Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

Fossil Fuel

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 6

Before closing my narrative of the many fabulously rich mines of Peru and the tremendous fortunes made out of them, I ought to just mention one Dr. Neal of Iquique told me about. I refer to the great silver mine of San Pedro and San Paul. It was worked by the Incas, and after them by the Jesuits until they were turned out of Peru. Then it stood derelict for a number of years, and, as was only natural, got covered over with sand. The great earthquake of 1868 completed the bottling up process. One day an American named Chase got hold of a document that purported to give the exact locality of the long-lost mine. He was much impressed with what was set down, so went and started work at the spot indicated. He grubbed away for fourteen years, removing debris until he had exhausted all his capital. Then he appealed to his brother. But that good Christian man wasn’t “having any” as the saying goes, and made it quite clear that he was going to have no truck with any poor relations. Chase next approached a storekeeper named Harris, and here touched lucky, so was able to resume work again.

Another two years of hard graft passed, and then one day, as he was preparing dinner for himself and his two men up at his shack, one came rushing in to announce that the entrance had been at last uncovered. Chase left the dinner to cook itself, and followed the messenger hot-foot to the mine. There he feasted his eyes on a great accumulation of silver ingots which had been piled up by the Jesuits ready for removal in days of long ago. Out of this hoard he banked £700,000 within the next six months!

Soon after he was lawsuited by McKinna—a man associated with the late Colonel North in several ventures—the owner of the adjacent silver mine. McKinna claimed that what Chase had unearthed was on his (McKinna’s) property. The fight was a bitter one, but Chase won in the end, and returned to England where he bought two houses in the Cromwell Road, London, and turned them into one.

His lawyer advised him to make his will. Said he, “If you don’t, that beautiful brother of yours can step in at your death and collar the lot.” Chase was impressed and did as his legal adviser suggested; moreover, to further provide against contingencies, he married Colonel Harris’s daughter.

One day whilst staying at the Hotel Cecil, his brother, who had meantime gone broke, was announced, and Chase treated him to a dose of his own medicine. His wife bore him two daughters and then died. Chase did not long survive her. He left four millions.

Of all the copper mines of Peru, Cerro Pasco is the most famous. I have already referred to it in connection with a man named Gallo. In my opinion it doesn’t come up to the one I visited a few years ago at Chuquicamaca in the Atacama desert. Cerro Chuqui is 9,700 feet up. Some leagues away in the same province are other mountains in which Cerro San Pedro and Cerro Volcan are situated. Chuquicamaca is more like a small town than a village, what with a church, the manager’s fine house and many tenements for workmen. An American mining engineer told me the mills at Cerro Chuqui crush 17,000 tons of ore every twenty-four hours. I thought the tale a bit tall, for 7,000 tons would be pretty good work. However, there it is, as he told me.

The mountains in the vicinity of this great mine yielded me some very rich samples of silver and copper. It seems rather extraordinary to find mountains full of precious metals in the midst of a tremendous desert. But so it is.

One curious feature of this wilderness is the vast quantities of lumps of fossilized wood one meets with on all sides. Apparently they are relics of prehistoric times, and were once a kind of shrub. A great trade is done in these chunks at Antofagasta where they are used as fuel.

Some of the finest emeralds in the world are found in Peru. A few years ago a Peruvian engaged in constructing limekilns not many days’ ride from the Jura baths, struck a vein rich in emeralds. I read the full particulars of his find in a paper published only a few weeks after I had left the district. Strange to say, I had been all round there guanaco hunting. The Peruvian obtained £40,000 for his concession. I know of several localities where I believe emeralds are to be found. Those found in Peru are light green in colour—the rarest of all emeralds. They are second only to those found at Bogota in Colombia.

On several occasions I met members of the Holquin family and Mr. Ecchevaria. They were all interested in this exquisite stone. I travelled with Ecchevaria several times. The last time was on the Tagus. He then told me he had lost his emerald lode, and although he had had forty men working round for two years trying to pick it up again, success had not attended their efforts. If I would superintend the operations, he said he would be quite willing to pay me a good commission to find it, plus all the exes. attached to twenty Indian workmen. I could not, however, accept this attractive offer because I was working for Penny and Minchin at the time, and I had to convey eight horses and four mares safely to Peru.

It may not be generally known, but extremely fine pearls are found off the coast of Peru.

A Lima friend of mine once fixed up with the owner-captain of a three-masted schooner, and paid £400 towards the expenses incurred in employing divers. The venture proved eminently successful. Lots of pearls were found. One of the first little parcels forwarded to my friend by the captain, was valued at from £700 to £1200, and another lot included a pearl which was disposed of for £400.

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Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

Twisting a Peruvian

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 5

Besides the notable mines already mentioned, particular reference to the celebrated San Domingo mine is overdue. It may be approached from Tirapata or Juliaca; in either case a three days’ journey is involved. The manager of the Inca Gold Mining Company, who now own the property, makes Tirapata his headquarters. As I have said before, San Domingo was rediscovered by Major Gibson of the English Guards. This was about 1900. Gibson was on long leave at San Francisco, where he made friends with a Jesuit Father. From him he learnt much about San Domingo—how it had been worked by the Incas, and after them by the Jesuits. To crown all, the Reverend Father had in his possession a document, in which were set down all the particulars necessary to locate the mine. This he offered Gibson, stipulating that the latter in return for it, should give him and his Order 10 per cent. of the proceeds.

Major Gibson lost no time in getting back to Peru, and following the instructions implicitly, soon came upon the mine. It was all overgrown with vegetation, but in almost as sound condition, internally, as when abandoned by the Jesuits. Old John Simpson, who in 1905 went with me to examine the Sapo mountain, accompanied Gibson, and reported on the samples he took. The latter denounced his find in the Mining Department of Peru, together with 200 hectares, as a rediscovered old mine. He then returned to England, where he hoped to induce his friends to put up the necessary funds, so that he might open out the old workings and develop them. Within a couple of years he had scraped together £5000, and returned to San Domingo, intending to commence operations without further delay. Unfortunately, he hadn’t kept his good fortune to himself, but had let his tongue wag in Arequipa and other places. Hence, when he reached the mine, he found it a busy hive of workers. On applying to Mr. Chester Brown, who was pointed out to him as the manager, the latter explained that he had been reported for not complying with the mining laws; as a consequence the mine had passed out of his control.

The man who had denounced Gibson’s lapse was directed by the authorities to advertise in any paper he liked, calling upon Gibson to appear at the Ministry of Mines Department, and show cause why he had not complied with the rules and regulations. The Peruvian took good care to advertise in an obscure little rag, called the Arequipina, which had a very limited circulation. It is true, that a copy of this paper was exhibited in the Public Court House; but none of Gibson’s friends saw it, and it was also overlooked by the British Consul, whom Gibson had asked to act as his agent. Fifteen days passed, and then as Gibson had made no sign, the mine became the property of the Peruvian. This gentleman at once put on the number of men deemed necessary by the authorities, i.e. sixty. Six months later he sold his rights to the San Domingo Company for £72,000!

As an Englishman, one cannot but sympathize with Major Gibson; at the same time, one must admit that the law he failed to observe is a just law, and wisely framed in the interests of the country. It prevents anyone from exploiting the land, and ensures that it shall not stand idle. Poor Gibson was terribly put out, over the downfall of his hopes. He started off on a shooting trip in the forests near San Domingo River, to take his mind off his woes. Unhappily, he contracted a fever and only returned home to die. I had these particulars from John Simpson, who, when reporting on my Sapo mine, said it was much richer than San Domingo. In 1921 I was told that San Domingo was re-sold a few years later for £400,000 to a big company, the Inca Gold Mining Company, as a matter of fact.

Just about the time I was at Lima, i.e. between 1900 and 1907, there was a gentleman nosing around whom I will call “Q.”, the son of a British General, and on an allowance of £400 a year. He did some prospecting, and worked for himself and others. One day he went too far. He came down to Lima, saying he had found a fabulously rich gold mine only three days from Arequipa, and showing some very fine samples. He persuaded a wealthy Peruvian to go back with him to the mine, and pointed out the lode whence he had taken the quartz. He said, “You can drill wherever you like in the lode.” The Lima man did so and found visible gold in large quantities. The Peruvian was so enamoured that he gave “Q.” a cheque for £10,000. “Q.” returned to Lima and cashed it. I was nearly the last man he saw. He declined my invitation to dinner, and offered as his excuse that he was dining with Captain Moffat on the Tu Capel.

Next evening, as I was shutting up my boxes and seeing everything was all right, the Peruvian called, accompanied by a police inspector, and asked if I had seen “Q.” lately. I said, “Yes, yesterday about 6 o’clock. He left here to go to Callao on the Tu Capel.” The inspector said, “Do you remember that mine he spoke about? He persuaded a Peruvian to give him £10,000 for it.” I replied, “He must have been a mug to part with so large a sum without calling in expert advice.” Well, the upshot was the Peruvian found “Q.” had salted the mine, i.e. fixed up samples for greenhorns to find.

I heard later that “Q.” left the steamer at Iquique. Next time I went to Peru with my annual lot of racehorses I was told “Q.’s” father had written the Peruvian, promising to pay him the sum out of which he had been swindled, on one condition, viz., that he did his best to find “Q.” and get him arrested wherever he might be. “Q.” lay low for some years in Iquique, which most folks know is in Chile. That country and Peru were then not on the best of terms, so “Q.” was safe for the time being. What became of “Q.” subsequently I don’t know. But did you ever hear of a bigger fool? Just for the sake of “twisting” the Peruvian, he risked and lost his allowance of £400 a year, forfeited what would have come to him under his father’s will and £25 a month besides, which a well-known company paid him for looking after their interests!

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Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

The Putumayo Atrocities

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 4

Near the Pass of Aricoma several sources of the mighty Amazon rise. The mountains here run up to close on 25,000 ft. Tirapata is the rail-head of the line. The manager of the Inca Gold Mining Company resides in the hacienda below.

About three days distant by mule is the small town of Assilo, whose chief attraction is a wonderful old church built by Padre Valverde, first Bishop of Peru. It was this gentleman who christened Atahualpa. The Inca Chief, so the tale runs, was led out of his prison at Caxamarca on August 29 1533, chained hand and foot, and attended by Valverde. The latter persuaded him to adopt the religion of his conquerors and so escape the burning at the stake, for which the more merciful method of the garotte would be substituted. Atahualpa was baptized Juan de Atahualpa, Juan being in honour of John the Baptist, on whose day the ceremony took place.

It is said Pizarro was greatly affected, and tried to have the venue of the trial altered to Spain. The most important charges levied against Atahualpa were, that he had murdered his brother Huascar, and had incited the Indians to resist the Spaniards. Pizarro and D’Almagro, who sat in judgment on him, sentenced him to death. Valverde, amongst others, signed the death warrant, and declared Atahualpa deserved his fate.

Taking into consideration the upbringing of Atahualpa’s judges, and the enormous ransom imposed, one is at liberty to doubt whether Pizarro’s emotion was feigned or not. The sentence was duly executed and announced by trumpeters in the grand square. Atahualpa’s remains were interred in the cemetery of San Francisco, but after the Spanish yoke was thrown off they were removed to Quito, in accordance with his last wishes. I visited the jail chapel at Caxamarca, and was shown the altar, which now occupies the site of the stone upon which the unfortunate Inca was strangled.

It is generally believed that the reason why the Spaniards broke faith with Atahualpa was, they felt sure they would never conquer the country while he lived. The news of his foul murder was conveyed throughout the length and breadth’ of the land, by means of whistles and other Indian methods of signalling. When it reached the ears of the natives, who were on the way to fulfil their obligations, they hid much of the treasure which they had collected, and the remainder they threw into one or other of the sacred lakes—Titicaca, Orces near Cuzco, or the little one near the top of Sorata.

Lake Aricoma occurs between two ranges of the Andes, and is remarkable as being one of the highest lakes in the world. The sight of this vast body of water at so tremendous an altitude fills one with awe.

The terrible atrocities perpetrated at Putumayo have not yet died out of people’s memories. I have never regretted participating in bringing them to the notice of the world at large. I had first-hand information from Daniel Wheeler, who was employed by Barber and Co. of Cochabamba. He threw up a £60 a month job and returned to Cochabamba, because he couldn’t stand the devilish, cruel methods of the overseers. I had opened out to Barber, when I was dining with him, and had told him the money he was making was all blood money. He wouldn’t believe what I told him, but said, if it proved to be correct, he would chuck the business altogether. He had, some time previously, announced his intention of retiring directly rubber fell to 5s. per lb.

During the period covered by these outrages, viz., from 1905 to 1907, a man named O’Donnell killed an Indian, so that he might abduct his wife. The woman would, however, have nothing to do with him. On the contrary, she reported the murderer to the Peruvian Government. O’Donnell took fright, and ran away to Barbados. The Peruvian Government asked for his extradition after the woman had been sent out to identify him. This the British Government granted, and O’Donnell was tried for his life. He escaped the consequences of his dastardly deed, however, through the wiles of his advocate, a man named Reece. This worthy contended that the documents were not in order, and therefore the Chief Justice had no jurisdiction, pointing out that no signature was attached to them, but only a rubric. His Honour asked the meaning of the term, but no one seemed able to tell him; so O’Donnell was set at liberty. The same day he took steamer to Brazil leaving his wife, who was the daughter of a prominent official, behind him. O’Donnell, I may say, owned the Hotel Amazon. Next day Dr. Messiah, a retired Government medico, asked me if I knew what a rubric was. I explained that although it was quite true no document in Peru and Bolivia is valid unless it is signed by a court official, yet, in the case of a high official, all that was required was his initials round the coat of arms, accompanied by a certain flourish. Now the O’Donnell particulars were thus inscribed, and were, therefore, perfectly in order. Some weeks after, an escort of Peruvian soldiers arrived to take O’Donnell back to Lima. Through the silly misunderstanding over the rubric, they had their journey for nothing. When the full facts came to the knowledge of the authorities, an order was issued for O’Donnell’s arrest in any part of the world where a British Consul held office. Upon this O’Donnell cleared out of Brazil, and fled to Venezuela.

During his detention at Barbados, at least three other prominent overseers sought sanctuary elsewhere, expecting, doubtless, that their turn would come next. This matter of the Putumayo atrocities was very thoroughly taken up by the British and Peruvian Governments. Ultimately the company went into liquidation and was broken up.

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Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

A String on the Toe

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 3

Ayacucho, one of the most ancient cities of Peru, is noted for its jewellers and fine silver-smiths. These craftsmen hold closely to the traditions handed down by their forefathers, and turn out work that is worthy of comparison with that of Inca days. Altogether there are about seventy of these art workers located in or around Ayacucho. I have compared specimens of their handiwork with ancient filigree ornaments unearthed at Pachacamaca and Tia Huanaca, and can distinguish very little falling off in design or execution. Lord Brassey, when he visited Peru on his yacht, the Sunbeam, in company with Lady Brassey, sent an emissary to purchase jewellery here. I’m told he laid out £5000.

Ayacucho also used to be noted for its white alpaca, and vicuña carosses, or rugs. A great many ruins, Inca and Huanca, and twenty-four churches, testify to its importance in days gone by.

There are two ways of getting to this fascinating place. My favourite route is by way of Pisco, Ica, and Huancavilla, muling it all the way, in the finest atmosphere in the world and through some of the sublimest scenery. The easiest way to Ayacucho is to rail it from Lima to Huancayo (10,000 ft.). That takes two days more or less. The remainder of the journey occupies three or four days on mule-back.

Among the many rich gold mines in Peru, Amanca (17,000 ft.) is notable as being the highest in the world, worked by the hydraulic method. Men working and prospecting in the neighbourhood, showed me lots of quartz with traces of gold in it. I sent samples to M. M. Penny, but just then he was all for tin, so there was nothing doing. The conduits and sluices here were constructed of stone when the Spaniards governed the country. At that time much gold was washed out and sent to Spain by the Viceroy, who had 6000 men employed, washing and digging out gravel. Further on, the Poto River runs through soil that is very auriferous.

In dealing with Indians one has to be careful, for some of them are not above mixing particles of brass with the gold dust. Round about Limbani Indian labour is plentiful and cheap. The men will show one all the likely places, and work for 4s. per day, out of which 2s. is deducted by the employer for the food consumed (mostly Irish stew) and for other incidental expenses.

To get to Amanca one has to leave the train at Crucero Alto (14,666 ft.), on the Arequipa-Puno line; and travel thence on mule-back over the High Plateau. Here sheep and llama are very plentiful. A man I knew, of the name of Creighton, once visited this place, staying with the son of a wealthy man, who had been sent there out of the way by his father, to avoid the consequences of having accidentally killed a man in a brawl. One can also reach this place from Tirapata (12,731 ft.), using mules as the media.

The Indians secure gold by laying a floor of loose stone edgeways. This they flood, and then wash out the gravelly deposit left by the water. I prefer my own method of dealing with the gravel. I used to pan it out in a basin with a little quicksilver. Whatever sticks to that is pure gold.

When I was on my way home to visit my people, and see Mariano Penny at his residence in Aberdeenshire, a Scot gave me some rich samples, which he had taken from the Amanca mine. I tried to induce Penny to let me put in a season with Creighton at Amanca, but found him more enamoured of tin than ever. About this time it had appreciated in value a good deal, hence, I suppose, he thought it more profitable to send me to locate mines in Bolivia.

At Poto, according to Creighton, the thermometer often registers 104 degrees in the sun and 37 in the shade. I can quite believe that. As a matter of fact, at the foot of the Cerro Volcan and Cerro San Pedro in the Great Atacama desert, the markings, for ten consecutive days, ranged from 80 to 83 degrees in the sun, and from 30 to 40 in the shade. I used to attach a string to a toe of my Indian servant, so that I might rouse him at 7 a.m., and I generally found the temperature then well below zero. One of the inspectors of the Antofagasta and Bolivia line said I was lucky, as six weeks before I arrived upon the scene, the temperature at 7 a.m. was 16 degrees below zero, and so continued at that hour for fifteen days on end. I was jolly glad to have avoided that experience.

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Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

A Nice Little Smack in the Eye

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 2

At Caxamarca, in 1921, I met two Italians who had an experience that should act as a sufficient warning to other treasure hunters. Two years previous to the Great War, as they were working on the tunnel of an old mine that had been lost to sight for many years, they came across a big slab; this, when lifted up, disclosed an iron box which contained an old document. After describing a Conventille not far from where the Italians were working, it continued, “If you dig at the place indicated, you will find, about five feet down, the stone roof of a big cellar. Raise the slabs in the left-hand corner; you will then see a stone stairway. At the bottom there is rich treasure of gold and silver and precious stones.”

The Italians followed the instructions to the letter, and had reached the stairway, when one of the ten Indians they had engaged to assist them, raised the alarm. A squadron of cavalry could be seen topping the horizon! Hastily covering up their excavations, the treasure seekers prepared to make themselves scarce; but were intercepted by the Prefect of the district, who demanded to see the authority under which they pursued their inquiries. Of course none was forthcoming; so they were ordered to clear off. Being in a mortal funk, they obeyed the Prefect’s imperious command, with as little delay as possible. Six months later, when they thought the affair had blown over, they sneaked back again, intending to make a fresh start. Hard lines! They found the Prefect had been busy in the interim, and had unearthed a vast amount of treasure! This would have benefited the Italians, had they but given the usual notice to the Government.

In 1921 the Italians revisited the spot, intending to comply with all the rules and regulations. Alas! they found the Prefect had done his work so effectually that there was nothing left for them. I met them both coming and going, and they told me they had to be content with the £3000 they got for the old mine they had discovered. Even so, they came out better than I did over the old Cheeta mine which I rediscovered in the San Juan province of the Argentine. I was reported and denounced for not complying with the mining laws of the Argentine. Instead of having my full complement of men I had only a caretaker. The man who denounced me put on forty men. Six months later he sold the mine for £7000 cash, his dump and 4 per cent. of the profits resulting from the four years next ensuing, while I got nothing! What our friends across the Channel would call a nice little smack in the eye.

On the Oroya line is a place called Chusica. For hundreds of years it has been in favour as a resort for persons suffering from pulmonary complaints. It is claimed that the beautiful atmosphere will cure consumption if not too far advanced. Bronchial subjects also find it very beneficial. Besides other game, a few deer can be got here. Conspicuous amongst the many lovely flowers that run riot are the various species of Giant Cacti, whose magnificent blooms, as kaleidoscopic as a rainbow, present an unforgettable tableau.

From Chusica the line mounts higher and higher, until Monte Meggs is reached at an altitude of 15,666 ft. John Meggs, after whom the place is named, constructed the line, which includes the Galera tunnel, one of the most remarkable tunnels in the world, and the highest. It is considerably over 17,000 ft. above the level of the sea. On the way up, the train winds round and round, so that the engine may be seen rounding one bend whilst the tail end is negotiating another. When I travelled by it, the conductor, an old Scotsman, always allowed me to change into my winter clothes in his compartment. After passing Monte Meggs, the line begins to fall away, until it pulls up at Oreya (12,178 ft.), 136 miles from Lima.

I used to know Willie Meggs, Meggs’ eldest son, very well, for I had to do with some of his race-horses in Buenos Ayres. Willie and his father once had a few words about money matters. The old man said he could be either junior partner of the firm, or take £10,000 and clear out. Willie chose the alternative, and bought some race-horses. Amongst others he secured Arundel, whose English form was pretty good, for 2600 guineas off G. Haughton. Altogether he laid out a lot of money. But there was one thing he omitted to do: he didn’t renew his stock from time to time, hence it deteriorated, and after awhile became quite groggy, and he with it. One day his charming wife said to him, “Will, you owe a lot of money. What have you in your pockets?” “Twenty-five dollars,” he replied. “Let me have twenty, and I’ll see what I can do with them.” “Right-o,” said Will. Mrs. Meggs purchased two lottery tickets with the money, one for Meggs and one for herself. That was on the Tuesday. Next day but one, just as they were sitting down to dinner, along came a wire informing Meggs that his ticket had won the premier prize of £5000! Will received the good news very coolly; almost as if the winning of a great prize were of but little importance to him. I tried to persuade him to place £4000 in the London and River Plate Bank, on deposit, pay his debts out of the remaining £1000, and with what was left over, purchase a couple of infirm, good-class race-horses. I offered to train them for him, so that we might both make a bit. I’m sorry to say, however, that Will wouldn’t listen to me, but put the whole £5000 to current account; and when I last had news of him he was as hard up as ever.

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Adventures in Peru, Chapter 17

Fashionable Clobber

Gold, Silver, Emeralds, and Pearls, Part 1

For several years I was engaged rediscovering old mines for M. M. Penny and others. It was a simple matter to find out whether any mine was worth opening again. If there were no dumps outside, and the tunnels were well ventilated, then the mine invariably proved a rich one. I have come across many such both in Peru and Bolivia. On the other hand, a lot of small excavations and a number of dumps visible, was a bad sign.

I shall never forget rediscovering the Carmen mine mentioned in Adventures in Bolivia. This was shown me by an old Indian of ninety. He also told me it was untrue that the Indians were cannibals. It was only after a fight, and to show how they despised their enemies, that they would cast junks of flesh, limbs, etc., of the fallen, on the fire. They certainly chew pieces, but always spit them out afterwards. He was the father of five or six of Penny’s miners. One of them helped my old muleteer, Simon Cruz. He was engaged for me by my old cook, Manuel Maldonado, who died of fever. I stayed with the Indians two months, prospecting and taking samples from Mount Sapo. The river which runs below the Carmen mine is called Corimayo, or Crown of Gold.

From this place the way to Sacambaja leads over the Calatranka range. It is imperative to keep one’s head covered in this atmosphere, even when sitting about after dark; the changes of temperature are so sudden. In many of the villages situated in the high terraces of the Andes, only altitude saves the Indians from sudden death, their habits are so insanitary. There will ever remain in my memory the scent of one street in Oruro!

Chinchillas, the little animals that provide the beautiful and expensive furs so much admired by ladies, are found in the Cordilleras, between 12,000 ft. and 16,000 ft. up. The very finest Chinchilla Reals come from the high mountains of Peru. They are of a beautiful smoke blue tinge, and are worth £500 a dozen. Next in value come the Chinchilla Reals of Bolivia. £240 a dozen is their worth. The first-class Moscatas fetch £180, and the second-class Moscatas £90. The Chinchilliun, a very pretty little fur, obtained by crossing a Chinchilla with a rat, is valued at £20 a dozen. Pelts of the Chinchilla rat are also worth money. These are the prices ruling in London to-day (1923). The Indians use the Furot, a small animal not unlike a ferret, in their trapping expeditions. They value a good Furot at as much as £30. I had to pay £1 for a skin.

To get to the Oroya mine one has to travel from Lima by the Central Railway of Peru, the highest point on this line being 15,565 ft. above sea-level. On the way up you pass San Mateo (10,584 ft.). Oroya is perched at an altitude of 12,175 ft. Just beyond lies the great Cerro Pasco mine, owned by J. D. Haggen, McEwan, and Gentry. These gentlemen spent two million dollars before they got any return. Only one man of the original claim holders, Gallo by name, had done any development work, and he had employed about fifty men. To him Haggen and Co. paid out £56,000. The other holders, who had idled away their time waiting for something to turn up, got nothing. The last time I saw Gallo was at Lima, looking very unhappy in a top hat and frock-coat. After his loose mining gear I dare say his fashionable “clobber” made him feel very uncomfortable. That, however, didn’t prevent him from admiring a fine pair of Clevelands he had recently acquired.

A two-days’ ride on horseback brings one to the fertile valley of Chalapata, where much sugar is grown for conversion into rum and chancaca. The Paroma district occurs three days’ ride further on. Several different sorts or species of potatoes are grown here, and the Indians breed many sheep, cattle, horses, and mules. The mules are very fine, and frequently fetch £70 apiece. Horses are obtainable at from £8 to £20, and are not up to much as may be imagined.

In the forests round about are to be found little bears having tails almost equalling the length of their bodies. The Indians make pets of them, and a friend of mine had one that would drink out of a bottle, and peel bananas like a monkey. Several sorts of monkeys make these forests their home. The Indians say they are good eating, especially the one known as the Red Howler. Of the others, there is a very pretty monkey, much after the style of the Samonga of Zululand. Its fur is long and silky, and bluish grey in colour. The Indians have no use for monkeys, other than as provender, but are always ready to barter their pelts for axes, knives, and other implements.

I got quite a nice parcel of gold here. Part I bought of the natives, and part was washed out by my own Indians. The hills all around are rich in silver and copper as well as gold. One can continue on this route right down to Iquites, passing through league after league of rubber trees. Cinchona and most of the valuable trees indigenous to the tropics, may also be met with. This part is very sparsely populated; but an influx of population may be expected when the railway [is] extended from Aroya. Land which has been very cheap will then appreciate in value.

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