Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of PeruBingham, Hiram
History
Inca Land: Explorations in the Highlands of Peru
Bingham, Hiram
Incas; Peru -- Antiquities; Peru -- Description and travel
Lampa, the chief town in the Huancahuanca Canyon, lies on a great
natural terrace of gravel and alluvium more than a thousand feet
above the river. Part of the terrace seemed to be irrigated and
under cultivation. It was proposed by the energetic farmers at
the time of our visit to enlarge the system of irrigation so as to
enable them to cultivate a larger part of the pampa on which they
lived. In fact, the new irrigation scheme was actually in process of
being carried out and has probably long since been completed. Our
reception in Lampa was not cordial. It will be remembered that
our military escort, Corporal Gamarra, had gone back to Arequipa
with Dr. Bowman. Our two excellent arrieros, the Tejada brothers,
declared they preferred to travel without any "brass buttons,"
so we had not asked the sub-prefect of Cotahuasi to send one of
his small handful of gendarmes along with us. Probably this was a
mistake. Unless one is traveling in Peru on some easily understood
matter, such as prospecting for mines or representing one of the
great importing and commission houses, or actually peddling goods,
one cannot help arousing the natural suspicions of a people to whom
traveling on muleback for pleasure is unthinkable, and scientific
exploration for its own sake is incomprehensible. Of course, if the
explorers arrive accompanied by a gendarme it is perfectly evident
that the enterprise has the approval and probably the financial
backing of the government. It is surmised that the explorers are
well paid, and what would be otherwise inconceivable becomes merely
one of the ordinary experiences of life. South American governments
almost without exception are paternalistic, and their citizens are
led to expect that all measures connected with research, whether it be
scientific, economic, or social, are to be conducted by the government
and paid for out of the national treasury. Individual enterprise is
not encouraged. During all my preceding exploration in Peru I had
had such an easy time that I not only forgot, but failed to realize,
how often an ever-present gendarme, provided through the courtesy of
President Leguia's government, had quieted suspicions and assured us
a cordial welcome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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