Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
has caved in at the top, which today resembles the crater ofa volcano, formany have been the
treasure hunters who have dug there, all hoping to find the pejo grande .
Earthenware pottery and vases of the painted, sculptural type are frequently found among
these ruins and in graves in this region. Most of the huacos , as these pots are called, represent
animals, different fruits, or human beings. They are painted in two or three different colours,
andsomemakenoiseswhentheyarebeingfilledwithwater.Forinstance,apotthatrepresents
aparrotwillscreech,asnakehisses,andanowlhoots.Isawaremarkable piecethatrepresen-
tedtheheadofawoman,andwhenitwasfilledwithwateritmadeamoaningsoundandtears
rolled out of the eyes.
Although a special law prohibits the excavation of ancient relics many people make a side
income by searching among old graves. On Good Friday I noticed an unusually large number
of men digging, and I was told that the belief exists among them that this day is particularly
lucky, and that many, who ordinarily never search for antiques, dedicate all Good Friday to
treasure hunting. In Peru such people are known as huaqueros , and it appears that many have
beenlucky,butunfortunatelytheirfindsareusuallylostasfarasscientificcollectionsandmu-
seumsareconcerned,andthegovernmentwoulddowelltomakestricterlawsandregulations
to protect the country's unique wealth in archæology.
Not only in Peru, but also in other Latin American republics, a newcomer cannot help but
be amazed at the super-abundant crop of doctores and generales who seem to grow wild in
these fertile lands of milk and honey, whereas in other countries these relatively rare plants
have to be carefully cultivated and scientifically helped during their period of growth and
formation.Oneofthemembersofaforeignmilitarymission,whichwasreorganisingthearmy
of a certain southern republic, told me that the greatest difficulty they had bumped up against
was to get rid of some 600 generals, but even then that is not so much when it is considered
that one flourishing Latin American republic that has an army of 10,000 men has no fewer
than1,145generals,whichisnotatallabadpercentagewhencomparedwithsomeofthebet-
ter known armies of the world. Yes, dear reader, at last you hear of armies where Napoleon's
remark that every soldier carries the field-marshal's baton in his kit is true.
Even in the smallest village the civil (usually uncivil) autoridad never fails to make his
weight and importance known, and his word is the alpha and the omega of right and justice. I
am told that the legal codes are perfect, and I am given to understand that all abogados (law-
yers), who are even more abundant than the generals , have a collection of topics containing
the laws of their respective countries. But even during my short sojourn in some of these re-
publicsIhadampleopportunitytoseethatthewordofavillageortownmayor,orchiefofpo-
lice,carriesmoreweightthanallthelegalcodes,judgesand abogados combined,andfurther-
more I came across quite a number of men holding high political positions who could neither
read nor write.
Aftertheday'sheat,IwanderedtothemainplazaofTrujillooneevening,andasapleasant
breeze was blowing I sat down on a bench that happened to be unoccupied. I was just lighting
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