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 Table of Contents

Preface
Book Approach
Who Is This Book For?
How to Use This Book?

About the Author

Chapter 1: Introduction and Environment Set Up

1.1. Difference between Data Science and Machine Learning?
1.2. Steps in Learning Data Science and Machine Learning
1.3. Environment Setup
1.3.1. Windows Setup
1.3.2. Mac Setup
1.3.3. Linux Setup
1.3.4. Using Google Colab Cloud Environment

Chapter 2: Python Crash Course

2.1. Writing Your First Program
2.2. Python Variables and Data Types
2.3. Python Operators
2.4. Conditional Statements
2.5. Iteration Statements
2.6. Functions
 2.7. Objects and Classes
2.8. Data Science and Machine Learning Libraries
2.8.1 NumPy
2.8.2. Matplotlib
2.8.3. Seaborn
2.8.4. Pandas
2.8.5. Scikit Learn
2.8.6. TensorFlow
2.8.7. Keras
Exercise: Chapter 2.1

Project 1: House Price Prediction Using Linear Regression

1.1. Importing Libraries
1.2. Importing the Dataset
1.3. Data Visualization
1.4. Divide Data into Features and Labels
1.5. Divide Data into Training and Test Sets
1.6. Training Linear Regression Algorithm
1.7. Evaluating the Performance of a Trained Model
1.8. Making Predictions on a Single Data Point
Exercise 1.1

Project 2: Filtering Spam Email Messages Using Naive Bayes’

Algorithm
2.1. Installing the Required Libraries
 2.2. Importing the Libraries
2.3. Importing the Dataset
2.4. Data Visualization
2.5. Cleaning the Data
2.6. Convert Text to Numbers
2.7. Training the Model
2.8. Evaluating Model Performance
2.9. Making Predictions on Single Instance
Exercise 2.1

Project 3: Predicting Used Car Sale Price Using Feedforward

Artificial Neural Networks
3.1. Installing the Required Libraries
3.2. Importing the Libraries
3.3. Importing the Dataset
3.4. Data Visualization and Preprocessing
3.5. Converting Categorical Columns to Numerical
3.6. Dividing Data into Training and Test Sets
3.7. Creating and Training Neural Network Model with Tensor Flow
Keras
3.8. Evaluating the Performance of a Neural Network Model
3.9. Making Predictions on a Single Data Point
Exercise 3.1

Project 4: Predicting Stock Market Trends with RNN (LSTM)

 4.1. Recurrent Neural Networks (RNN)
4.1.1. What Is an RNN and LSTM?
4.2. Predicting Future Stock Prices via LSTM in TensorFlow Keras
4.2.1. Training the Stock Prediction Model
4.2.2. Testing the Stock Prediction Model
Exercise 4.1

Project 5: Language Translation using Seq2Seq Encoder-Decoder

LSTM
5.1. Creating Seq2Seq Training Model for Language Translation
5.2. Making Predictions Using Seq2Seq
Exercise 5.1

Project 6: Classifying Cats and Dogs Images Using Convolutional

Neural Networks
6.1. How CNN Classifies Images?
6.2. Cats and Dogs Image Classification with a CNN
6.2.1. Creating Model Architecture
6.2.2. Image Augmentation
6.2.3. Dividing Data into Training & Test Sets
6.2.4. Training a CNN Model
6.2.5. Making Prediction on a Single Image
Exercise 6.1

Project 7: Movie Recommender System Using Item-Based

Collaborative Filtering
7.1. What Is Collaborative Filtering?
 7.2. Importing the Required Libraries
7.3. Importing the Dataset
7.4. Data Preprocessing
7.5. Data Visualization
7.6. Item-based Collaborative Filtering
7.6.1. Finding Recommendations Based on a Single Movie
7.6.2. Finding Recommendations Based on Multiple Movies
Exercise 7.1

Project 8: Face Detection with OpenCV in Python

8.1. OpenCV for Face Detection
8.2. Installing the Libraries and Importing Images
8.3. Detecting Whole Faces
8.4. Detecting Eyes
8.5. Detecting Smile
8.6. Face Detection from Live Videos
Exercise 8.1

Project 9: Handwritten English Character Recognition with CNN

9.1. Importing the Required Libraries
9.2. Importing the Dataset
9.3. Data Analysis and Preprocessing
9.4. Training and Fitting CNN Model
9.5. Model Evaluation
 9.6. Making Predictions on a Single Image
Exercise 9.1

Project 10: Customer Segmentation Based on Income and Spending

10.1. K-Means Clustering
10.2. Importing the Required Libraries
10.3. Importing the Dataset
10.4. Data Analysis
10.5. K-Means Clustering
10.6. Elbow Method for Finding K Value
10.7. Finding Customers to Target for Marketing
Exercise 10.1

Exercise Solutions
Chapter: Exercise 2.1
Exercise 1.1
Exercise 2.1
Exercise 3.1
Exercise 4.1
Exercise 5.1
Exercise 6.1
Exercise 7.1
Exercise 8.1
Exercise 9.1
Exercise 10.1
 Preface

Thank you for your decision to purchase this book. I can assure you that
you will not regret your decision. The term data is the new oil is no longer a
mere cliche. Data is actually powering the industries of today.
Organizations and companies need to improve their growth, which depends
upon correct decisionmaking. Accurate decision-making requires facts,
figures, and statistical analysis of data, leading to the identification of
important data patterns. Data science does exactly that. With data and
machine learning, you can extract and visualize data in detail and create
statistical models, which, in turn, help you in decision-making. In this book,
you will learn all these concepts. So, buckle up for a journey that may give
you your career break!

§ Book Approach
The book follows a very simple approach. It is divided into two sections.

The first section consists of two chapters. Chapter 1 presents a very concise
introduction to data science and machine learning and provides a roadmap
for step by step learning approach to data science and machine learning.
The process for environment setup, including the software needed to run
scripts in this book, is also explained in this chapter. Chapter 2 contains a
crash course on Python for beginners. If you are already familiar with
Python, you can skip chapter 2.

The second section consists of 10 interesting machine learning and data

science-based projects.

Project 1 shows how you can predict the sale price of a house using linear
regression. Successful completion of this project will help you apply the
knowledge you gain to solve any supervised regression problem.

In the 2nd project, you will be developing a ham and spam message
classifier using naive Bayes algorithm. The concepts explained in this
project can be transferred to any text classification task.

The third project introduces you to the world of artificial neural networks,
where you use a densely connected neural network to predict car sale
prices. The concepts you learn in this project are essential to solve any
regression problem via artificial neural networks.

In project 4, you will study how to predict stock market trends using LSTM,
which is a type of recurrent neural network. Successful completion of this
project will help you in tackling time series problems via the LSTM.

The 5th project explains the process of language translation using sequence
to sequence LSTM. With the sequence to sequence LSTM, you can solve
pretty much any problem where inputs and outputs both are sequences of
data.

In project 6, you will study how you can classify dog and cat images using
a convolutional neural network (CNN). The concepts learned in this project
are applicable to any image classification task.

The 7th project shows how you can create a movie recommender system
based on the correlation between movie features. The ideas explained in
this project are applicable to any other recommender system, as well.

In project 8, you will perform a very interesting task of detecting faces from
images. You will see how to recognize human faces, eyes, and smiles from
images and videos.

The 9th project explains how you can recognize handwritten English
alphabets with a convolutional neural network. This project is comparable
to project 6, but instead of binary classification, in this project, you will see
how to perform multiclass classification on the image data.

Finally, in the 10th and last project, you will create a customer segmentation
model based on the K-means clustering algorithm that segments customers
into groups based on their income and spending habits. The concepts you
learn in this project can be used to model any clustering system.
In each project, a brief explanation of the theoretical concepts is given,
followed by practical examples. The Python notebook for each project is
provided in the Source Codes folder in GitHub and SharePoint repositories.
It is advised that instead of copying the code, you write the code yourself,
and in case of an error, you match your code with the corresponding Python
notebook, find and then correct the error. The datasets used in this book are
easily accessible. You can either download them at runtime or they are
available in the Datasets folder in the GitHub and SharePoint repositories.

§ Who Is This Book For?

This book contains hands-on data science and machine learning concepts.
The book is aimed ideally at absolute beginners to data science and
machine learning. The idea is to allow students to quickly build a working
tool instead of getting lost in the labyrinths of complex mathematics.

The concepts are explained at a high level without digging deeper into the
mathematical details. In addition, though a background in the Python
programming language and feature engineering can help speed up learning,
the book contains a crash course on Python programming language in the
first chapter. Therefore, the only prerequisites to efficiently using this book
are access to a computer with the internet and basic knowledge of linear
algebra and calculus. All the codes and datasets have been provided.
However, to download data preparation libraries, you will need the internet.

§ How to Use This Book?

To get the best out of this book, I would suggest that you first get your feet
wet with the Python programming language, especially the object-oriented
programming concepts. To do so, you can take the crash course on Python
in chapter 2 of this book. Also, try to complete the projects in this book in
order since, in some cases, the concepts taught in subsequent projects are
based on previous projects.

In each project, try to first understand the theoretical concepts behind

different types of data science and machine learning techniques and then try
to execute the example code. I would again stress that rather than copying
and pasting code, try to write codes yourself, and in case of any error, you
can match your code with the source code provided in the book, as well as
in the Python notebooks in the Source Codes folder in GitHub and
SharePoint repositories. Finally, try to answer the questions asked in the
exercises at the end of each project. The solutions to the exercises have
been given at the end of the book.
 About the Author

M. Usman Malik holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Normandy

University, France, with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning being
his main areas of research. Muhammad Usman Malik has over 5 years of
industry experience in Data Science and has worked with both private and
public sector organizations. In his free time, he likes to listen to music and
play snooker.
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 CHAPTER

Introduction and Environment Set Up

Data science libraries exist in various programming languages. However, you

will be using Python programming language for data science and machine
learning since Python is flexible, easy to learn, and offers the most advanced
data science and machine learning libraries. Furthermore, Python has a huge
data science community from where you can take help whenever you want.

In this chapter, you will see how to set up the Python environment needed to run
various data science and machine learning libraries. The chapter also contains a
crash Python course for absolute beginners to Python. Finally, the different data
science and machine learning libraries that we are going to study in this book
have been discussed. The chapter ends with a simple exercise.

1.1. Difference between Data Science and Machine Learning?

The terms data science and machine learning are often interchangeably used.
However, the two terms are different. Data science is a sphere of study that uses
scientific approaches and mathematical techniques such as statistics to draw out
meaning and insights from data. As per Dr. Thomas Miller from Northwestern
University, data science is “a combination of information technology, modeling
and business management.”

Machine learning, on the other hand, is an approach consisting of mathematical

algorithms that enable computers to make decisions without being explicitly
performed. Rather, machine learning algorithms learn from data, and then,
based on the insights from the dataset, they make decisions without human
input.
In this book, you will complete projects that involve both data science and
machine learning since you will be importing datasets, analyzing them, and
finally, implementing machine learning models with them.

1.2. Steps in Learning Data Science and Machine Learning

Know What Data Science and Machine Learning Is All About

Before you delve deep into developing data science and machine learning
applications, you have to know what the field of data science and machine
learning is, what you can do with that, and what are some of the best tools and
libraries that you can use.

Learn a Programming Language

If you wish to be a data science and machine learning expert, you have to learn
programming. There is no working around this fact. Although there are several
cloud-based machine learning platforms like Amazon Sage Maker and Azure
ML Studio where you can create data science applications without writing a
single line of code, however, to get finegrained control over your applications,
you will need to learn programming.

Though you can program natural language applications in any programming

language, I would recommend that you learn Python programming language.
Python is one of the most commonly used libraries for data science and
machine learning, with myriads of basic and advanced data science and ML
libraries. In addition, many data science applications are based on deep learning
and machine learning techniques. Again, Python is the language that provides
easy to use libraries for deep learning and machine learning.

Start with the Basics

Start with very basic data science applications. I would rather recommend that
you should not start developing data science applications right away. Start with
basic mathematical and numerical operations like computing dot products and
matrix multiplication, etc.

Learn Machine Learning and Deep Learning Algorithms

Data Science, machine learning, and deep learning go hand to hand. Therefore,
you have to learn machine learning and deep learning algorithms. In machine
learning, start with the supervised learning techniques. Supervised machine
learning algorithms are divided into two types, i.e., regression and
classification.

Develop Data Science Applications

Once you are familiar with basic machine learning and deep learning
algorithms, you are good to go for developing data science applications. Data
science applications can be of different types, i.e., predicting house prices,
recognizing images, classifying text, etc. Being a beginner, you should try to
develop versatile data science applications, and later, when you find your area
of interest, e.g., natural language processing or image recognition, delve deep
into that. It is important to mention that this book provides a very generic
introduction to data science, and you will see applications of data science to
structured data, textual data, and image data. However, this book is not
dedicated to any specific data science field.

Deploying Data Science Applications

To put a data science or machine learning application into production so that

anyone can use it, you need to deploy it to production. There are several ways to
deploy data science applications. You can use dedicated servers containing
REST APIs that can be used to call various functionalities in your data science
application. To deploy such applications, you need to learn Python Flask,
Docker, or similar web technology. In addition to that, you can also deploy your
applications using Amazon Web Services or any other cloud-based deployment
platform.

To be an expert data science and machine learning practitioner, you need to

perform the aforementioned six steps in an iterative manner.

1.3. Environment Setup

1.3.1. Windows Setup

The time has come to install Python on Windows using an IDE. In fact, we will
use Anaconda throughout this book, right from installing Python to writing
multi-threaded codes in the coming lectures. Now, let us get going with the
installation.

This section explains how you can download and install Anaconda on
Windows.

Follow these steps to download and install Anaconda.

1. Open the following URL in your browser.
https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/

2. The browser will take you to the following webpage. Select the latest version
Python (3.7 at the time of writing this book). Now, click the Download butto
download the executable file. Depending upon the speed of your internet, the
file will download within 2–3 minutes.

3. Run the executable file after the download is complete. You will most likely
find the download file in your download folder. The name of the file should
similar to “Anaconda3- 5.1.0-Windows-x86_64.” The installation wizard wi
open when you run the file, as shown in the following figure. Click the Next
button.
4. Now click I Agree on the License Agreement dialog as shown in the followin
screenshot.
5. Check the Just Me radio button from the Select Installation Type dialogue bo
Click the Next button to continue.
6. Now, the Choose Install Location dialog will be displayed. Change the direc
if you want, but the default is preferred. The installation folder should at leas
have 3 GB of free space for Anaconda. Click the Next button.
7. Go for the second option, Register Anaconda as my default Python 3.7 in the
Advanced Installation Options dialog box. Click the Install button to start th
installation, which can take some time to complete.
8. Click Next once the installation is complete.
9. Click Skip on the Microsoft Visual Studio Code Installation dialog box.
10. You have successfully installed Anaconda on your Windows. Excellent job.
next step is to uncheck both checkboxes on the dialog box. Now, click on the
Finish button.
 1.3.2. Mac Setup

Anaconda’s installation process is almost the same for Mac. It may differ
graphically, but you will follow the same steps you followed for Windows. The
only difference is that you have to download the executable file, which is
compatible with the Mac operating system.

This section explains how you can download and install Anaconda on Mac.

Follow these steps to download and install Anaconda.

1. Open the following URL in your browser.
https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/

2. The browser will take you to the following webpage. Select the latest version
Python for Mac. (3.7 at the time of writing this book). Now, click the Downl
button to download the executable file. Depending upon the speed of your
internet, the file will download within 2–3 minutes.
3. Run the executable file after the download is complete. You will most likely
find the download file in your download folder. The name of the file should
similar to “Anaconda3-5.1.0-Windows-x86_64.” The installation wizard wil
open when you run the file, as shown in the following figure. Click the
Continue button.

4. Now, click, Continue on the Welcome to Anaconda 3 Installer window, as

shown in the following screenshot.
5. The Important Information dialog will pop up. Simply click Continue to go
with the default version that is Anaconda 3.
6. Click Continue on the Software License Agreement Dialog.
7. It is mandatory to read the license agreement and click the Agree button befo
you can click the Continue button again.
8. Simply click Install on the next window that appears.
The system will prompt you to give your password. Use the same password you
use to login to your Mac computer. Now, click on Install Software.
9. Click Continue on the next window. You also have the option to install
Microsoft VSCode at this point.
The next screen will display the message that the installation has been
completed successfully. Click on the Close button to close the installer.
There you have it. You have successfully installed Anaconda on your Mac
computer. Now, you can write Python code in Jupyter and Spyder the same way
you wrote it in Windows.

1.3.3. Linux Setup

We have used Python’s graphical installers for installation on Windows and

Mac. However, we will use the command line to install Python on Ubuntu or
Linux. Linux is also more resource-friendly, and the installation of software is
particularly easy as well.

Follow these steps to install Anaconda on Linux (Ubuntu distribution).

1. Go to the following link to copy the installer bash script from the latest
available version.
https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/
 2. The second step is to download the installer bash script. Log into your Linux
computer and open your terminal. Now, go to /temp directory and download
bash you downloaded from Anaconda’s home page using curl.

$ cd / tmp

$ curl –o https://repo.anaconda.com.archive/Anaconda3-5.2.0-Linux-x86_64.sh

3. You should also use the cryptographic hash verification through the SHA-25
checksum to verify the integrity of the installer.

$ sha256sum Anaconda3-5.2.0-Linux-x86_64.sh

You will get the following output.

09f53738b0cd3bb96f5b1bac488e5528df9906be2480fe61df40e0e0d19e3d48 Anaconda3-5.2.0-Linux-
x86_64.sh

4. The fourth step is to run the Anaconda Script, as shown in the following figu

$ bash Anaconda3-5.2.0-Linux-x86_64.sh

The command line will generate the following output. You will be asked to
review the license agreement. Keep on pressing Enter until you reach the
end.

Output
 Welcome to Anaconda3 5.2.0

In order to continue the installation process, please review the license agreement.
Please, press Enter to continue
>>>
…
Do you approve the license terms? [yes|No]

Type, Yes, when you get to the bottom of the License Agreement.
5. The installer will ask you to choose the installation location after you agree t
the license agreement. Simply press Enter to choose the default location. You
can also specify a different location if you want.

Output

Anaconda3 will now be installed on this location: /home/tola/anaconda3

- Press ENTER to confirm the location

- Press CTRL-C to abort the installation
- Or specify a different location below

[/home/tola/anaconda3] >>>

The installation will proceed once you press Enter. Once again, you have
to be patient as the installation process takes some time to complete.
6. You will receive the following result when the installation is complete. If you
wish to use the conda command, type Yes.

Output
…
Installation finished.
Do you wish the installer to prepend Anaconda3 install location to path in your /home/tola/.bashrc?
[yes|no]
[no]>>>

At this point, you will also have the option to download the Visual Studio
Code. Type yes or no to install or decline, respectively.
7. Use the following command to activate your brand new installation of
Anaconda3.

$ source `/.bashrc

8. You can also test the installation using the conda command.
 $ conda list

Congratulations. You have successfully installed Anaconda on your Linux

system.

1.3.4. Using Google Colab Cloud Environment

In addition to local Python environments such as Anaconda, you can run deep
learning applications on Google Colab, as well, which is Google’s platform for
deep learning with GPU support. All the codes in this book have been run using
Google Colab. Therefore I would suggest that you use Google Colab, too.

To run deep learning applications via Google Colab, all you need is a
Google/Gmail account. Once you have a Google/ Gmail account, you can
simply go to:

https://colab.research.google.com/

Next, click on File -> New notebook, as shown in the following screenshot.

Next, to run your code using GPU, from the top menu, select Runtime ->
Change runtime type, as shown in the following screenshot:
You should see the following window. Here from the dropdown list, select
GPU, and click the Save button.
To make sure you are running the latest version of TensorFlow, execute the
following script in the Google Colab notebook cell. The following script will
update your TensorFlow version.

pip install --upgrade tensorflow

To check if you are really running TensorFlow version > 2.0, execute the
following script.

1. import tensorflow as tf
2. print (tf.__version__)

With Google Cloud, you can import the datasets from your Google drive.
Execute the following script. And click on the link that appears, as shown
below:
You will be prompted to allow Google Colab to access your Google drive. Click
the Allow button, as shown below:
You will see a link appear, as shown in the following image (the link has been
blinded here).
Copy the link and paste it in the empty field in the Google Colab cell, as shown
below:

This way, you can import datasets from your Google drive to your Google
Colab environment.

In the next chapter, you will see how to write your first program in Python,
along with other Python programming concepts.
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and there stands five beautiful vicuña, looking intently at us. What
pretty animals, and how wild they look. They come here to pasture
with their kinsfolk, the llamas. "Richards ride round the mountain;
José go with the baggage steadily along the road, while I take up
this ravine, and try a shot." We all start. The male gives a whistle,
which sounds among the hills like the cry of a wild turkey; the four
females are off. He stands still; as I near him, he calls louder, and
long before I get within ball range, he is away over the mountain
brow. The sailor-boy Richards will never give up the chase; he has
run his mule out of breath, and now he takes after them on foot.
The vicuña is smaller and a much more neatly-formed animal
than the llama, with a coat of fine curly wool; its color resembles
that of the smaller deer. In the distribution of animals, as well as I
can judge, the vicuña naturally seeks an atmosphere just below the
llama. It is very swift and difficult to capture. The Indians take them
by driving them into pens. Now and then a young one may be found
tamed, and kept as a pet among the children; they are never used
as beasts of burden. Fine cloths and valuable hats are manufactured
from the vicuña. A skin sells in the market for fifty cents, and the
meat is better than that of the llama, though José expresses rather a
disgust at the idea of eating llama meat.
Our course is to the eastward. The snow-capped mountains are
in sight to the west. Temperature of a spring 48°; air, 44°. Lightning
flashes all around us; as the wind whirls from northeast to
southwest, rain and snow-flakes become hail, half the size of peas.
Thunder roars and echoes through the mountains; the mules hang
their heads, and travel slowly; the thinly-clad aboriginal walks
shivering as he drives the train ahead; the dark, cumulus cloud
seems to wrap itself around us.
The first house we met was Molina post; the men passed the
night with their mules in a storm, which beat against our tent all
night. The postman, a Spanish Creole, invited us into his house; I
saw his wife, two children, one Indian servant, and five dogs, seated
around a fire made of dung, over which the woman was cooking
mutton. Their bed was of barley straw, and a miserable old donkey
was peeping in the door at it; so I had the tent pitched. At 7 in the
morning the thermometer was 37° Fahr. This is a barren country,
and seems to be inhabited by the wilder animals. We chased a fox
among the rocks, and shot two viscachas, which resemble the rabbit
in size, color, and head, but the feet and tail are like those of the
opossum. The people are very fond of them. The arriero smiled
when he saw his supper. Richards cut one of them open to bottle its
young, but we had misjudged its appearance. An Indian boy said if
the mules ate any of the hair of this animal it would cause instant
death. We had no extra mules to prove the assertion. The fur is very
fine and valuable; they are running in and out of holes in the ground
or the clefts of rocks, to nibble the mountain grass. The mountains
are more rolling, and covered with a thick coat of pasture; flocks of
sheep speckle the mountains—black and white—cleanly washed by
the rains. They seek the atmosphere next below the vicuña, while
the good-natured shepherdess follows with a womanly regard for
the wishes of those she loves.
Another storm is coming; we hurry on, and arrive at the next
post in the small Indian town of Pancara. The postman told José that
the Alcalde had come to pay us a visit. A respectable old Indian,
with a silver-headed cane, who could not speak Spanish, appeared,
so José was my interpreter in Quichua. "How many people live in
this town, Señor Alcalde?" Alcalde, (eating parched corn from his
waistcoat pocket,) "Don't know." "Have you plenty to live upon in
this part of the country?" Alcalde, (with the most laughably
contented air,) "Roast corn and few potatoes. The people are going
away; will soon be left by myself." Alcalde—"Going to Cuzco?" José
—"Yes; and as we have a long travel, we have to feed our mules
well. Will you order us barley?" Alcalde—"I will go now and fetch it."
The town is falling to decay; many houses deserted, and their
roofs have tumbled in. Climate cold and unpleasant. Except our kind
friend, the Alcalde, the people look wretched.
 The vegetable productions of this department are few, and can
only be raised in the deep valleys, where the dense atmosphere
interrupts the parching rays of the sun, and they are protected from
the cold mountain blasts of the night. No department in Peru is more
broken and barren than this, with a greater variety of climate. In our
sight are peaks of eternal snow, which run up to sharp points of
pure white, standing in rows; the humble Indian, cultivating his
patch of green lucerne in the valley, far below.
The animals are mostly those native to the country, and few of
them tame. The horse, ass, and horned cattle, are much smaller
than those on the coast, and are little used. Birds are very few, and
seldom found domesticated; even the common poultry find the
climate uncongenial.
Fishes are rare and small; only taken, I believe, in the Juaja
river. Of minerals and metals already known, there are silver,
quicksilver, copper, lead, iron, stone coal, and lime.
The silver mines of Castro-Virreyna have been worked for many
years. They are situated south of the town of Huancavelica, in the
Cordillera range. They count thirty mines, of which, at the present
day, but seven are worked. Stone coal is found near by sufficiently
good for engine purposes. One steam-engine made a voyage round
Cape Horn, and arrived safely at these mines, where it is said to be
doing a good business. In all cases, the pieces must not exceed one
hundred and fifty pounds weight, or they come to a stand-still at the
landing on the coast. Two pieces are balanced on the back of a
mule, which carries the heavy loads, never exceeding three hundred
pounds. This is the only way a steam-engine can possibly travel
through the department of Huancavelica. The unoccupied mines are
said to contain water, and air so offensive, that it is dangerous for
the workmen to enter them.
This department has a population, by the government estimate,
of 76,111 people. Two of the aboriginal race to one Creole will not
be far from the average proportion. As the old Alcalde honestly
confesses, he don't know how many people live in his small town, it
will be understood how difficult it is to get anything like a correct list.
The people are scattered over a great space of country. We travel a
day over the wild heights without meeting with a man, or find a
valley too thickly peopled for the productions raised therein.
The department is divided into four provinces, each governed by
a sub-prefect. These are again divided into districts, under
governors, all of whom are responsible to the prefect at the capital—
Huancavelica—who is allowed a secretary, three assistants, and a
porter. The civil list amounts annually to six thousand four hundred
and ninety-five dollars. The prefect is appointed by the government
at Lima, and holds his office during the pleasure of the President of
the republic. The sub-prefects and governors are also appointed by
the supreme government, though generally through the
recommendation of the prefect of the department.
Early in the morning we left Pancara; our good old friend, the
Alcalde, still eating roasted maize, while he cheerfully expressed a
desire to see us when we returned again. The Indians show great
surprise when they are told that we will not return that way, and
seem to be buried in deep thought, as though it troubled them to
make out the white man's motions.
Near this small town the road leads through a number of
standing rocks, which have been washed by the rains into sugar-loaf
forms; and so uniform are they, that it seemed like passing through
tents in an encampment. The rock is a soft sandstone, which wears
away very fast at the sides, and not on the top, where seems to be
the end of the grain. Their heights are from 12 to 18 feet, and so
well shaped, that one might be erroneously led to believe they were
the work of a pyramidal-minded race of men; but, upon closer
examination, we found the work going on in the side of a bank,
which was being regularly divided off into sugar-loaves. Had we
entered this apparent encampment at midnight, I should have called
out, for those rocks which stand off on the plateau a little distance
look like sentry boxes around the main body of an army.
 The constant wearing away of these elevated portions of the
earth is beautifully demonstrated here, where the uplands seem to
be dissolving and settling down towards a level—examples of the
natural working of weather upon stones, so nearly resembling that
of human hands with hammer and chisel. We found these pyramids
for some distance along the road. Some of them were inhabited by
families of Indians, large square holes or rooms being cut in the
north side. Some rooms required steps to ascend; others were even
with the ground. I found the family at home in one of them. Near
the doorway was a horse-trough cut in the stone, and above it a
place like the handle of a pot, where the end of the halter was tied.
Cooking utensils, dogs, and children were seen in the lower story,
while the Indian woman was spinning wool in the upper, or bed-
room. A few regularly-built stone houses near by are not so
interesting.
On this part of our journey, Indian girls, with chicha and chupe
for sale, are seated at the tops of the steep ascents. Chicha is the
favorite drink of the Indians. A party—generally old women—seat
themselves around a wooden trough containing maize. Each one
takes a mouthful, and mashes the grain between her teeth—if she
has any—and casts it back into the trough in the most sickening
manner. As the mill-stones are often pretty well worn, the operation
requires time and perseverance. The mass, with water added, is
then boiled in large coppers, after which it is left to ferment in huge
earthen jars, when it is sold by the brewers without a license. It is
an intoxicating drink, but very healthful, the Indians say. Chupe is
the Peruvian national dish, and may be made of any and everything,
so long as it holds its relationship to soup. It is made generally of
mutton, potatoes, eggs, rice, all highly seasoned with pepper, &c.
As the weary traveller arrives almost breathless at the top of the
hill, the girl tempts him. I halted by one of them, and addressed her
in Spanish, but she answered in Quichua, and pointed to her chupe,
which I believe she had kept warm by sitting over it during the
morning. I thanked her kindly, and pushed on. Here and there an
Indian hut is to be seen at a distance. In the valley to our right are
flocks of sheep; and the merry laugh of the shepherdesses echoes
through the mountains. Two girls walking after their flocks, have
their arms around each other's necks, joking and laughing as they
leave home for a day among the hills. The sheep have just been let
out of their pen, and run, one before the other, nipping the frost-
tipped pasture. The dogs follow sulkily, with heads and tails hanging,
as though they would rather stay at home if there was any company.
Here, as we rise to the top of a mountain, we behold all around
one broken mass, ridge beyond ridge, as far as the eye can reach,
like waves of the tempest-tossed ocean. Our mules are harassed,
and the chronometer positively refuses to go any further. As we
descend the Indians are harvesting barley. Horned cattle seem to
fancy the atmospheric pressure just below the sheep.
The arrieros keep the higher road which brings us to the left of a
valley. From the ridge we see the small town of Acobamba, and a
turn in the Juaja river, dashing over its rocky bed, as the wild duck
flies quickly against the current. The country has a fresher
appearance. In the ravines, clusters of green bushes and flowers
bloom; 5 p. m., air, 43°; wet bulb, 39°, at Parcas post.
I succeeded in securing a duck supper from a small lake, with a
thick growth of rushes in the centre. The common mallard duck, and
a black species, are found with red and green bills, and red legs.
When these take fright, they hide themselves in the rushes and
seldom fly. There are a number of beds of lakes which are filled in
the rainy season; at present they are dry; on this route it is usual for
travellers to carry bottles of water with them. A man in poncho and
mountain travelling dress rode up behind us, with an Indian girl
seated behind his saddle. He refreshed us with the compliments of
the morning in plain English. He came out of the valley from
Acobamba, though born in New Haven, Connecticut. His spirited
horse was fretting itself over the rugged road. This man was
proprietor of a circus company; had been many years in South
America, and as we slowly wound our way up the mountain, told us
his past history; what he had seen, and how often he thought of
returning to New England. "But nobody knows me now. Years ago I
heard of the changes there, and don't believe I should know my
native place. I have adopted the manners and customs of these
people, and if I should return to the United States again, I fear my
earnings would not be sufficient. I have worked in this country for
years, and am worth nothing at last." His stories of travels were
interesting. He had encountered travellers of all nations, and amused
me with the way in which some of them worked their way through
the rough country, among the people of Mexico and South America.
Speaking of the mountain roads between Popoyan and Bogota, in
New Granada, over which travellers are borne in light bamboo chairs
upon the backs of Indians, I discovered that he had encountered
two of my own near relations on that route, nearly twenty years
before.
He had sent a branch of his circus to Cerro de Pasco, and
ordered the horses, on a raft at Huallaga river, to descend that
stream, and the main trunk of the Amazon, to Pará. He had
navigated the Mississippi in a canoe, and assured me at first he
would try to sell his horses and go with me down the Purus. Every
now and then his English ran off into Spanish. Then he would beg
my pardon for not speaking his mother tongue as well as when a
boy.
The Indians of the surrounding country were gathered at Marcas
post, to celebrate the saint's day of San Jago, an old church in the
valley. The obliging master of the post had just returned from
church, a little intoxicated, like most other folks about him. The
Indians were dressed in queer costumes, marching in procession,
with drums and fifes, through crowds of women; some wore cows-
horns and black masks, others cocked hats and gold laced coats;
while the women were dressed in all colors. Young Creoles dashed
about on horse-back; girls were singing and hanging most
affectionately on the shoulders of their lovers. The whole crowd was
high on a chicha diet. The morning had been spent in prayers, after
which a grand procession, headed by the priest. We came in at the
evening ceremony. The scenery was as beautiful as strange; the
church below us, and the people lining the road from it to the post
house, while drums mingled with the shouts and singing of the
women. Down the sides of the mountain, Sage's circus company
slowly advance. A queer-looking Mexican is the clown. A little dark
complexioned Guayaquil girl, a neat rider, accompanies a fine looking
Peruvian, whose fat wife, with sun-burnt face, follows. Then a pony
and his playmate, the dog, with a beautiful Peruvian girl, servants,
and a long train of baggage mules, all mixed in with the
congregation. As the sun sets over the western mountains, a storm
rises in the southwest, with thunder and lightning.
A long steep descent brought us into the valley of Huanta, where
we entered the department of Ayacucho. The horse stands at ease;
the swine repose coolly under the shade of a fig-tree; humming
birds buzz among the flowers, and the fresh-water streams ripple
through the highly cultivated lucerne fields. The gay, laughing faces
of the people speak for the happiness of the valley, as do the
beautiful flowers for its richness. Potatoes, beans, apples,
chirimoyas, and granadillas are for sale by the road-side. Indian girls
often invite us to take chicha. The climate is pleasant. At 9 a. m.,
thermometer 60°. The fig-tree is very large, and bending with fruit,
while peach blossoms overhang the road; large clusters of green
cactus shade the quiet little ring-dove; the partridge calls from
beneath the barley beards; the people are seated by the shady
brook in midsummer costume. Yesterday we were shivering under a
midwinter snow-storm, high up on the mountains.
At the town of Huanta, my letters were handed to the governor,
who kindly gave me possession of the house of the sub-prefect, who
had gone, with his family, visiting about the country. Huanta has a
population of two thousand people. From the balcony we have a full
view of the plaza and the market people, with the hills in the back
ground, among which there are some rich silver mines. Many have
been abandoned on account of water. People are anxious to receive
silver bars, but not over anxious about paying the necessary
expenses for getting them. The Indian finds great hardship and little
profit, while he goes with hammer and chisel mining out the rich
metal. The Creole seats himself at the mouth of the mine, wrapped
in his broadcloth cloak, and receives the treasure. The poor Indian
prefers cultivating the soil, from which it is difficult to persuade him;
force, at times, is indirectly applied through the influence and power
of the authorities. The more intelligent race take advantage of his
ignorance. Some, who are very intemperate, of course are generally
very poor; such are enticed to the mines by a regular supply of
chicha; others, again, are taught to believe that to labor in this world
for the benefit of others is to lay up treasures for them in a better
place; they have a dreadful fear of temporal powers, and dare not
disobey. There are different sorts of slavery existing among different
kinds of free people. If obliged to choose, many would rather be
negro slaves in North America, than free Indians in the South.
The governor had our mules cared for, and invited me to his
table under the shade of the eastern balcony. He was a cheerful,
agreeable man; if he knew how, no doubt would better the condition
of those around him. His fine, healthy boys are growing up in
idleness, and a pretty little daughter stands most of the day in the
balcony watching the Indians in the plaza, under their umbrella
shades, selling fruit. She pointed out an old Spanish Creole, said to
be one hundred and five years old.
There are beggars and marks of the smallpox. In the ravines,
along the sides of the valley, ague and fever sometimes prevail, but,
generally, the valley is very healthy. The nights are cold and days
warm. During our few days' stay here, the twilight was followed by
flashes of lightning, which lit up the whole valley. The nights are
cloudy, which baffles our watch for the stars. The day's travel before
our arrival here was harassing.
The roof of the government house in Huanta is well tiled, and
the walls well plastered, with paintings of full figures of saints, fairly
executed, on them; the rooms are large, furnished, and carpeted.
This is the exception to the rule.
The Huancavelica mules and arrieros returned, and we engaged
others. The postman examined the baggage; pairs off the loads; and
receives half the passage-money in advance the day before starting.
He inquires, with an enterprising air, what time we would like to
leave in the morning? I have found it best to tell them to come
before the time appointed. The frequent excuses are various—a
mule will be missing, or, the arriero may want a wife—he is never at
a loss for a reason to keep you waiting until he is ready. The best
way, after fretting a little at first, is to take things a little easier than
they do. It is amusing to see how they dislike to be outdone, and
hurry to break down opposition. Whenever these people meet with
difficulties, the rule is to take a seat, and from the pocket take a
small piece of paper or corn husk; a tin box supplies tobacco, to be
rolled up in the shape of a cigar, and placed behind the ear; a match
box and strike-a-light are produced, and the difficulty is considered
in so cool a manner, while the smoke curls upwards, that unless you
saw a mule, baggage and all, had broken through a miserable
bridge, or fallen down a precipice, you would not believe anything
had happened. The tobacco imported from Havana into Peru is
highly prized, and a quantity consumed. Massachusetts cotton goods
are sold by the Indians, in the plazas of these inland towns, at three
times their value in the United States.
By Lieut. L. Gibbon U. S. N. Lith. of P.S. Duval & Co. Phil.

VIEW TO THE SOUTH FROM HUANTA, Peru.

Passing through the small town of Macachara, I made José ask

an Indian woman, seated on the side of the street, how old she
was? She answered, one hundred years, God bless you, and "very
poor." At a well built stone bridge, dated 1770, a flock of parrots
flew by. Our course is south, over a rocky, dusty road; the day clear
and calm. At noon, thermometer, 71°, with snow-capped mountains
to the northeast. There is very little growth on the mountains—here
and there some cactus. We arrived at the side of a stream through
which a number of women were wading. No wonder they carry such
loads on their backs, they are so stout built. An old woman, with
four handsome daughters, kept her dress much dryer than any of
the girls, though they were more careful after they found how deep
it was. They are not nervous, and don't mind men much. A plateau
is cultivated with barley, and we felt somewhat interested in the
ground over which we travel. It is the battle-field of Ayacucho,
where the royalists of Spain, under command of Viceroy Laserna,
met the independent South Americans, under the brave Venezuelan
Sucre. This battle took place on the 9th day of December, 1824,
when the whole of the Peruvian territory was surrendered, with the
exception of Callao.
The country around is wild and deeply washed with gullies and
ravines in the wet season. The Spaniards flocked to this country for
silver and gold; they built a large city, and called it Huamanga; the
republicans changed its name to Ayacucho, in honor of the victory. It
is the capital of the department, which is divided into five provinces,
and contains a population of 129,921.
The complexion of the people becomes lighter as we get south,
and fewer Indians speak Spanish. They all say "buenos tardes"
(good evening) when we meet them, even if it be at sunrise. Many
of their expressions in Quichua sound like the language of the
natives of the South Pacific islands, as I recollect it ten years ago,
while cruising as a midshipman in the ship-of-war St. Louis.
The city of Ayacucho has a population of ten thousand people;
the houses have two stories, with large rooms and court-yards; the
streets run at right angles, and are paved. On the grand plaza
stands an immense cathedral, of stone, with heavy bells and iron-
fastened doors. There are twenty-two other churches. The whole
city was built on a grand and expensive scale. The present
population indicate a falling off in numbers and wealth. The streets
are strewed with ragged children and beggar men. Under large
corridors are seen lounging sleepy old soldiers, with muskets and
fixed bayonets; officers parade the streets, buttoned up to the
throat, with dangling swords, and some of the most unclean looking
priests we have ever beheld.
In the two schools there are only thirty pupils. A professor of
belles lettres and poetry, informed me that geography was only
provided for in the college of Lima; and a teacher of latin grammar
said the reason they had so few scholars was, the parents were too
poor to pay for schooling. Among the aboriginals it is very unusual to
find one who can write his name, and not unusual to find Creoles
who cannot write. As to reading, I have never seen a person in the
country so occupied, and have not seen a public journal.
In the plaza the Indians sell barley, wheat, maize, potatoes,
onions, lucerne, and fruits, brought from the other side of the
eastern ridge. In a blacksmith's shop I found the mestizos burning
charcoal, and upon asking whether they used stone coal, they all
stopped work, and, with an air of astonishment, said they had never
seen coal dug out of the ground, nor iron neither. One of them
showed me a piece of charcoal, and inquired whether I had seen
any before! As they were about shoeing a mule, I remained. The
smith came into the street with a short-handled whip, long lash, and
box of tools, accompanied by four workmen. One of them doubled a
hair rope and slung the mule's hind foot to its tail; in doing so there
was some kicking. The tools were at once set aside, and the
sprightly mule most cruelly whipped; after which the shoe was
nailed on and the hoof cut to fit it. The horseshoes are imported.
 CHAPTER II.
Gold and silver ornaments—Bridal trip on the Andes—Manufacturers of bark rope
—Cotton trees—Winds and currents of the mountains—Population—Cultivation—
Flocks of sheep—Frosty nights—Reports of robbers—Shoemaker—Ancient
fortification—Indians travelling—Condor's wings—A padre on the road—Sugar-
cane patches—Spanish Creoles—An African slave—Apurimac bridge—Cabbage
patch—Peruvian widow—Bullfight—Fish and horned cattle—Cuzco—Market place
—Steamboat navigation—Eastern side of the Andes—Coca plantation—Head of
Madre-de-Dios—Rivers Cosnipata, Tono, and Piñipiñi—Forests—Tigers—Monkeys
—Chuncho savages—View of the low lands from a peak of the Andes—Cinchona
bark gatherers.

This town was formerly celebrated for manufacturers of beautiful

gold and silver ornaments. Exported to Spain they were highly
prized. Old ornaments are still for sale, which are of virgin metal,
some of them curious imitations of birds and animals. In the small
shops around the plaza, cotton goods are sold, but there is little
activity in anything. The picture of decay is distressing; blind people
walk arm in arm with cripples; no sound of busy wheels or of
business is heard; a death-like silence prevails, both day and night,
only broken by the chime of enormous steeple bells, where the
ragged population kneel before an altar groaning with the precious
metals. The priests, with few exceptions, are the only fat looking
people in this part of the country, others being taxed for the support
of the government and the church.
 There are many pleasant families here; the gentlemen frank and
agreeable. Several of them came to see me, and expressed great
pleasure at the idea of advancing their country by steam navigation.
One gray-headed gentleman told me he probably would not live to
see the result of the expedition, but he believed his sons would, and
daughters too. He gave me his blessing, which was quite sincere.
The prefect was also interested in the enterprize, and showed it by
presenting maps, and furnishing everything necessary for an easy
passage through a rough country. We were comfortably quartered,
and kindly treated by all. The ladies of Ayacucho are handsome, ride
well on horseback, are extremely agreeable in conversation, and
naturally talented. One who can boast of having been in Lima, is
never a "wall flower" among them. With a modest bearing, they
speak out, and to the point. Some answer serious questions
affirmatively at the age of twelve years. One of the first they ask is,
"are you married?"
Sugar and vanilla beans are produced on the eastern side of the
mountains. Ice and rock salt are brought from the glaciers, in sight,
with cream from the valley. Ice-cream is made and sold by the
Indian women in the plaza. Our pistols kept bright, and burnished
steel remains in the open air without rusting. Grapes are not very
fine in quality. Goats seem to thrive better, and poultry again
appears here. At dinner, seated by a lady, with large gold rings on
each hand, and heavy gold chains around her neck, supporting a
locket and gold cross, it was remarked that, those wearing expensive
ornaments were supposed to be wealthy. She, evidently pleased,
asked me to help her cut her chicken bones into tooth picks. Some
of the dishes, cups, spoons, and forks were roughly made of solid
silver, though there are thought to be few wealthy people in the city.
Breakfast is taken at from 10 to 11 a. m., dinner from 4 to 5
p. m. If supper is taken, it is at a very late hour; coffee is drank
early in the morning, and tea in the evening. Tables only are set
twice; their meats are served in different forms, highly seasoned
with pepper and spices, generally accompanied with potatoes.
Quinua, a native plant, considered a delicacy, is also prepared in
different ways; the seeds are cooked with cheese, or boiled with
milk and pimento.
On Monday, August 4, 1851, at 8 a. m., thermometer, 59°; wet
bulb, 54°. Our course stretches to the eastward again, over a dry,
uninteresting road, hedged in with cactus, bearing the Tuna fruit.
The country is uncultivated, except in the valleys. Crossing a well-
built stone bridge, over a stream flowing northward, we passed a
grist-mill. Peach trees were in blossom, and some few flowers. After
a ride over these barren heights, the sight of a fresh rapid brook
gladdens the hearts of our mules.
Matara post house is near a gorge in the range of mountains
trending southeast and northwest. The potatoes and barley are of
good size here; on the northwest side of a hill, I cut eleven stalks of
wheat, produced from one seed, and counted four hundred and
fourteen grains from the heads of these sprouts. It is not unusual to
see twenty stalks produced from one grain—eleven is about the
average. These crops are only raised after a careful system of
irrigation. The Indians lead the water from the heights to a great
distance; this seems to be a favorite occupation with them.
Wherever water can be had, there the soil yields a rich harvest; in
other places, the mid-day sun kills the young stalks.
By Lieut. L. Gibbon U. S. N. Lith. of P.S. Duval & Co. Phil.

MATARA POST HOUSE.

One of our arrieros—a Quichua Indian—has his wife; being just

married, they are very fond. This appears to be her bridal trip.
Mounted like a man, on a white horse, her blue dress and scarlet
manto show to advantage. She wears a straw hat, with broad
ribband. Her hair, after their custom, is plaited and hangs in two
braids over her shoulders. The Indians all salute her as she rides by,
and has something pleasant to say to both; she bows and receives it
smilingly, while he looks modestly, and becomes very much engaged
attending to his duties; while nearly out of sight, among the
mountains, he is constantly talking by her side.
Over these rough roads the arrieros generally travel on foot.
They walk for days with more ease than the mules, and quite as
fast. On the plains they trot along after the baggage for hours at a
time. Messages from the governors and sub-prefects are often sent
to the prefect by Indians, on foot, rather than by horse or mule. The
man cuts across the mountains and delivers his despatches long
before they could arrive by the road. I believe the Indians prefer
walking to riding. Sandals protect their feet from the rocky and
gravelly road, being at the same time cool. Whatever they have to
carry is fastened to the back, leaving the arms free. Sometimes they
have a short cane in one hand for protection against dogs, or for
support over steep, irregular paths. I have seen them crawling on all
fours, up hill.
We expected an extended view over lands to the east of our
range, but when we arrived at the ridge in the gorge, we saw
mountains beyond mountains, snow peaks and rocky rounded tops,
deep valleys and narrow ravines, all thrown about in confused
shapes. After travelling for hours, we made leagues by the road; yet
the distance from the Pacific to the Atlantic is short on our map.
In the small town of Ocron, the people were threshing barley
and twisting bark into rope. A good-looking young man arose from
the rope-making party of men and women, and offered us a glass of
chicha. It seemed impolite to refuse a kind offer when the people do
you a favor and wish you to consider it as such, but I cannot drink
it; so declining with thanks, we pass on leaving José, who naturally
leans the chicha-way. After a long descent, we encamped by a lonely
house, enveloped in foliage. At 3 p. m., thermometer, 73°. We have
sand flies, musquitos, bugs, bees, and humming-birds. The whole
scene is changed to mid-summer; cotton grows upon small trees, so
do peaches and chirimoyas.
The Peruvian mail passed by from Lima on its way to the
southern departments. The letters are carried in two small hide
boxes on the back of a fine mule, with a swallow-tailed red and
white flag flying from a short pole fastened between the trunks. The
conductor is well mounted and armed; wears a scarlet cloak, and
rides after; while the mounted arriero trots ahead, blowing a horn.
They travel at a quickened pace up hill and down. I should like to
overhaul that letter-box, but remittances are often made by the mail,
and a desire to look for United States letters on the road might be
considered unlawful.
We crossed the Rio Pampas, flowing northwest, upon a
suspension bridge made of bark rope. Eight cables are stretched
across, over which small cross-pieces of light wood are fastened to
form a floor; two large cables above the sides bear part of the
weight, by small ropes laced from the floor over them. Great care
had to be taken by leading the mules one by one. My mule, Rose,
gave more trouble than any; she was very much frightened, and
would not budge until another mule walked just before her, and we
all urged her not to turn back. I feared she would rush through the
lacing into the river, one hundred and twenty feet below. The
creaking and swinging of the bridge was fearful for about forty
yards. We saw fishermen in the light-green water below; on the
rocks sat numbers of cormorants, ready to dive for fish. The stream
is rapid and very winding, turning snake-like round the base of
mountains on its way through the Apurimac, Ucayali, and Amazon,
to the Atlantic. It takes its rise to the south of us, near the tops of
the great Cordilleras; our road leads along its banks, ascending
through stunted trees, from which sweet air plants hang in full
flower. Here the vegetable productions seem to suffer in the struggle
between the moisture from the river and the burning rays of the
sun, which seem to obstruct and keep down the plant that shows a
desire to improve.
After a long and tiresome ascent we reached Bombam post
house; the postmaster offered his house, and seemed astonished
that we did not seek it in preference to our tent. He sent us chicken
soup and boiled corn for supper. A flock of kids came playing about
our tent; their faces resemble those of monkeys. The Indians killed a
large hog, and the women made blood pudding. José assured me it
was good with chicha; he seems to fancy the custom of living among
the Indians.
There is no regular wind in this region; currents of air draw in
through the mountains from all directions; although the clouds far
above us show wind, we are unable to tell that it comes from any
particular direction, and below it is quite calm. While encamped on
the high places, frequent efforts were made to distinguish the
satellites of Jupiter by the naked eye, but we are not high enough
for that yet, though our sight is very good. The rivers around flow to
every point of the compass, and make it difficult to decide if the
waters make the winds, or the relative positions of the mountains
alone cause these drafts. The winds are very gentle, and curl the
cirrus or hairy clouds in most graceful shapes about the hoary-
headed Andes in rich and delicate clusters; when the peak is
concealed, all but the blue tinge below the snow, we see a natural
bridal veil. An easterly wind lifts and turns them to dark, cumulus
clouds, settled on the frosty crown, like an old man's winter cap; the
physiognomical expression is that of anger. The change is
accompanied by thunder, and seems to command all around to
clothe themselves for storms. The cold rain comes down in fine
drops upon us; the day grows darker, and the clouds press close
upon the earth. Our oil-cloth hat-covers and India-rubber ponchos
were admired at a small settlement. The children were at school
under a shed, pulling their bare feet under them to keep them
warm; they looked as if they wished school was out. The people are
better looking as we travel south, and are more cheerful. A girl
stowed José's saddle-bags with fresh bread and cheese from a door-
way, and said she would rather travel than keep shop. José said his
work was wet; she answered, hers was too dry. The road becomes
very slippery when wet; it is best to have the mules shod for safety
as for the comfort of the animal. They worry very much sliding about
under heavy rain; some of the baggage mules fall upon the ground.
The flat lands are thickly populated, and well cultivated. On the
rolling mountains we come to grazing again; the flocks roam in the
desert, where we pass the night. At supper the arriero tells José, in
Quichua, this is a dangerous country; robbers live in numbers among
the mountain-tops. They meet the travellers at night upon this
uninhabitable part of the road, and make what terms they please.
Their modes of attack differ. If they see the party in day time, and
know the number, they come boldly up and make their demands; if
they are in doubt, their guide comes alone; inquires after the
traveller's health; requests a light for his cigar, keeping his eyes
about him. After expressing a wish to purchase, he returns to his
party, with a full report of his reconnoissance. Whether they attack
or not, the chances are that they will steal the mules at pasture
during the night. José don't feel at ease; is anxious, after telling me
the story, to know what we shall do. The plan for the night was
arranged. If the guia comes, he was to be made fast to the baggage
as soon as he lit his cigar. José was to keep hot water at the fire;
one arriero to sleep with a lasso at hand, the other to watch the
mules. Should any one approach our tent, the arriero was instructed
to lasso and haul him in under José's hot water. Richards was armed
with a carbine and two large ship pistols; my double-barrelled gun
and five-shooter, with rifle bore, made us in all ten shots. At
midnight José peeped into the tent, and after several anxious calls,
said, "Sir, the guia is coming." José did not admire the general plan
of action, but it was not changed. Upon close examination, we found
the supposed guia to be a donkey gazing at the fire. The weapons
used by the robbers is a short thick club, slung stone balls, and
knives. They seldom use fire-arms, but dread them. The savage,
dissipated negro, or Peruvian robber, may come up bravely with his
dagger, intent to commit murder; but let him hear the click of a
revolver and he vanishes; the noise is offensive to him. Robbers
waylay travelling merchants, lonely strangers, and trains of
merchandise with loads of silver. The mules are turned from the road
into a wild mountain gorge, where none but robbers live, and
forever lost to the owner. The Montaneros, as they are called,
control the country around.
About daylight in the morning, José was heard grumbling to
himself. While he was asleep a shepherdess's dog robbed his saddle-
bags of our bread and cheese. Sketched the encampment; called it
Ladron; and pushed on. A thick fog, and snow under foot. At 6
a. m., thermometer, 39°; wet bulb, 37°. The pasture is improved by
burning down the grass at this season. While the rain storm beats
from the eastward, flocks of vicuñas are grazing to the west of us.
The rain turns to hail as the wind veers to northeast.
In the valley of Andahuailas, we see the wild cherry tree for the
first time in South America. After sundown, the bright pink light,
which often attracts attention at Lima, and sometimes alarms the
natives, appears not unlike the aurora borealis, rising far above the
Cordilleras in the west, while the bright moon lights our path over
the Andes to the east. In Andahuailas we joined the sub-prefect and
family at breakfast. Our baggage was placed in a large room, and
mules in the corral. If hospitality was not quite so highly seasoned
with hot pepper it would go down easier. The rough life on the
mountains agrees with body and mind much better than the luxuries
of the valley seem to do.
By Lieut. L. Gibbon U. S. N. Lith. of P.S. Duval & Co. Phil.

CAMP LADRON, Peru.

This town has a population of fifteen hundred; mostly Indians.

The valley contains six thousand. There is a great deal of poverty.
The cultivated portions of land seem to be over populated. Deaf and
dumb lounge about. A good-looking woman, with a baby in her
arms, came to my door begging for bread. Her intelligent face was
sad. When I gave her money, the poor creature nearly bent on her
knees before us. My gun-cover wanted repairs; and while applying
to a mestizo shoemaker, with three or four apprentices, the sub-
prefect joined me. I unguardedly told him what I wished, and
remarked that the man had so much business he could not repair it
in time, when I was astonished to hear the sub-prefect order him in
a loud and passionate way to do the work. The shoemaker pointed
to the large amount of work on hand, and said he could not possibly
attend to it; when he was at once ordered to do what he was told by
the next morning, and to bring it to the government house. The
cover was repaired, and shoemaker paid. Afterwards I was more
careful.
 There are abandoned silver mines five leagues south, one of
which has been re-opened by a North American—Charles Stone. I
did not see him, but understood he hopes to work profitably.
The productions of the valley are maize, barley, wheat, lucerne,
beans potatoes, small apples and peaches, with a few chirimoyas of
inferior quality. The tanas fruit is very abundant; the cactus flower
beautiful. The wine drank at the sub-prefect's table was
manufactured from the Yca grape. The wife of the sub-prefect was a
very kind person. At breakfast and dinner hours, ten to twelve poor
Indians were sometimes fed by her. She teaches her little son to
treat them politely, telling him to help them to water, &c.
Entering the small town of Heronimo, we find all the inhabitants
bare-headed, on their knees in the streets and doorways; church
bells ringing; host on the way through the town. A padre walks, with
book in hand, attended by a man with a large umbrella to keep off
the sun. A number of women and men follow, uttering prayers. One
of them rings a small bell. We halted under the shade of a house
while the host entered the church. As the people rose, we travelled
on. Six leagues brought us to Pincor post, where we enjoyed a
supper of wild pigeons, six of which were killed at one shot. They
are large, and very like tame pigeons. The arrieros and José cooked
them on sticks before our camp fire. Here, for the first time, we saw
a snake. The songs of frogs are heard among lofty mountains. At 3
p. m., thermometer, 65°; August 15th. Next morning at 6 a. m.,
thermometer, 38°; wet bulb, 36°; temperature of a spring, 46°.
On a narrow ridge, with deep valleys on both sides, we have a
view of snow-clad mountains to the east; by the road-side an
ancient fort, called by the arrieros "Quramba." The arrieros (Quichua
Indians) expressed pleasure and surprise when they saw the sketch,
wrapping themselves up in their ponchos, and kneeling on the
ground, looking on. A party of Indians came silently up the ridge; on
a journey they are quiet; when at home they play upon wind
instruments and drums. The girls often sing, but I never heard any
whistling; they are not great talkers, except when excited, and then
the women's tongues are remarkably fast. Nor do I believe they are
active thinkers. Their eyes are constantly moving, for they are sharp-
sighted, and notice every thing near them by a quick, sly glance.
Their hearing is very good; so is their knowledge of the manners,
habits, and peculiarities of animals, being constantly on the watch
for game, which they trap, as they are not practised in the use of
fire-arms; nor do these Indians use the bow and arrow. A boy in the
party had a pair of condor's wings; one of them four feet five inches
from the body joint to the tip end. The bone and joints remind one
of heavy iron door hinges. The boy had caught the condor in a trap,
and the bird being too much for a load, he cut off the wings and
seemed to be troubled with the weight of them on his back. The
condor is often seen along the sea-shore, feeding upon cast-up dead
fish; but it is among the lofty peaks of the mountain this wild bird
builds its nest. The most daring and experienced climbers among the
boys are unable to reach their young, or rob their eggs. We looked
for the nest and longed to see the extraordinary bird rise from the
valley, bearing in beak and claws a young lamb to its little ones; or
flying from one mountain to another with a young vicuña. The
Indians are fond of baiting condors; they sometimes hide close
enough to the bait to lasso them, and have been known to conceal
themselves under the bait and catch them by the legs.
Huancarama, a small Indian town situated in a valley, with a
little old church, and Indian population. We met the priest on the
road returning to town; he was followed by a number of persons, to
whom he read aloud as he rode along up hill. Our baggage mules
met him in a very narrow pass; all came to a stand-still, and the not
over-cleanly padre was addressing the arriero in a loud and excited
voice. José assured him it was up-hill work for his party to back out;
if he would be kind enough to stand on one side, we would pass on,
which was done. As we cleared each other, after some chafing of
baggage, the extreme politeness of the padre was more becoming.
Sometimes arrieros engage in dreadful fights with stones, followed
up with knives; on such occasions the weaker party are forced to
give way to the strong. It is generally considered proper for those
coming up, to halt on one side to give their mules a rest. Those
standing with heavy loads, head down hill, suffer, and are anxious to
push on. Noises made in the valley resound through the mountains;
an uproar on the summit causes little noise; the echo among these
hills is very great. These people are very careful to unsaddle animals
only after they are cool; otherwise, they say bumps rise on the back,
which become sore. They even leave the bridle a while for fear that
taking it off suddenly will give the mule cold in the head.
By Lieut. L. Gibbon U. S. N. Lith. of P.S. Duval & Co. Phil.

RUINS OF THE INCA'S FORT QURAMBA, Peru.

We see at the bottom of the valley of Carquacahua the first

sugar plantation. An old Indian, with hoe in hand, is leading the
snowy waters of the Andes between rows of sugar plants, which are
now two feet high, with rich, yellow leaves. Man seems to suffer like
the plant from the heat of the sun; both would perish under it in this
valley, without sufficient water for irrigating the soil; with it, he
plants and produces a crop every year. A little above his head, on
the mountain side, there appears another climate, with stunted
clusters of cactus, small dry bunches of grass, rocks, and dusty soil,
deserted by animal life, except a green lizard basking in the parching
rays of the sun. A little higher the surface is covered with a lead-
colored coat of grass, turning a little greenish as the eye ascends;
when suddenly a streak of dark earth is capped by the pure white
snow, and as you look up it seems to get deeper and deeper, until
the soil is completely enclosed in a pyramid of eternal snow.
The old Indian exchanges his sugar crop in the plaza for
Massachusetts cotton goods.
 Crossing a stone bridge, dated 1564, over a stream of water
flowing northwest, we met a party—ladies and gentlemen—travelling
on horseback. The gentlemen wear green goggles, and the ladies
green veils, to protect the eyes from the glare of the sun, as the
reflection of his rays on the snow often causes inflammation of the
eyes, said to be very painful in the rainy season, when the snow-line
reaches below the road. Though we experienced no inconvenience
from the surumpe, as this affection is called, the Creole portion of
the population seem to be much afraid of it, particularly the
gentlemen. When a middy, on a visit to Lima, eleven years ago, I
formed a high opinion of the Peruvian horseman as he pranced
through the alameda in the evening, on a well-trained animal. The
Peruvians, anxious to make a show before strangers, put spurs to
their spirited horses, ride at full speed, halt suddenly, and worry the
animal by turning short round and jumping him. A man rode by me
at full speed, and drew up just before my mule; in doing so he
pulled rather hard on the Spanish bit, and the horse throwing up his
head, struck the rider in the mouth, cutting his lips and displacing six
of his teeth, which saved him from pitching over the horse's head.
The ladies and their maids are fresh-looking, and manage their
horses with ease. A negress rode a man's saddle, and wore a flat
straw-hat, trimmed with fancy colored ribband. The riding skirt is
dispensed with under the bloomer style; she wore very long orange-
colored silk stockings, and on the heel of a small and neat black
shoe were buckled her woman's spurs. Her horse had a rocking
pace, her hat gracefully placed on one side of her plaited wool, with
a large cigar between white teeth; she smoked her way through the
mountains, carefully guarding her smiles, only condescending to deal
them out to her mistress's most deserving friends. African slavery
exists in Peru.
On arriving at the town of Abancay, the sub-prefect was in the
country. The governor kindly offered me a house, but as I wished to
make some observations upon the stars during the night, we passed
on, and encamped in the neighborhood. At 2 p. m., thermometer,
77°. The mules were well fed with lucerne. They suffer and begin to
show effects of the travel. The parrots are talking in the bushes near
our tent, and a cricket lives with us.
The climate is delightful in this sugar valley. Near town is the
ruin of another fort. Flowers, vines, and bushes cover it so thickly
that the traveller would not suspect he was passing a masked
fortification. The road from it leads over the mountains to the
northeast. At 11 a. m., temperature of a spring, 54°; air, 55°; sun,
60°; cumulus clouds and northerly wind. The road seems to be
getting worse, and the overhanging rocks are so low, we
occasionally bump our heads. By way of resting our animals, we
march on foot. A few hours travel, over a wild country, brings us into
another valley, where the cattle are larger than any we have yet
seen. Passing an idle great mill, on a stream flowing east, we came
to the hacienda Lucmoj, a grove of willow trees shaded the avenue;
the house was of two stories, large and neatly white-washed, the
garden richly supplied with fruits and flowers; the peach tree in full
blossom. The out-buildings for the Indian servants were in good
order; the shelter for sheep, horned cattle, horses, mules, jackasses,
and numbers of goats, showed unusual kind treatment. The owner
of this valuable estate was a young bachelor, of intelligence and
hospitality. The death of his father gave him possession of the
property. He talked with me about his country, and remarked that
"the government did nothing for the people." Upon being asked, why
the people depended upon the government, he looked surprised,
and wanted to know whether all the improvements in North America
were not made by the government? The few silver mines in the
neighborhood have been abandoned.
After declining a polite invitation to remain some days, we took a
short cut across the corn-field to the town of Curahuasi, a miserable
little Indian place. The water from the mountains passes down the
ravine to small patches of sugar-cane. The mountains are wild;
winding around one of them, we suddenly came in sight of the long-
looked for river Apurimac. Its waters foam as they dash over its
rocky bed. Our view was cut off by another turn, and leaving the
surface of the earth, we enter a tunnel, cut into the mountain, which
stands like its strata, perpendicular, by the side of the river. Sky-light
holes are cut through the rock, and as we travel along, in alternate
light and darkness, the arrieros shout at the top of their voices at
the train. The mules are fearful of proceeding. Coming to a house,
which was open on both sides, we looked over the Apurimac bridge,
and then down into the river, a fearful distance below. The toll-house
is inhabited by two women, a man, a child, a dog, and two jugs of
chicha. The ropes of this suspension bridge—of bark, about the size
of a sloop-of-war's hemp cable—are made fast to the posts which
support the roof of the house. It is best for travellers not to be too
particular in their examinations, how these ropes are fastened. A
windlass in the middle of the house kept the ropes hauled up when
they slack off. One woman, a good-looking black, was seated by a
large jar of chicha, which she sold to travellers, with her child on the
other side; she spun cotton, with a smoking fire close to keep off the
sand flies. These little insects are here in swarms. A white woman
was seated by the windlass, holding her head in her hands. I
thought she had the small-pox, but the red bumps on her face were
caused by these annoying flies. The baggage was taken off the
mules as they were brought through the house, and one by one
taken across the river, when the arrieros carried over the baggage
on their own backs. When Rose, a most sensible animal, saw the
bridge, she held down her head, laid her ears back, switched her
tail, and plainly kicked out the words, "I won't go over." She is
generally indulged and coaxed; an old mule was put forward, and
she behind to follow him. As the arriero walked on with the bridle,
the toll man pursued the old mule with a rope's end, when it backed,
kicked with both heels, pulling the arriero along. We took shelter
behind the windlass, with a barometer, the woman screamed, picked
up the child with one hand by the neck, and the chicha jug by the
same extremity, and beat a retreat. She mounted the windlass, and,
in a towering passion, commanded with her tongue, telling the men
to secure the animal at once. José stood out of the way with Rose,
for the old mule had charge of the house, and was getting warm; he
succeeded in putting his hind-legs in the fire, when the chunks flew
in all directions; the mule became angry, as if it had been abused
here before. As soon as he cooled down a little, the bridle was taken
off; a hide rope put over his head and hitched round his nose; each
fore-leg was also fastened by the end of a rope, and three men held
the three ropes. The nose-rope was fast pulled until the mule's neck
was stretched out; one foot-rope advanced one leg; the other foot-
rope being then pulled, brought the first foot down, getting one pace
ahead; so they gradually walked him over. Rose had been looking on
at the effects of his obstinacy, and gently followed. Two dollars were
paid for our two mules and the baggage; the arriero paid six and a
quarter cents apiece for his mules; this is the custom of the country.
The bridge is eighty yards long and six feet wide, distant one
hundred and fifty feet above the dark green waters. There are six
floor-ropes, crossed by small sticks, lashed with strips of hide to the
cables. This platform is hung to two side-cables by small bark ropes.
The river flows northwest, with a width of twenty yards.
The Apurimac empties into the river Santa Ana, and is an
important tributary to the Ucayali, after it receives the waters of the
Juaja. We are told the Apurimac was the western boundary of the
Inca territory during the reign of the first Inca—Manco Capac. The
road from this bridge to Banca post-house winds up the mountain.
In some places the rock has been cut like stairs. The arrieros help up
the mules by pushing against the lower part of the baggage; we
were continually stopping to have the loads fastened on. There are
few houses near the post—uninviting in appearance—the people
being mostly mestizos. A party of women and men, all intoxicated,
seated by the road-side drinking chicha, politely invited us to join
them; some looked very thin and sickly; an old woman was groaning
on her bed at the door; a boy close by her had some horrible
disease breaking out on his face; he was deformed and looked like a
person on the edge of the grave, but amused himself by playing in
the dust; his ghastly stare made us fear he had some infectious
disorder. On the other side was a woman shaving a boy's head—the
shape of a mule's more than that of a human being. An enclosure,
containing a patch of cabbages, was found near a stream of cold
water, which flowed rapidly from the snow peaks in sight, through an
expensive aqueduct, supported on pillars of stone, neatly white-
washed, leading to a sugar plantation some distance below us, on
the east side of the Apurimac. We encamped here without
permission of the owner, who was absent. While our mules were
feeding and we enjoying our supper, a woman came in, and in a
hurried and excited tone of voice, addressed me in Quichua. Our
difficulty was with a Peruvian widow, very good-looking, but who
talked at a terrible rate. José concealed himself behind a peach-tree
full of blossoms, preparing tea. She said she was poor, but had sons
full grown, and that we had taken her garden fence down, and
turned eight mules among her cabbages. José told her, when we
arrived, tired, after a long march, she was not at home to give
consent; her grounds had particularly pleased us, and we had taken
the liberty to enter them for the night; in the morning the fence
should be repaired to her satisfaction, and money paid for the use of
her grounds; the arrieros' mules should go out, and ours be fastened
and fed close to the tent, which was not among the plants, but at a
proper distance on our side. She, smiling, accepted a cup of tea, and
they spent the evening sociably together, in the clear moonlight,
with no sand-flies, and a westerly wind.
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