THE MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ANDES

At this period of the world’s progress, when so many marvellous inventions are taking place, one can scarcely realize the intense interest that was awakened by the first discoveries made in the New World. So great was the excitement that the most improbable stories were readily believed.

There were fountains of perpetual youth, Amazonian warriors, mighty giants, and rivers whose beds sparkled with gems and golden pebbles. The reports of every returning adventurer, whatever had been his luck, were tinged with the marvellous. In fact, a world of romance was now open to all and the opportunities to achieve fame and fortune were numberless. The first in the field stood the best chance to win the choicest prizes. Stories that outrivalled the Arabian Nights clouded the realm of reason.

So extraordinary were the accounts that many of the cities of Spain were depleted of their most energetic men. Every craft that could sail the seas was called into use, and the building of new vessels was hastened to completion in order to provide for the needs of adventurous prospectors and would-be explorers.

The conquest of the Aztec Empire, with its millions of treasure, by Cortez had already proved the valiancy of Spanish cavaliers. To add to this, the conquest of the Incas by Pizarro and his followers was regarded a miracle of divine interposition.

As a result, Spanish galleons laden with treasure from the conquered countries ploughed the seas, and untold wealth poured into private and royal coffers. Spanish ambition and greed for gold knew no bounds. Cunning and cruelty were employed by the Spaniards to secure their ends. No trials, no hardships were too great for them to endure. No perils daunted them. Western South America, ruled by viceroys for nearly three centuries, brought to Spain its greatest wealth. One-fifth of all the wealth and treasure acquired was reserved for the crown.

When Pizarro first visited the interior of Peru he found an empire well advanced in the arts of civilization. Its temples within and without were richly decorated with gold. There were thousands of miles of excellent roads, of which two were used for military purposes. One of these extended along the lowlands; the other traversed the grand plateau. These roads crossed ravines bridged with solid masonry and were pierced by tunnels cut through solid rock. The construction of these great roads was a more wonderful achievement than the building of the Egyptian pyramids.

The government was systematically organized and to a certain extent it was both paternal and communal. Agriculture was skilfully carried on by means of fertilization and irrigation.

The sun was the chief deity and object of worship of its people. Their most beautifully adorned and renowned sanctuary was the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco. Besides this sacred edifice there were several hundred inferior temples and places of worship scattered through the empire, all plentifully ornamented with gold and silver. Every Inca ruler was regarded as a descendant of the sun and therefore a sacred person.

According to the popular belief, gold consisted of tears wept by the sun and was therefore a sacred metal suitable for beautifying the palaces of the Incas and temples of worship. Not only were the edifices themselves richly adorned with this precious metal, but the sacred vessels and many of the articles of furniture were made of the same material. Silver, also, was much used, but was not considered sacred. So great was the amount of the precious metals used that each royal palace and temple was a veritable mine.

From 1520 to 1525 reports of a rich empire at the south were circulated among the adventurers congregated at Panama. At length they were confirmed in a great measure by travellers who had voyaged southward along the coast. Francisco Pizarro, a restless spirit who had been associated with Balboa and others in discovery and exploration, determining to test the truth of these reports, made several voyages south.

Finally, he landed on the shores of Peru with an army of followers who numbered less than two hundred. He met with but little opposition from the natives while marching toward the interior, and although he plundered some of the places through which he passed, the people received him with marks of friendship.

In some instances towns of several thousand population were deserted on the approach of the Spaniards, so great was the terror inspired by the white men, especially by those on horseback. At first it was the policy of the invaders to treat the natives with kindness in order to accomplish their purpose, namely, to conquer the Peruvian Empire in the same manner that Cortez had conquered the Aztecs. They were accompanied by two of the natives who previously had been taken to Spain and taught the Spanish language. By this means the Spaniards were able to communicate with the people.

Learning that the Inca ruler, Atahuallpa, was encamped with his army among the mountains, Pizarro sent an embassy to request a meeting with him. It was agreed that they meet at Caxamalca, a strongly fortified city among the sierras. On arriving at the city, the Spaniards found it evacuated. Soon after taking up their quarters there, Atahuallpa arrived and established his camp a short distance outside the city.

Pizarro at once sent word to Atahuallpa to come into the city and sup with him, but asked that, in order to show his faith in the white men and his own good intentions, he should leave all weapons behind. After much persuasion Atahuallpa accepted the invitation and entered the city, with several thousand of his followers, unarmed.

When fairly within the enclosure, a priest approaching the Inca ruler made a harangue about Christianity and demanded that he should submit to the authority of the Spanish king.

“By what authority do you demand such submission?” replied the monarch with flashing eye.

“By this holy book which I hold in my hand,” answered the priest.

Then snatching the volume from the hand of the priest, Atahuallpa scornfully threw it on the ground, saying, “What right have you in my country? I will call you and your companions to an account for the indignities heaped upon me.”

Picking up the book, the priest forthwith went to Pizarro and reported the conduct of the Inca, saying, “It is useless to talk to this dog. At them at once; I absolve you.”

Immediately Pizarro raised his handkerchief for the preconcerted signal, the firing of a gun. Thereupon his soldiers, infantry and cavalry, rushed from their places of concealment upon the defenceless Indians, slaughtering them unmercifully right and left.

The discharge of the arquebuses and cannon, with their smoke, and the charge of the cavalry paralyzed the unsuspecting natives, and the attack became a horrible massacre. Not until thousands of the Indians had been killed and the Inca ruler had been captured did darkness cause the Spaniards to desist from their bloody work. So sudden and terrible had been the onslaught that the haughty monarch himself seemed stunned by the effect.

Realizing the irresistible power of the white men with their wonderful weapons and horses, the natives gave up for a time all thoughts of resistance. In fact, they regarded the Spaniards as superior beings endowed with preternatural gifts.

When the ruler had been kept a prisoner several months, he desired to regain his freedom. By this time he realized the Spaniards’ thirst for gold, and therefore promised to fill the room in which he was confined with it as high as he could reach, and twice to fill an adjoining room with silver, if they would release him.

Pizarro agreed to this proposal; Atahuallpa thereupon sent out messengers to all parts of his empire requesting that the metals in the shape of utensils and ornaments be collected from the royal palaces, temples, and elsewhere and brought to Caxamalca.

On account of the difficulty of transportation, since all the treasure had to be carried on the backs of the natives, many months elapsed before the collections could be made.

When fifteen and one-half million dollars’ worth of gold and a large amount of silver had been delivered at Caxamalca, Pizarro excused the imprisoned ruler from further contributions. At this juncture of affairs Almagro, a co-partner in the Peruvian expedition, arrived on the scene with a strong reinforcement.

On learning of the immense amount of gold and silver collected, the followers of both leaders loudly clamored for its distribution among them, and, taking out the royal fifth part, the remainder was divided according to the rank and service rendered. Then came rumors of an uprising among the natives and of the collection of an army to drive out the invaders, but on investigation these reports were found to be false.

The question then uppermost in the minds of the Spanish leaders was the disposition of the royal prisoner. It was thought that, were he released according to promise, the natives might rally around him and demand the expulsion of the intruders. So it was decided to make charges against him and to have at least the form of a trial in order to give an appearance of justice to the proceedings.

Twelve charges were made against Atahuallpa, nearly all of which were far-fetched and absolutely false. He was found guilty and condemned to death by burning; but at the last moment, when he was chained to a stake and the torch was ready to be applied, the priest in attendance promised that the sentence should be commuted to the easier death by the garrote if he would renounce his idolatry and embrace Christianity. He assented to the proposal, and immediately the modified sentence was carried out. It is not necessary to add that the execution of the Peruvian monarch was the darkest stain on the pages of Spanish colonial history. From this time on the conduct of the Spanish invaders was marked by a most inhuman cruelty toward the natives.

Thinking that he could more easily govern the empire through a native ruler subservient to himself, Pizarro placed Manco, the true heir, on the Peruvian throne. In the meantime, however, parts of the empire rebelled against the new ruler and the Spanish usurpers. Then, when the rebellious tribes had been brought back to their former allegiance, the Spanish leaders quarrelled and fought among themselves.

It was not long before the arrogant and cruel conduct of the Spaniards alienated all friendship on the part of both ruler and his subjects. Manco broke from his masters and, aided by his people, raised the standard of rebellion, determining to make a last supreme effort to rid his subjects of the incubus that was sapping the life of the country.

After many bloody encounters in which both sides sustained severe losses, Manco was killed and the Spanish yoke was firmly fixed on the neck of the people, who for the greater part were consigned to a most inhuman slavery. Thousands perished by the brutal treatment inflicted upon them in the silver mines.

In the course of time Indian slavery was abolished in a great measure by royal proclamation; nevertheless, Spain continued to rule this land for three hundred years before the oppressive yoke was cast off by a successful uprising. It is a pleasure to know that many of the Spanish leaders who were guilty of this heartless cruelty suffered violent deaths in quarrels among themselves or in rebellion against the crown of Spain.

During the period of Spanish rule an immense revenue accrued from working the rich silver mines. Those that filled the Spanish treasure ships so eagerly sought by buccaneers were the mines of Potosi. These silver lodes, extensively worked through Indian slave labor by Hernando and Gonzalo Pizarro, brothers of Francisco Pizarro, were discovered in 1546.

So rich did the lodes prove to be that the city of Potosi sprang up near them and was supported by them, although the site was far from being desirable. Its altitude is about thirteen thousand feet, and it is, therefore, the highest city in the world. It is situated on the bleak side of the Andes, from whose snow-clad peaks cold, piercing winds sweep down over the city. Towering above it is a mountain, honeycombed with shafts, tunnels, and drifts, from which has been taken silver to the value of two billion dollars.

At first it was thought that a location so high above sea level would be unhabitable, but the immense wealth of the silver lodes required many workmen for their development, and these laborers had to be housed and fed.

At the zenith of its prosperity Potosi possessed one hundred seventy thousand inhabitants, and had the distinction of being the largest city in the New World during the first two centuries of its existence. A mint built in 1562, at the expense of over a million dollars, is long since unused. A splendid granite cathedral ornamented with beautiful statuary still attests to the former grandeur of the city.

Some of the richest veins of silver ore in the Potosi mines have been worked out and many mines have been allowed to become filled with water. These conditions, coupled with the low price of silver for many years, have caused the population of the city to dwindle until now there are scarcely more than ten thousand inhabitants and very many of the buildings are in ruins. These mines have produced twenty-seven thousand tons of silver since their discovery, and at the present day many of them are yielding large returns.

The Bolivian plateau is one vast mineral bed abounding in rich mines of copper, tin, silver, and gold. In Bolivia alone there are upward of two thousand silver mines; while some of the richest tin mines in the world are found here. Lodes of pure tin several feet in width have been followed down six hundred feet. Tin mines were recently discovered among the mountains thirteen thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea, near the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Two railroads now reach this high plateau, one from the seaport town of Antofagasta, Chile, to Oruro, Bolivia; the other from Molendo, Peru, to Puño, on Lake Titicaca. The most wonderful railroad in the world and the most costly in its construction, the Oroya Railroad is about one hundred fifty miles long. It begins at Callao, Peru, and ends at Oroya. The highest point reached by it in crossing the Andes is fifteen thousand six hundred and sixty-five feet. It is said that seven thousand lives were lost in its construction. Much of the road-bed was blasted through solid rock on the sides of the mountains. The cost of construction was about three hundred thousand dollars per mile. It has seventy-eight tunnels, the longest being the Gallera tunnel, which pierces Mount Meiggs at the altitude of fifteen thousand six hundred and sixty-five feet. This is the highest place in the world where steam is used as a motive power. Ultimately the road is to be extended to the celebrated mines of Cerro de Pasco, fifty-one miles beyond its present terminus, Oroya.

The chief business of these railroads extending into the Andes is carrying ore, bullion, and wool. Their construction marks the acme of engineering skill; the scenery along them surpasses that of all other regions in its wild ruggedness, grandeur, and sublimity.

In ascending to such great heights quickly one not accustomed to high elevations is apt to experience dizziness, headache, and nausea. At first even the effort to talk on reaching these lofty places by train is laborious. Dogs taken from the lowlands to these elevations are unable to run with speed for a long time, but those which are born and reared in this region easily pursue wild animals.

When the New World was discovered the llama was the only animal used there as a beast of burden. Thousands of these diminutive creatures are still used for transporting ore and bullion in the Andes. Each animal can carry a load of seventy-five pounds or more. This sure-footed animal can travel with its load about fourteen miles a day.

Lake Titicaca is one of the famous lakes of the world. Its name means tin-stone and was doubtless derived from the tin ore found in the vicinity. The lake has an elevation of twelve thousand five hundred and fifty feet, and although nine streams run into it, only one, the Desaguadero, flows out, carrying its waters to Lake Poopo, a small body of salt water nearly three hundred miles south. Lake Titicaca has the same surface level both summer and winter. The outflow never reaches the sea; it is lost by evaporation mainly in Lake Poopo, but the latter frequently overflows into the salt marshes lying to the southward.

Though thin ice may be found in the quiet bays and inlets nearly every morning during the year, the expanse of the lake is never frozen even in the severest weather. A peculiarity about the lake is that not only will iron not rust when left in its waters, but that which was before rusted soon loses its scales of rust after being immersed a few days.

Several steamers ply on the lake carrying chiefly ore and wool. Some of the islands in the lake are inhabited by Indians who eke out a precarious living.

A civilization antedating that of the Incas formerly occupied the region about the lake, as is proved by the remarkable ruins along the shores concerning which the natives told the early Spaniards that they had no record. Three square miles are covered by these ruins, whose walls were made of immense blocks of stone most accurately fitted together, thus giving evidence of the great skill in stone-cutting possessed by the pre-Inca people.

The Inca rulers had beautiful palaces and other edifices on some of the islands. Titicaca Island was regarded as sacred, and at the time of the Spanish conquest was the site of a large temple richly ornamented with gold and silver.

Prospecting in the Andes is attended with great hardships. Few wild animals can be found to furnish food. Food and utensils must be carried on the backs of men, and the greatest difficulty is experienced in traversing the almost inaccessible steeps and deep ravines.

Coal of inferior quality has been found near the shores of Lake Titicaca and is used by the steamers sailing on its waters. Many rich mineral lodes yet remain undiscovered, and a vast number of valuable mines languish for lack of capital to develop them. Frequent revolutions and the insecurity of private property prevent the investment of foreign capital.

The Andes will continue to be a great storehouse of minerals for many years to come.

Muffling the feet of the Peruvian Andes is a long narrow strip drifting dunes of rock waste known as the Atacama Desert. In comparison with this awful desert, the Sahara is said to be a botanical garden. Here during a part of the year a fierce, relentless sun pours down its burning rays on the shifting sands, keeping the air at a scorching heat both day and night. Formerly the region belonged to Bolivia, but it was annexed to Chile as a result of the war of 1881.

For miles and miles not a blade of grass, not a tree, not a shrub is to be seen. All around is a bleak, barren waste destitute of water. Yet underneath these sands lie concealed immense deposits of “nitrates” of untold wealth.

Although small quantities of the nitrates had been sent to Europe for chemical purposes chiefly the manufacture of gunpowder no considerable amount was exported until a fortuitous discovery was made by a Scotchman named George Smith. After wandering over the world for some time Smith settled down in a little village near Iquique, where he had a small garden containing fruit-trees and flowers. In one part of his garden he noticed that the plants grew best where the soil contained a white substance.

He then proceeded to gather a quantity of the material and to experiment with it. To his surprise he found that a mere handful of it greatly stimulated the growth of plants. He told a member of his family in Scotland who was engaged in fruit-growing about the wonderful effects of the material as a fertilizer. As a result several bags of nitrates were distributed among Scottish farmers and fruit-growers. So satisfactory did the fertilizer prove that an immediate call was made for more of it. Thus began a business which now yields the owners of the beds one hundred million dollars yearly.

It was soon found out that the nitrate in its raw state contained properties that were injurious to plants and that these should be first eliminated. Forthwith reduction works were established to extract the deleterious substances. These substances were mainly iodine and bromine, two chemical elements that are of greater value than the nitrates themselves. Within a few years railroads were built to transport the nitrates from the beds to the various ports where the reduction factories were erected.

Many men who had large interests in the nitrate beds became immensely wealthy in a short time. The great value of the deposits caused towns and cities to spring up along the coast in the most inhospitable places, to some of which water was piped a distance of more than two hundred miles and at the cost of many millions of dollars.

The principal nitrate beds are in a shallow valley, four or five thousand feet above sea level, lying between a long range of hills and the base of the Andes. Just how these mineral deposits were formed it is difficult to explain, the most plausible theory being that this desert was once the bottom of an inland sea having vast quantities of seaweed covered with sand. In the gradual decay of this substance the nitrate of soda, or “Chile saltpetre,” was formed.

To obtain the nitrates it is necessary first to remove the top layer of sand and then a layer of clay. Underneath this is found a layer of soft, whitish material called “nitrate.” The crude nitrate is sent to the nitrate ports to be crushed and boiled in sea-water. After boiling, the solution is drawn off into shallow vessels and exposed to the heat of the sun to evaporate.

When nearly all has been evaporated and the remaining liquid drawn off, the bottom and sides of the vessels are found to be covered with sparkling white crystals. This is the saltpetre of commerce, the highest grade of which is used in the manufacture of gunpowder, the second grade for chemical purposes, and the third grade, the great bulk, for fertilizing the exhausted soils of Europe.

The liquid drawn off is crystallized by chemical treatment and further evaporation, and from it is obtained iodine, an ounce of which is worth as much as one hundred pounds of saltpetre. From eighty to one hundred million dollars’ worth of these nitrates are dug out and sold each year. Great Britain takes about one-third of the entire product and Germany one-fifth.

Iquique has the largest shipping trade. From this port about fifty million dollars’ worth of nitrates and three million dollars’ worth of iodine are exported yearly.