The issue of wealth generated by the guano in Peru in the nineteenth century is vast (as well as complicated). During this century, the then young Republic had enormous development opportunities based on the simple removal of massive amounts of nonrenewable natural resources, the first of those given in the 1840's by the guano islands, then take the business post nitrate (saltpeter) and finally the Gomal (rubber) would be huge source of revenue.
However, the country did not take off despite this injection of financial liquidity, for many reasons not relevant to analyze in this blog. What I doing is the subject of immigration, the business of guano from the outset attracted numerous European trade houses, who settled with their employees and became part of the coastal idiosyncrasies. Also we can not fail to mention the many and exploited Chinese immigrants brought to work in the guano islands (under various conditions), together with Europeans in much smaller numbers (under extreme conditions).
Guano is the name given to the droppings of many seabirds which were deposited over the centuries in the islands off the Peruvian coast. This organic material was fermenting and drying due to the arid climate of the coast, where they accumulate in large numbers. On the same there is significant discrepancy, it was estimated that by 1841 there were around 40 million tonnes accumulated in the islands.
is composed of uric acid, ammonia, nitrogen, phosphorus, etc., constituting a valuable natural fertilizer and demand towards the Europe of the nineteenth century, until decades later was replaced by salt and artificial fertilizers. The most important guano islands in Peru were the Chincha Islands, Lobos de Tierra, Lobos de Afuera, Bonefish, Guañape among others. This source material was studied by the naturalist Milan Raimondi.
The export of guano began in 1841, so that the number initially estimated for 1846 Mr. George Peacock was estimated that more than 30 million tons. For this politically organized islands, each with a governor of Peru, and a dock for boats guano and some workers' housing. In this first post I will touch the subject of archaeological finds hidden in the guano. On the Heros Ambrose describes regard:
"En Guañape y Macabí se ha encontrado a algunos metros de profundidad, en los cortes de huano, algunas antigüedades de los indios, como huacos de oro y plata macizos y en planchas, herramientas muy finas, de varios metales para tejer, largas tranjas de plata, muy delgadas, con animales en relieve; huacos de barro, chicha, maíz, trozos de bayeta amarilla, huevos de aves petrificados, esqueletos de pájaros-niños, potoyuncos y lobos"
José María García, gobernador de las islas de Chincha, escribe en 1873 lo siguiente:
"... En esta isla del Sur sólo se han encontrado ídolos y utensilios de madera negra y chonta... en las de Macabí reportedly found clay vessels of various sizes, and small birds and other figures representing the same as shown in the work of Mr. Rivero, Peruvian Antiquities: pots, and these gold foil figures, and even masks of the same metal ... engineer Joseph Harris led many of them to London and presented to the Ethnographic Society in November 1870. "
In 1867 in the Chincha Islands were many pre-Columbian objects, including 8 sheets of silver fish representing different species, which were sent by Mr. Enrique Swayne Peruvians EG Squier of New York, through a letter where I transcribe a few paragraphs:
"I take to refer to you a silver fishes have been discovered in the guano of the Chincha islands one of my friends, captain of a coastal vessel. I think it will help demonstrate the antiquity of the original inhabitants of this country. The friend, Italian captain Juan Pardo, was out of guano, while fish, a headless woman's body, which later found some distance from the skeleton. They covered the chest and ribs very thin sheets of gold, and it was worth preserving that precious relic of antiquity. But the workers shared the gold and sold it to the captains of ships who carried guano, and threw the body into the sea "
Due to the enormous profits generated by the guano, many Europeans ventured into the business, from large commercial firms from English and German by the famous French Jew Dreyffus, up adventurous and the Hungarian military and Oskar Kossuth, which will be for another post.
-------------------------
(1) Wikipedia.com: Guano
(2) Study of Peruvian antiquities found in the guano. M. Gonzales de la Rosa.
1908 Historical Magazine Stock Manuel González, published in The Illustrated London News February 1863.
