Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
left no doubt that he could hold his own with any horse tamer or mule driver. Yes, Mr W. had
been a good and easy learner, and if ever he had to give a moral lecture after his spell in the
mountains, I have no doubt that he was able to deliver it in most expressive and convincing
language.
He had hardly left when heavy rains began to pour down, and when I met him again some
three years later, he told me that his adventures had by no means come to an end, for the lorry
was held up owing to landslides, and further along some bridges had been washed away and
hehadtocrossovertworiversinbasketshungoncables.FinallyhearrivedinLima,andafter
two months his wounds had healed completely, leaving only a few scars to remind him of his
joyride across one of the Andean ranges.
The history and legends of Ayacucho are most fascinating. It was close to this place that a
small army of Independents defeated the Spaniards, a little over a hundred years ago.
According to an old legend, an Inca was holding council with his consort when a falcon
rose in the distance, and pointing towards the bird the Inca exclaimed, '
hua manca!
' (there
goes a falcon). This having been considered a lucky omen, a village was founded there and
named Huamanca. When the Spaniards invaded Peru, this village at one time marked the
dividing line between conquered and unconquered territory of the Incas, and the invaders
changed the name of Huamanca to San Juan de la Frontera. There the Spaniards built the first
church in South America, and this is still standing.
The original village, Ayacucho, stood some twelve miles from where the town stands
today. Ayacucho means 'corner of the dead', and another legend tells us that two Incas once
fought a battle on the plains near there. In the evening the victorious Inca stood on a hill, and
ashelookedoverthebattlefield,whichwasstrewnwithdead,hepointedtoacornerwherethe
fallen lay thickest and said, '
aya cucho
' (corner of the dead) and there the village was foun-
ded. After the War of Independence, to commemorate the battle of Ayacucho, San Juan de la
Frontera (formerly Huamanca) was re-named Ayacucho. Although the town is small and poor
it has thirty-seven churches, and I fail to understand how the legions of ecclesiastics one sees
in the streets are able to exist; yet I never saw one who looked anything but well fed.
The old-fashioned and tumble down town is full of Indians and half-castes, and the pride
of every citizen is a more showy than artistic monument in the main plaza. My chief delight
wastowanderaroundthemarketsquare,whererowsofIndianwomensquatted,sucklingtheir
dark-skinned and blob-eyed babies whilst waiting for customers to come and finger the goods
that were spread out on the ground before them. Others cooked food in earthenware pots, and
to give a little shade to their stalls they stuck big, flat parasols into the ground,tilting them ac-
cording to the angle at which the sun shone. Everything the region produces, both agricultural
and industrial, is sold in this market, and by-products, such as mangy mongrels and clouds of
flies were also much in evidence, and that other insects breed well can easily be guessed by
the way the Indian hags scratch and de-louse each other, an art that is often practised in public
in Peru.
