Chapter XI: Appendix: On the Zoology of Western Peru (3)

[55] Cuntur de Ccuncuni—_to smell ill_—so called because the condor emits an offensive smell. This name and that of “puma” were celebrated among the ancient Peruvians: they were used as appellatives or surnames in many illustrious families, whose descendants yet live, occupying the rank of Indian nobility or caciques. According to the meaning of these words, it appears that there were two orders of superior dignity in the empire of the Incas,—that of the Condor and Lion; and hence the origin of the surnames, Apucuntur, or Great Condor, as if we were to say, Great Eagle; Cunturpusac, or chief of eight Condors; Cuntur-canqui, Condor, by way of excellence, or Great Master of the Order; Colquipuma, or Lord of the Silver Lion. Cuntur-apachecta is the distinguishing epithet applied to the loftiest peaks of the Andes; denoting that these are sites among which only the Condor, of all the tenants of the air, can take up his abode.

[56] Here the translator would beg leave to remark, that the common carrion vulture, or gallinaza, is a tame and useful scavenger, very fond of taking up his station on spires, high walls, and house-tops: but, as for the bold and soaring condor, he never saw him frequent crowded cities, or sit on spires, as if this king of vultures had come in the spirit of pride imagined by Dr. Unanue.

[57] That this belief in the moromoro’s strength and courage is founded on fact, is not very improbable; and that the condor was believed in ancient times, before sheep or lambs were known on the Andes, to carry off young infants, appears from the small drinking-cups which are sometimes dug from guacas, in which the stone is so cut out as to represent the condor carrying off an infant in its talons. The pieces of silver usually found in guacas are representations of natural objects.—Translator.

[58] See Letter of Iturre to Mr. Muños: zancudos, flies, and mosquitos are most troublesome in Andalusia.

N. B. The translator would not venture to decide the question, whether the cimex be more abundant in the metropolis of France or of Peru; but he considers it not unimportant to state, from his knowledge of the fact, that the only effectual means of destroying these insects in Lima, where they are certainly a great nuisance, is to brush over the bed with an infusion of the bruised seeds of the anona (of Lambayeque) in lime or lemon juice. For another set of tormentors, _fleas_, the natives on some occasions use traps, consisting merely of a piece of _bayeta_ or baize, which is placed on the part where the enemy is felt to bite; and, as soon as the fleas get into it, they become so entangled in its meshes, that they are caught and executed at once,—for even the fairest hand can show them no mercy. It is curious to observe that, when one is affected with a paroxysm of ague, no fleas come near him: either the aguish blood or perspiration offends them.

The locust is one of the insects sometimes seen in multitudes on the aroma trees of the warm valleys, which they strip of every leaf in a very short time; just as the cauliflowers are devoured by caterpillars and swarms of butterflies of great beauty. The glow-worm often shines among the groves and avenues in a warm and dark night; and at Tarma, celebrated for the fine texture and beautiful tints of its _ponchos_, the cochineal insect is reared on beds of cacti, planted for the purpose, all round the town.—Translator.

[59] The Indians of North America called God the Great Man. See Jefferson’s note on Virginia, page 56.

[60] See Garcilaso, t. i. page 313.

[61] It is evident, from the concluding query and remark of Dr. Unanue, that he suspected some speculators in the science of geology of no small share of credulity; and it also appears that he had not himself examined the bony fragments to which he alludes. Had these come to his hands, it is probable that he might have been able to ascertain such specific and distinct characters as should have served to satisfy him that the teeth in his possession were not only by report, but in fact, parts of those skeletons from among which they appear to have been picked up. We may believe that they were conveyed to Lima chiefly on account of their more portable size; while the other more unwieldy bones would have been considered too heavy for being removed so far, by persons who may not have known their scientific value to the geologist.—Translator.

[62] The periods of the great earthquakes of Peru are thus recorded by Dr. Hipolito Unanue.

Arequipa. Lima. Quito.
In the year 1582 1586 1587
1604 1630 1645
1687 1687 1698
1715 1746 1757
1784 1806 1797

The same author also mentions the following epochs of volcanic explosions.

In Quito.
Cotopaxi, 1534, 1742, 1744.
Pichincha, 1539, 1566, 1577, 1660.
In Arequipa.
Quinistacas, 1600.

[63] Each “_topo_,” that is, an extent of 5,000 square yards of this soil, is valued at 1,000 dollars; and every six weeks a harvest of “_salitre_,” or the sub-carbonate of soda, is reaped by the owners.

[64] Vitor, here alluded to by Mr. Rivero, is one of the chief valleys in the vicinity of Arequipa. It extends from inland, in a north-west direction, to the large and well-watered valley of Quilca on the coast, and to the north of Islay: on the other hand, to the south-west, is the extensive, rich, and populous valley of Tambo.

Between the vales of Vitor and Tambo there is a sandy, hot desert, (intensely cold at midnight,) with a gradual ascent, through which passes the road from Islay to Arequipa; and on the scorched plain, great numbers of wearied and exhausted cattle are let loose to perish for want of water and pasture; so that along the way-side are to be seen the skeletons and hides of animals sun-dried, and in different grotesque attitudes. Travellers have remarked that along this arid plain, which extends about twenty leagues inland, there are numerous moveable sandhills of regular figure like a half-moon, with the convex side always looking to the sea.—Translator.

[65] Arequipa is above the level of the sea, according to Mr. Rivero’s observations, 2704 yards; but he considers that Mr. Pentland has been more exact in estimating its altitude, with the barometer of Fortin, at 2697 yards.

[66] Some months ago, the attention of the public had been called to this subject by the Hon. P. Campbell Scarlett, in a work entitled South America and The Pacific; and, only a few weeks since, a prospectus of a new steam-packet company, under the denomination of Pacific Steam Navigation Company, has been circulated in London. Mr. William Wheelwright has, we believe, the merit of being the zealous projector of this very important undertaking, which now promises to be crowned with success.

[67] “_Huascar’s chain of gold._”—See Garcilaso de la Vega. Huascar, in Quichua, signifies ‘chain;’ and that Inca was so called from an immense chain of gold which was made in his honour. If I remember well, Garcilaso tells us that it required eight hundred men to support the weight of it. It remains buried to this day in a lake not far from Cuzco.

[68] “_Let Indian pipe._”—The Indians of Alto Peru mourn the Incas in “tristes,” which they play upon a kind of pipe. In the time of the Spaniards, at one time they were forbidden to tune these mournful airs, from political motives.

[69] “_And Indian maid._”—Many of the Indian women wear a dark drapery suspended from the left shoulder, and falling down to the mid-leg, as mourning for their Incas.

[70] Who is insensible to the sad wild note of the cuculi, the nightingale of this country?

[71] Let any one see the snow-capt mountains at the back of Lima, and that city of spires lying among the dark orange groves at their feet, at daybreak from Callao, and he will say the sight is worth a stave at least; and yet I wish I had never seen it.

[72] Buena Vista, the seat of John Thomas, Esq.

[73] The famous Temple of Pachacamac, whose mighty ruins form a beautiful object from Buena Vista. Pachacamac, like the Temple of Cholula on the plains of Mexico, is a sort of made mountain or vast terraced pyramid of earth. It would be difficult to produce any evidence more conclusive to the benignity of the climate than that which is exhibited on the interior walls of this temple, whereof the mud plaster, though exposed for centuries to the action of the atmosphere, remains to this day with its rude paintings of red and yellow ochre as inviolate and fresh as if it were the work of yesterday. By the bye, it may not be impertinent to mention, that, among these paintings, we find what is called the Grecian Scroll, which, if I am not mistaken, the Grecians borrowed from the Egyptians. This may serve to throw some light upon the origin of Pachacamac. Like that of Mexico,—nay, with still more emphatic gesture,—the gigantic architecture of Peru points to the Cyclopian family, the founders of the Temple of Babel and of the Egyptian Pyramids. I believe (see Garcilaso) that the Temple of Pachacamac was standing when that part of the coast was conquered by the Incas, so that there is no knowing its age.

[74] Old Green’s Nonpareil, where the Hearts of Oak meet.

[75] “_Like stars_,” &c.—The milky way, which, by the bye, is far grander in the southern than in the northern hemisphere, seems to have been formed by the mutual gravitation of myriads of stars. The dark spots which follow the course of that magnificent nebula, on each side of it, are probably the spaces which the stars have left vacant and lustreless.—See Herschel on Nebulæ.

THE END.

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