NOTICES OF PERU. 



319 



The rapacity of the curates, though less now, is almost in- 

 credible. Previous to the revolution, a curacy in Peru was a 

 sure fortune to the possessor* in the course of a very few 

 years. Even now, the only cow of a poor widow is sometimes 

 sold to pay the funeral expenses of her husband ! In Pisco, I 

 saw an Indian boy, who had been sold by the curate in one of 

 the interior provinces, to pay for the requisite number of 

 masses for the rest of his father's soul ! 



The curates supply the wax candles used at funerals, for 

 which they charge an extravagant price. They are weighed 

 previous to leaving the church, and again when returned ; the 

 amount of wax consumed is thus ascertained, and the mourners 

 are made to pay for it. The number of candles used at a fu- 

 neral is limited to twenty-eight, by law. It is usual to place 

 four candles round the corpse in the house before interment^ 

 but the curates generally recommend eight, as being more ef- 

 fectual in saving the soul from the torments of purgatory. In- 

 deed, so firmly are the lower classes convinced of the necessity 

 of masses for the eternal rest of the deceased, that there is a 

 cofrddia or company in Lima, to which every poor family pays 

 a real a week, for which the company engage to defray the 

 funeral expenses, and purchase the requisite number of masses, 

 in case of the death of any of its members. 



Besides the fees for funerals, the curates receive others for 

 marriages. The marriage ceremony consists of two parts ; one 

 is the simple benediction of the parties on joining hands, after 

 having expressed their mutual consent before witnesses. After 

 the consummation, sometimes the next day, and sometimes a 

 week, the parties go to church, and go through the second part 

 of the ceremony, which is called the velaci&n" or veiling, or 

 nuptial benediction. The bride is covered with a veil, and 

 kneels with the bridegroom before the altar. After mass is 

 said, he puts the ring on the bride's finger, and presents her 

 with thirteen pieces of money, which are termed the ''arras.'' 

 These pieces of money may be reales, or two real pieces, or es- 

 cudos, or onzas of gold, according to the pecuniary circum- 



* See Noticias Secretas. 



