The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-30

resembles in its fur the vicuna when
first born, the kid is killed moment
after its birth and the skin of its throat
and stomach is used for robes Its flesh
IL as palatable as venison and it can
carry load nearly as heavy as can the
llama. AS with us q maidstone is only
found in the stomach of deer so do
these guanacos sometimes have in their
stomachs magical stone which the PERU
vians call 'bezoar' and which when
carried in the pocket is veritabe
panacea, for it is reputed to cure any
kind of disease.
1t is admitted that the great wealth OF
Peru has been the source of her curses.
but this is partially the fault of her peo-
pie: my point is that so far as her bless
irgs OF nature are concerned she re-
sembles our state of Pennsylvania. When
the eastern section of our land became
practically denuded of forests which were
needs for fuel, the great coal wealth of
the keystone state was reeva1ed; when
whales grew scarce and their oil ceased
to furnish our Illuminating supply, then
the kerosine wells of the Quaker state
We're discovered So with Peru, When
her vast supplies OF gold and silver be-
at least were no longer worked, then
came her inexhaustible deposits of guano,
a proper fostering of which would have
made any other nation a paragon OF
wealth; when these in measure abated
her immeasurable beds of nitrate Of soda
came to light, a product of incalculable
value Her entire coast for the extent
of Two latitudes is I solid mass of this
mineral which it will require centuries
to consume. The deposits lie under IA
crust of sun-baked clay from four to Il
inches in thickness, which is again COW
cred by the shifting sands. The stratum
averages three feet In thickness, resem-
bles melting marble and Is as soft as
cheese. Its by-products are saltpetre
and iodine. The one goes TO the powder
works and the other to the chemical
works of America and Europe. The pro-
cess is simple and inexpensive. consisting
of boiling In sea water and exposure to
the suns rays when capitalization does
the rest. The iodine is packed for ship
ment in little casks and covered with
green hides which when dried shrink to
the tightness of drum-head and exclude
all moisture
All this is very interesting to the com
mercial world and lover of statistics. bur
tc me Peru had a more fascinating charm
than the wealth of gold. silver, guano
and nitrates and this charm lay in her
mystery of her cyclopean ruins.
She has her prehistoric race who
antedate the Incas and whom savants
are pleased to call the Piruas. They
came originally from the south and
date back beyond the Christian era
Their titanic ruins attest the gran
deur of the race and their style of
architecture Is unsurpassed by the
most noted ancient and modern works
of the Old World.
They governed a vast empire, erect
ed mperishable cyclopean edifices and
developed d complicated civilization all
but dimly Indicated to us by their
monolithic sculptures. In long pc
riod of years they brought wild plants
under cultivation and domesticated tho
animals of the lofty Andean plateau.
But 1t is remarkable that they should
have chosen as the center of this most
ancient civilization the shores of Lake
Titicaca which are almost treeless and
where corn win never ripen and placed
their capital on the loftiest site ever
selected for the seat of great emf
pire.
The Incas knew nothing about them
and as the cold and sterile region of
the lake Is untitled to support large
population IL is conjectured that the
buildings had a religious or ceremonial
object and were placed in a compara
lively unapproachable spot. The ma
teria1 OF which they we're constructed
demonstrates that the immense blocks
must have been transported 95 miles bS
water and 10 by land and there is sons
analogy between the carvings of theii
decorations and that Of Egypt. Many
of the stone figures bear the head OF
condors and all display the crown and
sceptre. Upon ans island in the lake
the Incas placed their Eden but Nance
Capac, their Adam. and Mama Ocllo,