188 THREE YEARS IN THE PACiriC. 



mole in wooden conduits, where it is very readily filled into 

 casks, without removing them from the boat. Just outside of 

 the tapia is a sort of lock, where, from morning till night, are 

 assembled negro and white women, washing linen by the pro- 

 cess (not the most approved) of pounding it with stones, and 

 spreading it out on the neighboring green. Horses are also 

 carried there to drink and to be washed ; all of which, it is 

 thought, does not impair the good qualities of the water for 

 most domestic purposes. 



On working days and holy-days, Callao presents an active 

 scene. During business hours, the basin, formed by the mole, 

 is covered with launches and boats. The mole is piled up with 

 boxes and bales of merchandise ; large heaps of wheat, some- 

 times containing thousands of bushels ; mules and asses, loading 

 and unloading ; merchants and clerks ; guards and custom house 

 officers — all crowded upon it, each pushing and jostling his 

 way, and overcoming all resistance. Amidst the trampled dust, 

 no very idle part is enacted by the millions of fleas, on the 

 feet and ankles of all who intrude upon them. A sentinel stands 

 at the landing slip, opposite to which is a sort of sentry-box, 

 where the officers of the guard lounge, and smoke paper cigars, 

 through the twenty-four hours. At night the posts are increas- 

 ed, and no person is permitted to land or embark after eight 

 o'clock, without special permission from the captain of the port. 



The street presents negroes in dirty, tattered ponchos, slouch- 

 ed straw hats, bragas, or large bottomed breeches, bare legs, 

 and raw hide sandals on the feet. The women ride astride, 

 and display a superior knowledge of horsemanship. The men 

 wear short jackets, and are constantly smoking cigars ; officers 

 of the garrison, in gay uniforms, saunter about on foot, or are 

 seen on splendid steeds, handsomely caparisoned, curvetting 

 and caracoling through the streets. 



The appearance of Callao is by no means favorable, and no 

 one would ever suspect its being other than a very disagreea- 

 ble place. Strangers generally dislike it very much, which is 

 not surprising, for there is little or no society to be found, except 

 in the summer, when a few families resort thither for the pur- 

 pose of sea bathing, of which the Peruvians are passionately 



