Evening star., 1934-12-23
RUINS OF EMPIRE
VISIBLE IN PERU
Gold and Silver Affairs Give
Hint of Wealth in Reign
of IncaS.
BY ELSIE BROWN,

Managing Editor. Pan-American Union.
This is the fourteenth OF a series
OF articles on trdUel in Pan Amer
ican countries.
Peru is country for the traveller
who desires something more than
new stage setting for his hotel. He
who would bring home the wealth
of the Indies must carry the wealth
of the Indies with, him" is one
way Of referring to what the French
call intellectual baggage" In this
case the figure is peculiarly appro-
pirate.
Who but the Spaniards who saw
Cuzco in its glory four centuries ago
could really appraiSe the wealth of
the Indies? Sent to deSpoil the great
capital of the Incas for the ransom
of Atahualpa, Pizarros emissaries
found the temple of the sun lit
orally a mine of gold"
At the eastern end was the high
altar, blazing with representations of
the sun, moon and some of the con-
stellations. Plates of gold adorned
roof and walls To right and left
sat the mummies of the preceding
attire and seated in chairs of gold
God Torn Away.
The SpaniardS tore out the gold.
Most of it was melted down except
for few examples of craftsmanship
sent home to Charles v as part of
his royal share. The soldier to whom
an image Of the sun fell in the divi-
sion Of the spoils gambled it away
before dawn.
This the visitor to Cuzco today will
recall as he looks at the smooth
Curving wall of stones laid without
mortar, but so closely that a knife
blade cannot be thrust between them,
above which rises the church of
Santo Domingo This is one of the
ell too few traces left of Coricancha
the place of gold.
About mile and half outside the
city rise the massive triple fortress
walls of Sacsahuaman, site of the old
city OF Upper CuZco. Here important
archaeological excavations have been
going on for the past year. Who
knows but visitor standing by may
see come to light some example of In
can art, like the graceful silver dish
1nlaid with sea shell and malachite
found few months agol
In the Cuzco of today evidences of
the wealth of the country are found
in the beautiful colonial cathedral.
Glimering softly in the light of the
candles stands the lofty high altar
sheathed in silver from top to bottom,
while the exquisitely carved side affairs
and their grilles reflect a richer glow
from the gold leaf which covers them.
The choir stalls can vie in their mas
terly sculpture with any in Spain
Itself, and golden altars such as those
OF Cuzco even Spain does not boast.
Over the Andes.
Now travel down from the ancient
TO the present capital Of Peru. AL
though Lima does not have behind it
500 years or more of pre-Spanish his
tory, still it is old enough to have had
a university open for more than so
years when jamestown was founded.
If you fly, as may be arranged, the
trip will take three hours, up over the
Andes to 10000 feet or more and then
down to sea level at Lima. But the
train trip along the high plateau to
Juliaca, where the night is spent, is
packed with interest From Cuzco the
train ascends from approximately
$500 to $4,000 feet, so that you are
riding along the Andean plateau at
about the height of the Matterhorn.
Snow peaks are frequently visible,
but do not seem enormously high be-
cause Of the railways altitude Also
to be seen are remnants of Incan ag-
ricultural terracing on the mountain
sides and flocks of sheep, llamas and
alpacaS. What gives the trip its color,
literally as well as figuratively, are
the Indians who come to every sta
ton, dressed in brightly colored hand
woven ShawlS and ponchos and wear
ing most picturesque headgear, vary
ing from village to village.
And so on down to Arequipa, see
Ing from time to time as you descend
through the mountains the light
brown vicuna, a relative of the
llama. Its soft fleece was once re-
served for making apparel for the
Inca, but now you may buy your
self a sweater made of this fine,
warm wool
ntdltH Ol 1HteTcStS.
At Arequipa is the famous Quinta
Bates, in European parlance pension,
hut on the West Coast an institution
Of many years standing created by
an American woman, who has given
it hospitable individuality. You can
have Indian musicians come to sere-
made you on their strange instru-
ments; you can buy the lovely rugs
made in the city; you can visit the
new cathedral, the colonial churches,
or the mineral springs in the nearby
country, or you can simply sit in
the luXuriant garden and feast your
eyes on the great cone of Misti and
the other snowy peaks which dom
mate the city.
Leaving Arequipa via rail for Mol
lendo and proceeding by sea for
Callao, it is three days in all to
Lima, or by Pan American Grace