The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-04-20

FROM Cuzco. the Oldest Of South
- American cities. I will ask the
reader to fellow me TO land oi
ancient silence where an amor it s.s-l
neonle under the pressure OF ste'5i
nature. and almost uutouchea p8 o.
that modern civilization has orouG"1
ettIl lead the lives and cling 20 t.ie W.
Ncfs that their ancestors lea NO 800
many centuries ago. This is the near
- +ha Andean plateau, where. 1T u
,.a,,ntry almost as purely Indian as IL
vas when it submitted to PiGaftV' HeS
Lake Tticaca- -. -
rreat inland sea lying between the wv
,5an,yes If the Cordiliera almost as hlsH
ahr,,c the ocean as Is the top or the
rnrpfratu. ! had wondered what ths
a~apnrv ~ such mountains ana sncn
era might be like, and had searched
hooks and questioned travellers win
ant getting from them what soush-
There are no other bodies OF fresh
water on the earth's surface nearly so
1nft,- exccpt on the plateaux or Cen
,r.i Asia. and none Of these is nearly
60 extensive AS this lake IN Peru TX
Ellis ,he lower part Of an immense
shallow depression between the cas-
err, and western CordiiIefas. ana kile
land both 10 the north and 10 the
south If il is fer a great distance SO
level that We may believe the area
covered by lis waters to have been al
.-.,e time far greater
las present length IS about one hun
draa and twenty miles, its greatest
width forJy-one miles ana KS area
nearly. equal to that Of Lake Erie. the
shape is extremely irregular, for there
are many deep bays, and many far
protecting prnmontoTies. There are
also many islands, two Of which IA
nous in Peruvian mythology, / shalt
presently describe
Singular Region.
This central plateau If Peru IL
singular region. AS It's he!%Flt Is from
twelve thousand Ia thirteen thousand
feet above sea level. the climate is al
WAYS cold except when one is actually
exposed 60 the direct rays Of the sun,
hut ii varies comparatively little from
the summer TO the winter months; and
though snow often falls. II soon dis
appears In so Indictment an air, and
with a rather seauty rainfall, only, a
few hardy crops can ripen, such as
potatoes. barley and maize, hut this
last only TN the warneryand more shell
tered places,
There are few trees and these
Stupted; nowhere a wood. Even the
shrubs are mere scrub, SO fuel is
scarce and the people use for cooking
purposes I'm the mountains the tufts
81. a large woody-rooted plant called
yareta. growing in the high noun
tains. which like the peat of Ireland.
burns fierCeiy, but Is soon burnt ou..
and on the lower grounds. taquia CHE
droppings II the liama), as the drop
pings Of the yak are similarly used in
Tibet Nobody thinks of lighting a fire
for warmth: for while the natives
seem not to feel the cold, white people
shiver and put on more clothes
This. lofty tract, stretching from the
l. 49, t,a sar
la Paz in Bolivia, distance of more
han two hundred miles. the northern
aud western parts of II In Peru. the
eastern and southern in Bolivia. is
really a pure Indian country, and is
named the Collao. In ancient days ii
was one OF the four divisions of the
Inca empire. The inhabitants speak
language called Aymara, allied to
the Quichua spoken farther north.
Living the Life of Inca Times.
Like Tibet, which ii most resem-
hles in height and cold and dryness
this strange country produces no more
than what its inhabitants consume
y and has nothing to export except al
x paca wool and minerals. nor, at pres
i ent, very much of these latter. for
E only few mines are now being worked
& The population does not increase, but
II holds its ground, and wherever the
soil is fit for cuitivation---that Ia to
say, wherever 1t is not too stony or
a too swampy IL is cultivated by the
Indians who live here in the same
n rude fashion as their forefathers be-
fere the Conquest.
Nor is il only on the fiat bottoms of
the valleys that one sees their little
patches of potatoes and barley. The
steep slopes OF the hills that rise from
4 the lake have also been terraced to
make ground level for cultivation, and
each strip of soil is supported by a
wall of loose stones well fitted to-
gether
These andenes as they are called,
which are common all over the billy
grounds of Peru, remind one of the
vine bearing terraces of the Rhine
land, and like them witness TO CEN
turtles of patient toll. AS there is no
manure nor other fertilizer. the soil is
allowed TO rest by lying fallow from
time to time, so the area under culti-
walton in any one year is less than the
number of the terraces might sug-
gest.
Though all the tillers are Indians,
most of the land belongs to large
proprietors who seldom come to it
for more than a couple OF months in
the year, the peasants paying them
either in a share of the crops or a
certain number Of days labor on the
proprietor's own special hacienda or
fnca (farm), which his steward man
ages, or perhaps in personal service