Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In riding across such rivers it is advisable to wear spurs and to have something ready to
whip the horses with, for if they step into a quicksand and are hurried along, it will often pre-
vent them from getting stuck.
Following the coast, roughly halfway between Lima and the border of Ecuador, we came
to Trujillo, one of the biggest towns in Peru. As things go in other countries, this place would
merely be called a large village, and a not very attractive one at that. Some of the oldest fam-
ilies in the country live there, and most of them keep up the customs and traditions of their
Spanish ancestors.
WhatthetownlacksininterestisfullymadeupbytheruinsofChan-Chan,whicharesitu-
ated a few miles north of the place. As I have mentioned before, the first civilisation known
to have existed in these parts was the one of the Chimus, that at a later period was followed
by that of the Mochicas. It is to the latter that Chan-Chan is attributed. The Mochica empire
extended for some 450 miles along the coast, and Chan-Chan was its capital, estimated to
have had between 80,000 and 120,000 inhabitants. Being a keen dabbler in South American
archæology, I did not miss the opportunity to visit these remarkable and interesting ruins, but
astheyspreadoveravastareaIwasunabletostudythemasthoroughlyasIshouldhaveliked.
Many of the high adobe walls still remain intact, and what is left of the houses, squares
and palaces gives the visitor a fair idea of what the place must have been like centuries ago.
Today all is dry and sandy, but in the olden times all this area was irrigated, the water having
been conducted there by wonderful canals, some of which are believed to have been under-
ground.Severalvast,deep,stone-linedreservoirscanstillbeseen,andoneplacesuggeststhat
it might have been an artificial lake. In the neighbourhood there are several high hills which
were entirely made by man, and are presumably graves of ancient rulers or nobles. Not only
near Chan-Chan, but whilst on my way north from there did I see some of these cyclopean
constructions.
History tells us that a fabulously rich treasure was found in one of these
huacas
, as these
adobe hills are called. This happened in the time of Toledo, the fifth viceroy of Peru. Garcia
Toledo,arelativeoftheviceroy,heardrumoursabouttwoenormousquantitiesoftreasurethat
were hidden near Chan-Chan. One of these was known as the
pejo grande
(big pejo) and the
other as the
pejo chico
(small pejo). An Indian by the name of Chayhuah knew the place and
the entrance to the
pejo chico
, but refused to reveal his secret, for the Indians honour their
dead and respect the things that are buried with them. After every method of persuasion had
failedtogetthesecretoutofChayhuah,hefinallyagreedtoshowGarciaToledotheplace,but
only after the latter had solemnly sworn that nothing would be taken out and that the secret
wouldneverbetoldtoanybodyelse.However,oncethegreedySpaniardhadseenthemassof
precious ore and stones with which the grave was filled he forgot his promise, for according
toancientdocuments'fivemillionouncesingoldandsilver'werepaidtothekingofSpainin
fifth, a proportion the Crown demanded in those days. The hill where this treasure was found
