Peru. qualities, full of elliptic leaves, terminating in a point. The blossom differs little from the colour of the leaves, which is a darkish green; and though far from being beautiful, is remarkable for its incomparable fragrance.

43

The granadilla in its shape resembles an hen's egg, but is larger. The outside of the shell is smooth, glossy, and of a faint carnation colour, and the inside white and soft. The shell contains a viscous liquid substance, full of very small and delicate grains, less hard than those of the pomegranate. This medullary substance is separated from the shell by a fine and transparent membrane. Its fruit has a delightful sweetness blended with acidity, very cordial and refreshing, and so wholesome, that there is no danger of eating to ex

cess.

The frutilla, or Peruvian strawberry, is very different from that of Europe in size; though they are here generally not above an inch in length, they are much larger in other parts of Peru; but their taste, though juicy, and not unpalatable, is not equal to those in Eu

rope.

Inhabitants. The country is observed to abound more in women than in men, which is the more remarkable, as those causes which induce men to leave their country, as travelling, commerce, and war, naturally bring over more men from Europe than women. But there are many families in which there are a number of daughters, without one son among them. The women enjoy a better state of health than the men, which may be owing in some measure to the climate, and more particularly to the early intemperance and voluptuousness of the other sex.

49

The Creoles are well made, of a proper stature, and of a lively and agreeable countenance. The Mestizos are also in general well made, often taller than the ordinary size, very robust, and have an agreeable air. The Indians, both men and women, are commonly low of stature, though strong and well proportioned; but more natural defects are to be found among them than in any of the rest. Some are remarkably short, some idiots, dumb, or blind. Their hair is generally thick and long, which they wear loose on their shoulders; but the Indian women plait theirs behind with a ribbon, and cut that before a little above the eyebrows, from one ear to the other. The greatest disgrace that can be offered to an Indian of either sex is to cut off their hair; for whatever corporal punishment their masters think prcper to inflict on them, they bear with patience; but this affront they never forgive; and accordingly the government has interposed, and limited this punishment to the most enormous crimes. The colour of the hair is generally a deep black: it is lank, harsh, and as coarse as that of a horse. On the contrary, the male Mestizos, in order to distinguish themselves from the Indians, cut off their hair; but the females do not adopt that

custom.

Their dress. The Mestizos in general wear a blue cloth, manufactured in this country; but though they are the lowest class of Spaniards, they are very ambitious of distinguishing themselves as such, either by the colour or fashion of the clothes they wear.

The Mestizo women affect to dress in the same manner as the Spanish, though they cannot equal the ladies

in the richness of their stuffs. The meaner sort wear no shoes; but, like the men of the same rank, go barefooted.

The dress of the Indians consists of white cotton drawers, which hang down to the calf of the leg, where they are loose, and edged with a lace suitable to the stuff. The use of a shirt is supplied by a black cot ton frock, made in the form of a sack, with three openings at the top, one in the middle for the head, and others at the corners for the arms; thus covering their naked bodies down to the knees. Over this is a serge cloak, with a hole in the middle for putting the head through, and a hat made by the natives. This is their general dress, which they never lay aside, even while they sleep; and they have no additional clothing for their legs or feet. The Indians, who have acquired some fortune, particularly the barbers and phlebotomists, distinguish themselves from their countrymen by the fineness of their drawers, and by wearing a shirt, which, though without sleeves, has a lace four or five fingers in breadth, fastened round like a kind of ruff or band. They are fond of silver or gold buckles to their shoes, though they wear no stockings; and instead of a mean serge cloak, wear one of fine cloth, which is often adorned with gold or silver lace.

There are two kinds of dresses worn by the Indian women, made in the same plain manner with those worn by the men in general, the whole consisting of a short petticoat and a veil of American baize. But the dress of the lowest class of Indian women is only a bag of the same make and stuff as that of the men, which they fasten on their shoulders with two large pins: it reaches down to the calf of the leg, and is fastened round the waist with a kind of girdle. Instead of a veil, they wear about the neck a piece of the same coarse stuff dyed black; but their arms and legs are naked.

Peru.

52

The people have dishes unknown in Europe; but are Food and particularly fond of cheese; and have excellent butter drink, &c. in the neighbourhood of Quito. Sweetmeats are very

much admired.

Rúm is commonly drank here by persons of all ranks, but their favourite liquor is brandy. The disorders arising from the excessive use of spirituous liquors are chiefly seen among the Mestizos; and the lower class of women, both among the Creoles and Mestizos, are also extremely addicted to the same species of debauchery.

Another liquor much used in this country is mate, which is made of an herb known in all these parts of America by the name of Paraguay, as being the produce of that country. duce of that country. Some of it is put into a calabash tipped with silver, called here mate, with sugar and some cold water. After it has continued there some time, the calabash is filled with boiling water, and they drink the liquor through a pipe fixed in the calabash. It is also usual to squeeze into the liquor a small quantity of the juice of lemons or Seville oranges, mixed with some perfumes from odoriferous flowers. This is their usual drink in the morning fasting, and many use it also at their evening regale. The manner of drinking it appears very indelicate, the whole company taking it successively through the same pipe, it being carried several times round the company till all are satisfied. This among the Creoles is the highest enjoyment: so

that

that when they travel, they never fail to carry with them a sufficient quantity of it, and till they have taken their dose of mate they never eat.

The vice of gaming is here carried to an extravagant height, to the ruin of many families, some losing their stocks in trade, others the very clothes from their backs, and afterwards those belonging to their wives, which they hazard, stimulated by the hope of recovering their own.

The common people, the Indians, and even the domestics, are greatly addicted to stealing. The Mestizos, though arrant cowards, do not want audacity in this way; for though they will not venture to attack any one in the street, it is a common practice to snatch off a person's hat, and immediately seek their safety in flight. This acquisition is sometimes of considerable value; the hats worn by persons of rank, and even by the wealthy citizens when dressed, being of white beaver, worth fifteen dollars, besides the hatband of gold or silver lace, fastened with a gold buckle set with diamonds or emeralds. Robberies on the highway are seldom heard of.

In most of the towns and villages, different dialects are spoken, Spanish being no less common than the Inga, the language of the country. The Creoles use the latter as much as the former, but both are considerably adulterated by borrowed words and expressions. The first language generally spoken by children is the Inga; for the nurses being Indians, many of them do not understand a word of Spanish, and thus they afterward learn a jargon composed of both languages.

The sumptuous manner of performing the last offices for the dead, demonstrates how far the power of habit is capable of prevailing over reason and prudence, for their ostentation is so great in this particular, that many families of credit are ruined by preposterously endeavouring to excel others; and the people here may be said to toil and scheme to lay up wealth, to enable their successors to lavish honours upon a body insensible of all pageantry.

The commerce of the province of Quito is chiefly carried on by Europeans settled here, and others who occasionally arrive. The manufactures of this province are only cottons, some white and stripped baize, and cloths, which meet with a good market at Lima, for supplying the inward provinces of Peru. The returns are made partly in silver, and partly in fringes made of gold and silver thread, and wine, brandy, oil, copper, tin, lead, and quicksilver. On the arrival of the galleons at Carthagena, these traders resort thither to purchase European goods, which, at their return, they consign to their correspondents all over the province. The coasts of New Spain supply this province with indigo, of which there is a very large consumption at the manufactures, blue being universally the colour which this people adopt for their apparel. They also import, by

of the inha

The disposition of the Indians in the province of 54 Quito is extremely remarkable, and they appear to have Disposition] no resemblance to the people found there by those who bitants. first discovered the country. They at present possess a tranquillity not to be disturbed either by fortunate or unfortunate events. In their mean apparel they are as contented as a prince clothed in the most splendid robes. They show the same disregard to riches; and even the authority and grandeur within their reach is so little the object of their ambition, that to all appearance it seems to be the same to an Indian whether he be created an alcalde, or obliged to perform the office of a common executioner.

Their sloth is so great that scarcely any thing can induce them to work. Whatever therefore is necessary to be done is left to the Indian women, who are much more active; they spin and make the half shirts and drawers which form the only apparel of their busbands; they cook the provisions, grind barley, and brew the beer called chicha; while the husband sits squatting on his hams, the usual posture of the Indians, looking at his busy wife. The only domestic service they do is to plough their little spot of land, which is sowed by the wife. When they are once seated on their hams, no reward can induce them to stir; so that if a traveller has lost his way, and happens to come to one of their cottages, they charge their wives to say that they are not at home. Should the passenger alight and enter the cottage, the Indian would still be safe; for having no light but what comes through a hole in the door, he could not be discovered; and should the stranger even see the Indian, neither entreaties nor rewards would prevail on him to stir a step with him.

They are lively only in parties of pleasure, rejoicings, entertainments, and especially dancing; but in all these the liquor must circulate briskly, and they continue drinking till they are entirely deprived both of sense and motion.

It is remarkable that the Indian women, whether maids or married, and Indian young men before they are of an age to contract matrimony, are never guilty of this vice it being a maxim among them, that drunkenness is the privilege of none but masters of families, who, when they are unable to take care of themselves, have others to take care of them.

When

The women present the chicha (A) to their husbands in calabashes, till their spirits are raised; then one plays on a pipe and tabor, while others dance. Some of the best voices among the Indian women sing songs in their own language, and those who do not dance, squat down in the usual posture till it comes to their turn. tired with intemperance, they all lie down together, without regarding whether they be near the wife of another or their own sister or daughter. These festivities sometimes continue three or four days, till the priest coming

55 Their man

The Indians in the audience of Quito are said to act ner of con-contrary to all other nations in their marriages; for tracting they never make choice of a woman who has not been marriages. first enjoyed by others, which they consider as a certain indication of her personal attractions. After a young man has made choice of a woman, he asks her of her father, and having obtained his consent, they begin to cohabit together as man and wife, and assist the fatherin-law in cultivating the land. At the end of three or four months, and frequently of a year, the husband leaves his bride or wife without any ceremony; and perhaps expostulates with his father-in-law for endeavouring to deceive him, by imposing upon him his daughter, whom nobody else had thought worthy of making a bedfellow. But if no disgust arises in the man on this account or any other, after passing three or four months in this commerce, which they call amanarse, or to habituate one's self, they then marry. This custom is still very common, though the whole body of the clergy have used all their endeavours to put a stop to it. Accordingly they always absolve them of that sin before they give them the nuptial benediction.

56 Appear

It has been observed, that the dependencies of the ance of the jurisdictions of Quito are seated between the two Corcountry in dilleras of the Andes, and that the air is more or less

this pro

vince.

cold, and the ground more or less sterile, according to the height of the mountains. These barren tracts are called deserts for though all the Cordilleras are dry, some are much more so than others; and the continual snow and frosts render some parts of them incapable of producing a single plant, and consequently they are uninhabitable by man or beast.

Some of these mountains, which appear to have their bases resting on other mountains, rise to a most astonishing height, and, reaching far above the clouds, are here, although in the midst of the torrid zone, covered with perpetual snow. From experiments made with a barometer on the mountain of Cotopaxi, it appeared that its summit was elevated 6252 yards above the surface of the sea, something above three geographical miles, which greatly exceeds the height of any other volcanic mountain in the known world.

Cotopaxi became a volcano about the time when the Spaniards first arrived in this country. A new erup. tion happened in 1743, which had been for some days preceded by a continual interior rumbling noise; after which an aperture was made in its summit, as also three others near the middle of its declivity; these parts, when the eruption commenced, were buried under prodigious masses of snow. The ignited substances which were ejected being mingled with a considerable quantity of snow and ice, melting amidst the flames, were carried down with such amazing rapidity, that the plain from Callo to Latacunga was overflowed, and all the houses with their wretched inhabitants were swept away

in one general and instantaneous destruction. The river of Latacunga was the receptacle of this dreadful flood, till becoming swollen above its banks, the torrent rolled over the adjacent country, continuing to sweep away houses and cattle, and rendered the land near the town of the same name as the river one vast lake. Here,. however, the inhabitants had sufficient warning to save their lives by flight, and retreated to a more elevated spot at some distance. During three days the volcano ejected cinders, while torrents of lava with melted ice and snow poured down the sides of the mountain. The eruption continued for several days longer, accompanied with terrible roarings of the wind, rushing through the craters which had been opened. At length all was quiet, and neither smoke nor fire were to be seen; until in May 1744 the flames forced a passage through several other parts on the sides of the mountain; so that in clear nights the flames, being reflected by the transparent ice, exhibited a very grand and beautiful illumination. On the 13th of November following, it ejected such prodigious quantities of fire and lava, that an inundation equal to the former soon ensued, and the inhabitants of the town of Latacunga for some time gave themselves over for lost.

The most southern mountain of the Cordilleras is that of Mecas or Sangay, which is of a prodigious. height, and the far greatest part of it covered with snow; yet from its summit issues a continual fire, attended with explosions which are plainly heard at 40 leagues distance. The country adjacent to this volcano is entirely barren, being covered with cinders ejected from its mouth. In this mountain rises the river Sangay, which being joined by the Upano, forms. the Payra, a large river which discharges itself into the Maranon.

Pichincha, though famous for its great height, is 1278 yards lower than the perpendicular height of Co-topaxi, and was formerly a volcano, but the mouth or crater on one of its sides is now covered with sand and calcined matter; so that at present neither smoke nor fire issue from it. When Don George Juan and Don Antonio de Ulloa were stationed on it for the purpose of making astronomical observations, they found the cold on the top of this mountain extremely intense, the wind violent, and they were frequently involved in so thick a fog, or, in other words, a cloud, that an object at six or eight paces distance was scarcely discernible. The air grew clear, by the clouds moving nearer to the earth, and on all sides surrounding the mountain to a vast distance, representing the sea with the mountain standing like an island in the centre. When this happened, they heard the dreadful noise of the tempests. that discharged themselves on Quito and the neighbouring country. They saw the lightning issue from the clouds, and heard the thunder roll far beneath them. While the lower parts were involved in tempests of thunder and rain, they enjoyed a delightful serenity; the wind was abated, the sky clear, and the enlivening rays of the sun moderated the severity of the cold. But when the clouds rose, their thickness rendered respiration difficult; snow and hail fell continually, and the wind returned with all its violence; so that it was impossible entirely to overcome the fear of being, together with their hut, blown down the precipice on whose edge it was built, or of being buried in it by the con

stant

Peru.

57

Province of Lima.

58 Climate, soil, & c.

、vince.

being exhaled by the sun, fertilizes every part of the Pere country.

From a table of meteorological observations made in the city of Lima, from the month of March 1791, to March 1792, it appears that the thermometer was lowest during the month of September, when it descended to 62°, and that it was highest in the month of March, when it rose as high as 84°. These temperatures de note the extremes of heat and cold in the winter and summer of this climate.

stant accumulations of ice and snow. Their fears were likewise increased by the fall of enormous fragments of rocks. Though the smallest crevice visible in their hut was stopped, the wind was so piercing that it penetrated through; and though the hut was small, crowded with inhabitants, and had several lampe constantly burning, the cold was so great, that each individual was obliged to have a chafing-dish of coals, and several men were constantly employed every morning to remove the snow which fell in the night. By the severities of such a climate their feet were swelled, and so tender that walking was attended with extreme pain, their hands covered with chilblains, and their lips so swelled and chopt that every motion in speaking drew blood.

The next division of Peru is the audience of Lima, which is bounded on the north by Quito, on the east by the Cordilleras of the Andes, on the south by the audience of Los Charcos, and on the west by the Pacific ocean, it being about 770 miles in length from north to south, being of an unequal breadth.

The climate and soil of this country is uncommonly various; in some places it is exceedingly hot, in others in this pro- insupportably cold; and in the city of Lima, where rain never falls, it is always temperate. The seasons vary within the compass of a few miles, and in certain parts of the audience all the vicissitudes of weather are experienced in 24 hours. It is extremely remarkable that no rains fall or rivers flow on the sea coasts, though the country is refreshed by thick fogs, and the heat abated by dense clouds that never condense into showers. This phenomena has drawn the attention of many naturalists, without their being able satisfactorily to account for it.

Spring begins toward the close of the year, that is about the end of November or the beginning of December, when the vapours which fill the atmosphere during the winter subside, and the sun, to the great joy of the inhabitants, again appears, and the country then begins to revive, which, during the absence of his rays, had continued in a state of languor. This is succeeded by summer, which, though hot from the perpendicular direction of the sun's rays, is far from being insupportable; the heat, which indeed would otherwise be excessive, being moderated by the south winds, which always blow at this season, though with no great force. Winter begins at the latter end of June or the beginning of July, and continues till November or December, when the south winds begin to blow stronger, and to produce a certain degree of cold, not indeed equal to that in countries where ice and snow are known, but so keen that the light dresses are laid by, and cloth or other warm stuffs worn. During the winter the earth is covered with so thick a fog, as totally to intercept the rays of the sun and the winds, by blowing under the shelter of this fog, retain the particles they contracted in the frozen zone. In this season only the vapours dissolve into a very small dew, which everywhere equally moistens the earth; by which means all the hills, which during the other parts of the year offer nothing to the sight but rocks and wastes, are clothed with verdure and enamelled with flowers of the most beautiful colours. These dews never fall in such quantities as to impair the roads or incommode the travellers a very thin stuff will not soon be wet through; but the continuance of the mists during the whole winter, without

2

Lima is as free from tempests as from rain, so that those of the inhabitants who have neither visited the mountains nor travelled into other parts, are absolute strangers to thunder and lightning, and are therefore extremely terrified when they first hear the former or see the latter. But it is very remarkable, that what is here entirely unknown should be so common 30 leagues to the east of Lima; it being no farther to the mountains, where violent rains and tempests of thunder and lightning are as frequent as at Quito.

But though the capital is freed from the terror of these tempests, it is subject to what is much more dreadful. Earthquakes happen here so frequently, that the inhabitants are under continual apprehensions of being, from their suddenness and violence, buried in the uns of their own houses: yet these earthquakes, though so sudden, have their presages, one of the principal of which is a rumbling noise in the bowels of the earth about a minute before the shocks are felt, that seems to pervade all the adjacent subterraneous part; this is followed by dismal howlings of the dogs, who seem to presage the approaching danger. The beasts of burden passing the streets stop, and by a natural instinct spread open their legs, the better to secure themselves from falling. On these portents the terrified inhabitants fly from their houses into the streets with such precipitation, that if it happens in the night they appear quite naked; the urgency of the danger at once banishing all sense of delicacy or shame. Thus the streets exhibit such odd and singular figures as might afford matter of diversion, were it possible to be diverted in so terrible a moment. This sudden concourse is accompanied with the cries of children waked out of their sleep, blended with the lamentations of the women, whose agonizing prayers to the saints increase the common fear and confusion. The men are also too much affected to refrain from giving vent to their terror; so that the whole city exhibits a dreadful scene of consternation and horror.

The earthquakes that have happened at the capital are very numerous. The first since the establishment of the Spaniards was in 1582; but the damage was much less considerable than in some of the succeeding. Six years after Lima was again visited by another earthquake, so dreadful, that it is still solemnly commemorated every year. In 1609 another happened, which overturned many houses. On the 27th of November 1630, such prodigious damage was done in the city by an earthquake, that, in acknowledgement of its not having been entirely demolished, a festival on that day is annually celebrated. Twenty-four years after, on the 3d of November, the most stately edifices in the city, and a great number of houses, were destroyed by an earthquake; but the inhabitants retiring, few of them perished. Another dreadful one happened in 1678; but one of the most terrible was on the 28th of October 1687.

Peru 1687. It began at four in the morning, and destroyed many of the finest public buildings and houses, in which a great number of the inhabitants perished; but this was little more than a prelude to what followed; for two hours after, the shock returned with such impetuous concussions, that all was laid in ruins, and the inhabitants felt themselves happy in being only spectators of the general devastation, by having saved their lives, though with the loss of all their property. During this second shock, the sea retired considerably, and then returning in mountainous waves, entirely overwhelmed Callao, which is at five miles distance from Lima, and all the adjacent country, together with the miserable inhabitants. From that time six earthquakes have happened at Lima previous to that of 1746. This last was on the 28th of October, at half an hour after ten at night, when the concussions began with such violence, that in little more than three minutes the greatest part, if not all the buildings in the city, were destroyed, burying under their ruins those inhabitants who had not made sufficient haste into the streets and squares, the only places of safety. At length the horrible effects of the first shock ceased; but the tranquillity was of short duration, the concussions swiftly succeeding each other. The fort of Callao also sunk into ruins; but what it suffered from the earthquake in its building was inconsiderable, when compared to the dreadful catastrophe which followed; for the sea, as is usual on such occasions, receding to a considerable distance, returned in mountainous waves, foaming with the violence of the agitation, and suddenly buried Callao and the neighbouring country in its flood. This, however, was not entirely effected by the first swell of the waves; for the sea retiring farther, returned with still greater impetuosity, and covered both the walls and other buildings of the place; so that whatever had escaped the first inundation was totally overwhelmed by those succeeding mountainous waves. Twenty-three ships and vessels, great and small, were then in the harbour, 19 of which were sunk, and the other four, among which was a frigate named St Fermin, were carried by the force of the waves to a considerable distance up the country. This terrible inundation and earthquake extended to other parts on the coast, and several towns underwent the same fate as the city of Lima; where the number of persons who perished within two days after it began, amounted, according to the bodies found, to 1300, besides the maimed and wounded, many of whom lived only a short time in great torture. The present population of this city, taken from accurate sources, amounts to 52,627.

The country of Lima enjoys great fertility, producing all kinds of grain and a prodigious variety of fruit. Here industry and art supply that moisture which the clouds withhold. The ancient incas of Peru caused small canals to be formed, in order to conduct the waters of the rivers to every part of the country. The Spaniards, finding these useful works executed to their hands, had only to keep them in order; and by these are watered spacious fields of barley, large meadows, plantations, vineyards, and gardens, all yielding uncommon plenty. Lima differs from Quito, where the fruits of the earth have no determined season; for here the harvest is gathered in, and the trees drop their leaves in the proper season.

Although the summer here is hot, yet venomous crea-
VOL. XVI. Part I.

59

Lima.

The audience of Lima is divided into four bishoprics, Divisions Truxillo, Guamanga, Cusco, and Arequipa. The dio- of the aucese of Truxillo lies to the north of the archiepiscopal dience of diocese of Lima, and like all the others is divided into several jurisdictions. The city of Truxillo is seated in 8° 6' south latitude, in a pleasant situation, though in a sandy soil.

In the diocese of Guamanga is a rich quicksilver mine, from which the inhabitants of a neighbouring town procure their whole subsistence; the coldness of the air in that place checking the growth of all kinds of grain and fruit, so that they are obliged to purchase them from their neighbours. The quicksilver mines wrought here supply all the silver mines in Peru with that necessary mineral, and notwithstanding the prodigious quantities already extracted, no diminution is perceived.

Cusco, which gives name to another diocese, is the most ancient city of Peru, being of the same date with the empire of the incas, and was founded by them as the capital of the empire. On the mountain contiguous to the north part of the city are the ruins of a famous fort built by the incas; whence it appears that their design was to inclose the whole mountain with a prodigious wall, of such construction as to render its ascent absolutely impracticable to an enemy, in order to prevent all approach to the city. This wall was entirely of freestone, and strongly built, some of the stones being of a prodigious magnitude. The city of Cusco is nearly equal to that of Lima. See Cusco.

In this bishopric are several mines of gold and silver, that are extremely rich.

The fourth diocese of the audience of Lima is Are quipa, which contains the city of the same name, one. of the largest in Peru. It is delightfully situated in a plain; the houses are well built of stone, and are ge nerally lofty, commodious, finely decorated on the outside, and neatly furnished within. The temperature of the air is extremely agreeable, the cold being never excessive, or the heat troublesome; so that the fields are always clothed with verdure, and enamelled with flowers, as in a perpetual spring. But these advantages are allayed by its being frequently exposed to dreadful earthquakes; for by these convulsions of nature it has been four times laid in ruins. The city is, however, very populous, and among its inhabitants are many noble families.

In this bishopric are several gold and silver mines, and in some parts are large vineyards, from which considerable quantities of wine and brandy are made. Among the other productions is Guinea pepper, in which the jurisdiction of Arica in this diocese carries on a very advantageous trade, the annual produce of these plantations bringing in no less than 60,000 dollars per annum. The pods of this pepper are about a quarter of a yard in length, and when gathered are dried in the sun and packed up in bags of rushes, each bag containing an aroba or a quarter of a hundred weight, and thus they are exported to all parts. Other places of + Dd this