Peru: Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas

Summary

"Peru: Incidents and Exploration in the Land of the Incas" is E. George Squier's detailed account of his extensive travels in Peru and his investigation of many large archaeological sites during his appointment as US Commissioner to Peru in the mid-1860's. The main objective of Squier's work was, as he professed, to "illustrat[e] Inca civilization from its exisiting monuments" (Squier 1877: 4). The following excerpts from the book's introduction summarize Squier's accounts.

"At that time a mere youth, I was engaged, with limited resources but an earnest purpose, in investigating the aboriginal monuments of the Mississippi Valley, and these words of Prescott did not fall on unheedful ears. One of the results of those investigations was the warm, personal friendship of that distinguished historian. It was, in a great degree, through his influence that I was subsequently sent as representative of the United States to Central America, where every interval of leisure was dedicated to the discovery of the resources and the illustration of the ante-Columbian, and as yet imperfectly understood, history of that interesting region. In all my labors I was constantly and earnestly supported by the sympathy, and, as far as my researches deserved it, by the appreciation, of that most estimable man and conscientious student. To visit the land of the Children of the Sun, and to realize, in some degree at least, his aspirations, became a leading purpose of my life. But inexorable circumstances, distracting occupations, and the thousand vicissitudes which make us what we are, and often prevent us from becoming what we might have been, interfered to defeat ray hopes and aspirations; till at length, owing to undue exposure and protracted over-exertion, the light began to fade away before my eyes, and a dark veil fell between them and the bright and moving world without. The skill of eminent oculists was exerted in vain, and I was told that my only alternative lay between absolute mental rest and total blindness. Rest, and an entire change of scene and occupation, might perhaps restore, at least partially, my failing vision. Then, and not till then, an unexpected concurrence of circumstances enabled me to realize the hope which I had so long cherished. I received the appointment of Commissioner of the United States to Peru, charged with the settlement of the conflicting claims between the two countries. Away from the rush of business, and the irritation of the morning newspaper ; in the cool corridors of the gray old Palace of the Inquisition, in Lima, the city of the kings, which Pizarro founded, and in which he died; listening calmly to quotations from Vattel, Puffendorf, and Wheaton; valuing guano with an indifference that might startle thrifty farmers; and disposing, in a day, of reclamations which had sent more than one war-vessel around the Horn, and had even brought on the direful catastrophe of striking the flag of an envoy extraordinary; here, close by the spot where more than a hundred heretics had been burned alive, and more than three hundred had been beaten with rods—here the day came back to the failing vision, and the glorious light once more vibrated on responsive nerves, and filled the sinking heart with joy and gratitude. It was on the conclusion of my duties as Commissioner that I commenced, my explorations in Peru; explorations directed mainly to the elucidation of its aboriginal monuments, the only positive and reliable witnesses of the true condition of its ancient inhabitants. My travels and investigations occupied me actively for more than a year and a half. During that time I probably went over more ground than any of my predecessors in the same field. I carried with me the compass, the measuring-line, the pencil, and the photographic camera; knowing well that only accurate plans, sections, elevations, drawings, and views can adequately meet the rigorous demands of modern science, and render clear what mere verbal description would fail to make intelligible (Squier 1877: 2-3).”

“My expeditions carried me first through the coast region of Peru, lying between the Cordillera and the sea, from Tumbezto Cobija, or from latitude 2° to 22° south. Within this region lie the vast ruins of Grand Chimu, Pachacamac, and Cajamarquilla, besides numberless others, less known but equally interesting, in the valleys of Santa, Nepeña, Casma, Chillon, Rimac, Cañete, Pisco, and Aricá. From the port of Aricá; my course was inland over the Cordillera into Bolivia, where are the remarkable ruins of Tiahuanuco; thence to Lake Titicaca and its sacred islands, whence the Incas dated their origin. I believe I am the only traveller who ever thoroughly traversed this great and interesting lake, lying 12,500 feet above the sea; an undertaking of no little difficulty and danger, when carried out in a small open boat. From the Titicaca basin my course was still northward, over the great divide, or water-shed, separating the head-waters of the streams flowing into the grand basin of Lake Titicaca from the sources of the Amazon; down the valley of the Yilcanota, which is probably the true parent stream of the Amazon, to the cluster of mountain-circled bolsones, or high valleys, in which the Incas founded the capital of their mighty empire. From Cuzco my expeditions radiated for one hundred miles in every direction, and were carried to the savage frontier, on the Atlantic declivity of the Andes. Several months were spen t in and around the Inca capital, in many respects the most interesting spot on the continent. Thence my course was to the north-west, very nearly on the line of the great interior road of the Incas, which extends from Cuzco to Quito, crossing the head-waters of the streams which combine to form the Amazon, through Abancay, the ancient Guamanga, now called Ayacucho, and thence back to Lima” (Squier 1877: 3 – 4).

“The general physical characteristics of the land of the Incas, in relation to the development of the people who inhabited it, at the period of the Spanish conquest, have now been presented. To investigate this people in the light of the works which they constructed, of which the remains, more or less perfect, still exist, was the main design of the travels and explorations the results of which are embodied in this volume. The scenes herein described were all visited by me; the ruins were explored, surveyed, and as far as possible photographed by myself or under my own supervision; and I can vouch for the accuracy of the plans and other illustrations. To select from the vast mass of materials gathered by me has been no easy task. I have performed it as best I could" (Squier 1877: 16).

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General Note: Digitization Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation

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