PERU. 249 



Cordilleras. It is a mountain torrent throughout its whole course. The 

 quantity of water in it is small. The width at its mouth is about thirty 

 feet, and one foot deep. It has not sufficient force to break a passage 

 through the beach to the sea, and the water filters through the pebbly soil. 



In Peru, when the land is irrigated, it is one continued vegetation 

 throughout the year. Harvests are gathered in every season, and 

 flowers and fruit may be seen at the same time. On the east side of the 

 Cordilleras the harvest takes place about the middle of June. Tarma 

 and Jauja are the first cultivated districts. The " montanas," as they 

 call the forests, are situated at the eastern base of the Andes. Their 

 crest is estimated to be thirty or forty leagues from the coast, and it is 

 about fifteen leagues farther to the montanas. The thermometer during 

 the jaunt to the Cordilleras ranged from 50° to the freezing point of 

 Fahrenheit. 



During our visit, the Chilian troops were in possession of the country, 

 and Lima was garrisoned by them. They were a sickly and worn-out 

 body of men, the tertiana prevailing to a great extent among them. 

 They were apparently well clad, new clothing having been issued to 

 them at the expense of the Peruvian treasury. They were all, I was 

 told, extremely anxious to return to Chili. Although the nominal power 

 was in the President, Gamarra, or the acting Governor, Lafuente, until 

 his arrival, yet Bulnes commanded and watched over their proceedings. 

 The Peruvians are to all intents and purposes a conquered people, 

 although they profess to think the Chilians their friends, and say that 

 the war was only against Santa Cruz and his policy. No favourable 

 accounts can now be given of the state of Peru. A want of confidence 

 exists every where. The government is bankrupt in principle ana 

 funds. The tenure of property is uncertain, and oppression, extortion, 

 and want of principle have brought the country to the verge of ruin. 

 The people are harassed by the frequent changes ; and the government, a 

 military, and constantly changing one, gives rise to all kinds of disorder. 

 This is to be imputed to the ambition of the various rulers or generals, 

 who endeavour to keep old and little understood controversies in con- 

 tinual agitation, for their own benefit. Revolution is the order of the 

 day. One broke out again in Payta a few days before we sailed, and 

 Peru was raising troops to attack Bolivia. 



The manner of recruiting the army is not unlike the employment of 

 press-gangs in England. They scour the country far and near for 

 recruits, and if not obtained, compel every poor Indian met with, to 

 serve against his will. Agriculture, and every other kind of honest 

 industry, has fallen into disrepute, if not into entire neglect, and the 

 whole country is left in a continued state of anarchy and confusion. 



vol. i. 32 



