Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1917-04-30
HIGHLANDS OF THE ANDES.
Robert S. Barrett Sends Interesting
Letter From South America.

Time passes 50 rapidly III lheSe
DAYS of hurrying from town to town.
travelling by strange conveyances'
and meeting as many people OF SO
many varied nationalities, that l
hardly realize that nearly three
months have passed by since | last
wrote to you. Since that time | nave
been journeying down the South "a
ciGc and have spent much OF the
time in the fascinating land Of Peru
found Lima a most interesting
city. and my two months there pass
ed most pleasantly. On every hand
7 was accorded q most cordial re-
ception and was shown many So
cial attentions, the American Minis
ter, Hon. Benton McMillin, and his
charming wife, being specially gra-
cious. / had the pleasure OF meet
inn the Peruvian president, General
pardo, and other officials of the
government. But I think that your
readers will perhaps be Interested
in reading something Of the interior
Of this land whose civilization eX-
tends far into the remote past.
Leaving Lima / journeyed by
steamer to the port of Mollende and
then up the mountains to the me-
tronolis of Southern Peru, the city OF
Arequipa. where is situated the OBJ
scrvatory of Harvard University.
From there | took modern railway
train north and in another day was
far up in the highlands Of the An
dcs, the cite of the Incan and the
prc-Incan civilizations. As the
train steamed away leaving us in
the little .Andean village Of mud
huts, ! pinchcd myself to make
sure that | was awake. We were in
Tiahuanace, an Indian hamlet, situa-
ted on the bleak upland plain of b.
livia which the traveller must cross
to reach La Pslz, the capital. From
! Lake Titicacaca we had journeyed
in an up-to-date American train, but
with its departure, we seemed to
nave dropped back 500 years. Pass
ing through the village we reached
the ruins Of Tiahuance, of pre-lncan
times. beyond the reach of history
! and tradition, even in those far-off
days when the Inca fortress OF Sac.
| sahuaman was erected on hill
overlooking Cuzce These ruins mark
the site OF the oldest city in the New
World. and from under the drifting
sand of centuries q civilization still
moro remote than that Of Tiahuance
may yet be brought to light upon
the Andean plateau.
Tiahuanacc is in the very heart
of the region known rs the Tibet OF
the Western world. 1t lies on plain
which is over $1,000 feet high. q
plain from which the lofty Cordillera
rises. Journcying eastward from
Lake Titicacaca one crosses an
open, unprotected country. wind
swept. barren, unlvely, etc. The
matched villages and obe-walled
corrals are desoate indeed. Yet
here, archacologists tell us, flourished
the most advanced Of the ancient
American civilizations. In the Tiah-
uance of today beautifully cut stones
brought from the neighboring ruins
form Il part of the church built by
the early Spaniards. To the sur
rounding villages, and even as far
as La Paz, the capital, these great
stones were carried to be used as
foundations of churches erected in
the faith Of the cOnquerors.
The ruins lie on level part of the
plains where the soil it firm and dry,
| They consist of rows of stones. sec
tions of foundations, carved door
ways, portions Of stairways, vast
masses Of rock only partially hewn.
No mortar was used in the construc-
ton, yet these stones were so skill
fully cut and fitted that the founda-
tons have outlived the centuries. The
most remarkable monument is a
monoithic gateway, cut out of 4
great block of stone, 7 feet wide,
Is feet high, and Is inches thick.
Looking on this quaint doorway, an
tiquc in this continent, and pictur-
ling in ones mind the metropolis which
once it =raced, a populous city, con-
temporeneous with the ancient capt.
tails of Egypt, one can hardly feel
so confident of our triumphant mod
ern civilization as generally we are
apt TO be. History repeats itself, and
civilizations rise and fall.
The traveller still feels linked with
| 4hn poct nc ln ,,-o1l-s l,o Of r. 4t,a vii