NOTICES OF PERU. 383 



tisements, but the greater part is filled with personal wrangles 

 and vituperation. 



The title and the phoenix are both fanciful and classic, for 

 Quipos is the name of a register of important events, composed 

 of a variety of different colored strings and knots, that was 

 kept by the ancient Peruvians, and the phoenix is symbolic of 

 the city of Liberty rising out of the ruins of the ancient Chimu, 

 which are in the immediate vicinity. 



Truxillo was formerly the residence of several nobles, who 

 held lucrative offices under the Spanish government. Tar- 

 ralla, in his satire, entitled, Lima por dentro y fuera,^' says, 

 that it was poverty enclosed in walls," and for want of mo- 

 ney, that articles were bartered in the market place, 



" Que en la plaza se permutan, 

 Harina y came por huevos, 

 Por pan, frutas y verduras 

 Y tambien gatos por perros." 



Though the country immediately surrounding the city i» 

 sandy and barren a few miles from the sea, the valley is rich 

 in sugar cane, corn, and wheat. In a report made to the gene- 

 ral government of Peru, by the governor of Huanchaco, in 

 July 1833, it is stated, that the province yielded for the past 

 year 20,000 fanegas of wheat, valued at 53,000 dollars, and 

 from the fostering care of the government being extended to 

 agriculture, the quantity would be in all probability very much 

 increased. The chief wealth of this part of Peru consists in 

 the products of the mines. Large amounts of uncoined silver, in 

 spite of the prohibition, are smuggled on board of men-of-war 

 that stop at this port for this purpose. 



One morning I paid a visit to a convent of nuns, that is un- 

 der the holy protection and patronage of Santa Carmen. On 

 one side of the building is a small square hall, leading from 

 the street to an interior court, which was closed. A dumb 

 waiter or turning wheel is placed on one side of the hall, 

 which conveys things in and out of the apartments occupied 

 by the nuns, without any of them being seen. While I was 

 there, many servants arrived with baskets of fruit, sweetmeats. 



