Chapter X: Appendix: On the Zoology of Western Peru (2)

The first four or six baths must be taken in the bathing-places named Desague or Sepultura, which emit less gas and are of lower temperature; for by entering the bath called Tigre, which is the most active, the body experiences a very disagreeable sensation, and at the same time the breast is peculiarly affected.

To be in a fit condition for enjoying the advantages of the bath, the individual must have the stomach empty, be free from fatigue, perspiration, as well as mental emotion of every sort. The bath should not be continued above three quarters of an hour, and in the Tigre one should not remain above twenty or thirty minutes. Should the nature of the disease so require, the invalids may bathe twice a day. A purgative of cream of tartar or Epsom salts should be taken as a preparative for bathing in these baths. Strict attention to diet, daily exercise to favour perspiration, and great care to avoid exposure to damp or chills during the time of taking exercise, or coming from the bath, are requisite precautions.

The effects of these waters are slow of manifesting themselves, and, for this reason, their continued use in many cases is necessary; to their perseverance and constancy in this respect many individuals, now in the enjoyment of perfect health, owe their recovery.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

We have in Vol. I. p. 173, alluded to the prospects of a Steam Navigation along the shores of the Pacific Ocean; and we are now happily able to subjoin a few statements on this subject, for the perusal of such of our readers as may not have seen the report of the British merchants and residents at Lima and Callao, upon the subject of opening through Panama a direct communication between Great Britain and the western coast of South America.[66]

The first meeting on this interesting subject was held in Lima on the 12th of August 1836; and on the 7th of September, at a public meeting, the report of the British Merchant Committee was unanimously approved, and ordered to be printed and circulated in English and Spanish. From a pamphlet, accompanied with documents which detail the general plan of the intended operations of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, printed by J. M. Masias, in Lima, we extract the following authentic information regarding the “Statistics of Trade, and the favourable influence of Steam Navigation.”

“It is only since the dynasty of Spain ceased to exist in South America, that the shores of the Pacific have been thrown open to foreign commerce; and, when it is considered how much these countries have suffered from continued revolutionary convulsions, the rapid advance of commerce and trade is somewhat extraordinary. The following statement of imports is from the best data which could be obtained.

British 12,000,000 dollars.
North American 2,500,000
French 1,500,000
Peninsular 1,000,000
Germany, and other places on the
continent 1,250,000
China, Bengal, and Manilla 750,000
Brazil and Buenos Ayres 300,000
----------
Total 19,300,000 dollars.
----------

“Of which there is consumed

In Chile 4,500,000 dollars.
Peru and Bolivia 7,500,000
Equador and New Granada 1,500,000
Central America 2,000,000
Mexico and California 3,800,000
----------
Total 19,300,000 dollars.
----------

“The whale fishery of the Pacific may be estimated as follows:

North American 12,500,000 dollars.
British 5,000,000
French 3,000,000
----------
Total 20,500,000 dollars.
----------

“The whole interest involved, including the Pacific whale fishery, amounts to nearly forty millions of dollars.

“The beneficial influence of steam navigation along the shores of the Pacific, and the opening a communication with Europe and North America, _viâ_ Panama, are subjects of deep interest, not only to those engaged in commerce with the Pacific, but also to the whole commercial world.

“The present state of communication is long and tedious between Peru and Great Britain; it may be averaged at about four months; while, by the proposed route, it will be reduced to little more than one-third that period, viz.

Lima to Panama 6 days.
Pacific to Atlantic 1
Isthmus to Jamaica, by steam, 3
Jamaica to England 36
--
Total number of days 46
--

“By substituting steam navigation between Jamaica and England, the voyage from Great Britain to Peru could be performed in little more than a month.

“The security which will be given to commerce by this prompt communication, the facilities afforded to merchants in realizing the proceeds of their shipments, the consequent increase of trade, the regularity of advices along the shores of the Pacific, so desirable for British commerce,—are points of universal interest. To the squadrons stationed in those seas an immense advantage will also be gained by the facility of communication and the increased efficiency of their operations. The moral influence to be effected will tend to strengthen and sustain the governments of the respective states against the usurpation of revolutionary demagogues.”

We further beg leave to add, on the same very good authority, the following valuable remarks for the information of those who are unacquainted with the localities of Panama, and the difficulties and facilities to be met with in crossing the Isthmus.

“The seasons are distinguished by rainy season and dry season. From June to November constitutes the former; from November to June the latter. During the rainy season, the journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic can be performed in two days; while, in the dry season, twenty-four hours only are necessary: from the Atlantic to the Pacific, during the rainy season, three days are required; and in the dry season it can be accomplished in two days. This difference is owing to the swelling of the river produced by rains. The journey from Panama to Cruces is performed on mules, being a distance of twenty-one miles, over a bad but not a dangerous road. In Cruces, there are canoes of all sizes always in readiness, in which passengers embark, and descend the river to Chagres, the sea-port of the Isthmus, where they re-embark on board the first vessel which suits their convenience.

“The transit of the Isthmus during the dry season is neither inconvenient nor unpleasant: the canoes are covered; provisions, fruits, &c. are abundant along the banks of the river; the temperature, though warm, is perfectly healthy, and there is always personal security. During the rains you are subject to great exposure and consequent illness; but were a good road once opened, and a steamer on the river, there would be no danger at any season, and the journey from sea to sea could be accomplished in _eight or nine hours_, without the slightest inconvenience.”

ECCLESIASTICAL JUBILEE.

The following authentic document we have carefully translated from the Spanish; and, having already referred to it, (vol. i. p. 132,) we now offer no comment on its contents.

We, Dr. Don Jorje de Benavente, Archbishop Elect of Lima, &c. to our clergy, religious communities, and all the faithful residing in and inhabiting this our diocese.

Forasmuch as our most holy father Gregory XVI, Roman Pontiff, and visible head of the Universal Church, moved by the pastoral vigilance and paternal love becoming a successor of St. Peter, has condescended to grant a general jubilee to the whole Catholic world, with a view that the common penitence and prayer of the faithful may obtain from the Father of Mercies and God of all consolation the cessation of the weighty ills that affect the spouse of J. C.; the supreme government of this republic, always zealous for the exact observance of the holy religion which we profess, has given the corresponding pass to the Brief, which with this object his Holiness has despatched, of which the tenor is as follows:

The Pontiff Gregory XVI. to all the faithful Christians
who shall see the present letters, health and apostolical
benediction.

After having taken solemn possession of the pontificate in
the Basilic of the Lateran, we have written many times to our
venerable brothers the patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops,
concerning the calamities of the Church; encouraging them to
oppose with all their might, like walls of Israel, those snares
with which, to our great sorrow, she is beset. For the same
purpose, also, we have admonished them that they should raise
their eyes and hands to the mountain from whence we expect
assistance; certain that, with the favour of Him who governs
the winds and the sea, tranquillity will be procured, and that
the divine mercy descends when the humble prayer ascends to God.

But seeing that the conspiracy of the wicked everywhere gains
ground, and that the tempest even increases, we have resolved
that in all the Church prayers be publicly offered; by this
means opening up the treasure of celestial gifts, to the
end that the consciences being regulated and purified in a
holy manner from the uncleanness of transgressions, prayers
themselves may be rendered more agreeable and acceptable to
God, ascending to his presence as a delicate perfume.

It has been an ancient custom of the Romish Church, observed by
our predecessors, not only in the commencement of their supreme
pontificate, but always when the Lord chastened his people, to
resort to the prayers of the community, and to rouse all to
penitence by freely opening for them the sacred treasury of the
indulgences; with a view that, detesting their iniquities, and
humbly making confession of them, they should with confidence
draw near to the Throne of Grace, that is to God, who is
magnanimous to pardon, and refuses not his mercies even when
he is provoked. With this example before us, we, after calling
on the Father of Mercies with constant and fervent prayer,
promulgate throughout the whole Catholic world an indulgence
in the form of a general jubilee; cheerfully hoping that the
Author of all comfort shall shorten the days of tribulation, so
that, the storm having entirely ceased, the peace of the Church
may be firmly established, and public happiness everywhere
restored.

Hence, confiding in the mercy of Almighty God, and in the
authority of the blessed Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul,—and
exercising the power to bind and unbind, which, though of
ourselves unworthy, the Lord conceded to us,—we have resolved
to concede, and we do grant by the tenor of these presents,
full indulgence (such as it has been customary to concede on
the year of jubilee) of all their sins to all and to each
of the Christians of both sexes residing in and entering
into this our capital (Rome), who in the term of three weeks
current from the fourth Sunday of Advent,—that is, from the
23rd day of this month, December, till the 13th inclusive of
the following January, on which falls the first Sunday after
the Epiphany,—and on the eighth day of the same, shall have
twice visited the Basilics of St. John of Lateran, of the
chief of the Apostles, and of St. Mary la Mayor, or one of
these at least, and there will have devoutly prayed for some
time, and fasted Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of one of
the said weeks; and within the same period, having confessed
their sins, will have received the most holy sacrament of the
Eucharist, and may have given the poor some charity, as to
each individual his devotion may dictate: moreover to all the
faithful Christians existing in all parts without our capital
we concede plenary indulgence, provided they shall have twice
visited all or some one of the churches, which may be assigned
to them by the local ordinaries, or their vicars or officers,
or others under their orders; and, in their default, by the
curates of souls, after these our letters may have reached
their notice;—it being further required that they should have
practised with devotion the other foresaid works in the space
of three weeks, to be fixed upon by the churches.

In like manner we concede that voyagers and travellers may
enjoy the same indulgence immediately that, on returning to
their homes, they put in practice the above-named works,
and visit twice the cathedral church, either the greater or
parochial, of the place of their residence. We also grant to
the regulars of both sexes who live in perpetual seclusion, and
all laical persons who, from being in gaols or prisons, or on
account of corporeal infirmity, or any other impediment, shall
not be able to practise all or any of the works mentioned, that
a confessor of those actually approved by the local ordinaries
may commute these works into others of a pious kind, or
prorogue them to some other early period, and impose on them
those which the penitents themselves can exercise; and that
he may also dispense the communion to children who shall have
never communicated.

We further concede licence and authority to all and to each
of the faithful Christians, seculars or regulars, of whatever
order or institute, though the particular denomination should
be specified, that they may choose, for the expressed object,
any confessor, secular or regular, of those actually approved
by the ordinaries, (as also to the nuns, who may choose any
confessor of those approved for them, whether the nun be a
novitiate or a profesa,) who can absolve them, and liberate
them at the tribunal of conscience, and for this time only,
from the censures of excommunication, suspension, and other
ecclesiastical penalties, for whatever reason enjoined or
imposed, either _jure vel ab homine_; and also from all their
sins, excesses, crimes, and delinquencies, however grave and
enormous they may be, even when they shall have been especially
reserved to the local ordinaries, or to us and the apostolical
chair, and whose absolution on the other hand should not be
considered as granted in the most ample concession; moreover,
they may commute into other pious and salutary works all manner
of vows, though these may have been made with an oath, and the
power of dispensation regarding them reserved to the apostolic
chair,—always excepting the vow of religion and chastity, and
the bonds (obligatorios) accepted by a third person, or from
the commutation of which an injury would follow to another,
as also those penal acts which are called preservatives from
sin,—unless the future commutation be presumed to be not less
sufficient to separate from sin than the first matter of the
vow, imposing salutary penance in the above-said cases, and
such other particulars as the confessor may be pleased to
enjoin.

But not on this account is it our pleasure to give dispensation
by these presents in any other public or private irregularity,
nor in any defect, stigma, incapacity, or ineptitude, in
whatever way contracted; or to confer authority of dispensation
therein, or to qualify and restore such delinquents to their
former state, even in the tribunal of conscience; nor to
derogate the constitution, _sacramentum penitentiæ_, published
with its corresponding explanation by our predecessor of happy
memory, Benedict XIV; nor that these letters can or ought to
avail in any way those who by us and the apostolic chair, or by
any prelate or ecclesiastical judge, may have been expressly
excommunicated, suspended, interdicted, or publicly denounced
as liable to spiritual animadversion,—unless within the term of
the three specified weeks they give satisfaction to, or come to
an understanding with, the parties concerned.

Thus then, by the tenor of these presents, and the ineluctable
obligation of holy obedience, we strictly enjoin all our
venerable brethren, the patriarchs, archbishops, bishops,
and all other prelates in the churches, and all ordinaries
wheresoever, their vicars and officers, and failing of these,
the curates of souls, to the end that when they receive
transcripts of these letters, or printed copies thereof, and
moved by circumstances of time and place, find it convenient
in the Lord to publish the same, they may so publish and cause
them to be published in their churches, dioceses, provinces,
cities, towns, territories, and places; and having, as far
as in them lies, prepared the minds of the people by the
preaching of the divine word, may designate the churches and
the time whereat and wherein this jubilee may be obtained;
all constitutions and apostolical briefs to the contrary
notwithstanding,—especially those in which the power of
absolution in the cases therein expressed is reserved to the
R. P. for the time being,—so that the concessions of such
like indulgences and powers, or of any other kind, may be of
use to no one, unless express mention or special derogation
be made thereof: notwithstanding, moreover, the rule of not
conceding indulgences after the manner of this letter, and the
statutes and customs of any order, congregation, or institute
whatsoever, although the same should be corroborated by oath
and apostolic confirmation, or any other form of stability
whatsoever; notwithstanding, moreover, the privileges and
pardons in whatever way conceded, approved, and renewed by
apostolic letters in favour of the said orders, congregations,
institutes, and individuals thereunto belonging. For as much
as touching all and each of the above, (and notwithstanding
that express and special mention should be made thereof and
the tenor thereof, and not by general expressions to the same
effect, or that some other particular form ought to be used
with regard to them,) holding their tenor to be sufficiently
expressed in these letters, and the prescriptions thereof
duly observed, we do for this particular time nominally and
expressly annul and derogate them, as well as everything that
may appear to the contrary, to the end that the foregoing
concession may have its due effect.

And with a view that these letters, which cannot be forwarded
to every situation, may yet easily reach the notice of all, we
desire that to their transcripts, or printed copies, provided
they be signed by some notary public, and sealed with the seal
of some person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity, may be
given in all parts, and by all, the same credit as to the
originals, if these shall be shown to them.

Given at St. Peter’s in Rome, sealed with the ring of the
Sovereign Pontiff, on the 2nd December 1832, the second year of
our pontificate.

For Cardinal ALBANO,

A. PICHONI, Substitute.

Lima, September 5th, 1834.—Examined with the exposition of the council of state on the 3rd instant. If the Metropolitan doubts not the authenticity of this brief, he shall cause it to be published in this diocese and the other bishoprics, with this express qualification, namely—without prejudice of the jurisdiction and innate powers of the episcopate.—To this effect let it be returned, retaining a certified copy.—A rubric of his excellency P. O. and of the secretary of state—Leon.

For the reasons expressed,—satisfied of the authenticity of the said brief, and in fulfilment of what is therein ordained, we order it to be published, and in effect we do publish it with due solemnity, as well in this capital as in all the curacies or parishes of our diocese; and we ordain and command that from the 2nd of October first, till the 7th of December, spiritual exercises shall be successively performed in the churches of Santo Domingo, San Pedro, San Agustin, La Merced, San Francisco, San Lazaro, and Santuario de Cocharcas, the distribution of which will be separately assigned, so that the faithful may be prepared to gain the holy jubilee according to and in the manner expressed in the proclaimed brief.

The jubilee will be opened and commence on the second Sunday of Advent; on which occasion will be said in this holy cathedral church a solemn mass, with a sermon, at which all the clergy and religious community will assist; after the conclusion of which the hymn, Veni Creator, will be sung: and from this day to the 27th of December inclusive, will expire the three weeks designated by his Holiness for gaining the jubilee, which shall be concluded with a solemn mass as an act of thanks, which will be said in the same manner as the first; and the same will be practised in the other churches as best may be.

To gain the jubilee in this capital, we fix upon the churches of the Cathedral, Santo Domingo, San Francisco, San Pedro, San Agustin, La Merced, and La Parroquia de San Lazaro, which the faithful shall visit twice, or at least one of the said churches, during the three weeks indicated; at the same time putting in practice whatever else the brief requires.

In the suburbs the jubilee will be published, and it will be gained on the same days as in this capital.

In the other parishes of this archbishopric, the three weeks of the jubilee will run from Passion Sunday to Saturday _in Albis_ inclusive, of 1835; in consideration that this is the most proper time, for, during it, all the faithful congregate in the parochial capitals to comply with the annual precept of the Church.

To gain the jubilee in the suburbs and other parishes of the archbishopric, we assign the parochial churches, which the faithful shall visit twice, taking care to do whatever else his Holiness prescribes.

With respect to the religious communities of either sex, the sick, imprisoned, voyagers and travellers, it will be according to the literal tenor of the brief cited. And that it may come to the notice of all the faithful of this archbishopric, this our edict shall be fixed on all the doors of the churches; and the necessary copies shall be remitted to all the prelates and parish priests of the archbishopric.

Given in Lima, sealed with the seal of our office, and countersigned by our secretary, on the 26th September 1834.

Signed,

JORJE (George), Archbishop elect, of Lima.
DR. MANUEL GARATE, Secretary.

LANCE’S ADIEU TO LIMA.

The following lines, with the notes annexed, were written under circumstances of great bodily and mental suffering in the year 1833, when the learned and very accomplished gentleman who penned them proposed to return to his native country. They were inscribed by him to his friends, among whom it has long been the author’s happiness to have occupied a favoured place. The notes are not only illustrative of the “Adieu to Lima,” but also of several incidental remarks contained in the preceding pages—especially of the interesting ruins of Pachacamac alluded to in vol. i. page 144.

I.

Welcome, thou heaving dark blue Sea!
Thy luckless child am I;
Thine island-child was nurs’d by thee
Beneath the northern sky;

II.

In that proud land—baptiz’d of old
To freedom in thy waves—
Confirm’d in glory—steel-ribb’d hold
Of men who’ll ne’er be slaves.

III.

On southern shores I’ve linger’d long,
My life is waning fast;
And Sorrow, with her forked tongue,
Has struck me down at last.

IV.

I’ll fling me on my mother’s breast,
The sweeping dark blue Sea:
O bear me to my island-nest,
To die among the free!

V.

Land of the Incas, fare thee well!
Thy valé soon is told:
I would no longer in thee dwell
For Huascar’s chain of gold![67]

VI.

Thy sceptre erst was sway’d by kings,—
They could not hold it firm;—
But now thy children crouch to things
More worthless than the worm.

VII.

Away! I will not stop to mourn
Thy sorrows or thy shame;
Nor tell what anguish I have borne
Since to thy shores I came.

VIII.

Let Indian pipe, so meek and low,[68]
Bemoan thine Incas’ fall;
And Indian maid, with garb of woe,[69]
Her country’s wrongs recall:

IX.

And, sadder still, the cuculi[70]
Complain in ev’ry vale,
When ev’ning with her dewy eye
Brings round the hour of wail.

X.

I’ll fling me on my mother’s breast,
The sweeping dark blue Sea:
O bear me to my island-nest,
To die among the free!

XI.

Like silver bells, yon snowy peaks[71]
Are hung upon the clouds!
’Tis sweet to see when morning breaks,
And strips them of their shrouds.

XII.

’Tis sweet to see ’midst orange rows
The spires of Lima wind;
But sweeter far than these or those,
To leave them all behind!

XIII.

Then wherefore does my bosom heave?
Why starts th’ unbidden tear?
Some scenes there are ’tis hard to leave,
Some friends my soul holds dear!

XIV.

Thou good-man’s eyrie, on the rock![72]
From thee I’m loth to part!
With names belov’d in mem’ry’s book
Sure thou recorded art!

XV.

There, with my friend, full many an hour
Of cank’ring care I’d cheat;
Or range the ample corridor,
The balmy breeze to greet!

XVI.

Or gaze on Pachacamac’s height,[73]
As peal’d the evening gun;
And see its mystic form dilate
Against the setting sun!

XVII.

And thou, dear Garden, ’neath thy bowers[74]
How swift the moments flew!
They pass’d the sweetness of thy flowers,
Though steep’d in evening dew!

XVIII.

Like stars that seek each other’s light,[75]
To form, as poets sing,
A path for gods, and o’er the night
Their mingled radiance fling:

XIX.

E’en so we cluster’d there, with souls
That friendship made but one:—
But hark! my knell of parting tolls,—
Sweet friends, I must be gone.

XX.

I’ll fling me on my mother’s breast,
The sweeping dark blue sea:
O bear me to my island-nest,
To die among the free!

FOOTNOTES

[1] Wheat and flour are principally supplied from Jauja, and barley from Tarma; fruit from Huanuco, and sugar from Huanuco and Huaylas.

[2] Plata-piña, or simply piña, is the name given to silver not entirely purified from the mercury which adheres to it in the process of amalgamation. Amalgamation is effected by mixing the ore, after it has been ground, with salt and quicksilver; treading the whole together by men or cattle; then allowing it to repose in _cerco_, or in the enclosure in which it has been trodden, for a month or six weeks. At the expiration of this time the quicksilver is supposed to have combined with all the silver in the mass, and to have formed a perfect amalgam, called _pella_, which is separated by washing away the mud and refuse of the ore. The pella, thus procured, is white, and so liquid that, by putting it into a strong bag a considerable quantity of the mercury is made, by pressure, to escape, leaving the amalgam of a solid consistence. It is decomposed by a red heat; and the mercury being distilled, it may again be applied to the same purpose as before. In this process, however, there is usually a great waste of quicksilver on account of the bad apparatus employed; and the fixed metal or silver which remains is what is called piña. This piña is usually sold by the miner in round masses larger than cannon-balls; and these balls of silver are, by the trader who does not venture on smuggling, carried to the government smelter stationed at the mines, (an office for many years back honourably filled at Cerro Pasco by a learned and good man, Don Toribio de Oyorzabal,) by whom they are cast into the foundery, and, being there melted down and sufficiently purified, are now cast into bars, which are stamped as being of a proper _ley_ or standard purity: after which they may be conveyed to the mint for coinage.

[3] At Huallianca, Hualliay, and several other parts of the rich department of Junin, smelting is used for the extraction of silver: but in Cerro Pasco smelting is little practised. In the district of Yauricocha, and especially in the great or King’s mine, the ores are found to contain a considerable portion of the sulphuret of lead; and, also, of the sulphurets of copper, of iron, and of silver.

Such is the quantity of sulphuric acid distributed among the mines of Cerro Pasco, which are placed among limestone hills, that the water which they contain is observed to corrode the iron machinery exposed to its continued action.

[4] “_Cobos._”—This was a duty of one and a half per cent. on the metals extracted from the mines. Its origin, as we are informed, was a grant to this amount, made by the Spanish government in favour of an individual of the name of Cobo. This became a permanent tax which, like the tithes of the metals, afterwards fell into the hands of the government, until both were abolished a few years ago, as alluded to in the text.

[5] We have lately learned that during the years 1837 and early in 1838, quicksilver became so scarce in Peru, that it cost 200 or 220 dollars per quintal. The consequence has been that a private company, under the auspices of the Protector, Santa Cruz, was formed by the enterprising General Otero and others, to clear out the Socabon, or adit, and re-work the long neglected and abandoned mines of Huancavelica—which are distant from Cerro Pasco sixty-six leagues, by the route of Tarma, Jauja, and Iscuchaca. This company has made some progress in the works; but the quantity of quicksilver yet extracted by them cannot be said to have had any sensible influence on the price of this valuable metal, which, in consequence of the large shipments lately made of it, has fallen to about one-half the above enormous price. During the period referred to,—though the drainage and works at Cerro were considerably improved,—no mines of second or third rate could cover the expense of amalgamation; and, therefore, the metal extracted from them was allowed to accumulate in heaps, (constantly guarded by Indian watchmen, called “tapacos,”) to the estimated value of three millions of dollars.

[6] The product of a marc of silver of standard purity is eight dollars four reals, or 1_l._ 14_s._ sterling.

[7] “Guarapo” is the name for the fermented cane-juice used as drink.

[8] “Coto,” or goitre, is common among the inhabitants of Huanuco; but it is a disease very rarely seen on the western side of the Andes.

[9] From _pexe_, fish; _buey_, ox.

[10] Though Mr. Mathews omits to mention its botanical character, it is probable from the name _huasca_ (which means rope) that this, like the former plant, is a pliable bejuco. The bejucos are commonly used in Peru as cordage, for the purpose of constructing bridges and fences.

[11] The Chamber of Deputies is composed of representatives elected by the electoral colleges of provinces and parishes. The parochial electoral colleges are composed of all the citizens resident in the parish, congregated according to law. For every two hundred individuals in a parish an elector is nominated; and in every village whose numbers entitle them to name an elector, or have a parochial college, a municipal body is established with a right to superintend its own local interests, consistently with the laws and public good,—and subject to the approbation of the departmental juntas. The electoral colleges of provinces are composed of parochial electors constituted according to law, and they elect deputies to Congress in the proportion of one for every twenty thousand inhabitants, or for a fractional number which exceeds ten thousand. But the province in which the whole population does not come up to ten thousand inhabitants, will nevertheless name a deputy.

[12] See “La Constitucion Politica de la Republica Peruana,” published in 1828.

[13] Cajamarca lies to the eastward of the city of Truxillo, in northern Peru, and, by the post-road, about forty-five leagues inland from the shores of the Pacific. It is the principal town in the province of Cajamarca, and is remarkable in the history of Peru as a seat of the Incas; their baths and palace are yet to be seen, though in ruins. Here the magnanimous Prince Atahualpa, who had purchased his freedom by an immense ransom of gold and silver, fell a victim to the insatiable cupidity and treachery of Pizarro.

[14] In dry weather sweeping the streets can hardly be considered as a serious punishment; but in the rainy season, when it is customary for the inhabitants to walk with wooden clogs, called _zuecos_, the scavenger’s task could not fail to be of very difficult performance in the Cerro.

[15] The practice, common among Catholics, of visiting the tombs of their family, and honouring the spot where the remains of their relatives or friends rest, is not an ostentatious ceremony, but an humble act of devotion, in which we must believe that the heart of the supplicant is deeply engaged. In the niches of the Pantheon at Lima, the renewal of flowers week after week, and even year after year, bears witness that filial or conjugal affection is still cherished in the heart long after the object of endearment has been removed from those who only survive to deplore their own loss, and with tender sorrow pray for the spirit of the departed. Whoever has visited the cemetery of _Père la Chaise_, in Paris, must have been struck by the attention of the living to the dead,—the daily decorations of the grave, and the prayer offered up by pious friends; nor can we suppose any person capable of viewing with cold indifference the flowery neatness which surrounds those monumental tombs, which in _Père la Chaise_ seem to triumph over the silence of the grave.

[16] See Memoria, por Jose Villa, Ministro de Hacienda; Lima, 1834.

[17] Guia Politica, Ecles. y Militar, 1793.

[18] One of the greatest Jesuit missionaries was Father Samuel Fritz, a German, who, in 1686, preached the Gospel, and converted many tribes in Maynas. He drew a map of the Marañon and its tributary rivers, which was published in Quito in the year 1707.

[19] “Amigo” or friend, is the first word of Spanish which the mission Indian is taught to speak.

[20] The road which formerly existed between Pozuzo and Mayro is now so overgrown with brushwood as to render it impassable without the aid of the chopping-knife, with the use of which the Indians of Huanuco are well acquainted. By this road the journey from Mayro to Pozuzo was usually performed in two days, and the journey from Pozuzo to the city of Huanuco in three: in all, five days from Mayro to Huanuco.

[21] It might be imagined that this custom of carrying away and eating the dead was a good reason for the ancient practice, still in use among the Indians of the Ucayali, of burying their dead in their houses, as affording some protection against this rage of cannibalism; but among the Inca race of Indians the practice also appears to have existed of old, though without reference to so shocking a cause.

[22] As a comment on this part of Friar Plaza’s letter, we cannot do better than introduce a passage illustrative of the allusion here made, translated from a paper of his own in the Merc. Per. and cited by Lieutenant Smyth and Mr. Lowe in the Introduction to their Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Para.

“The three entrances to this district (Ucayali) are by Huanuco and the port of Mayro, by Tarma and the river Chanchamayo, and by the Jauja and Andamarca, taking the direction of Pangoa, which is passable, and has been so since the year 1815, when I crossed from the plains of Sacramento to Pangoa, where I formed a friendship with various nations on the way; and by this route for seven years the mission has received all its supplies. In this expedition I explored all that was remarkable from Sarayacu, which is fifteen days’ distance up the river from the Marañon, and ascended from thence as far as the river Pachitea, in twenty days more.” It may be remarked, that the communication with Sarayacu by the rivers Huallaga and Chipurana is so circuitous, that Fr. Plaza does not even mention it as one of the routes to the mission; though this was the route pursued by the late expedition in 1834-5, after the attempt to enter by the Mayro had failed. The Sub-prefect’s letter, too, took near three months to reach the mission through the country of Maynas.

[23] As trees of sufficient size for the purposes required are not always at hand, we have seen near a hundred men exhaust their strength in dragging a tree by the means of lazos from deep ravines and hollows. This waste of power might be easily avoided by the help of the pulley, with which they are unacquainted; but they show great skill in the application and management of the lazo, and, when arranged for the tug, their efforts are roused by a song of which the chorus is “Huasca runa!”—Men, to the lazo!

[24] It was a punishment which in certain cases the law of Spain inflicted upon female delinquents, to cut off their hair, and sometimes shave their eyebrows. This, we understand, was done by the common executioner,—hence the sense of disgrace.

[25] The coca leaf is to the Indian of the interior a necessary of life, which he uses from time to time, to renovate his energy for renewed muscular exertion; and in the intervals of labour he often sits down to _chaccha_ or to refresh himself by masticating coca seasoned with quick-lime, which he always carries about his person in a little gourd. The lime is used in very small quantity at a time, but in a pulverulent and escharotic state. According to the Indian it counteracts the natural tendency of the coca to give rise to visceral obstructions. Used in moderate quantity, the coca, when fresh and good, increases nervous energy, removes drowsiness, enlivens the spirits, and enables the Indian to bear cold, wet, great bodily exertion, and even want of food, to a surprising degree, with apparent ease and impunity. Taken to excess, it is said to occasion tremor in the limbs, and what is worse, a gloomy sort of mania. But such dire effects must be of rare occurrence; since, living for years on the borders of the Montaña, and in constant intercourse with persons accustomed to frequent the coca plantations, and with Indian yanacones or labourers, all of whom, whether old or young, masticated this favourite leaf, we never had an opportunity of witnessing a single instance in which the coca-chewer was affected with mania or tremor.

[26] The whites have already had a foretaste of this retribution in La-paz, where, as we have been informed, every white man was massacred. The Indians are said to indulge in the hope of yet seeing a prince of their own race on the throne; and such has been their well-founded and now habitual mistrust of the whites, that they have never revealed where all their own treasures and those of the Incas, which were buried after the death of Atahualpa, are to be found. This is a secret to every one but a chosen few of the caciques. A few years before the commencement of the war of independence in Peru, a rising took place among the Indians of some of the inland provinces, under a cacique named Pomacagua: but this insurrection was soon suppressed. The fact of Pomacagua’s being acquainted with the hiding place of the regal treasure alluded to, and his offer to reveal it to save his life, was not believed by the unrelenting Ramires, and he was shot.

[27] Gamarra resigned the government into the hands of the National Convention, which, it appears, was not duly authorized to nominate a president. Under all the circumstances, had Gamarra acted boldly and openly—had he said from the first that he would remain in the government until a congress should assemble, before which he would account for his proceedings, he would have acted not only legitimately, but, as good judges and patriots believed, even wisely: since, by so seasonable an exercise of moral courage, he might have saved his country from anarchy. But, having voluntarily left the government, and publicly as well as solemnly acknowledged the authority of the Convention and the Presidentship of Orbegoso, his conduct afterwards, in taking up arms with the insurgent followers of Bermudes, was unfortunate for himself, discreditable to his party, and ruinous to his country.

[28] This lady united with a vigorous constitution a bold and energetic mind. She was feared by her enemies, but sincerely beloved by her friends. In consequence of the rebellion of her husband, and jealousy of the government that succeeded that of Gamarra, who, but for her talents and influence, could not have governed so long as he did, this ex-presidentess, usually called Panchita, was banished to Chile, where she died of a disease of the heart, which on her death-bed she ordered to be sent to Gamarra after her death.

[29] The mercachifle is a licensed pedlar, and the pregonero a news-crier.

[30] Ever since Europeans became acquainted with the Indian race, self-possession has been noticed as one of their most striking characteristics. Atahualpa was unmoved in the midst of every danger: and Santa-Cruz (of Cacique blood) has, in our own day, signally illustrated the same high feature of character in the Inca family. Finding himself for a moment isolated on the field of battle, and on the point of being pierced through by a trooper, he called out in a commanding voice—“Alza esa lanza y sigue me!”—raise that lance and follow me! Thus, his presence of mind saved his life; for the mysterious power of a superior mind triumphed over the hostile arm of the infuriated soldier—who, now, as we are told, occupies a place in the body-guard of Santa-Cruz.

[31] Only three weeks before he made his revolution, he had suppressed another in the castles of Callao, and shot every fifth man engaged in it. His own treason, while successful, he called patriotism: but he was doomed to suffer the punishment of a rebel.

[32] It has been remarked, by those who have happened to be in Payta during rain, that the soil on these occasions emits a suffocating and oppressive smell. This is probably owing to the quantity of animal and vegetable matter which, during a long continuance of dry weather, accumulates and is left to dry in the sun; and is partially dissolved by the rain, and absorbed by the circumambient air. It would be worth ascertaining by accurate observation whether the typhus of Piura ever becomes aggravated in type in rainy seasons. We never heard of its being contagious.

[33] The valley of Nasca, though situate in the midst of an extensive desert, is rendered very productive in vines, &c. by means of subterraneous aqueducts constructed by the aborigines. Thus, the ancient Peruvians had fertilized the most arid plains, and left monuments of agricultural industry on the coast not less remarkable than their terraced gardens in the Sierra.

[34] This was once the port where the silver from the mines of Potosi used to be embarked in Spanish treasure-ships.

[35] At what is considered the watering-place of Cobija, so sparingly does the fresh water percolate from the rock, that we are informed by an intelligent navigator, well acquainted with these coasts, that it takes a whole night to fill a small cask placed under the precious drop, by the favour of which grow two palm-trees, the only vegetable productions to be seen on the coast of Bolivia.

[36] This fortress was lately dismantled by order of General Orbegoso’s government.

[37] The Incas had a garden in the neighbourhood of Cuzco, where all the trees were of gold and silver, and the fruits and leaves of precious stones.

[38] Valparaiso is sometimes called the Vale of Paradise; yet there is anything but a look of Paradise in Valparaiso and its immediate environs. It has been said that the Elysian vale of Quillota, a few leagues distant, is the Paradise alluded to in this appellation, which is a corruption of Va-al-Paraiso, _i.e._ This is the road to Paradise—namely, Quillota.

[39] See Letter from Alexander Cruckshanks, Esq. to Professor Hooker, inserted in Part iv.-v. of the Botanical Miscellany for March 1831.

[40] Ensayo sobre las causas de las Enfermedades que se padecen en Santiago de Chile. Por el Doctor Guillermo C. Blest.

[41] This being written in 1828, it is but fair to suppose that, as the general police of Chile has been vastly improved since that time, the evils here alluded to by Dr. Blest may have been removed.

[42] According to Humboldt, the farm of Enciero, near Vera Cruz, 3,043 feet above the level of the sea, is the superior limit of the vomito or yellow fever; and strangers who come by sea, and therefore pass through a gradual change of atmospherical temperature, are observed to be less liable to contract the yellow fever than the whites and mestizoes who inhabit the table-land of Mexico, (of which the mean temperature is about 60° or 62° of Fahrenheit,) when they descend during the wet season to the port of Vera Cruz. The rains begin in May and end in October, when the “_nortes_” or north winds set in; and during the prevalence of these winds the yellow fever or vomito disappears.—Translator’s Note.

[43] The translator understands that chimneys and stoves have of late years become common in the houses of the higher classes in Chile; such, however, as still want these conveniencies make use of the old-fashioned brasiers, or pans of live charcoal. Over these though people may toast their legs if they please, still their backs and shoulders are suffering from cold, as the heat of the _brasero_ or brasier is not sufficient to support a proper degree of general temperature in the air of the apartment in which it is placed. These pans are very properly denounced by Dr. Blest as most unfit, and even dangerous, in the close and ill-ventilated dwellings of the poor.

[44] Western Peru, from the peaks of the eastern Cordillera to the shores of the Pacific, has hardly any venomous animal except the scorpion, which exists in the warm intermediate valleys (in some of which a small black and white snake is also found, which is said to be highly venomous): but alligators, as we have seen, abound about Guayaquil; and the coast of central America is famous for its venomous snakes, as well as for the antidote to their poison, or the bejuco guaco, which in infusion makes an agreeable bitter, something like quassia. The same antidote Providence has planted in the neighbourhood of Tarapoto, on the eastern frontiers of Peru, where venomous snakes also abound. The popular story in Peru respecting the discovery of the properties of the guaco is, that an Indian happening to be present when a condor, or some strong hawk of the numerous species which inhabit the Cordillera, was engaged in mortal combat with a tremendous snake, observed that as often as the bird was wounded he retired to a thicket of guaco, broke off the bark with his beak, dressed his wounds and pruned his feathers with the sap, and returned to the fight with confidence and spirit, till at length he killed the snake, and carried it away in triumph. From this the Indian inferred, that in the juice of the guaco resided the property that counteracted the poison of the snake; and it is vulgarly believed that if you rub your hand and arm with the juice of this bejuco, you may grasp the deadliest serpent with impunity. But, however that may be, the fact is never disputed, that the guaco is a quick, powerful, and certain antidote against the poison of the serpent.—Translator’s Note.

[45] Notes on State of Virginia, p. 62.

[46] _Paco_: so called (in the Indian language) because its wool is long and of a bright reddish colour. Alppa-co, _sheep of the country_, has the wool long and very smooth; and, though coming under the denomination of Peruvian camel, is not very well fitted to carry a burden. Llama llamscanni, or the _working sheep_ (of the Indian) has the wool short and rough; and is the tallest, strongest, and best adapted for the cargo.

EXTERIOR PROPORTIONS OF THE LLAMA.

Feet. In. Lines.

From the crown of the head to the extremity of
the sacral bone 6 5 0

The coccyx or tail has of length 1 0 0

From the upper lip to the crown of the head
measures 1 1 0

Length of the ear 0 6 6

Length of the neck from its first to its last
vertebra 2 5 0

Anterior height, measured from the base of the
fore-foot to the edge of the shoulder-blade
parallel with the spine 5 5 0

Posterior height, measured from the base of
the hind-foot to the spine of the sacral bone 3 6 0

[47] _Quipe_: bundle of clothes which they carry on their shoulders.

[48] The antelope, by the account of the Indians, sometimes looks over the tops of the eastern chain of the Cordillera, in the Vale of Huanuco. In this vale the tiger-cat has been seen; the mucamuca, probably a species of skunk, as it emits a most offensive stench, is common; and here too armadilloes may be found among the thickets of the pasture-grounds, and they are considered by the Indians to be good eating.

Rats are as common as guinea-pigs in all the agricultural valleys of the interior: the fox ranges all over the high hills and table-lands of the Sierra; and among the crevices of the rocks, in high situations, the traveller meets the long-tailed bizcacha, which burrows like a rabbit, and is valued chiefly for its fur.—Translator.

[49] Jarava foliis involutis, spica panicul.—_Flor. Per. et Chil._ t. i. p. 5, icon vi. fig. b. As these pasture-grounds are found at twelve or fourteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, they do not admit of the cultivation and population of the lofty plains of Anahuac or Mexico, which are only six or eight thousand feet above the ocean.

[50] The shrubs, as Dr. Unanue remarks in another part of his work, which grow at the altitude of from twelve to fifteen thousand feet above the Pacific, are of a woody fibre, resinous, and covered with firm bark, to enable them to resist the effects of the piercing cold to which they are naturally exposed.—Translator.

[51] Not only is the ass of Lima the useful quadruped here described, but one of the most ungratefully dealt with by the natives, who seem to have forgotten how honoured this animal had been in ancient times. The saddle-ass is goaded on at a nimble pace by the sharp point of a rib torn from some of the numerous skeletons of mules and horses, &c. which are scattered on the mounds of rubbish, or in the lanes around orchards, within and without the city-walls; and the donkey-driver grins his smile of savage complacency as he swings about his heavy lash, and nicely hits some raw and bleeding spot, the effect of former and frequent inflictions of the same sort at the hands of cruel men.

Ayanque, in his picture of Lima, correctly says,

Veras borricos de alfalfa
Y borricos capacheros,
Borricos cargando harina,
Piedra, cal, ladrillo y yeso.
Veras borricos volar
Al son del latigo huyendo.—Translator.

[52] In travelling from the inland country to Lima we have had occasion to observe, that when the horse reared on the cold table-lands, and not accustomed to any warmer climate, was taken from the Sierra to the coast in the hot months, he pined away almost as fast as a common fowl on the high seas when confined in a coop, and exposed to the spray in rough weather. But the pony, thus affected by the climate of the coast, will with surprising readiness recover his spirits and health as he returns, and ascends the tortuous and shelving paths that lead to his native element near the glacial peaks of the Cordillera.—Translator.

[53] The slaughter thus commenced has passed into a custom of annually destroying these confiding companions of man, when the howl or piteous death-cry of the poor animals rings upon the ear, on fine summer mornings, as the watermen are employed in knocking them down with their iron-pointed sticks in all the streets, and even at the very doors or gates where the persecuted creatures seek protection in vain.

To see them dragged along the streets, bound together by the waterman’s lazo, leaving a bloody track behind them, and then heaped up in the public squares, where they are often allowed to lie for days, is truly one of the most painful and disgusting sights which Lima presents, and to which the bloody scenes of the bull-ring are comparatively nothing.—Translator.

[54] This earth or “huano,” as the translator has been informed, is an article of commerce at the port of Ilo; whence it is conveyed to the neighbourhood of Arica, the Vale of Tambo, and Arequipa, and sold at so much per quintal. When rubbed between the fingers, it emits an insufferable stench. Tithes are paid upon this valuable manure, which are always put to one side in a heap, and, like the rest, carried away on asses. At Huacho, to the north of Lima, birds’ ordure abounds, and is, we believe, used as manure. But, in general, the soil in Peru receives no top-dressing; though about Arequipa, in particular, the agricultural industry of the ancient Indians has always been followed by their successors, who, by means of the huano, compel the same piece of ground to yield several crops annually.