PERU. 



45& 



sounds, their speech is hke the barking of dogs. The women of some tribes are said to be 

 warhke. The Omaguas flatten the head, hke some of the North American Indians. The In- 

 dians occupy the same place in society as in Mexico. They are idle, filthy, superstitious, and 

 suspicious. Their dress and habitations are mean. Their capacities are very limited, and they 



JYatives of South America. 



Spanish Inliabitunts of Peru. 



have httle variety of character. They are governed by native chiefs or caziques, and many 

 laws are devised for their protection, which are not always executed. The gentlemen of Peru 

 imitate the English fashions of dress ; and the ladies also, except in a peculiar walking-dress, 

 composed of a close petticoat of satin, &c., with a short cloak of silk drawn round the waist 

 and over the breast and head, half concealing the face. This is peculiar to Lima. The petti- 

 coat is elastic, and sets close enough to reveal the form. The hood, or nianto, is ])robably a 

 Moorish remnant. In the cities of Peru, the houses are low, and built thus froui a fear of 

 earthquakes. The dwellings of the Indians are mere huts, and generally architecture is in a 

 much lower state than in Mexico. The roofs are flat, and the walls are often of wattled cane, 

 plastered. The languages are the Spanish and those of the Indians. The food does not es- 

 sentially difl'er from that in the other South American States ; and tobacco is as extensively 

 used as in the rest of South America. Many sweetmeats are consumed. A fermented liquor, 

 called c/itca, is made of maize. The diseases arc not peculiar. There are some goitres in 

 the mountainous regions, but the Indians are exempted from them. To travel in Peru is a service 



of hardship and privation. 'I'he general way 

 is to ride on horses or mules. There are few 

 roads. The mule is invaluable from its cau- 

 tious instinct, in passing the defiles or sides of 

 the mountains, where a misstep would cast them 

 to a measureless distance below. In many 

 places, where they cannot ste[), they protrude 

 their feet and slide downwards, directing their 

 course with the utmost sagacity. It is not safe 

 for the rider to assume any guidance over them, 

 when he is riding with one leg over a precipice 

 while the other rubs against the side of a moun- 

 tain. The lama is much used for carrying bur- 

 dens. The Peruvians do not differ in character 

 from the other South Americans. Hospitality 

 with them has no limits, and, like tlie others of 

 European descent in South America, they are distinguished for their paternal and filial virtues. 

 The Creole ladies are good mothers and wives, and almost every family is a happy circle. 

 Dancing, music, tertulias, bull-fights, and cock-fighting are the common amusements. The 

 negro slaves receive kind treatment, and are instructed in the Christian religion. It is common 

 to see the white children thus instructing those of a household. 



Peru was one of the two monarchies of America, which, at the Invasion of the Spaniards, 

 had attained to a degree of refinement far above that savage state in wliich most of the Amer- 

 ican Indians lived. It was also remarkable, from the contrast of the character of its civiliza- 

 tion to that of the Mexicans. Instead of the fierce and lofty spirit, (he bloody wars, the un- 



South American Travelers. 



