The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-30
PAINLESS REGION OF PERU.
LIFE ALONG SHoRE-WoNDER-
 FULLY RICH PLANTATIONS
In Fertile Valleys Between the Deserts The Town of Yea. Special Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier.)

AA0 AdLliieSS poELIOu OL Eefu, Wnlcn
 comprises the desert strip between the
 Andes and the sea, is about forty miles wide and a thousand miles long. It is
 locally known as Fl Destoblano, the Uninhabited, because of the extreme l difficulty of existing there. Wherever
 stream from the mountains brings it's
 melted snows down through the desert,
 an oasis is opened, which planters have
 utilized from time immemoriaI. The l Incas themselves were no mean agri-
 culturists, and everywhere they touched i the earth it produced in profusion.
 Their empire extended north and south 1 three thousand miles. and east from the
 Pacific about four hundred miles to the
 vast forests of the Amazon, which
 their simple tools were unable, to sub-
 due. As far back as the conquest en- ergetic Jesuits, made vigorous war
 upon these deserts, and conquered them I as easily as they had the Indians.
 Where irrigation is possible the barren
 strip produces splendid crops of sugar, coffee and other tropical products; and 1 1t is not impossible that industry and capital may one day redeem the whole
 of it. If half the money that has been
 wasted in Peruvian revolutions had | been expended in the development of the mines and agricultural resources of Peru, and if the soldiers had dug irri- gating ditches with half the ardor they | have fought each other, there would be no richer country on the globe. The Plain of Canate, whose chief town is Pisco, occupies about the center of the
 rainless region. The celebrated plain is only thirteen miles long, but extends | in breadth from the cordilleras to the
 sea. At its southern end are small l swamps, where reeds are cultivated for | making the mating which supports the straw roofs of the houses; then comes a barren bit, covered with stony
 mounds and clumps of date palms, stretching away to the desert The
 northern end is entirely different. Close to Pfsco are rich pastures for
 mules, horses and cattle; meadows of l alfalfa, (tropical clover) and vegetable
 gardens, each field surrounded by
 hedge-rows of date palms, olive, or
 ange, fig and willow trees. Beyond are
 purple vineyards and long reaches of yellowish-green sugar-cane, each es- tate separated from it's neighbor by rows of willows. The grapes grown
 hereabouts are as delicious as those of southern France and seem to have absorbed the breath of the nearby sea, as well as the sunshine of perpetual
 summer. Great quantities of wine and, brandy called ''Italia'' and "Pisco" are exported from this place and their manufacture is the principal industry of the valley. We visited the store house of a wine maker and found it to contain nearly a thousand casks, each
 cask holding three hundred gallons. I regret to say that am unable to give you any figures, having neglected to jot down in my book information re- ceived on the spot; but the amount of liquor made is marvellous, considering the limited district. Italia" is the fa- vorite white wine of Peru, though much too strong for general use; and
 ''Pisco," though a most innocent look ing beverage, being colorless as water, contains more intoxication to the cubic inch than any other known liquid, un-
 less it may be the mescal of Mexico. There is a Portuguese planter here who produces three distinct kinds of wine from the same grape; one an excellent variety resembling Madeira, another similar to the best Bucellas, and a
 third much like the inferior Rhine wines. There is also very fine and correspondingly expensive liquor dis
 titled from a large white grape, fla vored with chirimojas, the latter being
 the most delicious fruit to be found in the country. All along the beach are immense warehouses where the con- mon 'Pisco" is stored in huge red jars, shaped much like an eggshell, awaiting shipment to the various ports of Peru and Chili. The estates of Canate are mostly cultivated by negroes, assisted by few Chinamen. They appear to be as happy and contented lot of people as one can find in long days journey. Though no longer slaves, their labor is still forced; and though they receive little more than food, poor clothing and poorer lodging, they are at least sure of that, of medical attendance when i'll, and exemption from the taxes that so oppress those who undertake to be in- dependent. Early in the morning, be- fore going to work, all the women and girls repair to the door of the chapel and sing hymn of praise upon their knees; and again at sunset when the loabor of the day is done, thanking htaven for their lives of servitude. I think it was in 1921 that the rather am- biguous law was passed which de- claired that all those then in slavery should remain so during life; but that their children should be free when ar- rived at the age of fifty, and the grand children born free. The avowed object of this slaw process. was to gradually aecustom the slaves to the idea of lib- erty, and to fit them for it; while at the same time their owner might get ready for the change by importing Chi nese, whose cheap labor, it was thought, would prevent the negroes from striking for too high wages, when entitled to any wages at all. In 1853, however, General Castilla, who was then president of Peru, issued a decree proclaiming the freedom of all slaves. As was anticipated, the majority of them were unwilling to leave their for mer masters, to whom they were en- deared by almost paternal kindness and the recollections of childhood; and therefore the condition of things was