276 



PERU. 



Such being the extraordinary state of affairs in 

 Lima^ I regretted much that my orders rendered 

 it necessary for me to leave this part of the coast, 

 at the very moment when the interest of the poli- 

 tical scene was at the highest. I wished, above 

 all, to have seen the effect of these two decrees, 

 respecting the policy of which the opinions of the 

 inhabitants were much divided. It would also 

 have been peculiarly interesting to have marked 

 the progress of improvement under the new sys- 

 tem. The necessity of our departure, however, 

 prevented our doing so ; and we were thus made 

 to feel one of the severest drawbacks on the plea- 

 sures of a naval life. We have undoubtedly great 

 opportunities of seeing distant places, sometimes 

 at moments of extraordinary public interest, and 

 generally without the difficulties encountered by 

 other travellers. We have also the advantage of 

 being everywhere well received, as our situation 

 is an universal introduction to the confidence and 

 hospitality of the inhabitants. On the other hand, 

 our means are always much cramped by want of 

 time, our thoughts being necessarily taken up 

 with a variety of duties having no reference to the 



