VISIT TO PAYTA. 



\i) 



Independence, had the chief actor in the revo- 

 lution been a man of sterner nature, is another 

 question entirely : my sole object, in this sketch, 

 has been to draw as faithful and impartial a 

 picture as I possibly could of what has actually 

 taken place. 



San Martin, after retiring to his country-seat 

 at Mendoza, on the eastern side of the Andes, 

 hoped to find some relaxation from his long 

 course of laborious exertions. But such men are 

 seldom allowed to remain quiet in those times ; 

 and he was soon solicited to join various political 

 parties, both in Chili and in Buenos Ayres ; and 

 was also repeatedly urged to return to Peru. His 

 name and influence, in short, were considered of 

 so much consequence in those countries, that, in 

 spite of all he could do, he was not permitted to 

 live a retired life. Not choosing, however, to 

 remain as a rallying point of discontent, or a 

 cause of alarm to those governments, he resolved 

 to come to Europe, where he might hope to live 

 beyond the reach of these intrigues, and hold him- 

 self ready to return, when he should conceive that 

 circumstances rendered his presence useful to the 

 cause of Independence. 



Since the period alluded to this distinguished 

 officer has resided at Brussels, and at this mo- 

 ment, the end of 1825, is still living in perfect 

 retirement. 



P.S.— March 1840. T have lately heard with 

 great satisfaction, that General San Martin is still 

 alive, and well ; and that with the same unshaken 

 firmness of purpose, which won for him so much 

 success in his public career, he has resisted in 

 private life every attempt to reinvolve him in 

 politics. In the enjoyment of a competent for- 

 tune, and possessed of a mind at ease, he has for 

 some time past resided at Paris, where the interest 

 of the passing events, and the retrospect of a life 

 of usefulness, afford him abundant sources of that 

 enviable contentment which great men, who have 

 taken a large share of active employment in the 

 busy world, know best how to appreciate. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



Visit to Payta.— The Town taken and sacked by Lord 

 Anson.— Scarcity of Water.— Guayaquil River.— Descrip- 

 tion of the Hammocks used by the Ladies.— Remarkable 

 Fairness of Complexion of the Women of this City. 

 On the 1/th of December 1821 we sailed from 

 Callao Roads, and coasted along to the northward 

 till the 20th ; when we anchored off the town of 

 Payta, a place celebrated in Anson's voyage, as 

 well as in the histories of the old Buccaneers. 



Lord Anson's proceedings, we were surprised to 

 find, are still traditionally known at Payta ; and 

 it furnishes a curious instance of the effect of 

 manners on the opinions of mankind, to observe 

 that the kindness with which that sagacious officer 

 invariably treated his Spanish prisoners, is, at the 

 distance of eighty years, better known and more 

 dwelt upon by the inhabitants of Payta, than the 

 capture and rather wanton destruction of the town. 

 We had scarcely anchored before the captain of 

 the port came on board, accompanied by a person 

 whom he chose to call an interpreter ; but who, 

 upon being put to the proof, was so drunk, as not 



to be able to articulate one word of any language 

 whatever. 



The heat is always considerable at Payta ; and 

 as no rain falls, the houses are slightly constructed 

 of an open sort of basket-work, through which the 

 air blows freely at all times ; the roofs, which are 

 high and peaked, are thatched with leaves : some 

 of the walls are plastered with mud, but, generally 

 speaking, they are left open. After having ex- 

 amined the town, a party was made to visit the 

 neighbouring heights ; from whence we could see 

 nothing, in any direction, but one bleak, unbroken 

 waste of barren sand. Our guide, who was rather 

 an intelligent man, expressed much surprise at our 

 assiduity in breaking the rocks ; and at the care 

 with which we wrapped up the specimens. He 

 could not conceive any stone to be valuable that 

 did not contain gold or silver ; and supposing that 

 we laboured under some mistake as to the nature 

 of the rock, repeatedly begged us to throw the 

 specimens away, assuring us it was merely "piedra 

 bruta," and of no sort of use. 



On returning through the town, we were at- 

 tracted by the sound of a harp, and, following the 

 usage of the country, we entered the house. The 

 family rose to give us their seats ; and, upon learn- 

 ing that it was their music which had interested us, 

 desired the harper to go on. After he had played 

 some national Spanish airs, we asked him to let us 

 hear a native tune ; but he mistook our meaning, 

 and gave us, with considerable spirit, a waltz, which, 

 not very long before, I had heard as a fashionable 

 air in London, — and here it was equally popular at 

 Payta— one of the most out-of-the-way and least- 

 frequented spots in the civilised world. Of the 

 tune they knew nothing, except how to play it : 

 they had never heard its name, or that of the com- 

 poser, or of his nation ; nor could they tell when, 

 or by what means, it had come amongst them. 



While our boat was rowing from the ship to the 

 shore to take us on board, we stepped into a house, 

 near the landing-place, where we were hospitably 

 received by a party of ladies assembled near the 

 wharf, as we surmised, to have a better view of the 

 strangers as they embarked ; at least they seemed 

 very well pleased with our visit. 



Being nearly choked with dust, I began the con- 

 versation by begging a glass of water ; upon which 

 one of the matrons pulled a key from her pocket, 

 and gave it to a young lady, who carried it to the 

 corner of the room, where a large jar was placed, 

 and unlocking the metal lid, measured out a small 

 tumbler full of water for me ; after which she se- 

 cured the jar, and returned the key to her mother. 

 This extraordinary economy of water arose, as 

 they told us, from there not being a drop to be got 

 nearer than three or four leagues off ; and as the 

 supply, even at this distance, was precarious, water 

 at Payta was not only a necessary of life, but, as 

 in a ship on a long voyage, was considered a 

 luxury. This incident furnished a copious topic ; 

 and on speaking of the country, we rejoiced to 

 learn, that we had at length very nearly reached 

 the northern limit of that mighty desert, along 

 which we had been coasting ever since we left Co- 

 quimbo, a distance of sixteen hundred miles. 



We weighed as soon as the land-wind began to 

 steal off to us, and steered along-shore, with the 

 sea as smooth as glass, and the faint sound of the 

 surf on the beach just audible. On the evening of 



