430 The Andes and the Amazons. 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 



The Commerce of Peru.— Her vast Possibilities.— The present Source of 

 her Wealth. 



It would be quite as easy to ascertain the revenue of 

 Atahuallpa as to find out the present exports and imports 

 of Peru. Both are impossible. The wildest confusion 

 prevails in the custom-houses, as well as in the miuds of 

 the people, regarding the commerce of the republic. But 

 better days are coming, as the government has just estab- 

 lished a statistical bureau. 



Peru, under the Incas, was essentially an agricultural 

 nation, without trade, and with few mechanical arts. In 

 many respects it resembled the Hebrew nation. The em- 

 pire must have been a magnificent shell that should so 

 suddenly collapse on the appearance of a hundred Span- 

 iards. It is a signal proof that agriculture alone wiU not 

 preserve a people. Roads there were, but for military 

 communication, not for commerce. Pizarro had sense to 

 see that Cuzco was too far inland ; so he founded Lima, 

 the most lasting monument of his wisdom. 



Peru, like India, has long been the synonym for wealth ; 

 but she no longer leads the South American republics in 

 enterprise and thrift, for Chile now bears the palm. Peru 

 has reached her level for the present. By a system of of- 

 ficial stealing and reckless financiering, she has brought 

 herself to the verge of banki-uptcy. Every body seeks of- 

 fice, to sap, not to serve, the government. Every city hangs 

 on the skirts of Lima. Arequipa, the second city in Peru, 

 stands like a beggar at the door of the public treasury, re- 

 ceiving $80,000 annually ; and even imperial Cuzco holds 



