Puna

“ Crossing a dry, rocky country, we came to where the plain was covered with green cedar bushes, about two feet high; the dry, dusty road was made more cheerful by cattle, sheep, and llamas crossing our 119 path. They were feeding upon the fresher grass that springs up under the shade of the cedars. The change from the barren, unproductive places on the Puna to that of a vegetable growth is so sudden, that the traveller is, at first sight, struck with wonder and surprise, because evidently no human power has been brought to work here. ”

“ The streets are narrow and the houses small. All the towns of the Puna are built pretty much after the same fashion, and of the same material; the only difference in their outward appearance being produced by the cultivation of foliage and flowers, where the soil and climate permit. ”

“ In this treeless region the doors of the Indians’ dismal mud hovels were of stiff, sun-dried, hairy cowhides. As the bare world rose still higher, even these miserable dwellings died out, and only the bleak, brown uplands of the Andes spread about us on every hand.
In mid-morning we topped a great bare puna, from the chilly summit of which the white-crested Central Cordillera stretched like some mighty wall across the entire horizon, the snow-peaks and glaciers thrusting their hoary heads through the less-white banks of clouds. ”

“ The Town is well seated for Trade, and building of Ships, for which they have Sheds to cover the Workmen from the Sun. It lies 14 Leagues up from Point Arena, and 7 from Puna. The River is large, receives several others, has many Villages and Farm Houses on its Banks, with abundance of Mangroves and Sarsaparilla, which impregnates its Water, and makes it good against the French Pox, but in the Time of Floods it is unwholesome, because of the poysonous Roots and Plants wash’d down from the Mountains. ”

“ The plain looked bleak and barren, and the cold which our travellers now felt added to the desolateness of the scene. No trees were in sight. Dry yellow grass covered the ground, and the rocks stood out naked and shaggy. They had reached one of those elevated tables of the Andes known as the Puna.
These singular tracts elevated above the level of cultivation are almost uninhabited. Their only inhabitants are a few poor Indians, who are employed by the rich proprietors of the lower valleys as shepherds ”

“ In the lower districts it is not planted, for the Indians declare it to be flavorless when grown there. Besides the maca barley is reared in the Puna. I saw there fields of barley 13,200 feet above the sea. It does not, however, attain full maturity, seldom even shoots into ears, and is cut whilst green as fodder for horses.
But poor and scanty as is the vegetation of the Puna, the animal kingdom is there richly and beautifully represented. Those regions are the native home of the great Mammalia, which Peru possessed before horses and black cattle were introduced by the [Pg 215] Spaniards. ”

“ The Puna seems the natural elevation for sheep; they thrive best there, The llama don’t do so well. The place of the vicuña is between these two mountainous distributions of animal life. Horned cattle and horses are above their station here, and thrive badly. ”

“ THE island of Puna, which is near the port of Tumbez, is little more than ten leagues round, yet in former times it was considered an important place; for, besides that the inhabitants are great traders, and possess in their islands all things needful to sustain human life, which are sufficient causes for their wealth, they are held to be valiant by their neighbours, and in ancient times they waged fierce wars with those of Tumbez and of other provinces. ”

“ Both are used by the Indians as fuel, and for roofing their huts.
The cold climate and sterile soil of the Puna are formidable impediments to agriculture. Only one plant is cultivated in these regions with any degree of success. It is the maca, a tuberous root grown like the potatoe, and like it used as an article of food. In many of the Puna districts the maca constitutes the principal sustenance of the inhabitants. It has an agreeable, and somewhat sweetish flavor, and when boiled in milk it tastes like the chestnut. ”

“ We observe an alteration in the color of the people on the Puna, who differ again from those of the forests. The Indian who lives on the west side of a snowy-peaked mountain is burnt black; those among the cedar bushes, to the east of the snow, are lighter in complexion. The women are better looking. The sun-burnt man falls in love as soon as he gets to the east side of the snow peaks, although the people of the forests in the Madeira Plata are whiter still. ”

“ The lofty snowclad mountains, the multitude of lesser peaks, the lakes, small and large, the countless streams, the delightful valleys, the desolate plateau sometimes called the puna, cut by narrow gorges, present a marvellous variety of scenery, climate, and productions. Here are two-thirds of the inhabitants of the country. The forest region on the eastern slope of the mountains with the lowlands beyond, all called the montaña, is at first wonderfully beautiful with soft, genial climate, though below an altitude of 2000 feet it becomes rather warm, in a few spots unhealthy. ”

“ The River of Guiaquil, from about 2 Leagues above Puna to Point Arena, is so broad, that a Man can scarce see cross the Channel; the Land down to the Water-side, is low and cover’d with Mangrove Trees; the Tide flows above 3 Fathom, and an East and West Moon, as near as I could guess, makes High-water at Puna. The Tide has a quick Current, much stronger than in the Thames, and I believe the Ebb is little inferior to that at Bristol, and the Water as thick, and as much discolour’d. ”

“ He seized upon the town of Paita, which he ransacked and burned, carrying off a large quantity of household goods and twenty-five pounds' weight of pieces-of-eight, or Spanish dollars. Off the island of Puna he fell in with a ship of two hundred and fifty tons; but, being disappointed at finding her empty, he sank her out of sheer spite. The inhabitants of Puna were Christians, having followed the example of their cacique, who had married a Spanish woman and had thereupon made a profession of her religion. They were rich and industrious. ”

“ Puna had but one child, a daughter named Hooipo. Tradition describes her as having been, like the most of royal daughters painted by the poets, a very comely maiden. She was therefore the pride and glory of the court, and as she grew to a marriageable age her favor was sought by a number of aspiring chiefs whose rank entitled them to consideration; but, flattered by the contest for her smiles, and naturally vain of a face which the unruffled waters told her was attractive, she evinced no haste in making choice of a husband. ”

“ On the evening of the second day after leaving Oahu, Moikeha anchored his canoes in a roadstead not far from Kapaa, Kauai, where Puna, the governing alii of the island, held his court, surrounded by the chiefs of his family and a large number of retainers. Puna was one of the most popular rulers in the group, and, strict as he may have been in the exercise of his prerogatives, was always merciful in dealing with offences thoughtlessly or ignorantly committed. ”

“ The puna, which lies between 11,000 and 12,500 ft., includes the great central plateau of Bolivia. It has but two seasons, a cold summer or autumn and winter. The air is cold and dry, and the warmer season is too short for the production of anything but potatoes and barley. The mean temperature is officially estimated as 54° F. The puna brava extends from 12,500 ft. up to the snow limit (about 17,500 ft.) , and covers a bleak, inhospitable territory, inhabited only by shepherds and miners. Above this is the region of eternal snow, an Arctic zone within the tropics. ”

“ As we ascend, the change in the climate and vegetation, of course, soon attracts attention. We pass from the sugar-cane and banana in the plains, through every shade of increasing barrenness, to a few mosses and scrubby bushes on the Puna. A few villages are scattered on the route, and in the neighborhood of these, maize and potatoes are grown even at a height of some ten thousand feet. ”

“ Its population is very numerous, and consists principally of mestizos, with a few Spaniards and Indians.
The fifth and last parochial district of la Puna is Calcha, distant from Potosi twenty leagues. Its native inhabitants apply themselves to the culture of the lands, the property of which they hold in inheritance. They sow them with maize, wheat, and barley, in a quantity which scarcely suffices, however, for their maintenance. They cultivate in the same manner the small hills, which lie on the skirts of their district, and from which they procure their charcoal. ”

“ The numerous deep valleys, of greater or less extent, which intersect the Puna, are known as the Sierra, and their inhabitants as Serranos, although that term is also applied by the dwellers on the coast of Peru to all natives of the interior. Here the climate is temperate, not unlike that of the central countries of Europe; towns and villages are numerous, and the fruitful soil brings forth abundantly, watered by the sweat of the laborious Indians. The people are hospitable in the extreme, and the stranger is welcome in their dwellings so long as he chooses to abide there. ”

“ The Indians seldom employ fire-arms in hunting the vicuñas. They catch them by what they term the chacu. In this curious hunt, one man at least belonging to each family in the Puna villages takes a part, and women accompany the train, to officiate as cooks to the hunters. The whole company, frequently amounting to seventy or eighty individuals, proceeds to the Altos (the most secluded parts of the Puna) , which are the haunts of the vicuñas. They take with them stakes, and a great quantity of rope and cord. ”

“ The dwellings of the shepherds are built in the same rude style which characterizes all the huts in the Puna, and they impress the European traveller with a very unfavorable notion of the intelligence of the people. ”

“ The inhabitants of Puná leave their houses during part of the year, and retire to other places, where they cultivate maize, pumpkins, tobacco, &c.; after which they return to sell such produce as they are possessed of, to the merchants who come to purchase it. They also employ themselves in cutting mangroves, which are sent to Lima and other parts of Peru, and in fishing. Owing to a want of water in the island, for irrigation, there being no rivers, and from the scarcity of rain during the last ten years, the plantations of cocoa have failed ”

“ The wind here was up the river, and on the hill side, and in the ravines near by, there were a few stunted trees. The small river basin stretched off to the east; the winds come down over the water and strike the hill there, and nowhere else do we observe such a growth as on the hills near these puna table-lands.
The town of Lampa has a population of about four thousand. The Indians are very black; the hot sun burns them in the day, and in the cold nights they are smoked in their houses, some of which have tile roofs, but they are generally thatched with puna grass. ”

“ In the daytime they roam about marshy places, and at nightfall they retire for shelter beneath some overhanging rock. These animals render travelling [Pg 224] in many parts of the Puna extremely dangerous, for they often attack people so suddenly as to afford no time for defence. It is true they usually announce their approach by a deep bellow; but the open plain seldom presents any opportunity for escape. ”

“ And, on the third night, as it came towards morning, Pele said to Lohiau, “I am about to return to my place, to Puna, the land of the sunrise. You shall stay here. I will prepare a habitation for us, and, when all is ready I will send and fetch you to myself. If it is a man who comes, you must not go with him; but, if a woman, you are to go with the woman. ”

“ The inhabitants are confined to the valleys among the mountains, which are generally narrow, and crops are principally raised by irrigation. The Puna country is higher, and better adapted to wool growing, but very thinly peopled. There are many places so high above the level of the sea that people cannot live there with any sort of comfort, nor can they gather from the earth a living. The ant will die an unnatural death, placed where the llama naturally lives and flourishes. ”

“ The River Tumbez falls into a large Bay, which on its North-East Point near the Main Land, hath the Island Puna, ten Leagues in circumference: The Soyl whereof produces abundance of Maiz, Fuca, and other good Roots, besides great Woods full of fruitful Trees, and Sarsaparilla. The Inhabitants of a brown Complexion, and middle Stature, wear Cotton Cloaks, and Chains of Chaquira and Precious Stones: They drive a great Trade, and formerly maintain’d Wars with the People inhabiting upon the River Tumbez; their great want is fresh Water in the Summer. ”

“ It is a dirty miserable place, in which there are uncomfortably huddled together fifteen thousand people. It is chiefly composed of miners’ huts—something like overgrown bee-hives—with a few tolerable houses that belong to shop-keepers and the proprietors of mines. As we descend from the pass into the Puna, a scene worthy of the Andes breaks upon us. We are on the highest and most extensive table-land in all Peru. Its breadth is about seventy miles ”