PERU. 



617 



lor tho n>:i>l from Ar.-.mipa through tlio great 

 linliaii district of Kino to Luke '1 iii.-.n-a. 



'1 IK- dangerous season fr iVv.-rs ami i-pi- 

 ikmic9, by which tho population of Lima was 



, ly decimated almost every \< 

 oil* \\itlimit :my appearance of sickness. This 

 was mainly attrilmteil to the great improve- 

 ments in all matters pertaining to hygiene, and 

 hopes were entertained that the plague might 

 thus ho averted in future. 



Tho rich silver-mino throughout tho interior 

 of tho republic were attracting very general 

 attention. At Cerro do Pasco, which was 

 always oonsidered as second to the deposits of 

 , great improvements had been effected, 

 by means of which it was confidently expected 

 that tho yield of the mines, which had recently 

 been all but abandoned, would increase in an 

 unprecedented degree. A railway, 14,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea, was completed, con- 

 necting the mines with the haciendas or wash- 

 ing-places. Some of the old shafts, which had 

 formerly yielded enormous percentages of ore, 

 but for the last thirty years had been choked 

 up with water, wore pumped dry,' and would 

 soon be in working order, when it was expected 

 the Cerro do Pasco would become the most 

 important silver district in South America. 



The new session of Congress opened in the 

 earlier part of August, when some very im- 

 portant bills were presented and carried. Tho 

 bill granting amnesty and pardon to all political 

 offenders, whether in confinement or in foreign 

 countries, passed both Chambers, and was im- 

 mediately put into effect by the President. This 

 measure went far to prove the confidence of 

 the Government in the continuance of public 

 tranquillity, and the futility of further attempts 

 at revolution. 



The introduction of Chinese labor is. becoming 

 a question of much importance. For many years 

 past, the great estates had been worked almost 

 exclusively by coolies, but the price paid for 

 them by the planters was so exorbitant, and 

 the monopoly enjoyed by the company, formed 

 to import the Chinese, so onerous, that a dif- 

 ferent system was determined upon. A largo 

 number of the wealthiest planters organized 

 an association with a capital of $1,000,000, to 

 import this labor on their own account, and 

 guaranteed to supply all that may be required 

 at a rate much more reasonable than that 

 hitherto demanded. No doubt can be enter- 

 tained of the wisdom of this measure, and tho 

 numerous fertile plantations now idle for want 

 of laborers will contribute their share to tho 

 wealth of Peru. During the last fourteen years 

 more than forty-five thousand coolies were in- 

 troduced into Peru, generally of the worst pos- 

 sible class, working under contract for a certain 

 length of time. On many occasions risings of 

 these Chinese had taken place, but, although 

 in some instances followed by fatal results, 

 these insurrectionary movements had generally 

 been suppressed without great difficulty. But 

 a rising of a more dangerous character, and of 



far greater proportions, took place in Scptem- 



liT nil tli- II CStateS Of Plitivilru 



and (lalpoii, about 150 miles north of Lima. 

 On these plantations nearly twelve hundred 

 Chinese were employed, and in the immediate 

 vicinity in the neighboring estates more than 

 four thousand of tho coolies were collected. 

 For several months symptoms of dissatisfac- 

 tion had been noted among these laborers, but 

 tho overseers and owners, trusting to their 

 authority and power, paid but little attention 

 to these manifestations. Unfortunately, no 

 precautions were taken against surprise. The 

 Chinese, left in tranquillity, were able to mature 

 their plans, and concert their programme of 

 action. A favorable opportunity soon presented 

 itself. An agent of the estate of Pativilca had 

 arrived from Lima with a large sum of money 

 destined for the payment of 'the laborers, and 

 the purchase of cotton from the surrounding 

 planters. While this person, together with tho 

 overseer, the physician, and several other em- 

 ploye's, were at supper on the night of the 4th 

 of September, the dining-room doors were 

 suddenly broken open, and a crowd of nearly 

 two hundred coolies, armed with stakes, pick- 

 axes, shovels, scythes, and every imaginable 

 weapon, burst in upon the astonished whites. 

 In less time than is required to narrate it the 

 Chinese had murdered all of their victims save 

 one, who, being wounded, fell under the table, 

 and was thought to be dead. Sacking the 

 house, and securing the revolvers and rifles on 

 hand, the insurgents proceeded to the adjacent 

 hacienda of Galpon, and there repeated the 

 same barbarities. Not satisfied with killing the 

 whites they encountered, the most revolting 

 atrocities were practised on their dead bodies, 

 and delicate women and children subjected to 

 shameful and cruel torture. The number of 

 the Chinese now amounted to 1,100 ; their 

 movements appeared to be directed with some 

 degree of intelligence by one who seemed to 

 be hailed as chief, and, having secured all the 

 money and valuables to be found in the estates, 

 a larger game was attempted in the sacking of 

 the little village of Barranca, about three miles 

 distant. In the mean time the owner of an 

 estate that lay on tho road to that village was 

 notified by a friendly coolie of the approach 

 and designs of the marauders. Hastily placing 

 his wife and family in tho chapel belonging to 

 the plantation, he, with another friend, strongly 

 barred the doors, and received the advancing 

 column with the fire of their rifles. The 

 Chinese were vigorous in the attack, but, un- 

 accustomed to the use of firearms, they fell 

 easily before the defenders of the church. In 

 less than two hours these two brave men had 

 killed and wounded more than sixty of tho 

 assailants. So desperate, indeed, had become 

 the attempts of the latter that a retreat was 

 determined upon. The inhabitants had had 

 time to make some slight preparations for de- 

 fence. An impromptu breastwork was erected 

 at the entrance to the village, and forty men, 



