NOTICES OP PERU. 



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loose, and slip-shod, in silk stockings, occasionally rubbing her 

 teeth with a slender root, the end of which is chewed till its 

 fibres separate and resemble a brush. Notwithstanding that 

 they are fond of bathing in the warm months, ladies seldom 

 think of washing their faces before breakfast in the winter, 

 but substitute the corner of a damp towel. They allege, that 

 washing in the morning is attended with the great risk of 

 causing ague, which prevails more or less throughout the year. 

 A lady once asked her physician, in my presence, whether 

 she might wash her hands and face in a little warm water; '^1 

 have not washed either," said she, for seven days, and they 

 feel extremely greasy and uncomfortable !" 



About midday commences the important business of dress- 

 ing the hair, which occupies an hour. That finished, the shoes 

 are pulled up at the heel, a large shawl is cast over the shoulders, 

 and the lady, (particularly if married), is ready to receive any 

 visiters she can expect on ordinary occasions. The hour before 

 dinner is spent in covering " mechas," or in some trifling needle- 

 work, unless there be a new dress to make. Dinner and the * 

 siesta take up the afternoon till five or six o'clock, when she 

 dresses to walk out or to receive her friends. Such is the 

 usual employment of ladies of great as well as of moderate for- 

 tunes. Those of the second class are much more industrious, 

 and are very skilful with the needle. , 



Notwithstanding, the Limanians of the same family have 

 much more respect, if not affection for each other, than is com- 

 monly manifested by Americans. The younger brothers and 

 sisters are always obedient to their elders; men established in 

 life often refuse to perform trifling acts, on the ground that 

 they may be disagreeable to their fathers or mothers, and I 

 have seen widows who had returned to the homes of their pa- 

 rents after their husbands' death, quite as scrupulously obe- 

 dient as children of three or four years old! Honor thy 

 father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land," 

 is a precept strictly observed. The ties of consanguinity are 

 stronger, and are more widely extended than with us ; cousins 

 are almost as near as brothers — in fact, they are quite as affec- 

 tionately treated and considered. This habit of feeling may be 

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