60 



AIlCHuEOLOGlCAL AND ETHNOLOGICAL 



celebrated coca. The use of this plant is by no means so harmless as is represented 

 by its admirers. The men 1 saw were miners, who used the coca daily. Their 

 external appearance presented tlie symptoms of a cachectic decay of the system. 

 Their bodies were thin and ratlier emaciated, with a sallow color of the skin; and 

 any person once familiar with these symptoms could easily recognize those who use 

 the coca. The property of alleviating hunger ascribed to coca might be compared 

 with that of tobacco and rum. Those who use these poisons claim likewise that 

 they are a substitute for nourishment. The use of coca is surely not less destruc- 

 tive to the organism than alcohol, but a great deal more so than tobacco. 



Owin" to a revolution in the country I was unable to visit Lima by an overland 

 route, and was compelled to go to Trujillo, where I visited the pyramidal structure 

 of sun-dried bricks known as the Temple of the Sun, and the celebrated ruins of 

 Chimu. Many fabulous stories were current in regard to the great treasures which 

 were found in Chimu and those wliich are still supposed to be hidden there. I 

 shall not say anything about these places, as Mr. Squier had made a special study 

 of both. 



In Wlniamatschuco, the port of Trujillo, I embarked in a British steamer for 

 Lima. While waiting 1 observed with admiration the dexterity with which the 

 fishermen were able to brave the surf in coming to and going from the shore in 

 their little canoes. This canoe has a peculiar shape, almost that of a skate, only 

 that it is round and with an upright point in front. It is constructed of thin bam- 

 boos, with an opening in the middle in which the oarsman kneels, and in wliich he 

 puts anything he catches. As an oar he uses a double paddle of split bamboo five 

 feet long and five inches broad at each end, narrowing towards the middle. One 

 man occupies and manages the canoe, riding the surf as if it were the easiest thing 

 in the world. 



In Lima I witnessed the height and end of the revolution. During a street 

 figlit I heard the whistling of the bullets, a few of which struck the college in wliich 

 I was located. The resignation of the President of the Republic put an end to 

 the revolution. 



The Peruvians are very anxious to promote foreign immigration; nevertheless 

 the congress in its session before my arrival passed a law by which foreign-born 

 citizens are excluded not only from the presidency and vice-presidency of the 

 republic, but also are not allowed to be ministers, members of congress, and pre- 

 fects of the departments; and tliis applies even to those foreign-born citizens wlio 

 fought and bled in the war for independence. 



One thing is certain ; however defective the character of the Peruvians and of the 

 inhabitants of other countries of tropical America may be, it is, as a general rule, 

 superior to that of the Europeans and North Americans residing in those countries. 

 The truth of this can be best seen in those regions which are rarely or never fre- 

 quented by foreigners, and consequently have not been so much contaminated by 

 European vices. On the other hand, those native-born citizens are the worst who 

 have travelled abroad, or who are in continuous or frequent intercourse with foreign- 

 ers. An Italian merchant in Cnsaxmalca assi^jned very acutely the reason for this. 

 He said: "There are but two classes of foreigners who come to this country; the 



