^1 KZ3 < ^ ■ C () N T E N T S OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER 1. Formation of the Potosi Mining Association. — Departure of the first division of its establishment for Buenos Ay res. — Shipwreck of the Prince Ernest packet. — Providential escape. — Turtle versus Dolphin. . . Page 1 CHAPTER II. Pass the Canary and Cape Verd Islands. — Sudden and fre- quent changes of weather. — Excessive rain. — Stories of Sharks. . . . . . 1G CHAPTER III. Sketch of daily proceedings on board a Ten-gun Brig- Packet. . . . 32 CHAPTER IV. Pass the Equator. — A Comet. — Magellan Clouds. — Making all snug in a Gaic. — Enter the River Plate. — Disappoint- ment in Landing. — Termination of the Voyage. . 43 CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. A sudden Storm. — Awkward landing of the Passengers. — Arrival at Buenos Ayres. — Faunch's Hotel. — Caution to Servants. — Change in Ecclesiastical affairs. — Advertise- ments in the Newspapers. . . Page 55 CHAPTER VI. Preparations to cross the Pampas. — Leave Buenos Ayres with a formidable cavalcade. — Region of thistles. — -Appe- tite of the Peones. — Gauchos. — Biscacho. — Excessive heat. — Pampa Indians. — Trifling consideration set on a bullock. — Confusion occasioned by a Pampero. — Immense herds of cattle on the Pampas. — Extent of the Pampas. — Comparison of the scenery of the Pampas with the Steppes of Russia. ..... 69 CHAPTER VII. Arrival at Cordova. — Expenses of a family in that city. — Father Lorenzo. — Attendants at table. — Departure from Cordova. — Vinchucas. — Locusts. — Jesu Maria. — Post of Mocha. — Change of scenery. — Meeting of travellers. 91 CHAPTER VIII. Performances of Post-horses. — Dispute with an Alcalde. — River Saladillo. — Delightful serenity of the nights. — The Balsa described. — Excessive heat. — Santiago dei Estero. — First glimpse of branches of the Cordilleras. . 112 CHAPTER IX. Tucuman. — Fertility of its soil.— Petty revolutions. — Visit to an Orange-grove. — Botas dc potro. — Purchase of horses. CONTENTS. Xl — Expense of shoeing. — Visit to the Convent of Lules. — Carnival revels. — Character of the Tncumanos. Page 140 CHAPTER X. Disputed account. — Departure from Tucuman Interesting scenery. — Arrival at Las Trancas. — Its ruins.— Descrip- tion of the recent Earthquake. . . 166 CHAPTER XI. An infant friar. — Appearance given to the atmosphere by Locusts. — Hot-springs of Rosario. — Reception at the house of a private gentleman. — Ceremonious habit of com- pliment derived from the Spaniards. — Countess D'Aunoy. — Loss of property by the Revolution. . .184 CHAPTER XII. Hospitality to strangers. — Tigers. — Rio de las Piedras. — Difficulties of the roads. — Armadillos. — Rapidity of the River Passage. — Doubts entertained on the extraordi- nary relations of travellers. — Romantic situation of the village of Cobos. — Adventure on horseback. — Arrival at Salta. . . . 201 CHAPTER XIII. Want of Public Accommodation. — Expenses of our jour- ney from Buenos Ayres to Salta. — Decree in favour of Emigration. — Fever and Ague. — Expense of living at Salta. — Price of a considerable Estate in the Province of Salta. — Agriculture a promising Speculation in South America. . . . .217 Xll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. Departure from Salta. — Passage of streams and torrents. — Arrival at Jujui. — Wonderful Scenery. — Poison of vipers occasionally harmless. — Sagacity of mules and horses in passing dangerous places. — Desolate post-house. — Arrival at Tupiza. .... Page 238 CHAPTER XV. Pedestrian performances of Peruvian Indians. — Their cha- racter. — Early age at which the females marry, and their premature decay. — Llamas. — No hai, SeHor! — No hai nada, SeTior-' — Trifling disappointment. — Stage from Caiza to Potosi. — Mountain of Potosi. — Arrival in the Imperial city. ... 265 CHAPTER XVI. Rapturous effusion of a Native on the riches produced from the mines of Potosi. — A stroll through the city. — Zorochi. — Climate of Potosi. — Visit to the summit of the Moun- tain. — Its height.— City of Potosi higher than Quito. — Method of extracting the Silver from the ores. — Wanton destruction of mifiing property. — Mistaken notions of Eu- ropeans respecting Mines and Mining in South America. — Enormous wealth extracted from the Mountain of Potosi. .... 288 CHAPTER XVII. Opening of the College of Pichincha.— Improvement in the public mind. — Purchase of pictures.- — < Barbarous edict against dogs. — House-rent. — Visit to the lakes. — Mining district of Puno. . ... 883 CONTENTS. Xlll CHAPTER XVIII. Anxiety and ennui in the midst of merriment. — Sudden check in the proceedings of the Potosi Mining Associa- tion. — Letter from the Secretary to the Directors. — Mis- taken confidence. — Alarming operation. — Military 'les- potism. — Diligencia publica. — Dona Juliana. Page 361 CHAPTER XIX. Departure for Chuquisaca. — Unexpected rencontre at a post-house. — River Pilcomayo. — Hospitable reception at Chuquisaca. — Interview with the President. — Ladies. — Colleges. — Clergy. — Juste Dieu, quel tourment! — A mys- terious dispatch. .... 384 CHAPTER XX. Peruvian Indians. — Still subject to ill treatment. — Patient and tractable under kind usage. — Summary proceeding of a self-constituted judge. . . . 424 L.moj ma.- w,. s i (bam GzeWarich ^ ' ' ■■-' - ■ -f."' VIO lV> &Q B\0 Engraved ibr TempUs. Journal by SUK Hull londmJPubHthed In Cotburn ..<■ Ben&mr .!>•»• BurHnton Sir. 1630 TRAVELS IN PERU. CHAPTER I. Formation of the Potosi Mining Association.— Departure of the first division of its establishment for Buenos Ayres. — Shipwreck of the Prince Ernest packet. — Providential escape. — Turtle versus Dolphin. One of the nine hundred and ninety-nine speculations of the all-speculating year 1825 was the " Potosi, La Paz, and Peruvian Mining Association ;" the object of which was to work the far-famed mines of Potosi and sundry others in Peru. The Company commenced its ope- rations for this " grande ct belle eiitreprise" (so Baron Humboldt was pleased to term it) upon the extensive and prodigal scale adopted by its sister Associations ; and, from among a long list of persons selected to fill numerous official vol. I. H 2 THE AUTHOlt S ANOINTMENT. situations, at home and abroad, I was appointed to that of secretary to the establishment at Potosi. Never did secretary of the richest trea- sury in Europe receive his appointment with greater certainty of acquiring fortune than I did, when named chief of the office for re- gistering the treasures to be drawn from the mines of America. My first act was to employ brokers to buy up all the shares that could possibly be procured for all the money I had to dispose of in so eligible an investment; but, from the high premium they bore in the market, a few hundred pounds went a very short way in- deed in the purchase of such valuable property. I had, however, in my run of luck, the good fortune to obtain what I considered sufficient to insure independence, ease, and luxury, which the Latins call " otium cum dignitatc" to my- self and posterity in endless perpetuity ! On the 22nd of September, 1825, it was signified at the Post-office that a packet was appointed to convey the mail and despatches to Buenos Ayres. This usual monthly notice was the signal for the instant departure of the first division of the establishment of the Potosi Mining Association, consisting of General Pa- roissien, the chief commissioner ; Baron de Czettritz, the chief of the mining department; DEPARTURE FROM LONDON. 3 Mr. Scriviner, a young gentleman of the mine- ralogical department ; and your most obedient, & c. &c. ; also two domestics, and Carlo, a fa- vourite spaniel. At two o'clock in the afternoon, orders being issued by the Board of Directors for our de- parture, portmanteaus, chests, bags, and boxes, were packed in all the confusion of hurry, and these were again packed in and on a highly fashionable carriage, provided for our conve- nience by the Association, together with a quantity of gingerbread-nuts and peppermint- drops, to comfort us on our journey across the continent of South America. In the outfit of this establishment no expense was spared that could contribute to the luxury and the dignity of those individuals, who were expected soon to make ample returns of gold and silver in repay- ment of the expenses that were now so pro- fusely lavished. We left London at seven in the evening, thereby gaining one hour's start of the mail ; and, in order to keep this advantage, we sent forward to every stage an express to have four horses in readiness, which added considerably to the 6clat and consequence of the travellers, but tended little to expedite the journey ; for the mail overtook us at Exeter, and, from B 2 4 ARRIVAL AT FALMOUTH. Exeter to Falmouth, it left us full five hours behind ; so that, had it not been for an order from the Foreign Office to detain the packet, we should have arrived at Falmouth — "just in time to be too late !" But, on stopping at Selly's Hotel, on the even- ing of the 24th, we were as delighted to see the captain of our packet standing at the door, as he was to see us arrive ; for, having laid in an ample sea-stock in expectation of us, he began to apprehend the loss of £74 for each cabin passenger, £36 for each steerage passenger, and £30 for our handsome carriage. We remained at Falmouth Sunday, Mon- day, and Tuesday, which enabled us to make an excursion to the copper-mines of Cornwall ; a very natural visit for gentlemen of our call- ing ; but every thing, of course, appeared ex- ceedingly mean and inferior to those who were soon to dig and to delve for gold and silver in the mines of the New World. For myself, I blush to confess it, I was in a state of the most profound ignorance respect- ing all that I saw or heard. Smelting, amal- gamating, assaying, separating, washing, roast- ing, crushing, sifting, and huddling, the ores, was all Greek to me ; and when I got home, I recollected nothing except a steam-engine, at THE 1TIOLIC PACKET. 5 the Consolidated Mine, said to be, if I mis- take not, of between eight hundred and one thousand-horse power, capable of pumping up seven hundred and sixty-eight gallons of water in one minute of time, or one million one hundred and five thousand nine hundred and twenty gallons in the course of twenty-four hours, from a depth of twelve hundred feet. On the 28th, at eleven o'clock, his Majesty's packet-brig Frolic fired a gun as a signal of having received the mail and despatches. No time was lost in getting on board, and by one o'clock we were under all sail, running down Channel with a fine fresh breeze from E.S.E. We found the Frolic fitted up, like all the packets of the same class, with little side-berths, several inches wide and a few feet long, large enough for persons of moderate dimensions to stretch and turn in, but rather a tight fit, I guess, for those who pride themselves on their height or magnitude. The height of our state- cabin, too, was such as to require great pre- caution in the exercise of our locomotive pow- ers, and doomed some of my companions to a never-ceasing curvature of the body, very dif- ferent from that pleasing line of beauty which, we are told, is to be found in " the graceful bend." SEA-SICKNESS. On the upper deck, large coops, and larger boxes, converted into supernumerary coops, were ranged on each side, crammed with fowls — though the unhappy animals never exhibited the appearance of crammed fowls when served at table. From under the forecastle proceeded a melody which apprised us still farther of the provision laid in for our voyage ; pigs, geese, ducks, and turkeys, not yet accustomed to their imprisonment, in notes peculiar to themselves, gave viva voce evidence of their uneasiness, far exceeding the shouts of the sailors in weigh- ing the anchor and hoisting the sails. Soon were to be seen " masts, spires, and strand, retiring to the right," and soon were to be seen, retiring to both right and left, my com- panions and myself, with every particle of our animal spirits in visible dejection. " Oh, dear !" said I, in a more than half audible ejaculation, " here we are, inmates of this Noah's' ark con- fused, for at least two full months to come !" — and then I was sick again. So Juan stood, bewilder'd, on the deck : The wind sung, cordage strain'd, and sailors swore, And the ship creak'd; the town became a speck, From which away so fair and fast they bore. The best of remedies is a beef-steak Against sea-sickness ; — try it, friend, before You sneer. BAY OF BISCAY. 7 And so I did — but I never found a beef-steak, or any tiling else, a remedy against sea-sickness ; neither indeed did Don Juan himself, for he afterwards says, A mind diseased no remedy can physic — And what disease is worse than to be sea-sick ? None that I know of-— the chilling heaviness of heart and stomach that attends it admits of no balm. The breeze carried us about two hundred miles, and then left us to give place to heavy gales of wind from the S. W. which tossed us over and under the tremendous waves of the Bay of Biscay for several dreary days. A ship, struggling in a storm, is an interest- ing sight, whatever it may be to those on board. A late modern author has remarked, that in this dilemma men are generally disposed to re- sort to " rum and religion" for consolation ; but another modern author, of less levity, and with more prudence and judgment, observes, that it is then the soul is drawn to Heaven by a sort of natural impulse, not always, perhaps, pro- ceeding from an emotion of piety, but from a feeling conviction that every other refuge is " a refuge of lies." The following little narrative, related to me 8 SHIPWRECK OF THE by the principal actor in it, deserves, I think, a place here, as being in some degree connected with the last observation. The commander of the ship which I am now on board, when thrown out of employment, with hundreds of others, at the period of peace — that sudden downfal to martial ambition — that abhorred state of national tranquillity — purchased the Prince Ernest, a Lisbon packet, and commanded her in the service of the Post- office for several years. In this ship, to use his own words, he " embarked all the hard earn- ings of twenty years' service, and all his prize- money to boot ;" of which, with the exception of a few hundred pounds, he was in one un- lucky hour entirely bereft. He had just arrived, with the mail from Eng- land, at Gibraltar, and was on shore at that place, when a heavy gale of wind arose, and prevented him from returning to his ship ; but, in the scene of confusion and distress which ensued amongst the shipping in the bay, he had the satisfaction of observing that the Prince Ernest remained steadily at her anchors. The gale increased ; guns were fired ; various signals of distress appeared in all parts of the bay, and forty -nine vessels were already driven on shore. Still the Prince Ernest held on, and PRINCE ERNEST PACKET. 9 a lull (as the sailors term a pause in a gale of wind) taking place, it was supposed that there was an end to the scene of destruction. It fre- quently happens, however, that lulls are fol- lowed by the heaviest part of the gale, as if the wind took breath to come on with the greater fury. It proved so in the present case. The cables parted ; the mournful signal-gun was fired, and the ensign, hoisted with its union downward, indicated distress : but to render any assistance was impossible. In a few minutes the captain, amongst thousands of spectators on the shore, saw his ship driven upon the rocks and totally wrecked. The crew, except one man who perished, were with difficulty saved. Shortly after this disaster, my friend was ap- pointed to his present command in the Frolic, and, on his very first voyage, which was to North America, the ship, one boisterous night, running between six and seven knots an hour, struck upon a sandbank, off the coast of Hali- fax, which proved to be Sable Island ; a bleak, uninhabited spot, surrounded by rocks, just above the surface of the sea, which has proved fatal to hundreds of vessels and thousands of lives — so fatal, I have been told, that if the crews have sometimes succeeded in saving themselves, there is scarcely an instance of the 10 PERILOUS SITUATION OF THE FROLIC vessel that once touched upon it escaping total shipwreck. It is the nature of a British sailor never to despair ; the greater the difficulty into which he is thrown, and the more imminent the danger, the more deliberate are his plans, and the more energetic is he in the execution of them. Above all, that cool, determined cou- rage which nothing can appal, never forsakes him, but tends by its example to regulate the conduct of the whole : it checks the intempe- rate, animates the feeble, inspires confidence, keeps hope alive, and preserves that order and discipline, without which the best designs are frustrated and the most active efforts rendered abortive. In the present instance, all the ster- ling qualities of the British sailor were requisite, and all were called into action. Skill, calm- ness, courage, activity, and perseverance, com- mand on one hand and obedience on the other, were jointly and severally practised on board the Frolic during a long and dreary night, the wind and the rain unceasing and increasing, and the waves making a clear breach over the vessel, whilst she beat upon the rocks with a force that left but little hope to the wearied crew of seeing another day : all were aware of the fatal spot on which they were cast. ON SABLE ISLAND. 11 The master, an old experienced seaman, (if thirty years' constant practice in the dangers of the sea entitles to that appellation,) when consulted by his commander, and asked " What can we do now, old boy ? What do you think of it ?" — replied in terms which may be fairly said to illustrate the 'ruling passion' — " Think of it, sir ? why, I think there will not be one of us left to take the sun to-morrow." The landsman who glances over these pages may need to be informed, that it is the duty of the master to " take the sun " every day at twelve o'clock when it is visible, and this is called the " observation," by which the latitude of the ship is ascertained. The old master's last thoughts (or what were considered very near his last thoughts) were therefore directed to one of his principal duties : he was not in the least dismayed by the scene around him, but seemed to regret exceedingly that the chances were against his " taking the sun" the next day. Hard and harder blew the wind, incessantly poured the rain, and louder roared the sea around them and over them, the darkness of the night completing the scene of distress. To lighten the ship, the water was started in the hold ; provisions, and shot, and chain-cables, 12 PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. and stores of all kinds, were thrown overboard, but to no purpose — wreck was deemed certain. Before the day began to dawn, the tempest was at its height, and the vessel in so hopeless a state, that seeing their exertions useless, and admitting that no human effort could avert their destruction, the crew gathered round their captain on the quarter-deck, and there calmly resigned themselves to the will of Him, whose mercy, nevertheless, they with one accord hum- bly implored ; and, lo ! in that moment, when all hands had given up all as lost, the vessel floated — it was not known how ! She cleared the rocks ! it was thought impossible— she was at sea, safely scudding before the wind ! Excessive joy did not prevent the ready and grateful acknowledg- ment that Providence was the guiding star which beamed upon their darkened way, that the Sovereign Ruler of the world was the pilot who steered them in safety through the storm. Wind, weather, knots, latitude, longitude, course, and distance, are the daily, and often the only subjects of remark on board ship. The sailor who is accustomed to pass months, years, and perhaps his life, in the " floating prison," contents himself with these professional re- marks ; or, if he condescends to notice other MONOTONY OF A SEA- LIFE. 13 occurrences, it is generally in exceedingly con- cise terms. The great sameness in a sea-life, and the difficulty of finding wherewithal to eke out a journal, is proved by a well-known ex- tract from one, entitled, " Journal of a Voyage from Liverpool to the West Indies, and home again ;" in which, the only interesting remark, from first to last, was, on " Friday, twentieth November, A.M. moderate breezes and hazy : at noon caught a dolphin. P.M. ditto weather — at one let him ero again. " Whoever writes, be it much or little, be it well or ill, is sure of incurring the censure of some one, and therefore I cannot expect to es- cape ; but, on the other hand, like every author, I hope to meet with the approbation of some one : for who ever gave his productions to the world without believing that they possessed at least a little trifling something or other to recommend them ? For my own part, I am determined to please, and that ought to go a great way to insure indulgence, since it suc- ceeds through life, nine times out of ten, with those who practise the determination. I shall, therefore, as opportunity invites and as incli- nation prompts, proceed with this Journal after my own method ; and I promise, among as 14 CATCHING A TURTLE. many trifling incidents no doubt, something to the full as interesting, though not so concise, as the story of the dolphin. For instance : — October 9th. A dead calm ; the vessel lazily rolling in a long slow mountainous swell, and all on board as listless and as lifeless as the ship. Suddenly, a voice from the main-top is heard hailing the quarter-deck — " 'Pon deck, there!" — " Halloo !" — " A turtle on the starboard-quar- ter !" An electric shock on the most sensitive nerves could not have excited more lively ani- mation. The jolly-boat, with four jolly lads, was out like " seven bells half struck ;" every eye was directed upon the starboard-quarter, and every neck was strained to get a peep at the subject of this interesting alarm. It would take a quire of foolscap to de- scribe as it deserves the delight with which " I see it !" was every moment expressed by each fortunately quick- sighted observer, and also the sensations of hope and fear that alternately reigned in every breast respecting the doubtful result- One dive, and 'twas gone for ever ! What a thought of distraction ! Happily, the sleep- exciting swell of the sea and the rays of the meridian sun composed a charm too powerful to be easily or suddenly dissolved. Pillowed on CATCHING A TURTLE. 15 the glassy wave, the turtle slept profoundly, unconscious of its fate ; whilst all on board watched in breathless suspense the laudable anxiety of the bowman, stooping over the bow with eager eyes and outstretched hands, long before he came within reach of his victim, which at length he dexterously seized, and uplifted triumphantly in the air, amidst the congratulatory cheers of the spectators, accom- panied with peculiar expressions of delight from the select feiv, who knew in their hearts that this delicious prize was all for them ! The care with which it was handed, or rather escort- ed, into the ship, proved that there was no in- tention, as in the case of the dolphin, to " let it go again." This amiable creature was treated in the very best manner by our excellent cook ; never were four state-passengers, in a state-cabin, in the Bay of Biscay, regaled with a richer soup. And thus ends turtle versus dolphin. 16 TEAK OF TENERIFFE. CHAPTER II. Pass the Canary and Cape Verd Islands. — Sudden and fre- quent changes of weather. — Excessive rain. — Stories of Sharks. Variable weather and variable winds, chief- ly adverse, kept us struggling for seventeen days before we made the Island of Madeira, which this ship, in her last voyage from Fal- mouth, made in five days : a circumstance pecu- liarly calculated to aggravate that impatience, which seems to be the natural characteristic of all travellers, whether by sea or land. October 17th, we passed the Canary Islands at a distance of 110 miles from Teneriffe; but the weather being hazy, we could not discern the celebrated peak, which sailors say can be seen, on a clear day, at the distance of 150 miles. Humboldt, from the top of the peak, saw the true horizon forty-three nautical leagues distant ; and he observes, that " the peak of FLYING-FISH. 17 Tenerifte has frequently been seen at the dis- tance of thirty-six, thirty-eight, and even forty leagues." 20th. Moderate breezes, a smooth sea, and pleasant weather, which is all I should have had to remark on this day, if a flying-fish had not flown on board, and suffered itself to be taken, thereby affording me an opportunity of recording an event. If Buffon has not already given a perfectly satisfactory history of the flying-fish, the jour- nals of the passengers on board the Frolic may be consulted to advantage ; for there is not a passenger who does not keep one, and there is not a journal in which this little animal has not a place, being in some described with geometrical accuracy, and with an amplitude befitting a whale. 22d. The keel-impelling breeze from east- north-east has wafted us at the rate of seven and eight knots an hour, for the last twenty- four hours. It is beautiful to see the flying- fish, in countless multitudes, skimming in every direction before the vessel, as she plunges through the waves. 23d. In the morning-watch, we passed close to the eastward of the Cape Verd Islands, which it is scarcely possible to view without a vol. i. c 18 CAPE VERD ISLANDS. thought upon the scenes of human wretched- ness which have there been exhibited. The sun, too, shone with intense heat, as if to excite by sympathy our utmost compassion for the sufferings of thousands of our fellow-creatures, who have here pined in indescribable misery under its scorching rays, crowded in the pes- tilential holds of slave-ships that at one time frequented the harbours of these islands. When the slave-trade flourished, the Cape Verd Islands had the sad celebrity of being the principal rendezvous of slave-ships to and from the coast of Africa. A perpetual mart ex- isted there, to which slave-merchants from all parts resorted to make their purchases ; and to this day, something of the same kind exists in the Island of St. Jago, which has been declared a "free port.'''' There a slave-ship may take refuge, and remain secure from the cruisers of those nations which have abolished the trade, and which make prizes of slave-ships when they can catch them elsewhere. A slave-ship, with its cargo of four or five hundred wretched victims (stowed in bulk), is a valuable prize for a man-of-war to fall in with ; for, besides the ship itself becoming the property of the captors, the British Government pay a handsome sum for every slave found on SUDDEN CHANGES OF WEATHER. 19 board. And what value shall we set upon the heartfelt gratification which a British officer and his crew must experience, when they have re- lieved from the dreadful tortures of suffoca- tion, and restored to the light of day, to fresh air and to liberty, five hundred human beings gasping for existence, which, even if prolonged, is expected at best to terminate in the drudgery of brutes ! 24th. Sun-set this evening was truly a splen- did sight. The colours of the sky were dif- ferent from and more various than any I had ever before observed — • outvying some the rose, And some the violet, yellow, and white, and blue, Scarlet, and purpling red. The clouds, too, assumed a form, a tinge, and a magnitude in their masses, that excited the admiration of all on board. No sooner had the sun, in a dazzling blaze, sunk beneath the sea, than the moon shone forth with a brilliancy quite unusual to us of northern climes. Our ship, with all sail set, was gliding silently over the rippled surface of the ocean, at the rate of two or three knots an hour, when, in a few minutes, all was changed. The wide ex- panse of burnished gold which replaced the c 2 20 SUDDEN CHANGES OF WEATHER. setting sun faded suddenly away, the moon withdrew her trembling beams, and the clouds, forming into one dense black mantle, overspread the firmament, and, to our view, enveloped the whole universe in darkness. " How sud- den !" — "What a change!" was the excla- mation of every voice, when a flash of light- ning attracted all eyes towards the east, just over the barren coast of scorching Africa. The breeze died away to a perfect calm, and the sails hung loosely against the masts : thunder fol- lowed at a distance. Scarcely had its awful hol- low murmurings ceased, when the wind came sweeping along the deep, sudden as the light- ning which accompanied it. Our ship, not un- like a sea-bird frightened from repose, rushed through the foaming wave, her wings, extended to the utmost, bearing her onward with an unusually tremulous rapidity, at once astonish- ing and alarming. The seaman's skill was instantly requisite for the prevention of threatened danger. " Mind your helm !" cried the captain, loudly and sternly. " Ay, ay, sir !" replied the helms- man. "Luff! then, luff!" "Luff it is, sir, luff!" " Turn the hands up !" " All hands, a-hoy !" SUDDEN CHANGES OF WEATHER. 21 " Up and furl the royals and sky-sails! — In stern-sails ! — Down flying-jib and stay-sails ! — Brail up the try- sails ! — Man the top-gallant clue-lines ! — Stand by the top-gallant halyards! — Let go ! —Clue up! -Jib down!— Haul! — Haul down !" — were the orders given and accomplished within a few minutes ; and in a few minutes more the squall, accompanied with very heavy rain, passed over us ; but, without these precautions, it would have proved too much for the Frolic, or perhaps for the stoutest ship that ever sailed on the ocean. A light breeze succeeded, scarcely sufficient to raise a gentle curl upon the waves ; all sail was again set ; the moon, surrounded by the re- splendent host of heaven, burst with augmented lustre from her concealment, and the over- charged clouds, being now relieved, dispersed into various forms of different shades and hues, leaving the atmosphere around and above so serene and beautiful, as to excite our greater astonishment at the extraordinary suddenness of the change, which is by no means unfrequent between the tropics, sometimes occurring seve- ral times in the course of one night. 26th. Rain and hard squalls ; compelling us occasionally to let go topsail and top-gallant halyards by the run. As for the rain, its vio- lence can be imagined by those only who have 22 A LARK. seen and felt it. " Torrents" signify much, no doubt, but the term is too common to convey any notion of the nature and force of the rains near the equator. P.M. ditto weather; at two, caught a por- poise: at three minutes past two let him go again — because the barb of the harpoon with which he was struck broke whilst we were hauling him up into the fore-chains, and— away he went ! Shortly afterwards we caught a lark, which afforded consolation to some of us for the loss of the fat hog of the deep : this little deli- cate creature excited considerable interest, from the circumstance of its having survived an ex- ceedingly long and perilous voyage ; we being, at the time it took refuge on our deck, not less than four hundred miles from the nearest land. It becomes me, however, to state, that various conjectures are hazarded by my companions re- lative to the adventures of this little wanderer ; some opine that it has escaped from a ship which may have passed us unseen, and give as a reason the liveliness and good health of the visiter, as well as its apparent satisfaction and contentment in the cabin, where it was imme- diately introduced in full liberty, and ran about in pursuit of flies, without exhibiting the least symptom of fear or dislike to the passengers. DEATH OF THE LARK. 23 Others maintain, that it may have boarded the Frolic unseen, when near the Cape Verd Islands, and may have secreted itself on board ever since. My own opinion is, that it has been wafted through the air every yard of the dis- tance above-mentioned, which is by no means impossible or improbable ; but my principal rea- son for maintaining this opinion is, because I consider it the most interesting conclusion to come to upon the subject. 28th. Wind " right in our teeth " — a melan- choly circumstance, no doubt, for a set of im- patient passengers, who would willingly change their situation in the state-cabin of the Frolic for the worst that could be offered them in the bottom of the deepest mine in Peru. But, what I consider to the full as melancholy a subject is, the suddenly accidental death of — our little lark. " Who killed the lark ?" has been murmured in tones of pitiful regret from the stem to the stern of the Frolic. Precisely at eight bells, our interesting little favourite was trod to death by the cabin-boy ; whilst stepping out of one of the side-berths with a cup of tea in his hand, the ship gave a lurch, and pitched him head foremost against the bulk-head to leeward, and whilst struggling to save the cup, he trod upon 24 KAIN IN THE ATLANTIC. the luckless little lark. To this sad fact I could bear testimony, for I was at the time under the light of the cabin-hatchway, occupied in what my Lord Chesterfield calls " sacrificing to the Graces," but what, in vulgar phraseology, is called— shaving ; and such was the shock of the accident, that I not only cut my own throat, but felt as if I could have cut the fellow's also. 30th. It seemed as if the flood-gates above had been opened, and all the waters there concen- trated, poured down upon us. To call these in- undations by the European term " rain," would be, as I have before hinted, far from conveying any idea of what they actually are. Those of my friends who may wish to know, as nearly as possible, our last night's situation, may fancy themselves in a ten-gun brig, rolling, pitching, heaving, and setting in the midst of the At- lantic ocean, upwards of two thousand six hun- dred miles from home, and nearly the same dis- tance from the port of our destination — the night dark as Erebus — three drops, the size of " tea-saucers," give a hint that it is going to rain. You have scarcely time to reflect upon this hint, before you may fancy that the ocean, having changed places with the skies, is rush- ing impetuously down again to take possession of its natural position. This is a very reason- A SHARK. 25 able conjecture, because, in the utter obscurity of the night, you cannot suppose that the deluge which pours and roars around you, can proceed froin any thing else than the ocean itself turn- ed topsy-turvy. Before breakfast, the waters ceased, the black heavy clouds began to dis- perse, and shades of blue and white re-appeared. It was a pitiful sight to behold the clothing of the ship's company hanging dripping fore and aft in the shrouds, wooing the reluctant beams of the sun, which could not yet, with all his power, force his way through the density of the atmosphere. " A shark ! a shark ! a shark ! " What bust- ling upon deck ! it seems as though all hands had gone crazy ! " See ! see ! don't you see him ?"— " What!"—" Why, look !"— " Where ?" —"Why, there ! "— " Where ?"— " There! here ! there he goes ! look ! look !" — " My eyes ! what a size !" A fox-hunter, when he first discovers the wily object of his sport, cannot express his feel- ings with greater glee than that which is mani- fested fore and aft a ship on discovering a shark. The large hook, with its strong iron-chain, generally in readiness where sharks are expect- ed, is instantly baited with a piece of pork and thrown over the stern, where it seldom remains 26 ANECDOTES OF SHAKES. long before the voracious monster is caught, and hauled on board. If it happens to be a small young one, of three or four feet in length, it is cut up for cooking, and makes an excellent dish — I mean an excellent sea-dish. If it happens to be a large one, fourteen feet, or perhaps twenty-four feet long, it is also cut up, not for the pleasure of making a meal of it, but for the pure pleasure of destroying it, and of examining what it may have swallowed during the last few hours. There is not a creature, perhaps, of which more extraordinary stories are told than of the shark; and to people who know no more of these animals, than what they may have seen in a dried-up skin in a museum, such stories may appear embellished; but those who have any intercourse with seamen, have many opportu- nities of being assured, that such stories are not exaggerated, but are bond fide true stories. One of these I shall here relate, because I heard it from very good authority, and afterwards had it corroborated by still better. The prin- cipal facts are these: — Some years ago, in the West Indies, a British ship of war fell in with an American merchant-vessel, which, from cir- cumstances, was generally supposed to be a good and lawful prize; but no papers being ANECDOTES OF SHARKS, 27 found on board to condemn the vessel, and her captain swearing that all was correct, the British captain, after the detention of a day or two, was induced to relinquish his capture. Shortly after this, (I forget the precise space of time,) a shark was caught by another British ship of war on the same station, and in cutting it up (a delightful operation seldom omitted) a tin case, containing sundry papers, was found in its stomach. They proved to have belonged to the merchant-vessel before-mentioned, and had been thrown overboard by the Captain, when about to be examined by the British cruiser. The fact was soon discovered ; the papers were taken to Port-Royal, where the American captain had actually commenced an action for damages against the British captain for unlawful detention. The tables were im- mediately turned on the astonished Jonathan, whose ship was condemned as a good and law- ful prize. The shark was one of the largest size, and the jaws are preserved to this day in the Justice-hall at Spanish Town, to the an- noyance of many a Yankee captain, who, when "swearing''' about the destination of his ship and the correctness of his papers, is reminded of this extraordinary detection, by some one in court significantly pointing to the jaws of the 28 ANECDOTES OF SHARKS. shark, and saying, " Take care ! the truth will out, though from the bottom of the sea ! " I have heard this story corroborated by se- veral persons, and very lately by an officer who was acquainted with the Commander of the ship, on board which the shark that had swallowed the tin box was taken. Of the voracious nature of the shark we have all frequently read or heard. The following stories on that subject were related to me this day by the captain and the gunner of the Frolic, just after they had each caught a young one, which gave rise to the conversation. When the Diana frigate was lying at anchor off Vera-cruz, one of the marines, who was sentry in the stern of the ship, by some ac- cident fell overboard in the night ; and the captain, who was in bed at the time, hearing the splash in the water, jumped up, and look- ing out of the stern -gallery, asked, " Is that a man overboard?" — "Yes, Sir, it is me!" said the marine. — " Well, have you got hold ? are you safe ?" said the captain. — " Yes, Sir ! I have hold of the rudder-chains ; but my mus- ket is gone!" said the marine. "D— n your musket!" said the captain, and ran upon deck to order a boat to be lowered, which in a man- of-war is an operation of but a very few mi- ANECDOTES OF SHARKS. 29 nutes. In the act of lowering the boat, a loud shriek was heard, and when the boat's crew went to pick up the man, he was not to be seen. Two days after this event, a shark was caught and hauled on board the Diana, in the stomach of which was found part of the jacket and a shoe of the unfortunate marine. The gunner of the Frolic, in the course of the last war, was employed in the enterprise of cutting out a French frigate, in which one of his comrades lost a leg, and in a few days died; when, as is customary on board ship, he was sewn up in his hammock with a heavy weight in it, commonly a couple of twenty- four pound shot. Scarcely twenty minutes had elapsed after the body had been committed to the deep, when the hammock and bedding of the deceased were seen floating round the ship, torn to pieces : it is unnecessary to add who or what had so soon robbed them of their contents. There is no fish so easily caught as the shark, and none perhaps more difficult to deprive of life. It is really astonishing to see their exer- tions with both jaws and tail, long after they have been opened, their intestines and other viscera cut out, and the skin stripped from the body. 30 ANECDOTES OF SHARKS. A few years ago the master of the ship, on board which I now am, caught a shark so large, that to avoid accidents in hauling him on board to kill him, they cut him open along- side ; and he assured me, that after opening him down the middle, from the jaws to the tail, and thoroughly cleaning him, they hoisted him up to the fore-yard- arm, where he hung upwards of an hour — (Le vrai pent quel- quefois nitre pas vraisemblablc). " He was then taken down and hauled on board, where he lay stretched along the deck, to all appear- ance ' dead as a herring!'' But he soon ex- hibited symptoms of being still a shark, by snap- ping at any person that approached his head ; and at last, a boy passing heedlessly by, the animal made a desperate effort towards him with extended jaws, and would inevitably have seized him, had not one of the sailors, who per- ceived the boy's danger, pushed him away. After this, they were obliged to have recourse to a common practice when killing these mon- sters, that of putting across the jaws a crow-bar. or any other substantial implement, capable of preventing mischief." The only observation I have to make on my story is, that it is faith- fully repeated. Notwithstanding all the atrocities of these ANECDOTES OF SHARKS. 31 formidable creatures, and the inveterate hatred that is shown to them, their flesh is not always despised ; to a sea appetite it is sometimes a luxury, and there are few sailors who have caught sharks that have not also made a hearty meal upon them. The two we caught this day, one about four feet, the other about three feet long, being young and delicate, were reserved for the cabin ; and it was agreed, with- out one dissenting voice, that the dish of shark served up at dinner was as good a dish of fish as ever was eaten : it was cut into slices some- thing like crimped cod, and fried; but I po- sitively considered it better, in every respect, than any cod-fish I had ever tasted. This evening we were gratified with one of those magnificent scenes which attend the set- ting sun in the tropical latitudes. Such bril- liancy and such variety of colours, such deli- cacy in the tints, such grandeur in the clouds, such majesty in the long heaving swell of the sea, such serenity in the sky, such softness in the gently blowing breeze, formed altoge- ther a scene so truly sublime, that it was im- possible to behold it without feelings of reve- rential admiration and delight; for such a scene — — publishes to every land The work of an Almighty hand. 32 DAILY PROCEEDINGS. CHAPTER III. Sketch of daily Proceedings on board a Ten-gun Brig Packet. November 1. On this day my friends at home may be closing round a blazing fire, or, if going to take the air, may be wrapped in great coats, cloaks, and furs ; whilst we, on board the Frolic, in 4° 34' north latitude, find our shirts and trowsers quite sufficient clothing for the climate. In London, on this day, the mean of the thermometer may be 50° or 55° : truth may lie between. With us, it stands at 86° in the shade, and at 112° in the sun! We have all sail set, and fanned by soft and gentle breezes, a delightful ventilation is kept up. " llien 7i egale la beaute et la douceur du climat dans la region equlnoTiale de focean, ou le calme de la na- ture it est jamais trouble" * Humb. Voy. Reg. Equin. ON BOARD THE PACKET. 3 3 4th. We are now running at the rate of eight and nine knots upon a bow-line ; shoals of fly- ing-fish are skimming round the vessel in every direction, exhibiting in great brilliancy all the hues of the rainbow. As I know no reason why the little incidents of life at sea should not be recorded by travel- lers, and given to the world as liberally as those of life on shore, I shall here give a sketch of our daily proceedings on board his majesty's packet-brig Frolic, which may be taken as a sample of life in every similar situation. At six-bells, in the morning watch, we gene- rally emerge from our wooden cells ; whether refreshed or not by the night's repose depends in a great degree upon the motion of the vessel, the creaking of the guns, masts, and bulk- heads, but more upon the state of the ther- mometer, which is materially influenced by the hatches being placed on or off, as the weather admits. After performing our ablutions in about a pint of fresh water, economically served out by the steward, we go upon deck, cast a seaman - like glance round the horizon, then up at the clouds, then down at the compass, and give a melancholy sigh, or pronounce a joyful "Ha !" according to the appearance of the one or the vol. t. n 34 DAILY PROCEEDINGS direction of the other. We next stroll up and down the deck, in conversation upon the wea- ther, as it was, and is, ,and is to be; we then examine the log, and calculate the distance run since yesterday at noon, and often the distance still to be run before we eat fresh beef at Buenos Ayres. At two-bells, we all descend rather hastily, and without any observance of Precedence, pride of rank and birth, The sex's privilege on earth ; but at sea, particularly in a packet, of very little consideration. When seated at breakfast, each, to his taste, butters a smoking hot roll, which, if not so light as a French roll, is certainly not so heavy as a nine-pound shot The table is covered with luxuries : here, the remains of a cold roast duck ; there, the bones of what was once a fowl ; at the head, a noble dish of salt-fish, mashed in a mortar and seasoned with onions ; at the foot, the liver and lights of a pig or sheep recently killed ; in the middle, a dish of fried salt-tripe and broiled fat pork ; with other little dainties equally exquisite, which, if not all served up on the same day, appear in rotation, according to the studied arrangement of our ON BOARD THE PACKET. 35 steward. Tea, or coffee, or both, may be had on asking for, but latterly there is no milk ; because, in the first place, the old goat, which for a time yielded us a scanty supply of that luxury, was drained to death, poor devil ! and its starved carcase thrown overboard in the Bay of Biscay : in the second place, our patent milk soon failed us, as out of eighteen cases, with which we were provided, only five, upon open- ing, proved fit for use. This patent milk is common milk preserved by a particular process, and tastes like boiled milk a little burnt, but not unpleasant when mixed with tea. It is put up in tin cases hermetically sealed ; and it will no doubt be improved upon, for if one case can be preserved sweet and good for many months, so may a thousand by the same process. After breakfast, we again lounge upon deck, and look out for flying-fish, or skip-jacks, or dolphins ; if none appear to detain us, we go below, and take our accustomed seats round the cabin-table, where each commences an oc- cupation suited to his disposition, which gene- rally terminates in an easy nap. A journal is sure to be seen, with the jour- nalist poring over it, anxiously thinking, re- thinking, and drawing canals from a blot of ink, before he hits upon a change of subject, or d 2 36 DAILY PROCEEDINGS finds wherewithal to fill the page intended for the entertainment of his family and a few most intimate friends only ; for what private journal in this world was ever written with the intent of bestowing its treasures upon a thankless public through the medium of the press ! Another amuses himself with a flute, for which instrument one of our companions sud- denly acquired a most ungovernable passion. Unhappily for the majority of the company, one of the ornamental appendages of the state- cabin was an old flute, which, to speak the truth, owed its preservation much less to the value set upon it, than to the harmless vanity of publicly exhibiting a forgotten accomplish- ment of our captain's. This instrument, one day in a tremendous lurch, fell from its usual place of security upon the head of our young friend, who, first starting " even at the sound himself had made," took it up and almost ex- tempore produced the sublime anthem of " God save the King," and ever after — cry mercy on the concord of sweet sounds ! Thus, as the accidental fall of an apple from a tree occasioned in the mind of England's " incomparable philosopher" his first thought of a grand system, so did the accidental fall of a flute from its hooks lead to the first trial of a ON BOARD THE PACKET. 37 talent, the continued practice of which nearly distracted us all. This gentleman had a genius for poetry as well as for the charming art of music ; he com- posed a truly melancholy elegy upon the death of one of our sheep, which was smothered by being too carefully covered up in the launch during a gale of wind. He was so kind as to favour me with copies of several of his mor- ceaux choisis. I give them this foreign epithet, because they come immediately under that class of poetry which a certain French critic terms — " des vers fabriquh avec le marteau de la cadence'"' At five-bells, that is, at half-past two, the steward's mate enters the cabin, and very respectfully says, " Five bells, if you please, gel'men ;" which means " Clear away your traps, I want to lay the cloth ;" and this article of decent luxury, if it happens to be Sunday or Thursday, is spread clean from the wash, the steward on these days, just before the time of spreading it, seldom failing to call out to his mate, "I say, Bob! don't you forget for to mind that this is clean-cloth-day" — to whom Bob, " I knows it." At the mate's warning we go upon deck, and usually wait with attention the striking of 38 DAILY PROCEEDINGS six-bells. This, on board ship, we may truly call "the tocsin of the soul ;" for this announce- ment of dinner is received with a delightful emotion, and if any accident occasions a breach of the punctuality with which dinner is usually served up, impatience and disappointment are then so loudly and clamorously expressed, that the utmost confusion has been known to ensue between cook, cook's mate, steward, steward's mate, cabin-boy, and cabin passengers ; to avoid which, every exertion is made to strew the din- ner upon the table before the sound is out of the bell. I have said " to strew" upon the table, because I consider it a prettier word than scat- ter; but far be it from me to insinuate thereby, irregularity or disorder in the arrangement ; for although the business is managed in that off-hand, sailor-like manner which despises the rigid rules of formality, it cannot at the same time be termed disorder. I only mean to ob- serve, that neither square nor compass is used in the disposal of the dishes, nor is it thought a matter of importance to " cross corners with puddings." I have seen three puddings placed at one side of the table on board the Frolic, with only a saucer of pickled onions or of pickled samphire to separate them, and I never remarked that they excited the least alarm, or ON BOAKD THE PACKET. 39 uneasiness, either in the mind or in the counte- nance of our host, or any of his guests. About one hour of time is consumed in con- suming that abundance which has, in appear- ance, been shaken out of the Horn of Plenty upon the table. Bottled porter and bottled stout', a few degrees above temperate, froth round the clattering board. Madeira, very good indeed ; sherry, very bad indeed ; port, which in these latitudes may compare with " Day and Martin mulled ;" very fair claret, and occa- sionally champagne, are all at the discretion of the guests, together with gin, rum, brandy and tamarind-water. Whatever may be the be- verage, it is imbibed apparently with as little advantage as the labour of the daughters of Danaiis, who were doomed to draw water out of a well with sieves ; for at every pore of the skin it is returned in equal abundance. When the cloth is removed, a plate of dried figs, an- other of dried raisins, and a third of dried al- monds, are placed upon the table. Two wine- glasses, of different sizes and shapes, and a green dessert-plate, with knife and fork, are then placed before each person ; but all this is only style, arising out of the mere refinement of fashion, for I have never seen either the one or the other put to the smallest use, except per- 40 DAILY PROCEEDINGS haps a glass to sip a little wine and water out of, whilst conversation, not the bottle, goes its round. We have thus often passed an hour very merrily ; some droll stories, or a song, oc- casionally inducing the officer of the watch to peep down the sky-light in envy of the up- roarious mirth below. Again upon deck for a stroll, and examina- tion of the elements upon which our fate, as well as our humour, so much depends. One may, perhaps, seat himself comfortably upon the breech of a carronade to study his Spanish grammar ; another disposes himself still more comfortably to sleep ; a third hauls in the fish- ing-line, which is generally towing astern, to catch what it can. At the setting of the sun, particularly in the tropical latitudes, we occasionally found half an hour's amusement in watching the ever-chang- ing scenery of the clouds ; each person disco- vering something extraordinary in the various shapes they assumed ; perhaps the likeness of the lord chancellor in his wig, or of some w r onderful animal; this was communicated to the next neighbour, who had just discovered something else equally fantastic. 1 recollect, one evening, our having seen distinctly the scene in " Midas,'' representing the descent of ON BOARD THE PACKET. 41 all the gods and goddesses, but with a solem- nity of beauty and brilliancy of colours far sur- passing the boasted art of man. Thus we used to gaze, with equal pleasure and admiration, till darkness dropped her cur- tain, and hid these truly resplendent beauties from our view. Twilight can scarcely be said to exist : for no sooner does the sun set in these latitudes, than the night succeeds. Humboldt remarks — " Comme, entre les tropiques, le cre- puscule est presque nul, on passe subitement de la plus grande clarte dujour dans les tenebresr At seven-bells, in the last dog-watch, tea is announced, when those who wish to steam themselves for half an hour descend to do so. Shortly after this last alimentary operation, sighs and yawns proclaim the approaching hour for bed, and before two-bells are struck in the first watch, some are already " turned in" and fast secured in the spells of sleep. Others may prefer remaining upon deck, listen- ing to the sailor's song, sometimes droll and merry, sometimes dismally pathetic ; or, it may be, reclining over the gangway, idly gazing on the sparkling lustre of the moon, as it dances on the gently rippled waves, or in thoughtful remembrance of those far away ; or mayhap, in deeper meditation still — for at 42 DAILY PltOCEEDINGS, &C. midnight hour, when all is serenity and calm at sea, a holy calm will also reign in the heart, and the thoughts will rise to heaven. Be this as it may, the night passes away somehow or other, and day returns and is killed in the same manner as the preceding. If, from the foregoing representation, it ap- pears that our life on board the Frolic is not very frolicsome, it must not be supposed that we are miserably dull, though it may be rea- sonable to conclude that we sometimes feel ourselves, particularly in a foul wind with a head sea, rather squeamish, and our spirits not so high as our thermometers. PASS THE EQUATOR. 43 CHAPTER IV. Pass the Equator. — A Comet. — Magellan Clouds. — Making all snug in a Gale. — Enter the River Plate. — Disappoint- ment in Landing. — Termination of the Voyage. November 5. This day is an epoch in all our journals, having at eight o'clock a.m., passed the equator, and entered the southern hemisphere; a circumstance which seemed to create a sensation of pleasure not unlike what travellers experience when they have got over all the bad road on their journey, and when that which is still before them, besides being shorter, is smooth and down hill. Our hopes of a favourable termination to our voyage are raised to the utmost. But, upon what do these hopes repose ? — Alas ! upon the winds and the waves, the very superlatives of inconstancy and disappointment. 8th. Close hauled upon the larboard tack, we have made good upwards of two degrees and a 44 A COMET. half of latitude since yesterday at noon. I had almost forgotten to make mention of a comet, which is fairly deserving of a place in a journal, as it is not an every-day sight ; for astronomers inform us, that, from the period of 500 years before Christ, up to the year 1811, only ninety- eight comets have been known to appear to the inhabitants of our earth. The celebrated one of that year, every body saw, and the tail of it, according to Sir William Herschell, expand- ed over a space of more than nine millions of miles ! From the comet to the clouds is a very na- tural transition ; and therefore I take this op- portunity of mentioning the "Magellan clouds," which are also curious in their way. They are called after Magellan, the celebrated circum- navigator, who, upwards of three hundred years ago, gave his name to the intricate channel at the southern extremity of America, and who, it is pretended, first noticed the clouds in ques- tion. Since we have been in the southern hemi- sphere, we have found great pleasure, every night, in admiring the splendid beauties above, so different from those in the northern heavens ; but I do not think I should have observed the " Magellan clouds" had they not been pointed THE MAGELLAN CLOUDS. 45 out to me. They exist, however, and are always to be seen at night, each about the size of a table-cloth, one the colour of a clean one, and the other something of the colour of our own cloth at the end of a week's wear. When once pointed out, it is very easy to distinguish them from other clouds. There they have been for three hundred years certain, perhaps they are coeval with the world ; and there they may remain when, peradventure, no human eye shall exist to look upon them. 12th. Remarkably fine weather; and although the thermometer in the sun indicates the con- suming heat of 1 24°, our light dresses, and awn- ings, and ventilations, preserve us to a great degree from its effects. 13th. Sunday; a heavenly day in every respect. The sea without a ripple on its surface; the atmosphere serene and clear ; the sky without a cloud, being one entire canopy of light azure, beautifully brilliant ; a gentle refreshing breeze, a little abaft the beam, has just force sufficient, with all sail set, to fan us along at the rate of five miles and a half an hour : — the whole world would be sailors, were the ocean and the winds as smooth and placid at all times as we find them now. 17th. Fresh and fair, indeed, is the breeze that 46 A GALE OF WIND. now makes the waves " so gaily curl before our dashing prow ;" eight, nine, and ten knots an hour are run off with ease, and right joyful is every countenance, for appearances are such as to encourage the hope that this pace will last till we reach our destination. 18th. The sea runs high, and the wind whistles through the cordage in that mournful tone which adds so much to the imposing solemnity of a storm. Fortunately for us, we have it abaft the beam, and are enabled to carry on gallantly before it, having performed 224 miles since yesterday. That large bird of the southern ocean, the albatross, has been winging his rapid flight round us, with as much ease as if we were motionless as the far distant rock which, per- haps, he had but just left, although at the time we were running at the rate of ten knots. 19th. "Harder yet, it still blows harder !" We are now scudding before the gale with top-gal- lant sails over double-reefed topsails, rolling gunnels in, and every timber and plank of the ship creaking in horrible discord, in proof of their laborious exertions in the heavy sea, through which we have again ploughed 224 miles in twenty-four hours. 20th. Louder roars the tempest; the ocean IN SIGHT OF LAND. 47 foams in fury round us ; and a dark gloomy sky frowns upon us from above. We are now driven on at the rate of ten and eleven knots an hour; the sea occasionally making a clear sweep over the vessel, as she rolls and labours in the storm ; and wonderful it is how these little ships outlive a gale, for in a heavy sea they are as often under the waves as above them. 21st. Last night the gale considerably in- creased, and before daylight this morning the boatswain's hoarse voice was heard summoning all hands to send down top-gallant yards, to strike top-gallant masts, and reef and furl the necessary sails, which is called " making all snug ;" but, woe is me ! what a sea ! and what a ship ! and what a berth ! for snugness ! 22d. The gale has abated, the sea has sub- sided, and our ship seems once more at her ease. After a voyage of fifty-five days, and at the conclusion of a storm, one might imagine that the cry of " Land ho !" in the neighbourhood too of the anxiously desired port, would be a cheering consolation to sea-worn travellers. — . At seven o'clock this morning, land was de- scried from the deck ; but its low, barren, inhos- pitable aspect, added to the unpleasantness of the weather and the continuance of the wind 48 ENTER THE RIVER PLATE. directly against us, destroyed all the happy effects of this usually welcome announcement. 25th. The wind changed in the course of last night, and increased to a gale, which drove us out to sea, after being within a few miles of our port. The weather is now so excessively cold and blustering, that, had I not passed the Equator, I might have been disposed to ima- gine that our captain had smuggled us to the coast of Nova Zembla. After beating about for sixteen hours against a head sea, a strong cur- rent, and a foul wind, we were at last compelled to yield to such powerful adversaries, by furl- ing our sails, and letting go an anchor, the ground here answering almost every where for that purpose : but no shelter whatever is ob- tained from either the winds or the waves ; every thing must depend upon the strength of the cable. 26th. We rode out the gale perfectly safe, and at three o'clock this morning the wind came round to a favourable point, when we weighed anchor, and made all sail up the stupendous, but wholly uninteresting River Plate, which is 120 miles wide at its mouth, and not less than from twenty to thirty in any one part for a distance exceeding 150 miles inland. In the course of the day, the rigging of the TtlVER PLATE. 49 ship, from top to bottom, was literally covered with long fine cobwebs that had been blown off the shore, having attached to them their insect manufacturers, who dispersed themselves in thousands over our decks. We saw upon the distant hills along the coast immense herds of cattle, which sufficiently assured us, that what we had so often heard respecting the cheapness of beef in this country might well be the case. Our captain said, that in his first voyage to Buenos Ayres, he received from an American gentleman seven good bullocks for three Eng- lish sheep. In the evening, a pilot came on board, which saved the necessity of putting into Monte Vi- deo ; and a fine fresh breeze favouring us, we made all possible sail for Buenos Ayres with confident hopes of arriving on the morrow. In the course of the night, however, we were again baffled by variable winds, and compelled to come to an anchor in the middle of the river, which, notwithstanding its magnitude, is of extremely intricate navigation, being in some places so shallow, that we had only two feet depth of water beyond what the ship required. 27th. This day we were visited by vast num- bers of moths, and various small birds, some of the latter of beautiful plumage. About VOL. I. E 50 RIVF.lt PLATE. dusk in the evening, swarms of dragon-flies infested the ship ; and we saw a flight of wild- ducks, which I mention as the first intimation I had of being in fresh water, although in the river ; for at this moment no land is to be seen on either side of us from the deck, and but very faintly from the mast-head ; all around has still the appearance of the ocean. 29th. By taking every precaution and making " all snug" we have weathered a tempestuous night ; and at daylight this morning, the gale having moderated, we weighed, and once more set sail for Buenos Ayres, with strong hopes of being able to reach the roadstead before night. At two o'clock in the afternoon those hopes vanished. The wind headed us so strongly, that the captain resolved to give up Buenos Ayres and to try for the harbour of Ensenada, twenty-five miles nearer to us than the former ; but the pilot not being sufficiently acquainted with that harbour, declined taking the ship in ; we therefore came to an anchor about nine miles from the land, and sent one of our boats on shore to procure a pilot acquainted with the place. Our chief commissioner went in the boat, for the purpose of preparing good cheer, hiring horses, and getting, by the time we RIVER PLATE. 51 should land, every thing ready for conveying us all, bag and baggage, to Buenos Ayres. We knew there could be no lack of horses, and were therefore quite delighted at the idea of a gallop along the flat which extends the whole length of the coast, and, indeed, for at least seven hundred miles into the interior. It being nearly four o'clock in the afternoon when the boat with our general went on shore, before a fine stiff" breeze, we allowed him an hour to go, and a full hour and a half to re- turn, which, perhaps, was little enough, con- sidering the distance ; but we on board were delightfully impatient ; and, as delight takes no heed of time, we suffered no other idea to enter our heads than that of being in full gal- lop within three hours and a half from the time our boat shoved off. Every thing on our parts was prepared to prevent a moment's de- lay ; there was not a single article, from a bale of pack-saddles to a night-cap, that was not packed in readiness to disembark : even pistols were primed and loaded for defence against casualties in the strange country in which we were about to trust ourselves. A full hour more than the time we had judged the boat required to return passed hea- vily away, and still no sign of her appeared, E 2 .52 RIVER PLATE. although we could see distinctly five miles from the ship, before the sun set and left us in darkness, with blue devils. 30th. Precisely at one hour after midnight, the captain came to my berth, and awakened me from a state which must have proved to him that I had forgotten all the cares of this world. " Here," said he, " is a letter from the general; and so exhausted are my boat's crew in pull- ing off against wind and tide, for the last six hours, that had they had one mile farther to pull, they could not possibly have reached the ship." They were, in truth, completely " knock- ed up." The general's letter, according to rule, commenced by stating bis " safe arrival," which we (for all assembled to hear the news) were very happy to learn. The next paragraph seem- ed to give peculiar satisfaction. " Horses in abundance, and all ready ; do not, upon any account, forget to bring our own saddles, as so long a ride with those of the country will pro- bably be found very uneasy and galling." He also recommended us not to neglect the pack-saddles for conveying our baggage, and said, " We can easily reach Buenos Ayres to night, although it may be a little late ; but, if the boat should happen not to get on board ANCHOR IN THE ROADS. 53 soon enough, I shall, in that case, not expect you till the morning, when you can come to breakfast, and come early." The letter then mentioned the sorry kind of lodging he had got into, which we should have been hear- tily glad to have shared with him : but such was not our destiny, for this whole business ended in one general disappointment. At eight o'clock in the morning, the cap- tain, expecting a favourable change of wind, weighed and made sail, not for Ensenada, not to join the general " early in the morning," but — once again for Buenos Ayres, now only twenty-six miles distant. The disappointment of the passengers was great indeed, and how long the general waited breakfast for us I have yet to learn. The wind did not, as the captain expected, change in our favour, but continued obstinately unfavourable for fifteen hours, the whole of which time it took us to work up the river. At eleven o'clock at night we anchored, at last, in the wild open roads of Buenos Ayres, about eight miles distant from the town; but were it not that we could discover, at day- light, the domes of cathedrals, the steeples of churches, and the long white ranges of build- 54 AT ANCHOR IN THE ROADS. ings, we might still imagine ourselves in the midst of the ocean, for so low and flat is the land that none could be seen from our deck. Here terminates a voyage of exactly nine weeks, which, although commonly performed in eight, sometimes in seven, is not considered among the worst. No vessel could have been more baffled than the little Frolic with unfa- vourable winds and bad weather ; therefore, reader, if you are now complaining of weari- ness, stupidity, and ennui, I fain would ask, what could you have expected otherwise, dur- ing a tedious, uninteresting voyage across the dreary Atlantic ? SUDDEN STORM. CHAPTER V. A sudden Storm.— Awkward landing of the Passengers. — Arrival at Buenos Ayres. — Faunch's Hotel. — Caution to Servants. — Change in Ecclesiastical affairs. — Advertise- ments in the Newspapers. December 1st. On board H.M. brig Fro- lic, at single anchor, in the outer roads of Bue- nos Ayres. In northern climes, this month is usually accompanied with hail, rain, storm, and all the severities of winter ; but not even upon the bleak coast of Lapland, has it ever been ushered in with a more tremendous warring of the elements than we have just experienced. Scarcely had we secured our ship at anchor, when the whole horizon became enveloped in one continued blaze of lightning, for so vivid were the wide-extending flashes, that their intermission was scarcely perceptible, and so 56 SUDDEN STORM. dazzling as to be quite overpowering to the sight. Thunder, at the same time, burst over our heads, Deepening and crashing', as 'twould rend the world ; the wind blew with the fury of a hurricane : then followed a shower of hail, which cannot be better described than in the words of one of the sailors, who exclaimed, " These lumps of ice are battering upon our decks like grape- shot." When the hail ceased, the rain poured in torrents, the stars lost all their lustre, and the moon, usually so brilliant here, assumed a blood-red, gloomy appearance, that added considerably to the awfulness of this tremen- dous gust, for it did not last above half an hour. Storms of this kind are generated in the Andes, and rushing with unresisted vio- lence over the pampas, are thence called pam- peros* At eight o'clock in the morning, the weather having sufficiently moderated, the captain, with the mails, went on shore in the launch, accom- panied by all my compagnons de voyage. It being requisite that somebody should remain * l\iwpa,'u\ the Peruvian or Quichna language, signifies a plain — Hcttitn pcui/pa — a great plain. — Hvmb. LANDING OF THE PASSENGERS. 57 on board with the baggage and sundry other articles, I volunteered to do so, as I perceived my friends would consider it a severe punish- ment to be deprived of the first possible chance of gaining their liberty, and I did not wish, for the sake of avoiding a few hours longer con- finement, to inflict that punishment on any of them. Away they went in full glee, although in a rough sea, and with a strong breeze nearly right against them, leaving me in solitary con- finement to await a similar enjoyment at a future opportunity. 2nd. A fine, calm, sun-shining morning as ever graced the month of May. I confess, I felt my solitude more irksome than I expected, and began to wish for my re- lease with some degree of impatience, for it was late before the boat returned ; and when I ques- tioned the coxsAvain upon the cause of his delay, he gave me so lamentable an account of the adventures of his passengers, that I found I had occasion to rejoice, rather than repine, at my detention on board. Such is life ! and such is man ! — as Matthews observes, " like a lobster in boiling water, restless and never satisfied !" The boat had been so crowded with mail- 58 LANDING OF THE PASSENGERS. bags, portmanteaus, passengers, and other lum- ber, that the men could not use their oars with proper effect ; and the wind having increased after putting off from the ship, it was soon found that they could not possibly fetch the landing-place at the town, while, from the strength of the current against them, to regain the ship was equally impossible. The boat, moreover, from being so long out of use, and exposed to so much heat as we had experi- enced in the tropical latitudes, was, as the cox- swain very significantly remarked, " like an old basket," and leaked as fast and faster than all hands could bale the water out. In this dilemma, there was nothing else for it than to " up helm" and run for the nearest land wherever they could fetch it. This they did ; but from their total ignorance of the sound- ings, and the shallowness of the w r ater along the coast, the boat grounded full a quarter of a mile from the shore. The alternative of sitting quietly in the boat up to the knees in clear water, or of jumping overboard up to the middle in muddy water, now remained ; and the latter was unanimously preferred, because it was supposed that they were only the distance " of a pleasant walk through the fields" from LANDING OF THE PASSENGEltS. 59 Buenos Ayres. Overboard they accordingly sprang, and waded in high spirits to terra firma. At a distance, a cart with a yoke of oxen hove in sight, and was soon " brought-to," boarded, and the owner engaged, but in what language is not known, to convey the mails and luggage to the town ; the party escorting it on foot, with our gallant captain at their head. They had not proceeded much beyond an hour or so, when it was generally felt that the pleasure of the walk was yet to come ; for ankle-deep pools, deeper sand, and still deeper mud, seemed to increase as they advanced, without the gratification of beholding the sem- blance of a " green field," or even of a road, to give stability to their footing or to encourage their already lagging steps. All round them was a flat wilderness, without any thing in view except the dingy dome of the cathedral of Buenos Ayres, which acted as a sort of bea- con to their land of promise, still far distant ; for they ascertained that the full measure of thirteen miles, from the place where the boat grounded, must be made good before they could reach the city. By turns, one, and some- (JO LANDING OF THE PASSENGERS. times two, would throw themselves for a spelt upon the creaking, jolting, bullock-cart, and in this way they all arrived, alive, at the English Hotel, just as the sun was about to leave them in the lurch. I congratulated myself in having remained quietly on board, then, stepping into the boat, took my leave of the Frolic. When about a hundred yards from the shore, we were met by one of those carts upon amaz- ingly high wheels, drawn by two horses, which line the beach, and are in attendance to receive passengers from the boats, which cannot ap- proach nearer to the landing-place on account of the shallowness of the water. In this cart I was conveyed full gallop to Faunch's Hotel, where I took up my quarters in Buenos Ayres ; and here I need not detain myself for the purpose of writing an elaborate history of the place or of its inhabitants, for the subject has been forestalled by at least a full score of authors and travellers of every denomina- tion. Faunch's is considered the principal hotel in the city, out of compliment, I suppose, to the proprietors, who are English ; but there is no- thing whatever in the whole straggling build- faunch's hotel. 61 ing, within doors or without, that can induce an English traveller to fancy himself in an English hotel. My bed-room, selected as one of the very best in the house, was not many degrees more capacious than my berth on board the Frolic. My bed was certainly good enough for any body, being composed of a hard straw- mattress and clean sheets, which were all I desired. Being however, somehow or other, exceedingly addicted to having my little com- forts about me, and wishing now and then to have a retreat whither I might retire with only my own company, I felt considerable incon- venience in finding no more space than just sufficient to contain my portmanteaus, over one of which I was always obliged to stand astride when in the room. The door opened abruptly into the yard or court, as is usual in this country, where all rooms have free com- munication with the street ; in short, the habitation was what in England is called an " out-house," which might be considered a very convenient place for keeping coals, or where a sportsman might probably tie up his dogs. Alderman Rowcroft had slept in the same room, and being asked the first morning, how 62 faunch's hotel. he had been lodged ? his answer was, " As well as could be expected, considering Faunch had given me a bed in the stable." The walls and floor of this apartment were nearly covered with what at first gave me considerable alarm ; but being assured that I should not be molested, I took courage, and found that I was not deceived. This was a colony of ants, which had their settlement in one of the beams of the roof, and having se- veral roads to it, they were spread in divisions of millions over the room, but always preserved the nicest order and regularity in their ranks. Day and night their industry was unceasing, and I suppose of too much interest to them- selves to admit of their interference with others, for I never found the least inconvenience from them, but often much amusement in observing their curious labours. Sweets seemed to be their great allurement, for the sugar-bowl every morning was found in their entire possession, and to dislodge them was no easy task. Per- haps no house in Buenos Ayres is altogether free from them. The living at Faunch's Hotel was very fair, and considering that the markets here are not very reasonable, his prices were not extravagant. BUENOS AYRES. 63 The cheapness of beef is counterbalanced by the dearness of vegetables ; fuel also is to be included amongst articles of high price and scarcity.* The city of Buenos Ayres covers a very great extent of ground, owing to the plan ge- nerally adopted by the Spaniards throughout South America, of making the streets cross each other at right angles and form regular parallelograms. Many of the streets are two, and some, I believe, three miles in length ; but from the barn-like appearance of the houses, the narrowness of the streets, and the total absence of equipages, it is difficult to ima- gine oneself in a large, populous, and thriving capital. The Spaniards did nothing either for its convenience or its embellishment ; but since the revolution, many improvements have taken place, and many more are con- templated. The theatre is the great national attraction ; the people, indeed, take so much delight in thea- trical representations, that parties are made to * Since this period, Faunch has taken a large house from Mr.Thwaites, an English merchant, who spared neither pains nor expense in fitting it up with all the comfort and con- venience of a first-rate hotel, and it now only requires good attendance to make it so in every respect. 64 THE THEATRE. attend even the rehearsals. I had the honour of being invited, and slept for two hours at one of those dullest of all amusements — the rehearsal of a bad comedy. The operas here, however, are not to be despised. I saw II Bar bier e cli Siviglia performed in a very cre- ditable manner, one or two of the performers in which would have received applause on any stage. Notwithstanding the perilous navigation of the lliver Plate, Buenos Ayres has more trade with Europe than any other town in South America. Ships of all nations carry merchan- dize to this city, whence it is conveyed on mules, or in bullock-carts, to the interior. The carriage of goods is, however, extremely ex- pensive, which may appear extraordinary in a country where a yoke of fine oxen, well-trained, can be purchased for forty or fifty dollars, and a good horse for fifteen dollars ; though a first- rate animal, for luxury, may cost fifty or a hundred dollars. My servant, with whom I had fair recom- mendations in London, deserted me a few days after my arrival, in consequence of muling out that the wages of the country were higher than those which he obtained from me. I gave him, by agreement, thirty guineas a year, which, for CAUTION TO SERVANTS. 65 all he had to do, was ample ; but in Buenos Ayres he learned that he could earn double that sum, and therefore sought an opportunity to " give me warning," unreasonably expecting to have his passage from England free. He was not aware, however, that in consequence of similar tricks played by many of his profession on their arrival from Europe, the Government of Buenos Ayres had very considerately passed a law making all contracts executed in Europe binding in South America. By virtue of this law, I obtained a decree against him for the thirty-six pounds which I had paid for his pas- sage ; and when he was tapped on the shoulder, and asked " to pay or to prison," he said he preferred remaining with his master; but his master, in rather harsh terms, declined having any thing more to do with him. Christmas-day; certainly the very hottest I ever passed; the thermometer in the shade stood for some hours at 90°. The heat was really intolerable, and compelled me to exclaim with the Bond-street lounger — Oh, December, dear month ! be thy race From thy seat at the Pole swiftly run, Tis better to choke in thy foggy embrace ; Than to die of ennui in the sun. I dined with H. B. Majesty's consul-general VOL. I. F 66 CHANGE IN ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. to this Republic, who entertains in the style and with the hospitality of an English gentle- man. He is deservedly esteemed at Buenos Ayres, and must be so in any higher diplo- matic situation, to which his talents bid fair to promote him. I observed no religious processions, nor an}'' of those ceremonies usually performed at this festive season. Religion here is no longer what it was a few years ago ; but although there may be nothing to lament in the abo- lition of many absurdities, yet care will be requisite in curbing that injudicious spirit of which there is certainly some appearance, and which, aiming at religious license, may miss the mark and terminate in religious anarchy — of all disasters the most fatal that can befall a state. With respect to the Pope, the Americans literally care nothing about his holiness. Ame- rica is as independent of Rome, as Rome is of America ; the great body of the people think that they may redress their ecclesiastical griev- ances, and regulate the forms and duties of their religion, without the necessity of traversing the Atlantic ocean to consult the Holy See on every little repair that may be requisite for the move- SLAVE ADVERTISEMENTS. 67 ment of the machinery of their church. As well, it has been said, might an inhabitant of Paris keep his watchmaker at Pekin. " Rome est bien le centre de la catholicite, cela est vrai ; mals c'est de la catholicite possible, et non pas effective:' * Having left the land of liberty and arrived in a country where slavery exists, an English- man, taking up one of the public papers for the first time, cannot but experience very strange sensations upon seeing men, women, and chil- dren, advertised for sale amongst houses, cattle, Burton ale, fresh butter, and goods of all sorts ; and, like horses, warranted sound and free from vice. In one of these papers I observed that good cheer and slavery, Burton ale and strong negroes, were advertised all to be had in the street of Piety ! (colli de la Piedad.) From another I copied the following : " Se Vende, una criada To be sold, a she servant, sana y sin vicios, en cantidad sound and free from vice ; de 300 pesos. En estaoficina price 300 dollars. Inquire at daran razon." this office. I have frequently seen in the " Farmer's * M. de Pradt. Ext. d'un Concordat Americain. F 2 68 SLAVE ADVERTISEMENTS. Journal" a cow with her first calf advertised for sale, but I never saw till now an advertise- ment like the following : " Se Vende, una Mulatilla To be sold, a young Mu- sana sin vicios, primeriza, latta, sound and without vice, con leche de cuatro meses. with her first child, and four En la casa de Espositos damn months' milk. Inquire at the razon. house of foundlings. BAGGAGE-CARTS, AND GALERA. 69 CHAPTER VI. Preparations to cross the Pampas. — Leave Buenos Ayres with a formidable cavalcade. — Region of thistles. — Appe- tite of the Peones. — Gauchos. — Biscacho. — Excessive heat. — Pampa Indians. — Trifling consideration set on a bullock. — Confusion occasioned by a Pampero. — Immense herds of cattle on the Pampas Extent of the Pampas. — Com- parison of the scenery of the Pampas with the Steppes of Russia. December 28th. Heat excessive, which makes one of the preparations for our journey across the Pampas very laborious, that of stowing our baggage-carts, two of which we have purchased. These are capacious, rude, uncouth-looking vehicles, with cane sides, and roof covered with hides, the body balanced upon two prodigiously high wheels, for the convenience of passing through rivers. We have also purchased for our own conveyance a long coach, called here a galera, the seats running side-ways, and the door at the end : being perfectly new, it cost 70 PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. one thousand and forty-five dollars, which at the present rate of exchange is not quite two hundred pounds sterling. The carriage we brought from England was found totally un- fit for the roads of this country, the axletree being much too narrow and the wheels much too low ; besides, on the score of capacity, it was altogether inadequate to the accumulation of goods which all and each of us had provided, as well for general convenience as for individual comfort. Guns, pistols, hams, and sabres ; rum, brandy, powder, and shot ; chronometers, sau- sages, thermometers, barometers, and biscuits ; telescopes, books, pens, ink, and sugar ; a change of linen, razors, soap, lemons, and oranges ; after the most ingenious packing, and to say nothing of the contents of our own pockets, left but very scanty room for ourselves, and when each had settled into his place, there was just room, and no more, to give Carlo a berth on a Cheshire cheese. According to the custom here of posting, each horse is ridden bv a postilion ; and as each of our vehicles required four horses, we were under the necessity of hiring nine peones* for the journey : one horse in each carriage is always ridden by a postilion from the post- * All classes of workmen are called peones. LEAVE BUENOS AYRES. 71 houses, for the purpose of conducting the ani- mals home. We also hired a capataz, who superintends the peones, manages the concerns of the journey, and is supposed to possess ingenuity sufficient to repair the frequent damages that occur ; for which purpose the requisite tools are provided, and amongst them, spades, shovels, and pick- axes, must not be forgotten, as there are many opportunities of converting the peones into pioneers. In the cool of the evening, after the moon had risen, we left Buenos Ayres, a formidable cavalcade ; the galera taking the lead, the two baggage-carts following, and the capataz bring- ing up the rear: our twelve horses, nearly as wild as the twelve postilions who mounted them, making fruitless efforts to free them- selves from their dexterous riders. Some of these were Negroes, but most of them, not- withstanding their originality and novel ap- pearance, recalled forcibly to my memory the " Boys" of my native land. The uncombed, dishevelled locks — the once black hat of many-dinted shape, pitched some- how or other on the head — the rent garment of a species of frieze — the bare leg, indifferent to a squeeze between the horses — the spur (a most 72 PEONES— ARUIVAL AT LA FIGURA. unmerciful instrument of punishment in this country) attached to the naked heel — the devil- may-care kind of way in which they galloped us through ruts, over stones, and round sharp corners — the nourish of the whip above the head — the wild shriek to encourage the horses to go faster when the animals were going as fast as they had power to go— the arch glance of pride and satisfaction occasionally cast back- wards at the passengers within, and accom- panied with a touch of the hat, evidently mean- ing, " There 's driving for you, your honour !" ■ — altogether awakened reflections in my mind that occupied me very happily until we stopped at La Figura. This is the first post from Buenos Ayres, and here we were to pass the night, and have a spe- cimen of the accommodation we were to expect upon a journey of seventeen hundred English miles. AVhen we arrived, the inhabitants, I sup- pose, were all in bed, for not a soul appeared, and all doors were shut, except one of a de- tached outhouse, consisting of four bare walls, a thatched roof, and mud-floor, which was the post-house, that is to say, the travellers' hotel. Those who chose to enter it did so, and spread their mattress upon the floor : I preferred the CONSTRUCTION OF OUR VEHICLES. 73 open air, and selected a berth under the galera, the inside being occupied by our chief commis- sioner, who, of course, had first choice in these matters. 29th. Thermometer at noon 94°. We travel- led this day only thirty-six miles, in conse- quence of being obliged to wait for one of the baggage-carts, which we had lost sight of in the rear, and which did not come up until the evening, when we ascertained the delay to have been occasioned by the axletree taking fire. 30th. Thermometer 90°. Detained the whole of this day at Canada de la Cruz, the fifth post, and about seventy miles from Buenos Ayres, for the purpose of repairing the wheels of our carts. It must here be observed, that not a particle of iron, not even a nail, is used in the construction of these vehicles ; they are every- where secured with wooden pins, and bound with strips of hide, which very reasonably pre- vents it being a matter of surprise, that in a galloping journey they should occasionally re- quire repair. Baron Czettritz and I, to kill time, killed several couple of a very large species of snipe, which, with doves and plover, afforded excel- 74 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. lent sport ; but the sun soon compelled us to desist. The country for leagues round is covered with thistles, which at this season are to be seen growing to the prodigious height of eight, and, in some places, ten feet : cattle which go in amongst them to seek a shade from the sun, and to feed upon the grass beneath, are com- pletely concealed. These thistles form almost the only fuel for the few inhabitants who are scattered over this vast wilderness : not a tree is to be seen, with the exception of a few peach- trees, which have been planted in the imme- diate neighbourhood of the huts. 31. Left Canada de la Cruz, but got no far- ther than Areco, one post of six leagues, where the repairs of our baggage-carts again compel- led us to pass a day. The great number of dogs that are to be seen at all the posts has been noticed by every traveller in this country. They are common- ly of large size, and, from the abundance of meat which they devour, in good condition. They give immediate warning of the approach of strangers, whom they all sally out to bark at, but seldom injure. In the evening we were sadly tormented by INHABITANTS OF THE PAMPAS. 75 divers kinds of insects : they did not, how- ever, prevent our peones from making a hearty supper, for these ten men devoured two sheep and a half at that meal. The sheep were full- grown, of common size, and cost three shillings each. Killing, skinning, roasting, and eating, did not exceed thirty-five minutes. They were devoured, as is customary here, without bread, or vegetables of any kind. The latter, in this part of the country, at least, seem not to be considered amongst the necessaries of life. The Ganchos, or inhabitants of the endless plains called Pampas, are, in appearance, a fine race, but, in comparison with the peasantry of England and France, little better than a species of carnivorous baboon. Their immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep afford them sufficient means of existence without trouble, and on these they live contented ; bread and vegetables are but little thought of; not that they cannot be had from the soil, but because it requires pains and labour to produce them. As to the comforts of social or domestic life, even of the humblest kind, they are altoge- ther unknown ; and yet I know not how it is, that I am neither disappointed, dissatisfied, 76 INHABITANTS OF THE PAMPAS. nor displeased, with any thing I have hi- therto seen of the habits or the character of these people. Doctor Johnson observes, — and the traveller in South America must admit the truth of the observation, — that " Every mode of life has its conveniences. The idler, who habituates him- self to be satisfied with what he can most easily obtain, not only escapes labours which are often fruitless, but sometimes succeeds better than those who despise all that is within their reach, and think every thing more valuable as it is harder to be acquired." It appears to me that the Gauchos are indifferent about any thing that is beyond their reach, and set no value on that which is hard to be acquired ; ergo, they are satisfied with their life : and certainly I have never seen amongst them that abject, that degrading misery, which is so general among the peasantry of Erin go bragh ! January 1, 1826. — This new year we com- menced early, for at three o'clock we were already upon our journey. The morning was delightful, and before the sun displayed his powerful influence, birds, animals, and insects, new to us, were to be seen in every direction, THE BISCACHO. 77 enjoying the freshness of the early hours. The biscacho, which some travellers have called the rabbit of the Pampas, may, I think, with greater propriety, from its size and appearance, be com- pared to the badger, which it also equals in the severity of its bite and the tenacity of its hold : the flesh is by some considered excellent food. As the day advanced the heat became dread- ful, and two of our horses died upon the road from its effects, aided, no doubt, by the mur- derous spurs of the riders, which are used with an indifference towards the animal truly shocking. With respect to the method in which horses are harnessed in this country, I am doubtful if the draught be not more easy to them than by the mode adopted in Europe. Here, a very broad strong girth is used to the saddle, and under the flap, behind the rider's thigh, is at- tached an iron ring, to which the trace is se- cured by a toggle ; so that the whole draught depends upon the girth, and there is but one trace to each horse. From the moment of starting, the animals are made to canter, and for three, four, or even five leagues, are sel- dom allowed to alter that pace, unless it be 78 INCURSIONS OF THE INDIANS. to quicken it into a gallop : trotting is never permitted. Towards evening we arrived at the post of Arecife, and bathed in the river of that name ; a considerable stream, but which the solar heat had rendered a complete warm bath. The post-house here has a deep ditch round it, and a strong palisade to defend it from the attacks of the Indians, who make incursions into this part of the country from the Patagonian side, and have frequently driven off all the cattle within their range, murdering the men who chanced to fall into their hands, and making cap- tives of the women and children. Not many days before our arrival, a large body of these bar- barians appeared, but the neighbourhood being apprised of their advance, had assembled and de- feated them. Measures are now being taken for the better security of the frontiers against them. The annexed sketch, for which I am indebted to Mr. Aekermann, represents two of these In- dians of the Pampas, lounging at the entrance of B,pulperia t (a public-house and shop.) whither they take tiger-skins, ostrich plumes, leathern thongs for reins, &c. all which they barter for woollens and other goods, and a quant, suff. of aguardiente. Baron Czettritz and I had an hour's excellent INDIANS OF THE PAMPAS. 79 sport in shooting wild-ducks, tea], snipe, and doves, all which were in abundance. In the course of our rambles, I discovered a bullock that had fallen into a deep pit of water, out of which it struggled in vain to extricate itself. I immediately hastened, partly from motives of humanity, partly from supposing it a subject of importance to the owner, to acquaint the post- master, who was proprietor of the soil for many miles round. He was sitting under a shed, 80 SUDDEN GUST OF WIND. smoking a segar, with not fewer than a dozen of his peones lying on the ground round him, indulging in the siesta, all of whom I expected he would have instantly roused to rescue the bullock when I delivered my breathless account of its fate ; but to my surprise, and not a little to my annoyance, he received the intelligence with as much indifference as if I had informed him of the fate of a kitten. " I suppose," said he, with infinite composure, " it wanted to cool itself." — " But," cried I, with infinite warmth, " will it not be drowned ?" — " Quien sabe /" (Who knows !) rejoined he, puffing away at his segar. We left Arecife in the evening, and pro- ceeded eight leagues to Fontezuelas, where we arrived very late, having wandered from the road to a considerable distance in the dark. In the middle of the night, when all our senses were lulled in sleep, a sudden gust of wind carried off counterpanes, sheets, night- caps, and sundry pieces of wearing apparel, before the owners had time to secure them, or indeed before they could imagine what had happened. It was really curious to witness the scene of boisterous confusion that so instanta- neously succeeded the calm and quiet of sleep : the dreadful war-whoop of the Indians, rush- SUDDEN GUST OF WIND. 81 ino- into our bivouac, could not have occasioned more vehement sensations of alarm. I must confess, that when first startled from repose, T imagined that some such calamitous event had actually occurred, and in an instant I was in a position of defence with my double-barrelled gun. The baron, I suspect, was under a simi- lar apprehension, for I observed him staring wildly round him with his couteau de chasse naked in his hand ; an instrument he always carried about him by day, and at night placed under his pillow, pour etre sur de moi-mime, as he himself observed. A few drops of rain from a heavy black cloud, that hung like a mourning pall above us, with a loud clap of thunder, restored our won- dering and wandering senses, and these were warnings of which we all knew the necessity of immediately availing ourselves. Here was to be seen a person, with legerdemain agility, bundling up his bed and bed-clothes, but in so violent a hurry as to impede the accomplish- ment of his object. There, were two others, each with his mattress and bedding in his arms, met precisely at the narrow door of the post- house, which each hoped to enter first, but where they formed so determined a barrier, that neither their own efforts, nor the clamorous im- VOL. I. G 82 APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. patience of those without, could force a passage for many minutes. There goes Mr. Scriviner in pursuit of his hat, and although right before the wind, with all sail spread full to the gale, he makes but little way, because particles of thistles, an sic like, form a very unsteady footing for bare feet, and because a broad-brimmed straw hat has decidedly the advantage in such a chase. I cannot say that we suffered so much from the pampero as from apprehension, but we cer- tainly had only time, after forcing the en- trance into the hut, to save ourselves from most violent rain, which lasted for two hours, and inundated the flat around us. 2d. A beautifully fine morning ; all nature refreshed by the last night's rain ; several os- triches and small deer were occasionally to be seen, without evincing much alarm at the rattling of our vehicles. The tail-piece to this chapter represents the mode in which the Gauchos take their game on the Pampas. We now bade adieu to the region of thistles, through which we had travelled for upwards of one hundred miles, and which, on each side of the road, extended as far as the eye could reach. At this season of the year, in consequence of these gigantic weeds being parched by the sun, APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 83 the country, at a distance, had the appearance of being covered with ripe corn ; but the scene was too monotonous to afford any agreeable impression. " Vetendue fait tout disparoitre, evcepte Vetendue mime? says Madame de Stael, on her journey into Russia, where, she remarks, there is so much space that every thing is lost — " mime les chateaux, mane la population. On diroit (ju'on traverse un pays dont la nation vient de s'en alter." Here, on the contrary, the tra- veller would say that he traverses a country where the nation is yet to come ; for every thing exists as Nature first formed it, unimproved, uncultivated, untouched. On her lonely journey, Madame de Stael oc- casionally saw palaces, chateaux, and villages, and met with several persons who compliment- ed her upon her literary productions. She also says, " Vous voyez de grandes plaines de ble qui sembknt cultivees par des mains invisibles, tant les habitations et les habitans sont rares." All these circumstances indicate intelligence, art, industry, and the presence of human be- ings, however thinly scattered over the coun- try ; but in South America, for hundreds of miles, the traveller sees nothing to remind him either of the one or the other. The wretched huts, called posts, cannot possibly be mentioned g 2 84 RAPIDITY OF TRAVELLING. as an exception, for they serve only to mark the place where horses may be changed, but where no sort of accommodation can be ob- tained ; and where their half dozen inhabitants exist, if not in primitive barbarity, certainly in primitive ignorance of every thing in this world beyond their own limited necessities. Madame de Stael mentions another circum- stance that must have tended to break the soli- tude of her journey, at the same time that it proved she was in a country of rational beings ; I mean the frequent passing of couriers : " A chaque instant, on voyoit passer dcs courriers qui alloient avec une incroyable vitesse" As to the " incredible swiftness," I dare say we can equal it upon the Pampas in South America, for the gallop is the pace used from post to post ; and this day, with our heavy baggage- carts in company, we have travelled twenty- four leagues of the country, a distance not less than eighty English miles ; but, since we left Buenos Ayres, we have met with only one soli- tary courier ; and, in a distance little short of two hundred miles, with but one travelling party, which proved to be General Miller and his aid-de-camp, on their way to Buenos Ayres to embark for England. The many and severe wounds which this distinguished officer has re- THE PAMPAS. 85 ceived in the cause of liberty in the patriot ser- vice of South America, have compelled him to resign the Governorship of Potosi to seek a restoration of health in his native land * January 3d and 4th. The weather has been extremely hot, but from the current of air through the windows of our galera, which our quick rate of travelling kept up, we suffered less inconvenience than might have been ex- pected. In our passage over an extensive mo- rass, we had frequent and formidable attacks from the " wing'd squadrons of beleag'ring flies," against the stings of which stockings and light trowsers were no protection. We passed the river Saladillo, and one or two other streams, most of them insignificant ; though in the rainy season, which is approaching, they would no doubt occasion trouble and difficulty. After leaving the region of thistles before- mentioned, we travelled for about 120 miles through a country of more agreeable aspect, though not a tree as yet appeared to our view, the whole being one vast field of rich pasture. This is the true Pampa of South America, of * " Memoirs of General Miller" have since been pub- lished, and those who have not read the interesting work, will, I am sure, cordially thank me for this little note strongly recommending it. 86 VAST HERDS OF CATTLE. which we have of late years read and heard so much in Europe. Innumerable herds of cattle, the progeny, it is said, of six cows and a bull, imported rather more than two centuries ago from Spain, range at large over this ever-verdant surface of inexhaustible luxuriance. I have been credibly informed, that their numbers at the present day bear no proportion to what they were be- fore the devastating havoc of the late civil war ; still they appear, to a European eye, in count- less multitudes, and leave the traveller no longer cause to wonder that such fine animals should, at one time, have been slaughtered in thousands, merely for their hides. It is imagined by many persons in Europe that the cattle here are, for the most part, per- fectly wild, without any particular owner, and that, like the deer or the ostriches which roam amongst them, they may be hunted and killed by whomsoever pleases to do so. This I have been given to understand was actually the case some fifty years ago ; but of late, the value of hides and tallow, as articles of exportation, has induced a very jealous care, on the part of the cattle-breeders of the Pampas, who have each a private mark branded upon every animal, and which is registered to families, with all the EXTENT OF THE PAMPAS. 87 form and legality attending arms and crests in the Heralds' Office. I do not, however, assert that this jealousy extends so far as to prosecute, imprison, or transport, any casual offender, who, in want of a hide, might kill an ox or a horse for his purpose. I am quite satisfied, that if a proprietor of a herd of cattle, in riding amongst theiu, happened to see a bullock or two recently killed and flayed, it would occasion nothing like the regret, horror, or revenge, that the melancholy spectacle of a hare or a pheasant treacherously noosed occasions in England. 1 doubt if the Gaucho would even pull up his horse to indulge for a moment in the contem- plation of his loss ; he might, indeed, as he passed the spot, exclaim, " Mira ! que demonic* /" " Ho ! what the devil is this !" and continue his ride, whistling or singing, in tones ill according with feelings of sorrow. This noble plain, entirely covered with pas- ture, extends many hundred miles into the re- gions of Patagonia, where it is yet unexplored. M. Humboldt calculates its area at 70,000 square leagues. " This area," he observes, " of the Pampas of Tucuman, Buenos Ayres, and Patagonia, (they are all united,) is consequently four times as large as the area of all France." Ng lawn was ever laid down with greater 88 PROVINCE OF CORDOVA. precision by the hand of man than this vast interminable plain lias been by Nature, Not a stone is to be seen on its surface. I can scarce- ly give a better proof of the flatness, and unva- rying smoothness of this pampa, than by stating, that this day, (4th of January,) we travelled with ease and facility from the post of Des- mochados to that of Fraylemuerto, a distance called thirty-seven leagues, but which cannot be less than 120 English miles ; and this, consider- ing our laden baggage-carts, and delays at post- houses in catching horses, is assuredly rapid travelling ; nor must it be forgotten that the same postilions (our pcones), performed the whole task without any symptom of fatigue. 5th and 6th. Very hot weather. We left the Pampas, and had not travelled many miles in the province of Cordova, before the country assumed a park-like appearance, from trees and woods, which, since leaving Buenos Ayres, for the first time presented themselves to our view. The face of the country, however, still continued a dead flat, the soil to all appearance like rich garden mould. The river Tercero, which is navigable in some places, we crossed without any difficulty ; but at the Rio Segundo, about twenty-five leagues farther, towards Cordova, it retpiired eight MONOTONY OF THE SCENERY. 89 horses to drag each of our carriages through. Upon the banks of this river we had excellent shooting — wild-ducks, snipes, doves, and wood- pigeons in abundance. We were particularly struck with the im- mense numbers of grasshoppers, as we imagined them, though they were, in fact, a small species of locust, which, for the last two days, covered the road and adjacent parts for miles, and upon which flights of hawks and kites were to be seen gorging themselves. I have remarked that the scenery of the country has changed ; yet, from the long con- tinuance of the wilderness, and the want of variety in the landscape ; (the trees, for instance, algaroba, chaTiar, and pequillin, being all of the same species, mimosa,) there is a monotony in the whole, which seems to have been already most accurately described by Madame de Stael in her " Div Annees d'Eail" when travelling through Russia ; for although that account refers to a country at the other extremity of the globe, it intrudes involuntarily upon the memory, owing to the extraordinary resem- blance it bears, in many instances, to the fea- tures which present themselves here, and also to the feelings they excite in the mind of the traveller. " Though I was driven with great 90 MONOTONY OF THK SCENERY. rapidity, it seemed as if I never advanced, so monotonous is the country, I was under that sort of delusion which sometimes comes over us at night, when we imagine we are going at a great rate, though never stirring from the spot. I fancied that this country was the image of infinite space, and that it wouid require eter- nity to travel through it. There is scarcely any variety of trees in it ; we are even disposed to regret the absence of stones, so weary are we sometimes of meeting with neither hills nor valleys, and proceeding on and on without see- ing any new objects." CHANGE OF SCENEKY. 91 CHAPTER VII. Arrival at Cordova. — Expenses of a family in that city. — Father Lorenzo. — Attendants at table. — Departure from Cordova. — Vinchucas. — Locusts. — Jesu Maria. — Post of Mocha. — Change of scenery. —Meeting of travellers. January 7. Early in the morning we per- ceived, for the first time, a termination to the vast ocean-like plain, over which we had tra- velled for more than five hundred miles. Large blue mountains appeared before us in the horizon, and were hailed by our party with feelings similar to those excited by the disco- very of land after a voyage at sea. As we advanced, the scenery became truly grand ; and was suddenly enlivened by the appearance of the city of Cordova, situated in a deep valley upon the edge of a river, and extending like a vast panorama beneath us. We descended a long steep hill, at which it was necessary to alight, and soon afterwards 92 ARRIVAL AT CORDOVA. arrived at an hotel in the centre of the town, where we found good accommodation, and every attention that we expected. The road, or at least the track, from Buenos Ay res to Cordova, might, with little pains and very little judgment, be shortened nearly one hun- dred miles ; but as neither pains nor judgment were ever exerted for the benefit or conve- nience of this country by its late unworthy rulers, it is a subject of no great surprise, that road-making should have been neglected as well as every other improvement. As this road now runs in its primitive tortuous direc- tion, it cannot measure less than 550 miles from Buenos Ayres to Cordova. This we traversed within the space of nine days, including all de- lays, and sleeping every night at a post-house, — not in one — for I never had a wish to change the canopy of heaven for that of the cob- webbed roof and troublesome insect-inmates of a miserable hut. Cordova is a neat and respectable town, but nothing in comparison with its importance in the time of the Jesuits, who held their head- quarters here for many years, and acquired immense possessions throughout this fine pro- vince. These fathers, either for the pompous exhibitions of their imposing religion, or RELIGIOUS HOUSES. 93 for the benefit of the souls of the inhabitants, thought fit to erect a grand cathedral, ten large churches, and several spacious convents for themselves, for Dominican friars, Franciscan friars, and nuns, as well as a very exten- sive college for Jesuitical instruction ; all of which were richly endowed, but are now poor indeed. The annexed view of the front of the cathedral was taken by means of a ca- mera lucida. The college is conducted on liberal princi- ples, but I am inclined to think that the re- ligious houses are fast approaching general dis- solution ; for, although the priesthood have still a strong party here, and, to use a significant 94 CHEAPNESS OF LIVING. term of Lady Morgan's, many young " priest- lings" are training up, and may be seen in the streets and at the doors of convents, yet, when the present inhabitants of these castles of in- dolence and ease have gone to give an account of all the good they have done on earth, there will be, in all probability, an end of the monkish tribe in Cordova, where, and for hundreds of leagues round, they once ruled with uncon- trolled sway. The present population of Cordova may be estimated at about thirteen thousand. The inhabitants are kind and friendly to strangers : the climate is fine, and the general state of the atmosphere dry, though the temperature is occasionally subject to great variations : the market is well supplied with provisions, and living is altogether very reasonable. A family consisting of ten or twelve persons may rent a house in the city of Cordova, and live in the most respectable manner, on an income of from three to four hundred pounds a-year. It will enable them to move in the highest circle of fashion, and to keep the luxurious appendage of a lord- mayor-like coach, elaborately gilt, and drawn by four fine mules, for parading the ladies round the public promenade, to which all the company of the town resort in full dress JESUITS' COLLEGE. 95 to pass the delightful evenings of summer, and where the most fastidious European taste will find nothing objectionable, either in the manners, dress, or attractions of the assembly, in which strangers at all times are sure to meet with a courteous reception. During our week's sojourn in Cordova, I visited all the convents, in the hope of picking up old books, old manuscripts, old prints, or old paintings, but without the least success. The owners themselves did not know what they possessed, and the remains of the libraries (for they are now perfect wrecks) were very far from what might be expected, considering their former importance. In the Jesuits' College, I ransacked one room, containing, what the pre- sent owners called ancient books, from top to bottom — not a book, out of nearly two thou- sand volumes, did I leave unexamined ; but I found by far the greater number to be upon the mystical subjects of the Roman Catholic faith, the History of Saints, and the Life of Ignatius Loyola. It is worthy of remark that, at the breaking out of the revolution in this country, for an extent of more than three thousand square miles, including the cities, towns, and villages of Peru, Chili, and Rio de la Plata, there was 96 FATHER LORENZO. but one old printing-press, and this formerly belonged to the Jesuits of Cordova. The Spa- nish government rigidly prohibited that in- estimable invention being made available, lest it should, as in other parts of the world, pro- mote the progress of civilization, science, and liberty. In the convent of Dominicans I became ac- quainted with Father Lorenzo, now in the eighty-second year of his age, of which fifty- one years had been spent in the gloomy cell where I found him at his frugal meal of fruits and bread. His drink, however, was something more potent than the crystal . fluid, being a bottle of excellent old Malaga, which, in the course of an hour's extremely interesting conversation, we finished in fair and equal proportions. The cheese, a donation from a fair penitent, as he informed me, was excellent, and the bread better than any I had hitherto eaten in this country. The water-melons were delicious, and the prickly pears of superior flavour. A cup of coffee, followed by a glass of aniseed, the richness of which made amends for the indifference of the former, concluded a repast which I really enjoyed for its intellectual gra- FATHER LORENZO. 97 tification, quite as much as for the sensual plea- sure which the refection afforded. Father Lorenzo had evidently a pleasing satisfaction in relating the past events of half a century to one who listened to him with such peculiar interest : the conversation ter- minated by a piece of wholesome advice upon abstinence, and a well-applied moral discourse upon the eager pursuit of riches, and the dis- satisfied disposition of man ; " who," said he, VOL. i. h 98 FATHER LORENZO. " leaves his home, his family, and his friends, to traverse seas, mountains, and foreign coun- tries, even at the hazard of his life, for the mere sake of procuring a little more dross from the bowels of the earth to add to that which he may already possess in sufficiency for his wants ; and, in the whole of his selfish and perilous career he perhaps seldom — may be never" (he added with strong emphasis, at the same time looking up and outstretching his arms to- wards heaven) — " never thinks upon that God» who has protected him throughout in health and safety, and who, in an instant, can snatch him from his adored treasure, and summon him to that world where all the riches of the mines you are now going to explore will no more avail than the sole of this sandal ! — Vanitas, vanitas, omnia vanitas, fill mi!" said the old man, striking with his crook-handled stick the bottom of his sandal, and at the same time drawing his hand across his eyes, as if to re- move a rising tear excited in pity of mankind. " Farewell, Father Lorenzo! — thanks for your hospitality, for your pious admonition, and your well-meant, well-directed hint ;" then, extend- ing my hand for the farewell shake, he rose from his large heavy leathern-backed chair, and ac- NEGRO SERVANTS. 99 companied me round the extensive cloister to the door of his convent, with as firm a step and as upright a carriage as one who was not half his age. " Adios, padre mio /" said I; " I am now on my way to the college, to ransack the remains of the Jesuit's library." — " Go with God, my son ! may the blessing of the Virgin accompany thee !" said Father Lorenzo, em- bracing me cordially in his arms : he then re- tired to the choir to chime in with a voice which still filled its part in the bass. During my stay at Cordova I made every exertion to provide myself with a servant, and had two or three slaves upon trial ; but I found it hopeless to induce them to relinquish their lazy and uncleanly habits, while it was impos- sible on my part to submit to them. A ser- vant here would consider you a monster if you disapproved of his smoking in your presence, or of his indulging in many little familiarities which in England would be considered some- what more than extraordinary. Our chief com- missioner purchased a mulatto for three hun- dred dollars, and I offered two hundred and fifty for a negro, but the owner would not bate a rial of his demand of two hundred and sixty dollars ; and as I did not think he had move- h 2 100 ATTENDANTS AT TABLE. inent, shape, and figure, worth the money, I declined the purchase, although he was war- ranted sound and free from vice. As I sat this day at the head of the dinner- table in a large vault in the hotel, it was amus- ing to observe the countenances, the costumes, and operations of six or seven half-naked attend- ants. One, a negro, with a face the polish of which Day and Martin might envy, was clean- ing the inside of a spoon with his thumb, pre- viously to handing it to a gentleman who had just called for one, to take soup out of a large deep dish which was in the middle of the table, and out of which he ate in preference to using a separate plate. Here stood a mulatto, en chemise, washing the plates in a corner of the room as they were taken from the table ; there his companion, in similar costume, with a long stick, furnished at one end with a large plume of ostrich feathers, for the purpose of fanning the company, and at the same time to dis- perse the flies which filled the room in tor- menting swarms ; yonder another nigger, with, eyes and mouth extended, in dire amazement at us white-faced foreigners. But the pencil of a caricaturist could alone do justice to the scene. 13th. Exceedingly hot weather; re-packed REQUISITES FOR TRAVELLING. 101 our baggage-carts, and after providing all the re- quisites for travelling, left Cordova in the even- ing. The requisites for travelling mean, in this country, every thing that convenience and ne- cessity demand ; for, except in the towns, which are hundreds of miles apart, nothing of the kind can be had. Not only a canteen with plates, knives, forks, &c. but also tables, chairs, cooking utensils, beds and bedsteads, must be carried by those who know not how to rough it, and who cannot dispense with the comforts of civilized life. Beef or mutton may be always obtained in the journey across the Pampas, but nothing else must be expected : the want of even pure water is occasionally a severe privation, for in some places, where there is no river in the neighbourhood, and where the people have not taken the pains to sink a well, they have only a large reservoir, close to the habitation, in which the rain is caught — I cannot say preserved, for no care is taken of it. I have frequently drunk from those holes, which have become receptacles of frogs, toads, and reptiles of divers kinds, known and unknown ; this, however, is not the case at houses of tolerable respectability. In Buenos Ayres, rain-water is considered a great luxury, and in some houses tanks are formed for preserving it in the under-ground 102 VINCHUCAS. stories. A gentleman of my acquaintance in- formed me that the tank under his house held upwards of six hundred pipes of water, and I never heard that this under-ground ocean occa- sioned dampness in the apartments above. On leaving Cordova we crossed the river, which is broad, but not deep at this season of the year ; we then ascended a steep hill, and found ourselves in a country thickly-covered with shrubs and bushes, amongst which we saw partridges in great numbers, and of two kinds ; one such as we have in Europe, the other full as large as a moderate-sized barn-door fowl. We arrived late at Chacarilla, the first post, six leagues from Cordova, where the host and hostess, perceiving we were " decent people," obligingly warned us against sleeping within their house, in consequence of the danger to be apprehended from vinchucas, a species of Brob- dignag bug, which infests most houses in this country during hot weather : their bite is ex- tremely severe, and if rubbed or scratched, from which it is difficult to forbear, occasions very se- rious inflammation. In size and appearance, these insects resemble the common beetle, but are much more active and evidently more saga- cious, for they seem to watch and reconnoitre CRUEL TREATMENT OF HORSES. 103 at the entrance of their retreats before they venture out. They are dreaded by all tra- vellers, and, in the present case at least, by the natives ; for, when I inquired how the owners of the house managed to protect themselves from these reptiles, it was replied, that they never slept in their house when the weather admitted of sleeping out of it ; and when the rains kept them within, they never slept at night, which is the time the vinchucas leave their holes and corners in search of blood. The family at this post are respectable and ex- tremely civil. 14th. This has been a day of excessive heat, and to the unfortunate horses of excessive suf- fering ; the immense spurs of the postilions have been making dreadful havoc, which nei- ther humane entreaties nor angry remonstrances could put a stop to. Often have I been the cause of additional suffering to the poor beasts when my interference was meant for their re- lief; their heartless riders would then only scoff at what they thought a squeamish sensibility, and could never understand the object or ne- cessity of sparing a horse from being whipped or spurred to death in the performance of his work. Mares escape this barbarous treatment, 104 LOCUSTS. being never worked, unless it be to tread out the corn in time of harvest : to use a mare for riding in South America is a subject of ridicule and scorn. After my arrival in this country, I had many times heard of the extensive ruin occasioned by locusts, and when at Buenos Ay res, I was in- formed, that a year or two before, they had not only devoured fruits and vegetables, but even destroyed large trees, by eating the shoots and younger branches, and in many instances the bark from off the trunk. The truth of this in- formation has been confirmed in the course of to-day's journey by the evidence of my own eyes, when passing over a very large tract of country where all the trees were in a withered state; not a single leaf was to be seen upon them, and the greater part of their branches and stems were stripped of their bark, while the shrubs seemed as if they had been swept away by a scythe ; the whole exhibiting the singular and extraordinary appearance of the dreariness of winter in the midst of summer. It was impossible to view with indifference this scene of desolation, and impossible not to reflect upon the blessings of that happy land which is free from such ruinous plagues. Here, the locusts suddenly appear like a mist or dense JESU MARIA. 105 cloud, and wherever they alight they entirely consume all the fruits of the earth. I have heard it said, that when every vegetable has been destroyed, they will then prey upon each other. They rose in swarms before us as we drove along the road, while others remained so thickly spread upon the ground that the horses destroyed them at every step. We passed through Jesu Maria, an ancient possession of the Jesuits, of which there remain six or eight huts, and the ruins of two large churches and a convent ; the last of which had a magnificent garden attached to it, and was sur- rounded by a high stone-and-mortar wall, the first we had seen in the country. The situa- tion was picturesque, and all around exhibited signs of former care and industry ; but it seems as if the instruction of the fathers had not been of so solid or permanent a nature as their build- ings, for the present generation have inherited from them little more than the mere name of Christians. The family at the post-house of Macha, where we stopped this night, is highly-respectable; the females are above the usual standard, and the master a man of intelligence beyond what we had hitherto been in the habit of meeting with. I confess this is not saying much in his 106 GENERAL EDUCATION. praise, where the knowledge of drawing out an agreement for the sale of so many square leagues of land, or a receipt for the purchase- money of a slave, had, up to the period of the revolution, been deemed quite sufficient for ordinary education. Books were rigidly prohibited by the Holy Inquisition ; reading, therefore, was out of the question ; nor have I yet met with a single book in the house of any private person since I left Buenos Ayres : even in that city, where education has made such rapid strides of late years, and where there is much literary talent, books are not yet generally considered as form- ing a necessary and agreeable part of the furni- ture of every house. The rising generation, however, throughout South America, have advantages which their parents had not. A liberal education is now not merely permitted, but imparted to all classes where there are the means of doing so. Books are sought after, and collections will no doubt take place, where, hitherto, even a Guthrie's Geography has been prohibited. A delightful bath of clear running water is to be found in the orchard of the post-house of Macha, and good duck and snipe shooting in the neighbourhood. ROUGHNESS OF THE ROADS. 107 15th. This day we have travelled but twelve leagues, in consequence of the extreme diffi- culty of the way, for I cannot call it the road, there being only tracks of horses, or of wheels, to guide us in our rugged progress. The rum- bling-tumbling we have endured in our galera, in its bounces over roots and broken branches of trees, into ruts and through thickets, is ad- mitted by us all to have been the most violent exercise we ever underwent, and excites our surprise how it has continued without fracture or dislocation. Four Christians, such as we are, one dog, two paroquets, (saved from being put into a pie at one of the post-houses,) boxes, packages, books, guns, pistols, biscuits, cheese, and ham, have been jostled, pounded and com- pounded, pitched, and tossed, and crossed, throughout the day's journey, with all the celerity of a juggler's balls. Habit, however, becomes second nature, and six or seven hun- dred miles' travelling has caused us to endure this uneasy kind of perpetual motion with much less annoyance than we probably should have felt had we not been thus trained to it. The country has now altogether changed in aspect ; we are in the midst of hills and valleys, some of them rocky, some sandy, and some with rich pasture, where large troops of fine 108 GAME. — SAN PEDRO. mules are bred chiefly for the supply of Peru. Game abounds every where ; partridges of three kinds, small, large, and larger ; snipes, ducks, teal, doves, pigeons, and parrots. We stopped on the road to shoot our supper, which we have been in the habit of doing latterly, with great success and amusement. In the course of the day we passed over vast tracts of country desolated by locusts. About a mile from the post-house of San Pedro, where we stopped for the night, there is a delightful bath, formed by Nature in a deep rocky ravine, where runs a small river, in which we indulged for an hour. 16th. We travelled this day over rugged hills and mountains, and through stunted woods many leagues in extent : 1 have not yet seen a tree qfwfiny magnitude, or fit to be called timber. Twenty or thirty miles of our journey lay through a straggling forest of palm-trees ; their appearance may at first interest a stranger, but, except that cattle eat the fruit or seeds which fall from them, they are neither useful nor or- namental. The insufferable heat compelled us to stop for three or four hours in the afternoon at Pozo del Tigre. The neighbouring moun- tains are thickly wooded and the dwelling of TICxERS. 109 tigers, of whose depredations among flocks and herds I heard many stories from the post-mas- ter, with some few instances of their attacks upon Cristianos. M. de la Condamine, in his Travels in South America, written nearly a century ago, observes, that the tigers he saw in that country " differed neither in size nor beau- ty from those of Africa." He also mentions, that on the banks of the river Amazons they are the most dangerous adversaries of the cro- codile, and perhaps the only animal that dares to encounter it. When the tiger approaches the brink to quench his thirst, the crocodile raises its head to seize him, as on similar occa- sions it attacks oxen, horses, and mules. The tiger then strikes his claws into the eyes, the only undefended part of the crocodile, which, instantly diving into the water, carrieS^own the tiger, who suffers himself to be drowned rather than forego his prey. In the evening, we proceeded six leagues farther, to the post of Portezuelo, where the jurisdiction of Cordova terminates, and where that of Santiago del Estero commences. We had just finished our delicious meal of snipes, doves, dust, and the liver of a sheep, all fried together with onions, when a vehicle, which I shall not call a carriage, arrived at the 110 PERUVIAN OFFICERS. post-house with two officers from Potosi ; this being the second time that we had met with travellers in a distance of seven hundred miles. These officers, Don Mariano Diaz, an officer of cavalry, and Don Angel Sanches, an officer of artillery, were from the army of Peru, with leave of absence from Bolivar, after eight years' hard service, of which they gave us an ex- tremely interesting account. In speaking of their regiments and the conduct of their armies in the numerous battles in which they had fought, bled, and conquered, the climax of their praise was in comparing themselves to the troops of Napoleon Bonaparte : they never once alluded to the conquerors of those troops. " Na- poleon never had finer troops, a better disci- plined army, or braver warriors !" was several times affirmed in the course of conversation ; but I am disposed to think that Napoleon's glory would never have attained the pitch it did, if his warriors had not been " better disci- plined" than the motley armies of South Ame- rica ; nor would his marshals have received the coronets and crowns of dukes, kings, and princes, had not their military talent surpassed the capacities of Indians, Negroes, Samboes, and Creoles, although the courage and conduct of these latter in the field have, in many in- HALT AT PORTF.ZUELO. Ill stances, been eminently displayed. Notwith- standing the fatigue of both parties, after a jolting journey in the heat of an overpowering sun, we sat up conversing and smoking segars until past midnight, when I laid myself down, and soon " steeped my senses in forgetfulness." 12 PERFORMANCES OF POST-HORSES. CHAPTER VIII. Performances of Post-horses. — Dispute with an Alcalde. — River Saladillo. — Delightful serenity of the nights — The Balsa described. — Excessive heat. — Santiago del Estero. — First glimpse of branches of the Cordilleras. Jan. 17th and 18th. Our journey has been through a loose sandy soil, with rocks, bushes, and a few trees of larger size than what we have hitherto seen, resembling in some degree the oak. Just as we were about to leave the first post, a cart with two travellers arrived, on their way from Potosi to Buenos Ayres. After a few questions relative to the state of the rivers, we continued our route, and had not proceeded far before the postilions, who had conducted the travellers, passed us with their return horses in full gallop, which, as I have elsewhere observed, is the usual pace. The stage the travellers had just concluded was seven leagues ; thus these horses, before they reached home, would have DIFFICULTIES OF THE ROAD. 113 toiled nearly fifty English miles, without ten minutes' rest; for, as to feeding or baiting, that is never even thought of. The great abundance of horses admits of long and sufficient intervals of rest, otherwise no animals could endure such severe work. The destructive ravages of locusts again ap- peared. Every tree, for several leagues on each side of the road, as far as we could see, was stripped of its leaves, and many of their bark, presenting to the view a withered wilderness, which required only frost and snow to complete the scene of desolation. Every day, as we now advanced, we were sa- tisfied that no English carriage could go through, or over, such places as our galera had passed, without being broken or upset. Some of the places would appear quite impracticable to a person who had never travelled out of England ; yet, with four or five horses, we proceeded at a rate of between eight and ten, and often twelve miles an hour. Sometimes, where high grass and weeds had covered the tracks, we rolled softly along, as if driving through a meadow ; sometimes we dashed over fallen trunks, decayed stumps, and roots of trees ; sometimes, through briars, and bushes, and extending branches ; the peones encouraging their horses with loud wild VOL. I. I 114 APPEARANCE OF OUlt PEONES. shrieks, and flourishing their hide whips over their heads, which are usually covered with a handkerchief, loosely flowing from under the hat, to catch the breeze and counteract the rays of the sun ; their various-coloured ponchos floating in the air behind them, their trowsers tucked up above the knee, leaving the leg naked ; while the disordered appearance of the tackle, and the large heavy ship-like vehicle, with the half-naked passengers within, dissolving under a nearly vertical sun, formed altogether a most extraordinary scene, worthy of being sketched by the pencil of a Wilkie. We saw many large flocks of parrots, scream- ing hideously to warn their young brood, which they seem aware are considered a delicious in- gredient for a savoury pie. In spite of our desire to proceed, we are every day compelled to stop several hours at a post- house, on account of the* oppressive heat, to which neither man nor beast can be exposed without the most severe sufferings ; 98° of Fahrenheit is the lowest mid-day temperature to which we have been accustomed for several days. At the post-house of San Iones we passed a couple of hours, listening to accounts of the ravages committed by tigers and lions, which THE CACTUS. 115 are very numerous in the neighbouring forests. The tigers, although inferior in size and beauty to those of the East Indies, are still very for- midable, and commit extensive depredations amongst the cattle, particularly young horses, which it appears are their favourite prey. The lions here do not deserve the name, being a very inferior species of that noble animal, and so cowardly as never to attack any thing but sheep or goats. We drove for several miles through a forest of the cactus, which afforded us a proof of the manner in which trees or plants degenerate when out of their native soil. Here were to be seen, of the magnitude of trees, plants, which in European conservatories are generally but a few inches high, vegetating in flower-pots. Humboldt says, " Near Maniquarez (in the Ca- raccas) we measured a cactus, the trunk of which was more than four feet nine inches in circumference." The night of the 18th January we passed at the village of Oratorio Grande, where the traveller, who is not very difficult to please, may find sufficient for his wants, and among other things, water-melons, which we considered delicious, being the coolest and cleanest eatable we had tasted for some days. The water, how- i 2 116 AN EARTHQUAKE. ever, at this village, is procured from a muddy, brackish river, which was so warm, even Jong after sun-set, that we found it quite uncom- fortable when bathing, and experienced but little refreshment. We slept as usual in the open air, the night being delightfully serene, and of such a temperature as to require but the covering of a single sheet. 19th, at five o'clock, when about to rise with the sun, as was our custom, we suddenly felt ourselves shaken in our beds, and thought it was occasioned by a dog or a pig, frequent visitors, prowling about for the fragments of the last meal ; we therefore all, at the same moment, looked under our beds, with the inten- tion of chasing away the intruder. General Paroissien, who slept in the carriage, looked at the same moment from one of the windows, to see who or what had shaken him out of his last slumber ; and whilst we were all in the attitude of surprise at not seeing any thing that could have disturbed us, still less have occasioned so sensible a rocking as we experienced, voices were heard in every direction, calling out Tem- blor ! temblor ! temblor ! the people at the same time flying from their houses. An earthquake it proved to be, the first that had been felt in this part of the country for many years. DISPUTE WITH AN ALCALDE. 117 We remained the whole of this day at Ora- torio Grande to repair the damages our carts had sustained, owing to the extremely rugged roads we had lately travelled. These roads, indeed, are in such a state, as to shake, not only the carts, but every thing within them into atoms, unless packed and secured with more than common care; an office which must not be left to be perform d by the peones, to whom care, trouble, neatness, and ingenuity, are unknown. In the course of the morning, we purchased a young fat bull, and tied him to a tree to be in readiness for slaughter when the heat of the day should be past. A short time before the hour of death arrived, the alcalde of the vil- lage, having drunk till drunk of aguardiente, and forgetting the payment we had made, seized the bull, and led him off as his property. I was immediately dispatched by our general to reclaim what we justly considered our lawful right, and soon the alcalde and I came to words so loud, and to actions so threatening, as to alarm the whole village ; out ran men, women, children, and dogs, a formidable pack, all evi- dently auxiliaries of the alcalde. Upon seeing this hostile array, I made signals to our party for assistance, which, it is but justice to state, 118 DISPUTE WITH AN ALCALDE. were obeyed with alacrity by our peones, who advanced in the most spirited manner to cover the retreat which I had already prudently com- menced. Upon the coming up of the rein- forcement, which was headed by one of our negroes, I returned to the charge, and quickly came to louder words and more dreadful threats with the alcalde, who, perceiving our determi- nation to seize either him or the bull, waved his hat and gave a loud halloo ! when out rush- ed six or seven terrific-looking fellows from a neighbouring thicket with drawn sabres, and two with muskets, one of which had a lock and in appearance was ready for the destructive purposes of war. I hesitated with becoming coolness, and viewing my troops, as every good general should do, with feelings of paternal consideration, I again ordered a retreat, which was promptly obeyed, and what it lacked in order and discipline, was amply compensated by all the swiftness we were capable of exert- ing. The alcalde, imagining that we had re- tired for farther reinforcement, and not know- ing what might be the consequence if we ad- vanced with the same rapidity with which we retreated, thought fit to make overtures of peace, and with that intent dispatched to our DISPUTE WITH AN ALCALDE. 119 head-quarters a flag of truce with a letter, of which I shall give, as every faithful historian is bound, a true and accurate copy; and although the reader should be acquainted with the Spa- nish language, I trust he will not feel offended at being presented with the original in one column, done into English in the other. It may be requisite to mention, that an alcalde is obliged to supply all troops passing through his district with the provisions they may require, and that, in failure of his duty in this respect, he is liable to punishment from the governor or government of the province. Our alcalde, concluding that a general ought to have troops with him, in order to avoid this punishment, and at the same time to ascertain our real strength, very pertinently commences his letter by inquiring of the general " what force he brings ?" The document was written in such strange hieroglyphics, and was deli- vered in such breathless anxiety, as to indicate a state of mind very different from what Nelson evinced when he wrote his letter to the Prince Royal of Denmark, soliciting an ar- mistice, at the time of his celebrated attack on the naval force drawn up for the defence of Copenhagen. 120 THE ALCALDES LETTER. Seiior General, que me Signior General, as they dicen Espero que v me con- tell me, I hope you will in- teste la fuerza que trae, para form me of the force you yo franquearle conloque ne- bring, in order that I may cisita, por que el Sehor Go- supply it with what it re- vernador me tiene en este quires; for the Signior Go- punto para ver quanto de- vernor has appointed me in sorden hayga, y asi espero this place to observe what- saver para govierno. ever disorder occurs, and Dios guarde a v muchos therefore I hope to know for ahos. my governance. Oratorio Grande, God keep you many years. 19 Enero, 1826. Oratorio Grande, Jose Victouiano* Diaz. 19th January, 1826. Joseph Victor Diaz. This important affair terminated by our re- ceiving two sheep and a goat in lieu of the bull which had escaped ; these were imme- diately immolated and prepared for our banquet, after which we all sought repose, and soon for- got the troubles of the day. On the 20th, we passed the brackish river Saladillo, on the edges of which, from the effects of the heat, quantities of fish lay dead, alluring flights of hawks and kites that were not easily disturbed from their surfeiting repast. The * * It will no doubt be remarked that the signature of Victoriano comes in here quite as a-propos as the city of Victoria in the case of Wellington's victory. ltlVER SALADILI.O. 121 Saladillo is a very dangerous river" to pass in the rainy season : it required eight horses to drag our empty galera up the opposite bank, which was accomplished with difficulty ; we ourselves waded across, being happy to dabble in any stream. If the people here were capable of exertion, they might with very little inge- nuity construct a bridge, or at least a raft, which would soon amply repay their labour. Some such convenience might indeed have been ex- pected from the late governors of the country, when we consider that this dangerous passage is on the high road leading from the capital of one province to the capital of another ; in short, it is that communication between Buenos Ayres and Peru, by which, for upwards of two cen- turies, millions in gold and silver have been conveyed for embarkation to Spain. The with- drawing the precious metals was the whole and sole object of Spain ; improvement or pub- lic benefit was never attempted, which makes it quite impossible to view this neglected coun- try without feelings of the utmost abhorrence of the government that so long ruled it. I shot this day a bird called here chaha, the first I' had seen of the kind ; it is about the size of, but heavier than, a turkey; is of a dark grey 122 CONTRAST OF DAY AND NIGHT. colour, with two curved horns, resembling the spurs of a game-cock, at the end of each pinion, with which it can inflict desperate wounds. We have now got into that part of the coun- try where the primitive language of Peru, called Quichua is spoken, and where the peasantry scarcely understand Spanish. The heat of this day has been dreadful, and not a drop of water was to be obtained between the posts, for distances of ten, fifteen, and twenty miles. The greater part of our journey was over a flat, burning, sandy soil, a perfect desert, where Nature's self seemed lifeless; not a bird nor an animal of any kind was to be seen, but here and there, in dismal unison with the scene, a wooden cross was fixed to denote the spot of an untimely grave. We ended this truly fatiguing day's journey at the post of Mochimo, where we arrived late, by the light of a brilliant full moon. The night was altogether beautifully serene, and when we laid ourselves down to rest under the solendid canopy that sparkled with countless worlds of light above us, we could not refrain from expressions of delight at the luxury we thus enjoyed, and which exemplified the ge- nerally admitted fact, that Nature has seldom given a bane without accompanying it witli an REFRESHING NIGHT AIR. 123 antidote. Here our sufferings under a scorch- ing sun in the day were amply compensated by the sweet salubrious air of the night ; it not only invited us to expose ourselves to its re- freshing influence, but actually gave and pre- served that health and strength, which enabled us to sustain the fatigue and exhaustion we un- derwent for the greater part of the twenty -four hours, and which, without this revivifying pe- riod of repose, it would have been utterly im- possible to withstand for any length of time. 21st. Thermometer in the shade at mid-day 101°, and in the carriage at the same hour 103°. We stopped for some time on the banks of the river Santiago, which, from rain that had fallen farther up the country, had now become so deep and rapid as to prevent our passing without unloading our carriage and carts, and towing over every article in a balsa, an original kind of boat, of which it may not be thought tedious to give a full account, as well as the detail of our passage across. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, having travelled about twelve leagues, we arrived at the village of Loreto, where we stopped at the post-house, " to take counsel and to take tea," and sent forward our capataz, with one of our party, to explore the pass of the river, distant 124 CltOSSlNG THE RIVER SANTIAGO IN, from the village about half a league. Their re- port was, that the river was much swollen, and impossible to be passed without the assistance of balsas, unless we became Robinson Crusoes, and took time and patience to fell timber and construct a raft ; and here again we thought, that in the course of two hundred and fifty years' dominion over this portion of the New World, the Spanish government might have been at the pains to construct a bridge of some kind for their own convenience, even though that of the community at large was indifferent to them. Be that as it may, the excessive heat was of itself a sufficient impediment to our becoming industrious ; Ave therefore availed ourselves of a machine of primitive simplicity, and leaving Loreto, accompanied by half a dozen peones of the country, we arrived at the edge of the river, where we dismounted from our carriage and unloaded our carts. The peones immediately prepared, out of two bul- locks' hides with which they were provided, two boats for receiving their freight ; a prepara- tion which I inspected with more than ordi- nary interest, for I could not comprehend how our heavy baggage and ourselves were to be conveyed safe and dry across a broad, deep, and very rapid river, in the single hide of a bullock ! AND DESCRIPTION OF, THE BALSA. 125 In circumstances of navigation, a jolly-boat had hitherto been the smallest bark I had ever been in on perilous occasions ; but all my nau- tical practice could not prevent me, on view- ing the vessel in which I was about to embark, (with all my property, and two paroquets in a cage,) from betraying symptoms that no in- different person could have witnessed without setting me down as a man of a somewhat ner- vous constitution. The boats were constructed in a much shorter time than I require to describe them, although their description may be given in a few words, thus : — Take a dried bullock's hide, pinch up each of the four corners, put a stitch with a thorn to keep those corners together, and your boat is made. For use, place it upon the water bot- tom downwards ; then, to prevent its natural tendency to turn bottom upwards, put one foot immediately in the centre, and let the other follow with the most delicate caution ; thus, standing breathless in the middle, you are now to shrink downwards, contracting your body precisely in the manner in which, probably in your childhood, you have pressed a friar into a snuff-box. This position, however inconve- nient, serves to conceal a considerable share of timidity from your companions, though not 126 CROSSING THE RIVER SANTIAGO IN, from the spectators, who line the banks of the river, indulging in loud wild laughter. When crouched down in the bottom, sundry articles are handed in, and ingeniously deposited round you, until the balsa sinks to about an inch, or perhaps an inch and a half from the water's edge ; it is then considered sufficiently laden. A naked peone now plunges into the stream. " Mercy on us !" is the natural exclamation ; for the first impression from the shock is, that yourself and all your property are going to the bottom ; but you are instantly relieved from this very probable conjecture, by the peone's taking hold of one of the corners of the balsa, (which projects like that of a cocked hat,) and asking you — " Esta V. bieti?" " Are you com- fortable ?" To this question you reply by a nod of the head, for the use of the tongue is lost, but even if words were at command, you may not wish to commit yourself by expres- sions diametrically opposed to feelings and symptoms ; or you may wish it to be imagined, as is sometimes practised in perilous situations, that your profound silence indicates indiffe- rence of danger, or may pass for coolness and presence of mind. Silence also conveys an idea of gravity, and of resignation to your fate, which, indeed, is no more than becoming, when AND DESCRIPTION OF, THE BALSA. 127 you feel persuaded that nothing short of a mi- racle can prolong your existence beyond a quar- ter of an hour. The nod being given, a peone on the shore imparts a gentle impulse to your tottering bark, while the peone in the water, keeping hold of the corner with one hand, strikes out with the other, and swims away with you to the opposite bank. The moment you touch it, so great is your joyful surprise at arriving perfectly safe that all the perils of your voyage are forgotten, and you soon find out (as is often the case in life), that your ima- gination had represented dangers and difficul- ties, where, with a little caution, there existed neither the one nor the other. In the foregoing manner, we and the whole of our luggage crossed this rapid river, our two boats plying backward and forward with the greatest ease and expedition, carrying each voyage three or four heavy portmanteaus and other articles. Two passengers may cross at one time in a balsa, squeezed up as I have before described, taking especial care not to make the slightest movement, which would inevitably capsize this crazy and truly original bark. Our carriage and carts were dragged across, one after the other, with the aid of all the 128 AGAIN CROSS THE RIVER. horses and all the men. We speedily re-loaded them, and proceeded through a deep sandy country, to the post of Silipica, where we stopped for the night. 22nd. Before the sun rose we were on our journey, hoping to reach in the evening the town of Santiago, only thirteen leagues distant ; but, when we arrived at the river, the same that we passed yesterday, and which here again crosses the road, it was so much swollen that the usual ford was absolutely impracti- cable. While we were considering whether we should bivouac for the night, a man from the opposite bank swam across, and offered to conduct us to a place whence, for twenty-five dollars, he would convey us, carriage, carts, baggage, and all, in safety to the other side. We instantly agreed with him, when he gave a loud Indian yell to his companions, twenty of whom plunged into the river and soon joined us. The first operation was to cut, break, and tear a passage through the thicket that covered the banks, in ord^r that thf carriages mioht arrive at the designed place ; this was quickly accomplished, when they were severally drag- ged and floated across by these dexterous swim- mers. We ourselves, with our baggage, crossed in balsas in the same manner as yesterday, ex- EXCESSIVE HEAT. 129 cept that the force of the current now required the assistance of three men instead of one to eacli balsa. The passage was accomplished in about three hours, during which time it was curious to see the rapidity with which the river increased and filled its banks ; had we been one day later, we might have been detained several days ; for, at this season of the year, such detention is not uncommon, owing to the torrents that roll from the Cordilleras into the rivers, sometimes compelling travellers to wait fhree weeks, before the water subsides suffici- ently to insure a safe passage. It is impossible to describe what we suffered this day from the heat. We all agreed, that it exceeded any thing of the kind we had ever be- fore experienced ; and well it might, for in the afternoon the thermometer in the carriage stood at 104°, and out of it in the shade at lO.'i , and in the cool of the evening it was at 92°. I have been informed, that this district of Santiago del Estero is considered the very hottest spot in South America. It is surprising that none of us suffered from the great quantity of water we drank, particularly in the muddy state in which alone it was to be had. During the heat of the day, that is, from nine o'clock in the morning until nearly five in the afternoon. I VOL. I. K .130 WATER-DRINKING. venture to assert, that the water-bottle had not ten minutes' repose at any one time : still the water had not the power of quenching our insati- able thirst, and, being too warm to afford refresh- ment to the palate, a greater quantity was con- sequently swallowed, yet without any of that reluctance which mud and sand might be sup- posed to create ; indeed, since we left Buenos Ayres, with very few exceptions, we have not enjoyed the luxury of a draught of clear or cool water. The warmth of the river was, perhaps, also in some measure the cause of our feeling no injury from bathing when heated, for we plunged in two or three times in the course of the day, when the perspiration was pouring down our bodies, and we never perceived the slightest ill effects from so doing. 23rd. Continuing our journey through a flat country of sandy soil, with much wood and shrubs of one sort or other, amongst which we saw the cochineal plant, we arrived early at the city of Santiago del Estero ; and although its two large ancient churches, with their ruined turrets, claimed a certain degree of respect, I could not call to mind a town of higher note with which to compare it, than that of Bulrud- dery, in the neighbourhood of Erin's capital, and GRAPES AND OTHER FRUIT. 131 in this comparison 1 protest I do honour to the city of Santiago. On arriving at the post-house, the first object that attracted our attention was a basket of fine grapes. Had Tantalus succeeded in reaching the forbidden luxuries that were spread before his longing eyes, he could not have devoured them with greater avidity than we did these bunches of delicious muscatel, which might have made a little fortune for the young wo- man who owned them, had she been aware of our appetites and inclinations. As it was, she seemed perfectly satisfied with a couple of shil- lings, which purchased abundance for us all, even to repletion. We had not been half an hour at the post-house before our apartment was crowded with fruit-women, bearing upon their heads large wooden bowls, with the finest grapes and figs, offered upon terms that no one could dispute ; but we were already more than satisfied, and looked upon the luxuriant heaps with so much indifference, that we would not have given a rial for all the fruit in the new world. Santiago del Estero, so called from estero, Avhich signifies a lake, many of which are formed in its neighbourhood by the overflowing of the K 2 132 PONCHOS. river in the rainy season, is a very ancient town, and was formerly a bishopric. Its trade, at one time in respectable activity, consisted chiefly of cochineal, dyed worsteds, ponchos, and wooden stirrups ; the two latter articles having, it may be supposed, a very extensive sale in a country where every man or boy wears a poncho and rides a horse. The manufacture of ponchos exhibits the in- dustry of the females, whose handiwork they are. Like clothes, or any other article, they are made of different qualities, to suit the means and condition of the purchaser. We each pur- chased one of a medium quality, at the price of from five to seven dollars, but which a few years ago sold readily at nine and ten, a proof of the present decline of trade, or rather of the great diminution of specie, which is sensibly felt throughout the whole of this country. Per- haps the prices may also be affected by the re- cent import of similar articles of cotton manu- facture from Manchester. Ladies in Chili and Peru sometimes make ponchos, with a mixture of silk and vicuna wool, so fine as to pass through the ring of a finger, and of colours so tastefully disposed, as to obtain the fancy price of two hundred dollars ; every thread and particle of the piece made by hand, ALGAROBA. — LOCUSTS. 133 for machinery is totally unknown. A poncho, for the information of my home friends, is an oblong-square garment, having a hole in the centre, through which the head passes. It is worn constantly by men, and may be called the cloak of the country. Ladies use it only on horseback. In this district abounds a tree called algaroba ; from its seed is made a beverage, of which the people are very fond, and when taken in mode- ration is considered very salubrious. This dis- trict is also celebrated for wheat, which pro- duces eighty-fold, although very little labour is employed to raise it. The most incredible story I ever heard, or the most extraordinary account I ever read, of the numbers in which locusts sometimes appear, I can now no longer doubt, and, I must confess, it is requisite actually to behold them before any idea of the real truth respecting them can be formed. This evening, after dinner, as we went out to sit half-naked at the door in the street, according to the custom of the country, to enjoy the cool air, or rather, I should say, the lesser heat of the day, we were astonished at seeing the atmosphere in a state resembling a thick mist moving rapidly over us, but which we soon discovered to be locusts. They were 134 EARTHQUAKE AT SANTIAGO. all going in the same direction, like rooks re- turning to their home. We could not say how long they had been passing before we saw them, but for upwards of an hour we sat gazing at them with increased astonishment, and when the sun set, as far as the eye could reach we perceived no diminution of their numbers. On they went in their ominous flight, seeking some devoted region where to repose, every fruit, flower, and vegetable of which, in a few hours, they would utterly consume. The earthquake of the morning of the 19th of this month, had been felt here at the same time as with us at Oratorio, but in a stronger degree. It was preceded by a violent hurricane, the effects of which we saw on our approach to this town ; large trees torn up by the roots, with shattered trunks and branches lying in every direction, for the space of at least three miles, resembled the wreck of an armada upon a sandy beach. \XTf> rprnpiped durin^ the 94th at Santiago, and in the evening had much thunder, light- ning, and heavy rain. 25th. This was the first cool morning we had felt for a length of time, and we took advantage of it to continue our journey at a THE LASO. 135 very early hour. The route still lay through a sandy though fertile soil; the country too is thickly wooded, and the trees are larger and handsomer than those we have hitherto observed. We saw many partridges, gray pheasants, doves, and, where the ground was marshy, large snipes ; also parrots and paro- quets in screaming flocks : lions and tigers frequent the interior of the woods. At Capilla de Ximenes, the first post, nine leagues from Santiago, I saw a man making a laso, the noose for catching animals, which has been noticed by all travellers in South Ame- rica, and the surprising dexterity with which it is used, both on foot and on horseback, has often been described. It is made of thin strips of hide, neatly platted together, like the lash of a whip, having a small iron ring fixed in one end, through which the thong runs when thrown. The laso used on horseback should be eight yards long, and that on foot ten. In the afternoon we arrived on the banks of the river Santiago, which here, for the third time, crossed our route. We were soon ob- served from the opposite side by the Indians, called here nadadores, (swimmers,) who make a livelihood, or at least obtain a few dollars, by conveying passengers and their luggage across 136 NADADORES the river in balsas. Some of them on horse- back galloped from their huts to the banks, each dragging after him a hide tied to a long string. Of these hides a small fleet was fitted out in a few minutes and launched into the stream, each vessel being accompanied by two or three nadadores, male and female indiscri- minately, who seemed as much at their ease in the water as so many mermaids and mermen. While, however, the chief of the party was stipulating with us for the freight and safe con- duct of ourselves and baggage, which he was pushing to an extravagant price, an accidental circumstance interrupted the treaty, and dis- appointed all the golden hopes of the owners of the fleet. The slave we purchased at Cordova, and who acted as one of our postilions, being heated and dusted by his equestrian exertions, (the day having turned out broiling hot as here- tofore,) could not resist the temptation of re- freshment which the river presented, and un- toggling his horse from the trace — for the trace is a fixture — rode into the stream, exnectino - to find depth sufficient to swim animal and all* but reached the opposite bank upon a sound footing, without the horse being much deeper than the saddle-skirts. Upon seeing this, we ordered four postilions to ride in abreast, to FORD THE RIVER SANTIAGO. 137 make sure of the passage, and these passing over in the same maimer as the first, we deter- mined on saving our cash, and at the same time all the trouble and bustle of embarkation. Eight or ten horses were immediately tied to the galera, which was dragged across without any accident, except the loss of a store of pepper- mint-drops, which being in the bottom of the carriage, were overflowed and dissolved into a puddle resembling milk. The carts, being on much higher wheels than the galera, passed sin novedad, (without novelty) as we say in Spanish. Ourselves and Carlo followed a la nage, being very happy at the opportunity of floundering in the water, although too warm for any refreshing benefit. It is customary to give to the same river different names in different places. Here, for instance, this river is called el Rio Hondo, the deep river. It was the southern boundary in ancient times of the territories of the Incas of Peru ; and it now divides the province of Sant- iago del Estero from that of Tucuman. The road from the river, for several leagues, to the post of Vinara, where we stopped for the night, was the worst we had yet travelled, and, after nightfall, it required unusual ingenuity to conduct the horses, in order to steer clear of 138 POST-HOUSES. holes, ridges, stumps, branches of trees, and other obstructions, which even in daylight it was not easy, nor at all times possible, to avoid. It was late and dark before we arrived at the post, to which we were guided for a conside- rable distance by the barking of dogs, which frequently cheers the traveller, by announcing to him his approach to an abode of temporary rest. To us, however, a post-house afforded no convenience ; we seldom even crossed their doorless thresholds : if we obtained from the scanty store of the inhabitants a few eggs, or some cow's or goat's milk, it was the utmost we expected ; and in placing our beds, generally round the galera, each fixed upon a spot to his fancy, where we slept as soundly as in any chamber of the most luxurious mansion. 26th. Thermometer at noon 101°. Our jour- ney this day, for upwards of fifty miles, was through a fine, park-like country, with rich and abundant pasture, sometimes reaching to the feet of the postilions as they drove through it. In the afternoon, we discovered in the dis- tance the first chain of mountains connected with the Cordillera de los Andes. As evening drew on, their scenery became truly beautiful, and was viewed by us with peculiar interest, from our not having seen, with the solitary ex- ARRIVAL AT TUCUMAN. 139 ception of the mountains of Cordova, one single hill upon which to repose the eye in a distance of a thousand miles. But it must not be imagined that the vast plain was traversed with indifference ; far from it : there was always something to excite curiosity sufficiently at least to keep alive our enjoyment of the measureless journey, the fatigues and privations of which were all forgotten in the interest that the no- velty created. As we approached Tucuman, we drove for about two leagues through a thick forest ; and, although we had five horses to our galera, it was with very great difficulty that we were dragged through the thickets and the spreading branches which overhung the road. At nine o'clock at night we arrived in the town, and took up our quarters at the post, the hostess of which, a fine handsome creature on a large scale, gave us up one wing of her empty house, in which we established ourselves with great comfort and convenience. 140 SAN MIGUEL DEL TUCUMAN, CHAPTER IX. Tucuman. — Fertility of its soil. — Petty revolutions. — Visit to an Orange-grove. — Botas de potro. — Purchase of horses. — Expense of shoeing. — Visit to the Convent of Lules.— Carnival revels. — Character of the Tucumanos. The city of San Miguel del Tucuman, the capital of the province of the same name, is a tolerably respectable town, and is consi- dered to be the best situated of any in South America ; for a subject of general remark, and one of the many complaints against the Spa- niards, is the very bad situations they fixed upon for the towns and cities they erected in this country. Tucuman is seated in the midst of one of the most fertile plains in the world, producing rice, Indian corn, wheat, barley, the sugar-cane, tobacco, sundry fruits and vegetables, and whatever else the husbandman may desire to cultivate. Black cattle, horses, mules, sheep, and goats, roam in large flocks and herds, in FERTILITY OF THE SOU- 141 superabundant pasture. The mountains, about six leagues from the town, are eovered with wood and timber of the finest kind ; orange and lemon-trees abound upon the declivities, and the summits are clothed with rich pasture, whither the cattle are driven during the hot months of summer. There is not a spot, perhaps, in the New World, I doubt if I may not say in the world at large, that holds out prospects more inviting to emigrants with small capital than the province of Tucuman ; and I do not think it requires the gift of prophecy to assert, that many years can- not elapse before the blessings which Nature has lavished upon this long-neglected land, shall be estimated as they deserve, and turned, per- haps by another people, to a better account than they have hitherto been by the present in- dolent inhabitants, who raise the fruits of the soil in so listless and slovenly a manner, that not half the return is yielded which might be expected from common industry ; besides, the greater portion of the land, fertile in the ex- treme, remains as it was at the formation of the world. From the woods of Tucuman are construct- ed all the best carts which ply to Buenos Ayres, Jujui, and other parts of the country ; they 142 SITUATION OF TUCUMAN. have also furnished immense axletrees for the water-wheels in use in the different mining districts : I have been informed that some of those sent to Potosi took three years in transporting, and cost from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars each. I have seen se- veral samples or specimens of the wood of these mountains, of which there are no fewer than sixty different species, some of them adapted to the most beautiful workmanship of the cabinet-maker. Tucuman, from its situation and the advan- tages which surround it, might be made, and possibly may become, the centre of the arts and commerce of a great nation in the future history of the world. Empires of glorious renown have disappeared, and others greater still have gradually risen, where previously all was barbarism and desolation. This suc- cession of rise and fall commenced in the East, whence it has progressively arrived at the utmost boundaries of Western Europe ; and what physical or moral reason can be assigned that it is thus far to go and no farther ? — that the fairest portion of the globe is not in its turn to partake of the acknow- ledged mutation in the revolving events of the world ? This may perhaps by some be called FUTURE PROSPECTS OF TUCUMAN. 143 " the enervating indulgence of the imagina- tion," but there are others who, I think, will admit, that such a subject is not undeserving of contemplation, because it comes within the pale of those laws and regulations by which the universe is governed. It seems to be a conceded point, that nothing is impossible to perseverance and skill. What a promising field for both presents itself here ! It might indeed be difficult to find a parallel to the happy valley of Rasselas where so few valleys exist ; but beyond all doubt, the vast uncultured, unpeopled, and hitherto disregard- ed plains which are here to be met with, might be made, without any peculiar exertion or skill, the abodes of industry, fruitfulness, happiness, and wealth. In making this assertion, I am supported by the opinions of many, and it may be found at no very distant period that I have not, in the language of Rasselas, been " lis- tening with credulity to the whispers of fancy, or pursuing with eagerness the phantoms of hope." Tucuman suffered severely in the late war of independence, nor is it yet in the full security of peace ; it being only a few weeks since a Colonel La Madrid collected a party of armed men, (of whose appearance and equipment the 144 CiAUClIO SOLDI KltS. annexed cut will furnish some idea) and de- posing the governor, a Colonel Lopez, elected himself to that office ; preferring a situation in which he might share a few loaves and fishes, to one in which he obtained nothing at all. The public and the public papers made some remark upon the incivility and rudeness of the proceeding, and some were of opinion that it PETTY REVOLUTIONS. 145 was illegal to turn a gentleman by open force out of an employment to which he had been officially appointed by the government of the country ; it was even hinted that he should appear before the congress of the nation at Buenos Ayres to give an account of his con- duct ; but there the matter rests, and Colonel La Madrid continues, and is likely to con- tinue, in possession of the governorship of Tu- cuman, until somebody else aspires to it, and takes the trouble to turn him out, in the same manner in which he turned out his prede- cessor.* These little revolutions are confined merely to a few friends of each party ; the commonalty view the struggle with as much indifference as a fight between schoolboys, not caring which side conquers. " On pent appelle7* les institutions de ces peuples des mceurs plutot que des loiv" — a remark from the "Esprit des Loix" which applies pretty generally throughout South America. I never before experienced, and probably never shall again, on the 27th January, such a day of heat as we have just passed. At five * This has actually taken place; Colonel La Madrid has heen deposed with as little ceremony by Colonel Somebody else, who will also have his day, and so on until order is per- manently established* VOL. I. L 146 CHANGE OF WEATHER. o'clock in the afternoon the thermometer stood at 108° ! It is everywhere remarked, that this year has been one of unusual heat and drought, but I do not hear of any illness in consequence : as for our own party, although we have been so much exposed to it, we have hitherto enjoy- ed perfect health ; perspiration never ceases, and yet no loss of flesh is perceptible in any of us. 29th. A total change of weather has taken place to the relief of every living creature. The sun has not shown himself the whole day ; the rain has been unceasing and the thermometer has fallen to 79°. We may soon have an op- portunity of judging whether excessive heat or heavy rain is the most agreeable for travelling, and as it is the nature of man to be dissatis- fied with what he has, and to wish for what he has not, before we arrive at Potosi we may sigh for a return of the weather we have so long considered almost insufferable. Did you feel the earthquake? — At what hour? — Where were you at the time? — What ddi you fancy? — What did you do? — These are questions I am putting to every body I chance to converse with, and I do not think I ever felt greater interest on any subject than in the various accounts I hear respecting this phenomenon. Upon feeling the shock, some EFFECTS OF THE EARTHQUAKE. 147 thought of their riches, some of their children, and one or two of their wives ; but the first impulse of all seems to have been to leap out of bed and run into the street, without any- thought but that of personal safety through the interference of the Virgin. Two or three vil- lages farther north have suffered severely from the late shock, but none so much as Las Trancas, sixty miles distant, which has been converted into a heap of ruins. It is said to have been the severest earthquake felt in this neighbourhood within the memory of man ; that which, about forty years ago, destroyed the town of Esteco, distant about one hundred miles from Tucuman, with all its inhabitants, (for all were swallowed up) was not so sensibly- felt here. I have not yet been able to ascertain the ex- act limits of this tremendous effort of Nature, but from Oratorio Grande, where we felt it —and we know not how much beyond it may have extended — to the last-mentioned village of Las Trancas, is a distance, in a line nearly north and south, of about three hundred and fifty miles. If the same distance, or even half of it, be allowed east and west, what a wonderful mass of earth, including mountains, forests, and rivers, has been rocked like the cradle of a child 148 ORANGE TREES, at the same moment of time ! for all accounts agree as to time — " a few minutes before sun- rise." February 1st. We all rose with the sun, and mounting horses which we had in readiness, proceeded, on this delightful summer's morning, to visit an extensive grove of orange trees upon the sides of the beauteous mountains that rise out of the fertile plains of Tncuman. These mountains run in a north-westerly direction for a distance exceeding two hundred miles, thickly wooded from their base to their summit with timber of various kinds, the bark of some serving for tanning and dying. The orange trees grow to a size unknown in Eu- rope : in our ramble, which was not very far up the mountain, we saw many full thirty feet high, five and six feet in circumference, and laden at the same time with blossoms and with fruit, but the latter wanting many weeks of being ripe. When in season, cart-loads, drawn by bullocks, are conveyed to the town by any one who chooses to take the pains of gathering them ; no exclusive right being claimed either to them or to the fine timber among which they grow. Flocks of humming-birds, attract- ed by the flowers, were to be seen displaying their exquisite plumage with infinite variety in TROPICAL PLANTS. 149 the sun, whilst fluttering their moth-like wings over the fragrant cups from which they sipped their tiny draught. Before leaving the orange-grove, we indulged in the luxury of a cold bath in the mountain- stream, and then wound our way through a charming wilderness, overrun with magnificent acacias : beautiful creepers in full flower : cu- rious air plants suspended from branches high above us, with many shrubs and flowers highly valued or unknown in other climes, here flou- rished disregarded in all the exuberance of Na- ture. With truth it may be said of the whole of this district — " Thy very weeds are beautiful ! thy waste More rich than other climes' fertility." From hence we went to a distant hut, where we procured beef of course, with melons and water-melons in abundance. After this repast, each stretched himself upon the ground for the siesta, and, with his saddle under his head, passed an hour as free from care as any mortal of earth's mould. Then mounting our horses, we returned home in the cool of a fine even- ing, which concluded the amusement of a most agreeable day. I have lately supplied myself with a pair of 150 DELAY OWING TO THE CARNIVAL. light summer boots, called botas de potro ; that is, boots of the skin of a colt, which are, I believe, peculiar to this country, but in any country where a horse is to be had, they also may be had without the necessity of employing either boot or shoe-maker, for there is not a single seam, or a single stitch used in their construction ; leg, foot, sole, being all of one piece, and fitting admirably. This may appear difficult, but nothing is more simple. Here is the receipt. — Take a horse, cut off his hind legs considerably above the hocks; pull the skin down over the hoofs, just as if you were pull- ing off a stocking; when off, scrape the hair from the skin with a sharp knife, and remove every particle of flesh that may have adhered to the inside ; hang the skins to dry, and in the process of drying draw them two or three times on your legs, that they may take their shape, form, and figure. The upper part A becomes the mouth of the boot ; the round pro- jecting part of the hock B the heel ; the foot terminates at C, where it is cut to the required length. The whole operation may be performed, and the boots ready for use, BOTAS DE POTllO. 151 in the course of a week. The people here do not even sew up the end of the foot, but allow the great toes to project for the convenience of the stirrup, which is made so small as only just to admit them, and they occasionally support the whole weight of the body. The boots are very light, and in every sense " easy as a glove ;" I have seen some that had been tanned, and had soles added, which render them the perfection of comfort.* 3rd. This day our carts returned from the maestro, the appellation given to every master- workman of every trade, whether cart-maker or watch-maker, blacksmith or silversmith. We expected our carts to have been repaired in a day or two, but forgot that a day's work in Europe equals that of three in America ; how- ever, even now that they are returned in fit repair, we cannot proceed upon our journey, having just received a communication from the person with whom we have contracted for horses, that we must banish the idea of leaving Tucuman till after the carnival, for that no- thing can induce one of the lower classes to absent himself from the three or four days' riot- ous foolery of this ancient festival, in which * At page 144, the military Gaucho has on a pair of these boots. 152 A REVEREND HORSE-DEALER. postilions, as well as other people, deem it abso- lutely necessary to join, The posts from Tucuman to Salta have been so much destroyed in the late civil wars, that travellers are compelled to contract for horses from the residence of one horse-breeder to that of another. For this accommodation the charge is double that of posting, being two rials (one shilling) per mile for each horse, instead of one rial, which is the postmaster's established charge; and I think it will be admitted, that no very great advantage is taken in such a case of ab- solute necessity : the chances are that, in a si- milar situation in Europe, twice the common rate of postage would not ensure horses to a traveller. We have been purchasing some horses for our private use, from the Rev. Doctor head clergyman of Tucuman, who is also, and has been for upwards of forty years, the principal horse-racer, horse-jockey, cock-fighter, general gamester, and roue determine of the province. General V. paid the enormous sum of five ounces of gold (17/. 10s.) for his horse, a handsome dark bay ; Baron C. paid twelve dollars (21. Ss.) for his, a haughty, long-backed, long-legged, long- tailed grey ; I paid fifteen dollars (Si.) for mine, a spiry, spirited little bay nag, which was, in BARGAIN FOR A HORSE. 153 fact, the property of his Reverence's niece. The price of the three horses was sufficient to sup- port comfortably any reasonable person in the town of Tucuman for at least three months, but did not last his Reverence as many hours, having lost the whole sum at lansquenet im- mediately after receiving it. In the evening, whilst riding out upon el Cur a de Tucuman, the name given to my new purchase, I chanced to meet a gentleman upon a stout, well-conditioned strawberry-coloured horse, with an English saddle and bridle conspicuously new. The whole appearance was good, and such as would have attracted the notice of an amateur of horse-flesh even in Hyde Park. After a little observation of the animal, I rode up alongside the gentleman, and, saluting him, informed him that it was " a fine evening." This preliminary to conversation, general in every country in the world, was returned in full measure by the gentleman, for the Ameri- cans pride themselves upon compliments. " I observe, cavallero," said I, " that you have got a very handsome English saddle and bridle." — " Si seTior ; I purchased them a few weeks ago at Buenos Ayres," replied the cavallero. — "And pray, sir, what may they have cost at Buenos Ayres ?" — " The saddle alone, sir, cost me three 154 BA11GA1N FOR A HOUSE. ounces of gold," replied the cavallero. Ten pounds ! for what was probably shipped in London for four, is no bad profit for the merchant, thought I. "You have also got as handsome a horse, sir, as I have seen in this country." — " He is one of my own breeding," replied the caval- lero, " and nearly the last of several hundred which I possessed before the Revolution." — Se- veral hundred !" said I in a tone of surprise. ■ — " Why, sir," answered the cavallero, " I supplied the government gratis with two hun- dred superior horses at one time, during our late struggle; and I had upwards of three hun- dred stolen from me in one night, by the king's troops, to say nothing of repeated thefts and losses in a small way, both by friends and foes." • — " Then, sir," said I, " I suppose you are one of the principal horse-breeders of this country ?" ■ — " Not as to numbers," replied the cavallero, " but in the goodness of the breed, no man in the province equalled that of Jose" de Santillan." — Jose de Santillan ! 'tis a pity, thought I, that I have not got Gil Bias de Santillan in this little adventure. " As you have no doubt sold many horses in your time, Don Jose Santillan," said I, "per- haps you may have no objection to sell one BARGAIN FOR A HORSE. 155 now ?" — " Not in the least, if I get a fair price," said Don Jose\ patting his horse upon the neck, and letting him feel " insidiously aside" the left spur, for he perceived my object in a moment. — " And pray, sir, what may be a fair price for the animal you are riding ?" said I. — " Oh !" said he, " try him first, and if you like him, we shall have no difficulty upon that mat- ter : the price is a, f rioter a? (a mere trifle.) The tone and manner, however, in which Don Jose" de Santillan pronounced this last sentence, did not encourage me in a hope of obtaining the strawberry for a J rioter 'a. " Well, sir," said I, " let us change horses, and in five minutes I shall satisfy myself upon the qualities of yours." We accordingly chan- ged, and after walking, and cantering, and gal- loping, and twirling and twisting my friend's horse in every pace, except that of the trot, which was totally unknown to the animal, I turned to its owner, saying I approved, and begged to know the f rioter a. " Will you give me five ounces?" said Don Jose de Santillan. If he had insisted upon ten I would have given them with pleasure; but the suppliant tone of " Will you give me?" assured me I might have him for less ; besides, it is an un- heard-of circumstance to give the whole sum 156 BARGAIN FOR A HORSE. asked by the seller of any article in this coun- try : you must always bargain. I therefore im- mediately replied, " Don't you think five too much ?" — " Well, what will you give, caval- lero ?" said Don Jose. — " I will give you," said I, " four as pure ounces of gold as ever were struck in the mint of Mexico ; and you must admit, Senor Santillan, that it is a sporting price for a horse in the province of Tucuman." " Your offer is a very fair one, cavallero ; and, although my horse is worth double the money, you shall have him." We rode home to the post-house, where I paid Don Jose Santillan four ounces of gold — say, fourteen pounds — for his nag, which in London would meet with a hundred purchasers happy to give a hundred guineas for him ; it may therefore be supposed I w r as pleased with my bargain. The name the horse went by was Tortuga, (tor- toise,) to which his round compact shape and great strength fully entitled him. Our purchases being all made for travelling, we thought it expedient to get them shod, a protection with which horses in this part of the world are seldom favoured ; during the whole of our journey from Buenos Ay res I never saw a horse with a shoe. In Tucuman there happens to be a smith, because many people EXPENSE OF SHOEING. 157 going thence to Peru wish to have their horses shod, the mountain-roads being very different from the pampas, where an animal may gallop from one post to another without putting his foot upon a pebble. As the horses were not to be worked, but to be driven loose after the car- riage to Salta, we had given orders to shoe the fore-feet only, and, to our utter consternation, the charge for each pair of shoes was four dol- lars and a half ! (eighteen shillings,) — a price at which a tolerable horse might be purchased. Baron Czettritz was the loudest complainant on this occasion : he thought it extremely hard that he should be charged more than one-third of the whole value of his horse for only half- shoeing, and told the smith in very good Ger- man-Spanish, what he afterwards told me in very good German-English, that " he could shod get in his country all four horse foots fur sechzehn groschen." The smith, smoking his segar, calmly replied, (and I thought reasonably enough,) " that we were all at full liberty to take our horses to the Baron's country to be shod, but if we required that operation to be performed in Tucuman, we must pay four dol- lars and a half, or go without — no hai remedio." 6th. Hired four post-horses, but postilions were out of the question, all of that class being 158 CONVENT OF LULES. deeply engaged in the business of the carnival. We therefore bribed four of our own oeones to ride them, and, putting them to our galera, we filled it with ladies and their children, whilst we ourselves and others escorted them on horse- back, and proceeded to visit the convent of Lules, at the invitation of Father Antonio, a jolly Dominican friar, the prior, lord, and mas- ter, of the whole extensive establishment. We passed, for about three leagues, through as fertile a plain as any in the world, here and there producing different crops, previously alluded to, in great luxuriance ; fig-trees, and tunas, (prickly pears, a delicious fruit,) abounding among various others. The whole of this plain, which embraces a territory of many square leagues, formerly belonged to the Jesuits, who founded the convent, which, with all its ample appurtenances, is now in ruinous neglect. The situation of this ancient building is beautifully picturesque, being upon a slight eminence, rising out of the plain near the foot of the large and richly-wooded mountains be- fore-mentioned. Round it, or nearly so, flows the Lules, a considerable river, winding through the plain for about fifty miles, before it dis- charges itself into the river Santiago; it abounds in fish, and about a hundred yards from the con- CONVENT OF LULES. 159 vent supplies mills for grinding corn, for husk- ing rice, and for sawing timber ; which, before the Revolution, brought in a considerable re- venue to the Dominicans, who here succeeded the Fathers in all their possessions. This property, a short time ago, attracted the notice of a passing traveller, an English- man he was said to be, who entered into a con- tract with the proprietors for the purchase of the whole concern ; but after the agreement was made, the intended or pretending con- tractor left the country, and has not since been heard of. The mills alone seem to present, and no doubt will yet become, a valuable source of emolument. The convent of Lules, with its appurtenan- ces and extensive estate, including some cattle, may be purchased for about three thousand pounds; and a few hundred pounds more would be sueffient to make it an elysium ; its fine cli- mate and well chosen situation have already per- formed half the task. Plenty, superabundant plenty, might be obtained at little cost; for, with common industry the soil is capable of producing any thing that grows under the sun. Lules, I have been informed, was the name of an ancient tribe of Indians, who inhabited this district at the period of the Spanish con- 160 CONVENT OF LULES. quest, and who for a considerable time obsti- nately maintained themselves against their in- vaders. The inhabitants of the convent are now re- duced to a scanty few ; the cells, except four or five, are deserted, and grass grows in the cre- vices of the tiled floor of the cloisters, where formerly the sandal-footed monks paced away the hours in prayer and praise, or where, as often perhaps, in merry mood and in pleasanter pastime, they took their constitutional exercise, anxiously waiting, not the tolling of the solemn- toned bell that calls to vespers, but the merry tinkling that invites to the refectory. And this leads me, quite cl-propos, to mention a roast- ed turkey, of enormous size and of delicious flavour, fed upon Indian corn, which Friar An- tonio, with a dignity of manner truly becom- ing, placed with his own hands as the middle dish of our second course in the canonical re- past he had most munificently provided. The stuffing of this delightful bird I shall never forget, so long as the plump, good-humoured countenance and tonsured head of our reverend host exist in my memory : in the evening when I mounted my horse to take leave, I exclaimed from my very heart, " God keep you a thou- sand years, Father Antonio !" CARNIVAL REVELS. 161 8th. Being Ash-Wednesday, the carnival ceased. The scene exhibited in the city of Tucnman for the last three or four days was probably never exceeded in uproarious con- fusion. Labour and work of every description were suspended, all order was abolished, mas- ter and man, officer and soldier, lady and gen- tleman, all joined pell-mell in the jubilee, with an animation and activity quite unexpected among a people of such indolent habits. The principal mirth appeared to consist in throwing handfuls of flour, or powdered starch, into the eyes of those who seemed least prepared for the assault ; and for which purpose all persons, high and Low, old and young, carried in their handkerchiefs, their pockets, or in the corners of their ponchos, ample store of this ammunition, the price of which advances considerably in con- sequence of the lavish expenditure that on this occasion takes place, morning, noon, and night, for three days and nights successively, and, it must be admitted, sometimes with very ludi- crous effect. The country people, from many leagues round, with their wives, or sweethearts, and children, enter the town, mounted upon horses or mules, some with guitars, some with drums, some singing, others crying, screaming, and vol. i. m 162 CARNIVAL REVELS. bellowing, in tones increasing in shrillness and horrible discord in proportion to the quan- tity of bad wine, chicha, or aguardiente which has been imbibed. Troops of these frantic beings, with two and sometimes three upon one horse (for few go on foot), and occasionally females in the Amazonian or Turkish seat, but without the Oriental grace or dignity, might be seen at all hours in full gallop through the streets, racing for the wager, perhaps, of a pot of chicha, their favourite beverage, made either from the seed of the algaroba or Indian corn. No Hibernian has a greater esteem for his whiskey, or indulges in it more freely, than these people in their chicha ; nor do the joyous sons of Erin, when influenced by their blood- exciting liquor, flourish their shilldahs with more fatal dexterity over the brows of their fellows in a fair, than do the Tucumanos the immense knives which they constantly carry about them, and use, like the sword of Hu- dibras, " as well for spitting as for fighting." One of our peeves-, in a convivial party re- ceived so desperate a stoccado from a friend, that we were obliged to procure another in his stead. If a Tucumano possesses a horse, a laso, a knife, and a guitar, which they all seem to de- CHARACTER OF THE TUCUMANOS. 163 light in, he considers himself amongst the inde- pendent sons of earth, and beyond the caprices of fortune. As for his existence, that costs him neither pains nor trouble to support ; a piece of bgelf or mutton can be had anywhere : and this, so far as my observations have been hitherto directed, appears to me to apply pretty generally to the Gauchos. Not that I pretend to include the whole race in one harsh sen- tence, or to say, as some have said, that all are M 2 164 CHARACTER OF THE GAUCHOS. no better than the uncivilized Indian. It is equally illiberal and unjust to assert that they are devoid of feelings of humanity and bene- volence, and that no intelligence and good sense are to be found amongst them. Like all men, they are formed to be rational beings, and only require education and good example to induce them to exert their faculties, as well for the greater benefit of them selves, as for that of the community at large. At present, they seem not to understand that public good is also that of individuals, and therefore are utterly indifferent to the former. But after all, where the ad- vantages arising from emulation and industry are denied, as hitherto has been the case in this devoted country, idleness and indolence must be the natural consequences. From the barbarous treatment which I had seen them inflict upon horses, I was at first dis- posed to set down the lower classes as a set of cruel heartless savages, but, upon closer ac- quaintance with them, I am inclined to agree with Schmidtmeyer, who, in his " Travels into Chile," remarks, that although they are exces- sively cruel to animals, it is from the absence of feeling, not from the indulgence of passion. They will goad, spur, and lash a beast as long as it can go, and if it should become disabled, CHARACTER OF THE GAUCHOS. 165 stand still, or fall down, as I have frequently- seen, they will quietly take off the saddle, whilst singing a stanza of a song, place it upon another, and leave the unfortunate sufferer to die upon the road without losing their temper ; neither the owner of the animal, nor the rider, nor the spectator, (unless it be some foreigner like myself,) will show the least symptom of being moved or offended at the scene. I also agree with Schmidtmeyer, in never hav- ing witnessed a really passionate state of mind among these people. Their naked children and their numerous dogs (as he observes, and I have seen) will stand round the place where the fire is burning, in the way of whatever may be doing, trying to steal what they can, and deaf to all commands to move, or to fetch any- thing that may be wanted ; but no feelings of ill-temper or impatience show themselves. I leave it to philosophers to decide if this pa- tience be a virtue, or if it be merely the effect of that innate indolence which forms the chief characteristic of the South Americans, and for which, it is probable, they are indebted to Spanish parentage and Spanish government, quite as much as to the influence of climate. 166 HOTEL CHARGES. CHAPTER X. Disputed account. — Departure from Tucuman. — Interesting scenery. — Arrival at Las Trancas. — Its ruins. — Descrip- tion of the recent Earthquake. February 9th. Order and reason being in some degree restored, we procured postilions and were ready to leave Tucuman early in the afternoon, but were detained full three hours in disputing the charges of our hostess. In most countries, it is imprudent to take up quarters and enter into expense without previously as- certaining the probable limits. Here, as in France, not to do so is to expose yourself to certain imposition, or dispute, or both. Whe- ther this omission on our part is to be attri- buted in the present case to the lateness of the hour and our great fatigue when we arrived, or to the black eyes and embonpoint of a land- DAILY DINNER. 167 lady, whose appearance far excelled what we had for some time been in the habit of seeing among persons in her capacity, I cannot pos- sibly say ; but we certainly took her integrity upon trust, which was more than she was dis- posed to give vis the benefit of when about to depart from her house. We had been fourteen days in Tucuman, on two of which we all dined from home, and on one of them, be it for ever remembered, with Friar Antonio at the convent of Lules. Bread, milk, and eggs, were supplied in abundance for our breakfast, and our dinner was quite as good, I believe, as any cook in the province was capable of dressing, but such as " pamper- ed menials" in England would scarcely conde- scend to sit down to. A large silver dish full of a glutinous composition of bread, vegetables, hog's-lard, and the cook knows what besides, called sopa, invariably occupied the centre of the table ; a fowl torn to pieces and fried with grease, several lumps of beef transfixed upon a long stick, which served as the spit for roast- ing, young ears of Indian corn boiled (a de- licious vegetable), were the daily dishes of our dinner. Our liquor, I admit, was in abundance, for the well, supplied by a copious spring, was 168 DISPUTED ACCOUNT. situated within five yards of the door of our apartment. For this fare, and our barn-like lodging, the bill, delivered upon half a sheet of long paper, was (translated) precisely this : — "Account . . . 110 dollars." This concise method of handing in our bill evidently saved the trouble of addition, sub- traction, and detection of little teazing errors ; but as, on many other occasions in life, in steer- ing clear of Scylla we run foul of Chary bdis, so in the present case, on being freed from the pains of inspecting a detailed account of dif- ferent items, we were plunged into vehement dispute upon the possibility and impossibility of our expenses amounting to one hundred and ten dollars. General Paroissien exclaimed, " Heavens ! what a charge !" I took up his dying note in the key of indignation, " Que ver- guenza /" " What a shame !" Baron Czettritz allowed me no time to expatiate : " Mine Got, vas me ! I pay no !" he pronounced with remark- able firmness, and banged his hand upon the table. Mr. Scriviner simply asked " What 's the matter ?" The hostess said, " No tomare mows /" englished, " 1 '11 not bate a farthing !" We then all spoke together, as all people do when all wish to be heard and nobody listens, which DEPARTURE FROM TUCUMAN. 169 makes it impossible for me to recount precisely what passed in discussing this exorbitant charge. I shall therefore briefly state, that the landlady at length yielded to the pressing instances of so many cavalleros, and accepted sixty-eight dollars in full of all demands, being at the rate of a dollar per day each, or thereabouts, for five persons. We did not think it worth while to include the two servants we retained among us, because the sixty-eight dollars was a very fair remunerating price for our expenses to any hotel-keeper in the province of Tucu- man ; though to a person who has never left England, the sum of, say, thirteen pounds ten shillings, cannot appear extravagant for four- teen days' lodging, and twelve days' board, for five gentlemen and two servants. At five o'clock, our account being settled and friendship restored, we embraced our landlady, who was all this time in a summer dishabille after the siesta, and, notwithstanding what had occurred, our parting was exceedingly tender, eyein to pressure of hands and a chaste kiss. The evening was delightful, and the scenery altogether charming, as we wound through the thickly- wooded plain, which extended to the 170 HORSES. first habitation, four leagues distant from the citv of Tucuman, where we halted for the night, spreading our beds as usual in the dif- ferent spots most inviting to our fancy. 10th. The day had not dawned before we were up in our ponchos to feed our horses, which we had secured to stakes all round us. For their accommodation, we had provided ourselves with nose-bags, and two or three sacks of barley were packed in the baggage- carts, although there was no absolute neces- sity for so doing, the pasture being abundant on each side of the way, and affording an op- portunity for the animals to feed as they were driven gently along. Our journeys were now limited to twelve or fifteen leagues a-day for the convenience of the horses, which I have before mentioned it was necessary to hire at Tucuman, to convey us to some intermediate horse-proprietor between that town and Salta, the post-masters not being sufficiently supplied. On this occasion, in ad- dition to the thirteen horses which we required, twenty or thirty others were driven on loose by a peone, who stops at distances of three, four, or five leagues, when the loose horses are caught by means of the laso, and take their WOODED COUNTRY. 171 turns in the carnages ; the others being driven on gently, feeding as they go, until their turn arrives to be again yoked. The loose ani- mals are always accompanied by a steady old horse with a bell tied to his neck, called the cencerro, out of hearing of the tinkling of which the other animals seldom stray : therefore, whe- ther in the day or the night, they are suffered to range at large, without any apprehension of their being lost even in the thickest forest, nor is there any danger of their separating from their own herd to join another if they chance to meet with one. This day's journey lay, for the most part, through a closely -wooded country, in which were some glens of great beauty, and along the edges of which our route was traced, the moun- tains upon our left adding much grandeur to the scenery, which was diversified at every turn and more than usually interesting. We employ- ed ourselves in building chateaux and cottages, and laying out parks, in various situations as we drove along, and some of us may live to see the day when our imaginary designs shall be put into execution by succeeding strangers and worked upon in reality. We stopped for the night in the neighbourhood of two or three 172 RUINS OF LAS TRANCAS. huts belonging to a cattle-breeder, but, for any convenience or accommodation to be obtained, we might as well have reposed upon the summit of Chimborazo. 11th. Fresh breezes and pleasant weather, with a coolness indicating the approaching termination of summer. The country still continues wooded, but the soil is not so fer- tile as we have hitherto seen in this most luxuriant province. At noon, we arrived at what, about three weeks ago, was the respect- able village of Trancas, now a heap of ruins, the houses being for the most part destroyed by the late earthquake, of which this neigh- bourhood may be called the centre of violence. It was not without feelings of peculiar anxiety that we entered the village of Trancas, for, having been informed that the most disastrous consequences of the awful event were to be seen here, and having ourselves experienced the principal shock, although upwards of three hundred miles distant, we felt an increased in- terest in viewing its effects. The country round being covered with trees, we did not observe the village until within the distance of two or three hundred yards, when the first object that met our view was a number of the inhabitants clearing away the EUINS OF LAS TBANCAS. 173 ruins of their church, the whole front of which had fallen to the ground, except one of the side towers, that stood drooping over in a very singular manner. e^vK This edifice had been erected by its present venerable vicar at his own private cost, and we may presume with a view to its remaining a permanent memorial of his zeal and muni- ficence, for he employed thirteen years in the work. Notwithstanding all its solidity, how- ever, he h;*s outlived it, and the fabric which at one time he thought would transmit his name to future generations, he has himself seen, in the space of a few minutes, buried in the dust of its own ruins. From the church Ave walked through, I might 174 RUINS OF LAS TltANCAS. with truth say, walked over, the desolated village ; for, excepting two or three tottering houses and as many tottering walls, the whole was a confused mass of rubbish. It was a pitia- ble sight to see the inhabitants stalking round their prostrate dwellings, the characters of terror and dismay strongly depicted in every counte- nance. And well they might be ; for, from the hour in which their woe commenced up to the present, their minds have had no respite from ap- prehension ; every day has been attended with several repetitions of the earthquake, more or less severe than the original one, but all suffi- cient to keep alive feelings of consternation and alarm, which have been considerably in- creased by the knowledge of the utter destruc- tion of two other villages between six and seven leagues distant, at one of which we are informed the earth has opened in several places, and " water gushes upwards into the air like a fountain." Having made inquiries of various individuals, and not having heard one contradictory account, I shall here relate the particulars exactly as they were given to me in the village of Trancas, and although they agree in the main with what I have already mentioned, I cannot think that the most trifling particulars connected with so THE EARTHQUAKE. 175 momentous and wonderful a phenomenon can be altogether devoid of interest. Three or four days prior to the earthquake there was a tremendous storm, the destructive effects of which have been already noticed on approaching Santiago del Estero. In making this observation on the state of the weather, it is only because I wish to relate the account as it was related to me, not that I pretend to in- terfere in the opinion that a connexion exists between an earthquake and the elements above, or that the one is influenced by the other. I confess myself incapable of forming any opi- nion on the subject, and it still, I believe, re- mains for scientific research to decide whether any such connexion exists or not. M. Hum- boldt, in describing the first earthquake that he felt in South America, gives a long and very particular account of the state of the weather and the atmosphere, both before and after the shock.* He also minutely describes it pre- viously to the dreadful earthquake which de- stroyed the town of Caracas, on 26th March, 1812, when between nine and ten thousand inhabitants were suddenly buried beneath its ruins, and by which, throughout the province * Voyage au Reg. Equin. vol. iv. chap. x. 176 THE EARTHQUAKE. of Venezuela, there perished, almost at the same instant of time, upwards of twenty thousand souls.* " It is a very ancient opinion," says the same traveller, "that there is a perceptible connexion between earthquakes and the state of the at- mosphere previously to those phenomena;" but M. Humboldt's own opinion is, that the oscilla- tions are generally independent of the state of the atmosphere, although he observes that, " Natural philosophers are inclined to admit a close connexion between the undulations of the earth, and any meteor which happens to appear at the same time."f It seems however to be agreed, that there is an intimate connexion between earthquakes and volcanoes, and that, in all probability, they are effects of the same cause, namely, subterraneous fiery agents. The volcanoes which are in activity are situated in islands, or on coasts not far from the sea ; those which we find in the interior countries of the earth are all extinct. These ob- servations lead us to conclude, that the vici- * Voyage au Reg. Equin. vol. v. chap. x. t Doctor Arnott, in his " Elements of Physics," &c. mentions that, "on occasion of the great earthquake at Lis- bon, the mercury fell so far in the barometers, even in Britain, as not to be visible in that portion at the top usually left uncovered for observation." THE EARTHQUAKE. 177 nity of the sea is a condition essential to the existence of volcanoes ; they farther lead us to think, that the water of the sea, penetrating into volcanic cavities, is a cause of eruptions. It is a known fact, that the presence of water, and in great quantity, is incontestable in vol- canic phenomena. We know the astonishing power of this fluid when reduced to vapour, or steam ; but our steam-engines can hardly convey to us an idea of the power which it is capable of acquiring in caverns, the sides of which are several thousand yards in thickness, such as sustain the mountains of Etna and Chimboraco ; heat may extend its elasticity to a point of which it is impossible to form any idea.* This, then, is assigning, in tolerably plain terms, the cause of earthquakes to steam; a power, certainly, of the extent of which we can form no idea. " The eruptions of Mount Vesu- vius, throwing up incalculable masses of matter into the clouds, induced another scientific gen- tleman, Mr. Perkins, to imagine that the im- mense power was generated by highly elastic steam." But, to my own earthquake. A few mi- * D'Aubuisson. VOL. I. N 178 THE EARTHQUAKE. nutes before the rising of the sun on the 19th of January, the first shock took place, com- mencing with a noise and a tremulous motion, which lasted a few seconds, causing doors to fly open and sundry articles of furniture to tumble from their places ; this was the signal on which the inhabitants rushed from their houses into the open air. A pause of two or three seconds occurred ; then the noise re-commenced with a violent rocking motion, which continued about a minute, and in this time the church and se- veral houses were shaken to the ground. After the lapse of half an hour, another shock de- stroyed the greater part of the remaining houses; and during the whole of that day, until ten o'clock at night, several succeeding shocks com- pleted the demolition of the village. That the motion was of a rocking nature is evident from the manner in which houses and walls were thrown, some having fallen to one side, and some to the other ; that is, some outwards and some inwards. During the day, the altars and images that could be got at were taken from the ruins of the church and erected in the street, where processions took place, where vows and suppli- cations were offered up, and the images of those saints which had not been able to protect them- THE EARTHQUAKE. 179 selves were now invoked for the protection of the inhabitants in this awful calamity. The night passed away quietly, but on the following morning deep murmuring sounds, like distant thunder, were repeatedly heard and were followed by several shocks ; these continued at intervals for fifteen days and nights successively : they then gradually de- creased both in number and violence, and for the last day or two they have been scarcely perceptible. 12th. 1 have now to describe, not that of which I have been informed by others, but that which I have myself actually seen, felt, and heard. Upon our arrival in this village, it was to us a matter of no great concern that there was not a, house in a state to receive us ; we were accustomed to, and preferred, the open air to the best mansion in South America. In the evening, however, the sky became overcast and heavy rain followed, which compelled us to take refuge in a house in so shattered a state as to have been abandoned by its owners. Here, after examining the fissures in the lean- ing walls and the state of the loosened beams, and having conversed upon the imprudence of risking the lives of the first embassy of the N 2 180 THE EARTHQUAKE. Potosi, La Paz, and Peruvian Mining Associa- tion, we at length decided upon spreading our beds, as no better asylum could be obtained. The death-like silence which usually follow- ed the laying our heads on our pillows was this night suspended for a considerable time, in consequence of various observations which our recumbent position enabled us to make on the beams and rafters above, each of which, like the sword of the tyrant, seemed ready at a touch to fall upon the wretch beneath. Some general remarks, too, upon the earthquake, of which we had just seen the disastrous effects, occupied the greater part of an hour before sleep took possession of our senses. The sombre, silent hour of midnight, when it may be said ' Creation sleeps,' has a solemnity in its repose which, when suddenly disturbed by any alarming occurrence, operates upon the imagination in a manner very different from a similar occurrence in mid-day. Danger, al- though distant, is supposed to be at hand, or if really near, it is considerably magnified in the darkness of the night, when fear and confusion know no bounds. This remark is not foreign to my subject. It was a few minutes before midnight, when all was calm without and silent within, that THE EARTHQUAKE. 181 a most extraordinary hollow rumbling sound disturbed us all, and immediately we felt our- selves shaken by a strong tremulous motion, which, with the noise, may be likened to that of a wooden bridge when a heavy vehicle moves quickly over it. This lasted between fifteen and twenty seconds, increasing in loudness as it approached, then rushed beneath us with a sound truly terrific, resembling, in some de- gree, a sudden gust of wind through a forest ; and was accompanied with a motion of the earth so violent as to make the tiles on the roof of our house rattle as if in a storm. This great concluding shock lasted but a few seconds: time fully sufficient for all of us to spring from our beds and fly through door or through window, without other thought than that of saving our- selves from being buried beneath the tottering walls that seemed to threaten instant destruction. Our alarm, which carried us far beyond the precincts of danger in our flight from the house, happened to be unattended with any important consequences ; for, although the shock was the most violent that had occurred since the origi- nal grand one, yet the state of the village was such as scarcely to admit of any farther damage: but, had it occasioned mischief in the extreme, fear could not have been increased or have oc- 182 THE EARTHQUAKE. casioned more tumult than occurred. As soon as we got out of the house, we heard voices in every tone and in every direction calling out — " Temblor! Temblor! Temblor!" for the peo- ple, who had had such recent experience in earthquakes, left their beds on the first warn- ing sound and fled in every direction, without knowing to what purpose. When the general consternation had in some degree subsided, it was curious to see and to hear what was passing. Some were upon their knees in the attitude of ardent supplication, praying aloud for mercy ; others were to be seen running — fathers and mothers with their children in their arms — until loss of breath com- pelled them to stop, or reason whispered that danger had passed. One of my companions made as dexterous a leap through a window as ever was performed by Harlequin, and had the good fortune to land on a heap of mud, into which he plunged and there lay softly im- bedded until relief arrived. The nearly com- plete state of nudity of most persons, and the complete state of others, men, women, and children, who were now to be seen stalking through the street, or in the adjoining fields, formed a scene, which, on any other occasion, would have been truly ridiculous ; but, setting THE EARTHQUAKE. 183 apart the solemnity of the event, the rain which poured was of itself a damper to all pleasantry. After my share of drenching and alarm, I wrapped myself in my cloak and poncho, and took shelter under the projecting eaves of a house, against the wall of which I dosed till daylight, for none of us had courage to return to our beds in the crazy habitation which we had just left. The difficulty of procuring the number of horses we required compelled us to remain this day in Trancas, which I did not regret ; for I felt that I could never hear enough of the earthquakes and their effects. Smoking being the grand medium for gossip, I went with a pocket full of segars to visit different families, each segar purchased for me a very interest- ing account, and the different manner in which each person told his own story added novelty to the recital. After dinner, we passed an hour or two en- deavouring to catch humming-birds, of which there were great numbers, fluttering like but- terflies round the shrubs and bushes in the neighbourhood of the village ; but, as our wish was to take one alive, none of us having the heart to kill them, our attempts were fruitless. 184 DEPARTURE FROM TRANCAS. CHAPTER XI. An infant friar. — Appearance given to the atmosphere by Locusts. — Hot Springs of Rosario. — Reception at the house of a private gentleman. — Ceremonious habit of com- pliment derived from the Spaniards. — Countess D'Aunoy. — Loss of property by the Revolution. February 13th. The villagers, who had been prevailed on to direct their thoughts from the domestic calamities that surrounded them, clubbed together about twenty-five horses, which enabled us to leave Trancas at an early hour on this day. Five or six miles from the village we forded the rapid river Tala, where it is requisite to fill the water-bottles, as no water can conveniently be obtained for several leap-lies onwards, This day's journey, which was twelve leagues, exhibited, I think, finer scenery than any other since we left Buenos Ay res. Wooded hills, fertile plains, high mountains, deep glens, and thick forests, showed themselves alter- WILD CATTLE AND BIRDS. 185 nately in their gayest and grandest features, enlivened by herds of cattle and troops of fine wild mules : the latter were occasionally to be seen in full speed across the plain, others drawn up in close column, boldly fronting us, with crests erect, ears pointed, and snorting as if challenging our party, until the shouts of our peones would put them to the rout. Ostriches were also, sometimes, to be seen amongst par- tridges, pheasants^ snipes, wild-ducks, parrots, and many strange birds, all of which contri- buted to the enjoyment of our journey, as we drove over hill and dale at a gallop. The only embellishment that seemed requisite to com- plete the landscape, was the industry of man, and man himself: his presence is materially wanted in this country to give full effect to the charms which Nature has lavished with so bountiful a hand, often to no other apparent end than to formja splendid view for the mo- mentary gratification of a few casual travellers like ourselves, who at the same time cannot but regret that all this ground-work of intrinsic wealth should remain unenjoyed and almost unknown. About ten leagues from Trancas, where we stopped to change horses, we found the few houses that lately composed the hamlet, in 186 AN INFANT FR1AH. ruins from the effect of the earthquake. A woman of the place was busily employed in making a Franciscan friar's dress for her son, two years old ; he had been unwell, and dur- ing his illness, the mother vowed to Saint Francis, that if he would have the goodness to restore her son to health, she would make him a friar of his order. Saint Francis oblig- ingly interfered, and the child of course re- covered. He has now his head shaved in the shape of the tonsure, and is only waiting for his frock, cowl, and sandals, to fulfil his mother's vow. In Spain and Portugal, I have seen children of all ages dressed as nuns, monks, or friars, in consequence of vows of this kind. Their appearance to strangers is truly ridicu- lous, but I doubt if even their patron saints could view a number of nuns and friars, from five to ten years of age, playing at leap-frog or other gambols, without being very much amused. In the afternoon we had capital sport, duck- shooting round a small lake near the road, where we stopped for that purpose. Towards evening we saw clouds of locusts on their voyage of destruction. It is almost impossible to convey by description a true notion of the multitude of these creatures. Had I been LOCUSTS. 187 blindfolded and led to some particular spot, and there, when my eyes were unhanded, for the first time beheld them, I should have ima- gined a shower of snow was falling in thick flakes ; for the whole atmosphere, in the direc- tion in which they were to be seen, had that appearance; even the powerful beams of the sun were effectually intercepted. Happily the visits of these insects are only periodical, many years sometimes intervening between them. We took up our abode for the night at the house of a private gentleman with whom General Paroissien was acquainted. It was situated at the skirt of a forest through which we had passed, and although a very respectable habitation for this country, it conveyed no idea to a European of the owner's being a wealthy man and sole proprietor of the land for many leagues round. 14th. A delightful morning : we rose with the sun, and continued our journey to the vil- lage of Rosario. Here also were to be seen fallen walls, unroofed houses, and many sad countenances, from the effects of the earth- quake. Having heard of the salubrious qualities of a hot spring in this neighbourhood, we mounted our horses and proceeded to visit it. After 188 HOT SPRINGS OF ROSARIO. riding about two leagues through a thickly- wooded country, amused at every step by the appearance of insects, birds, animals, and plants, all new to us, we arrived at the foot of a moun- tain which was also thickly covered with trees from its base to its summit : this we ascended by a narrow path that wound up its steep side, and occasionally along the edge of a deep glen, which led us to an open space, surrounded by large rocks and high trees, forming a sort of spacious grotto, through which descended, in a considerable stream, the waters that we came to see. As we approached their source, the steam arising from them and a sulphureous smell were sensibly perceived. Several males and females indiscriminately were to be seen bath- ing in holes which they had dug for the pur- pose in the bed of the stream. On arriving at this spot, I was at first surprised at finding nei- ther bath, nor house, nor hut, nor accommoda- tion of any sort for bathers, who sometimes come from distances of many hundred miles for the benefit of these waters, which have been found extremely efficacious in rheumatic complaints, as also in strains, bruises, and cutaneous dis- eases. A moment's reflection, however, banish- ed all surprise on the subject, and caused me to place the neglect to the account of the provok- SPANISH POLICY IN AMERICA. 189 ing supineness of the inhabitants of this coun- try, and to the utter disregard of improvement that has so long prevailed among them. But this must be added to that voluminous cata- logue of injuries and neglects which exists, and must long exist in South America, to record three centuries of Spanish misrule ; for, amongst other grievances under the government of that nation, any attempt on the part of the inhabi- tants to better their condition was made an ex- cuse for additional taxation and persecution, and often led to final destruction. The fact is no- torious, that many improvements were stopped by the Spanish authorities, and their promoters severely punished : the machinery of incipient manufactories has been seized and destroyed ; the vines of newly-planted vineyards have been rooted up and burnt, lest their produce should tend to diminish the exports from the mother country, on which enormous duties were levied. Improvement was not only viewed with jealousy, but actually opposed, under the bigoted apprehension that it might lead to an enlargement of ideas, and become an open- ing of knowledge, through which the people might ultimately discover the wrongs which they endured. Barbarous ignorance and blind superstition were trammels out of which this » 190 HOT SPRINGS OF ROSAltlO. unfortunate people were not permitted to emerge, up to the very last hour of Spanish dominion. The hot spring is situated in the midst of a beautifully romantic country, the soil so fertile as so be capable of producing with common industry, any thing and every thing requisite not only for existence but for the luxurious enjoyment of it ; the climate healthy and de- lightful, and the severities of winter altogether unknown. The chief towns of Tucuman and Salta, the one south, the other north, are each about forty leagues distant from this spring; the neigh- bourhood, generally speaking, is tolerably well inhabited, and its proximity to the high road from Buenos Ayres, Cordova, &c. to Peru, makes it convenient for the visits of travellers. These advantages, w^n sloth and indolence give way to industry and enterprise, cannot pass un- noticed, for it is not likely that a place, where a fountain of health may be said to exist, will continue in neglect. Unfortunately for man, there would be no lack of visiters on the score of infirmity to contribute towards the sup- port of an extensive establishment ; thousands would gladly go any distance to a place where ihey might hope to exchange wealth for health, HOT SPRINGS OF ROSAlHO. 191 whilst the attractions which such a place, under proper management, usually presents to curio- sity and amusement, would in all probability soon render the baths of Rosario as renowned as the most fashionable in Europe. After scrambling up a steep rock to the source of a waterfall flowing from a height of about fifteen or twenty feet, we dipped a thermometer into the stream, which was so hot that it caused the mercury to expand suddenly and with so much force as to burst the tube, although the instrument was graduated to 112 degrees ; we were therefore disappointed in ascertaining the temperature, but this cir- cumstance will convey a tolerably fair idea of the heat of the water. At this spot we found it too hot to bathe in, and for that purpose were obliged to move farther down the stream, which gradually cools as it flows from the head of the springy We were in- formed by the natives that, at a short distance up the mountain there was a well, in which eggs and Indian corn were frequently boiled sufficiently for use. Circumstances prevented us from seeing this well, but from what we did see and feel we readily believed its existence. I must not forget to mention that, within five or six yards of the hot stream, there flowed another nearly parallel to it, perfectly cool and 192 PROCEED ON OUR JOURNEY. transparent. We saw here a very curious tree named boracho, the drunkard, from the circum- stance of the trunk's swelling out abruptly into that form which is sometimes called * pot bel- lied,' and this is thickly covered with thorns like tigers' claws. We also saw a very beau- tiful flower, named tripos de frayle, friar's tripes, which somewhat resembles the honeysuckle* We returned to the village through as wild though luxuriant a landscape as Nature ever designed, the charms of which were heightened by all the softness and repose of a summer's evening. 15th. We made but a short day's journey, owing to heavy rain, which fell in the night and continued the whole of this day. It so much swelled the river Rosario, that we were detained a considerable time upon its steep banks, clearing and levelling a road for the carriages to pass. We then drove through an immense forest, the noble mountains which continue from Tucuman to Salta, a distance of eighty -seven leagues, occasionally appearing in great magnificence upon our left. Just as night commenced, we reached the house of a private gentleman, Don Jose Torres, who was sitting with his wife and seven chil- dren under a shed, or a sort of verandah, in front of his house. We requested permission DON JOSE TORRES. 193 to remain for the night, which was granted with a readiness and frankness that proved we were heartily welcome, and such as travellers usually meet with throughout the whole of South America. I shall ask here, en passant, without mean- ing ungratefully to detract from the merits of the case, if this open-house-keeping proceeds from a true spirit of hospitality, or if it be the consequence of mere custom, which, from the want of public accommodation, every man who owns a house complies with, because, whenever he stirs from home he must avail himself in turn of the house of another ? Proprietors of houses in England, judging from their own cases, may imagine, that keep- ing " open house" for travellers is attended with very great trouble and expense. According to the customs of England it certainly would be so, but in South America it is neither trou- blesome nor expensive. Here is no calling for chambermaids to prepare a room, no disturb- ing the housekeeper from her tea to air a pair of sheets, no demand upon the butler for a bottle of wine, nor upon the cook for any ex- tra exercise of his art, nor upon coachman or grooms to take care of carriages and horses. The traveller alights at the door of a house, vol. i. o 194 RECEPTION OF TRAVELLERS. which he enters, and accosts those he may chance to see, saying, " God keep ye, gentle- men !" to which a similar reply is given. The traveller then says, "With your permission, senores, I shall stop here for the night." — "With the greatest pleasure," is the reply. Here ends, nine times out of ten, the whole of the trouble or interference between the parties. The traveller points to a spot, either inside or outside the house, according to the state of the weather, where he wishes his mu- chacho (servant) to spread his saddle-cloths ; these being three or four fold, are sufficiently large to lie upon, and, with his saddle under his head and poncho or cloak over him, com- plete the bed. Some few, who like their luxuries, carry a small mattress and sometimes even a portable bedstead, but nothing of the kind is given or expected either at a public or private house, for the very best reason— because they have nothing of the kind to give. The traveller also carries with him his alj'orjas, a species of haversack with provisions ; but if he happens to arrive at the family meal-time, he is invited to partake, which invitation is usually declined, because it is usually complimentary and nothing more. In South America, as in Spain, ceremonious CEREMONIOUS COMPLIMENTS. 19<5 compliments are too frequently indulged in ; offers and promises of every thing, without meaning or intending any thing, are of daily occurrence ; but this general rule has of course its exceptions, for it would be strange to say, that there are not as truly generous minds in South America and in Spain as in any other part of the world, yet even the very best are addicted to empty compliments altogether un- known among Englishmen. Should you, for instance, chance to admire a valuable necklace, a watch, a ring, or a handsome horse, the owner, although unacquainted with you, immediately makes an obeisance, and says, " Est a a la dis- posieion de V." " It is at your service," but never expects you to accept the proffered gift. It must, no doubt, have occurred to others as well as to myself, in both Spain and South America, when speaking in praise of a lady, be she wife or daughter, in the presence of the husband or father, to have received from the latter the same generous offer — " Senor, estd, a la disposieion de V." Promises are made most liberally by the South Americans, but the performance of them is not so common. Ask, or shortly express a wish, for any thing that may be distant or diffi- cult to be obtained, and some person present o 2 196 CEREMONIOUS COMPLIMENTS. will be sure to say, "Puede haver," " It may be had;" or, " Si, porque nonV "Yes, — why not?" or, " Veremos" "We shall see;" or, " Piuede V. cuidado," " You may rely upon it ;" although, at the same time, there is neither any intention nor perhaps any possibility of fulfilling the promise. A candid denial or refusal is considered a breach of civility, and they cannot find in their hearts to deprive you of the momentary hope which their compliment may perhaps hold out. Qualities such as these, which the French call aimabilite de ma'urs, may turn to good ac- count in the progress of education and im- provement of society ; for it must be admitted, that a general wish to please is a sure indication of a benevolent mind, and what more genial soil than benevolence for the cultivation of every good principle ? The compliments of Spanish society have been practised in ancient and modern times, and may be very adroitly rendered subservient to self-interest, sometimes to the confusion of one party and to the benefit of another, as the following instances will show. The learned countess d'Aunoy, on her travels through Spain a hundred and fifty years ago, wrote to a friend at Paris in these terms : " I was sitting at table, when one of my women THE COUNTESS D'aUNOY. 197 brought me my watch to wind it up, as it was my custom at noon : it was a striking watch of Tompion's make, and cost me fifty louis d'ors. My banker, who was by me, expressed a desire to see it. I gave it him with the cus- tomary civility. This was enough : my blade rises and makes me a profound reverence, tell- ing me that he did not deserve so considerable a present, but that such a lady as 1 could make no other, and he would engage his faith that he would never part with my watch as long as he lived. He kissed it at the end of this plea- sant compliment and thrust it into the pocket of his small-clothes. You will take me to be a very great sot for saying nothing to all this, and I do not wonder at it. But I confess I was so surprised at his proceeding, that the watch was out of sight before I could resolve on what I was to do; in fine, I let him go with it, and endeavoured to do myself honour from a thing which gave me great mortifica- tion — but it will be my fault if I am trapped again." Thus far the countess d'Aunoy — the following adventure is my own. In the Peninsular war, I became acquainted with a Spanish colonel, whose regiment was in the same brigade as that to which I belonged, and whenever I chanced to praise his horses, or 198 SPANISH POLITENESS. admire any thing belonging to him, he always said with a " profound reverence" that it was at my service. Knowing this to be empty compliment on his part, I thought the least I could do for civility's sake was to make a si- milar reply on similar occasions. One day he observed in a corner of my room a new sabre, which I had just received from England, and taking it up, he expressed his admiration in terms that induced me, with infinite politeness, to assure him it was at his service. This was enough, my blade rises, (as the countess ob- serves,) makes me a profound reverence, and in an instant both blades disappeared — but " it will be my fault if I am trapped again." Within very little more than half an hour after our arrival at the house of Don Jose Torres, our peones had killed, roasted, and de- voured three full-grown goats. Our own sup- per consisted of a kid, two fowls, good bread and bad cheese, served up in large silver dishes, with forks, spoons, drinking-cups, and candle- sticks of the same metal, all of the rudest work- manship, but extremely massive. Indeed, their weight was what led me to discover their va- lue, for their dingy colour at first caused them to pass for tarnished pewter. DOMESTIC SCENE. 199 Don Jose is a gentleman of large landed pro- perty, and of the first respectability in the province, but has nothing in his dress or appear- ance indicative of it, still less in his habitation and family. His wife had neat shoes and white stockings on pretty feet, and was fair and cleanly in her person ; but as for any other dis- tinguishing quality about her, there was none. Dirty, half-naked children, and dirtier slaves, male and female, were all of one party ; there was nothing by which a stranger, unaccustom- ed to the manners of the country, could dis- tinguish rank, or birth, or education. General Paroissien, who becomes passionately fond of other people's children, after covering a boy of four years old with kisses, and sharing with it alternately a mouthful from his spoon or his fork, called for some water to wash, which was handed to him by a negress in a deep silver basin, and with this he washed the child's face, and certainly improved it very much, even in the opinion of the mother ; who said, that " for some days past the weather had been too cold and damp for using water with any degree of comfort, and that, for her part, she never had courage to wash herself on a cold day." This is neither tale nor exaggeration, but the plain translation of her speech, which £00 EFFECTS OF WAK. may be considered as conveying the sentiments of a very great part of the population of South America, so far as I have observed, A morn- ing visit to a family is generally very repug- nant to the feelings of an Englishman, for he seldom sees that neatness and delicacy to which he has been accustomed at home, and a want of which would there be deemed more than un- pardonable. There are, however, many excep- tions to be made in this particular, in the society of Buenos Ayres, Cordova, &c. ; and in the full-dress of evening, the South Ame- rican ladies equal those of any other country in the neat and tasteful embellishment of their persons. Don Jos6 Torres, at one period possessed upwards of three thousand head of horned cattle, out of which only eight cows now remain ; of all the rest he was despoiled in the course of the late revolutionary wars. Those who grumble to pay war-taxes and consider them a hardship, would do well to reflect upon the greater hardship that are averted by paying to kf>ep the field of battle out of one's own coun- try ; for wherever the seat of war is, the armies of friend and foe occasion nearly equal deso- lation. HOSPITALITY OF DON JOSE. '201 CHAPTER XII. Hospitality to strangers. — Tigers. — Rio de las Piedras. — Difficulties of the roads. — Armadillos. — Rapidity of the River Passage. — Doubts entertained on the extraordinary relations of travellers. — Romantic situation of the village of Cobos. — Adventure on horseback. — Arrival at Salta. February 16th. On taking leave of Don Jose, we had great difficulty to prevail upon him to accept payment for the three goats which regaled our peones, and he would not hear of any thing of the kind for ourselves ; a sufficient proof that generosity and hospitality are here to be met with by the stranger with- out expectation of reward. We took away with us the head of a mon- strous tiger, which had been killed upon an excursion into the woods a few days before our arrival ; its size was the astonishment of all the neighbours. Tigers abound in the forests here- abouts, and commit great depredations among 202 TIGERS. cattle. M. Humboldt says that Buffon entirely mistook the jaguar, or tiger of South America, which is a much more formidable animal than is generally supposed, merely from the cir- cumstance of its attacking men less frequently than in India ; which may, perhaps, be account- ed for by its having a greater abundance of cattle to prey upon in South America. In his voyage up the great river Apure, M. Hum- boldt mentions having met with one larger than any East Indian tiger he had ever seen in the menageries of Europe. This day we proceeded only two or three miles, to the house of Don Antonio Seranas, brother-in-law to Don Jos6, with whom we contracted for fresh horses to take us on to Salta, forty leagues distant. We agreed for sixteen horses, five for our galera, five for each of our carts, and one for the capataz, at the rate of two rials each per league. Peones were dispatched to a distant potrero, a spacious in- closure where horses are kept, but principally used for brood-mares and young horses as the word implies. In the evening they returned, driving at a full gallop before them between sixty and seventy horses, almost all of which were white or grey. The required number were immediately caught with the laso and KIO DE LAS PIEDRAS. 203 yoked, the others driven on to take their turn at fit stages. In the evening we left Conchas, which is the name of this place, and travelled five leagues over an infamous road, but amidst most mag- nificent scenery, to the river de las Piedras, a very appropriate name, as it flows over a bot- tom covered with large loose stones, that are rolled with such violence in the season of the torrents as to prevent the passage. After cross- ing this river, we took up our abode for the night at two or three houses on its banks. In one of them, which was not in any respect su- perior to a common Irish cabin, and which, with all its furniture, I should have thought a dear purchase for twenty dollars, I was interestingly surprised at discovering a utensil of a very humble description, but of noble capacity, made of pure silver. I had frequently heard that in the principal houses of South America these articles of common use were all made of the virgin metal, but this was the first I had seen, and I must confess that I viewed it as a cu- riosity in a mansion of such apparent poverty, and where the meanness of the surrounding furniture so ill accorded with the intrinsic worth and dignity of this useful vase. 17th. Showers of rain and thick mists have 204 AKMADILLOS. latterly prevented our enjoyment of mountain scenery of the grandest kind. Those boundless plains, over which the eye could range without a single tree, or bush, or mount, to arrest the view, we have long since left far behind, and with them good and easy roads. We are now frequently compelled to work, all hands, with picks, and spades, and shovels, to render par- ticular spots passable for the carriages. At other times, eight and ten horses are yoked to drag one of them up a bank, and sometimes more to draw them through a river or moun- tain stream, which the rains are now every- where swelling. Armadillos are found in plenty in these parts ; when roasted in their coats of mail they are considered a delicacy : two which we took were thus served up under a fig-tree, where we stopped for an hour to breakfast : their appear- ance was by no means amiable, and I felt no disposition to try the strength of my stomach for the purpose of gratifying the curiosity of my palate. In the evening we halted on the banks of the rapid river Passage, intending to cross it, but our baggage-carts, having been overturned several times, had not come up, which compel- led us to bivouac for the night under a high RIO PASSAGE. 205 mount upon the edge of the river. Each chose his berth, and just as I had laid myself down in my poncho, under an acacia, I was startled from my position by a large snake twisting its way into the leaves and grass that grew round the spot which I had selected. The instant it discovered me, it darted away as fast as I did myself, and glided into a hole at the foot of a neighbouring tree. I afterwards sought an asylum in the noke, a bullock's hide suspended under the galera, forming a sort of boot or bag for carrying various articles, and in this I slept undisturbed till daylight. 18th. Our baggage-carts having joined us in the course of the night, we proceeded at an early hour to cross the Passage, which we had the good fortune to find in a favourable state. This is the most rapid and most dangerous river in the road from Buenos Ayres to Peru, and has swept away many travellers, with their horses, carriages, and mules, who have not had patience to remain upon its barren banks until the mountain torrents, which rush into it from all parts, had subsided; a patience which, in the rainy season, (the present period,) it is fre- quently necessary to exercise for many days, and sometimes for many weeks. Although we found it comparatively tranquil, we were 206 LOCUSTS. obliged to cross the current in an oblique direc- tion, for its force was sufficient to carry away any thing that opposed it broadside-on. Carlo, for instance, was hurried away at the rate of at least five miles an hour, far out of our sight, before he reached the opposite bank. From this river it is necessary to take a supply of water, as not a drop is to be had for the next seven leagues : the sandy soil absorbs the rain, and neither lake nor river exists upon the way. We breakfasted at a hut, where we obtained, with plenty of all that we desired, some very fine fresh figs ; we then continued our journey through a tolerably woody country, but over an intolerably bad road, which kept us in the constant exercise of pioneers. Towards evening we saw at a distance be- fore us a very unusual appearance over the face of the country ; instead of the green co- lour of the grass and of the foliage of the trees, to which we had been accustomed in all its shades and tints, we observed one unvaried mass of reddish brown, which some of us ima- gined to be heath that the sun was shining upon ; but all surmises were far from the truth. As we advanced, we found the country in pos- LOCUSTS. 207 session of a host, which the united armies of the world would have no power to overcome — a host, such as in Egypt's evil day " o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile." It is requisite to see in order to believe the multitudes in which locusts swarm. These li- terally covered the earth, the shrubs, and the trees, as far as we could see around us ; the branches bent under their numbers, as may be seen in heavy falls of snow, or when trees are overladen with fruit. At the time we arrived within their out-posts, for like ants and bees they have peculiar laws and regulations, and like them, seem to '■ Expatiate and confer on state affairs," we were looking out for a convenient place to bivouac for the night, there being no village or habitation within many leagues ; but to stop in the midst of this moving world, with- out being molested, was impossible : not that any actual injury was to be apprehended, for they neither sting nor bite. If it were their nature to attack, as flies and gnats do, our whole party, with all our horses, would not 208 LOCUSTS. have afforded even a taste to the smallest divi- sion of their army ; and it was rather a pleas- ing consolation to reflect, whilst they skipped in millions round us, and darted against us, as we drove through them and over them, that their habits and customs did not induce them to make personal war against man, although they devour every fruit and vegetable, with the exception of the melon, which, I have been informed, they seldom touch. We passed through the centre of the space they occupied, which, at a regular rate of tra- velling, took us a full hour to traverse; we then arrived in the district which they had first visited, where every shrub was destroyed, every tree leafless, and their branches com- pletely barked. The scene was one of wintry desolation, forming a curious contrast with the season and with the verdure of the adjoining country, and impossible even for a passing tra- veller to look upon without sensations of pain- ful amazement. It was night before we were perfectly clear of these destructive creatures, which we supposed to be the same that we had seen in their flight on the 13th instant, as they steered in this direction. Those which we caught measured from two and a half to three inches in length ; some, I am told, are to be met RELATIONS OF TRAVELLERS. 20{) with four inches long. In their hind legs they have great strength, and can push themselves out of your grasp if not held with some degree of force. Their colour is generally of a reddish brown ; but there are different varieties, and some very beautiful. When the relations of travellers happen to be given on any extraordinary subject, they are usually received with a degree of doubt that has become proverbial, more particularly by those persons who have themselves never tra- velled. They cannot patiently admit what happens greatly to surpass their limited expe- rience, and although we have daily instances of the corroboration and establishment of facts, that, when first mentioned, have been deemed impossible, still, the incredulity is revived on the next extraordinary relation given by any future traveller. To many persons, my account of locusts — their numbers obscuring the sun, their covering the face of the earth for miles in extent, and their ravages over a whole country, may perhaps appear one of those exaggerations moderately termed " a traveller's license ;" and yet, how far short does my account fall in every respect of that given on the same subject in the truly interesting work of a distinguished modern traveller in another quarter of the VOL. I. p 210 LOCUSTS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA. globe. — " Of the innumerable multitudes of the incomplete insect, or larvae, of the locusts that at this time infested this part of Africa, no ade- quate idea could possibly be conceived without having witnessed them. For the space of ten miles on each side of the Sea-cow river, and eighty or ninety miles in length, an area of sixteen or eighteen hundred square miles, the whole surface might literally be said to be covered with them. The water of the river was scarcely visible on account of the dead carcases that floated on the surface, drowned in the attempt to come at the reeds which grew in the water. They had devoured every green herb and every blade of grass. " Their last exit from the colony was singular. All the full grown insects were driven into the sea by a tempestuous north-west wind, and were afterwards cast upon the beach, where it is said they formed a bank of three or four feet high, that extended from the mouth of the Bosjesmans' river to that of the Beeka, a dis- tance of near fifty English miles. The larvae, at the same time, were emigrating to the north- ward ; the column passed the houses of two of our party, who asserted, that it continued with- out any interruption for more than a month."* * Barrow's Travels in Southern Africa. Vol. i. chap. iv. ROMANTIC SITUATION OF COBOS. 211 When it became quite dark, we stopped in the middle of the road, and spread our beds round the galera ; but we were roused in the course of the night from this lodging a la belle etoile, by a smart shower of rain, which started us all up en chemise, and compelled us to roll up our beds, and for the first time since we left Buenos Ayres to pitch our tent, under which we lay till daybreak, when we pursued our journey. 19th. We this day met general Alvear and his suite returning from Peru, where he had been on a mission to Bolivar from the go- vernment of Buenos Ayres ; this being only the fourth time we had met with travellers in a distance exceeding twelve hundred miles ; a strong proof of the scantiness of population and of the solitude which reigns throughout this vast continent. About noon we arrived at the village of Cobos, where we remained for the day. If art and industry were employed to improve all that Nature has performed for this place, it might be made a delightful abode for the lover of rural beauties. Richly wooded hills, majestic mountains, fertile plains, and lim- pid streams, display their charms throughout an almost eternal summer, to the indolent in- P 2 212 RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY. habitants of a few unseemly huts, within thirty miles of the capital of the province. It is impossible to witness, with any degree of patience, the indifference that has been shown throughout this country for the inesti- mable gifts with which Nature has so bounti- fully blessed it. The mind contemplates this apathy with a feeling even of pious indignation at so manifest a rejection of the favours of a be- neficent Providence. But here again we must, I suppose, recur to the old, "oft-repeated tale:" to the misrule of the late possessors of the coun- try, whose government was all mystery, intole- rance, and severity, impeding the develop- ment of knowledge and with it the exercise of every liberal and useful art. The rising ge- neration most sensibly feel the neglect with which their country has been hitherto treated ; they know that Nature has endowed their soil with resources infinitely more conducive to happiness and greatness than all their mines of gold and silver. Of these resources, however, they have not in the present day the means of availing themselves, but they willingly offer them to the skill, capital, and industry of fo- reigners, who would be sure of a cordial recep- tion among them, and who would find no ob- A DOMINICAN. 213 stacle to their settling in the terms that would be required for possession. 20th. At daylight we were already on the road to Salta, nine leagues distant from Cobos. After performing seven of these over a wretched road, np hill and down hill, through a luxuriant country, we arrived at Lagunillas, a respectable farm-house, where we breakfasted, and had about two hours excellent duck and snipe- shooting. With my last shot I accidentally killed a small bird called a dominican, which, with the exception of its black bill, and black edges to the pinions, is of snow-white plu- mage. It seems to be as decided a lover of solitude as the robin, but much more apprehen- sive of man, for although we saw this bird fre- quently in the course of our journey from Buenos Ayres, and made many attempts to kill one, we could never before approach with- in shot; it is always alone; we never saw it in company with any other bird, not even with one of its own species. Before I leave Lagunillas, I shall mention a circumstance that rather surprised us all. When we were setting out from the farm- house to a distant lake to shoot, the son of the farmer happened to be at the door on a good 214 A SPIRITED HORSE. stout horse, whose broad back induced me to ask the rider for a seat behind him to the lake ; which was readily granted, with the observa- tion that the horse was muy soberbio, (very proud.) However, my weight not being ex- orbitant, and having no intention of offending the animal's pride, I handed up my gun, and then mounted behind the saddle, with a degree of agility too that rather pleased me, because my companions were looking on, and, as I thought, with some share of envy, for the sun was very powerful and the lake at some dis- tance. We moved on six yards, awkwardly enough, the horse, by the motion of his tail and unsettled gait, exhibiting strong symptoms of displeasure. " He is quiet, I hope ?" said I, in a tone not very expressive of confidence. — " Es muy soberbio" said my friend. Up and down went the horse. " Gently ! gently !" said I. — " No puedo," " I cannot," said my friend. Higher and lower went the horse. " Stop ! stop !" said I. — " No puedo,'" said my friend. — "I shall be off!" said I. — " Senor mio ! por Dlos ! for Heaven's sake don't squeeze me so tight round the waist !" said my friend. — " I shall be off, I shall certainly be off!" said I, in a tone louder than was requisite for hearing. — " Don't squeeze me so tight, senor mio!" said AGED HORSE. 215 my friend. — " Hold on ! hold on !" cried my companions.—"^- muy sober bio!" said my friend. — " Yes, very proud, indeed !" said I, and at the same instant a violent plunge and kick aid- ing my exertions, I sprang out of my seat with twice the agility, though not with half the pleasure, with which I sprang into it. Scenes of this kind, it is well known, afford much more entertainment to the spectators than to the performers ; I shall therefore say nothing upon that part of the subject, but come to the point which has been my only object in men- tioning this circumstance, namely, the age of the horse. " Pray," said general Paroissien, " how old is that proud-spirited beast of yours ?" — '• I have always understood," replied the young man, " that he is the age of my father." — "And more than that," said one of the by- standers. — " My father is past forty," said the young man, who had himself been riding the animal for seventeen years. We were all as- tonished, for the horse was in appearance, to use an appropriate phrase, " as fresh as a four- year-old." Hot stables, heavy clothing, exces- sive feeding, and violent physicking, are the causes, no doubt, why we so seldom hear of this age in England, where a horse at little more than nine or ten years old is considered as hav- 216 A1UUVAL AT SALTA. ing " done his work," and generally speaking is no longer in esteem. We set out from Lagunillas in the afternoon, and at six o'clock descended into an extensive plain, where, after being obliged to make a circuit to avoid the marshes abounding in it, we entered the city of Salta, and took up our residence in a very decent house which had been previously engaged, with scanty furniture it is true, at the moderate rent of four dollars a week. SALTA. 217 CHAPTER XIII. Want of Public Accommodation. — Expenses of our journey from Buenos Ayres to Salta. — Decree in favour of Emigra- tion. — Fever and Ague. — Expense of living at Salta. — Price of a considerable Estate in the Province of Salta. — Agriculture a promising Speculation in South America. In order to adhere to my former scale, I shall now compare the city of Salta with the town of Dundalk ; although I must confess that, for the Grecian fronted gaol of the latter I can find no parallel in the city of Salta ; the mud- built cathedral, with three bells on the top of it, has the advantage in point of bulk, but that is all. The houses here, however, are more spa- cious, and present a more cheerful appearance than those of the capital town of Louth, even including the mansion of the noble family of Roden. Salta is the great resting-place for all tra- vellers whether going to or from Peru. In the 218 WANT OF ACCOMMODATION. former case, they must stop to dispose of their carriage (if that has been the mode of convey- ance) and to provide themselves with mules, for the road northward is no longer a carriage- way. If they cannot obtain an immediate sale, they leave it in charge of an agent to dispose of, and there is seldom much loss to be appre- hended, for travellers from Peru going to the southward, who, on the other hand, stop to dis- pose of their mules, are always glad to find the accommodation of a carriage, and in many instances club together for the purchase. But very considerable loss must occur in the sale of animals, because all kinds are very dear in Peru, and very cheap throughout Salta and the lower provinces ; although their present prices here, generally from fourteen to twenty dollars, are, I am informed, nearly doubled since the revolutionary wars, which occasioned unsparing havoc amongst every species of cattle. A European might reasonably suppose that this passing and repassing of travellers, though not so brisk as between Dover and London, would nevertheless have occasioned the esta- blishment of an inn, or caravansary, or some such public convenience. There is, however, nothing of the kind, except the cheerless hut-like tarn- bos, which in the days of the Incas were kept in DISTANCE ACCOMPLISHED. 219 repair and well provided, but now merely pro- tect from the rays of the sun during excessive heat, and it is well if they can do so much against the rain in its season. The earthquake of the 19th of January was strongly felt in Salta. Those who were at early mass were amazed at seeing the candle- sticks and images suddenly fall from the altar, and, thinking the devil was coming, the whole congregation fled in confusion from their devotions, with a speed that would have made it difficult for the fiend to "catch the hindmost." On arriving here, we completed, according to the posts, four hundred and fourteen leagues of our journey, which, I am convinced, would measure thirteen hundred English miles ; a long distance to travel without comfort or con- venience. We have, however, accomplished it without accident of any kind, either personal or otherwise, and as I have elsewhere remarked, the interest we have taken in all we saw has precluded even a thought on the fatigues and privations which we have undergone. In order to gratify the curiosity of any one who may wish to know the expenses of such a journey, I insert them here. Our party con- sisted of five persons, with two servants, whose 220 TRAVELLING EXPENSES. living is included in the account, as well as that of our nine peones, who, besides their diet, re- ceived the following wages, which varied ac- cording to the horse they rode — the man on the near-side, next the wheels, having the highest wages, as being the conductor, whose directions the other postilions obey, and those at the pole- end receiving the lowest wages, are supposed to have the least difficult office to perform. Dollars Wages of capataz, from Buenos Ayres to Salta . 85 Two peones, at 65 dollars each . . 130 One peone, at 60 dollars ... 60 Three peones, at 50 dollars each . . 150 Three peones, at 45 dollars each . . 135 Expenses to Cordova, 179 leagues . . 388 Hotel at Cordova, for 7 days 92 From Cordova to Santiago del Estero, 129 leagues 336 Expenses at Santiago del Estero, 1 1 day . 13 Santiago to Tucuman, 38 leagues . . 114 Expenses at Tucuman, 14 days . . 68 From Tucuman to Salta, 68 leagues . . 336 Repairs of carts and galera at different times, and subsistence of peones, &c. &c. . . 191 Total expenses from Buenos Ayres to Salta, t , _ 414 leagues ... 5 which, at four shillings per dollar, makes the sum of four hundred and nineteen pounds twelve shillings. At Salta, our living cost, LETTER OF THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER. 221 on an average, three shillings per head daily. Bread and milk were very good ; meat in- different ; wine, which came from a distant part of the country, bad ; vegetables and fruit abundant, but nothing to boast of. The following extracts of a letter from our chief commissioner to the Board of Directors, allude, amongst other circumstances, to prices, and the state of things in this province. Salta, 22nd February, 182(3. I beg to inform you of my arrival here on the 20th in- stant, and of the necessity of remaining a few days to pre- pare for the journey over the mountains to Potosi, where I expect to arrive by the end of March, paying a visit to the valuable mines of Portugalette on my way, and which I have great hopes of purchasing. There are many and good mines to be disposed of in the province of Salta ; I have already had several conversations about them with the Governor-general Arenales, who is very desirous that we should have an establishment here ; and you will perceive by the decree of the Provincial Government, which accompanies this letter, that the spirit of liberality which prevails is very encouraging. So destitute is the country here, that I have been obliged to buv live oxen, and prepare jerked beef, to support us over the mountains. Even the shoeing of our mules is a most formidable operation, and every thing is enormously high. The mules cost eighteen dollars each (31. 12s.), and shoeing, fourteen shillings each. Bread is dearer than in England, meat cheaper, sugar 222 DECREE OF THE GOVERNMENT. twenty dollars (4/.) the aroba of twenty-five pounds, wine difficult to obtain, and brandy too dear to be purchased. I find house-hire and men's wages double what they were when I left this country, and every thing dear in pro- portion. I subjoin the decree of the Provincial Go- vernment of Salta, alluded to in the foregoing letter, translated from the original Spanish. Art. I. Every inhabitant of the globe, who shall em- ploy his capital and industry in the province, shall enjoy the full protection of the government. The safety of his person, the inviolability of his property, and liberty of opi- nion, are ensured by the laws, on the same footing as to the natives. Art. II. In order to encourage mining in the province, as being one of the most important branches of industry, mines are declared to be the private property of whomsoever sliall discover them and work them. Art. III. No exclusive privileges are permitted in this branch, and such can only be granted in consequence of a law, when the result of this franchise and the comparison of the industry of the country with that of Europe may render them necessary. Art. IV. The elaboration of minerals is declared free from all duty, and free, in the same acceptation, is the extraction of metals from the province, as likewise the introduction of mining machinery, and quicksilver. Art. V. For the greater security of the discoverers and workers of mines, the foregoing article is declared irreversible during the term of thirty years, in consequence of which it shall have the force and value of a private contract. AGRICULTURE. 223 Art. VI. The same shall be communicated to the exe- cutive power, for its publication, circulation, and other rela- tive objects. The foregoing law may be considered suffi- ciently liberal for the government of a repub- lic just starting into life, and it may be the means of inviting foreigners into the province of Salta ; but in this part of the country mines and mining are decidedly the least profitable speculation. Agriculture, or manufactures, are the objects to which the attention of emigrants to this country should be chiefly directed. Mining requires a larger capital, is much more pre- carious, more laborious, and more expensive, than the pursuit of agriculture, which, in this favoured soil, holds out to industry the moral certainty of reward. At the outset, perhaps the farmer would not readily obtain money for all the produce of his land, though he might in sums sufficient for his wants, and he could barter the surplus. The breeding of cattle can scarcely fail of being successful, as hides pay well for their transport any distance to Buenos Ayres, where they find a ready sale for the markets of Europe. The trade with Peru in mules and horses, (the latter chiefly for the cavalry of the different states, the former in 224 SPANISH POLICY. general demand) must always be advantageous to land-owners in the southern provinces. With respect to manufactures, I need not particularize any as being likely to succeed where none have ever yet been tried ; but in this, as in every other department of business, the field for speculation is boundless and invit- ing. The reason why no advantage has hither- to been taken of it is obvious ; it proceeds from the same cause which has prevented the progress of colonization here from being at- tended with the same benefits as it usually has been in other less favoured portions of the globe. This reason has already been explained in language as forcible as it is true, and there needs no apology for its repetition. " When Spain, in her inconsiderate rapacity, had seized on countries larger than all Europe, her inabi- lity to fill such vast regions with a number of inhabitants sufficient for the cultivation of them was so obvious, as to give a wrong direction to all the efforts of the colonists. They did not form compact settlements, where industry, cir- cumscribed within proper limits, both in its views and operations, is conducted with that sober, persevering spirit, which gradually con- verts whatever is in its possession to a proper use, and derives thence the greatest advantage. SPANISH POLICY. 225 Instead of this, the Spaniards, seduced by the boundless prospect which opened to them, di- vided their possessions in America into govern- ments of great extent. As their number was too small to attempt the regular culture of the immense provinces which they occupied rather than peopled, they bent their attention to a few objects that allured them with hopes of sudden and exorbitant gain, and turned away with contempt from the humbler paths of in- dustry, which lead more slowly, but with greater certainty, to wealth and increase of national strength."* I have heard it disputed whether this pro- vince or that of Tucuman is the more fertile or the more favoured by Nature : to say that Salta exceeds Tucuman in fertility would be as- serting too much. Doctor Redhead, an Eng- lish gentleman, who has been many years in South America, and has latterly resided in Salta, gives the preference to this province in point of climate ; he says that it is not subject to the excessive heats which are so oppressive in Tucuman during the summer. The city of Salta, however, from its exceed- ingly ill-chosen position, being in the midst of * Robertson's Hist. America. VOL. I. Q 226 EXPENSES AT SALTA. fens and swamps, is at this season of the year sometimes liable to intermitting fevers and agues, called here chucho, under which my com- panions are now suffering. Servants and all, with the single exception of myself, are con- fined to their beds, some of them extremely ill and with high fever. Our chief commissioner, in his letter of the 22nd February, from which I have given ex- tracts, has mentioned that, " so destitute is the country here that I have been obliged to buy live oxen and prepare the jerked beef to sup- port us over the mountains." I have never been able to comprehend this sentence, nor that which follows, in which he states that " every thing is enormously high." Let us suppose, five foreigners arrived in Dundalk upon a jaunt- ing-car, with a numerous suite, requiring im- mediately a large quantity of hams for a jour- ney over the Fewes mountains, and not able to procure them, though they find no difficulty in obtaining pigs ; would this be a proof of " des- titution ?" or would they be justified in saying — " so destitute is the country here, that wc have been obliged to buy live hogs and prepare the hams to support us over the mountains ?" With respect to " every thing being enormously high," in the estimation of Englishmen, at least, our EXPENSES AT SALT A. 227 expenses at Salta cannot be considered as a proof. I have remarked, that house-hire was sixteen shillings a-week, which our chief com- missioner has said is double what he formerly paid, and our living did not exceed daily the sum of fifteen shillings, which was amply suf- ficient to supply our meals of breakfast and dinner, not indeed with luxuries, but with what perfectly satisfied ourselves, five servants, and frequently a friend or two at dinner. In order to prove that I have rather over- rated than under-rated our daily expenses, I in- sert in detail those of the first day, which form a fair average of all others during our stay. Tea and sugar are dear articles at Salta, but those we had in our canteen. 8. d. Bread . 2 3 Spices Meat . 1 6 Fire wood Bacon . 6 Vinegar Potatoes . . 1 Flour . Hogs' lard . 1 6 Tomates . Rice . 1 Eggs . Milk . 1 6 Onions Oil . . 6 Pepper 3 Total s. d. 9 1 3 6 3 1 6 14 3 By the above account, which I have pre- ferred giving in English currency, we find that q 2 228 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGltAx ^N. three shillings and sixpence purchased >read and meat sufficient for the daily supply if a family of ten or twelve persons in the capital of the province ; but, as we were strangers, and took no particular care in the household ma- nagement, having left that concern to an old negress hired as cook, it may be fairly pre- sumed that a resident family could live upon a much less sum. It is notorious, that numbers of families and of individuals have left England and Ireland to establish themselves on different parts of the continent of Europe, where they live in com- parative affluence upon means which in their own country with difficulty afforded them a decent subsistence. I have taken considerable pains to inquire into the prices of every thing concerning the establishment of a familv in either of the fine provinces of Cordova, Tucu- man, or Salta, and having in view the object of giving information at some future day to persons at home, whose circumstances might induce them to leave their native land and to adopt another, in the hope of finding an easier enjoyment of life, I applied only to the most respectable authorities, who I felt convinced would not mislead me on the subject. It is not considered genteel to talk of one's INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 229 own riches, and therefore I shall not state the amount of mine in pounds, shillings, and pence ; younger brothers of the wealthiest families have seldom to boast of their credit at Coutts's, but this I say, that the means which in Eng- land will not even keep a man's head above water are sufficient to enable him to live in affluent independence in either of the provinces of Cordova, Tucuman, or Salta ; where, if so disposed, I could without difficulty become legal possessor of a large and valuable estate : large, because its extent would be from four to five or six leagues ; valuable, because the land is capable of producing every thing that may be desired from it, and because, with the estate would be obtained at least fifty head of horned cattle, as many horses, and of sheep and goats any number you would wish to have ; in some cases, too, an annual rent of from two to three hundred dollars, paid by a tenantry, who become, in fact, the vassals of the landlord. Such an estate may be purchased here, and its price would not exceed two thousand pounds sterling ; how it might be improved under proper management it is easy to imagine. With respect to amusement; game of all sorts in abundance on the land, fishing in the rivers, lion and tiger hunting in the mountains, would 230 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION'. afford pastime to the sportsman, whilst those more industriously inclined would find ample gratification in agricultural pursuits, and no little pleasure in cultivating a garden, in a cli- mate where the rigour of winter is unknown, and where flowers succeed flowers every month in the year. A library, a great deficit in this country, (although, thanks to Mr. A ckermann's judicious publications, books are now beginning to be circulated,) would no doubt be amongst other comforts that would accompany European set- tlers, who would soon find here as wide a field for speculation, with as. cheering a prospect of success, and certainly without any such risk of health, as either in the East or West Indies, during their brightest fortune-making days. All circumstances fairly considered, the pro- spects, in chosen spots of South America, are as inviting to industry with small means as in any other part of the world. How many masters of families are there in Great Britain, well-born too, existing in em- barrassment and want, with capitals of five and six thousand pounds? I mention these sums merely because either of them is sufficient in the province of Cordova, Tucuman, or Salta, to INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 231 purchase ease, comfort, and independence ; in a word, amply sufficient to bestow upon its pos- sessor every luxury that a fertile soil and fine climate can afford. All these advantages I am aware do not insure to every body the enjoy- ment of life, that depends upon moral princi- ples, into which I pretend not to enter. I have heard something about " quot homines, tot sen- tent'ut" which is Latin, and the English of it I take to be this : — " There are many persons who would find every happiness in South Ame- rica, and many who would find none at all !" I am addressing myself only to the former, and to them I continue my observations. " With a capital of twenty -five thousand dollars," (which, according to the present rate of exchange, is not five thousand pounds,) " you may not only double it in a few years," said an intelligent curate to me in conversation upon this subject, " but, in the mean time, you may rival in living his Eminence the Cardinal Arch- bishop of Toledo." All the inquiries I made upon this subject tended to confirm the cu- rate's observation, and mightily roused in my mind a desire to rival his Eminence the Car- dinal Archbishop, whose splendidly jewelled hand J had the honour to kiss, and whose com* 232 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. fortable benediction I bad tbe happiness of re- ceiving, at his court in Madrid some few years ago. The province of Tarija, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter, and the province of Cochabamba, the Eden of Upper Peru, possess all the advantages above alluded to, and doubt- less many others, which I have not had an op- portunity of ascertaining ; but, in support of what I have stated, I give the following ex- tract from Mr. Miers' Travels in South Ame- rica, wherein he mentions that he knew a man who became rich chiefly by vineyards. " He bought his estate on a mortgage tenure, which he has since paid off by degrees, amounting to thirty-six thousand dollars ; he had only about ten thousand dollars (£2,000.) to begin with. He cleared last year about five thousand dollars by his wheat, pasturage, and garden-grounds ; about five thousand dollars by his vineyards, and two thousand dollars by his cattle." This was in Chili in 1825, and the same plan might be pursued with equal success in many other places of equal fertility and promise. The culture of the grape and the olive having been to a certain extent prohibited by the Spanish go- vernment, offers in most parts of South America a grand field for speculation to settlers, and no INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 233 doubt would not be overlooked by them. Wheat and flour have of late years been imported from North America into Buenos Ayres, where, from the fast increasing population of that city, they must always find a ready market, and which is not likely to be supplied to the extent required by the province itself, notwithstanding its great fertility, because the habitual pursuit of the Gauchos is the rearing of cattle, which is natu- rally encouraged by their boundless plains of pasture. The numerous herds which wander over them are serious obstacles to cultivation, for not a hedge nor twig exists to form boun- dary or enclosure ; and although ditching has of late years been partially practised by land- owners near the city, yet it is not probable that this very expensive expedient will be adopted on a scale sufficiently large for national import- ance. Nor would it, indeed, be attempted by the Gauchos, who would willingly leave the cultivation of grain to other parts of the coun- try better adapted for farming. Those parts may easily be found in the lux- uriant provinces of Cordova, Tucuman, and Salta. The inconvenience of their distances from Buenos Ayres would be overcome by the improvements that must necessarily follow the steps of a more refined civilization, which is 234 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. usually accompanied by the arts and every en- couragement to industry. Improvements in roads, carts, and carriages, would be amongst the earliest of its effects, and these might even now be introduced to great advantage, without any extraordinary exertion of talent or inge- nuity. I say nothing of the navigation of rivers, particularly of the Bermejo, the Parana, and Paraguay, nor of the construction of canals ; for, although they cannot be overlooked in the future advances of this country, they are too remote to enter into the plans of immediate speculation. I have heard it objected that, with all the advantages I have described, South America — such a distance from home ! sweet home and friends! — would be nothing better than a place of banishment to Englishmen, who would there find themselves cut off from the rest of man- kind. To persons who from their circumstances are enabled to figure in society in England it is not necessary to address one word on the subject of emigration ; neither do I pretend to say that those who can afford to live in ease and inde- pendence in England can better their situation in South America or in any other part of the globe, because the history of the world affords no example of a country where property has so INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 235 much weight, affords so much enjoyment, and is so well secured by just and equal laws as in Great Britain. 1 have said that the inducements are great to " industry with small means," which in Eng- land is not every where attended with com- fort, nor at all times capable of protecting even from embarrassment and want. It has here to contend with many obstacles that do not exist in South America, where ample compensation may be found for the want of " the enjoyments of society," which after all cannot be enjoyed when the mind is oppressed with cares arising from difficulties and distress. In the most brilliant society even in England — " how many raise the head, Look gay, and smile against their consciences !" — And with respect to " banishment" from home and friends, are not the thousands who have left the shores of Great Britain for France, Italy, and Germany, some for the purpose of recruiting their impaired fortunes, some in the hope of saving for their rising families, and some for the mere purpose of existing in decency upon a pit- tance too slender to purchase such decency at home — are not such persons virtually in a state of •' banishment ?" Have they left home for the " enjoyment of society ?" or, before they left it, 236 INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. was home sweet home to them ? Are the resi- dents at Boulogne, at Calais, at Dieppe, and other free prisons, less in a state of banishment, or in a happier state, than those would be, who, from the nature of their circumstances, might decide upon crossing the Atlantic instead of the Chan- nel, and of passing their days in some province of South America ? With a very great portion of the thousands above alluded to, " the enjoy- ments of society" are confined from necessity to their own families ; and assuredly there is nothing to prevent their having the same en- joyments in South America, where they may live in circumstances equally easy, and at the same time be laying the foundation of inde- pendence and affluence for a rising generation, which, it is to be presumed, they are never likely to do at Boulogne, Calais, Dieppe, or even in the charming city of Florence, the de- lightful climate of which is out-rivalled in the southern hemisphere. And let it not be sup- posed that there is no society there. Who- ever has travelled in Spain will find nothing very superior in that country to what may be found in every town in South America ; be- sides, I am not supposing the emigration of a single family but that of several, and I am sa- tisfied that, if one or two families were once INDUCEMENTS TO EMIGRATION. 237 established there, one or two hundred would quickly follow ; for, in such cases, as in com- merce, the last thousand is more easily acquired than the first pound sterling, or the first indivi- dual. Were I disposed to moralize, I should say that contentment is the richest gem of life ; where that can be obtained it matters little what distance we go in search of it. But there are some who are, and ever must be, miserable, even though surrounded by splendour, plea- sures, and plenty ; it is not meant that such persons will find " the enjoyments of life" in South America, nor is it pretended that hap- piness is there to be found established, or even immediately to be acquired. I merely assert, that " industry with small means" cannot fail rapidly to prosper ; and to Englishmen who may feel induced to make the trial, it must be gratifying to know, that " Great Britain is the only nation in Europe whose principles, on the part of her government, and whose friendship, on the part of the nation," have produced in South America an uninterrupted predilection in her favour. 238 OUTFIT OF THE ASSOCIATION. CHAPTER XIV. Departure from Salta. — Passage of streams and torrents. — Arrival at Jujui. — Wonderful scenery. — Poison of vipers occasionally harmless. — Sagacity of mules and horses in passing dangerous places. — Desolate post-house. — Arrival at Tupiza. February 28th. This day we received let- ters from our secretary in London, dated Oc- tober and November ultimo, by which we were informed that stores of every kind, and thirty-eight persons belonging to our establish- ment, had been embarked on board a ship cal- led the Potosi, which was to sail without de- lay for the port of Arica in Lower Peru. The secretary mentioned that the outfit of the Association would amount to forty thousand pounds sterling, a sum of money sufficient, if judiciously managed, for all the purposes of mining in South America upon the grandest scale ; but such an establishment as ours is OUTFIT OF THE ASSOCIATION. 239 unnecessarily large ; indeed, all our mining- associations appear to have commenced by a similar imprudence, in assembling a company of officers and servants, artificers and workmen, at an enormous expense, before either the na- ture or the extent of the work was in any de- gree ascertained. The port of Arica not belonging to the Re- public under which we were about to establish ourselves, it became important, before the ar- rival of our ship, to ascertain to what duties our immense cargo might be subject in that port, and then to endeavour to obtain its free ad- mission into the territory of the Republic of Bolivia, the name which Upper Peru, com- prising Potosi, has lately assumed, in compli- ment to its liberator Bolivar. Machinery for working mines, quicksilver, and iron, had already been declared free of duty ; but a very great part of the lading of our ship being composed of other articles of necessity and convenience, supplied under the idea of at least three years' residence in the country, it became an object to save the ex- cessive duties to which they were liable. If our speculation should prove successful, the Republic of Bolivia might expect to reap very considerable advantages, for, mining being its 240 DEPARTURE FROM SALT A. chief branch of revenue, and employing a great many hands, its operations are of na- tional importance, and claim the favour and protection of the State. These considerations induced our chief commissioner to give me instructions to leave Salta for the purpose of negotiating the business with the Bolivian go- vernment, and my services being at his com- mand, I obtained a passport, and prepared for a ride of about five hundred English miles by post to Potosi. March 5th. Heavy rains and sundry little circumstances prevented my departure until this day, when I left Salta at four o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by Jose, a peone whom I hired for the journey, and a postilion leading a mule with my baggage consisting of a portmanteau on one side, balanced by my bed on the other, and between these my alforjas, (wallet) containing bread and some salt beef. Jose' carried pendent behind his saddle a pair of chifles, two bullock's horns filled with the brandy of the country. The evening was delightful and the scenery incomparably fine ; high hills (mountains they would be called at home) rose on each side, covered to their summits with trees and luxu- riant verdure, through which herds and flocks BIVOUAC AT A FARM-HOUSE. 241 ranged at large. Quintets (country-houses) were occasionally to be seen romantically situated, requiring only a little industry and skill to make them enviable abodes for those who enjoy the pleasures of a country life, for it seemed as if Nature had waved her wand of spontaneous plenty over the whole delicious scene. Our road lay through a verdant valley, in- tersected by a river of importance and sundry mountain-streams, some of which were deep and very rapid, though no difficulty occurred in passing them. About sunset I was over, taken by a farmer-like looking man, who was returning to his home from Salta, and who, after riding some part of the way with me, said, that if I would stop at his house, he would provide me with better lodging and better horses than I could procure at the post. Being quite satisfied that no accommodation could be inferior to that of the post, I accompanied him to his house, which was a very decent one, though naked with respect to furniture. It was situated in the midst of a large natural meadow, surrounded by peach-trees, under which his swine were feeding upon the fruit that dropped from them. After spreading my bed under a shed in front of the house, and regaling myself upon the contents of my al- VOL. I. R 242 KILL A VIPER. forjas, and a taste from my chifies, I passed the night among a plague of fleas, and blessed the dawning day that gave me the earliest oppor- tunity to gallop from them. 6th. Fine pleasant weather : the road still lay through a valley, but narrower than that of the preceding day ; the mountains were less wooded, and sometimes not more than a mus- ket-shot distant from each side of me. We killed a very large viper which crossed our path, and stood boldly on its defence, hissing and darting, as the peon, postilion, and myself, assailed it with stones. After this event, three or four leagues of the way were beguiled by histories of accidents and deaths, occasioned by bites of those venomous animals, several in- stances of which had occurred amongst the ac- quaintance of my peon Jose\ On this day's journey I forded not fewer than twenty different rivers and torrents, some of them furiously rapid, and carrying along with them large round stones, which cause the traveller to hesitate before he exposes himself and his horse to their violence. On these oc- casions I always gave precedence to the peon and postilion, whose track I carefully followed : custom, however, has rendered this species of travelling familiar to me ; I can descend a steep bank into a rapid river, and scramble out with ARRIVAL AT JU.TUI. 243 my horse to the opposite side, as composedly as if crossing Waterloo-bridge ; but it is to be observed that, in such cases, much of one's se- curity depends upon the animal, whom custom also has taught to pick his steps with peculiar caution, and who must be left entirely to his own judgment. It was nine o'clock at night, and extremely dark, before we arrived at the town of Jujui, having groped our way for the last league amid thickets, over rocks, and through streams, often hesitating whether it would not be prudent to stop for the night under some tree, as the horses fell several times in places where they could not see to make good their footing. My own inclinations were decidedly for a halt, as I felt considerable uneasiness in my saddle-seat, after forty miles jog-trot from daylight till dark. My peon, however, encouraged me onwards, by assuring me every mile we went that the town was " ya estci circa" (close at hand) ; so I followed, and at last did actually arrive at the house of Don Marcos Senavilla, a respectable merchant, according to the state of commerce in this country, though in Eng- land he would rank no higher than a petty shopkeeper. I had a letter of introduction to Don Marcos, which, at the late hour of the night, and in my r 2 244 MAKING TEA. absolutely worn-out condition, proved of in- estimable worth, as it obtained for me all the hospitality which the host was capable of be- stowing or that I expected, and that was merely a corner in a dirty house to lodge in, and a mess of ' lobscouse,' or something or other, be- fore I went to bed, for which I felt extremely grateful. In another corner of my apartment slept the patrona, or daena, or housekeeper, with two or three children in the same bed, who did not seem to be any more inconve- nienced by my presence than I was by theirs. 7th. This morning I had a trifling misun- derstanding with the patrona on the subject of making tea, for I had provided myself with that refreshing herb, which I recommend to every one travelling through a country des- titute of what in Europe are considered the common necessaries of life. From the por- tion I delivered to the patrona to be boiled in an earthen pot (there being nothing else more convenient,) she carefully drained off the water* and served up the leaves upon a plate when she considered them sufficiently boiled, a cir- cumstance I recollect having occurred to a tra- veller at an auberge in the South of France. The earthquake, of which I have said so much, I have traced to this town, where it was sensibly felt at the same time as with us, and THE EARTHQUAKE. 245 I have ascertained that it extended to a point beyond Jujui, which is a distance exceeding five hundred and sixty miles from the village of Oratorio Grande, where we first felt it. What a wonderful effort of Nature to shake so great a portion of earth at the same moment of time ! And yet this is but a molehill, com- pared with the effects of the great earthquake of Lisbon, on the 1st of November, 1755, which was felt, nearly at the same instant, upon the coast of Sweden, on the borders of Lake On- tario, and at the Island of Martinique, a dis- tance which can scarcely be calculated at less than 3,500 English miles, including a vast ex- tent of ocean of unfathomable depth ! I ordered post-horses at an early hour, ex- pecting to set out after breakfast, but such is the calm in every kind of business in this coun- try, including even post-haste, that five o'clock in the afternoon passed away before the pos- tilion appeared with his animals at the door of my kind friend Don Marcos. This hard- ship I considered the greater, because, from Jujui, as from all other towns of any conse- quence, travellers are compelled to pay double postage, under the pretext that post-masters in towns are liable to extra calls for horses, and the extra charge is to enable them to be in readiness to answer them. 246 RESUMED JOURNEY. ANCIENT CONVENT AT JUJUI. The evening was charming, and the scenery round Jnjui, wildly picturesque. The valley through which my road still lay, soon became deeper and narrower, and the mountains on each side more barren, but grander than here- tofore. Night having overtaken me when four leagues upon my journey, I stopped at a lonely hut, a short distance from the road, to which I had been attracted by " the trembling taper's light," but I cannot add that it " adorned and cheered my way :" still, the mere idea that human beings were at hand served to break the solitude of a night's lodging a la belle SCENERY. 247 etoile, although, for the comfort of accommoda- tion, I might as well have been benighted in the midst of the great desert of Barbary. Two or three segars to the poor owners of the hut, and a few bits of biscuit to the naked children, proved that I was amicably disposed, and ob- tained for me all that I required in return — a free respiration of the pure air of heaven with- out molestation until daylight. 8th. After a very fatiguing journey of about fifty miles, I arrived at nightfall at the post- hut of Hornillos, where I was so fortunate as to find half a mountain-sheep ready roasted, and which was speedily devoured by myself, Jose, and the postilion, with that exquisite sauce, which is so proverbially excellent as to require neither puff nor comment to distin- guish it. The valley, this day, was still narrower, and the mountains higher and more barren, than be- fore. Perhaps there is not in the world, for the distance of thirty or forty miles, more singular and extraordinary scenery than what I passed through this day. One of the places where I changed horses is called el Volcan, and it cer- tainly appeared as if enclosed in an immense volcano, at the bottom of which the road lay, and in its serpentine twists and turns in the 248 SUBLIME WORKS OF NATURE. valley no opening appeared before or behind : all round was a rampart of rocky mountain of most fantastic form, sometimes awfully impend- ing over our heads, sometimes rising in craggy turrets to the clouds, grand, terrible, and sub- lime; the whole presenting indubitable attes- tation of some dreadful convulsion of Nature, either of violent volcanic c.ction, or of a resist- less flood of waters that had swept over the face of the earth at some remote period, mayhap at the formation of the world, or at the time of the universal deluge. Either or both of these events must have contributed to produce the chaos which here exists. " Yet is it with asto- nishment we reflect, that a work of such appa- rent disorder and desolation should produce objects of the grandest character of beauty, and become sources of the sublimest sentiment to mankind." So says the author of the " Com- parative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaical Geologies;" and, in truth, it is impossible to view these astounding productions of Nature without entering into the feelings of that, learned writer, who, in treating of the history of our globe, with respect to the mode of hsjirst for- mation, and of its subsequent changes, " adheres firmly to the fundamental principles of the Mo- saical geology, arising altogether and exclu- A CAT AND A VIPER. 249 sively out of the creative wisdom, the crea- tive power, and the creative fiat, of Almighty God." And who that, upon those principles, contemplates the wonders of Nature in this portion of the globe, where they are represent- ed in a majesty of character so peculiarly im- posing, but will readily subscribe to the opi- nions of that writer, " that we are irresistibly urged to look, not merely back to the past but forward also to the future; and thus it will be found that the earth derives a far sublimer and more profoundly stamped moral physiog- nomy from its features of inanimate nature, its naked spires of primitive granite, and its awful tokens of convulsions and revolutions, than it can possibly derive from all the united produc- tions and memorials, which man's power has been able to achieve." In the middle of the night I was roused by a noise under my bed, as if of a struggle be- tween two animals, which induced me to exa- mine the premises ; when, to my astonishment, I discovered by the light of the moon a cat eating the head off a viper, which she had just subdued ; a common occurrence, I was informed, and without any ill consequences to the cat however venomous the snake. From this cir- 250 poisons. cumstance it is to be presumed that the poi- son contained in these reptiles is deleterious only when introduced by a cut or scratch into the blood ; in the same manner as the poison called curare, which is used by the South Ame- rican Indians for the points of their arrows, and which, although certain death if it touch the slightest scratch, may be tasted, and even swallowed, without danger. M. Humboldt, in his travels on the Oronoco, mentions that he and M. Bonpland frequently tasted this poison. " Its taste is a very agreeable bitter, and M. Bonpland and myself often swallowed small portions of it. There is no danger whatever if you are quite sure that there is no excoria- tion of the lips or gums." The Indians con- sider the curare, taken inwardly, as an excel- lent stomachic. M. Humboldt has observed that, " in the re- cent experiments made by M. Mangili on the poison of the viper, one of the persons present swallowed the whole of the poison that could be extracted from four large Italian vipers with- out being affected."* 9th. The sun w^as intolerably hot for several hours of the day, and its effect was increased in the deep valley through which I was still * Humb. Voy. aux Reg. Equin. vol. viii. chap. 24. HUMAGUACA. 251 trotting, surrounded by high barren mountains, intercepting even a momentary glimpse of the adjoining country. After a ride of forty miles, 1 stopped at the village of Humaguaca, which is beginning" to recover from the disasters of war, having been entirely destroyed by the Spaniards during the revolution. A morsel of delicious mountain mutton, roasted in the ashes, and a fowl cooked in the same manner, with some very small but very good potatoes, were served up by the mistress of the post-house in a deep silver dish ; neither knife nor fork, however, appeared, and only one wooden spoon. This repast, which was sufficient for a hungry master and man, cost three rials, (one shilling and sixpence) ; my alforjas supplied bread. The post-master of Humaguaca had been a leader of a party of guerillas in the revolution, and as such had all his property destroyed by the Spaniards. I found him extremely disposed to accommodate ; indeed, it appears to me that the want of accommodation throughout the country proceeds from want of means and ignorance of comfort, not from want of will on the part of the inhabitants in giving it. 10th. Before the sun rose to gild the tops of the mountains I was already two leagues upon 252 A RATIONAL MULE. my journey, through the same valley as before, which was at times so narrow as not to be forty yards across between the huge adaman- tine walls that hemmed me in on each side. A distance of twenty-five miles brought me to the post of La Cueva, where I received the first hint of the perilous roads I was about to pass on my journey to Potosi. When changing animals, I was presented with a mule, which I objected to, on account of having been carried thus far safe and well by horses, over loose stony paths, through rivers, streams, and torrents, all of them rapid, and some deep and dangerous. I therefore requested to have a horse, which, the post-mas- ter replied, was at my service ; but he added, that " mules were always preferred in going towards Peru, as being safer and more sure- footed in the narrow paths on the edges of pre- cipices." — " Be it as thou wilt, maestro de posta" said I ; " thou understandest these mat- ters better than a stranger ; so e'en saddle the mule." — " I insure you this as being a right good rational animal" said the maestro de posta, as I mounted and departed. I had gone about six miles upon a narrow track, over rocks and stones, through a desolate country, when I came to thejedge of a preci- COLLOQUY WITH THE MULE. 253 pice, which induced me to pull up, and say to my mule, " Surely thou art not going to take me thither?" — "Yes," said the mule. — "Come," said I, " let us try that path to the right." — " No," said the mule ; " positively no." And all my persuasion, sometimes angry, sometimes soothing, could not prevail with the animal to go out of the original path. It was willing to stop, or to go forward, but out of the path it would not move for all the mines of the New World. When I attempted to turn it to the right, into what appeared to me a safer road, round whisked the tail, back went the ears, and an angry shake of the head, with what is called " hoisting," proved at once an obstinacy of opinion, and a displeasure at being thwarted in what it felt convinced it was better acquaint- ed with than its rider. In a few minutes, Jose and the postilion, who had chanced to stop in the rear to arrange the cargo on the baggage- mule, came up, when the latter informed me that my mule was perfectly right, and that I might go to sleep on its back if I felt so disposed, for it was a very rational animal, un animal muy rational- precisely the phrase men- tioned by other travellers in a similar situation. Of course, I instantly yielded, and on we went. I, however, wished myself more than once safe 254 DANGEROUS PASS. on board a ship in a gale of wind before I got to the end of this romantic but alarmingly in- tricate path, where, if two animals chanced to meet, one must " go to the wall," the other down, into little less than a bottomless pit. Even the apprehension of a false step produces a feverish agony, which so occupies the mind, that it is only occasionally a glance is cast upon the yawning precipice, over which the left leg hangs dangling as the animal jogs unconcern- edly along. I have travelled through some intricate passes in Spain, and had the honour to cross the Py- renees,* but the worst of those roads are left * Crossing the Pyrenees with honour, of course, means with glory— Glory for ever ! The path of glory, we are told, leads to somewhere or other. I followed those paths from the Guadiana to the Pyrenees " over the hills and far away," and even back again, but never found that they led to any thing very substantial, except once to a dinner, and that dinner nearly cost me my life. It was in the province of Estremadura, near the town of Cacarcs, whither I was sent under a gallant Lieutenant-Colonel, with a detachment of cavalry, to reconnoitre the movements of a division of the French army, under General Girard. When about a league from the town, having made a dexterous detour into a ra- vine, we were surprised by surprising an advanced picket of the enemy, one half of whom were extended upon the ground in sleep, rnd the other half sitting round a fire cooking a sheep. We managed our surprise very well indeed, for the SAGACITY OF MULES. 255 far behind when compared with those of this country. If, however, the animal which a per- son rides is tolerable, and confidence is placed in it, the danger loses all its terror, and is, in fact, but little ; for as M. Humboldt ob- serves, " When the mules perceive themselves in danger, they stand still, and turn their heads first to one side and then to the other, and the motion of their ears seems to indicate that they are considering what course they ought to pur- sue. Their resolution is slow, but always good, if not controlled or accelerated by the impru- dence of the rider. It is in frightful roads that enemy had not time to carry off any thing except themselves, and even that, I thought once or twice, might have been prevented without any rashness on our part ; but that is nothing to the main fact: we made sure of the sheep, and down we sat to dinner, with that peculiar relish which every person must have experienced on unexpectedly finding a dainty placed before him, when no hopes of such a pleasure were entertained. The fugitive enemy, finding their retreat unmolested, halted, rallied, and returned, perhaps, for their sheep ; but, not finding that as they left it, they took three of our men instead, and when I looked round, and found my commanding officer gone! followed pell-mell by his troops, it was sheer presence of mind that saved me by recollecting that I too had spurs and a horse in good con- dition, otherwise, it is probable that I should not now be recording the honour and glory of having crossed the Pyrenees. 256 CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE. the intelligence of horses and mules is deve- loped in a surprising manner. The rider runs no risk, provided he slackens the reins, and takes care not to check in the least the motions of the animal." In the forenoon the sun, as on the preceding day, was so scorchingly hot, that I was obliged to muffle my face to save it from being broiled and blistered, and in the afternoon, being- pelted by two heavy showers of hail, I was glad to wrap myself in my poncho. This is also a slight preparation for my residence in Potosi, where, it is said, that in the course of twenty -four hours the climate undergoes all the changes of the four seasons of the year. At sunset, having ridden about forty-five miles, I stopped at the post of Colorados, the most wretched of those wretched abodes which I had hitherto seen ; but as night was draw- ing on and threatening rain, 1 was compelled to take shelter under its tattered roof, having little inducement to risk life and limb by con- tinuing my journey through the night over a mountainous desert. Besides, long before my day's journey was finished, I felt that I had performed quite as much as I was capable of, in my then unseasoned condition ; for although thirty, forty, or more miles are a very tolerable CONSOLATION. 257 ride, yet it was not the distance, but the length of time, that rendered it so fatiguing, having frequently been on the road from long before sunrise till sunset. It was a consolation, how- ever, and a very great one, to know that sleep might be indulged in without the apprehension of being molested by reptiles, such as infest the post-houses to the southward, rendering them in some places uninhabitable, and precluding even the hope of rest. Except in the sheltered valleys, the huts in this part of the country are generally free from biting and stinging insects ; even those familiar tormentors, fleas, are not al- ways to be met with. These are trifling cir- cumstances no doubt, but they may perhaps tend to show that, dans toutes les situations de la vie, on peut se procurer des jouissances, and that, however great our hardships, consolation may be found bv seeking it. I have heard it remarked, " that it is in our own power to convert the blanks in the lottery of life into prizes ;" an opinion to which I feel heartily disposed to subscribe, and if it be not in all cases true to the letter, it is because we ourselves, coveting the capital prizes, reject the moderate ones with indifference, and pine over the misfortune of a casual blank. 11th. I have at length emerged from the long vol. i. s 258 THE GUANACO. valley, that wearisome labyrinth through which I had wound my way for upwards of a hundred and seventy miles ; and although glad to escape from it, I cannot say that the landscape was much enlivened, all around being a confusion of barren hills and rugged mountains, without a single human habitation in view, or a living soul to be met with along the dreary road from post to post. The wild cries of the gaanacos, as they scudded in small herds to the tops of the moun- tains at the approach of man, accorded well with the solitude of the scene. These animals at a distance resemble deer without horns, and in- dicate to the traveller that he has entered the former territories of the Incas ; for, coming from the southward, the guanacos are first met with in Peru. The frequent crossing of rivers and torrents has now ceased ; I have ridden two, three, and four leagues without meeting with a drop of water. The sun in the middle of the day is very powerful, and has sometimes scorched me on one side, whilst the other has been chilled by the keenness of the blast from the moun- tains. At sunset, for the last two or three even- ings, there had been much thunder and light- ning, which did not at all enliven the solitary gloom, for it was not the "aerial tumult" of JADED ANIMALS. 259 loud, spirit-stirring claps, but hollow murmur- ings, melancholy and mournful, succeeded at intervals by the livid glare of distant flashes. At the forlorn hut where I stopped for this night, there was nothing — literally nothing — to be had for refreshment, after a ride from the dawn of day till nightfall, upon poor worn-out animals, whose creeping pace must be patiently submitted to in pity of their feebleness, for their means of existence in this desert part of the country are as scanty as those for travel- lers ; and in recommending the poor creatures to the mercy of any impatient rider, I can as- sure him, without meaning any pun upon the words of the respected author of the " Night Thoughts," that he will find " all expedients tire To lash the lingering moments into speed." In an unroofed out-house I spread my port- able bed, and on it I found comfortable repose for my aching limbs till daylight, at the first dawn of which I rose, well and hearty, to conti- nue my journey. 12th. Heat excessive. I experienced much delay at the posts from want of animals, the poverty of the postmasters not admitting of their purchasing a sufficient number for the s 2 260 CORDILLERAS. calls that are made on them, nor of feeding the sorry few they possess. At a considerable distance upon my left front I saw the snow- covered summits of the grand Cordilleras de los Andes, the mountains amongst which and over which I am now tra- veiling being branches of the same chain. I stopped for the night at the ruined village of Mojo, where I was supplied with some good mutton, excellent potatoes, and a roasted gui- nea-pig, for supper. 13th. The heat continued, but it could do me little farther injury, having already com- pletely broiled the skin off my face, nose, lips, and ears. In the afternoon, I had to ascend and de- scend the highest mountain I had ever yet crossed. After winding for more than two hours up its rugged side, and precisely in the most terrifying spot, the baggage-mule, which was in front, suddenly stopped; and well it might — poor little wretch — after scrambling with its burden up such fatiguing flights of craggy steps ; the narrowness of the path at this spot did not allow room to approach the animal to unload and give it rest. On one side was the solid rock, which drooped over our heads in a half-arch ; on the other, a frightful PERILOUS ROAD. 26l abyss, of not less than two hundred perpendi- cular feet. Patience was indeed requisite here, but the apprehension was, that some traveller or courier might come in the contrary direc- tion, and, as the sun was setting, the conse- quences could not fail of proving disastrous to either party. At one time, I held a council to deliberate on the prudence of freeing the pas- sage by shooting the mule, and letting it roll, baggage and all, to the bottom. In this I was opposed by the postilion, though Jose and myself were of opinion, that it was the only method of rescuing ourselves from our critical situation before nightfall. I never felt so per- plexed in my life : we were all useless, help- less, and knew not what to do. After upwards of half an hour, (perhaps apprehension may have added a few minutes to this dubious and truly nervous pause) the mule, of its own ac- cord, moved on slowly for about twenty yards, and stopped again ; then proceeded, then stop- ped, and thus, after two hours' farther ascent, we gradually reached the summit. Two or three times I wished, for safety's sake, to alight, but actually I had not room to do so upon the narrow edge of the tremendous precipice on my left. To view from the top of the mountain the 262 REACH TUPIZA. descent which we had now to make was suffi- cient to try the nerves of any person unaccus- tomed to such a scene, and whose safety de- pended solely upon the sure footing of a wea- ried, hoof-worn beast ; for it was in appearance even more difficult than what we had already performed. Before we were half-way down, night overtook us, but in a short time the feeble light of a new moon enabled us to distin- guish a white track that conducted us in safety at half-past nine o'clock, into the town of Tu- piza, after having employed five tedious hours in accomplishing the mountainous ascent and descent, in comparison with which the stairs of St. Paul's would have been easy travelling. 14th. Having made this a day of rest, I wrote the following letter to our chief com- missioner : — Tvpha, Uth March, 1826. " The date of this letter may, perhaps, induce you to in- quire why I have not made farther progress in my journey: I shall therefore explain to you the causes which have hi- therto impeded me. " The heavy rains which fell up to the very day of my departure from Salta had so swollen the rivers, and formed so many new ones, that during the first three days of my journey, I actually travelled as much in water as upon land. I have waded through not fewer than between fifty and sixty rivers, or torrents, to this town. In consequence of travelling so much in water, and over loose stones and rocks, the hoofs LETTER TO THE COMMISSIONER. 263 of the animals have become so tender as to render them scarcely capable of hobbling along a league an hour at the best rate. I have occasionally been even nine hours in per- forming five leagues, at the risk of fractured limbs, and sometimes with an exertion on the part of the rider, which we must call cruel, to the poor beasts, because it is to no purpose. " It is true that ranchos (huts) exist at stated distances, and that comisionddos are placed in them to supply horses to travellers, but the Government have seemingly forgotten that these paupers require means for establishing themselves upon a scale of public utility. Not having a sufficient num- ber of animals, the few they possess are completely ' knock- ed up,' and all communication by post must soon cease if assistance be not given to the post-masters at their different stations. " I need not state any farther reason for the slowness of my progress, as you cannot but be convinced that, except the grand and imposing scenery, there are no attractions to induce the traveller to pause even for a moment : he can have but one thought, one object, that of hurrying on to his des- tination, as fast as bad horses, bad roads, and sore bones, will admit. " I hope the invalids I left behind amongst my compagnons de voyage have recovered, and are prepared to undertake their long ride. For myself, saving and excepting a few local la- mentations, I am perfectly well ; but regret to think, that al- though I am on horseback every day long before the rising of the sun, and long after its setting, I am no farther than Tupiza." Tupiza is a respectable little town, where a traveller can supply himself with every thing 264 TOWN OF TUPIZA. he requires ; it is also the southern frontier town of the Bolivian republic, where duties are levied upon goods, and where the port- manteaus of travellers are inspected, the latter without rigour or incivility on the part of the officers. MOliNING. 265 CHAPTER XV. Pedestrian performances of Peruvian Indians. — Their cha- racter. — Early age at which the females marry, and their premature decay. — Llamas. — No hui, SenorJ — No hai nada, Senor ! — Trifling disappointment. — Stage from Caiza to Potosi. — Mountain of Potosi. — Arrival in the Imperial city. March 15th. Before two o'clock in the morning I was full two leagues on my jour- ney, lighted by the starry host of heaven. There was a delightful freshness in the air, which the birds as well as myself seemed to enjoy with peculiar pleasure, and as they rais- ed their wild notes, I hurried my pace, to make the best of my way before the sun should again render all Nature inanimate by his over- powering lieat. My road, for about twelve miles, lay through what, at one period of the world, must have been the channel of a mighty stream, on the bottom of which, covered with loose round 266 D1LUVIAN REMAINS. stones, I now travelled ; the solid adamantine banks on each side, towering in some places a hundred and fifty perpendicular feet above my head, and rent in ten thousand different shapes, gave evident signs of some awful convulsion which Nature had here undergone.* Except when some huge mountain inter- posed, for I was now amongst branches of the great Cordilleras, the road latterly was more * " We have few opportunities of witnessing by direct experiment or observation the force of immense masses of water in excavating hollows on the earth's surface, and were it not for the ravages we occasionally see produced by such comparatively trifling causes as the bursting of a dyke in Holland, or the barrier of an Alpine lake, we could scarcely believe that there are valleys of many miles in breadth, and many hundred feet in depth, which owe their origin exclusively to the excavating power of a flood of waters. " Though traces of diluvial action are most unequivocally visible over the. surface of the whole earth, we must not attribute the origin of all valleys exclusively to that action ; in mountain districts (where the greatest disturbances appear generally to have taken place) the original form in which the strata were deposited, the subsequent convulsions to which they have been exposed, and the fractures, elevations, and subsidences which have affected them, have contributed to produce valleys of various kinds on the surface of the earth, before it was submitted to that last catastrophe of a universal deluge, which has finally modified them all." Buck land, Reliquice Deluviancc. SANTIAGO DE COTAGAITA. 26? convenient for the animals ; but the ascent and descent of mountains, without meaning to as- cribe to it actual danger, was at times terrific. Occasionally, after winding along the edge of a precipice, in a spiral direction, to the summit of a mountain, which I felt happy when at- tained by my breathless beast, it was still a subject of wonder how the valley beneath was to be reached in safety. This day I rode three posts, nearly sixty Eng- lish miles, and, but for the heat, should have felt little or no inconvenience, as 1 am now in what is called condition, and find my saddle as comfortable a seat as any to be met with in the twenty-four hours. About sunset I arrived at the romantically situated village of Santiago de Cotagaita. The mountains surrounding it are covered with the cactus, which grows to a size sufficient for the construction of the houses of the country. The valleys are all fertile and tolerably cul- tivated. About twenty leagues from this place are the celebrated silver mines of Portugalette, which have been offered for sale to our com- missioner; but in consequence of the extra- vagant mania which the proprietors had heard existed amongst Englishmen for these specu- lations, they imagined they had only to ask 268 PEDESTRIAN T0ST1LI0NS. and have, and therefore put a price upon them beyond the bounds of reason. With three-pennyworth of very good pota- toes and a little salt, I this night made an ex- cellent supper, and, notwithstanding interrup- tion from a passing thunder-storm, I slept soundly in the open air till four o'clock in the morning of Thursday, 16th. Before I reached the post of Escara, rain came down so fast that neither cloak, poncho, nor covering of any sort was capable of resisting it. In five minutes I was drenched as if I had been plunged into the mountain-torrents, that suddenly multiplied around me, and rushed roaring into the valley. The Indians, who in this part of the country accompany travellers, although still called pos- tilions, are no longer mounted. Throughout Peru they bear a dispatch or perform a day's journey on foot with more alacrity than a horseman. I have heard wonderful stories of their performances. This very day my pedestrian postilion accompanied me with the greatest ease seven leagues, which I travelled at the rate of something more than four miles an hour, with- out a single stop ; for it rained heavily, and I hurried as fast as my wretched animal was ca- pable of going. This young man told me that PERUVIAN INDIANS. 269 he was not an andador, literally a goer, but that he had many companions who had gone> and frequently go, within the day, from Es- cara to Caiza, twenty-one post leagues, which is a distance little less than seventy English miles. I have heard that it is not uncommon for one of these andadores to perform thirty leagues from sunrise to sunset. The Peruvians are generally middle-sized, muscular men ; I have seldom seen one who would be admitted into any of our grenadier companies. They live chiefly on vegetables, of which the Indian corn and potato are the prin- cipal. They are not so abstemious with respect to drink, being very fond of their native chica and of fermented liquors of every sort. They are extremely humble, and although they have given proofs of desperate courage and ferocity when roused to vengeance, they are never- theless of a timid disposition, and as peaceably inclined as they are represented to have been, when Pizarro, their murderous conqueror, in- vaded them three hundred years ago. Their dress, excepting the hat, which is precisely the shape of Don Quixote's helmet without the niche in it, reminded me of that of the pea- santry of Connaught. They w r ear coarse brown frieze cloth breeches, with the waistband very 270 INDIANS. low, and always open at the knees, the buttons being for ornament, not for use. Shirts are seldom worn ; the legs are bare, with the ex- ception of pieces of hide under the soles of the feet, tied sandal-fashion round the instep and toes. An Englishman, and indeed every impartial traveller, of whatever country lie may be, must admit, in spite of poetry, that the most beauti- EARLY MARRIAGES. 271 ful women in the world are the English ; com- pared with them, the female Indians are far from handsome, but I have seen some very finely formed. They become mothers at an age which in England is considered little more than that of childhood, but here it is rather unusual to see an Indian girl who has passed her fifteenth year, without her ivaw-waw (child) upon her back. At one time, the Spanish Government passed a law, "pour augmenter le nombre des gens qui patent le tribut" enacting, that all Indians of the age of fifteen should marry ; and fixing the age of fourteen for the male Indians, and thirteen for the fennales, as a fit and proper age to enter into the marriage state. It has been truly observed that, under the ripening sun of these climates, the charms and beauties of the female sex are developed long- before thoy put forth their blossoms in northern regions. Their decay, however, is equally pre- mature ; women may be seen old at twenty. The dress of the female Indians consists of a petticoat, worn much shorter by the unmarried than by those that are married, and a scarf of sundry colours round the shoulders, which is pinned on one side of the chest with a topa, a large silver pin, occasionally of handsome work- 272 CHOLAS. manship ; but sometimes they use a spoon, the handle of which being pointed serves as a pin, in a manner similar to that in which the an- cient Britons used bodkins of bone and ivory to fasten their garments. Cholas, those descended from Spanish and Indian parents, and whom some call " native peasants," are very fond of dress and orna- ment ; I have seen them with topas of gold, set with pearls and precious stones, of considerable value. In the course of this day I was agreeably surprised by a flock of llamas crossing the road sedately before me ; being the first I had LLAMAS. 273 seen, I was particularly struck with their ap- pearance ; they were of different colours, brown, black, white, piebald, &c. Their fine mild prominent eye proves them to be, what in reality they are, extremely docile and gentle. They carry their long graceful necks somewhat like the camel, of which the llama, in the words of Buffon, " semble etre un beau diminutif" for the latter is infinitely more handsome, and without any of the deformity of the camel. The Indians use them for carrying burthens, but being very slow, they do not travel beyond four leagues a day, with a load weighing seldom more than seventy pounds. Buffon describes a llama which, at the time he saw it, had been eighteen months without drinking, " owing to the great abundance of saliva, which keeps the mouth continually moist.' 1 I recollect, when in Egypt, my astonishment at having been told that a camel, on which I was mounted, had been four- teen days without drinking. I have this day been jogging upon my am- bulating skeletons from four o'clock in the morn- ing until past eight at night, and have, with wearisome difficulty, performed little more than thirty -five miles. After being several times wet to the skin with rain and as quickly dried by the piercing beams of the sun, I stopped VOL. I. T 274 QUIRBE AND ZOROPALCA. for the night at the post of Quirbe, and spread my bed under a fig-tree, the foliage of which protected me from the rain that continued to fall till day-light, when I rose and continued my journey on — Saint Patrick's Day. The road lay in and through the Jlio Grande ; for, from its serpen- tine course in the valley through which it flows, I forded it sixteen times in the distance of four leagues. On one occasion, my poor feeble ani- mal was carried away by the current against the baggage-mule, which happened to be to leeward, and, by standing steady, enabled us to recover, so as to stem the stream and gain the opposite bank, up which we scrambled in breathless haste and alarm. I had nothing to complain of with respect to being wet, for the rain which poured had already completely drenched me, but the coldness of the river was excessive. The mid-day sun, however, came forth as powerfully as usual, and soon both warmed and dried me, though not sooner than I was again drenched ; for a dreadful thunder- storm suddenly burst over the valley, accom- panied with hail and rain in roaring torrents, under which we arrived, men and beasts (with- out much overstraining the metaphor), like drowned rats, at the cheerless, comfortless post of Zoropalca. NO HAI, SENOR ! 275 When I inquired for horses, the postmaster pointed to a tree close in front of his hut, and said, "There they are, all ready!" I looked and beheld three wretched animals standing under the tree, shivering with chill poverty, heads hanging pensively downwards, ears back, eyes half-closed, and bodies shrivelled up into the form of an arch for the convenience of throwing off the rain. " What !" said I, " have you no better than those ?" — " Better or worse, there are no others in this neighbourhood," said the postmaster. Upon looking at my watch, T perceived that it must be dark night before I could reach the next post with such ill-condi- tioned hacks ; but, bad as they were, I thought it better to hobble on, even through the storm, than to stop all night in a place where nothing was to be had, for when I asked for meat, I re- ceived the customary answer — " No hai, Schorl" " There is none, Sir !" — for potatoes, " No hai, Sehor /" — for milk, " No hai, Sehor /" — for eggs, " No hai, Senor /" — " What have you, then ?*' " No hai nada, Senor /" " Nothing at all, Sir !" To form a true idea of the effect of this dismal an- nouncement of famine to a starving traveller, it is requisite to have heard the peculiarly mourn- ful tone in which " No hai, Sehor /" " No hai nada, Sehor /" is sighed out of the mouths T 2 276 DISAPPOINTMENT. of these people. Poverty, want, misery, and affliction, are conveyed at once in the me- lancholy sentence, and a single glance round the abode where the stranger stops confirms its lamentable truth. Whilst I stood at the door of the hut, watch- ing the animals with intense interest as they fed upon a few stalks of Indian corn that had been sparingly thrown to them, and pondering upon the unpromising conclusion of the day's journey, a courier arrived on his way to Potosi, and by virtue of his office claimed a prior right to the mules of the postmaster. I do not think that five minutes by a stop-watch could have elapsed before the courier had dismounted, unsad- dled his own mules, saddled mine, mounted them, and having, as a farewell salute, civilly touched his hat, saying " Adios, Senor /" disappeared round the corner of a projecting rock on his road to Potosi. I looked at Jose — Jose looked at me : I looked at the postmaster — the post- master looked at me : I thrust both hands into my breeches-pockets ; my head sunk between my shoulders, or my shoulders rose above my head, I don't know which ; but whatever can best represent confusion and disappointment will best represent me. I broke the silence of my woe by asking the postmaster questions MORE DISAPPOINTMENT. 277 which I might easily have answered myself: — " Have you no more animals?" — " No hai, Senor /" — " Surely you can procure me three or four asses ?" — " No hai tiada, Se?ior /" To proceed was impossible, but being of opinion that there is no use in creating a civil war in the passions of the mind for what cannot be remedied, I resolved upon making misery itself amiable by patience and content. I therefore drew off my boots, that were con- verted into water-cans, and prepared to change my clothing, which adhered to my body like Dejanira's garment ; but, upon opening my portmanteau, I found that I should gain no- thing by the operation, for the Rio Grande, which I had crossed in so many deep places, and no doubt the rain also, had gained admit- tance and soaked into every thing I possessed. What was to be done ? I had still a remedy left — to undress and go into my comfortable bed, whilst Jose should wring my clothes and hang them in different parts of the post-hut to dry as they could. Opening my bed with this intent, I was something more than dis- appointed at finding it in a similar state with the things in my portmanteau, being literally soaked through, mattress, blankets, and all. I repeat, that 1 was something more than disap- 278 GREATER DISAPPOINTMENT. pointed at this accident, because it might have been avoided. The oil-cloth case in which I carried my bed was sufficient to turn any rain, if properly placed ; but, in the present instance, my careful Jose, notwithstanding repeated di- rections to place it upon the mule with the mouth downwards, had packed it in the reverse direction, and that so accurately, as to catch every drop of rain which fell upon the back of the animal. Enjoy the present hour, reckless of the mor- row, says some philosopher ; but he never meant that enjoyment was to be found amongst half a dozen Indian huts at the desolate post of Zoropalca. After viewing in sorrowful mood the dis- astrous state of all my worldly conveniences, which I had no means of remedying, I resolved to— " Keep my spirits up by pouring spirits down," and called for my chifles to take a drop of com- fort : but no such comfort was at hand ; poor Jos6, considering himself as much in need of it as his master, had anticipated me upon the road, and in the course of the thunder-storm had drained my bullock's-horns of the last drop they contained. This was indeed reducing my RELAY OF MULES. 279 spirits to the lowest ebb ; yet, after all, there is nothing very extraordinary in self-preservation. I moved in a quick quarter-deck pace up and down my cheerless habitation, which admitted of the range of a fisherman's walk, " three steps and overboard !" for about half an hour, then sat down upon a sheep-skin in a corner to seek consolation, which I found sooner than some persons may imagine, in the reflection that I had performed so long a journey without any accident hitherto, and that I had so nearly ac- complished it, in the midst of the worst season of the year, without any particular annoyance, except what I have just related. When I sum- med up accounts on all sides, I found the ba- lance so much in my favour, that I felt inclined to exult rather than to repine. Sentiments such as these caused the night to pass away without any unusual gloom or unhappiness. 18th. I was prepared to mount before day- break, but had not the means of doing so, and perhaps I should have been doomed to pass an- other day in this desolate place, had not a young Indian volunteered, for a fair remuneration, to go into the mountains and collect two or three nudes for my use. I told him, through my peon, who understood Quichua, the original language of Peru, that I was willing to give 280 CAIZA. any money if animals were provided. The de- mand was three rials (eighteen pence), which was immediately complied with, to the great joy of both the Indian and myself; to his, on so easily obtaining so much wealth, and to mine, on gaining a prospect of release from the bleak dell in which I was surrounded by still bleaker mountains, raising their rusrsred heads to the clouds, and frowning in sullen ma- jesty upon the few living beings who vegetated beneath, but who, to me at least, were human only from their shape. The Indian returned in as reasonable a time as impatience could expect, driving before him three sorry hacks, one of which I selected for myself, another for Jose', and the third for my wet baggage. Thus, with the postilion upon his own stout legs, fitter for the journey than all of us put together, we left the wild moun- tainous desert of Zoropalca, as miserable-looking a travelling group as ever was met with. After hobbling along seven tedious leagues, through a narrow rocky valley, and most of the distance actually in the river that ran through the middle of it, we arrived at Caiza, a decent, small village, with a large church, filled with Indians on their knees celebrating mass, which they seldom fail to attend, but of CA1ZA. 281 which they understand not one word, though they may be aware of the solemnity of the ce- remony and the nature of the duties connected with it. For want of animals at the post, I was com- pelled to remain at Caiza for the night, but, on paying double postage, I secured three mules for the following day. Sunday, 19th. Before one hour after mid- night, I was on the last stage of my journey ; a fine, frosty, star-light morning enlivening the spirits, which were already elated by the near approach to the place where I was about to establish a home. The distance from Caiza to Potosi is not less thant forty miles, and, as the intermediate post is altogether destroyed, there is neither change of horses, nor any place where to obtain refreshment. The country was more barren and more bleak than any through which I had yet travelled, but still the scene was new and interesting; the track led sometimes almost perpendicu. larly up and down high rocky mountains, some- times along their steep shelving sides, some- times through a ravine or a valley, and some- times over a plain of little verdure, though covered with flocks of llamas, the only animal 282 APPROACH TO POTOSI. that can find subsistence on this unfruitful and inhospitable soil. As the camel is suited to the sandy deserts of Arabia, so is the llama to the barren mountains of Peru : each is particularly adapted to its re- spective country, and rendered subservient to the use of man, where other animals would pe- rish for want of subsistence, which they alone have the means of acquiring. Here again we may observe that, under whatever aspect we view the works of Nature, they claim for their Divine Author the tribute of our admiration, our reverence, and our praise. Towards the middle of the day the sun's heat was excessive, notwithstanding a chill pe- netrating wind, which came, not as in other climes, from " the sweet south, that breathes upon a bank of violets," but from the bleak south, rushing from the tops of distant moun- tains covered with eternal snow. The road, as I advanced, although in no re- spect improved in itself, indicated the approach to a town of consideration. It was no longer an unfrequented solitude, as I had been accus- tomed to find it. Peasantry, with droves of asses and flocks of beautiful llamas, were to be seen passing to and fro ; some strolling lazily to the city, laden with fruits, vegetables, In- MOUNTAIN OF POTOSI. 283 dian corn, flour, charcoal, fire- wood, and other necessaries ; some returning from the market at a brisk pace, after disposing of their burdens, and hastening many leagues into the fruitful valleys of the country to renew them. In- dians, male and female, with poultry, milk, eggs, and sundry commodities for consumption, enlivened the way, and apprized the hungry traveller that, although surrounded by bleak, uncultivated, and uncultivable, mountains, he was still in the land of the living. Suddenly appeared before me, in the distance, a high mountain of a reddish brown colour, in the shape of a perfect cone, and altogether dis- tinct in its appearance from any thing of the kind I had ever seen. There was no mistaking it : it was that mountain which was made known to the world by the merest accident, by an Indian who, in pursuit of a llama up the steep, to save himself from falling caught hold of a shrub, which being torn from the soil ex- posed a mass of solid silver at the roots ; — it was that mountain, incapable of producing even a blade of grass, which yet had attractions suffi- cient to cause a city to be built at its base, at one time containing a hundred thousand inhabitants ; — it was that mountain, whose hidden treasures have withstood the laborious 284 THE IMPERIAL CITY. plunder of two hundred and fifty years, and still remain unexhausted. Having said thus much of the new and striking object before me, I need scarcely add that it was the celebrated mountain of Potosi. Onward I rode, cheered by seeing the beacon which indicated the termination of my long journey ; not so my jaded mule ; it received no stimulus from that which to me acted as an exhilarating draught. Forty miles upon a bad road (my mule assured me it was full forty- five) is a wearisome distance before breakfast for either man or beast ; and mine, every mile I now advanced, gave indubitable evidence of exhausted strength : yet the means of refresh- ment were far distant from us both. Patience and perseverance were our only solace; and with these two efficacious virtues, I believe in my heart honestly adhered to by both of us, we mutually assisted each other ; I by alight- ing to walk up hills and steeps, the mule, when I remounted, by jogging on, if the path happened to be free from rocks and stones ; for the approach even to the Imperial City is nothing more than a rugged path tracked out by the footsteps of men and animals. From the top of every eminence that I as- cended for the last two hours of my journey, MOUNTAIN OF POTOSI. 285 I felt a longing expectation of obtaining a view of the town ; because to behold even at a dis- tance the abode of rest, at the conclusion of a long voyage or journey, is a consolation, which every traveller anxiously seeks and enjoys with sensations of real pleasure ; but this consolation is denied in approaching Potosi ; neither house, nor dome, nor steeple, is to be seen at a distance. W ' ! I i • ■ : The last curve round the base of the silver mountain, whose pointed top was now far 286 POST-HOUSE. above my head in a cloudless deep blue sky, brought me at once upon the town, which, with its ruined suburbs, covered a vast extent beneath me, and in ten minutes more I was at the post-house in the centre of it. But it is not in the post-house, that the tra- veller is to expect repose or comfort, for even here that abode is no better than the worst in any miserable village ; there is no decent apartment to retire to, no refreshment to be obtained, no bed to rest upon, not even a chair to sit on, nor accommodation of any kind. After throwing some barley to my poor mule, I sallied forth with my letters of intro- duction in search of a dinner ; for, although I had not breakfasted, dinner hour had arrived, and there being no tavern in Potosi wherein to obtain one, I was obliged to sponge, and suc- ceeded to my infinite gratification in the house of Don Raymundo Hereha, a respectable shop- keeper, who probably never before had such a famished guest at his table. In the evening I sought Monsieur Garda, the first agent dispatched by the Directors to this country upon forming the Potosi Association. Without having ever before seen each other, we met as intimate friends, because each knew the situation of each, and being embarked in GRATITUDE. 287 the same boat, the feelings of companionship were reciprocal. After much interesting con- versation with Monsieur Garda, it cannot be matter of surprise, that gradually my suppres- sed yawns should have given frequent notice of defrauded sleep, and intimated my desire to wish " good night." 1 retired to a very toler- able house, rented for the Association, in one of the empty unfurnished rooms of which I made myself a bed ; and I believe that, before the sun had withdrawn his last ray from the sum- mit of the mountain of Potosi, I might have been numbered among the happy upon earth, if happiness consists in undisturbed repose, free from all the cares and troubles of the world. And as gratitude, genuine, undissem- bled gratitude, to our benefactors, is one of the best, as well as one of the most pleasing and soothing sensations of the human mind, I may perhaps have experienced some small share of its balmy influence, in the grateful remem- brance of what I felt to be due to our first and greatest Benefactor — " even the God who helpeth us, and poureth His benefits upon us.'* 288 THE MOUNTAIN OF POTOSI. CHAPTER XVI. Rapturous effusion of a Native, on the riches produced from the mines of Potosi.— A stroll through the city. — Zorochi. — Climate of Potosi. — Visit to the summit of the Mountain. — Its height. — City of Potosi higher than Quito. — Me- thod of extracting the Silver from the ores. — Wanton destruction of mining property. — Mistaken notions of Eu- ropeans respecting Mines and Mining in South America. — Enormous wealth extracted from the Mountain of Potosi. Potosi, March 20, 1826. Early to bed with those who are not naturally of a lazy habit oc- casions early rising. Before the first bell tolled for mass in the neighbouring church of Santo Domingo, I was already in the principal square of the town, looking up with admiration at the wonderful mountain, which rises like a colossal sugar-loaf above it to the height of nearly three thousand feet, and which, although half an hour's walk distant, yet seems so close, that if it were to fall over it would, to all appearance, overwhelm the whole city. NATIVE ELOQUENCE. 289 A South American, who ascended to the top of this mountain, has given us the following effu- sion upon the good and bad effects of the riches it has produced. " The sublimity of the surround- ing scenery did not so much interest my feel- ings as the celebrated mountain which has pour- ed forth i ts lavas of silver upon the world — to animate enterprize and reward industry ; to pam- per the luxurious and minister to the comforts of the sober and virtuous ; to disseminate know- ledge and religion ; and to spread the desola- tions of war ; marshalling armies in the field and pointing the thunder of navies upon the ocean ; filling cities with monuments of taste and art, and overwhelming them with ruin ; founding mighty empires and levelling them in the dust : inciting, in short, to virtue and to crime, and being the source of much good, and the root of all evil in the world."* The morning air was sharp and dry, and resembled altogether one of our finest March days, but at noon the sun was hotter than in our month of August. The brilliancy of the dark blue sky, without even a vestige of a cloud, was peculiarly remarkable. Humboldt observes that, " on the Cordilleras the azure is * Pazo's Letters on South America. VOL. I. U 290 GENERAL APPEARANCE OF FOTOSI. less blended with white, because there the air is constantly of an extreme dryness." The streets were cleaner than those of any town I had hitherto seen in South America, and the practice of whitewashing the outside of all the houses added considerably to the appearance of cleanliness. This, however, does not apply to the inside, where every thing is filthy, with few exceptions, even in the first houses, some of which, like the stable of Au- geas, seem not to have been cleaned for thirty years. The Indians, who compose one half of the inhabitants, are, in every sense of the expression, " a swinish multitude," but those who consi- der themselves so much their superiors are not, in every particular, a great deal better. Twenty years ago, the population of this city was re- duced to half of what it once contained, and now it does not exceed twelve thousand souls. I entered two or three of the plundered and dismantled churches, the walls of which for- merly were, in some instances, literally covered with decorations of pure silver. 1 strolled round that immense uncouth pile, the Casa Moneda, or Royal Mint, erected at the cost of two millions of dollars. The common average coined within its walls for many years was four THE CATHEDRAL. 291 millions annually, being at the rate of upwards of ten thousand dollars a-day the whole year round. On one side of the principal square of the city stands the government-house, a long, low range of building, including Salas tie Justicia, the gaol, and a guard-house. Another side of the square is occupied by a prodigious heap of gray granite, a work which the Spaniards com- menced twenty years ago, and which the pre- sent government are slowly continuing : when finished, it is to be consecrated, and called the Cathedral. Such an unsightly mass of stone I never before beheld. It has been profanely imagined, that if the pains and expense which it has cost had been bestowed in making fit approaches to the town, it would have been a work to the full as profitable for the soles and bodies of the public. In the middle of the same square, a sample of architecture worthy of the architect of the cathedral has lately been erected. I supposed it to be a shot-manufac- tory, and my servant, whom I had occasion to send in that direction, inquired " If his way was not past the big chimney ?" We w r ere both mistaken : it is a national trophy in honour of the Liberator Simon Bolivar. The annexed plate is taken from a coloured u 2 292 COSTUME OF THE PERUVIANS. drawing by a Cholo native of Potosi in very humble life, and a self-taught genius : it re- presents an assemblage of various persons in front of the newly-erected cathedral ; the officer on the right is colonel of the Colombian regi- ment of Bogota, in garrison at Potosi : the lady he is addressing is a Creole of the upper class of society. The gentleman enveloped in his capa (cloak), is one of the deputies of the city to the Congress of the Republic ; he is speaking to a Chola in the dress usually worn by that caste in Peru, and which is sometimes ex- tremely costly. On the left of the Chola is a Franciscan friar, on whose right is a maestro, or artizan, with his poncho, according to custom, carelessly hanging over his shoulders. The woman in front, with her waw-waw, is an Indian inhabitant of the city ; her dress differs from that of the peasant Indian, as may be seen by the female on the left, with her home- manufactured shawl and scarf, her large silver topas in the breast, and on her feet sandals of hide — the simplicity of the latter forming a wide contrast with the gaudy and elaborately ornamented shoe of her sister, the city dame> who seldom pays less than three or four, and sometimes so much as ten dollars, for a single pair. In the annexed drawing of these COSTUME OF THE PERUVIANS. 293 shoes, it may be seen that the toes project beyond the sole, but, from the great thickness of the latter, the toes never touch the ground in walking ; the heel part, which extends some- tiling like a small fan when open, is highly adorned with shreds of cloth of sundry colours, spangles, gold and silver tissue, &c. ; the whole is secured to the foot by means of a strip of black cloth, which is tied over the instep in a large bow\ The man on the left of the picture is a Peruvian Indian peasant, in his usual dress, with his coca-pouch hanging to his side.* The foregoing explanation of the plate will, by some persons, it is hoped, be considered convenient ; those who have visited Potosi will need no explanation, for I am satisfied they will admit that the costumes in every particular are per- fectly correct. In continuing my stroll through the town I visited the conchas, (booths,) in the public market-place, where I had no expectation of seeing such abundance of every thing in the midst of a barren mountainous desert. Beef, mutton, pork, llama, (which resembles in taste lean mutton, and being very cheap is used by * Coca is an aromatic and bitter leaf which the Peruvian Indians chew, and are even more fond of than the most inveterate tobacco-chewer of his quid. 294 POTATOES. the poorer classes,) were all to be had, but not such as in the cities of Europe, would be called prime meat. Fruits and vegetables were in plenty ; of these, some would have been es- teemed in Co vent-garden, and others, being peculiar to the climate, were such as Covent- garden has never had to boast of. There were many different varieties of potatoes, some of which I had never before seen, but this being their native country, I was disappointed in not seeing a finer display. This nursery-filling vege- table, to which Cobbett has so great an aver- sion, is called, in the language of the country, papa ; throughout Peru it is in general use, and held in as high estimation as in Ireland. Papas form the principal food of the Indians, or rather the principal ingredient of their food ; for they seem to understand the art of cookery infinitely better than the lower class of Irish, who pretty generally exist upon the simple " potato and salt," in many cases without a " sup of milk," and sometimes, such is their poverty, without even a " grain of salt" to relish their mawkish meal. The Indians prepare their olla (round earthen pot) in a very savoury and substantial manner ; their native llama affords them meat, salt is obtained in sundry districts in immense blocks, MAIZE. 295 aji (Guinea pepper) they have in abundance, and are extremely fond of. To these ingre- dients the papa is added in considerably the greater proportion, also maize, (Indian corn,) the excellence of which as food, and the va- rious ways in which it is dressed for both rich and poor in this country, seem altogether un- known in Europe. Should Cobbett succeed in his meritorious endeavour to encourage the cul- tivation of maize in England, his name will be cherished with gratitude by future generations, when, as the notorious author of the "Register" he may probably be forgotten and unknown, as though he had never lived. I must not omit mentioning a species of food made from the potato, and called here chunu, which is consi- dered a great delicacy, and was held in estima- tion in the days of the Incas. I am not certain of the exact method by which chunu is made, but the first process is to freeze the potatoes thoroughly, then to pound them and dry them in the sun, in which state they will keep even for years, and form a wholesome and substan- tial food. In my saunter through the town, if I did not see any thing to prepossess me in favour of my new residence, I saw nothing that created a contrary effect. Indeed, every thing appeared 296 SCANTY FURNITURE. to me much better than I bad been led to ex- pect from the accounts I had previously re- ceived. When I returned to my lodging, I found fresh eggs, tolerable milk, intolerable butter, in- different bread, and excellent chocolate, spread upon the floor of my apartment ; for I have be- fore observed that the house was taken unfur- nished, and although the family still occupied one wing, and had not removed their goods and chattels, they had no table to spare ; which I mention as a slight proof of the lack of the comforts and conveniences of life in the present state of society in South America. I had not been many days at Potosi, when I was seized, as strangers generally are, with a severe attack of dysentery, which in eight-and- forty hours weakened me to such a degree that I could not, without difficulty, totter across my room ; and there being no medical advice whatever to be had, I was obliged to follow that of my peon, who, in pure pity of my case, purchased a quantity of cream of tartar, of which he gave me several doses, and certainly I found relief, but whether from the medicine or from Nature I pretend not to say. In walking, I soon experienced that difficulty in breathing which is occasioned by the ex- CLIMATE. 297 treme rarity of the air, and which even the natives and animals are subject to. The royal sport of horse-racing cannot be attempted here, for horses appear to suffer from the zorochi more than men ; I have heard many instances of their dropping down and expiring when pressed up a hill. The climate of Potosi I have found, as had been previously mentioned to me, to present each day the changes of the four seasons of the year. The early part of the morning is piercing cold ; the forenoon is like our finest March day ; from noon till about two or three o'clock the sun is broiling hot, whilst in the shade it is not only cool, but very cold. It was out of my power to ascertain the exact difference of tem- perature, for there is not in the imperial city one single thermometer, and those which we brought from England have all been broken on our journey. The evenings and early part of the nights are usually serene, and sometimes of a summer's mildness. The Creoles seem to be extremely sensible of cold, for they consider this climate an eternal winter, which they divide into " the dry winter and wet win- ter ;" but the Indians (although like the Irish peasantry, half naked) are not so delicate. My own opinion, and I am inclined to think that 298 VISIT TO THE MOUNTAIN. all my countrymen who visit this place must be of the same, is, that, upon a fair estimate, we may consider it fine, wholesome, bracing, and by no means unpleasant weather. I have observed that we are all liable upon arriving here to a seA^ere attack of illness, but if it passes away, and good health returns as quickly as it has to me, there can be no cause for complaint. 16th. Our chief commissioner and his party have arrived at Potosi, where he has been kindly received by the prefect and all the local authorities, who offer their services in every possible way, in promoting the object of his mission. Indeed, we receive from all parties the most cordial congratulations, hailing our establishment as the advent of prosperity to the country, and supposing it to be the open- ing of an intercourse with England from which the happiest results are anticipated. 22nd. This fine frosty morning, having form- ed a party to visit the mountain, we ascended to the summit, which it generally takes about two hours to accomplish. When nearly two-thirds of the way, we dis- mounted from our mules, and leaving them in charge of an Indian at the entrance of a mine, we proceeded on foot to the peak, where, in scrambling up, care was requisite to avoid kick- RAREFACTION OF THE AIR. 299 ing the loose stones, with which the surface of the mountain is covered, upon those who follow- ed. The difficulty of respiration in ascending was very great, owing to the extreme rarity of the air at so unusual a height above the level of the sea. Some, according to the weakness of their constitution, or the delicacy of their lungs, felt this difficulty more than others of a stronger habit ; I myself was of the latter. Those who have read the remarks of scientific travellers upon the effect produced by the rarefaction of the air in high situations, will have learned that it arises from the lightness of the atmosphere no longer contributing by its compression on the vessels to the retention of the blood, which, on its side, always maintains the power of action. This great rarefaction hastens lassitude, and contributes to exhaustion, for respiration be- comes extremely oppressive at every exertion. Cold also increases in proportion as we are lifted into the atmosphere : the more elevated the situation the more penetrating it becomes. There is another singularity which is pecidiar to the elevated parts of the Cordilleras, (and which I have experienced at Potosi,) that is, when you pass out of the shade into the sun, or vice versa, a greater difference or alteration is felt in the temperature of the air than when in the plains. There are times, when the sun is 300 HEIGHT OF THE CERItO. exceedingly powerful, that one step only into the shade is necessary to make you sensible of the cold. The distance distinctly seen from the top of the mountain is such as the atmosphere of Eu- rope no where admits ; for here, five days out of every six throughout the year are of a clearness and brilliancy unparalleled in the Old World.* The height of the Cerrof del Potosi has been ascertained by Dr. Redhead to be 15,981 feet above the level of the Pacific Ocean, which agrees within eleven feet with a more recent measurement by Mr. Pentland, a gentleman who has travelled through Peru on scientific pursuits, and with whom I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted at Potosi. According to the computations of those gentlemen, the town of Potosi is situated at an elevation of 13,265 feet above the same level, being probably the highest inhabited place upon the globe, which certainly is not generally known ; for the farm of Antisana, in the province of Quito, has hitherto passed for considerably the highest in- habited spot. M. Humboldt, in his " Tabic of * De foibles lunettes transportees d' FAirope mix Indes pa- roissent y avoir augment e du force, tant la transparence de fair y est grande ct constante. Humb. Tabl. Phys. des Reg. Equitoriales. f Cerro, means a rugged mountain. NOT OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN. 301 heights, measured in different parts of the globe," gives to Antisana the elevation of 2,107 toises, (say 13,000 feet,) and remarks, that " it is without doubt one of the highest in- habited spots on the earth." It cannot be supposed lie would have thus particularized a " farm house," had he been aware of the ele- vation of so considerable a city as Potosi, which he does not even mention, but gives the city of Quito (9,621 feet) as the next highest place, though not so high, by 3,600 feet, as the city of Potosi. It has been asserted by some, that the cerro of Potosi is of volcanic origin ; but this I have heard contradicted in the most positive man- ner. For myself, I presume not to offer any opinion on the subject ; geology is a science which, till very lately, has been strangely neg- lected in England, even by those who have received the most liberal education.* I may however observe that, having visited Vesuvius and Etna, I saw nothing in or about the com- position of the mountain of Potosi that resem- * In the dedication of the " Reliquiae Diluvianee," Pro- fessor Buckland alludes to his " endeavours to call the atten- tion of the University to the subject of geology, in order to combine with those branches of study which are more strictly academical the cultivation of this new and interest- ing science." f302 POTOSI THE YOUNGER. bled or reminded me of either of those vol- canoes. Our chief miner in vain endeavoured to discover on or near the mountain any thing- like pumice-stone, which would have been a convincing proof of volcanic origin had any such been found. On the side next to the town, and at the foot of the great mountain, rising as it were against it, is a smaller, called by the Indians in the Quichna language, Huayna Potoc-si, (son of Potosi, or Potosi the younger.) It facili- tates the ascent to, but does not partake of the riches of, the former, almost every stone of which is in some degree metalliferous. There are, however, in the small mountain some mines from which considerable quantities of silver have been extracted. In the large one there are not less than five thousand bocas minas, (mouths of mines ;) but it does not follow that there are five thousand distinct mines, for seve- ral mines have two, and some three, different mouths or entrances. This may convey a to- lerably fair idea of the manner in which the cerro is perforated, but no idea can be formed of the nature and state of the mines themselves, which have been worked from their discovery to the present day, without the slightest re- gard to method or even to common convenience. I entered several, in which I was obliged to MINES OF FOTOSI. 303 crawl for many yards on my hands and feet ; an estimate may thence be formed of the dis- advantage at which the labourers work, and of the great loss of time that must ensue in con- veying the ores out of the mines in sheep-skin aprons, as practised by the Indians. It has been remarked, that to describe the nature of the various ores, and the mode of ex- tracting them from the bowels of the earth, and to explain the several processes by which the metals are separated from the substances with which they are mingled, either by the action of fire or the attractive powers of mercury, is more peculiarly the province of the natural philoso- pher or the chymist. Although, however, I am neither philosopher nor chymist, I shall here relate, and I trust with sufficient exactness for general comprehension, the method of extract- ing the metal from the ores, as practised by the azogueros* of Potosi, from the operation in the mine to the production of the mass of silver called piiia, and the sale of it in the national bank. As many Indians as can work in the space within the mine are employed with imple- * Azoguero, a name given to the proprietor of a mining- establishment, is derived from azoguc, quicksilver, which is the chief ingredient used in the process of extracting the precious metals from their ores. 304 METHOD OF MINING. ments and gunpowder in detaching the ore from the veins in which it is found. The pieces so detached are carried out to the mouth of the mine, where they are broken and reduced to small and nearly equal sizes, resembling the stones broken for repairing roads upon Macadam's principle. In this state they are put into sacks, and conveyed to the ingenio (the laboratory, or amalgamation works) upon asses and llamas, the former carrying 125 pounds each, and the latter half that quantity : forty ass loads make the measure called a caron, which contains 5000 pounds weight. If the ore is quite dry, it is discharged into a store- house ; if wet or damp, it is spread in a place called pampeo, where it is exposed to the sun till dry. It is next pounded to powder, by means of a heavy and awkward stamping-mill, moved by a water-wheel, after which it is passed through wire sieves. The men attending this last ope- ration are obliged to stuff their nostrils and ears with cotton, and wear a sort of mask to protect them from the noxious dust; which is so inju- rious to health, that the place where the sifting is carried on is jocularly called mata gente, i. e. " the kill people ;" and a serious joke it has proved to the poor Indians for the last two hundred and fifty years. The ore, now reduced to powder, is taken PROCESS OF AMALGAMATION. 305 to the buitron, a large horizontal pavement in the middle of the ingenio, where it is deposited in heaps of twenty-five hundred weight each. Twenty of these heaps, which are called cuerpos, form one lava, or washing, of ten ca.vones, which is the usual quantity worked by one machine weekly ; the azogueros, or mine proprietors of the present day, not having sufficient capital to work upon a larger scale. The twenty cuerpos of pulverized ore being placed in the buitron, a small quantity of water, with from 100 to 150 pounds of salt,* is thrown into each heap, to which, when well mixed, quicksilver is added, according to the judgment of the bcnejiciador, " amalgamator," who, pre- vious to these operations, assays the ore and ascertains its richness, which enables him to judge with precision the quantity required, and which is augmented in proportion to the rich- ness of the ore. A great part of this quicksilver is subsequently recovered ; but the ascertained certain loss, according to this method of amal- gamation, is half a pound of quicksilver for every half pound of silver that is produced.f * There are inexhaustible deposits of salt within two or three days' journey from Potosi. t In Mexico, the azogueros lose, I believe, generally from eleven to fourteen ounces of mercury for every eight ounces of silver extracted from the ores. VOL. I. X 306 PROCESS OF AMALGAMATION. After the quicksilver has been incorporated, water is again added to the heaps until they become a thick mud, which is worked up every day by peones trampling it with their naked feet, and stirring it with shovels. The amal- gamator observes the state of these masses each day, and orders the addition of lime, or lead, or tin, or vitriol, or quicksilver, as the case may require, to facilitate the amalgamation of the mercury and silver. At the end of fifteen days, or thereabouts, when it is considered that the quicksilver has collected all the particles of silver which the ore contained, the process of amalgamation is concluded, and that of the lava (washing) takes place. This operation is performed in a kind of pit, the bottom of which is upon an inclined plane, with a small door arranged like a sluice. All the cuerpos, or heaps, are carried into it, and water is let in upon them by means of conduits, whilst two men with shovels are constantly stirring and assisting in liquidating the mass. This gradually runs off by the small opening at the sluice, and falls into a well about three feet deep, in the bottom of which the quicksilver and silver from the ore are caught, whilst the earth and other lighter im- purities are carried off by the running water PROCESS OF AMALGAMATION. 307 Lest, however, any of the silver or quicksilver should escape, there is a second well, about six or eight yards from the first, into which the water is conducted ; and beyond this there is a third well, which receives whatever may not have been deposited in the first two. A lava of ten caxones takes eight or ten hours to complete. When the washing is finished, the silver and quicksilver deposited in the wells are taken out, and put into a strong cloth, in which they are squeezed until as much quicksilver as can be thus expressed runs off. The mass which re- mains in the cloth is called pclla. This mass is put into a wooden mould, and pounded down with great force by a wooden pounder. During this operation, a farther quantity of quicksilver is squeezed out, and escapes by a small aperture at the bottom of the mould. When the quick- silver ceases to run, the mass, now called piiia, is taken out of the mould, which has given it a pyramidal form, resembling a sugar-loaf in size and shape, excepting that the former is octagonal. The pina, to undergo its last operation, is placed in a sort of earthen oven, which we may call a crucible, round which a strong fire is made and kept up for the space of ten or twelve hours, when every particle of quicksilver is ex- x 2 308 SALE OF THE PINA. tracted by the action of the heat, and the pina remains a solid mass of pure silver, the smallest seldom weighing less than forty marcs, and the largest rarely exceeding one hundred and twenty, or say, 60 lbs. The pinas are taken to the National Bank and there purchased on account of government, at the rate of seven dollars and a half per marc (eight ounces), which being less than the in- trinsic value, leaves a considerable profit to the government in their coinage. Besides this profit, there is also another arising from the alloy which is added in the mint. I repeatedly applied to the chief officer of the Casa de mo- neda for particulars upon this and other points connected with his department, but in vain ; although promises, " Si Senor, porque no, fyc. ^c." on his part were not wanting. A few years previously to the Revolution, forty ingenios were in active work at Potosi, and produced at a moderate calculation, eight thousand marcs (four thousand pounds avoir- dupois) of pure silver, weekly. This produce, although infinitely below that of former years, is nevertheless, as M. Humboldt observes, " un- doubtedly still too considerable to allow us to assert, that the mines of Potosi are no longer worth the trouble of working." — " These mines, DESTRUCTION OF MINES. 309 in their present state, (1803,)" continues M. Humboldt, " are not the first in the known world ; but we rank them immediately after those of Guanaxuato," the richest mining dis- trict of Mexico. Since the period at which M. Humboldt wrote, the South American revolution has taken place ; fifteen years of civil war have devastated the country, and the fortunes of the wealthiest inhabitants have been reduced to comparative insignificance : but nowhere has destruction been more mischievously active, more complete, and more manifest, than in the property of the azogueros of Peru. Their ex- pensive machinery has been wantonly destroyed by the enemy ; their extensive ingenios have been plundered and dilapidated ; their mines, from having been so long abandoned, have crumbled in, filled with rubbish or with water, and their capitals, exposed to the arbitrary con- tributions of military chiefs, have been reduced to a pittance scarcely adequate, in the present day, to the decent maintenance of themselves and families. From these circumstances, it cannot be a subject of surprise, that there are now only fifteen ingenios at work in Potosi, and those on a very limited scale, but still producing, collectively, on an average, fifteen 310 MINING SPECULATIONS. hundred inarcs of silver weekly, (say £125,000 sterling per annum, nearly.) It has been supposed that a greater quantity of silver can be extracted from the ores by amal- gamation than what is obtained by the rude method of the natives. This is doubtful, but it is quite certain that a greater profit may be ob- tained by a general improvement in the whole system. The advantages that may be calcu- lated upon by the introduction of improvement and machinery, to mention only those of a sav- ing in time and consumption of quicksilver, are alone sufficient to hold out powerful induce- ments to the miner who does not relinquish all prudence and judgment in the management of his establishment. But, although I have not the presumption to suppose that any statement of mine can alter the opinions, which in the hour of disappointment were so suddenly adopt- ed, and have since been so inveterately main- tained by European speculators, on the subject of mining in South America, I shall, notwith- standing their prejudices, offer a few observa- tions, which for the most part are supported by paramount authority. The remarks that were published in many of the newspapers on mining speculations, at the time of the great mania, were, if sometimes true, MINING SPECULATIONS. 311 frequently the reverse, but very seldom free from prejudice, arising either from party spirit, the disappointment of extravagant hopes, or the design of accomplishing some private end. I recollect to have seen in a periodical, which has particularly distinguished itself for its indefa- tigable zeal in detecting, and its uncompromis- ing spirit in opposing and exposing the numerous schemes that have been concocted, some in ig- norance and folly, others in absolute fraud — the following observations on mining companies, being " Extracts of a letter from Peru." " To us, at so great a distance from England, these things appear very strange, to see on the lists of directors names of men pretending to character, and many of them rich''' (this climax of character, by the way, to us who have no such ingredient to boast of, savours strongly of the city), " thus exposing themselves to be covered with dis- grace, for not one of these companies can do any good." We are not told why they cannot do any good ; but had the writer stopped here, with reference to those companies, their establish- ments, and their plans, he would, notwithstand- ing the vagueness of his assertion, have been perfectly correct. But when he continues thus, — " It is physically impossible they can succeed, and this must be known to every man who has 312 MINING SPECULATIONS. been here, or who would take the trouble of inquiring." — This, I reply, in his own words, every man who has been here must know is perfectly ridiculous. What has occurred in the realms of Nature, Science, or Art, to make it now " physically impossible" to work to advantage the silver mines of Peru ? Have they not been worked for three centuries to advantage with- out any other interruption than that which lias taken place solely in consequence of the poli- tical events of the country ? I think I hear the writer reply — that it is precisely because they have been worked for such a length of time, that they are now unproductive, nay, ex- hausted. But as well might it be said that the coal-pits of Newcastle are exhausted, because they have been worked for a long series of years. " Agents from London," continues the writer, are seen or heard of in every province, bargain- ing for mines ; they have turned the brains of the Spaniards, who had long given up mining in despair." — In despair of what? — I may be permitted to ask this question, because, here again, the why and the wherefore are not men- tioned. The only despair that could have troubled the Spaniards, with respect to their mines, was despair of the produce with which they annually loaded their ships ever reaching KICHES OF THE MINES. 313 a port of Spain when that country was at war with England. The chances then were, that every galleon which sailed for Spain would be either captured or blown up by British cruisers. Our history informs us that, even at the time of the Commonwealth, the capture of Spanish ships laden with the produce of the mines of America was considered so certain, that Cromwell expected to pay his troops from the booty, without laying new burthens on the people. There could not have been cause for despair, under an idea that their mines were exhausted, or that there was any improbability of finding new ones. But I need not intrude any opi- nion of my own, when I can adduce the evi- dence of a distinguished authority, whose la- borious investigations in the New World have been particularly directed to the subject of its mines.—" The abundance of silver in the chain of the Andes is in general such, that when we reflect on the number of mineral depositories which remain untouched, or which have been very superficially wrought, we are tempted to believe that Europeans have yet scarcely begun to enjoy the inexhaustible fund of wealth con- tained in the New World." — " I am not ig- norant, that in thus expressing myself, I am 314 PRODUCE OF THE MINES. directly opposed to the authors of a great num- ber of works on political economy, in which it is affirmed, that the mines of America are partly exhausted and partly too deep ever to be worked with advantage, &c." — " It appears to me superfluous to refute opinions at variance with innumerable facts, and we ought not to be astonished at the extreme levity with which people in Europe judge of the state of the mines of the New World."* I readily admit, that many blanks occur in the lottery of mining, and that enormous sums have been lavished in the speculation ; but it is not less true that, in many cases, " the mag- nitude of the object bears a fair proportion to the magnitude of the stake." A celebrated author, who wrote fifty years ago, thus expressed himself on the wealth of the mines of South America. " The exuberant profusion with which the mountains of the New World poured forth their treasures as- tonished mankind, who had been accustomed hitherto to receive a penurious supply of the precious metals from the more scanty stores contained in the mines of the ancient hemi- * Humboldt, Political Essay on New Spain, vol. iii. chap, xi., where all the facts alluded to may be seen, and the cor- roboration of them in " Ward's Mexico." PRODUCE OF THE MINES. 315 sphere. According to principles of computa- tion which appear to be extremely moderate, the quantity of gold and silver that has been re- gularly entered in the ports of Spain is equal in value to four millions sterling annually, reckoning from the year 1492, in which Ame- rica was discovered, to the present time. This, in two hundred and eighty-three years, amounts to eleven hundred and thirty-two millions. Immense as this sum is, the Spanish writers contend, that as much more ought to be added, in consideration of treasure which has been ex- tracted from the mines, and imported fraudu- lently into Spain, without paying duty to the king. By this account, Spain has drawn from the New World a supply of wealth, amounting at least to two thousand millions of pounds sterling."* Another celebrated writer, when mentioning the enormous wealth in gold and silver which the Spaniards found in the New World, observes, that it was not equal to the riches of the mines. "Les richesses que Von trouva dans les pays conquis tfetoient pourtant pas proportionnees a celles de leur mines"-\ And who can assert that those mines are " exhausted," in a country where the aid of * Robertson, Hist, of America, f Montesq. Esp. des Loix. 316 11ES0U11CES OF THE MINES. machinery has never been introduced, and where thousands of square leagues are yet un- explored ? It may not be considered irrelevant to re- mark, that the statement of the amount of gold and silver imported into Europe from America, as given by liobertson, differs materially from that by Humboldt. Indeed, all the writers on this subject disagree one with the other; but whoever wishes to investigate it with precision, cannot fail being gratified in consulting Hum- boldt's " Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain," wherein he reduces the whole to as accurate a conclusion as can well be expected, where so very much depends upon mere con- jecture. It seems, however, to be admitted, that Europe received much more gold than silver from the New World, until the discovery of the mountain of Potosi — a circumstance which encourages me to give the following particulars of that celebrated place, under the hope, that they will be found both curious and inter- esting. Doctor Nicol, a medical gentleman who has been practising his profession for some years past with the greatest success in Peru, present- ed me with an original manuscript, written by one of the last Spanish ministers of finance in MOUNTAIN OF POTOSI. 317 South America, and dedicated by him to the celebrated Godoy, then at the acme of his power. The title-page translated runs thus : " Manifest of the annual production of the copious stream of silver, poured forth from the wonderful mountain of Potosi, from its discovery to the 31st of December, 1800. Drawn up by the Minister who signs it, and remits it to the greatness of the most excellent Signor the Prince of the Peace. — Signed on the 1st Ma}% 1802, by Lamberto de Sierra, Minister of Fi- nance, Accountant and Treasurer of the Royal Coffers in the Imperial city of Potosi." In the preface, the writer observes, " My work, most excellent Sir, is very short, but cost me much labour to arrange in a clear methodi- cal manner, having examined with infinite pa- tience two hundred and forty-six royal books ; an operation which none of my predecessors in office had ever before attempted ; thereby giv- ing me the satisfaction to think, that this curi- ous document will serve at least to adorn the distinguished library of your Excellency, whose important life may God preserve many years." The accidental discovery of the riches of the mountain of Potosi, I have alluded to on a former occasion, and it is well authenticated, that an Indian named Diego Gualca, when pur- 318 MOUNTAIN OF POTOS1. suing a llama, made that discovery in the year 1545 ; but the manuscript in question gives a different account of the particulars ; for, instead of the Indian "pulling up a shrub, at the roots of which he found a mass of silver," and which is the general report; it is herein stated, that " at night he made a fire on the side of the moun- tain, and in the morning he perceived a quan- tity of silver, that had melted and spread on the surface of the ground ; which circumstance is noted in the archives of this treasury."* I think there are reasons for inclining to the for- mer account as the most probable, and although it is very immaterial which of them happens to be the true one, I did not wish to pass over the statement given in an authentic document. " Having examined," continues the Trea- surer, " the great number of books that have accumulated in this office from the period of its foundation, it results, that in the year 1556, the working of these mines formally com- menced, then reigning the Majesty of the Lord Don Philip II. (who in glory is!) But for the eleven years preceding, that is, from 1545, in which this mountain was discovered, no account * " y haciendo fuego, hallo por la maiiana, derretida la plata en la superficie de la tierra ; cuya notieia resulta de los papeles del archivo de estaTesoreria de micarga." — MS. THE MITA CONSCRIPTION. 319 exists of what it produced, or of the duties which ought to have been paid to His Ma- jesty. Those which are proved to have been paid and received into this treasury, from the aforesaid year 1556 to the 31st December, 1800, are represented in each year of the two hundred and forty-six years which this certified document embraces." These tw r o hundred and forty-six years the Treasurer divides into three periods. The first includes twenty-three years, when the duties on the produce of the mines were twenty per cent, called royal fifths. The second period includes one hundred and fifty-eight years, when the same royal fifths were levied, together with an additional tax of one and a half per cent, called derechos de cobos, making the exorbitant duty of twenty-one and a half per cent, to the Crown, and which that barbarous edict the Mita, i. e. the conscription by which the Indians were forced to gratuitous, or nearly gratuitous, labour, chiefly enabled the mine proprietors to pay. Twelve thousand In- dians, according to Miller, were annually sub- ject to the Mita conscription in Potosi ; but it is now acknowledged that the forced labour of the Indians was not of such very great ad- vantage to the mine proprietors as some have 320 THE MITA CONSCRIPTION. supposed. Half the number of men at gra- tuitous labour perform tbat which occupied nearly double the number under the Mita system, when it must not be forgotten, the proprietors were under the necessity of feed- ing and supporting their slaves, although they paid them little or no wages. "It has been computed," observes Miller, "that eight millions two hundred and eighty -live thousand Indians have perished in the mines of Peru !" Assuredly this would not have been the case under a wise government, which, in discountenancing the barbarities of slavery, held out fit encouragement to free labour ; for, " il me semble" says Montesquieu, " que quelque pinibies que soient les travaux que la societe exige, on pent tout /aire avec des homines libres." And he alludes to the mines of Germany and Hun- gary, where the workmen employed live hap- pily, and prefer their condition to any other. Powerful, however, as the assistance obtained by this work of cruel slavery may have been, it was not sufficient to admit of the continu- ance of a duty so oppressive, when the ores ceased to yield the enormous riches which, for a great portion of this period, (according to the document in the treasury,) averaged at different periods, 25, 50, 100, and even 500 marcs of silver king's fifths. 321 the ca.von ; without including the great number of years when solid silver teas cut with chisels out of the rich or principal vein. It appears that, for the first seventy-three years of this period, the duties paid to the crown amounted to nearly eighty-eight millions of dollars, of which the year 1593 contributed the largest sum, viz. " one million five hundred and eighty- nine thousand six hundred and sixty-two dol- lars." But, when the Veta Rica and other very rich mines were exhausted or inundated, the labour of the poor Indians was not sufficient to enable their merciless masters, who lived in an extravagantly expensive manner, to pay the king's fifths. Accordingly, in the year 1736, these rapacious exactions were reduced to reales diezmos, (royal tenths) and from that date, up to the year 1801, the third and last period is included. The annexed return, which has been already published, exhibits at one view the sums paid in each period to the Crown, and also the prin- cipals from which such sums were deducted ; the latter amounting, in the language of the manuscript, to " the very commendable sum" of nearly eight hundred and twenty-four millions of dollars ! thereby proving the Abbe Kaynal's assertion, that in no country on the globe, has VOL. I. y 322 DUTY ON SILVER. Nature ever offered to the avidity of man such mines of riches as those of Potosi. Return of the duties of Royal-Fifths, Tenths, and one-and- a-half per cent, of Cobos, paid into this Treasury of Potosi, from 1st January, 1556, to 31st December, 1800, show- ing the principals to which they correspond. Duties Principals in dollars. in dollars. Royal fifths for the 23 years of the first period, from 1556 to 1578, inclusive 9,802,257 49,011,285 Royal-fifths, with 1 1 Cobos, for the 158 years of the second period, from 1579 to 1735.. . 129,509,939 611,256,349 Royal-tenths and Cobos for the 65 years of the third period, from July 1736 to December 1800, inclusive 18,618,927 163,682,874 Total 157,931,123 823,950,508 Now, although the foregoing evidently places Potosi — " precious jewel of Nature !" (preciosa margarita de la Naturaleza !) without any rival in the mineral world hitherto known, a few short extracts from the Treasurer's manuscript will show, that, enormous as the sum is, it pro- bably is not more than a fourth part of the actual amount extracted from this mountain. Humboldt says, that more than a third of the silver was never registered. SILVER RAISED. 323 It must not escape attention, that the mil- lions above mentioned are those only which actually paid in duties, and all the world knows the schemes practised, and the exertions made, to evade duties, which, even under the most vigilant regulations, are frequently attend- ed with success. It is therefore impossible to say to what extent smuggling may have been carried in a country, where abuses of all kinds were general ; where the rapacity and pe- culation of officers and all public functionaries were notorious ; where the unreasonable excess of the duties made the temptation to evade them proportionably great ; and where the fa- cility of doing so was aided by the unguarded and peculiar nature of the country. The produce of the first eleven years, pre- vious to the formal working of the mines, of which no account was given, is likewise to be considered. So also is the prodigious quantity manufactured every year into articles of furni- ture, ornaments, and utensils of every kind, that were to be seen in extravagant profusion in the churches and in the houses of the rich, and in abundance in those of others ; none of which paid the duties, nor has any account been kept of their value. The temptation to smuggle silver to the Y 2 324 SILVER RAISED. ports of the Pacific and elsewhere was irresisti- ble ; " the French and Portugese," according to Don Lamberto, " paid from eleven to fourteen dollars per marc of eight ounces, for which the government paid but seven dollars and a half : this, with the duty of 21 J per cent, that was evaded, made it a lucrative trade for the contra- bandist^ and the extent to which it was carried on is altogether unknown. When these circumstances are considered, the most extravagant conjecture would probably fall short of the true amount of the riches ex- tracted from Potosi. A curate, named Alonzo Barba, has calculated, that the number of dollars coined from the silver of the mountain, would " cover an extent of sixty square leagues !" There are some strange errors to be found in the Abbe Raynal's account of the produce of these mines.* He commences calculating the king's fifths upon the silver, from the year 1545, being that in which the mountain was discovered, and when its riches were known but to a few private individuals, (Juan de Vil- lareal y Diego Centeno, EspaTwles que trabajaban los miner ales de Porco.J Now, as Don Lamberto de Sierra had taken the pains to examine two hundred and forty-six official documents, for • * " Histoire Philosophique des deux Indes." ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS. 325 information on this subject, his evidence can scarcely be questioned, when he asserts that, " no account exists of what the cerro produced for eleven years after its discovery ;" and that " the working of the mines did not formally commence until 1556," in which year is to be found the first entry of duties at Potosi, amounting to four hundred and fifty thousand seven hundred and thirty-four dollars. The Abbe Raynal then says, that, from 1564, " the abundance of metals soon decreased" and he states the decrease to have been " between the years 1564 and 1585," — the period in which their increase actually commenced, and aug- mented the duties from between three and four hundred thousand dollars a-year, to upwards of a million, which * increase continued for sixty consecutive years. The next statement in the Histoire Pkilo- sophiqae is, that " in the period between 1585 and 1 624, there was a still farther decrease in the king's fifths, amounting to upwards of three millions of livres annually." Now this was the precise period when those duties were at their very highest rate; and Don Lamberto's ma- nuscript supports Baron Humboldt in his asser- tion, that " the mining of Potosi never attained so high a degree of splendour as from 1585 to 826 king's fifths. 1606, when the fifth was a million and a half of dollars annually ; and, indeed, for five-and- thirty years following, that is, up to 1641, the average was considerably above a million. It was about this period, too, that fifteen thousand Indians were working in the mines and amal- gamation-works, and upwards of fifteen thou- sand llamas and an equal number of asses were employed in carrying the ores, of which the rich produce, within this same period, we may remark en passant, was expended in those gigantic preparations that so long held Europe in amazement and suspense, but finally termin- ated to the glory of England in one memora- ble event— the destruction of the " Invincible Armada." A glance at the following table, from the manuscript in my possession, will tend to cor- roborate the greater part of the foregoing statements. TABLE, SHOWING THE AMOUNT OP KING'S FIFTHS PAID IN EACH YEAR AT POTOSI, FROM 1564 TO 1641. The average of these fifths, prior to 15G4, did nut exceed 443,000 dollars. Years. Dollars. Years. Dollars. 1504 396,158 1567 417,107 1565 519,944 15G6 486,014 1568 398,381 1569 379,906 KING S FIFTHS. 327 Years. Dollars. 1570 325,467 1571 206,200 1572 216,517 1573 234,922 1574 313,778 1575 413,487 1576 544,014 1577 716,087 1578 825,505 1579 1,021,025 1580 1,189,323 1581 1,276,872 1582 1,362,855 1583 1,221,428 1584 1,215,558 1585 1,526,455 1586 1,456,958 1587 1,226,328 1588 1,441,657 15S9 1,578,823 1590 1,422,576 1591 1,562,522 1592 1,578,449 1593 1,589,662 1594 1,403,555 1595 1,557,221 1596 1,468,182 1597 1,355,954 1598 1,310,911 1599 1,332,581 1600 1,299,028 1601 1,477,489 Years. Dollars. 1602 1,519,152 1605 1,478,697 1604 1,326,231 1605 1,532,646 1606 1,434,981 1607 1,414,660 1608 1,200,488 1609 1,132,680 1610 1,139,725 1611 1,299,052 1612 .... 1,329,701 1613 1,200,947 1614 1,269,692 1615 1,354,412 1616 1,257,599 1617 1,071,932 1618 1,061,264 1619 1,108,744 1620 1,062,599 1621 1,099,244 1622 1,093,201 1623 1,083,641 1624 1,086,999 1625 1,024,724 1626 1,033,868 1627 1,068,612 1628 1,172,352 1629 972,807 1630 962,250 1631 1,067,001 1632 964,370 1633 1,003,756 328 king's fifths. Years. Dollars. Years. Dollars. 1634 984,414 1635 946,781 1636 1.424,758 1637 1,197,572 1638 1,174,393 1639 1,128,738 1640 978,483 1641 940,367 Another error into which the Abbe Itaynal has fallen remains to be pointed out. " In the year 1763," he states that " the fifth part belong- ing to the king did not exceed 1,364,682 livres" Now, in 1763, the jifth was not levied, nor had it been levied for twenty-seven years preceding ; it was reduced to a tenth in 1736, " pon/ue en este alio se sirvid el Rey bqjar los Quintos a los Diez?no.s" and has remained so ever since ; therefore, the sum specified is only the tenth part of the silver registered, and not the jifth. My principal motive for having brought under observation the foregoing errors of so celebrated a writer is, because I heard them quoted as authentic, and even find that they have all been transferred to the Encyclopae- dia Britannica, together with a mistake in computing livres in pounds sterling : for in- stance, thirty-six millions of livres are made to equal 151,000/.; and immediately afterwards, fifteen millions of livres are made to equal 632,000/.* * Vide article Potosi, Ency. Brit. Edinh. third edit. It is PRODUCE OF THE MINES. 329 Don Lamberto de Sierra remarks that, ac- cording to the produce of the mines of Potosi in his time and the duties paid thereon, the crown should have received, in proportion to their produce at former periods, an annual sum of from four to five millions of dollars, instead of the " moderate quantity which his official document has shown." Humboldt concludes that the result of the data given in a work, en- titled Pretensiones del Potosi, by Sebastian San- doval, would be, that during the first eleven years, between 1545 and 1556, the cerro must have yielded in silver, of which the fifth was paid, six hundred and thirteen millions of pias- tres, equal to nearly one hundred and twenty- nine millions of pounds sterling ! This is a very extraordinary result ; yet, con- tinues Humboldt, it contains nothing which may be considered as impossible. " We may be surprised to see that a single mountain of Peru has yielded from two to three times more silver than all the collected mines of Mexico, but our ideas of wealth are merely relative." He observes, however, that we ought very much to suspect the account of Sandoval, not scarcely necessary to add, by way of correcting these merely typographical errors, that the former amount should be 1,500,000/., and the later 625,000/. 330 PRODUCE OF THE MINES. that the enormous quantity of silver stated to have been extracted induces him to question his testimony, but " it is the contradiction which exists between his testimony and other well- authenticated facts." The word " contradic- tion," induces me here, in respectful and hum- ble deference, to ask if something of that na- ture does not appear in the statements of the Prussian philosopher on the very subject before us ? M. Humboldt has said, that " a single mountain of Peru (the cerro of Po- tosi), has yielded from two to three times more silver than all the collected mines of Mexico."* A few pages back, on the subject of the mines of Mexico, are these passages. " The name of Guanaxuato is scarcely known in Europe, and yet the riches of the mines of this district are much superior to those of the metalliferous depository of Potosi." — " The produce of the vein of Guanaxuato is almost double that of the cerro del Potosi." — " This famous vein has alone, since the end of the sixteenth century (a space of two-hundred and thirty years), produced a mass of silver equal to nearly fifty-eight millions of pounds sterling." * Polit. Essay on New Spain, vol. iii. chap. ii. See also Selections from the Works of Baron de Humboldt, by John Taylor, Esq. PRODUCE OF THE MINES. 333 With this produce is confronted that of Potosi from the year 1556 to 1789, (a period of two hundred and thirty-three years,) amounting to nearly one hundred and seventy-one mil- lions ! which is consequently far more than double that of the vein of Guanaxuato ; and if we add to the produce of Potosi the one hun- dred and twenty-nine millions said to have been extracted in the first eleven years after its discovery, the produce will then be five times greater than that of the " famous vein of Gua- naxuato." Again, in the same Essay on New Spain, and in the same chapter, we find a doubt respecting the superiority even of Guanaxuato, said to be " the richest of the mines of Mexico ;" for, in speaking of the district of Ileal del Monte, it is mentioned, that the " veta de la Biscaina is not so extensive, but perhaps still richer, than the vein of Guanaxuato." It may be, that some discrimination between these mining districts is meant, which is not expressed with the usual clearness of this distinguished writer; and though I cannot but apprehend that these remarks on works so laborious and so highly valued may expose me to the observation, that " it is always the best fruit which the birds peck at," still I trust it has been clearly shown by authentic documents, supported by the high authority of 332 SUPERIOR WEALTH OF POTOSI. this eminent writer himself, that no given spot has hitherto produced a mass of silver equal to that which has been extracted from the mines of Potosi, and that, in the actual value pro- duced, the palm of superiority, above any min- ing district in the world, is fairly due to the Ccrro del Potosi COLLEGE OF PICHINCHA. 333 CHAPTER XVII. Opening of the College of Pichincha. — Improvement in the public mind. — Purchase of pictures. — Barbarous edict against dogs. — House-rent. — Visit to the lakes. — Mining- district of Puno. May 2nd. Our chief commissioner having transferred the charge of our concerns into my hands, left Potosi for Arica, there to wait the arrival of our ship, the cargo of which has been calculated to exceed three thousand mule-loads. Baron Czettritz has also set out for Puno, to survey the mines in that province, where there is every prospect of forming a beneficial es- tablishment. 6th. All the public authorities, with a large concourse of people, went in procession to open the College of Pichincha, an establishment for public instruction upon a liberal system, one of the first of the kind in this part of the country. The building, which has been chosen for a college, where the rising generation are to im- bibe the spirit of tolerance, and acquire the 334 COLLEGE OF PICIIINCHA. principles of a liberal education, had been for upwards of one hundred and twenty years the gloomy abode of intolerance, indolence, and superstition. It was a convent of bearded Bethlemite friars, Religiosos Betlemitas, who have been ejected, and their ample possessions, which supported in luxury and sloth a useless herd of private individuals, have now been ap- propriated to the maintenance of a public insti- tution of the first importance to the state. An assembly was held in the chapel of the college, formerly the rich and gaudy church of the convent. Here the ceremony was opened by a Latin speech, delivered by one of the in- tended students, chiefly in praise of Bolivar and Sucre, whom all the speakers that follow- ed, also made the theme of their discourse in Spanish. The prefect charged the governors and masters who were to be entrusted with the education of the scholars, to bring them up in a very different manner from that in which he himself and all his contemporaries had been brought up under their late despots. He recommended them to take example from the English nation, whose principles of liberality and tolerance had obtained them the respect and admiration of the universe. The clergy- man who had been selected as head- master of the establishment, followed in an equally liberal COLLEGE OF PICHINCHA. 335 strain, and exulted in the honour of his ap- pointment to preside over the first institution for the instruction of the youth of his coun- try in which their education was free, and not, as hitherto, subject to the blighting influence of a despotic will. Other speakers made ho- nourable mention of Locke, Socrates, Newton, Canning, Plato, Boyle, Washington, Alexan- der the Great, Homer, and Nebuchadnezzar. When all were tired of speaking, which was not before all were tired of listening, the company withdrew from the church to the re- fectory, where, if the tables were not laden as luxuriously as in the days of the fathers, there was at least a repast sufficient to afford a couple of hours of genuine hilarity. The event which the party had met to celebrate was one of pre- sent joy and future hope to every body ; it was, in truth, a grand epoch in the annals of a nation, which by its own persevering struggles had just emancipated itself from a state of the most abject slavery ; and as the surest preven- tive against its recurrence, this first establish- ment for the free education of youth was founded in general joy and jubilee, under the conviction of the truth of their motto, which was selected from the works of 1' Abb6 de Ma- bly : — L instruction publique est sans doute la meil- leure base des mceurs. 336 DAWN OF IMPROVEMENT. Instruction, public or private, on liberal prin- ciples, was contrary to the system of the late rulers of America.* The darker the ignorance in which the minds of the people were held, the easier the task of keeping them in humili- ating bondage; for incarceration of the mind, it is admitted, like that of the body, subdues its energies, and lulls into apathy and indifference. But, prejudiced must that eye be which can- not discern the dawn that is now succeeding the late long and gloomy night of odious op- pression. There are some, however, who ima- gine that these people have scarcely advanced a single step beyond that benighted period, when the timid Indian, with reverential awe beheld a white man with a beard as a divinity from Heaven ; when the discharge of fire-arms was believed to be the thunder and lightning of avenging Gods ; and when the horse champing his bit was looked on with dread amazement. There are some who scarcely admit that these * Permission was solicited of Chailes IV. to found a University in Venezuela : his Majesty, having consulted the Council of the Indies, answered in a royal decree, that he did not conceive it proper for learning to become general in America. — See, Summary of the Spanish Colonial System, drawn from sources of unquestionable authenticity in Miller's Memoirs, Vol. I. ADVANCING CIVILIZATION. 337 people now know themselves to be men, and all mankind to be but their fellow-creatures— a knowledge in the present case not altogether so simple and superficial as the expression of it may appear— it is the consequence of that in- tellectual improvement, which has commenced and, with the spirit of liberty, must in due time extend with powerful effect throughout the boundless range of this imperfectly known por- tion of the globe. Already has the State of Buenos Ayres, notwithstanding its political dis- sensions, advanced in all the improvements of civilization beyond any precedent ; in an in- stant she has made a stride of half a century. In the Republic of Chili the evils of disorder and misrule seem to have subsided, and the advantages of peace and industry, from which the true greatness of a nation springs, have be- come the peculiar care of the legislature. These examples cannot be thrown away upon the neighbouring States, who, though tardy in following them, are by no means insensible to their paramount importance. Let us not be deceived by our prejudices, or by any contemp- tuous feeling towards this " semi-barbarous" people ; for although much remains to be per- formed, and civil contentions still continue to distract them, yet the stream of living waters, vol. i. z 338 LETTER TO THE DIRECTORS. having gashed forth, will assuredly flow on ; and even the next generation may see it di- verge in a thousand channels, diffusing its fer- tilizing effects through every class of society, and converting many a dreary desert into a scene of happiness and joy. 6th. The following extracts from the first letter I wrote to the Directors after the depar- ture of our chief commissioner from Potosi, exhibit the hopes we entertained of the success of our speculation. " Gentlemen, u Although I have nothing particular to add to what Ge- neral Paroissien mentioned in his last despatch, yet as it must be gratifying to your Board to hear that your concerns in this quarter of the world continue to promise well, I think it my duty not to let the post depart without a few lines. I can assure you we have hitherto had every cause to congra- tulate ourselves on our prospects, as well as on our favour- able reception by the Government, the Authorities, and in- deed by all classes of the people ; and should the good ship Potosi arrive at the port of her destination in safety, and your Board continue for a short time to support us, no doubt can exist of our ultimate success. " My constant intercourse with persons capable of giving information on the subject of our enterprise, and my friendly intimacy with every person of reputation here, enable me confidently and conscientiously to make this assertion. " Every preparation has been made at Arica for the recep- tion of the ship, the arrival of which we wait with feelings of MEMORIAL TO THE PRESIDENT. 339 the deepest anxiety; and such is the state of progress in which our ingenio and mines now are, that after the arrival of our artificers and implements, every hour may he turned to account. In Oruro, a thousand quintals of barley have been bought to feed our mules on their transit, and every precaution has been taken to provide the needful for our people. " The absence of our chief Commissioner from head-quar- ters for so long a time as he is likely to be detained, is much to be regretted ; but I hope by unremitting attention in some decree to make up for the abilities of General Parois- sien. I shall only add, that so long as the management and control of your concerns remain in my hands, I shall per- form my duty to the utmost of my power. " I have the honour to be, &c." In the foregoing letter I enclosed a copy of a memorial, presented by our chief commissioner to the President of the Republic, soliciting cer- tain rights and privileges, and claiming a secu- rity for the Association in all its future under- takings. The substance of the memorial was as follows : — I. That the Potosi, La Paz and Peruvian Mining Com- pany may enjoy the protection of the Government, and of the laws. IT. That the Company, through its representative, may purchase either from Government, or from private indi- viduals, mines, amalgamation-works, estates, or other pro- perty, and that it may fully enjoy all privileges and exemp- tions, such as are specially guaranteed to the corporation of azogucros, or mine proprietors. z 2 340 GOVERNMENT DECREE. III. That in the event of a war between this Republic and any other State, all the property belonging to the Com- pany shall be respected according to the law of nations, and that the individuals dependent on the Company shall enjoy the same privileges as in time of peace, &c. The Government replied to the foregoing by a decree to the following effect : — .It is conceded to the chief Commissioner or representa- tive of the English Mining Company of Potosi, to undertake his operations within this State, under the guarantees and securities which are solicited in the several articles of his memorial, subject to the laws of the State. The Govern- ment farther offer every protection due to an enterprise of so much advantage to the country, &c. 24th. In the mornings and evenings we have now very sharp cold, and at night frost. The day resembles our very finest, sharpest March weather in England ; but the sun, as may be expected between the nineteenth and twentieth degree of latitude, is of course much hotter. The sky here is such as is seldom seen in Europe, being one spotless canopy of the purest azure, and the atmosphere so dry, that in pulling off a flannel-waistcoat or worsted stocking in the dark, sparks are dis- tinctly seen, and the same in patting, or rather rubbing, a horse's neck, which sometimes emits sparks and sounds like an electrifying ma- chine. PICTURE OF A HOLY FAMILY. 341 2Gth. Accidentally strolling into the church, La Matriz, an ancient building erected by the Jesuits, and gazing round me at something or at nothing, several pictures between two and three feet square, in a most neglected state, attracted my attention, and seemed, through the accumulated dust of ages, even at the great height at which they hung, to merit closer examination. I requested the sacristan to take one down ; and, by means of a scaffolding, which we ingeniously composed of tables, con- fession-chairs, and throe thick mass-books, he succeeded in wresting from the spiders a Holy Family, which safely descended upon earth in a cloud of dust. Upon examining the picture, I was not disappointed ; it exhibits traces of an easy, if not an able hand, of the Italian school, and is painted upon copper ; but no name, initials, or monogram appear, by which to ascertain the master. The subject is that of the Holy Family in their flight to Egypt. They are seated on the left, under a shade of fruit and forest-trees ; the Virgin Mother, with a ray of glory round her head, is dressed in a blue tunic, which hangs loosely upon her shoidders, and, falling in ample folds, covers the whole of the lower part of her person ; an under-gar- ment, of which the body and right sleeve are 342 PICTURE OF A HOLY FAMILY. only seen, is of light purple. The countenance is perfectly feminine and pleasing ; the head is gracefully turned in an attitude of attention to Joseph, who seems to be explaining the sub- ject of a book which lies open upon his knees. The infant Saviour is seated on the lap of his mother, and in the act of stretching out his hands with infantine anxiety to catch a bunch of flowers, which one of a group of four chil- dren is playfully presenting. The ease, the attitude, and the colouring of the infant, are in every respect to be admired. The same may be said of Joseph, whose countenance is full of mild though manly expression ; he is not, as we so frequently see him represented, in the last stage of decrepitude, but a hale man of forty-five or fifty. Four children, gracefully grouped, are dancing before the principal figures, but notwithstanding their rosy health and juvenile animation, I wished them all at school, for this conceit of the master is not in accordance with all that we know of the his- tory of the flight into Egypt. On the right is a distant view of a city ; the landscape, though pleasing, has been evidently but a secondary consideration with the painter. The whole, however, forms an extremely interesting pic- ture, and would be considered an ornament to any collection. DESCRIPTION OF PAINTINGS. 343 The Jesuits brought many valuable paint- ings to this country, but almost all have been lost, or have perished by neglect. Among those which hung round the walls of the church, were others, apparently by the same hand as the former. The subject of one of them is Christ exorcising the evil spirit from the man possessed of devils ; a very spirited production. Another, is the Samaritan woman at the well. A third, the woman kissing the hem of Christ's garment ; all good compositions, and pleasing pictures. The sacristan was so surprised and so wearied by my long examination of such rubbish, that he went and acquainted the curate with the circumstance. The curate acquainted the rec- tor, that el SeTior Secretario (the appellation by which I am usually known at Potosi) had been all the forenoon examining las pinturas antiguas de los Jcsuitas, and seemed to take a great fancy to them. — " Do you think he'd buy them?" said the curate. — " Ask him," said the rector. — " Corriente" (with all my heart,) said the curate, who came and inquired if such was my wish. — I replied in the affirmative, so far as regarded four of them. — " You must take all or none," said the curate. — " That 's hard," said I, and so I thought it, to be compelled to take a house- full of rubbish, in order to become possessed of one or two articles of gusto. — " What do you 344 BARGAIN FOE PICTURES. ask for the whole?" said I. — " Two hundred and twenty dollars," said the curate. Now, from the first merchant or the most respectable person of any condition in America down to the woman at her fruit-stall, " What do you ask V is always the first question of a purchaser ; the second, " What will you take ?" and the answers to these preliminary interroga- tories are frequently as wide of each other as Cape Horn and Cape Clear. I have known the price taken reduced to a third of that which was asked. This Jew-like custom is so general, that although the price asked for any article be less than what the purchaser at first ex- pected, still he would rather go without it than take it at the original demand ; there must be an abatement, or no sale can be effected. The consequence is, that merchants, and all those who may have any thing to sell, from an estate to a pair of shoes, ask a price far beyond what they have any expectation of getting. My second question to the curate was there- fore— " What will you take ?"— " I will take two hundred dollars," said he. — k the sterling PERUVIAN LADIES. 409 merits of my fair countrywomen, whose su- perior mental accomplishments, and, take them all in all, their superior personal charms, place them, beyond all comparison in the universe, pre-eminent. The free and courteous manners of the South American ladies have induced some travellers hastily to conclude that these are open invi- tations to flirtation and unceremonious fami- liarity ; but it is well known how prone men are to interpret as advances to themselves the slightest unguarded expression or incautious action of a female, although, at the time, her every inward thought may be pure as the snowy fleece from heaven. I am bound in candour to say thus much, because I myself have sometimes presumed to think a lady's con- descension love, and have kissed with impas- sioned delight the friendly proffered hand of her who would never suffer me to touch her lips. I do not, however, mean to hold the shield of purity over the whole of South Ame- rica, or to maintain that her daughters differ from those of other climes, and are never known — " Prester Voreille aux jieurettes du Diable." This certainly does occur, though at the same time I may apply here, in all truth, that which 410 PERUVIAN LADIES. has been said of the Turkish women, " who have as great a scope for the indulgence of any evil inclination as the beauties of Christendom, but I should doubt whether there is in the cha- racter of these women, ignorant as thev are, more voluptuousness than in the spiritual fe- males of our own luxurious metropolis."* The character and disposition of the Peru- vian ladies, as described by the Abbe Raynal, is nothing more than one of those exuberant effusions in which that entertaining writer was wont to indulge his poetical imagination. So addicted, he observes, are the Peruvian ladies to pleasure, that they consider the legitimate bonds of love as restrictions upon its happiness, and that the prevailing taste of the Creoles, is to live unfettered by the yoke of matrimony ; that this taste leads them " a se marier derrwre rigiise" an expression which, in the country, he says, signifies " vivre dans les liens illicites" I have certainly heard the expression in the coun- try, and I know some examples of the kind, but they are extremely rare, seldom publicly known, and in no instance conducted with that unblushing abandonment of decency and deco- rum so frequent and obvious in our highly- polished state of society in Europe ; nor did I ever * Hobhouse's Travels through Albania. PERUVIAN LADIES. 411 hear or understand, that in Peru, the Church had deemed it requisite every year to anathe- matize the persons leading such a life. " In vain do the bishops every year at Easter, ana- thematize the persons living in these illicit con- nexions ; — of what avail," says the Abbe, with infinite pathos — " of what avail are these vain thunderbolts against love, against custom, and, above all, against the climate, which is inces- santly warring with, and finally conquers, all the laws, civil and religious, which oppose its influ- ence. The women of Peru have more charms than the spiritual weapons of the Church of Rome have power to strike terror."* The Re- verend Abbe is equally fanciful in his descrip- tion of the manner in which the Peruvian ladies dress and pass their time. These di- vinities, he says, attired in a costume more elegant than modest, repose in the most cap- tivating attitudes on superb carpets in superb saloons, where their days glide tranquilly away to the sounds of music, or in a delicious repose. It may be seen in the note how impossible it is to depict pleasure, luxury, rapture, and delight, in more glowing colours ; but never was disap- pointment more bitter and provoking than mine, when I found that this highly -painted, tantaliz- * Hist. Philosoph. des deux Indes. 412 THE ABBE ItAYNAL. ing scene existed only in the historian's ima- gination* The morning costume of the South American ladies, when at home, generally speaking, is pre- cisely that worn in Spain (perhaps I might add in France and the whole Continent), a slovenly dishabille on a slattern person, which to an Englishman is altogether revolting ; he cannot reconcile himself, when on a morning visit, to meeting in the saloon a party of ladies, no mat- * " C ; est partieulierement dans les delicieux saltans ou elles recoivent compagnie, vetues d'une maniere plus ele- gante que modeste, qu'on trouve les dames de Perou se- duisantes. La, nonchalamment couchees sur une strade qui a un demi-pied d'elevation et cinq ou six de large, et sur des tapis et des carreaux superbes, elles coulent des jours tranquilles dans un delicieux repos. Les hommes qui sont ad mis a. leur conversation s'asseyent a quelque distance, a nioins qu'une grande familiarite n'appelle ces adorateurs jusqu'u la strade, qui est comme le sanctuaire du culte et de l'idole. Cependant, les Divinites aiment mieux y etre libres que ficres, et bannissant le ceremoniel, elles jouent de la liarpe ou de la guitarre, chantent meme, et dansent quand on les en prie." This is what we may term " tickling the wanton fancy," and seems to require only the addition of a little chanson — " Tout les gens sont bans, Vive le vin J Vive I' amour •'" to complete the philosopher's voluptuous, though visionary, representation of the Peruvian divinities. DISHABILLE OF THE LADIES. 41,3 ter how handsome, with hair tossed and tumbled, or stuck round with a chevaux-de-frise of papil- lottes. If his eyes bashfully sink from the view, they are met at the other extremity by old shoes worn into shabby slippers, down at heel, and ex- posing manifold wrinkles in the neglected stock- ings. If the shawl, long discarded from orna- mental dress, and now serving only as a morning wrapper, happens to escape the grasp with which it is held in front by fingers sometimes tipped with ebony, or should slip accidentally from the shoulders, the absence of stays betrays the loose and defenceless state of the person, and per- chance exposes the necessity of a change of linen. Huddled in a corner of an unfurnished apartment, and sitting somewhat in the east- ern style on small square rugs spread on the ground, or upon a kind of stage raised a few inches above it, they pass the live-long day ge- nerally without any occupation, though needle- work in some places is carried to perfection, but " that sweetest of all human enjoyments," books, is never seen. This state of slovenli- ness, indolence, and ennui, lasts till evening, when a stranger is astonished at the metamor- phosis which takes place ; not more surprising is the transformation of the chrysalis from its torpid, unsightly state, to that of the gay but- 414 EVENING COSTUME, terfly sporting in the air, " rivalling the flight of birds and the brilliancy of the peacock." Both young and old then sally forth in costume elegant and becoming, sometimes too plus ele- gante que modeste — then indeed is every stocking- braced up with scrupulous tightness for the pub- lic promenade, where many an admiring eye is attracted to the taper limb, that displays itself with so much grace in that " stately elegance of walk" for which the whole race of Spanish ladies are unrivalled. How delighting and delightful it is to ob- THE PROMENADE. 415 serve one of these lovely creatures, pacing in triumphant majesty on the promenade, particu- larly when attired in the silken basquina y man- tilla, which at every gesture exhibits the line of beauty in pleasing and palpable symmetry. Then, again, those charming little pedestals, the feet ! We need not, if we could, describe the interest and intelligence that reside in a pretty foot. It is full of sense and meaning, and speaks unutterable things.* Before I left Chuquisaca, I had the pleasure of learning from my friend Colonel O'Conor, that he had obtained employment at high wages for Christopher Donoughoe, Owen Fla- herty, and Paddy Curry, whom he engaged to assist in the busy work of converting a spacious convent into a college of arts and sciences, which, when complete, will perhaps be consi- dered the fairest monument that could have been erected to record the liberality and good judgment of the first free government that has ruled this country. There is already a college at Chuquisaca, of which the principal is a dignitary of the cathe- * See an article of deepest interest on ladies' arms, under the head of " Bishops' Sleeves," New Monthly Mag. 416 DON MANUEL SANTA CRUZ. dral, Don Manuel Martin de la Santa Cruz, a man of acknowledged abilities as a scholar ; and perhaps it is of greater importance to the rising generation under his tuition that he is also a man of tolerant principles, and an encourager of liberal ideas, which seems to promise that the genius and talent of youth will be turned to a better account than when confined, as hereto- fore, within the narrow limits of a monastic education, useless to the world, and uninstruc- tive to themselves — an education not unfre- quently attended with the extraordinary con- sequence, that the more intense the application of the student, the more profound his igno- rance ; for it is not difficult to suppose that, when a gloomy superstition with all its incom- prehensible subtleties enveloped the understand- ing, the deeper a youth dived into the myste- rious subject of his task, the more he became bewildered in the obscurity of a labyrinth which tended at every step to mislead the imagination and destroy the judgment. The day has been when casuists have gravely discussed, " whether Adam and Eve had navels," because, forsooth ! being created, not born, it was maintained they had no need of them. All the abilities of the mind have been strenuously exerted to prove, PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. 417 how many angels might dance at one time upon the point of a needle, or — " Whether the serpent at the fall Had cloven feet, or none at all." These, and other topics of like importance, en- gaged the schools under the dignified appel- lation of " casuistical divinity." Let us not, however, forget that these conceits and subtle- ties, " the jargon of contentious monks," pre- vailed for centuries in other now enlightened portions of the globe, as well as in South Ame- rica. But here, also, the minds of men have assumed characters of a widely different com- plexion from those of their forefathers ; pre- judices have given way, rational investigation is encouraged, reason is attended to, and the charms of truth are no longer disregarded and despised. The ministers of religion, who have hitherto ruled with an uncontrollable authority, have in part voluntarily renounced and in part beer very unceremoniously stripped of the power which, as a body, they so unbecomingly usurp- ed, and in many instances so disadvantageously exercised in all the excess of austerity and rigour. Their capricious tyranny has ended vol. i. 2 E 418 THE CLERGY. with that of the government which supported it; they must now "take heed unto them- selves," and remember this warning : — " Woe be to the priests that have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things ; that are departed out of the way, and have caused many to stumble at the law, and have corrupted my covenant. I also will make them contemptible and base before all the people, according as they have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law." To deny that abuses still exist would be to deny the darkness of night ; but the fanaticism of religion, " cette cause perturbatrice du monde" has assuredly ceased to have either dominion or support. The clergy are no where considered, as certain declaimers in their zeal have im- agined them to be, haughty, inexorable despots. They are received in society, as they are justly entitled to be, " with all gladness" as com- panions, and are every where respected as friends " worthy of double honours." Friendly, indeed, I have ever found them in this and every other country in which I have travelled where their influence extends, and Englishmen of every denomination must in gratitude ac- knowledge as much : they must own also, after a little travelling and mixing with foreign THE CLERGY. 419 society, that our own prejudices, whether as a nation or a sect, soon appear to us as unworthy, inveterate, and unjust, as those of any other under the sun ; they will admit that no set of men in their private character have been so injuriously aspersed by the cankered tongue of slander as the Roman Catholic priesthood, among whom are to be found as many and as bright examples of piety, benevolence, and all goodness, as in any other class of the com- munity. And with respect to past ages, we may name characters to equal, no doubt, but certainly not to surpass, those of Las Casas, Francis de Sales, Fenelon, Massillon, Bossuet, and a host of others equally eminent and re- vered, who adorned their own times, and live in the admiration of the present. But, in spite of all the abuses that exist in the moral, re- ligious, and political state of this hemisphere — and in what country do abuses not exist?— in spite of all the clouds of darkness that remain and may continue to linger on this horizon, yet through them may be seen in the distance, what never appeared before, a perspective of improvement, of liberal feeling, of happiness, and (according to the destinies of nations) of awaiting glory ; these, the legitimate offspring of freedom, though yet but young, cannot fail 2 e 2 420 RETURN TO POTOSI. to grow with the growth of the parent. Li- berty, deplorably violated as her sacred charac- ter has been, has nevertheless infused a spirit into all the institutions of the country, the benefits of which are already felt ; but the greatest of all benefits immediately arising from Spanish emancipation, and that from which every other improvement must follow, is the diffusion of knowledge by means of public in- struction. 19th. Left Chuquisaca, well pleased with my visit, and with every person in public or private life with whom I had had commu- nication. On the 21st I arrived at Potosi, where I was particularly struck with the luxury of enjoying in quiet the individual possession of my bed — a circumstance really too important to be passed over without apprising future tra- vellers of the comfort that awaits them here, after a visit to the gay little city of Chuquisaca ; and, if they happen to be in that state of life called " bachelorship," they cannot fail, from the moment the candle is extinguished, on stepping into bed at Potosi, to congratulate themselves on the enviable lot of "single blessed- ness." Know, then, that the delightful climate of Chuquisaca attracts, not only all the fashion- ables of the Republic of Bolivia to reside in PLAGUE OF FLEAS. 421 the capital, but it also encourages to a degree of intolerable excess the breed of — fleas. These tormentors infest every house in Chuquisaca, and persons unaccustomed to them need not think of going to bed if repose be the object. In Potosi, the temperature is unfavourable to insects and reptiles of every sort, save and ex- cept one particular kind, against which common cleanliness is a sufficient guard, but for which the Indians have a most extraordinary taste, as they actually dispose of them as monkeys do when they catch them on examining each other. I have frequently heard the Potosinos remark, that when they went for any short time to Chuquisaca, they never enjoyed sleep until their return home, a remark which I have re- cently had an opportunity of knowing to be strictly true, and I decidedly agree with Me- phistopheles in pronouncing— une puce un hote fort incommode, " Juste Dieu ! quel tourment ! Etre morel u sans cesse, * * * * Nous, quand une puce nous blesse, Nous l'ecrasons sans forme de proces :* But at Chuquisaca they are too numerous to be overcome by any such process. * Faust's Tragedy. 422 LETTER OF THE DIRECTORS. September 3rd. I have this day received a dispatch from our Directors in London ; the contents of which forcibly remind me of the saying of the sage, " L 'union fait prosperer les moindres establissemens, et la discorde detruit les plus grands empires .'" which is figuratively and forcibly described elsewhere in fewer words — " A house divided against itself must fall I" The subject was as follows : — " A difference has arisen between the three Directors who signed the charter of the ship Potosi and the other Direc- tors. The former call upon the latter to indemnify them against any consequences under their liability as charterers ; which the other Directors decline doing, until the former have paid up the call upon all their reserved shares, pursuant to a resolution of a Board : this the charterers have thought proper not to accede to, and have intimated their intention to send out powers to seize the cargo of the ship, as the surest mode of protecting their own interests." This communication appeared to me to be enveloped in a prodigious deal of mystery. The Directors desire, that " the disclosure be considered as made in strict confidence" and confess that they " felt a hesitation" in making it, until they recollected that our chief com- missioner was also president of the Association. I have puzzled myself to discover why it was wished to keep secret from the shareholders a LETTER OF THE DIRECTORS. 423 subject of so much importance, and have at length concluded, that the concealment must be grounded upon that innate modesty which blushes with painful sensibility at the exposure of its meritorious deeds. The Directors like- wise state, that they "feel well assured that every effort will be exerted by us to relieve them from their anxious situation of difficulty and embarrassment." This assurance was no more than a feeling of justice due to them- selves and to us, and emanated, no doubt, from a well-known precept, which interdicts every sentiment of selfishness, and inculcates none other than the pure principles of Truth, Ho- nour, and Integrity : it is simply this — " Do unto others as thou wouldst, &c." Under this impression, *• every effort" on our part shall be exerted, and we also have a right to expect, al- though we may not feel well assured, that every effort will be exerted on the part of the Directors to relieve us, and all their other servants, from an anxious situation of difficulty and embarrassment. I forwarded the dispatch to our chief com- missioner, brooded for an hour and a half over our misfortune, and then—" Away with melan- choly !" 424 PERUVIAN INDIANS. CHAPTER XX. Peruvian Indians.— Still subject to ill treatment Patient and tractable under kind usage. — Summary proceeding of a self-constituted judge. The primitive inhabitants of South America, 1 improperly called Indians,' are of a tawny colour, inclining to red of different shades of brightness ; the difference in the shades, arising probably, in a great degree, from the varying temperature of the climate of the country which they inhabit, from the intense heat of the torrid zone to the cold of the vicinage of snow. But in order to present an exact idea of the primitive Americans, almost as many descriptions arc re- quisite as there are nations or tribes ; yet, as in Europe, all nations, notwithstanding distinct languages, manners, and customs, have some- what in common, so do all the Americans pre- sent features of resemblance and a similar base of character.* * Condamine Trav. S. America. PERUVIAN INDIANS. 425 The Peruvian Indians are a strong, healthy race, and generally laborious, for every kind of labour is performed by them. In Potosi, how- ever, the miners, all Indians, have acquired a character for habits of idleness and a propensity to defraud their employers, which it must be admitted is not altogether without foundation, though I think the causes of the evils com- plained of may be traced to harsh treatment, or to unwarrantable exactions of some sort, ag- gression being as frequent on one side as de- linquency on the other. Those who have been so long accustomed to treat this oppressed people as slaves, and have been taught to consider them below the scale of humanity, do not on all occasions recollect, that the severe struggle they have so success- fully sustained, in shaking off a galling yoke from their own necks, has also relieved the Indians from theirs, and that, in the eye of the newly-established laws, for which both classes have equally shed their blood, they are now, for the first time, on an equality. The know- ledge of these facts has not yet thoroughly sub- dued old prejudices, and therefore the poor In- dians are occasionally exposed to the haughtiness, tyranny, and injustice of ungracious masters. I know from experience, that by proper ma- 426 PERUVIAN INDIANS. nagement, tlieir faults and the disadvantages arising from them may be guarded against, and in a great degree corrected. A worm, or if it be thought more applicable, the adder, will turn when trod upon, and will then resent the injury : so has it been with these Indians before now ; but, with kind usage, fair remu- neration for their services, and an impartial conduct towards them, they are perfectly tract- able, and become good, faithful, and willing ser- vants. During my residence at Potosi, I have had occasion to employ many Indians, as well miners as those of other trades and occupa- tions ; there is no want of hands as it has been generally supposed, and I cannot say that I have any cause of complaint against them ; they performed the work for which they were ena'ajred to the best of their abilities, and at the completion of it I paid them their hire. Sunday, after the hour of early mass, is the customary time of paying the miners and all persons employed in the ingenios; this practice I did not adhere to, having preferred settling all such matters, so far as I had control, on Saturday evening. At the appointed hour they assembled in the court before my office, accompanied sometimes by their wives and children, and if I happened to be engaged in any business, (dispatching the SELF-CONSTITUTED JUDGE. 427 couriers, for instance, when in the absence or illness of my companions I have been employed many hours of the day ' writing against time,') these people would remain, without evincing the slightest impatience, and never approach to ask to be settled with, till called by name as they stood upon the list of the major-domo. They always expressed their thanks when they received their wages, upon which subject we never had the most trifling misunderstanding, and only once upon another, namely, upon the subject of a pick-axe that had been stolen out of our ingenio. It was worth fifteen shillings at Potosi, and might have been worth five in England ; but the example, not the value, de- termined me upon giving a colour of infinite importance to the case. After the depreda- tion had been made known to me, and when the workmen had assembled to receive their week's wages, two shillings per diem each man, I called them all into my office, merely for the sake of exhibiting myself in the high- est possible degree of dignity (a clerk never looks so dignified as behind his own counter) and whilst they stood like culprits in humility before me with their hats off, I sat proudly ele- vated upon my judgment-seat with my hat on, and in my hand a pen, just emblem of my office, it is true, but at the same time calculated to 428 SELF-CONSTITUTED JUDGE. convey terror to the mind of the thief, who knew that, if detected, I should instantly em- ploy it in an application to the alcalde for the infliction of fine and imprisonment. When I had fixed the attention of the party, I com- menced the dread inquisition. — Alas ! many of their forefathers, for crimes of as little note, or even the bare suspicion of them, had been con- demned by a more horrible inquisition, and be- fore judges less disposed to render justice and mercy than their present one, although it will appear that even he was obdurately relentless. — I put the question. — " Who stole my pick- axe ?" — dead silence ; each looked at each, and all looked at me. — " Who stole my pick-axe, I say ?" " Quien sabe ?" said a low voice in the crowd. " Who kjwws ?" said I, " why some of you know, and 1, too, must know, before I pay you one rial of your wages." I then pro- ceeded to question each individual by name. " Gregorio Medrano, did you steal the pick- axe?"—" No, Senor." " Marcelino Guaylla, did you?" — " Yo! ?w, Senor." " Bernardino Murquete, did you steal the pick-axe ?" — " No, Senor" " Nepomuceno Mamani, did you ?" — " No, Senor? " Casimiro Chambi, did you ?" — " No, Senor" SUMMARY JUDGMENT. 429 And so on through the whole list, with the same profitless result. The Indians, like the lower class of Irish, preserve inviolable secrecy respecting their own concerns ; an informer is looked upon as a wretch unworthy to live among honest men, or if permitted to live is loathed as a demon. Assured, therefore, that I should never succeed in detecting the actual thief, although we all well knew he was one of the party present, I proceeded to judgment upon all of them. " Know then, hermanos mios, (dear brothers) that my sentence is this, that the major-domo do now, immediately, and on the spot, put into his hat as many grains of mais as there are of you here present ; that those grains shall be all white, save one, which shall be black ; and he who draws that black grain shall — pay for a new pick-axe." Here consternation became general and evident, but, from the natural darkness of the Indian complexion, it was impossible to dis- cover the delinquent from any change produced on his countenance by the inward workings of his mind. " Now, Sehor major-domo, shake your hat well— shake it ! I say, that no sus- picion of partiality may be entertained. Let each man in succession now put his hand in and take one grain of mais, then withdraw it, taking care to keep his hand shut, and not to 430 SUMMARY JUDGMENT. open it until ordered so to do." This being done, they all stood before me with their right arms stretched out at full length, and the band firmly closed. " Now for the detection of the thief ! — Open ! — Que es eso ? (What is all this ?) Major-domo! what is the reason of tbis ?" said I, for to my astonishment every hand was empty !' " I really don't know, Sir, they must have drawn the grains and swallowed them, for not a single one remains in my bat !" said the major-domo, turning bis bat mouth downwards to prove that nothing was there. Amazement was at its height ; it was evi- dently a case of bruxeria (witchcraft) ; mira que demonio! (the devil is in the dice.) Jua- quinito Sambrano observed that it was the miraculous interference of Saint Dimas,* to prove that there was no thief amongst them. But, notwithstanding my surprise and confu- sion, I determined that the saint should not keep my pick-axe without paying for it. 1 desired the major-domo to give me bis hat, upon examining which, the bruxeria was ex- plained. In obeying my order to " shake the hat well," every grain of maize absconded through a rent in the crown, and the floor being covered with thick straw matting, they fell upon it un- * According to some, the patron of robbers. SUMMARY JUDGMENT. 431 heard. We therefore proceeded with more caution to a second drawing, when the black bean appeared, on the show of hands, in that of Basilio Calamayo, from whose wages I directed the major-domo to purchase the best pick-axe that could be had in Potosi. From that hour I never heard of any pilfering in either mines or ingenio. Conceiving that I have given a sufficient number of pages to form a reasonable-sized book, I here conclude my first volume. " The work mayhap has whiled an hour away ; Nor does the volume ask for more renown, Than Ennui's yawning smile, what time she drops it down." POSTING IN THE GALERA ACROSS THE PAMPAS. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. LONDON : PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, Dorset Stieet, Fleet Str.et. rf- ■ GETTY CENTER LIBRARY 3 3125 00059 2861 rtteMfr^i' tejg ; 5 * * a 3 11! nrfm Urn f *w l *\** ft, fe .A M'r <£/V/S'\ BHUTTO ■ **MNE rrv'- £^'"WKa :MiH \ . A A V fl f \fy.AklWZ\n K v"'A ^A /W ft* 'A t 'v^W i , 1* a : ' n I *v $v. ; - TEMPLES IVELS Sc life! Qs* V«Vl