ON THE PACIFIC COAST 327 



to a procession in her honour, and gaily-dressed, 

 life-size figures of that sorrowful lady are set up 

 under sparkling canopies at the corners of the prin- 

 cipal streets. On this day, ladies who rejoice in 

 the name of "Dolores" (and in Catholic countries 

 they are legion) invite their friends to eat sweet- 

 meats and to drink wine and chicha with them. 

 Even I, old bachelor and foreigner as I am, have 

 received several such invitations, and one Dolores 

 has gone the length of sending me a pair of garters 

 embroidered in blue, red, and white silk ! Vanitas 

 vanitatum ! Yet even this mediaeval fooling is 

 better than the unmitigated money -seeking (by 

 fair means or foul), and as reckless and luxurious 

 spending, of Guayaquil. 



Sometimes our superstitions are rich in historical 

 souvenirs. \Yhen that most valiant of Pizzaro's 

 warriors, Pedro de Candia, leapt on shore at Tum- 

 bez, he carried in his hand a cross, extemporised 

 from two bits of firewood. The inhabitants let 

 loose on him "a lion" and a tiger, who, instead of 

 attacking him, prostrated themselves before the 

 cross, etc. etc. A piece of that famous cross is pre- 

 served on the altar of one of the churches of Piura, 

 and the church itself is dedicated to La Santa Cruz 

 del Milagro (The Holy Cross of the Miracle). 



NOTES ON Till; VALLEYS OF 1'IUKA AND CHIRA, 

 IN NORTHERN I'l.RU 1 



Tnl'Or.kAI'lIY AND M IM I: \|,<M,\ 



Along the western side of South America, extending Inuii neai 

 the Equator on the N. to about Coquimbo in Chile, latitude 30 

 S., there is a strip of land, included between the I'.icilir ;md tin- 



1 Kxtracts from tin- Koiri^n < tim- |';I|HT \>\ K. Spr 



