Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-06-21

lenLleSS COuquefOf ana those OF his
brothers who persisted on Peruvian soil
still roam over the mountain solitudes
in a neyer-ending, fruitless search for
gold.
At the western entrance to Caxa-
marca we We're shown a huge stone
upon which Francisco and fernando
Pizarro erected, It's said, lofty cross
on their arrival at that spot in NoYem-
Der, 1882, after which act of piety they
| proceeded to rob the nha biUants in the
most cheerfully Christian manner pos
/ sible
| Having seen all that we cared to see
! OF the depleted Cunimayo diggings, we
/ returned to Calla0 and thence Jour
neyed across the mountains TO the far
| famed silver region Of Cerro de PascO.
I Here, scattered over an extensive
area, were great number of real
mines, some of considerable depth and
! intricate ramitications, and all produc-
ing argentiferous ores-hornblende,
! galena, sulphTets, silver glance and
the Hke-Which were treated in local
reducing mills, and the product, in
| the shape OF silver bricks, conveyed
per donkey train to any desired point
for coinage, sale, or expectation.
AS no official reports were at that
time-nOr are they yet, beIieye-made
to the government, we had no relia BILE
data to guide us in forming an esti-
mate OF the output vi these mines, but
we were Informed that the aggregate
monthly yield had never exceeded So
OOO ounces of fine Silyer-a far less
production than that OIL the COnlslOck.
New, lode alone in it's best days.
ReSainlng CallaO once more, we EN-
parked on SOuth-bOuud cOasting
steamer for the port OF MollendO,
whence we made our way to the flour
ishing city of Arequipa, and thence on
muleback through CongeIiO Pass to
OrurillO.
InIs Town is situated on the north
western extremity of the famed Lake
Titcaca, and almost in the shadow OF
the great Semicircle here formed by
the eastern Andes, Trom these granite
1mbedded quartz veins and talcoSe
States were derived tue main bulk of
those StupendOuS reaSur-S in gold and
silver formerly so lavishly displayed
in the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, and
in wealthy public and private edifices
! there and elsewhere. Tens OF thou
sands of pounds weight were also
buried in the tombS Of departed Incas
and other ilIuSuiOuS dead, only to fall
at last into the hands of the Spanish
cOnquerOrs.
Lake IiticaLa, 100 miles long by so
to 80 wide, and lying nearly $4,000
feet above sea level, is said to be the
highest considerable body of water in
the world, while its equally lofty
plain, or basin, is greater in area than
the whole of Ireland. The country
east OF the lake is extremely fertile,
but that on its western border, mostly
of volcanic origin, is worthless for agri-
cultural purposes, though highly au-
riferOus as we'll as argentiferous.
+ Among the GORGEOUS traditions still
current here is one to the effect that
begotten by the sun and emerging,
Iu1 grown from the waters ul the
lake, i'll this region first appeared the
diyinely gifted Nance Copac and his
! wife, Mama Oella-Who was also his
sister.
Attaching to tAemsrll cs the domi-
nant race of COllas, OF Anyras, the
celestial visitors jOurneying nOrthWard,
founded the city of Cuzco and became
the progenitOrs of the Inca family,
whose rule, i'll time, extended over the
; hnln
SiStible and undisputed, until finally
subyerted by PiZarro and his invinci-
bic comrades in arms.
The illustrious pair never died, but
when their work was accomplished
were reabSOrbed by the god of light
! and in the fullnesS of time will reap
! pear upon earth and lead their de-
ScendantS to ineffable happiness and
glory Whether they are to GUST Chris
tianity and Ie-establiSh sun worship
our veracious chronicler did not say.
From high official in Lima we had
brought letters OF Introduction to Don
Felp GapinOZa, a wealthy mine owner
residing in Orurillo, who Hospitality in
sisted that the whole four of us should
u1dAc LIS UOuSG our NOME, DIT least ul-
til olW plans were matured.
Certainly the lines had fallen to us
in pleasant places, for we found the
senior himself, as well as his wife and
beautiful daughter, Amadora by name,
most courteous entertainers and de-
lightful company.
Mining privileges, Don Felipe in
formed us, were everywhere free, and
hence we were at perfect liberty to try
our luck in any spot not already occu-
pied by others. He himself kept
nearly 800 Indians, under Cornish over
seers, constantly at work in his sew
eral mines, located in outlying spurs
of the mountain range.
To our practiced eyes some Of these
mines appeared like mere prospecting
holes, only two of the seven-one a
shaft and the other a tunnel-being
operated in what we thought a thor
oughly workmanlike manner.
Our hosts complaisance did not eX,
tend quite so far as telling us the net
income derived from these properties
though he said that it was not nearly
so great as when he first embarked III
the business fifteen years before, a
which time he had laid the founda tioI
of his present ample fortune.
Indeed, from all the information a
our command we came to the conclu
, sion that none of the once wonderfully
rich mines in this vicinity were now
, even fairly profitable to their owners