Chap. XYTII. FALSE OPINIONS IN ENGLAND. 289 



In giving an account of the present condition and future 

 prospects of Peru, the invariable kindness and frank hospi- 

 tality of its inhabitants impose an obligation to speak with 

 as much leniency and forbearance as the interests of truth 

 will admit. The South American Eepublics are peopled by 

 races of mixed origin, who are doubtless inferior to Euro- 

 peans, both mentally and physically; and the unsettled 

 condition of those countries, which inevitably succeeded the 

 struggles for an independence for which the people were 

 unprepared, has continued longer than might justly have 

 been expected. But it appears to be a generally received 

 idea in England, originating from the accounts of tra- 

 vellers unacquainted with the people, and ignorant of 

 their language, that the South Americans are a mongrel 

 degraded race, incapable of improvement, and hopelessly 

 degenerate.^ So far as my experience extends, and after 

 a careful consideration of the subject, I can see no grounds 

 for resigning the hope that a brighter futm-e is yet in store 

 for the land of the Incas. 



It is true that, after a casual and superficial glance at 

 the state of affairs in South America since the expulsion 

 of the Spaniards, the prospect ajipeai-s sufficiently gloomy. 

 But a more intimate acquaintance with the subject, and 

 especially a knowledge of the tone of thought amongst the 

 younger men, as expressed in conversation and in their 

 Avi"itings, would show that, under the surface, noble aspirations 

 and steady enhghtened views prevail, which must eventually 

 yield fruit, and thus justify our hopes for the future. When 

 independence was established in South America, there were 

 two principal causes which led to the civil wars which 

 ensued ; namely, the question between a federal or a cen- 



- " Pos las narraciones tan calmn- punto raenos que salvages," says a 

 niosas como absurdas de algunos aven- Peruvian writer, 

 tureros maldicientes, se nos considera 



U 



