DEPARTMENT OF AYACUCHO. 25 



barley, and we felt somewhat interested in the ground over which we 

 travel. It is the battle-field of Ayacucho, where the royalists of Spain, 

 under command of Viceroy Laserna, met the independent South Amer- 

 icans, under the brave Venezuelan Sucre. This battle took place on 

 the 9th day of December, 1824, when the whole of the Peruvian terri- 

 tory was surrendered, with the exception of Callao. 



The country around is wild and deeply washed with gullies and ra- 

 vines in the wet season. The Spaniards flocked to this country for silver 

 and gold ; they built a large city, and called it Huamanga ; the repub- 

 licans changed its name to Ayacucho, in honor of the victory. It is 

 the capital of the department, which is divided into five provinces, and 

 contains a population of 129,921. 



The complexion of the people becomes lighter as we get south, and 

 fewer Indians speak Spanish. They alL say " buenos tardes" (good 

 evening) when we meet them, even if it be at sunrise. Many of their 

 expressions in Quichua sound like the language of the natives of the 

 South Pacific islands, as I recollect it ten years ago, while cruising as 

 a midshipman in the ship-of-war St. Louis. 



The city of Ayacucho has a population of ten thousand people ; the 

 houses have two stories, with large rooms and court-yards ; the streets 

 run at right angles, and are paved. On the grand plaza stands an 

 immense cathedral, of stone, with heavy bells and iron-fastened doors. 

 There are twenty-two other churches. The whole city was built on a 

 grand and expensive scale. The present population indicate a falling off 

 in numbers and wealth. The streets are strewed with ragged children 

 and beggar men. Under large corridors are seen lounging sleepy old 

 soldiers, with muskets and fixed bayonets ; officers parade the streets, 

 buttoned up to the throat, with dangling swords, and some of the most 

 unclean looking priests we have ever beheld. 



In the two schools there are only thirty pupils. A professor of belles 

 lettres and poetry, informed me that geography was only provided for in 

 the college of Lima ; and a teacher of latin grammar said the reason 

 they had so few scholars was, the parents were too poor to pay for 

 schooling. Among the aboriginals it is very unusual to find one who 

 can write his name, and not unusual to find Creoles who cannot write. 

 As to reading, I have never seen a person in the country so occupied, 

 and have not seen a public journal. 



In the plaza the Indians sell barley, wheat, maize, potatoes, onions, 

 lucerne, and fruits, brought from the other side of the eastern ridge. 

 • In a blacksmith's shop I found the mestizos burning charcoal, and upon 

 asking whether they used stone coal, they all stopped work, and, 



