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NOTICES OF PERU. 341 



We dug in several places, without being able to find any- 

 thing. At last we inquired of an Indian, who vvas fishing with a 

 cast net, where the graves were found, and what were the in- 

 dications by which we might discover them. He told us that 

 there were none, except to stamp upon the ground, and dig 

 where it sounded hollow, MVe pursued this plan with consi- 

 derable success. 



The surface is covered over with sand an inch or two deep, 

 which being removed, discovers a stratum of salt, three or four 

 inches in thickness, that spreads all over the hill. Immediately 

 beneath, are found the bodies, in graves or holes, not more 

 than three feet in depth. 



The body was placed in a squatting posture, with the knees 

 drawn up, and the hands applied to the sides of the head. The 

 whole was enveloped in a coarse but close fabric, with stripes 

 of red, which has withstood wonderfully the destroying effects 

 of ages, for these interments were made before the conquest, 

 though at what period is not known, A cord was passed about 

 the neck on the outside of the covering, and in one case we 

 found deposited upon the breast a small bag, containing five little 

 sticks about two inches and a half long, tied in a bundle by two 

 strings, which broke in our efforts to open the bag. A native 

 gentleman told me that drinking vessels, and the implements 

 of the occupation pursued by the deceased while living, as bal- 

 sas, paint brushes, &:c., were frequently found in these graves,* 



Several of the bodies which we exhumed, were in a perfect 

 state of preservation. We found the brain dwindled to a crumb- 

 ling mass, about the size of a hen's egg — perhaps adipocire? 

 The cavity of the chest was nearly empty, and the heart con- 

 tained what seemed to be indurated blood, which cut with as 

 much facility as rich cheese. It was reddish black. The mus- 

 <iles cut like hard smoked beef. 



f Arica was founded not long after the conquest, though at 

 what period is not recorded. It is 2S0 leagues from Lima, 80 

 from Arequipa, and 14 from Tacna. In 1579, when visited by 

 Sir Francis Drake, in the Golden Hind, it contained only 



* See Calancha, Herrera, Garcilaso, Sec. 



