Chapter I: Front Matter

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INCALAND

INCALAND

A Story of Adventure in the Interior of Peru and the Closing Chapters of the War with Chile

by

CLAUDE H. WETMORE

Author of “Fighting Under the Southern Cross,” etc.

With Illustrations by H. Burgess

Boston and Chicago W. A. Wilde Company

Copyright, 1902, By W. A. Wilde Company. All rights reserved.

INCALAND.

Preface.

Since the years of the Chile-Peruvian War—1879-1883—a great change has come over the land where the Incas once held power. Military rulers have yielded place to men chosen from the civil walks of life; the large standing army has been disbanded, and the pick, hoe, and shovel replace sword, bayonet, and rifle.

Peru’s decline, from the days of Pizarro until near the close of the nineteenth century, was due to the ease with which natural wealth could be acquired. The stages of the nation’s fall are marked by gold, guano, and nitrate of soda. Spaniards lived in opulence while Indian slaves unearthed the yellow metal. Later, Peruvians lived in idleness while coolies and peons shovelled the most productive of all fertilizers from the surface of the Chincha and Lobos Islands. Then in the south was found an equally rich and equally accessible source of revenue in the nitrate of soda.

All gold that lay in sight was exhausted by the Spaniard; all guano was stripped from the treasure islands; and finally, Chile wrested from Peru the nitrate provinces.

It is this period of time—when Peru’s last visible means of wealth was passing from her—that is covered in “Fighting under the Southern Cross” and “Incaland.”

Peru emerged from beneath the war cloud staggering under the burden of a foreign debt. To her relief came representatives of an Anglo-American syndicate. “Give us your railroads for sixty-nine years,” they said. “We will extend them into the fertile interior, and as compensation we will assume your obligations.” Peru acquiesced. The Grace-Donoughmore contract was signed. Bondholders were satisfied.

The shackles of debt cast one side, the men of Peru turned to work, guided by the rulers chosen from civil life who had been placed in power. They no longer depended upon the labor of a few to maintain the majority in indolence.

They tunnelled and dug in the Sierra region and brought to light a wealth of copper; they sank wells in the north and were rewarded with flowing oil; they constructed irrigation canals in Piura Province, and developed a cotton which, because of its lustre and resemblance to wool, is creating a furore in the New York and Liverpool markets.

Gold, guano, nitrate, are the tombstones of old Peru; agriculture and mining are the watchwords of the new.

The dawn of a brighter day for Incaland is glinting over the Andean chain.

Contents.

CHAPTER PAGE
I. IN THE ANDES 11
II. THE MONTAÑA OF PERU 32
III. A SNAKE AND A PUMA 44
IV. IN THE COILS OF A BOA 54
V. HUARI, AND THE STORY OF THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTESS 66
VI. A DISCOVERY AND AN ALARM 85
VII. THE CANNIBALS OF PERU 99
VIII. THE FORT ON THE MARAÑON 113
IX. ATTACKED BY CANNIBALS 125
X. NEAR TO DEATH’S DOOR 137
XI. BEYOND THE WHITE ROCK 142
XII. HARVEY AS A SENTRY 157
XIII. BELLA CACERAS RECOGNIZES A VOICE 170
XIV. BLOCKADE OF CALLAO HARBOR 186
XV. DARNING THE NEEDLE 200
XVI. JOHN LONGMORE’S REVENGE 207
XVII. JOHN LONGMORE’S REVENGE (CONTINUED) 219
XVIII. JOHN LONGMORE’S REVENGE (CONCLUDED) 236
XIX. A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE 248
XX. A CHASE INTO THE PAMPAS COUNTRY 261
XXI. OLD GLORY IN THE BAY 282
XXII. DARK DAYS IN INCALAND 292
XXIII. AN APPEAL TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 296

Illustrations.

PAGE

“He ran forward, closely followed by the others”

_Frontispiece_ 41

“Ran ... to the side of his friend, whom he seized by the collar” 61

“Angry copper-colored faces showed at the opening” 135

“This engine of death drifted slowly into the mist” 216

“Two black streaks, bearing fluffy burdens of white, were moving 280
swiftly down the moonlit road”

INCALAND.