Peru as it is. Comprising an account of the social and physical features of that country

Front matter

PERU AS IT IS : A RESIDENCE IN LIMA, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE PERUVIAN REPUBLIC, COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THAT COUNTRY. BY ARCHIBALD SMITH, M.D. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, Pufiltstier in ©rtrtnarg to ffyn fstajestB. 1839. LONDON : PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street. TO SIR ALEXANDER CRICHTON, M.D. F.R.S. PHYSICIAN IIJ ORDINARY TO THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA, AND TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE ; KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE ORDERS OF ST. WLADIMIR AND ST. ANNE, KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE OF PRUSSIA, ETC. the following account of Peru, a country which, it is probable, the Author never would have visited but for his very kind and disinterested patronage, is most gratefully dedicated by Archibald Smith.

Preface

. In this refined age and country, to make a graceful appearance as an author requires endowments to which the writer of the following pages has no pretension : neither would he have intruded himself on the public notice, had he not thought it a duty in cumbent on every one who travels, to give his own country the benefit of his observa tion and experience. He will venture to assert, that he has had ample means of making himself acquainted with his sub ject, and that he has treated it with can dour and impartiality.

PREFACE.

. VI For upwards of ten years he lived in Peru : sometimes residing among miners ; at other times associating with agricultu rists ; and professionally brought into con tact with persons of all classes and ranks in society, from the palace to the humblest hut. In the interior of Peru, but more especially in Lima, the writer has met with great courtesy and kindness in private life, and been distinguished by very flattering marks of public favour. He therefore, it may be well believed, has not " set down aught in malice ; " and he trusts that in the following pages there will not be found any thing injurious to the Peruvian people, or at variance with that lasting gratitude and honest pride with which he remembers and acknowledges their hospitality. With respect to the manner of execut ing his task, he feels that he requires the indulgence of his reader ; but, with regard

PREFACE.

. VII to the matter, he persuades himself that, however unskilfully treated it may be, and however deficient in that exquisite minute ness of detail which delights the curious, it will nevertheless be found to convey to the intelligent reader a fair general idea of the physical and moral condition of Peru ; which, as it is all that the writer has aim ed at, so to have attained it is all that he desires. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Boundaries of the Peruvian Republic. — General appearance and climate of the coast. — Seasons divided into Wet and Dry. — Vegetation. — Lunar influence. — Enervating effects of the climate of Lima. Page 1

Chapter II

Chances of life in Lima diminished by neglect of medical police. — Statements showing the proportion of deaths to the population of Lima. — Proportion between the different sexes and castes of the inhabitants. . . . . . 18

Chapter VI

Social state of the Limenians under tbe Spaniards and Patriots. — Spanish colonists. — Style of conversation. — Im provements in female education. — Zamba attendants. — Om nipotence of the ladies at fifteen. — Esprit de corps ofthe fair sex. — Forgiving temper of public opinion. — Defective administration of justice. — Prerogative called Empeiio. — God fathers and god-mothers. — Saint-day parties. — Flowers and perfumes. — Limenian women excel in attention to the sick. — General character of the white women and dark races. — Boys of European race. — Few men of intellectual habits. — Promenade of Amencaes, as illustrative of national feeling and character. — Pillo and Pillo-fino. — Money a substitute for morality. — Relaxation of morals general, but not universal 121

Chapter VII

Religious prejudices. — No faith with heretics. — Corpse of an Englishman cast into the street by the pious mob. — Eng lish supposed to have been buried with money in the island of San Lorenzo. — New cemetery, and Latin inscription for the English burial-ground. — Religious disadvantages ofthe British in Peru. 160

Chapter VIII

Clergy and lawyers more honoured than physicians or sur geons. — University of St. Mark. — Anatomical amphitheatre. CONTENTS. XI — College of San Fernando. — State of the medical schools and profession on the coast aud in the Sierra. — General remarks on Limenian education. . . . Page 177

Chapter IX

General features of the Sierra. — Roads. — Wilds of San Mateo. — Indian's eyrie. — Mountain curate. — Enterprise of a priest engaged in inland traffic. — Pastoral life of Indians. —Ancient ruins. — Royal road of the Incas. — Tarma, a pretty Sierra town, or pueblo. — Various sorts of bridges. — Balsa, or canoe of rushes. — Ancient aqueducts and terraced gardens of the aborigines. — Pagan edifices among the rocks near the coast. — Vale of Rimac. — Temples of the ancient Sun-worshippers of the land 199

Chapter X

Journey from Lima to Pasco by Obrajillo.— Diversity of air and climate. — Canta, a locality favourable to consumptive individuals. — Obrajillo, residence of muleteers. — Relay of mules, and payment in advance. — Cultivation and crops. — Ascent to and pass of the Cordillera. — Veta, or Cordillera sickness. — Indian hut. — Muleteers' lodgings on the Puna — Huallay. — Diezmo. — Pasco. . . . . . . . 252

Chapter XI

Account of another route between Pasco and Lima, by Junin, Huaypacha, Pucara, Tucto. — Mines of Antacona, Casa palca, Pomacancha, San Mateo, San Juan de Matucana, Surco, Cocachacra, Santa Ana, and lastly, Chaclacayo.— nume ration of a series of rocks, as they appear in succession from the pass of the Cordillera to the entrance into the Vale of Rimac ERRATA. Page 11, line 22, and in all other instances, for Lorin read Lurin. 22, ,, 7, for Pellisier read Pellicer. 25, ,, 15, for Manano read Mariano. 42, ,, 18, for patillas read pafillas, 72, ,, 2, for co/'ollo read cogollo. 84, „ 9, for en cima read encima. Ill, ,, 12, for tarrea read tarea. 135, ,, 4, for honorada read honrada. 150, ,, 5, for 23rd of June read 24th of June. 201, ,, 20, for Quichoa read Quichua. 204, ,, 11, and in all other instances, for lassos read la:os. 212, ,, 5, &c. for premicia read primicia. 257, „ 12, for Ve?mgas, read Verrugas. 298, ,, 3, &c. for Cocachacera read Cocachacra. PERU AS IT IS.

Chapter I

Boundaries of the Peruvian Republic. — General appearance and climate of the coast. — Seasons divided into Wet and Dry. — Vegetation. — Lunar influence. — Enervating effects of the climate of Lima. Modern Peru is bounded on the north by the Republic of the Equator; on the south by the Republic of Bolivia ; on the east by the Portuguese territories, or Brazil ; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The coast of the Republic of Peru extends along the shores of the Pacific from the river Loa, which is the southern boundary that divides it from Bolivia, to the river Tumbez, which divides it on the north from Guayaquil, or the Republic of the Equator. All this extent of coast, from 3° 30 to 21° 30' south latitude, VOL. I. RIVERS. is naturally a desert, intersected by several rivers, of greater or less magnitude, that descend along narrow mountain-glens of the Andes to the Pacific Ocean.

Many of these rivers are dried up for several months in the year ; while others, of larger size, carry a perennial stream, swelling during the rainy season in the inland country, and are never seen to shrink so much in time of drought in the elevated regions from whence they spring, as not to supply the means of irrigating and beautifying the mari time vales through which they flow as they approach the ocean. It is remarkable that, while along the coast of Peru the eye wearies in looking at sandy plains and hills, we no sooner pass the river Tumbez than the face of nature changes : in the former range all looks arid and scorched ; in the latter country all is verdant and sappy. The coast of the Equatorial Re public presents to the eye well-wooded plains ; PIURA. 3 while on the coast and in the valleys of the western side of the Peruvian territory, trees, when not reared by man, are only to be met growing in favoured places in the vicinity of springs and rivers.

Piura, the most northern province of Peru along the shores of the Pa cific, is celebrated for its remarkably dry atmosphere ; but in a rainy year, which sel dom happens in this province, the pastures that suddenly spring up are surpassingly luxuriant, — the very sand-fields, " arenales," after one or two days' rain, unfold an ex uberance of life and vegetation. The temperature of the low valleys on the coast of Peru may be said in general not to exceed 82" of Fahrenheit in summer, nor to descend much under 60° in winter.* Where, however, high hills closely overhang * In Piura the temperature of the air, in summer, ranges from 80° to 96°, and in winter from 70° to 81°, Fahrenheit. The sea-breeze, or southerly wind, which commences to be felt about ten o'clock in the forenoon, is here hailed as the messenger of health by the natives, who are never visited by any sweeping and fatal epidemics.

B TRANSITION OF TEMPERATURE. 4 the sandy plains or dry " pampas," it is difficult to say to what degree the thermo meter may fall during night, when the rush of cold air from the upper regions is in proportion to the degree of radiation from the plains, and the force with which the sun's rays during the day had struck on the scorched ground. So intensely on such occasions does the traveller feel the transition, that, when benighted on desert places, he is sometimes compelled by the keenness of the cold to dismount, and bury himself up to the neck in the warm sand, until a returning sun again befriend him on the morrow, and encourage him to pur sue his trackless way. In Lima, the capital of Peru, neither the extremes of heat nor of cold are ever experienced ;* an advantage which it partly owes * Lima is situated in lat. 12° 2' south, and long. 76° 58' west.

It stands six or seven miles inland from its sea-port of Callao, and the more elevated part of the city is about five TEMPERATURE OF LIMA. 5 to its very splendid back-ground of mountains, rising one above another to the skies. In winter, the thermometer of Fahrenheit never, in the centre of the town, falls under 60° in the shade ; and, during summer, we have never seen it rise above 82°, — its usual station being about 80° in well-aired apart ments. The ordinary difference between the fall of the night and day thermometer is only from three to four degrees when the thermometer is placed inside a common barred window without glass, and opening into a veranda or corridor, such as is usual in Lima houses, for the sake of free ven tilation. hundred feet above the level of the sea. It has frequently suffered from earthquakes, which are very common ; and one of the most remarkable occurred in the year 1828.

Houses of one story have their walls usually composed of sun-burnt bricks called adobes ; but, that they may be better able to resist the shocks to which they are so often exposed, they are principally constructed, when of more than one story high, of wood and cane : the whole work, inside and out, being plastered over with clay, and white-washed or painted. BAROMETRICAL VARIATIONS. In the sultry month of February, the ther mometer, if placed on the open and flat-roofed house-top of mud plaster, rarely ascends above 112° ; and at this season, when the hot noon-day air may be said to be fanned by the countless " gallinazas," or vultures, that wheel and sweep in mid-sky, the canopy overhead is curtained with white light clouds that happily protect the city and its inhabitants from the too scorching beams of a tropical sun.

The hygrometer — Leslie's — seldom indi cates fewer than 12° or 15° in the wet sea son, and rarely exceeds 50° in the summer months. The range of the barometer may be con sidered exceedingly limited ; for, during the period of six months that we had the opportunity' of observing barometrical variations, the mercury was commonly stationary at 29r.- and was not seen to fall below 29-| inches. Our means of observation began in THE RIVER RIMAC September, and ended in March, and there fore included the transition from wret to dry weather, — from the cool of winter to the highest heat of summer. On one occasion when we observed the barometer fall from 29^ to 29-ginches, there had been a smart earthquake, which, though it happened in the usually dry month of January, was preceded by a gentle shower of rain, at the appearance of which the people in the streets rejoiced, and called it " aqua bendita," holy water ! — On another occasion, when we noticed a similar sinking of the mercury, the river Rimac showed by its turbid and swollen stream that it rained heavily in the higher mountains.* As for thunder and lightning, * The Rimac divides the city of Lima from its suburbs of San Lazaro, and has over it an excellent bridge close to the palace.

This bridge, accommodated with recesses and seats, is greatly resorted to in fine evenings. The young ladies of the metropolis, in their imposing evening party or tertulia at tire and decoration, are fond, in times of public tranquillity, to saunter to the bridge on moonlight nights, and there to breathe they have been so rarely witnessed in Lima, that there they may be said to be unknown. The above statements regarding the state ofthe atmosphere in Lima, it may be proper to mention, are founded on observations made by the writer at his residence in Archbishop's Street, close to the cathedral and great square ; but about a mile higher up, in a part of the city called the " Cercado," the influence of the adjacent hills is more sensi bly felt in the cooler evenings and mornings ; — the night thermometer sometimes sinks down to 54° at the orchards of the Cercado, when in the centre of the city it falls within an open window or veranda not under 60° of Fahrenheit.

In Lima the four seasons are by no means distinctly marked : the dry summer weather frequently encroaches on the autumnal scathe pure air of mountain and sea blended and eddying as it gives freshness to the pale cheek, and, in its cool and circling current, wafts fragrance from the choice flowers at this social hour gracefully wreathed around the Rimac beauties' heads. son, supposed to be humid ; and again, the sort of weather and ailments most pre valent in winter are sometimes continued through a part of spring. Hence, though the seasons are usually distinguished into spring, summer, autumn, and winter, it would be more truly cha racteristic to adhere to the usual division of the aborigines, into wet and dry. In May the mornings become damp and hazy ; and, from the beginning to the latter end of June, more or less drizzly.

In Octo ber, again, the rains, which even in the months of July and August are seldom heavier than a Scotch mist, cannot be said to be altogether over, as the days are still more or less wet, or occasionally there may be seen to fall a light and passing shower ; the evenings and mornings being damp and foggy. In November and December, when the. dry season may be reckoned to have set b5 in, the weather, except for an interval at noon, is for the most part cool, bracing, and delightful : and April, too, is in this respect an agreeable month ; at the latter end of which, the natives of the capital, being so exceedingly sensitive as to feel a difference of only two or three degrees be twixt the temperature of two succeeding days like an entire change of climate, are admonished, by a disagreeable change in their sensations, to protect themselves by warm apparel against the chills arising from an occasional north-west, or from the influence ofthe common south-west wind.

Throughout summer the wind blows al most uniformly, and in gentle breezes, from the south ; but the prevailing wind for nine months in the year is the south-west, which, as it mingles with the warmer air along the arid coasts of Peru, tends to moderate the temperature of the atmosphere, and to pro duce the fog and « garua," or thick Scotch mists, of which we have taken notice. Dur ing the dry season on the coast, the rains are experienced in the interior of the coun try and lofty range of the high table-lands, — especially in the months of January, Feb ruary, and March, when the rain that falls inland is often very heavy, and, on the most elevated regions, it is not unfrequently al ternated with snow and hail. Thus, the dry season of the coast is the wet in the sierra, or mountain land, and vice versd , and by merely ascending nigher to the sierra, or descending close to the sea, without any appreciable shifting of latitude, the favour ed Peruvians may enjoy, by the short migra tion of a few leagues, a perpetual summer or an endless winter, — if that, indeed, should be called winter, which is the season of natural growth and herbage.

Whoever, late in August, or early in Sep tember, has had the good fortune to visit Buena Vista in the enchanting vale of Lorin, six or seven leagues south of Lima, and for many years the hospitable mansion of that enlightened philanthropist, John Thomas, Esquire, must have observed that at this season, when the sandy downs of Lorin are yet moistened by slight rains and vapours, and garnished with flowers, such ofthe trees in the vale as are not evergreen, and depend not, like the vegetation of the neighbouring heights, on the periodical rain of the coast, impart a certain melancholy hue to the land scape, as they have already commenced to shed abroad their sear foliage ; and here the music of the thicket, and booth on the height, are both in unison with feelings in spired by the yellow-leaved willows, when the " lomero," or herdsman ofthe downs, tunes the "yaravi," a mournful Indian strain, on his homely lute, and when the cuculi, in a plaintive note, responds from the guarango grove.

By the end of September, or beginning of THE HARVEST. spring, we find the trees in the great avenues around Lima beginning to bud; and the new leaves expand on them, as the grass dies on the adjacent hills, or is only seen to preserve its verdant appearance in the deep clefts and tops of the hilly recesses of Amencaes.* But no sooner dies the natural vegetation on the neighbouring heights, and nearer ridges and declivities in view of the city, than the fertile irrigated fields and enclosures throw forth the waving verdure of a hopeful harvest. Barley, peas, and maize, sown during the wet or misty season, come to maturity through the joint operation of sun and artificial moisture after all natural or spontaneous vegetation has withered and disappeared from the now arid hills and sandy downs. * We shall have, by and by, further occasion to speak of Amencaes, where there grows a handsome yellow flower ofthe same name, which on the first approach of slight showers and vapours, at the commencement ofthe wet season on the coast, is the pioneer of vegetation ; as the primrose, in our own glens, presages the returning verdure of spring.

LUNAR INFLUENCE. The maize crops the farmers always harvest in the " menguante," or decrease ofthe moon; for it is a fact known to every husbandman, that if they collect the crop in the " creciente," or increase of the moon, it will not keep free of moths for three months, even though allowed the advantage of being left in husk, in which state it is found to be least liable to damage. In the valleys around Lima the agricul turist is very careful not to sow in the cre ciente, lest the seed should become so dis eased and injured as never to yield a healthy crop. The same attention to lunar influence is bestowed by the wood-cutter, who knows that timber cut in the creciente soon decays, and on this account is not of use for con structing houses, or for any other permanent purpose ; this is particularly the case with the willow and alder, as the writer had once occasion to know experimentally.

Being disinclined to believe what he considered to LUNAR INFLUENCE. 15 be the prejudices of the natives respecting lunar influence, he insisted upon roofing in part of a house with alder and willow cut in the creciente ; and after a couple of years he was convinced of his own error, when he saw the timber employed become quite brit tle and useless, so as to need to be re placed or supported to prevent the roof from falling. The " arriero," or muleteer, scrupulously attends to the influence of the moon on his cattle ; for if he travels in the creciente, and in a warm or even temperate climate, he takes strict care not to unsaddle his riding horses, nor to unpad his cargo-mules, until they have rested awhile and cooled suffici ently : and, if he should neglect these pre cautions, he would be sure to have his cattle disabled by large inflammatory swellings, rapidly running on to suppuration, forming on their shoulders or loins.

In short, the very "chalan," or horse- INFLUENCE OF THE CLIMATE. jobber, will not be prevailed upon to cut the lampas from a beast's gums, nor will a Li menian at any time, except in the " men guante," offer to pare his own corns, (and few are free of such tormentors,) for fear of induc ing severe irritation as the reward of his indiscretion ; and we may reasonably infer from all these common-place and familiar facts, that, in Peru, lunar influence is very remarkable, since both in the animal and vegetable kingdom it forces itself upon the attention and experience of every one. If it be asked what general influence such a climate as we have now described may have on the animal frame, we would answer that there appears to be something peculiarly enervating and degenerating, aggravated by the total neglect of sanitary police, in the state of the atmosphere and locality of Lima.

This effect is observable in the dog species, which becomes sluggish and spiritless, and more disposed to bark than to bite ; but it INFLUENCE OF THE CLIMATE. shows itself more especially in the male de scendants of unmixed European parentage. We commonly see the son of the brave and stately Spaniard dwindle away from the strength of frame and manly character of his progenitor. His mind, like his person, be comes petit-maitre ; and, though vivacious in youth, it continues through life to be more distinguished for readiness than power, for mobility than vigour. EPIDEMIC DISEASES.

Chapter II

Chances of life in Lima diminished by neglect of medical police. — Statements showing the proportion of deaths to the population of Lima. — Proportion between the different sexes and castes of the inhabitants. If the mildness of contagious epidemic diseases were to afford a fair test by which to judge of the climate of any particular locality, or the medical police of its com munity, that of Lima would surely rank as one of the most favourable. But, however open and spacious be the construction of the houses and site of this capital, and what ever may be said for or against the personal and domestic cleanliness of its inhabitants, and other circumstances affecting the health AQUEDUCTS. 19 of individuals, it must be admitted that the salubrity of Lima, and the chances of life it affords, are materially diminished from the want of due attention to public clean liness.

The aqueducts or canals, which run along all the principal streets in a direction from east to west, and give off branches for gar dens and convents, &c. are, after they have passed the city, to some extent usefully distributed on fields between it and the sea port. But, in general, agriculture, like every other branch of industry, is neglected since the revolution. The drains intended to con vey the surplus water from the city over a gentle slope, lo impart that moisture to the good soil which could not otherwise part with its nutritive properties, or support vegetation, are frequently in a ruinous condi tion. Thus, the water is suffered to stag nate in some parts, and run waste in others, STREET-CANALS. 20 without being applied to those beneficial purposes of tillage which should be the means of augmenting the health, population, and general resources of Lima and its environs.

By the street-canals, are to be seen all day long the industrious vultures, (by far the most efficient agents of police,) gulping up the refuse cast into these receptacles of every sort of nuisance. When the water runs in small quantity, or is altogether stop ped from neglect, the quantity of vegetable and animal deposit carelessly allowed to accumulate in these channels emits a pro fusion of gaseous volatile poison, more or less penetrating and pernicious, according to the season of the year and heat of the weather. The manure conveyed from the pens and stables, (which might be applied so as richly to repay the farmer's toil, and be made to beautify at the same time that it MANURE-HEAPS. enriched to an incalculable extent the adjacent plains,) — this manure, when not thrown into the canals, is conveyed to the broad walls of the picturesque city, and there heaped up day after day ; or, if not thus disposed of, it is carried to the river's brink, where it is suffered to accumulate into fermenting mounds of daily increasing size.

Here it absorbs moisture, and generates miasmata that taint the air breathed by the inhabitants ; and so their sloth is chastised. We are persuaded that their own culpable inat tention to the cleanliness and salubrity of their capital contributes largely to entail upon them a greater proportion of disease and mortality than could at first sight be expected from the features of the climate. Those natives, indeed, who have passed a life of well-regulated habits, are said to at tain a cheerful old age in Lima ; and there are instances of a few individuals exceeding a hundred years of age, who pre serve considerable bodily activity and men tal vivacity. There was living, when we left Lima in 1836, an active little Franciscan friar, said to be considerably above a hun dred. A Spanish gentleman of the name of Pellisier, very remarkable for the acuteness and vigour of his mental powers and general health, died in our own day, at the age of a hundred and two or three ; and some other instances of this sort might be mentioned.

These, however, are ex ceptions. For it is worthy of particular remark, that, whatever be the causes that tend to produce the melancholy result, the truth is, that the general mortality in Lima is very great ; a fact which the records of its Pantheon fully confirm, as may be seen from the annexed documents. TABLE Showing the number of Deaths in Lima and its Suburbs from the year 1826 to the year 1835, both inclusive. Before we offer any remarks on the above table taken from a careful examination of the register-books belonging to the Pantheon, or public cemetery of Lima, it may not be amiss to premise what was the population of Lima when the last census was taken, just before the revolution broke out, and when that city is supposed to have been full of people and at its acme of prosperity.

This census, taken by John Baso, one of the " oidores," or judges of that period, and dated at Lima, September 30, 1818, concludes by the sol- Year. Deaths. Year. Deaths. Total number of Deaths in the preceding Ten Years. 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 2075 2162 2106 1948 2118 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835 1871 2576 3305 2744 2603 23,508 lowing summary : — "As is demonstrated by the preceding statement, the capital of Lima comprehends within its walls, huts and cottages contiguous to the city gates, and suburbs of San Lazaro, 54,098 persons of all sexes, castes, states, and conditions, which are distinguished minutely in the same statement, of which the total amount consists of 27,545 males, and 26,553 females." During the ten years embraced by the above table of mortality, the population of Lima is always estimated, by the best in formed natives, as much under, as at the time of the census of Baso it was found to be above, 50,000 ; but no data, or census of later date, by which to verify this matter in a precise manner, exist in the hands of the patriots ; therefore it is in some degree subject of conjecture, although from the number of houses that are now abandon ed, and the great falling away of the agricultural and horticultural labourers, we are probably not far from the truth in calling the average population of the capital and suburbs during the last ten years 45,000 ; in which case the deaths in twenty years will, according to the above rate, as seen from 1826 to 1835, amount to 47,000, — a number greater than the whole population given.