Chiritmanos of Peru. : 33 
_ for holding water: thusequipped, the Chiritmanos are ready for 
a journey of any distance, and through any sort of country. 
Their dress, once put on, very rarely comes off until worn out ; 
and black is their favorite colour. Their language is one of 
the aboriginal dialects, pretty well defined, and is termed 
the Aymara; they understand Spanish, but some of them 
speak it very indifferently. ‘They are not looked upon ge- 
nerally, by the better-informed folk in large towns, as having 
any pretensions to the knowledge of medicine, but there are 
ased of them gum copal, gum thus, or incense, and some 
other resinous bodies for the churches; alum, sulphur, and a 
few such like things; but in the country, and villages retired 
from populous towns, much credit and belief is given to their 
Reelin: they sell them at moderate prices, and give advice 
gratis. On a Chiritmano entering a town, it is soon known, 
and in a short time he is surrounded; when for every malady 
he has a cure, and for every sore a salve. 
i From what I have seen of them, they seem perfectly to 
___ understand their calling, and to be somewhat wiser than their 
__-—s¢ustomers. ‘Their principal trade is in selling charms: these 
are seeds, &c. perforated, and hung round the neck; their 
stated virtues are many. The most useful article they might 
bring from Upper Peru is the Peruvian bark: this would, 
2 indeed, be of great service towards the coast, where agues of 
avery bad cast are very common: indeed, in many of the 
rovinces of Peru toward the south, the bark is hardly 
hay Where it is known, it is given in powder, in large 
doses, mixed with old wine, with repeated draughts of le- 
monade, and certainly is a sovereign remedy. 
These Chiritmanos sometimes perform the operation of 
bleeding: this is done with a very rude sort of lancet, made 
7 by fixing into a piece of wood a chip of glass, placing it on 
; sthe vein, and giying it a nick with the forefinger and thumb 
something like the instrument and method used in bleeding 
horses, 
The following are the names, &c. of most of the articles 
that compose this travelling shop; and as to their utility, in 
my attle opinion, all that can be said is, that they do little 
good or harm; some of the medicines may have properties to 
recommend them, if administered in proper doses, and by 
experienced hands. 
Jaco: bole, principally of oxide of iron. 
Salvia ; for the ayre;: this is a term fora cold. The sub- 
stance is either taken in decoction, or the leaves moistened with 
saliva, and applied to the temples. It is a species of sage. 
¥ 
