many otherwise valuable books published on Spanish America. I have, for instance, in my library the complete works of the recent editions of Peter Martyr, Las Casas and Oviedo y Valdez, not to mention other similar productions on American history, but not one of them has either index or annotations of any kind. The consequence is that the reader, unless thoroughly familiar with their contents, is obliged to lose much valuable time whenever he consults them a loss that would be obviated if the books were properly indexed and annotated.

I refer especially to the necessity of illustrative notes, because of the many changes in the names of places since the time of the conquest, and of the different ways of writing the same names, as well as of the various and contradictory statements sometimes observed of different authors regarding localities and events. Giving the reader the advantage of the researches of such investigators as Raimondi, Mendiburu and Paz Soldan, the study of Peruvian history would be invested with all the interest and charm of a romance, and the story of the land of the Incas, which has always had an interest possessed by that of no other country in South America, would then have a fascination that would be irresistible.

I have dwelt somewhat at length on the literary and scientific features of Lima because they appealed to me more than any other. I have also wished to voice the sentiments of many others who, I know, entertain the same views as I do regarding the matter in question, and at the same time speak a word in behalf of the future Irvings and Prescotts who, in the days to come, shall transmute the dry records of the early chroniclers into imperishable masterpieces of literature. I would not, however, have the reader infer that I was indifferent to the many other attractions of this fair capital, or that I did not appreciate them at their full value. Nothing is farther from my purpose.

Lima is to-day, as truly as it was in the time of the vice

roys, La Perla del Pacifico. The beauty, the grace and the talent of her daughters still retain the same supremacy as they did when they inspired the songs of the poet who frequented the tertulias and academias of the viceregal court, and it is not rare to meet a fair Limanian of whom one can truthfully say, in the words of Calderon, that "she is crowned with beauty and laureled with knowledge": "Se coronó de hermosura,

Se laureó de entendimiento."

The culture, generosity and nobility of her sons is in keeping with the best traditions of the mother country and exhibit that peculiar Spanish cachet which is the distinctive mark of the best and truest Americanism in the lands of Pizarro, Quesada and Cortes.1

The visitor will not now find that display and luxury which in other days characterized the City of the Kings. The streets are no longer paved with silver ingots nor adorned with silver arches, as when the Count de Lemos and the Duke de Palata entered the capital as the representatives of the sovereigns of Spain. But, notwithstanding the absence of these things, there is everywhere evidence of wealth and comfort. And were one not informed of the fact, one would find it difficult to believe the city had passed through the horrors of the disastrous Chilean

1 Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa, op. cit., Tom. II, Lib. I, Cap. V, found, as does the traveler to-day, the personal charms of the women of Lima "heightened by those of the mind, clear and comprehensive intellect, an easiness of behaviour, so well tempered, that while it invites love, it commands respect. The charms of their conversation are beyond expression, their ideas just, their expressions pure, their manners inimitably graceful. These are the allurements by which great numbers of Europeans, forgetting the fair prospects they have at home, are induced to marry and settle here."

Another traveler, writing of the men of Peru, declares, and with truth, that they "have fallen heirs to the courtly grace and admirable savoir faire, which made the Knights of Santiago and Alcantara famous among the first gentlemen of Europe four centuries ago, and which, descending to their children and children's children, have become characteristic of Spanishspeaking people all over the world."

occupation but a few decades ago. On every side one observes surprising indications of material progress and prosperity. The population, which now counts one hundred and fifty thousand souls, is rapidly increasing, and large and stately structures, worthy of any capital in the world, are being erected in every part of the city. Among these are banks, mercantile and manufacturing establishments, which represent an immense expenditure for buildings and equipment. Foreign investors, having entire confidence in the power and stability of the government, have large interests here as well as in other parts of the republic, and the number of capitalists in Europe and the United States who are seeking investments in the "golden land of Peru" is constantly augmenting. English, Germans, French, Italians are quite numerous here, and all of them do an extensive business. Our own country is splendidly represented by W. R. Grace and Company, and by a number of successful mining syndicates; but the United States is far from occupying her proper place here in the world of commerce and industrial enterprise. There are countless openings here for wide-awake business men, and fame and fortune await those who know how to take advantage of the rare opportunities that are now offered in the marts of commerce, in the mines of the sierra and in the forest-clad regions of the upper Amazon basin.

When one notes the energy and enterprise of its citizens, and observes the remarkable progress they are making along every line of human endeavor, one can easily predict, without the slightest fear of erring, that the erstwhile City of the Kings will ere long have recovered all her former prestige as an emporium of commerce, and that she will again deserve, as in days gone by, the proud title of Reina del Pacifico-Queen of the Pacific.

CHAPTER XV

THE REALM OF THE GREAT CHIMU

The time had at last arrived for starting on my long journey across the Andes and down the Amazon. And, although I had all along felt that I should prefer to go by way of Cajamarca and Moyabamba, my itinerary from Lima to Pará had not yet been definitely determined. Many of my Peruvian friends, among them prominent government officials, strongly recommended the recently opened Pichis and Pachitea route. This would be much shorter and easier than any other, and could, compared with the other routes, be traversed with the minimum of fatigue and discomfort. The only arduous part of it would be a few days' travel on horseback between Oroya, the terminus of the railroad, and Puerto Bermudes, the head of navigation on the Pichis river. Arrived at this point, one could go by steamer to Iquitos on the Amazon, where one would find vessels going directly to Europe and the United States. This has for some years been the popular route, and the one usually chosen by the employés of the government who are engaged in the Department of Loreto, which comprises the northeastern part of the republic.

President Pardo, who was kind enough to take an interest in my projected journey across the continent, likewise favored the Pichis route. And then with a kindness I can never forget he said, "Two new launches, built specially for service on the Pichis and Ucayali rivers, have recently arrived in Iquitos and will, in a few days, make their maiden trips to Puerto Bermudes. I should be delighted to put one of these at your disposition and do anything

else in my power that will enable you to make the journey to the Amazon with the maximum of pleasure and profit. The way by Cajamarca is long and difficult, and implies a journey of nearly a month on horseback, in addition to a week's tramp through the almost trackless montaña, where there is not a single habitation of any kind."

As in La Paz, when a similar courteous offer was made me by the president of Bolivia, I begged for time to consider the matter. I had so set my heart on seeing Cajamarca, so famous in the annals of the conquest, that I did not wish to think of a route that would preclude the fruition of this desire. The fact that the journey by way of Cajamarca would be much longer and more arduous, far from deterring me from undertaking it, was rather an additional incentive to my making it. I had come to study the people of the country rather than dark and uninhabited forests, like those bordering the banks of the Ucayali, and I was, therefore, disinclined to allow the matter of ease and comfort to be the deciding factors regarding my itinerary. Besides this, there was the old sentimental objection against the Pichis route. It was off the line of travel of the conquistadores, and was otherwise entirely devoid of historic and romantic interest.

The day after my interview, I attended a banquet given at the National Club by the president of the Peruvian Corporation. Among those present were two retired government officials, who had rendered distinguished service to the republic in the cities of Trujillo and Chacahpoyas. Our host, who had, on various occasions during my travels in Peru, extended me special courtesies, which I shall always gratefully remember, and who was aware of my intention to start for the Amazon in a few days, asked these gentlemen what they thought of the Cajamarca route as compared with the one by way of Puerto Bermudes.

"If," said the former prefect of Chachapoyas, "one wishes to get off the beaten track, and see the Peru of colonial times, where the manners and customs of the