Mr. Root to Mr. Fish
Sir: I have the honor to report that on the 19th of January last, accompanied by General J. C. Caldwell, United States consul at Valparaiso, and several other American gentlemen, I proceeded from Santiago to Llaillai by railroad, thence by stage, passing through San Felipe to Santa Rosa de los Andes, where we arrived the same night. This city being near the mountains, we there prepared for our journey, which we commenced early on the morning of the 22d. The third day we passed the cumbre, or highest point, called the Nspullata Pass, at an elevation of 12,656 feet above the sea. The summit was passed at 10 a. m., thermometer standing 40° F.; our barometer, a small pocket one, proved worthless when above 9,000 feet. The cumbre of this pass is between two and three hundred feet in length, and the same in width. The immediate ascent and descent are comparatively easy. The wind, which later in the day is very strong, during the forenoon is quite bearable. The view from this point is truly grand and sublime. From either side, looking north or south, the highest peaks of the Andes, with their pinnacles veiled in mantles of eternal snow, are in full view, and, as seen rising from almost fathomless abysses, gorges, cañons, and lesser heights, to their homes among the clouds, present a picture of sublimity and awful grandeur never to be forgotten by the beholder. This night we rested at the “Puenta del Inca,” a natural bridge nearly a hundred feet from the water of the Rio de los Cuevas, and is one hundred and fifty feet wide and three hundred feet in length. Beneath this bridge, on one side, are several warm baths of a saline character, possessed of many medicinal virtues, and except for the difficulty of reaching would be much frequented. Their uniform temperature, by my thermometer, was 92 degrees. Beautiful stalactite formations completely covered the under side of this bridge. The appearance of the mountains on the east side of the pass is in marked contrast with that of the west. The former presents a sharp, angular, hard, unyielding, and undecaying surface. The rocky points seem to stand out in bold relief, bidding defiance to time or the action of all the elements of nature, while the moment the cumbre is passed a distinct change is observed. The whole face of the mountain scenery seems mellowed and softened. The highest peaks discernible beneath the snow seem crumbling and fast going through the process of disintegration, being thus prepared for the vegetation of the valleys and vast plains below and beyond, toward which every shower and melting snow carries a bountiful supply. Nothing of especial interest occurred until our arrival in the ill-fated city of Mendosa, in the Argentine Republic, situated about thirty miles from the base of the Cordilleras, on the vast plains or pampas, which stretch hundreds of miles to the east. This place we reached the eighth day.
Mendosa was destroyed by an earthquake the 20th of March, 1861, between 8 and 9 in the evening. Having been kindly furnished with letters of introduction to some of the principal men here, as well as elsewhere on our route, we were enabled to obtain correct information touching the sad history of this city. The “tremble,” or “shake,” lasted [Page 66] from three to five minutes, during which time the town was completely destroyed; not a house was left standing; fifteen thousand persons, out of a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, were instantly buried beneath the ruins of the fallen buildings. For the next two years most of the living went either into the country or some other town or city. After this period, many of the old inhabitants commenced to return and to rebuild, and were rapidly joined by others, so that now Mendosa is a thriving place of nearly or quite twelve thousand inhabitants. The new town is mainly built adjacent to the old one, which still lies in crumbling ruins, with only here and there an old residence rebuilt. Hundreds of skulls and other human bones, especially in the neighborhood of churches, lie scattered around in careless and apparently unnoticed condition. Those in the vicinity of churches were evidently the remains of women and children, who at that hour were attending vespers. The men in these Catholic countries, I have noticed, are not as punctilious in their observances of church demands as the females. Most of the buildings in the city were made of adobe. The oldest church, (the church of San Francisco,) built by the Spaniards, was one of the strongest pieces of brick masonry I have ever seen, with walls from ten to fifteen feet thick, yet this edifice was shattered as though made of the most brittle material. Perhaps, as part excuse for allowing such an apparent neglect of the dead to appear, it should be remembered that the dead outnumbered the living as three to one. Many who were not instantly killed were burned alive by fires which raged in different parts of the city. Though multitudes have been extricated and buried, it is supposed that at the present time there are about six thousand bodies lying just as the sad catastrophe overtook them. Perhaps I may be pardoned for suggesting a theory for the destruction of this place, and if true it may throw light upon similarly situated cities which have been destroyed. Mendosa, from all information obtained, was the center or nearly so of this earthquake; a few miles from the city upon a level plain, at the time of the disaster, the earth opened with great power and violence, and threw each way, in a lateral direction, for the distance of several hundred feet, immense quantities of earth, making an elevation of the surface thereof at the present time nearly thirty feet high. At the same time large quantities of water were thrown forth, and from that to the present time about fifty springs have been in lively operation, from which flows a large supply of cool and slightly mineral water, so much so, that several small buildings have been erected near, and this place has become a great resort for public bathing. My theory is that a reservoir of water, far up the Andes, suddenly opened into one of the subterranean water-courses leading from those vast heights, beneath the surface of the earth, under the plains, and in the vicinity of Mendosa, and that by mere hydraulic pressure the earth was forced up, and when this pressure was relieved, as was done when the earth was burst asunder and the earth and water poured forth where the springs now are, the earth fell back to its original position, causing the Terrible shock with its consequences. In this view a similar “shake” may occur at any time to any place situated on a vast plain at the base of exceedingly high mountains. I found that the force of the shock gradually diminished in every direction from the vicinity of these springs. Neither fire nor smoke was known to issue from the earth in any direction at this time. The above ideas have at least the merit of pure originality with me, never having known of their being suggested previously from any quarter, but with all these facts before me I am fully satisfied of the correctness of my theory.
[Page 67]After two days in Mendosa, we commenced our return by the Potillo Pass, situated about sixty miles south of the Nspullata route, on reaching which we marched two days across the pampas, often being reminded of the prairies of the West, though far from being as fertile. Much of the distance was quite sandy and barren. A few guanacas and ostriches were seen, and some smaller game. More rain falls on the eastern than the western slope of the Andes, so that there is considerable verdure in places even without irrigation, which is rarely true of the west side of the mountains. On this route there are two distinct ridges or passes, with a valley between, occupying a day’s march. Both of these passes or cumbres are much higher than the Nspullata cumbre, and have a faint resemblance thereto, each, however, being much narrower. I attempted to light a fire for the purpose of ascertaining at what degrees water would boil at the summit, but was doomed to utter failure, notwithstanding I had all the necessary appliances, as I supposed. My matches would only fuse an instant and then go out. The dryest paper and pine shavings would not ignite. The brandy of one of the company would not burn. Unfortunately my alcohol lamp I had left behind. The rarefied air was not sufficiently filled with oxygen for my experiment. The thermometer at 10 a. m. stood at 31°. The next day, after passing through the eastern portion of the valley, we passed the west Potillo Pass at 7 a. m. This pass is much higher than the latter; thermometer 29°. A frosty mist encircled us as we passed the cumbre. From the last Potillo we obtained a good view of Tapungato, lying a few miles north of us, 22,450 feet high, the highest mountain in the Western hemisphere. Aconcagua, 22,296 feet high and sixty miles northward, is not visible on this route. The west Potillo is the highest of these passes, being nearly fifteen thousand feet above the sea. All these summits should be passed as early in the day as possible for fear of the wind, which toward night is often very strong and dangerous. Soon after passing our last cumbre a violent snow-storm commenced, which continued, as we subsequently learned, for several days, making the summit impassable for a time, and preventing several thousand head of cattle from continuing their march from the Argentine Republic to Chili, thereby causing great loss of stock; vast numbers of these starved and frozen animals becoming food for the thousands of huge condors that seem to be alone the living inhabitants of these lofty solitudes, among, in, and above the clouds. I ought to state that in very many places on both routes we saw sure indications of great mineral wealth, and several copper and silver mines were in successful operation. Just three weeks from our departure we safely arrived in Santiago. On our entire route, though avoiding as much as possible any appearance of display or official show, we were treated with marked kindness and distinguished courtesy, and everywhere found the United States recognized as the great nation of the world, whose sympathies were especially extended to all sister republics.
I beg pardon for so long a report which, however, might easily have been greatly extended, with perhaps more interesting details than those here hurriedly given.
I have, &c.,