The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-29
MINES OF MUNIMIES.
Digging Up the Dead q Regular In
dustry in Peru.
A Rainless Region whcro Flesh Dries
without Observation-Disclosures Finds
Among tho Tombs of EN-
balmcd Anclcnts.

Nii"iSh' dHu a. ioHS mole, the latter
piled up with bags bales and boxes,
ana crowded with soldiers, merchants
and cargadorcs. This Is AFRICA. port
OF considerable consequence, because
being the outlet TO Tacna md rich
mines beyond, and the key" to the
stlil denhtable territory Notwith-
stunning l's MOLE writes Il correspondent
OF the Pittsburgh Dispatch, stcamers
must anchor away out in the bay, and
passengers be rowed ashore in canoes
However, they no longer have to be
cc'r'eo through the surf on the backs
Oh men as during the Peruvian regime.
nehind the town great windrow of
yellow sand sweeps back from the
Nlorro, forming kind of amphitheatcr.
uhfeilevcd by tree or shrub or blade of
grass. This ridge, and all the desert
LOT miles beyond, is IL vast burial
ground, which must once have
been of much greater extent. for
II is known that during the last hum
urea years the ocean has made consid-
cradle inroads. a few years ago, when
worlSmen we're digging up the sand to
NIL Areas pier, and opening track for
the railroad that leads to Tncna
1.-THE important city of the district forty
everywhere; not only humble fisher
men, wrapped in their nets, and lowlv
tlllers of the soil in shroucs of braided
rushcs, but the shriyclcd bodies of
chiefs and other pcrsonagcs of conse-
qucncc, cnvcloped in fine cloth and thin
layers of beaten gold. These nristocr;lts
OF bySonc age farcd worse than their
brother picbcians--for, while the latter
were loft col
los Ricos, now grim and CHASTITY as the
poorest, were stripped by rude hands
and their crumbling bones tossed. nm
covered, by the waysidc. Our marty
went mummy hunting on horseback.
striking straight across the desert 70
n point about five miles south of africa.
we were accompanied by several peones
(iaboTcrs) and n suitable escort: for Il
is considered unsafe for strangers IN oo
out unattended, as highway,ncn are
abroad in the land and the peones m;rht
be tempted to make new mummies If
anything of value were uneartbed
However, people bent on such blood
curdling errands as disturbing the dend
are not likely to hunt alone. but natu.
rally prefer company to keep their spir-
its up.
Dig anywhere and you cannot 90
amiss OF grave. The spades of other
inquisitive persons have scratched the
desert here and there but the great
bulk of it is entirely undisturbed eScent
by htfui !viuds that whirl the sand into
cTesccnt-shaped mounds; and doub,lesa
IL Will rcuain SO until, In the lapse OF
ages, the slowly-encroachinp Pacific
shall swallow it nll Nothing can decay
protected by the magnetic dust of this
rainless region. and the contents of the
tombs look as If they were put there
yesterday. There is no consuming
worm or insect. Flesh dries without
decomposition; wood and vegetable
matter petrify from the absence of
moisture, while fabrics and articles in
stone and clay keep" forever.
Our workmen dug in several different
places to the depth of five or six feet
and brought up dozen well-conditioned
"ancicnts"-two of which have
shipped to the United States with their
wrappings intact. The most curious
things we found that day were not the
rings of beaten gold or silver encirclinq
bony fingers, nor clay watcr-iars mold
cd in quaint designs, nor bone spindles
with thread still in them, lust as the
weaver laid down his work some CEN
turtles ago. but the petrified eyeballs.
which Il careful digger may always find,
seldom inserted in the face of the
mummy but fallen out among the
wrappings. Modern science cannot
comprehend how these eyes were pre-
served; the commonly accepted theory
is that they were never the visual or
CANS OF human beings, but those of cut
fetish, with which the more perishable
optics OF the subjects to be mummified
were replaced. But they are not less
curious, and are really beautiful things
flat on one side, round and smooth on
the other, amber-lilse yellow in color.
holding light as an opal. and varying in
size from the tip of your smallest finger
TO the end OF mans thumb. They are
eagerly sought for the settings of pins,
sleeve buttons, ETC., and are durable as
most jewels.
The early Peruvians preserved their
dead something after the manner of the
Egyptians, except that the mummies of
Peru are always in sitting posture.
with knees drawn up to the chin and
hands clasped in front of the knees.
The head and all is first enveloped in
dyed cotton cloth, bound with ropes of
braided llama wool (similar to the ropes
made to-day by Andean Indians); the
whole uncanny bundle inclosed within
another netting of ropes. or a basket
like case of braided rushes. Remove
the cloth and the hair, always long,
black and glossy, will be found elabo-
rateiy braided, perhaps gold or silver
earrings In the ears, and a necklace OF
the Same metal dependinr ,,non tha