was ut the high
est point when, in 1912, Francisco
Pizarro with handful of adventures
subjugated the whole country and took
$40, 900. 900 of gold from the temples.
The ruins of cities, the inscriptions on
monuments, the remains of bridges built
by the Incas, all show that they attained
a degree of culture and civilization that
might truly be cnvied by the old knights
who so basely betrayed and conquered
them. The island cities of Lake Utica
ca, the temples of Cuzco. tho Incas' high
way, the stone bridges across the yawn-
ing abysses of the Andes show a skill in
engineering aud an advancement in sub
stantial architecture not exccllcd by the
crusaders who brought Christianity and
destruction TO the lucas.
Callao, with its well equipped Oar
coma at which ships are loaded and dis
charged, is the principal seaport of Peru.
1t was some fifty years ago that the old
city OF Callao was submerged by tidal
wave and completely buried from sight
beneath the Pacific. Even now on o
clear day with calm sea the old city
can be distinctly seen ut the ,ttom of
the bay, off San Lorenzo, and the super
stitious can hear of quiet morning the
ringing of the church bells under the
water, the chanting Of mass 10y the
priests. Callao has seen better DAYS.
Since the bombardment of the place by
the Chiiian fleet in 1880 il has presented
an aspect rather seedy. The path of the
cannon bali through walls can he plainly
seen and the evidences of visiting bull
lets to upper stories and und:r-ioof
decorations are apparent.
Peru has been impoverished by intest-
inc strife and made helpless by war with
her neighbor, Chill. Unable to pay in
terest on her bonds, powerless TO obtain
further loans, she was compelled to ac-
cept the proposition OF the English bond
holders in 1880. This was AN arrange
ment for the cancellation of the external
debt, in pursuance of which Peru sur
renders $50 miles of railroad, grants con-
-oesssvus-for- 1uiid;~s -otl.s-s.---~--.nsaors
valuable guano deposits and the rich
mines of Cerro del Pasco to the bond
holders, who for their part agree to COM
plete, by further expenditures, the rail-
roads projected by the state 600 niles,
and TO return the securities in prime
order ut the end of siAty-six years. Tue
mines of CerrO del Pasco. toward
which the road is building. are fabulous
~ rich, having yielded millions to the
Incas and to the Spaniards. The Oraya
railroad from Lima through the Andes
TO Eastern Peru and the Amazon
yeTod,;Ts atYfEs shows some Of the most mar
highest point at Monte MeHg1Reerlpg--
feet above sea level. Many of the con-
tractors and engineers are Americans, so
that one meets more here than in Chill
who can claim the protection of the old
flag. AT the opening of the great Chjcla
bridge, veritable engineering triumph,
IL, 900 feet above the sea, both the United
States and Peruvian flags floated in the
OICCLC. CIu ONCo ~ huuClNuuo thhul
of her best public buildings and most inn
portant improvements.
From Callao to Lima by rail is most
delightful ride-past fields of grain
fenced in by great adobe walls. through
orchards of fruit and groves of bananas
and spreading palra trees, past old Span
ish hacienda houses, long stretches of
lawn, the luxuriant vegetation of the
tropics, with the mountains before you.
the sea behind.
Lima, the capital, the centre from
which everything Peruvian radiates, the
Paris of Peru, has population of say
10000 souls. Lima has sixty-eight
churches, a bull-ring and many theatres.
Pizarro himself, after capturing Alta
haulpa and taking possession of all the
gold in the country, laid out the City of
Lima and expended the greater part of
his private fortune in decorating aud en-
riching her parks and alamedas. The
cathedral occupies one side of the Piazza
dc SAsmAs,,.s&b9 RsJ~ re~Ear,ce' Oh Ferus
president and officers of the army, navy,
etc, taking another, while the remain
ing sides are taken up by hotels and
stores. From the cathedral towers pro-
1cCL TWO OcumS lEOlu Which, III 1919 bhO
brothers Gutierrez. the tyrannical rulers
of Peru, were hanged by an Infatuated
populace-a afterwards the bodies were
thrown 10 the plaza below and burned
amidst general rejoicing. The cathedral
is very large, with very rich altar and
many old and valuable paintings. There
are no preferred pGws-poor and rich
kncel on the hard stone floor at their
dcvotions. The popes are all here-a
painting Of each down to Pho Mono. Be-
hind the ALTA is magnificent choir
walls and ceilings of richly carved wood
and around three sides carved seats, each
fit for throne. Under the altar rests
the bones OF the mighty Pizarro, the
coDqueror of Peru. Pizarro was trcach-
erously murdered in the Casa Verde, just
across the plaza from the cathedral.
When we descended with our sandaled
and shaven guide to the last resting place
of the great man, we found candles
burning and mass being said by the
priests as on the day of his funeral in the
sixteenth century.
The most interesting building in Lima
is the Church of San Pedro. erected in
1888, and having many old paintings,
some old masters, and eight richly
furnished affairs. TO San Pedro 60 the
rich and the poor 20 be healed by prayer
at the shrines and by touching the figure
of some saint. a picture II WIS, indeed,
| To see poor woman carry % lame boy &c