THE SAYA AND MANTO. 



23 



bited in Spain : those of Lima, indeed, he could 

 not bear to look at ; nor had he ever met an 

 Englishman who could be prevailed upon to visit 

 the amphitheatre a second time. He ridiculed 

 the theory of the Chilian above-mentioned ; though 

 he acknowledged with shame that these scenes, 

 horrible as they were, had always been encouraged 

 by the Viceroys, and other Spanish rulers of the 

 country. 



In the evening I went in company with a young 

 Spaniard to be introduced to a fine old nobleman, 

 the Marquis of Montemira, uncle of the Duke of 

 San Carlos, who was for some time in England as 

 minister from the court of Madrid. He was 

 eighty years of age, and appeared much broken 

 down by the climate ; but still possessed in a 

 remarkable degree the cheerfulness of youth : 

 indeed his thoughts and the turn of his expressions 

 were so juvenile, that he wanted nothing but 

 bodily strength to take an active part in the 

 bustling scenes of the day. 



At the Marquis's we met a heavy-looking 

 elderly priest, who put a thousand idle questions 

 to us respecting the news from Europe. In the 

 course of this conversation, my malicious com- 

 panion, in order to plague his reverend friend, 

 whispered to me to say the Inquisition had been 

 re-established in Spain. Accordingly, taking the 

 first opportunity, I said something bearing this 

 interpretation. The effect was amusing enough, 

 for the old father, who it seems had been the 

 chief inquisitor, clapped his hands, and, with a 

 sparkling eye, shouted, " Bravo ! I thought it 

 must be so ! " but perceiving his young friend 

 smiling, he first looked angry, and then laughed, 

 calling him a sad " picaro." — " Nevertheless," 

 added he, in a lower tone, with his fist clenched, 

 and his teeth closed, " though it be not yet re- 

 established, it soon will." 



Everything connected with the recently abo- 

 lished Inquisition is viewed at Lima with a degree 

 of scorn and hatred, very remarkable in a city so 

 crowded with clerical establishments ; and where 

 the observances of the church form so great a part 

 of the business of the people. But whatever be 

 the cause of this unmeasured detestation, nothing 

 can be more determined than it is ; and our 

 portly friend, the ex-inquisitor, must, I fear, be 

 content to follow the stream, and give up his 

 chance of again tormenting his countrymen. 



A story is told of this priest, however, which 

 shows he was not quite hardened by the duties 

 of his former office, but that he mingled his natural 

 feelings with those proper to his calling, in a man- 

 ner rather amiable for an inquisitor. Happening 

 one day to visit a house where four or five Eng- 

 lishmen were dining, he joined in conversation 

 with them; and was so much pleased with his 

 company, that he turned round to a friend, and 

 exclaimed, " Oh ! what a pity it is that such fine 

 rosy-looking, good young men, should all neces- 

 sarily and inevitably go to the Devil!" (a los 

 infiernos.) 



The domestic manners of the society here differ 

 from those of Chili, almost as much as the dresses. 

 Instead of meeting at balls, concerts, and tertulias 

 or parties, the women associate very little with 

 one another ; there are few dances, very little 

 music, and, except at the bull-fights or the play, 

 and sometimes in the country, the ladies seldom 



assemble together. But they are all extremely 

 regular in their attendance upon mass: indeed, 

 the women in these countries form the congrega- 

 tions almost exclusively. At the houses where 

 we called in the morning, we usually found the 

 ladies dressed very gaily to receive visitors : that 

 is, male visitors, for we seldom met any but the 

 ladies of the house on these occasions. In the 

 evening, the same thing generally takes place ; 

 and our chance of meeting the gentlemen of the 

 family, had we wished it, was always least at their 

 own home. 



In the cool part of the day, for about an hour 

 and a half before sunset, the ladies walk abroad, 

 dressed in a manner as far as I know unique, and 

 certainly highly characteristic of the spot. This 

 dress consists of two parts, one called the Saya, 

 the other the Manto. The first is a petticoat made 

 to fit so tightly that, being at the same time quite 

 elastic, the form of the limbs is rendered distinctly 

 visible. The manto, or cloak, is also a petticoat, 

 but, instead of hanging about the heels, as all 

 honest petticoats ought to do, it is drawn over the 

 head, breast, and face ; and is kept so close by 

 the hands, which it also conceals, that no part of 

 the body, except one eye, and sometimes only a 

 small portion of one eye, is perceptible. A rich 

 coloured handkerchief, or a silk band and tassel, are 

 frequently tied round the waist, and hang nearly 

 to the ground in front. A rosary, also, made of 

 beads of ebony, with a small gold cross, is often 

 fastened to the girdle, a little on one side ; though 

 in general it is suspended from the neck. 



The effect of the whole is exceedingly striking : 

 but whether its gracefulness — for, with the fine 

 figure of the Lima women, and their very beautiful 

 style of walking, this dress is eminently graceful 

 — be sufficient to compensate for its indelicacy 

 to an European eye, will depend much upon the 

 stranger's taste, and his habits of judging of what 

 he sees in foreign countries. Some travellers 

 insist upon forcing everything into comparison 

 with what they have left at home, and condemn or 

 approve, according as this unreasonable standard 

 is receded from or adhered to. To us, who took 

 all things as we found them, the saya and manto 

 afforded much amusement, and sometimes not a 

 little vexation. It happened occasionally, that we 

 were spoken to in the streets by ladies, who ap- 

 peared to know us well, but whom we could not 

 discover, till some apparently trivial remark in 

 company long afterwards betrayed the Tapadas, 

 as they call themselves. Ladies of the first rank 

 indulge in this amusement, and will wear the 

 meanest saya, or stoop to any contrivance to effect 

 a thorough disguise. I myself knew two young 

 ladies who completely deceived their brother and 

 me, although we were aware of their fondness for 

 such pranks, and I had even some suspicions of 

 them at the very moment. Their superior dex- 

 terity, however, was more than a match for his 

 discernment, or my suspicions ; and so completely 

 did they deceive our eyes, and mislead our thoughts, 

 that we could scarcely believe our senses, when 

 they at length chose to discover themselves. 



Lima has been described as the " Heaven of 

 women, the purgatory of men, and the hell of 

 jackasses," and so, perhaps, it may be in times of 

 peace ; but the war had now broken down such 

 distinctions, and all parties looked equally miser- 



