The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-06

barren than 10 her fertile and popu-
lous regionsl
In the DAYS of the Incas 1t was
otherwise They ruled over an agri-
cultural people, and though they had
gold in plenty, gold TO them was
not wealth. but material for orna-
ments. Apart. however. from agri-
culture the riches of Peru have con-
sisted Of three natural products, which
belong 70 the drier tracts. These are
the guano of the rainiess Islands of
the coast, the nitrate deposits i'm the
province of Tarapaca and the mines
Of silver and copper.
OF these three. the guauo has now
been nearly exhausted, and while
ii lasted il enriched. not the country
but a succession of military adEen-
turers The nitrate regions have been
conquered by Chile and seem unlike
~ ever to be restored. The most
productive OF the silver mines were
taken away when Bolivia. in which
they ara situated. was erected into a
separate republic. and such mines as
remain in the High Andes, doubtless
of great and net yet fully explored
value, are in the hands Of foreign
companies and syndicates.
Little good have these bounues Of
nature done TO the people OF Peru.
whether Spanish or Indian
From Panama 10 Payta the direct
steamers take Eve days. and from
Payta TO -Caliao It Ia two days more,
SO the whole voyage is about AZ long
at that from New y Org 10 Liverpool IN
the quick liners. This IS one OF the
least troubled parts of the ocean; tnat
is to say, gales are rare, and hurrl-
canes. like those of the Caribbean, TN
4s- 3.
pretty heavy swell and when there has
been a storm some two or three hun
bred miles out TO the west the great
rollers come in and MAKE land ing along
the coast no easy matter. As the ship
keeps TOO far out for the details or
the coast TO be visible, the voyage is
rather monntonous, especially IN fgle
cloudy weather we encountered.
To sail along 81 coast without p
chance Of examining It's natural bear"
ties or the cities that stud IL, is IN
most cases mortifysng, but here in the
six hundred miles between Payta and
( Cailao one has this consolation, that
there IN nothing TO see. and you cannon
see II.
The shores are brown. bare and un-
peopled, while the heavy cloud roof
/ that hangs over the sea. hides the tops
/ OF the hills also. and cuts off all view
of the snowy Cordiiiera far behind.
The towns are few and small, because
/ the land lis sterile save where one OF
/ the Andean streams gives fertility 10
a valley
One would naturally suppose that the
country had always been even as II IL
now. But the ruins of ancient cities
here and there prove that II must once
have been far more populous.
/ OF these ruins the largest are those
/ of a city often called Chimu, from the
title OF the king who ruled there, near
/ the town of Truxillo, TO which PizaFro:
when no founded 1t, gave the name OF
his own Estremaduran birthplace ne
remains cover a wide space anu snow
that the people who dweit here ana IN
the other coast valleys must nave n,aoe
considerable advances toward eiFil~a~
tion. for the pottery and other utensiis
are better In artistic style tnan o.tre6
remains found in South America.
! The kingdom of the Chimu was
#overthrown by the Incas century
lbaYore the Spanish conquest, ana
notbinr ia known OF the race except
that its language. called Mochlca- was
ouIta aifyerent from that Of the noun
tain tribes who oheyed the meas,
Whether the people perished UNDER
Spanish oppression, or whether tney
moved away. when IN the cohiusloi'
that followed the Conquest. the frrl-
cation works that made cultivation
possible were allowed to fall into de-
eap--this is one of the many riddles
of Peruvian history.
The City That Pizarro Built.
The entrance to Callao. the port Of
the city Of Lima. which lies seven
miles inland and is five hundred feet
higher, has a certain grandeur.
range of hills abuts on the sea, form
ing q bold cape. and opposite TO H.
leaving an entrance a mile or two
wide, rises lofty island. steep, bare
land brown like the islands of the Reu
Sea, which reduces the long surges
of the Pacific and gives a compare
lively quiet anchorage in the spacious
bay within,
The town OF Callao, consisting OF
steamship offices and warehouses and
Il shops dealing In the things ships
need, offers nothing of interest, ex-
icept the remains of the fort of St
Philip, the last building where the
flag OF Spain tioated on the mainland
of the New World. So the traveller
Ihurries by the steam railroad or the
electric line up to Lima
We came fuu of the expectations
stirred long ago by the fame OF the
city Pizarro built, and In which he
ruled and persisted, hoping to find in II
another and a still more picturesque
and more truly Spanish Mexico. II
was long the first city of South Amer
fabulous wealth.
Its vfceroy was the greatest man In
the continent, potentate whose dis
tant master could seldom interiors
, with him. for there We're no tele
~ e H.