lift ,,,.. PROPERTY OP THB I.. - I A t t S SCIENTIA VtITAS I I NARRATIVE OF A VISIT TO BRAZIL, CHILE, PERU, AND THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, DURING THE YEARS 1821 AND 1822. WITH,, ' MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS' ON THE PAST AND PRESENT STATE, AND POLITICAL PROSPECTS OF THOSE COUNTRIES. BY GILBERT FARQUHAR MATHISON, ESQ. LONDON: PRINTED FOR CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL MALL EAST. M DCCC XXV. F Q8S3 *M43 LONDON: PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET. CONTENTS. BRAZIL. CHAPTER I. Page Voyage to Rio Janeiro.... 1 Rio Janeiro...... 6 Praya Grande....15 Rio Janeiro......17 CHAPTER II. Excursion in the Interior... 19 Novo Friburgo.... 35 Swiss Cottage... 39 Novo Friburgo....41 Shooting Excursion.... 43 Swiss Settlement....45 Emigration to South America...51 CHAPTER III. Excursion into the Interior continued.. 53 Canta Gallo....53 Swiss Settler..... 54 vi CONTENTS. Page Farm ofw Lavrinhas. 56 Contraband Miners.... 61 Influence of the Mines.... 63 Canta Gallo..... 65 Departure from Canta Gallo...67 Swiss Widow..... 69 View near St. Erita.. 71 Description of a Farm-house...73 Rude Manners of the People...74 Indian Natives.... 77 CHAPTER IV. Arrival at Aldea da Pedra...78 Roman Catholic Missionary.... 79 First Meeting of Indians and Missionary..81 Bad Success of Indian Missions... 83 Tribe of Puris.... 85 Indian Character..... 86 Indian Superstitions...89 Swiss Settlers..... 90 Sugar Plantation.... 93 Journey to St. Fidele continued...95 St. Fidele.. *. 97 CHAPTER V. Return to Rio Janeiro....99 Drunken Indians....101 Cavalcade of Ladies....103 Political Opinions.... 105 Morning Prayers on a Plantation... 107 Party of Gamblers.... 109 Arrival at Praya Grande... 111 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER VI. Excursion to Santa Cruz Palace of Santa Cruz. Wretched Condition of the Negroes. Plain of Santa Cruz Sugar Engenho of Taguahy Scenery near Rio CHAPTER VII. Page. 112. 113. 114. 117. 118. 123 General Survey of Brazilian History Emigration of John VI. to Rio Foreign Population at Rio Intercourse with Foreigners Description of the Portuguese Court Official Corruption Administration of Justice Revolution at Lisbon The New Constitution Influence of Public Opinion Stagnation of Trade Rupture with Portugal Natural Resources of Brazil Amount of the Population. African Slaves. Effects of Slavery State of Religion among the Slaves Mulattoes White Creole Population Merchants Official Characters Political Opinions Reform difficult. 125. 127. 128. 131. 132. 134. 137. 139. 141. 143. 145. 147. 149. 150. 153. 154. 156. 159. 161. 163. 165. 167. 169 vilM CONTENTS. CHILEf CHAPTER VIII. Voyage round Cape Horn, and Residence in Chile Arrival at Valparayso Appearance of the Town Peons First View of the Andes Chilean Mines St. Jago Theatre-Lancasterian School Decree on Public Education Collegiate Recitation St. Jago.. Maypo-Salta de Agua. Page. 173. 175. 176. 179. 181. 182. 184.187. 189 192. 195. 197 CHAPTER IX. View of Society and Public Affairs Chilean Ladies Political Remarks Chilean Constitution Public Press Excursion to Quillota Mode of Threshing Quillota. Revolutionary Miseries Ladies of Quillota Departure. 199. 200. 203 ~ 205 ~ 206. 208. 211. 212. 214. 217. 218 CONTENTS. ix PERU. CHAPTER X. Page Residence in Lima..... 223 Callao.....224 Lima.....227 Churches of Lima.... 229 Church Procession. -.. 230 Saya and Manto... 232 Baths of Lima... 235 Changes in National Customs... 237 Country around Lima.... 239 Bull-bait.... 240 Mines of Pasco.... 242 Burial-ground..... 247 Defeat of General Tristan.. 249 Grand Fete....251 Public Alarm... 253 Reported Insurrection.... 255 Peruvian Regiment.. 256 Public Misery.....259 Prejudice against Medicine... 261 Corruption of Public Officers... 262 Country Excursion... 265 Peruvian Farmer... 267 Ancient Indian Town... 268 Troop of Llamas.. 277 CHAPTER XI. Residence in Lima continued.. 278 Chorillos....279 Country around Chorillos....281 Lord Cochrane.. 282 x CONTENTS. Page Revolutionary Leaders....284 Banishment of the Spaniards.. 287 Spanish Prisoners....288 Proclamation...291 Patriotic Procession.... 297 Bull-fight.... 299 Mint...... 305 National Procession....307 Patriotic Oration.... 309 Departure.....310 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XII. Rise and Progress of the Revolution Rebellions in Paraguay and Peru Commencement of the Revolution Revolutionary War Buenos Ayres Revolution in Chile Triumph of the Patriots Expedition against Lima Success of Bolivar in Peru Upper Peru Population of Peru and Lima Public Feeling in England Influence of Physical Causes Population Spaniards Negro Slaves Peruvian Indians Forms of Government Disunion of the States of La Plata. 313.314.317.319 321.322 * 325 * 327.329 * 331. 332 335.337.338.340.342.344.349 351 CONTENTS. State of Religion Progress of Infidelity Political Prospects SANDWICH ISLANDS. CHAPTER XIII. xi Page. 353. 354. 357 Voyage to the Sandwich Islands...361 Arrival at Hannah-rourah. 363 Interview with the King...365 Queens.... 367 Missionaries.. 369 Kind Reception of Missionaries... 371 Visit to tile King repeated...372 Whyteete.....374 Ruins of Morais....377 Interior of the Country....379 Romantic Scenery.... 380 Manner of Cooking.... 382 Tyranny of the Chiefs....384 Excursion round the Island...387 American Festival....388 Anecdote of the King.... 390 Why-arouah.....392 Appearance of the Country... 394 Hourah-hourah....396 Indian Hut..... 400 Ancient Monumental Stone... 403 Cannibalism...... 405 Sandal-wood.. 407 Conversation with Coxe....408 Mountain of Mounah-roah...410 xii CONTENTS. Beautiful Scenery Habits of the Natives Funeral Dirges. Human Improvement The Queen at her Studies Visit to Krimakoo Present of the King of England A White Settler Progress of Education Relic belonging to Cook's Image Expounding of the Scriptures Last Visit to the King Departure Page. 413. 414 417. 419 * 421. 423. 425. 426. 428. 481. 433. 435. 437 CHAPTER XIV. Geography and Population King Tama-hama-hah Succession of Reho-reho Meeting of Two Rival Kings Destruction of Idolatry Form of Government Punishment of a Refractory Tenant Condition of the People Chiefs.... Sandal-wood Trade Vegetable Productions Amount of Shipping Speculation of the King to Canton Import Trade Use of Foreign Manufactured Goods Prevailing Vices National Customs and Opinions Superstitions. Progress of Civilization Blessings of Christianity. 438. 440. 443 *. 445. 447 448. 451. 453. 454 457... 459. 461. 463. 465. 467. 469. 471. 473 a. 475. 476 ... 2 i H,. E. ~ ~iiilX"~. ' l.. j t 1' ~ ~ ~ In ~~.:.... 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I.1. i M z.,.1.vl r S rr1 *. 2 S. ~~~~~~~1.~B;~l,,G z..........5 1.~~~ ~~ ~ iiiiii.sil 9 si ii jx',ljj..j i~~siii i i i 9 x.9.;.jj j. j j~~~jxj i j jil! j j. j j. j X jljl * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I i;~ isi1if 9,ljj;i ii'i i i'i ii. si.. 9999,, uev~~il 9g9E: x S * <9.~a - 2 -.1z.S_.'i.~WI'B~.....j j~~~l j~~j j jnfii *'i -iii 9j g~~~~jjj j~~ji1 x 0 jcS000 G- 0 jl 0 xi91 ~ E;: * 0 000 jj jj - j- 'i iii iii i ''u~~~~~~~~~~~iiiii i iii; iiiiissuii'i"BI""~r I *...: Sul -.X9E. *.i~ 1.. 1. X. *~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~.~i 0 j. jjsag99j919l< 99g l9 i9jjili, 9jjll-....... l g. SzI.g... r. l. S. 9 * 1ll S:il X.i S:~.:,1020. 0. 1uI.-s..1X i^^ 1s. x x1 i^ I ~ -O C; o - - i. p.... js s-:........ c& 2i..;..'-G~3 W t. a 0 'I - | l D -:- |: ^I g ~;*:a *I & ~^ sa y e" c IE~ Cx cr < CH ILE. r r;: i r '~*; i ~ i. ~; i I II CHILE, CHAPTER VIII. VOYAGE BOUND CAPE HORN, AND RESIDENCE N. CHILE. 'I TOOK my final departure from' Rio Janeiro in the American brig Post Captain, burden 170 tons, on the 6th of January, 1822. A pleasant passage of twelve days brbught u to the Falkland Islands: on the 23d we deviated from the usual course roitd Staten' Land, to try the shorter Ipas sageth i 'the Straights of Le Maii n attempt 'whi proved unsuccessful;,for the current ran so strongly against us, that, although aidedy a five.-notabieee, twee wereunable to make head-' way, and uldtmately itturned to the usualcourse. 174 CHILE. The sea in the Straight was violently agitated by the conflict between wind and current, and it was not without great difficulty and loss of time that the vessel became extricated from her perilous situation between two iron-bound coasts. The neighbouring shore is mountainous and rugged, sloping in declivities towards the sea, or rising in peaks and precipices of rock; the whole presenting a scene of awful desolation. January 27.-This day we passed to the southward of Cape Horn, but did not approach within sight of that celebrated head-land. The weather, which had before been remarkably fine, now suddenly changed, and a violent westerly gale obliged us to run down as far as the 60th degree of South latitude. During the ensuing week, the thermometer generally stood at 40~ in the cabin, and upon deck it fell at times to the freezing point. In lat. 59' S., ong. 69~ 34' W., we made some small islands of floating ice, covered with snow, and exhibiting a very brilliant appearance in the February.22.-After a very short passage of forty-five days from Rio Janeiro, we made the ARRIVAL AT VALPARAYSO. 175 land this morning, and came to anchor in the Bay of Valparayso about two o'clock. Two visits of inspection took place before we were permitted to land; one from the Custom-house officers, the other from the Captain of the port, The latter was dressed in a very smart blue uniform, and by his manners gave us a favorable opinion of the Chilean patriot officers. He examined our passports, and recommended us to present ourselves to the Governor as soon as possible. We then left the vessel, and were highly diverted by the novelty and bustle of the scene at the landing-place. The whole space between the beach and Custom-house was filled with goods and merchandize of various kinds-timber, boxes, iron-bars, barrels, bales, &c. -all exposed without any method or arrangement in the open -street. Interspersed among them were a number of mules, some standing with loaded, others with unloaded paniers; while the drivers, called peons, dressed in the characteristic garb of the country, made the place ring with their noisy shouts. Here and there porters were busied in carrying away packages; boatmen stood ready to importune you 176 CHILE. with incessant demands; and the large proportion of the group being soldiers, added greatly to the general effect. English and Americans, however, appeared to constitute the bulk of the population of the town; and so many naval officers, mates of merchantmen, sailors, and men of business, were every where seen, that, but for the mean and dirty appearance of the place, a stranger might almost fancy himself arrived at a British settlement. We proceeded forthwith to the Governmenthouse, a mean-looking edifice of small dimensions, and found that his Excellency was then sleeping his sesta, and could not be disturbed. Upon returning two hours afterwards, his aide-de-camp, or secretary, or some such official attendant, dressed in a loose linen jacket, with a cigar in his mouth, received us unceremoniously in his stead, and gave us permission to proceed to St. Jago. Valparayso is a dirty sea-port, composed of small mud houses seldom more than one story high, and situate on the declivity of a hill which slopes gradually towards the sea. The country around is barren, or at least very littl9 ornamented by APPEARANCE O0 THE TOWN. 177 vegetation; and whether viewed near or at a distance the appearance of the place is equally unattractive., How a name, which literally signifies " Paradise. Vale,' could be applied to it, is not very obvious, except on the supposition that, as the approach to it was originally made by the first Spanish settlers from the interior, the bay and adjacent ocean, on descending from the high lands, appeared to them, as the prospect really is at that point of view, peculiarly beautiful. The population of Valparayso does not at most exceed five thousand souls, of which the greater part, with the exception of a few official personages, belong to the second-rate and lower classes of inhabitants. Some respectable English and. American merchants have houses of business at this place, but reside principally at St. Jago, the capital of Chile. Having delivered my letters of introduction, and paid a visit to some friends, I determined to proceed without loss of time to St. Jago; and at six o'clock in the evening left Valparayso, in. company with my friend ---—, a Portuguese gentleman. The usual mode of travelling in this country is on horseback; for which purpose post N Ir78 CCHILE. saddle-horses are kept by persons who supply at the same time a peon, to serve as guide, guard, and servant on the road. The horses are changed every ten or fifteen miles, and are accustomed to gallop the whole distance if required; so that the rate of travelling, for those who can endure the fatigue, is from ten to twelve miles an hour. The danger of robbery being considered as great, it is therefbre customary to travel well armed: the presence of a peon is, however, the best protection; for although most of this class of people are, it is said, lawless plunderers, and even mur. derers, without much fear of God or man before their eyes, yet they possess the virtue of fidelity to their employers, and may on these occasions be trusted to with the greatest confidence. Their ferocious and unsettled habits of life have been much increased by the disturbed state of the country during the war of the revolution; and the defective administration of public justice, which still disgraces the Government, encourages rather than checks the growth and continuance of the evil. PEONS. 179 These peons. may be said to live on horseback. Their costume is nearly the same in all parts of Spanish Soath America. Over a common: jacket and pair of trowsers they wear a garment manufactored in the country, and in Chile called a ponci I - is made of strongly woven cloth, striped and va'riega with different colours. The usual dimensions are from six to eight feet square, a small aperture being made in the itidle of it tufleiently large to admit the head; it hangs loose from the shoulders, when put on, like a blanket, and effectually protects the whole body from rain or cold. Black loth gaiters are buttongd over the trowsers as high as the knee, and a huge clumsy pair of spurs, with rowels that bruise ihstead of pricking the horse, are attached to the heel. A large high-peaked Spanish saddle coves the Whole back of the horse, which being wrappedriutnd with a number of coths, thus `con. veys a convenient sort of travelling bed for the use of the rider whenever he may choose'to sleep. At. tadhed t tho e l i h the tiazo, an instrument of which the ute is now too well known to require a very long description. N 2 '180 CHILE. It is simply a leathern thong, from thirty to fifty feet in length, strong enough to endure the most violent jerk without breaking; one end of it is fastened to the saddle, and at the other is a slip-knot, and the lazo, thus arranged, is held conveniently folded up in the hand of the peon ready for use. This is thrown with such dexterity and precision at the animal intended to be caught, as to entangle it in the slip-knot, and render escape impossible. Herdsmen make most use of it in catching cattle; and the strongest bull, when thus caught at full speed, is laid prostrate on the ground by the violence of the jerk. In this manner it is said an unfortunate traveller is sometimes dragged from his horse by obe of these peons, who lies in wait for him on the road-side, and who, with the long pointed knife, which is as necessary an appendage to a South American as the stiletto is to an Italian, soon terminates the 'struggles of the victim. Upon leaving Valparayso, the country through which we passed was the most desolate and dreary that I had yet seen in South America. No trees, FIRST VIEW OF THE ANDES. 181 no cultivation; only downs covered occasionally with furze and bushes lasted for a distance of thirty miles, in which, with the exception of one solitary post-house, no signs of any habitations were to be seen. At last we reached Casa Blanca, a small village with a decent inn, ten leagues distant from the port, where we stopped to pass the night. March 25.-At daybreak we again started, and' arrived in the afternoon at St. Jago, having travelled twenty leagues, or sixty miles, this day. The whole distance from the port to the city is ninety miles. The road throughout is good, and made with great care and labour over two very steep hills, which lie in the way to St. Jago. It was completed by Don Ambrosio O'Higgins, formerly Captain-general of Chile, and father of the present Director. Upon attaining the summit of the Cuesta de Prado, a magnificent and truly sublime view burst suddenly upon us. At our feet lay an extensive valley, embosomed amid precipitous rocks and hills, while the Cordillera de los Andes, with their snowy summits, 182 CHILE. majestically bounded the horizon, and rose pile above pile in all the grandeur with which fame has invested them. The effect produced by natural causes upon the mind of a traveller, who for the first time contemplates these stupendous mountains, can be but faintly conveyed by his pen to the imagination of his reader; yet there are moral and political associations connected therewith, which may impart an interest to them independent of all description, as well in the closet as on the spot; and who, when thinking of the Andes of South America, does not revert at the same time to the hidden treasures which they contain, and to the influence which these have had over the destinies of the adjacent regions? From the first discovery of Chile by Almagro, the companion of Pizarro, in the year 1537, and; its colonization by Valdivia in 1541, up to the present day, the mines of the Chilean Mountains appear always in historical connexion with the events that have there taken place. To the search madd after them, Chile owed its discovery by the Spaniards; hence the aboriginal inhabitants were CHILEAN MINES. 183 either altogether cut off, or driven away by violence from their own rightful territory: hence a new race of people were here established, and the country made part of the dominions of a distant European potentate: hence, lastly, arose the war of the revoltion, and the subsequent birth of a new nation formed into an independent state. Liberty and patriotism have indeed been the cry of one party, and loyalty and religion of the other; but it requires no geat penetration, to discover that the possession of the wealth of the country has ever been the leading object of both. When, therefere, the English traveller compares the rich mountains of South America with the barren hills of Great Britain, however much the former may at first sight appear to offer to the cupidity of man, the corresponding evils which. past history proves them to have caused to their several possessors, afford matter of pity and painM ful interest rather than of envy. Any recurrene, however, to his own native country hence becomes doubly gratifying, and he unconsciously exclaims in the words of the Northern Minstrel 184 CHILE. ' With gold and gems if.Chilean lountains glow ~ If bleak and barren Scotia's hills.arise; There plague and poison, Iust and' rapine grow, —: Here peaceful are the vales, and pure the sky, And freedom fires the soul, and sparkles in the eye!!' The city of St. ' Jago de Chile, is situate in, anl extensive and fertile plain, considerably elevated above the level of the sea, and at 'the base of the Cordillera de los -Andes, so that the view along many of the principal streets s terminated by the snow:clad sunfmits of those mountains. Thie steets are'all laid out, as in other Spanish American towns, at right angles, with a good pavement,: and streams of water flowing down the middle of them. The houses are seldom more than one story:high, as beingless likely to be:endangered by thefrequent earthquakes which happen in this country tlan loftier buildings. They are built of earth, or rather of unbaked 'clay, white-washed, and painted in the:Spanish style with different colours. J Those belopging to the better class ofpeople, have aispa - dious court-yard enclosed within a- large portal, WfithfW: ^a wsttps whiih lead tup to the entranceIn the principal square, for there iae several, ST. JAGO. 185 stand the Government House and the Cathedral. The former is a spacious and rather a handsome edifice, and occupies one entire side of the square. Here his Excellency the Director of the Republic, Don Bernardo O'Higgins, resides, with other members of the Government, and here also'are the public offices. On the walls in front, the word "Libertdd" is emblazoned in large letters, with an inscription purporting that the edifice was finished upon the establishment of Chilean' independence in 1818. Another part is employed as a prison, with an appropriate motto over the entrancedoor,-thus rendered into English,," Hate the offence, but pity the offender." The Cathedral occupies another side of the same square, but being in an unfinished state, without tower or steeple, is not very ornamental. The two remaining sides present a mean and inconsistent appearance, being occupied by small shops with a piazza in front, where spurs, bridles, ponchos, hats, and all sorts of jewellery and hardware, are exposed for sale. Immediately behind the Government House, rise the towers of a large church belonging to one of the many convents 186 CHILE. which abound it Stk. Jago, and add greatly to the embeithmnent of the city. The conventS, however, have suffered by the revolution, notwithstanding the prevailing respect of the people for religion, and the influence which the priests still possess over their minds. The monks have in muay insances bee dispossesse and se-erl convenlts, united into one, the monastic edifics being appropriated to the service of Go. verament, and used as barracks. depts, &cw The ancient College of the Jesuits is now the Custom-house, and having been lately refitted makes a good appearance. Here the: muleteerson their first arrival fom the port or interior of the country, are obfiged to deposit their loads and submit them for inspection. The Cas do. Exercicio, in another part of the town, has been lately converted into an hospital It was, as the name implies a house of correction, to which devout people of both sexes voluntarily retired during the season of Lent, for a certain number of dayrs, to do penance, and atone by mortification, &c., for the offences of the past year. The Theatre, w small and low building near the THEATRE.-LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL. 187 Custom-house, is of the worst possible description, and the performance too absurd to be tolerated in a petty provincial town of England. It being the season of Lent, during my visit, none but! sacred dramas were allowed to be acted; and one of those I saw was founded on the story of David and Absalom, which might, from its folly, have been- represented with greater propriety before the Monk of Misrule and. Abbot of Unreason,: during the days of Saturnalian license sanctioned in some places by the Roman Catholic clergy. The Director O'Higgins was present with his female relations in the stage-box, but no particular marks of attention or otherwise were. shown him, by the audience. In another quarter of the town I visited the public press, for one only is to be found in St. Jago. Under the same roof is a school. for mutual instruction according to the Lancasterian plan, and patronized by the Society in London. They deputed, a Mrb Thomson, with prper assistants, some time ago, to establish schools thoughout the Continent of; South America, beginnig: at Buenos Ayres, and- going on to Chile and Peru: his endea CHILE. yours,have hitherto been successful in Buenos Ayres and in Chile, under the encouragement of their respective Governments. Upwards of three hundred day-scholars now attend the school at St. Jago. Two additional schools are about to be opened, on the same general plan,-one for boys, the other for girls; combining, however, with the Lancasterian method of instruction, the inculcation of the Roman Catholic religion. Arrangements are also making for the establishment of this system of education in other parts of the country; so that the gradual diffusion of elementary knowledge may from this time forth be confidently anticipated. It must be confessed, however, that the Chilean people in this respect will require a long space of time before good results can be sensibly felt among themselves, or made apparent to foreign nations. The style in which the annexed documents are written, and the mode of their insertion in the National Gazette by the legislators of the country, afford a fair specimen of the views entertained on the subject by Government, and of the proficiency made by a young Collegian, if not DECREE ON PUBLIC EDUCATION. 189 in scholarship, at least in the arts of patriotic eulogy; for a boy of thirteen, however, if made by himself, the latter article certainly is a creditable composition. MINISTERIAL GAZETTE OF CHILE. Santiago, 19th January, 1822. "IT being acknowledged that the best and most secure means of giving happiness to a people is to render them distinguished and industrious, and, as a term is now given to the obstacles which have hitherto repressed in Chile the aptitude of her' natives to enjoy the advantages obtained, with fewer opportunities, by the nations who have preceded us, in the liberty of cultivating literature and the arts, it becomes necessary to strain every nerve, in order to recover the time lost in indolence and darkness, by endeavouring to open to all, without exception of quality, fortune, 'sex, or age, the door of intellectual light. " The Lancasterian system of mutual instruction established in most parts of the civilized world, and to which many nations owe the improvement 190 CHILE. of their manners and habits of life, has made - a commencement among us with that degree of acceptance which- its beneficial effects, and requires its propagation as the sure means of extirpating the causes of our national decline. " The Government is anxious to encourage this system, and hopes to realise its wishes by associating together persons who unite, with corres-ponding sentiments of approval, the activity, zeal, and attention, which the importance of the subject -demands. In all places it prospers, and is extended through the medium of societies-a circumstance which is sufficient to induce us to follow the example, and which decides me in establishing a aIncasterian Socoe tfhere. I constitute myself Protector, and first individual of it. My Prime Minister and Secretary of State for the Home Department:hall be its President, and his colleagues shall be, the Attorney-General of the city, the -Protector of the Schools appointed by the City, and the Rector of the National Institute. The other members shall be elected forthwith by the Society itself. To make a beginning, I nomi DECREE ON PUBLIC EDUCATION, 191 nate the Brigadier-General, D. Joaquin Prieto, &c. &c. <" Its sessions shall be held in the Cabinet of the National Shool, on suitable days, without other rules of etiquette or precedency than those which politeness dictates. The regulations shall be made and submitted for my approval. The Society shall take from its own body, or elsewhere, a Secretary, Auditor, and Treasurer. "The objects in view are". To afford the means of instruction to all ranks, and especially to the industrious poor, who compose the largest class of inhabitants. " 2. To ascertain what progress may have been made in the science and method of education. " 3. To open such new resources as may be appropriate to our necessities and situation. " Finally, this Society will organize and regulate the operations of a system, as desirable for its magnitude and efficacy as for the immense extension of which it is susceptible. "( O'HIGGINS.-TORRES." 192 CHILE. NATIONAL INSTITUTE. Discourse of Don Joseph Antonio Argamedo, thirteen years of age, at his Examination on Natural Law. "GENTLEMEN, "To whom can I dedicate these rude first fruits of my literary studies more appropriately than to the tribunal entrusted with the care of public education? It holds over us the same right that the Archons held in Athens, to require proofs of our having made a proficiency corresponding to its noble designs, and as the magistrates appointed at Sparta to impress purity of morals upon the mind at a tender age. Yes; true fathers of youth, you have understood, with all the sages who have meditated on the art of government, that the fate of States depends on the instruction in learning and virtue imparted during the early years of life. The glorious epoch of the valiant O'Higgins is not more signalized by the victories with which COLLEGIATE RECITATION. 193 he has secured the independence of our country, than by the triumph of the lights, buried by gloomy tyranny under the oppressive designs which served as tombstones to the grave of liberty. In the midst of the destructive influence of arms, wisdom raised her fortress, to be crowned by the hands of the young men educated under the shade of the sacred tree of Minerva, which you irrigate, 0 much respected teachers! If I may be permitted to pride myself on the circumstance of my revered father having a seat on this honourable tribunal, I shall have to acknowledge an obligation, doubled by nature and reason, towards the author of my days, and the authors of my progress in learning, such as it is. Receive, then, this slight tribute of my gratitude, and prepare to enjoy that of all posterity, which will bless you as the founders of the precious nursery of the best institutions of Chile! And if we now felicitate ourselves on your distinguished merit, future generations will inscribe in the annals of the Lyceum, the list of the children of your labours.-Corona senrurniilii,filiorum, glo'iafiliorum patres eorum." 0 194 CHILE. The Mint is a handsome stone edifice of large dimensions, and would attract admiration in any European city. During our visit the coining apparatus was not at work; it is considered as the most complete in South America, but has never been so much employed at any period as those at the Mints of Lima and Potosi. The average annual amount of bullion coined in the Mint of St. Jago was stated to me at from 600 to 800,000 dollars; but I had no means of obtaining any documents to prove the accuracy of this statement. In the month of January, 1822, the official returns published in the Gazette of Chile state that coin and bullion to the value of 37,619 dollars were then actually in hand,- a sum singularly small in a country where the precious metals are found in their native state. The river Maypocho, so called from the ancient Indian name of the surrounding country, passes tarough one extremity of the town, and during the rainy season is swelled to a considerable breadth. Over it is a stone bridge of eight arches. At some little distance, on the banks of the ver is the Tamar, or wall, built to protect the city ST. JAGO. 190 from sudden inundations, and overshadowed by a fine avenue of trees. Here the gentry and ourgeois of the city walk and ride on horseback in the evenings of holidays, and enliven, by their characteristic national gaiety, a spot naturally agreeable and picturesque. One of the most striking external features of St. Jago is the tranquillity and absence of all bustle during the busiest hours of the day, which makes it seem more like a provincial town than the capital of a large State. The port of Valparayso is, in fact, the place where all foreign business is transacted; and the conveyance of goods by means of mules, renders the inland traffic comparatively quiet. The ordinary hours of promenade are from seven till ten in the morning, and after sunset in the evening; the streets and shops are then filled with well-dressed females, officers and others, and the drums beating the reveille, or retreat, and soldiers relieving guard, throw some little life 'and bustle into the town: but during the midday heat nothing is to be seen or heard; the Shops are shut, the inhabito 2 196 CHILE. ants keep within their houses, and the city of London, during church-hours on Sundays, is not more quiet and apparently deserted. Carriages are very little used at any time, and by ladies only who have a great distance to go. The best and smartest are but rudely built, after the antique Spanish fashion. A clumsy vehicle is to be observed occasionally, which most nearly resembles an English bathing-machine, with door behind, and chairs or benches inside sufficiently capacious to accommodate a whole family at once. This is drawn by one mule, at a slow ambling pace, with a postilion equipped in a tawdry and old-fashioned livery. We made two or three excursions to the neighbourhood of St. Jago, and were much pleased with the fertile beauties of the plain, while the Cordillera de los Andes presents at every point of view the same unvarying features of sublime natural grandeur. These mountains do not rise in all their height suddenly above the plain, but are composed of a number of ridges successively elevated each above the other, their highest summits MAYPO.-SAILTA DE AGUA. 197 only being tipped with snow. They are not broken into peaks like the Alps, and therefore furnish less diversity of scenery; yet their huge massive forms, which seem like mountains hurled confusedly upon mountains, as if they were indeed " the fragments of an earlier world," give to the whole a peculiar effect, worthy of their stupendous height. The plain of Maypo, celebrated in South American history for the battle fought there on the 5th of April, 1805, is not many miles distant from the city. There is at this place a hanging bridge of curious construction, made after an Indian model, of hides lashed together, and extending across from one bank of the river to the other. The Salta de Agua, or Waterfall, lies in another direction, and is only remarkable for the beauty of the surrounding scenery. After scrambling with some difficulty up to the top of the hill, or rather headland, over which the said stream of water is precipitated, we were surprised at finding ourselves still apparently on the same plain, though on a higher level of it, where the road leads back to the city by an almost imperceptible descent. 198 CHILE. We passed one large farmhouse en route, and observed vineyards in particular places, yet cultivation appeared by no means general; on the contrary, much less so than might reasonably be expected in the neighbourhood of the capital of the country. CHAPTER IX. VIEW OF SOCIETY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS. — EXCURSION TO QUILLOTA.-DEPARTURE FROM. CHILE. WE unfortunately arrived in Chile during the season of Lent, when all private parties and diversions are for the most part suspended. At other times scarcely an evening passes without some social tertulia or dance, where a stranger is welcomed with marked hospitality and attention. It is usual for the lady of the house to present him with a flower when he enters; and this little mark of favour is, of course, enhanced in value by the kind and captivating manner in which it is bestowed. The little I saw of society was generally agreeable, as far as gaiety, spirit, and affability can confer pleasure; but for refinement, taste, manners and conversation, for the display of briliant 200 CHILE. accomplishments or intellectual cultivation, the traveller must not look in Chile, nor indeed in any part of South America. The prevailing ignorance of all classes necessarily banishes every sort of social enjoyment beyond dancing, and music, and flirtation: music even is carried to a very moderate degree of perfection. To accompany the guitar with the voice, and play a few waltzes and country-dances on the piano, is sufficient to constitute an accomplished lady of fashion, who is expected to excel principally in Spanish or Spanish-American songs and airs. Books, whether of amusement or instruction, being never read, can never, of course, become the subject of conversation: with the exception of a few who are now beginning to speak French, the ladies, as yet, are unacquainted with any but their own native language. The Chilenas have generally pretty faces, and are naturally pleasing; insomuch, that few travellers who have experienced the fascination of their charms have failed to bestow upon them.a liberal meed of praise. The liberty denied by the Brazifians to their wives, is here enjoyed in its CHILEAN LADIES. 201 fullest extent, without any apparent injury to the social charities of life. Among them marriages take place at a very early age; and depend principally, as in the mother-country, upon the choice of the parents, who always expect compliance with their own wishes. In dress, the ladies of Chile imitate European fashions, which find their way out slowly through the medium of Rio Janeiro and Buenos Ayresand thus the Spanish costume is falling more and more into disuse; while, for English chintzes and muslins, and French silks, which are imported in considerable quantities, there is, of course, an increasing demand. As yet, however, no regular French shops are to be found at St. Jago, as at Rio Janeiro; and but few Frenchmen are established in the country. During our stay in the capital of Chile, my friend and I were comfortably boarded and lodged at a hotel kept by an Irishwoman, at the moderate expense of one dollar and a half a-day. We generally sat down twenty or thirty to dinner, at the table d'h6te, the party consisting chiefly of Patriot officers, naval and military, whose conversa 202 CHILE. tion was not ill calculated to throw light upon the political state of the country: some were natives, some Frenchmen and Germans, some Englishmen, some Americans. Their sentiments were for the most part ob. viously dictated by self-interest: some -loudly abusing the Government for not giving them pay and promotion equal to their expectations; others, who had been more fortunate, as violently declaiming in praise of liberty and patriotism. Many thought no epithet too opprobrious to be bestowed upon Lord Cochrane's character; others, again, extolled him to the skies as the greatest of heroes. In one thing the Englishmen present appeared all to agree,-namely, in expressing unqualified regret at having ever left their own country to enter into the Patriot service. Their health had been wasted, and their expectations, for the most part, disappointed: but, having gone so far, it was too late to recede, and they felt obliged to pursue their career in South America to the end. It was interesting thus to witness on the spot the sentiments entertained by these soldiers of fortune towards the Government which they POLITICAL REMARKS. 2 203 served; and the staunchest friends of revolutions, after listening to the stories and circumstances detailed by the people most likely to know the truth, would have turned away in pity, to mourn rather than exult over the present fate of South America. The Republican Government of Chile, at the time of my visit, consisted of a Director, five Senators, and three principal Ministers, who exercised at once the legislative and executive functions. Their power was in reality undefined, and of course absolute, the Director being general of the army, as well as chief magistrate of the nominal Republic. Their joint administration appeared generally unpopular among the thinking,parts of the community; and, notwithstanding the high eulogiums bestowed upon themselves in the Gazette of Government, it was no easy matter to discover the beneficial operation of the liberal principles upon which they professed to act. In the administration of justice, in the collection of the revenue, and in the appropriation of public offices or the exercise of civil functions, the abuses which had formerly characterized the 204 CHILE., Spanish Colonial Government were still univer-s sally complained of and admitted to exist. The Director, O'Higgins, was considered a good-hearted man and well-intentioned, but weak and unable to carry right measures into effect. He gave ready attention to complaints, and promised to. redress the grievances brought under his cognizance, but seldom had influence or energy sufficient to fulfil the promises which he made. The existing state of things was, however, acknowledged to be only provisional, and the legislators of the country were said to be preparing to adopt, in reality, the representative system as promised in the original draught of the Constitution, by convoking a National Legislative Assembly; and yet, from theexercise of legislative functions by a people so ignorant, what likelihood is there that any great and immediate benefits will result? Real power in such a country must be chiefly, if not solely, possessed by military chiefs and their partisans: and, after all, it is perhaps less likely to be abused by a comparatively enlightened few, than by an ignorant multitude. If the leaders of the day are men of spirit and ability, their Govern CHILEAN CONSTITUTION. 205 ment will partake more or less of the same character; and, by whatever name it may be designated, they will in reality be the life and main-spring of every political movement: but men like O'Higgins cannot, in unsettled times, remain very long at the head of affairs; and indeed, since these observations were first written, he has actually been obliged to retire, and give up his office and power to General Freire. A new Constitution has been given to the country, which certainly looks well in print; but if another has been since substituted in its room, no person well acquainted with South American politics can feel much surprised. The best and principal parts of it are taken from the late Spanish Constitution as established by the Cortes; other parts, peculiar to Chile, must appear at the first glance altogether visionary, if not puerile, to an Englishman; such as the establishment of an Order of Civil Merit, in which every citizen must be enrolled before he can be admitted to the free exercise of his political rights, and the appointment of public censors to be entrusted with the guardianship of national morals. 206 2 CHILE. The idea of making a provision for the growth of moral excellence in a State, is undoubtedly honourable to the projectors; but in the present state of the world, particularly of South America, it were vain to expect national improvement from the distribution of prizes and honorary distinctions among a people, as among schoolboys. To judge of the advancement made by a country in literary and political knowledge, it is first necessary to know the state of the public press. In Chile, under the government of O'Higgins, it has long been declared free; yet either no one dares to take advantage of this professed liberty to deliver political opinions, or no one has the spirit and talent of a ready writer. I did hear, indeed, of one unfortunate German, who, good easy man! believed to the letter all the fine things that were said by the Government, of the existence and in praise of a free press, and who, to try the reality of its existence, undertook the publication of a political work. What was the consequence? His presses were seized, every copy of his work destroyed, and himself sent off by a summary process to the almost desert island of Juan Fernandez, PUBLIC PRESS. 207 there to keep company with other State prisoners, and mourn over his blundering credulity. Since that time, and up to the date of my visit, the Government has monopolized the press, and the Gazetta del Gobierno, which is written entirely under the direction of ministers, is the only periodical publication. The style of the articles in it is for the most part turgid and hyperbolical, and the Spaniards appear to have transmitted to their colonial descendants a double share of the rhodomontade which characterizes their own literary compositions. Previous to my departure from Chile, it was necessary to obtain a passport, and for that purpose I waited upon one of the ministers. He was dressed in black, and decorated with a large star upon his coat; such insignia being, it seems, not less agreeable to the Republican Patriots of Spanish America, than to the friends of Royalty in Brazil. He received, and dismissed me after signing his name to my passport, with much formal solemnity of manner, and without asking any questions. Late in the evening of the 5th of March, I re 208 CHILE. luctantly bade adieu to the capital of Chile, in company with my friend. We travelled on horseback all night by moonlight, and reached Valparayso the following morning, having been no more than ten hours on the road. / Upon our arrival, we found that the vessel in which we had taken our passage to Lima was unexpectedly detained; and the town of Valparayso being dull and comfortless, I hired a peon as guide, and made an excursion up the valley of Quillota, to the city of the same name about forty miles distant from Valparayso. The toil of ascending the heights, over which the road passes, was amply repaid by a delightful view, comprising the town, harbour, shipping, and whole adjacent coast: between fifty and sixty vessels were there seen, of all nations, and various sizes, from an American ship of the line to a little pilot-boat of thirty tons, which had lately dared to effect the once-dreaded passage round Cape Horn. Those under English and American colours were by far the most numerous; and among them the Franklin seventy-four and frigate Creole, respective flag EXCURSION TO QUILLOTA. 2b6 ships of Commodore Stewart and Sir Thbtnas Hardy, lay as if in proud pre-eminence. The first place to which we came Was Vifa de Mar, a large rhmhouse belonging to an estate, where cattle ai: reared for sale and wheat and fruit cultivated: it has the reputation of being very productive. For the next twenty miles the country is open, and enlivened by occasional glimpses of the sea, but otherwise dreary, uncultivated, ahd uninhabited. Occasionally we met large droves of mules, *ith their attendant peons, wUose wild appearance, and peculiar shouts, re-echoed as they went along the passes of the hills, were in character with the rough aspect of the scenery. I tried to enter into conversation with some of these people, but found them sullen and incommunicative, like the muleteers of Brazil. My own peon, indeed,: was unwilling that I should court the society of strangers, and advised me to make the best of my way to the place of destination. Such proofs of habitt&l feir and mistrust towards travelles, marked the times and country in a p 210 CHILE. striking manner; and when musing over the adventurous and unsettled mode of life led by these South American peons, I could not help comparing them to the people described by an eminent novelist, who during equally disturbed periods of Scotch history were the terror and scourge of their more civilized countrymen. To both the same words would with truth apply: The good old rule Contenteth them-the simple plan, That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can." Through the valley of Quillota flows a river, which is divided into a number of different channels, and thus irrigates and fertilizes the neighbouring country. At the embouchure is a small village, named Concon, and the estate presented to Lord Cochrane by the Government as a remuneration for his services. It was, however, said to be unproductive and of little real value. Our route lay up the river: after fording several of its channels, which at this season of the year are generally very shallow, we found ourselves on the skirts of a small wood, inter MODE OF THRESHING. 211 spersed with mud cottages. Here the scenery became picturesque; and, as we proceeded onwards, there appeared a succession of corn-fields where the harvest had just terminated. The crops had been blighted by heavy rains; and although Chile is considered as the granary:of Peru, the annual supply of wheat this season was insufficient eve for the home consumption. At the same time there was an unusual scarcity of other provisions, which induced the Government to lay a strict embargo upon all domestic produce, prohibiting its exportation until the market could be sufficiently well supplied by foreign ships. From the road-side I had an opportunity of witnessing the mode of threshing adopted in Chile, and which is not uncommon in other southern countries. A circular plot of ground is cleared for the purpose, in the open fields, and encompassed by a wooden railing. Here the wheat is deposited as soon as cut, and scattered about in all directions: a number of horses, colts, and mules, are then turned loose P 2 212 CHILE. into the enclosure, and driven round and round about, until all the corn is by these means threshed out of the ear; it is then separated from the straw for the use of man, and the latter reserved, instead of hay, as fodder for the horses. The country people hereabouts appeared poor and wretched, and dirty in their persons. The mud huts which they inhabit are of the worst description, and in the rainy season must be ill adapted to shelter them from the inclemencies of the weather. Such, however, is the general salubrity of the climate and productiveness of the soil, that a peasant can maintain himself and family with ease, and for a trifling sum live, if not in comfort, at least in a manner suitable to his wants and wishes. The little town of Quillota is one of the prettiest I had seen in South America; its numerous church-towers, domes, and cupolas, giving at a distance an air of grandeur to it, the effect of which on a nearer view is destroyed by the: wideness of the architecture. The number of inhabitants caanot much exceed five thousand; their houses cover a large extent of ground, QUILLOTA. 213 and are generally interspersed with gardens and vineyards, and running streams of water, which enliven and beautify the whole place, so as really to give it the appearance of a rus in urbe. We arrived at the hour of the siesta, when not a sound was to be heard, nor a person to be seen about the streets. A fanciful traveller might have imagined himself transported into the city of which we read in the Arabian Nights, where all the inhabitants were petrified; for no one could be found to direct us to a lodging, and we wandered about for a considerable tunime, until we at length found our way to the house of an Englishmnan, who gave us the accommodation- we required. In the evening I was introduced to several families, and passed some hours very pleasantly at their respective habitations. Upon entering a house I generally found the female inmates sitting- in a circle round the door, on mats spread upon the floor, and enjoying the freshness of the evening air, as is usual in warm countries. The men were seldom to be met withy or, if at home, went on smoking their cigars without taking 214 CHILE. much interest or sharing in the conversation. The ladies seem to live uncontrolled, and never fall to welcome strangers in the kindest manner: they feel, indeed, flattered by their visits, and are in general partial to their society. There was something of primitive simplicity in such an unceremonious reception which was truly pleasing. Some danced, notwithstanding it was the season of Lent; others played a few tunes on the spinetan instrument in common use among them; others, again, accompanied the guitar with the voice, and many of their simple ballads were sung with a degree of taste and feeling which nature, and nature only, can inspire. I asked for apatriotic song, and my request was soon complied with: but I immediately discovered that it was not an agreeable request; and was informed, on further inquiry, that the majority of inhabitants at this place had sided with the: Royalists during the revolutionary troubles, aid were now suffering the usual fate of unsuccessful partisans, —namely, poverty and oppression from the ruling powers. The estates of many REVOLUTIONARY MISERIES. 215 families had been confiscated, and the proprietors themselves either killed in battle, or imprisoned or shot as enemies to their country. The surviving female relations were, therefore, aturally unfriendly to the patriot cause and the existing overnment; and being unable to judge on any higher grounds than those of a personal nature, they saw absolutely nothing to indemnify them for the loss of affluence, or to reconcile them to actual poverty. A very intelligent young woman drew so lively a picture of the prosperity and happiness of her native city, under the Spanish Government, and of the contrast afforded by the present state of things, in every sense, that I could not help joining heartily in her lamentations over the miseries of civil war. To persons far away from the scene of action, the cause of liberty and patriotism throw around it a blaze of light, in which the evils that accompany its progress are almost entirely lost sight tof by its admirers. Not so, however, to persons on the spot, whose minds and feelings are rather affected by the distressing ircumstances 216 CHILE.; which fall immediately under view, or are told by the actual sufferers, than dazzled by the glare which fancy creates, in the contemplation of uncertain future blessings and schemes of political happiness. The chief part of the following day was devoted to an excursion higher up the valley, whose fertility and natural beauties excited delight and admiration at every step. The heat of the sun was great; but the mildness, and -lasticity, and fragrance of the air, were inexpre$pbly grateful to the senses, and reminded me of H|ie delicious climate of Madeira, more than of ainy other that I had yet known. From the summit of an eminence? I could see the main body of the mountain-toigst foaming ever: its pebbly bed, while innumerlO channels that branched out from the parent S,'er, pome natural, others artificial, imparted flrtty to the whole adjacent country. There, weas tIe! a succession of luxuriant orchards, -vfey S,, gardens, meadows, and cultivated fiel!s, "'ith gentle slopes and groves between," whic a ded in abundance every kind of European ulit LADIES OF QUILLOTA. 217 and vegetable production. Embosomed amid the verdant foliage lay the towers and cupolas of Quillota, sparkling in the 'Stnbeams, and "crowning," as it were, " the watery glade' Above all, the gigantic masses of the CordillEra rose'at airy distance in frowning majesty, and to the softer features of the landscape added those'of sublimity and grandeur; so that a traveller who has seen the valley of Quillota, one among many such which abound in these favoured regions, will not wonder that Chile has been termed the garden-the Italy of America. A second evening passed away still mre agreeably than the first, in'the society of my new acquaintance, whose manners, although unmarked by artificial elegance or polish, were naturally graceful, and always pleasing. Their minds were neither cultivated by education nor refined by taste; but they appeared ingenuous and lively, and inquired with much interest about England, and other foreign places, of which they had only heard. Their ignorance on the commonest points of geography was peculiarly remarkable; and of 218 CHILE. history they seemed to know absolutely nothing. They were inquisitive on the subject of religion, and, as bigoted Roman Catholics, felt a tender degree of compassion for us poor heretics; but when I named a few of the fundamental doctrines of Chri- iaity, and avowed my: belief in them, they were quite astonished, and said that they had hitherto supposed a heretic to be little better than an infidel. Still, to marry an:Englishman, unless he changed his religion, would be altogether inadmissible among them. The personal appearance of the generality of the femles was very prepossessing. Dark glossy hair,- dark eyebrows, and piercing, speaking, black eyes, a complexion approaching to the brunette, and small irregular expressive features, formed the prevailing and characteristic style of beauty. In dress they did not evince great taste; and nothing in it struck me as peculiar to this part of the country; actual poverty forbade the use of costly personal ornaments. I remained two days at Quillota and its neighbourhood, and reluctantly bade adieu to a spot which possessed so many and such powerful attract DEPARTURE. 219 tions. My visit had been one of unmixed pleasure; and my regret at its speedy termination was enhanced by the feeling which travellers are necessarily doomed often to experience,-namely, that it would, in all probability, never again be my fortune to return. PERU. 77F 7777 -ERUf.I V *,:: — 1- CHAP*TERi X..'.*,.1 **;; '1.;:..: f*lESID tCE I^''N $4M~fA'.-.:.T:1; ON thie 171th & Marc& Ie thNr1*ed 0NiV taysokifithe)Engli hbrig;^ The i'~~~~v wlndwrthat hidblrw> #kiotat aj ot4 f thi scuthrwar&aloiig,this cO^sAt,,,ade4,ui quicki nd agreeable passar of~Q t" flit.a 4#y Aur$tMe i Adn W Gas m heevniqg T 'fitst tjpeaxtlea >tf e Pmdt?Q*$ti1 ruggaldt oubtbi sml ^^ n4 QfSt* renr4 width-wa se ^ t tfen tky the great earthquake of 1746, forms the.otemr bondr[#ht 4tad is n bot nd th&iie ie Iis Wrn t iltB Bs hl:1I fIlhc Jna ih 224 PEKRU. interspersed with ridges of black rock. Successive ranges of mountains that vie with each other in magnificence diversify the main land; and on a very clear day the snowy summits of the Cordillera are visible to the naked eye. The country in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea is low, and interspersed here and there with patches of verdure. The towers of Lima, on entering the harbour, give the idea of a large city: not so the appearance of Callao, which is a disgrace to the capital of Peru. The shipping in the harbour lay moored close along-shore, of which I counted sixty, principally English merchantmen. We had no sooner anchored than the Captain of the port, a smart young officer in the Buenos Ayrian uniform, came on board. His duty is to take a list of the passengers, inspect their passports, and report them to the Government, whose permit is requisite before leaving the ship. The delay of a day took place before this could be obtained; and we were accordingly obliged to pass the interval on board. Friday, March 29.-The landing-place was guarded by sentinels; and the number of soldiers CALLAO. 225 and officers who stood loitering about, showed at once that we were in a garrison-town. Our baggage underwent a very slight examination at the Custom-house, and all my books were passed duty-free. The town of Callao is composed of a few hundred houses, small, dirty, and wretched. no persons of respectability reside there; the merchants merely keeping stores for the transaction of shipping business, and for the retail sale of goods. There is an inn, kept by an American, of the worst description. The castle is the only part of Callao which deserves particular notice. Let not the word castle be understood to mean a structure similar to those erected by our warlike ancestors in every part of Europe!-it is merely another name for fort, which occupies a considerable extent of ground, surrounded by thick walls, a moat, drawbridge, and batteries of great strength: spacious barracks, a chapel, and the governor's house, with some other necessary buildings, form a large square in the centre of the fortress. Beyond the farthest extremity of the town jets out into tl sea a peninsula of land, where old Callao formerly stood, previous to the earthquake of 1746. Q 226 PERU. The rmns are still visible, and afford a striking memento of the awful visitations to which these regions are particularly subject. It was painful, at the same time, to observe the remains of several hundredunfortunate soldiers who had been shot here during the war: many months they lay without interment, and literally afforded food to the fowls of the air, while the dreadful effluvia tainted the whole surrounding atmosphere, and was carried by the wind as far as the shipping in the harbour. Bones and bits of clothes, shoes, caps, &c., even now lay scattered about in melancholy confusion, and marked the character of the times. The whole scene was most horrifying; nor could it fail to give a most unfavourable idea of the state of things in this country, to observe thatthe rites of sepulture, which among the most barbarous people are observed with decency and respect, should in this Christian coinmunity be neglected, or denied altogether. March 30.-in the morning, before breakfast, I rode to Lima, a distance rather less than eight miles from Callao, along an excellent roadi On each side were fields of mandioc and maize, and LIMA. 227 pasture-land, enclosed by mud walls, and occasion. ally cottages-the whole upon rather a small scale, the lands being neither naturally fertile, nor much cultivated by the inhabitants. On the way we met with a great number of loaded mules and asses, of a breed very inferior to that in Chile, attended by peons and other followers whose ponchos and general costume are not dissimilar from those in Chile; the only difference being in the size of the straw hats, which are here universally worn with broader brims and higher crowns. They rode armed at all points, with cutlass, blunderbuss, and horse-pistols, besides the cuchillo, or knife, which is the favourite and common weapon. A fine avenue of trees leads up to the Peruvian metropolis; and at the entrance is an archway, once intended to be magnificent, where the dilapidated insignia of the crown of Spain appear to mark the now weak and dismembered state of the Spanish empire. The streets of Lima were everywhere full of bustle, and swarming with people of all classes, colours, and professions. The very large proportion of negroes afforded the most striking point of Q 2 228 2PERU. difference between this place and St. Jago; and it must be allowed that the contrast was much in favour of the latter city, except inasmuch as the spirit of trade-Lima being on the footing of a commercial metropolis-gave to it more appearance of life and animation. I was struck by the number of smart shops, abounding in French silks and jewellery, and British goods of every sort and description. The houses, as well as the streets of Lima, are larger than those of St. Jago, but otherwise laid out and built on a similar plan. A stream of water flows through them all. The public square is of large dimensions. Two sides are occupied by houses two stories high, with shops and a piazza in front. That which was the Viceroy's palace, and is now the Government-house, occupies the third side of the quadrangle, and the cathedral church the principal part of the south side. None of these buildings are remarkable for architectural design or for good taste, nor would be deemed worthy of notice in any part of Europe; though the cathedral CHURCHES OF LIMA. 229 was certainly the finest church I had yet seen in South America. Sunday, March 31.-I attended High Mass at the cathedral, and afterwards made a tour to some of the principal churches, of which there are said to be altogether not less than fifty-six, besides twenty-six chapels. The internal decoration, in its general character, is very rich and gaudy, especially that of the altarpieces. The value of the gold and silver ornaments, previous to the late revolutionary troubles, is believed to have been unusually great, but the chief part has now been appropriated to State purposes. A stranger, who would judge of the religious and moral condition of the inhabitants by the number of churches and the crowds who frequent them, might suppose that the Limanians were the most devout of human beings. It happens here, however, as in most countries where the forms and ceremonies of religion are multiplied beyond measure, that its real duties are too often neglected; and there are persons sufficiently wicked to insinuate, that the churches themselves are often used for appoint 230 PERU. ments in various ways, and for purposes not purely devotional. In the afternoon a church-procession took place in the public square, which was more absurd and got up in worse taste than any which it had ever before been my fortune to witness in Roman Catholic countries. The subject was Our Saviour's triumphant Entry into Jerusalem, and the way being strewed with branches of palm-trees, a waxen image intended to represent the Saviour was carried upon an ass, followed by images as large as life of the Apostles, and one of Mater Dolorosa, borne on men's shoulders. The persons officiating, and the numerous bystanders, presented altogether a motley and most extraordinary group: priests in rich sacerdotal vestments, friars -of various orders-Franciscan, Benedictine, Dominican, and others, many of whose portly persons and ruddy countenances belied the austerity of their profession; men dressed up as nuns, with black veils and masks, selling little waxen images of the Virgin; women of all classes, appropriately dressed in the costume of the country-some with shawls and hats, others with the showy saya and black CHURCH PROCESSION. 231 silk manto, so put on as carefully.to conceal the face and expose the person; blacks and mulattoes, male and female, and Indians, whose squalid hideous features bore no resemblance to the pictures which imagination is wont to. draw of their ancestors, " the gentle children of the Sun.;" loaded mules and asses, with their attendant peons, just arrived from the port; country creoles of both sexes on -horseback, mounted and equipped, male and female both alike; carriages here termed valenfis, made and painted in the Spanish fashion, and filled with smartly-dressed ladies, whose black servants and postilions were bedecked in the most tawdry liveries; cavaliers of all na*. tions, and Patriot Officers in gay uniforms-some on foot, courting the attention of the.fairt beholders, others showing off the paces of their prancing steeds; venders of. ice and lchicha, a favourite Peruvian.drink; beggars imploring alms in. the naime of the Vigin and' all the saints of the Romish calendar; -these and,other innurhefable objects, d'uring the time of the procession, and for somehours afterward,. all contributed to enliven and diversitfy the scene.. Still the bustle 232 PERU. gave no interruption to the devotional part of the business; for at sun-set, when the Ave Mlarias are said, every voice was hushed upon the tolling of the church-bell, and every movement was instantaneously suspended until the hasty prayer to the Angel of Heaven was said, and the sign of the cross reverently made; when, as instantaneously, the same hubbub of voices, and universal bustle, again filled the assembly. It being a fine moonlight evening, the better classes of people continued till a late hour in the square, or under the piazzas, where the ladies sat in long rows upon chairs and benches provided for their accommodation. It may be supposed that it is on these occasions that the Limanian ladies display that talent at flirtation with the favoured few, for which their natural vivacity has, per.haps, not undeservedly given them the reputation. The saya and manto are the principal peculiarities of the female dress. The latter is made of black silk; and, being attached to the waist, is brought over the head, and held by the hand in front, so as to allow one eye only, except on special occasions, to be visible. The former is a sort SAYA AND MANTO. 233 of outer garment, made of a thick elastic stuff, and fitted so close to the person as to exhibit the shape in a manner that would be considered indelicate elsewhere; a certain degree of wadding even is used to heighten the effect, and show off the beautifully slender waist to more advantage. The annexed drawing exhibits a lady dressed according to the national costume, and in the act of pulling back the manto to accost an acquaintance, who is dressed in another costume, most usually worn at night. The sash across the shoulders is the Banda Patriotica, as recently worn by some females in honour of the newly. established Patriot Government. The colour of the saya is settled according to individual taste, — brown being the most general-blue, pink, and green, the smartest and most fashionable colours. Females who wear this dress, with the manto drawn over the face, are termed tapadas. The freedom allowed by it is, I may almost say, unbounded: they live, in fact, when abroad, in a perpetual masquerade; nothing affording them more amusement than to deceive their acquaintance by passing themselves off as strangers, or to 234 PERU. watch their movements and listen to their conversation unobserved. At public places, and on occasions such as that above described, they permit any gentlemen of genteelexterior to address them,and converse without previous introduction. They even stop at the windows of rooms on the ground-floor, and converse with or pay gentlemen visits in their own houses, two or, three of them together; but 'in that case always without discovering themselves, and checking any attempt to remove the silken mask, which would indeed be immediately resented as an unpardonable insult. April 1.-In the course of the morning my friend and L were introduced to his Excellency the Marquis Monteagudo, Minister of State and Primum Mobile, under General San Martin, of the existing Government. He speaks English well, and has the reputation of being a clever active man -of business; but, like other South American republicans, -i fond of power, and ready to exercise it mi a manner less agreeable to others than to himselff He is a native of Buenos Ayres, and came to Lima with San Martin, whose BATHS OF LIMA. 235 influence obtained him his present situation. He received us, when introduced by Mr. ---, the principal English merchant of the place, with much civility; and after asking a few questions about our motives in coming to Lima, the.proposed length of our stay, &c., dismissed us with permission to remain as long as we might deem it expedient. It was afterwards necessary to notify ourselves to the Alcalde, or Magistrate of the quarter in which we lived, and pay twelve dollars for the privilege of residing in Lima six months. At the expiration of that time the permit and fee must be renewed. April 2.-Rode out to the public baths. These are situated a mile and a half from the city, at the foot of a lofty hill, and, although of rude construction, are on an extensive scale, and very conmo dious. They consist of a long row of buildings with mud walls, and flat reeded roof, -partitioned out into thirty different baths, through which passes a stream of water, supplied from a spring on the side of the adjoining hill. Each bath is about five feet in depth, and six feet square; there is, besides, a separate plunging-bath of very large di 236 PERU. mensions, for the use of swimmers. The ladies of Lima resort to these baths in great numbers during the summer months, but at this season of the year seldom honour them with their presence. This day an interesting ceremony took place at Callao, namely, that of hoisting the Patriot standard on board the ci-devant Spanish frigate Prueva. Her capture a few days since was a matter of importance to the Patriot cause. She, together with the Venganza, a fine ship of the same calibre, had been long hovering about the coast; and at length, partly through distress, partly through fear of capture by Lord Cochrane, whose very name inspired terror among the Spaniards, they were sur. rendered by their respective commanders to the newly Independent. Government of Guyaquil, from which, in consequence of some misunderstanding, the Prueva again stood out to sea, and was brought by her commander into the port of Lima as an offering to San Martin. April 4.-This day the churches were again all crowded, and a grand military mass performed in the cathedral. Torre Tagles, the Supremo Delegado, or head of the Provisional Government, CHANGES IN NATIONAL CUSTOMS. 237 Tomas Guido, the Minister of War, Monteagudo, and all the other great officers of State, were present, and then walked in procession, surrounded by a guard of honour, to the Government 'House. They were dressed in red uniforms, and decorated with the insignia of the Order of the Sun,-an Order which has been lately created by San Martin, and named after the supposed tutelary deity of the ancient Incas of Peru. It is curious to observe, even in these slight matters, the changes which have taken place in national customs and opinions. Nearly 300 years have elapsed since the empire of the Incas fell beneath the Spanish arms, and almost every memo-rial of their ancient dominion, except that which history preserves, has been destroyed by the unsparing hand of time; yet now, after so long an interval, the favorite emblem of the Peruvian Indians is actually worn as the highest badge of honour by the descendants of their conquerors; and every device by which the name of Spain may be debased, and that of Peru exalted, is sought for with avidity and turned to political account by the rulers of the present day. 238 PERU. April 6.-The arrival of a post from Guayaquil brought word that Lord Cochrane was at that port, urging the surrender of the Spanish frigate Venganza to the Chilean Government. His applications were however disregarded, and the spirit evinced by bot parties on the occasion showed how much selfish jealousy and dissension will ever prevail among small independent States remotely situate from each other, though otherwise naturally united by the ties of political interest. I rode a few miles out of the city along the grand route to Cusco, and observed a number of gardens and orchards, whose verdant foliage afforded a very delightful appearance. Onwards, the country became dreary and generally uninviting, grass-fields alone exhibiting any signs of vegetation: how different were these fields from the rich pastures of Old England! I should have altogether fancied myself in the desart of Atacama, which divides Chile from Peru, rather than in the celebrated vale of Rimac. The soil consisted of isand and flint, and the circumjacent hills bear a rocky and equally barren aspect. Neither COUNTRY AROUND IIMA. 239 man nor beast was for a long time to be seen or heard; until at length I was met on the road by a farmer, dressed of course in the poncho, and armed at all points, who, as he galloped past, had more the air of a leader of banditti than of a tiller of the soil. Presently I came to a farm house-a low and ugly, but extensive mud building, which had once been painted with various colours. It now served only to make desolation appear more desolate, being in a dilapidated state, and tenanted by none but miserable female slaves and their equally miserable superintendent. Upon inquiry, I learnt that the male negroes and cattle belonging to the farm had been appropriated to the service of the State, and now composed part of, or were otherwise attached to, the Patriot army. The estate itself belongs to a convent of friars in Lima. Here and there, at some little distance from the road, the ruins of ancient Indian tumuli were observable, whose thick mud walls and massive fragments had stood against the ravages of time. These interesting relics of another age and nation carried back the imagination with 240 2PERU. them to the times when Spanish violence and cruelty were unknown, and the native possessors of the soil lived upon its produce in peace and security. How different a scene would Peru have then presented to the observation of a traveller! Instead of lamenting the miseries and tracing the desolating influence of revolutionary warfare, he might have viewed a numerous and happy though simple people; removed alike fromn savage barbarism and refined luxury, yet industrious and obedient subjects! April 8.-I rode to La Magdalena, a small village about five miles distant from the town, where the Protector, General San Martin, has a countryhouse and principally resides. He had given a dinner and entertainment that day, and afterwards a bull-fight. The bulls were turned loose into the avenue adjoining the Protector's house, and attacked by men both on foot and horseback, whose dexterity in evading the fury of the animals, and whose violent defence, excited extraordinary interest and admiration among the bystanders. This was, however, rather a bull-bait than a bull-fight; the bulls being reserved for another entertainment BULL-BAIT. 2414 by their tormentors. To me, the only pleasure afforded by the spectacle arose from the view of the large and motley assemblage of country-people whom it collected together, all, or nearly all, mounted on horseback. Both sexes rode astraddle and were dressed alike, the men being as well armed with pistols and blunderbusses, sabres and knives, as if they were about to march against the Spaniards. It seemed to me like a revival of the feudal times, when, even in England, a similar festival would have been attended in a somewhat similar manner. But here were no retainers of warlike barons; all were free and independent yeomanry-free and independent, at least, in their own estimation: and " Vive la libertad! vive'la patria!" was the general cry. The females formed the most interesting group, and by the help of the annexed print some idea may be formed of the wives and daughters of Peruvian farmers equipped in' the riding costume. It was indeed a novel and curious sight, to see such a figure, with round black hat, and'poncho falling gracefully from the neck and shoulders and reaching down over the knees in loose drapery, so as R 242 PERU. to conceal the large high-peaked Spanish saddle. The satin shoes and worked silk stockings set off a beautiful foot and ankle, which the finest English lady might think herself fortunate to possess; the tip resting in an enormous wooden stirrup several inches square, carved, and embossed with silver mountings. This, and the massive silver spurs of large dimensions, serve perhaps as a foil to the smallness and delicay of the foot. April 9.-Being very desirous of visiting the mines of Pasco, which are commonly reputed to be the richest in Peru, I was taken by an acquaintance to visit an old Peruvian gentleman who had formerly held an official situation at Pasco, and stood at one time high in the favour of Pezuela the late Viceroy. This circumstance, of course, was enough to render him odious to the existing Government, and he therefore lived in the greatest possible privacy, so as to avoid giving any unnecessary umbrage. He received me in the affable and kind manner Which universally distinguishes the creoles of Spanish America, and promised to give me serviceable letters of introduction MINES OF PASCO. 243 in case I should prosecute my intended journey. At the same time he, in common with my other friends, represented such a journey as very perilous, since the Spanish army was in the neighbourhood of Pasco, and the whole country in arms either for the cause of the Royalists or Patriots. Into the hands of whichever party a traveller might fall, his life would be endangered, since revolutionary soldiers are ever ready to commit deeds of violence; and among the Spaniards, an Englishman's name alone would be likely to secure his ill-treatment. To the English, in fact, under Lord Cochrane, the Patriots are chiefly indebted for their success in Peru; and it is not surprising, therefore, that the partisans of the sinking cause should look upon them with an evil eye. With regard to the mines themselves, at such an unpropitious season little or nothing could be seen. They were no longer worked, and were inundated with water, which could only be removed by the help of machinery. Steam apparatus had been imported at an enormous expense for that purpose by one of the principal proprietors, under the old Spanish Government; but before it could be brought R 2 244 PERU. effectually into use, the invasion of the country by San Martin and the Liberating army took place, and the war of the revolution had since then put a stop to mining as well as all other operations. Under these circumstances, I was reluctantly compelled to give up the projected visit to Pasco, and cannot speak of the mines from personal observation; but the ex-Superintendant, and all other well-informed persons with whom I conversed on the subject in Lima, testified to their richness, and said that upon the return of peace they might, by good management and suitable machinery, be made wonderfully productive. What they have been, is clear from the researches of Humboldt, who states their returns as follows:Ingots. Marcs of Silver. 1792... 1052... 183,598 3.. 1325... 234,943 4... 1621... 291,254 5.. 1550 279,622 6... 1561... 227,514 7... 1340.. 242,949 8... 1478... 271,862 9... 1237... 228,356 1800... 1198... 281,481 1.. 914... 237,453 Total of ten years 13276 2,479,014 The same author calculates the average annual produce in money at nearly two millions of piastres. MINES OF PASCO. 245 The Peruvian speculators were very sanguine in their expectations of success when the first steam-engines were imported, and hailed their arrival with transport as a national blessing. The subsequent failure of those hopes w as caused by the revolution alone; and whenever the civil war and anarchy, which now check the progress of all industry and improvement, shall be succeeded by peaceful times and an enlightened Government, it is fair to presume, that the undertaking, if renewed again, will be really attended with success. To return to my new acquaintance, the exSuperintendant. He was an interesting old man, and seemed fond of literature, passing at present the greatest part of his time in study. He possessed a larger library than most persons in this country, consisting of Spanish and a few French authors. We conversed together for upwards of an hour on political subjects, during which he expatiated largely on the future advantages which would result from the Revolution to Peru and the other provinces of South America. Its temporary evils he was himself now doomed to experience; but, of course, had made up his mind 246 PERU. to bear them patiently, in the contemplation of the general good. In fact, under the name of liberty and patriotism, the existing Government exercised the most despotic power, and was obeyed more out of terror than love or true respect. A complete system of espionage was kept up; and, instead of conversing freely on political subjects with the spirit of republicans, the greatest caution and reserve were every where observable. Even in the houses of English merchants nothing like open discussion ever took place, and the boasted freedom of thought and speech which the Patriots had proclaimed was known, under their dominion, by name alone. Some unfortunate woman happened on one occasion, a few days before my arrival at Lima, to use her tongue with too great freedom, and, as was asserted, to speak disrespectfully of the Patria; she was forthwith informed against, taken up, and sent to prison, and then ignominiously exposed, with a bone in her mouth as a sort of gag, in the public square, to strike terror into the other inhabitants. April 10.-I visited the public burying-ground, or Pantheon, as it is here called, a mile distant BURIAL-GROUND. 247 from the city. It is very spacious, and extends to the banks of the river. At the entrance is a chapel, decorated with an image of Our Saviour in the Sepulchre, large as life, and so painted as to excite indescribable horror. The burialground is laid out with low walls, built in rows, and having a walk between them. In these are a succession of niches, where the bodies are deposited in quick-lime and speedily consumed. The bones are then collected together, and thrown into a charnel-house in the centre of the burial. ground: particular walls are appropriated to particular convents, hospitals, and families, and the remains of all are treated in the same careless and undistinguishing manner. English feelings cannot be easily reconciled to such a mode of burial; and the loathsome effluvia which polluted the whole atmosphere, was quite sufficient to prevent any lengthened meditations among the tombs. Another offensive practice -is very common, namely, that of bringing the bodies of poor people, whose friends cannot afford the expenses of a coffin and regular conveyance, and throwing them 248 PERU. unceremoniously over the walls of the cemetery, where they lie until the persons in attendance are prepared to bury them. In the morning a number of corpses may be often seen exposed to full view in this way, as if they were no better than dead dogs or cats. This same evening I had the curiosity to follow a funeral procession into a church, where the body was to be deposited for the night, and then taken away by the undertakers, without farther ceremony, the next morning, to the above-mentioned burial-ground. The coffin was open, and the body of an officer lay in it, equipped in full regimentals, with cocked hat, and eyes unclosed as if he were still alive: but the ghastly hue of death was there; and the sight of such an object, dimly made visible by the light of a few wax-candles, was too horrid to behold without disgust, nor ought to be mentioned, except as illustrative of the singular customs observed towards the dead in this country. Half a mile beyond the Pantheon is a chacra, or country-house, belonging to an English gentleman who came to Peru with steam-engines in the time of the Spaniards, and now intends to DEFEAT OF GENERAL TRISTAN. 249 settle under the protection of the new Patriot Government. He was employed in constructing a cotton-mill at this place, to be turned by a waterwheel, and several English mechanics were now at work about it. The view from the windows of the dwelling-house, over a beautiful garden extending down to the side of the river, and open to the verdant alamedas, or public walks, and adjacent hills on the opposite banks, was prettier than any I had yet seen in the neighbourhood of Lima. April 11, 12.-I rode to Callao. A report had been spread that General Tristan, with the Patriot troops under his command, had been defeated near Pisco, a sea-port town forty miles S. E. of Lima, and that the Royalists were advancing against the capital. All now was bustle, confusion, and alarm; officers and detachments might be seen galloping between the city and the port; the garrison of Callao was called out, and made active preparations for defence. A' thousand different idle rumours were industriously circulated; parties of people met together at certain shops and public places to inquire and relate the news: the Royalists at heart began to pluck up courage; 250 PERU. the friends of the Patria grew more or less alarmed; and all awaited the confirmation of the news with eagerness and anxiety. April 13.-General Tristan's defeat was now ascertained beyond doubt. He had been surprised during the night, -near Ica, by General Canterac: 600 men were said to be killed, and the remainder dispersed; six field-pieces, some thousand stand of arms, and a large quantity of ammunition, -were believed to have fallen into the enemy's hands, and the town of Pisco taken without resistance. Such an unexpected disaster created a general panic and simultaneous movement of the public mind: its probable consequences were differently predicted according to the fears, hopes, wishes, and opinions of individuals. The Protector, who had before scarcely showed himself in public, was now frequently seen on horseback in the streets, with two attendant lancers; expresses were continually sent backwards and forwards between Callao and Lima: all,* in short, breathed bustle and activity. In the National Gazette the affair was made but light of: the Patriots, it was stated, had " not been vanquished, but only dispersed;" GRAND FETE. 251 at the same time orders were issued to take the fifth of the slaves who still remained in the possession of individuals, 4000 horses, and all the mules that could be procured, for the service of the State, including even the horses and mules of foreigners who happened to be resident at the time at Lima. April 14, Sunday.-In order to divert the public attention from unwelcome news, and to amuse the worthy citizens of Lima, a grand fete, intended to be given in commemoration of the surrender of the frigate Prueva, was allowed to proceed. At night the public square was illuminated, and fire-works given. At each extremity of the square were bands of military music; and in the middle was erected a transparent temple, on which were represented portraits of San Martin, Torre Tagle, and Monteagudo, with several allegorical devices coarsely painted. The houses were variously and ludicrously decorated according to the taste or ability of their owners; some with old carpets and pieces of tapestry hung upon the walls-others with looking-glasses, pictures of saints, andoil-lights in glass tumblers, instead of regular lamps, exhibit 252 PERU. ed at the windows in honour of the occasion. The place was filled with company of high and low degree, and the contemplation of the future appeared soon lost in present merriment and festivity. April 15.-This day the whole population of Lima and Callao was again on the qui vive; the troops were put in motion, and paraded through the streets, drums beating and colours flying, in all directions. At the Castle of Callao, in particular, preparations for defence continued to be made with vigour: an embargo was laid upon provisions, and every person found idling about the streets pressed at once into the service of Government; horses, saddles, arms, and other accoutrements, were seized wherever they could be found; and any private person seen riding on horseback was unceremoniously ordered to dismount and surrender his steed for the good of the State. News now arrived of the advance of the Spanish army as far as Canete, only three days' march from Lima, whose force was said to consist of 6000 men. In cavalry they were much superior to the Patriot army, and Cantarac generally con PUBLIC ALARM. 253 sidered as a far more experienced and able commander than the Patriot general, although no person would have ventured even to whisper such an heterodox opinion. The loss of one battle might, for a time, seriously injure, if not ruin, the Patriot cause; for the existing Government had become in reality so unpopular, that a large proportion of the inhabitants, independent of the decided Royalists, would have hailed with pleasure the return of their old masters. It was given out, that, upon the expected approach of the enemy, the army would abandon Lima and defend Callao; in which case the persons of foreigners and heretics might be left at the mercy of the mob, and of the Spaniards. Those who had no property to defend determined, therefore, to take refuige in the shipping, and many of the merchants put all their specie, for safety, on board H. M. brig-of-war Alacrity, then lying in the harbour. April 16.-Another anxious and busy day. A detachment of light dragoons, under the command of a gallant officer, a Frenchman in the service of the Patriots, was sent to watch the motions of the enemy and cause some diversion. Troops 254 PERU. continued to be levied, and an order appeared for the establishment of a city militia, and of volunteer companies. No business was to be transacted between the hours of seven and eight in the morning, when every citizen had to present himself under arms, and go through the discipline of the drill. Some supposed that an attempt would be made to embody foreigners into a company of militia, as had once been done on a similar occasion in Chile. The English merchants, however, volunteered a much more welcome and efficient measure,that of raising a subscription of some thousand dollars for the assistance of the Government in its present exigencies, which, of course, was very thankfully accepted. Many of the native inhabitants also gave money and goods of various kinds, gratuitously, for the same important purposes, and always received a public acknowledgment of their patriotic offerings in the Gazette. Those, however, who did not make some such offerings of their own accord, were soon forced into it, and taught the meaning of compulsory volunteering. April 17.-Early in the morning three different parties of Royalists were detected in the REPORTED INSURRECTION. 255 attempt to escape and carry away arms and ammunition to the enemy, one of whom, after making a stout resistance, was at length overpowered and taken. Their plan was to pass the city-gates with hearses, pretending to follow a funeral; and the stratagem, though unsuccessful, was not deficient in ingenuity. During the day two Spanish shopkeepers were apprehended on a charge of concealing spies, and a great number of females, whose enmity to the Patriots was well known, and who had actually committed some political imprudences, were quieted in the same summary way. Symptoms of disaffection became evidently more and more declared by overt acts: a Patriot officer of eminence was shot at by some unknown person while riding in the streets; and there either were, or the Government pretended there were, signs of an extensive plot, whose object was to excite a popular insurrection simultaneously with the arrival of the Spanish army. A proclamation was accordingly addressed to the Spaniards resi- dent in Lima, prohibiting the use of weapons and walking-sticks, or of cloaks under which 256 PERU. arms might be concealed; and likewise commanding them, on pain of death, to remain quietly in their houses after the Ave Marias. A heavy contribution was at the same time levied upon all who were able, or supposed to be able, to pay the penalty of their real or imputed political delinquencies. I had the pleasure of dining with an English officer who commands a regiment in the Peruvian service, and holds a truly distinguished place in the list of South American commanders ---having been actively and effectually engaged ever since the commencement of the struggle for independence. He took me to his quartel, or barracks, which were spacious, clean, and well-kept, and afforded accommodation for 600 men. The regiment was made up of Spanish creoles, Mestizoes, and native Peruvian Indians. Their appearance certainly did credit to the talents and discipline of their commander, and was shown off by their new blue uniforms to the best advantage. Many, however, were disabled by the terfiana, or fever and ague-a complaint very prevalent in Lima; others were discontented and unwilling to PERUVIAN REGIMENT. 257 serve, declaring that they had been pressed into the army against their inclinations, and were averse to a military life. To keep so heterogeneous and perverse a set of men in tolerable discipline and order must have been a work of no trifling difficulty, and does honour to the skilful management of the commanding officer; but to me this little specimen, of a regiment admitted to be the finest in the Peruvian service, did not afford a very favourable idea of the revolutionary army. Fortunately, however, for the Patriot cause, the army of the Royalists is composed of similar materials, with the exception of a few old veterans; and, if we may be allowed to class the Buenos Ayrean and Chilean regiments with veteran troops, to which long service and good discipline gave them a sufficient claim, the two parties may now be considered to stand upon a nearly equal footing, in point at least of physical and military strength. April 20.-By this time all danger of an attack from General Canterac and the Spanish army had passed away. They did not think fit, for reasons best known to themselves, to advance beyond Canete, and the city of Lima was thus again re, S 9d5 8 PERU. stored to its wonted state of peace. Sad, however, at best, was that state for the inhabitants to bear, and melancholy for the traveller to witness. The miseries of revolutionary times were daily becoming more and more sensibly felt; and the blessings of liberty, which the Patriot Government loudly and exultingly proclaimed, had so many bitters mingled with their sweets, that they could be neither appreciated nor enjoyed. The easy, peaceful, and luxurious existence which the people had led under the Spanish Viceroys, was now contrasted with the bustling, unsettled, and oppressive order of things established by a military autocrat; while the warlike preparations daily making, and which they were called upon to assist in promoting, created terror and alarm rather than confidence or satisfaction. The spirit of nationality and patriotic enthusiasm was unfelt, and the voice of public opinion, whenever it could be heard indirectly, and by whispers, was evidently dictated by private feeling instead of a desire to serve the public according to the views of the ruling party. Nearly all the inhabitants had been more or PUBLIC MISERY. 259 less injured in their fortunes; and -it cannot appear surprising, that the Government which occasioned their misfortunes, and was unable to alleviate, if not remove them, should be unpopular, or have lost the transient popularity acquired by the first burst of success. Many who had before been opulent were now reduced, to extreme indigence, their lands and mines yielding no revenue; and the current of trade, diverted from its ancient channel, having not yet found its natural level, was hardly available except to foreigners andlarge capitalists. In the rain of the opulent Spaniards, who had hitherto taken the lead, and indeed made a monopoly of the commerce as well as politics of the country, were involved crowds of native relations and dependents, who had lived upon their bounty in the time of their prosperous fortunes, and had now no resources left. The number of these was very great, and the dearness and scarcity of provisions rendered many families apprehensive of actual starvation. The few, who were fortunate enough still to possess some remaining property, deemed it prudent to live as if they possessed none; and with the wisest precautions, their s 2 260 2PERU. chances of retaining it were fearfully diminished in proportion to the exigencies and consequent rapacity of the Government. The system of espionage, already alluded to, seemed to increase this danger, for informers found their trade too advantageous not to push it to its fullest extent; and the power thus acquired by individuals over each other, produced the natural consequences of fear, jealousy, and suspicion, to the dissolution of every social tie: servants, in particular, became objects of distrust; and a large proportion of negro slaves having been taken to serve in the armies, the remainder were proportionably raised in importance, and added, by the doubts entertained of their fidelity, and the encouragement given to their various malpractices, to the mass of public and domestic miseries of the masters. Meantime all private parties and amusements were generally suspended, and little or no intercourse took place either among the inhabitants themselves, or between them and foreigners. Of the latter, many hundreds had flocked to Lima since its capture by the Patriots, in addition to those who had been previously established PREJUDICE AGAINST MEDICINE. 261 there. This class included a large proportion of English merchants connected with some of the first mercantile firms in London and Liverpool; adventurers of all nations and professions, Patriot officers both Naval and Military, masters of ships and supercargoes, tradesmen, and medical men of different degrees, innumerable. With respect to the medical profession, very little opening is presented for its professors either in Lima or in any other part of South America; for there seems to be a sort of prejudice against them, derived no doubt from the low estimation in which the healing art is held in the mother-country, and kept up by the inability of the inhabitants, through defective education, to draw the line between a Dr. Sangrado and the enlightened followers of a liberal and learned profession, such as that of medicine and surgery is esteemed to be in every part of Europe except Spain. The prevailing feeling of all foreigners with whom I conversed, and particularly those of the medical class, who had come out to this country in the sanguine hope of expeditiously realizing fortunes, seemed to be that of disappointment. 2W62 PERU. The season of revolutionary war is, in fact, illadapted for the successful pursuit of gain by peaceful and legitimate methods; nor does the necessarily turbulent state of new-formed governments hold out the same inducements to foreign settlers and adventurers, which their own sanguine minds would at first sight lead them to suppose. Under one administration their persons and property may be protected, and their labours encouraged; under another, their acknowledged privileges may be arbitrarily taken away, and new laws substituted in the place of those which had first attracted them to the country. The frequent repetition of suchlegislativechanges is one of the evils most sensibly felt in countries thus unfortunately circumstanced; while the notorious corruption of some public officers, and the facilities afforded by these changes for the violation of their own enactments, is at the same time injurious to individuals and to the community at large. On the one hand, tacit encouragement is given to smuggling and other invasions of the law; on the other hand, the offending party becomes amenable for his acts to an authority CORRUPTION OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 263 which, when he least expects it, may be exercised over him with unrelenting severity. Numerous instances of this might be cited, and were the daily subjects of conversation among the English merchants in Chile and Peru. Several British and American vessels had been seized by Government, either for breaking blockades or for the act of smuggling. In most cases it is believed that the charges brought against their commanders were well grounded; in some they were decidedly frivolous: yet the fate of all depended more upon the degree of influence and bribery employed for their liberation, than upon the substantial merits of the case. The want. of an accredited British commercial agent was, in consequence, at this time very severely felt, as the whole burthen of mediation between the State and individuals now devolved, from the necessity of the case, upon the acting naval commander alone, who might either feel himself unauthorised to exercise any discretionary power, or unwilling to take any responsibility upon himself, by supporting the pretensions of his countrymen in opposition to the existing authorities of the Government. 264 PERU. Thus it is, that neither the property nor even the persons of Englishmen can in truth be considered safe in these new revolutionary States, until some proper authority is established for the purpose of affording them protection. An act of violence may be prevented at the moment; but when a ship is actually sold, her papers destroyed, and the crew dispersed, it is no easy matter to inquire into the rights of the case, or to obtain suitable indemnification. It is evident, therefore, that a regular Consular establishment ought to be appointed by the British Government, and that, again, backed by a naval force of sufficient consideration to ensure prompt attention and respect to every reasonable demand that may be made in behalf of British subjects. The distracted state of the country, and the vast number of wandering peons and banditti who infested the neighbourhood of Lima, rendered all distant excursions, and even short journeys, dangerous for a solitary traveller. Frequent robberies were committed on the road between the port and the city; and on one occasion some American gentlemen were stopped in a carriage, COUNTRY EXCURSION. 265 at noon-day, and plundered within sight of the city-gates. Soldiers in disguise were often the offenders; and, in the absence of any efficient police, such atrocities were not only daily committed, but committed with impunity. Owing to this cause I had few opportunities of visiting places of any note in the vicinity, and the town itself offered neither public buildings nor institutions of sufficient interest to merit much description. At length I was invited to join a party to visit the ruins of an ancient Indian town, some leagues distant from Lima; and, besides being well mounted and well armed, we formed with our servants so numerous a cavalcade that no danger from an attack could well )e apprehended. We started on the afternoon of Monday, April 20, and riding hard for three hours, put up for the night at a farm-house not far from the road-side. Our route lay up the Vale of Rimac, along the river of the same name, which passes through Lima, and in its course irrigates the whole adjoining territory. The viridity and freshness of the vegetation in the vicinity of its banks, and the many beautiful groves which chequered the land 266 PERU. scape, afforded an agreeable contrast to the barren and rocky hills which surrounded us on every side. No signs, however, of cultivation or inhabitants had cheered the eye or gladdened the heart as we passed along, and the scenery was indebted for all its picturesque beauty and effect to the hand of Nature alone. Upon ascending the heights we caught a glimpse of the towers and cupolas of Lima, and of the distant ocean in the back-ground; and, having pursued our journey over the hills, and descended again into the valley, we reached the farm-house above mentioned about sunset. Its situation was truly delightful, being sheltered on one side by a lofty hill, and on the other by a verdant grove, through which the river ran, and was seen meandering along the valley to a considerable distance. Within, all was desolate and melancholy: two or three half-starved mules, and some fowls, evinced that the place was not quite uninhabited; but neither owner nor servants made answer to our calling, until at last, on searching into an out-house, we discovered an old negro, who told us that his master was gone to Lima, and would not return for a considerable time,-an account which we immediately suspected PERUVIAN FARMER. 267 to be false, and therefore proceeded, partly by threats, partly by expostulations, to force him to some confession. He then told us that his master had been frightened at our approach, and lay concealed somewhere in the neighbourhood. On our assuring him that we were peaceable travellers, and only desired shelter for the night, he at length went in search of the master, who now ventured to sally forth from his retreat, and with him came several negroes also. The countenance of the poor creature betrayed evident symptoms of extreme fright, for he trembled in every limb, when Colonel —,.whose regimental dress proclaimed his rank in the Patriot service, asked him the usual questions: " UstUd es Patriota 6 Godo?"-" Are you a Patriot or Goth?* Say, then, Viva la Patria!" Having certified, with all due solemnity, that he was a tmrue Patriot, and hated the Spaniards to the death, the Colonel quieted his fears, and assured him of his protection. Perceiving that we were English, he became afterwards less reserved, and told us that the little which the Spaniards left him had been taken * The Spaniards are called Goths in derision by the Peruvian Patriots, in allusion to their cruel method of carrying on the war. 268 PERU. away by the Patriot troops when they were quartered in his house, so that he had no great reason to be partial to either party. Bands of robbers, also, frequently came and took whatever they could lay their hands upon; to the truth of which his miserable establishment bore ample testimony. His house was built of unbaked clay, one story high, and not incommodious in arrangement, but stripped of nearly all its furniture. Of provisions his store was completely bare, insomuch that had we not brought our own stock with us, we should have fared but poorly; as things were, however, we passed a merry evening, and slept soundly on chairs and tables until the morning, when we proceeded on our journey. Having passed another farm, and a small village containing twenty or thirty miserable huts, we found ourselves in the midst of an open plain, at the farther extremity of which lay the ruins of the Indian town which formed the object of our excursion. Their appearance, both in point of extent and magnitude, far surpassed my most sanguine expectations. The spot of ground which they occupied was at least three quarters of a mile ANCIENT INDIAN TOWN. 2693 in circumference, and was so thickly covered with masses of broken buildings, that we were obliged to dismount and satisfy our curiosity on foot. The walls consisted of earthen cement, such as is used by the Spaniards at this day, and to which long exposure in the rays of the sun had given the hardness and consistency of stone: some were ten or twelve feet high, and not less than four feet thick. The size of the buildings could be clearly made out, and open spaces between them from six to eight feet broad gave the idea of streets. Doors and windows, also, were to be distinguished; and the division of the houses into separate rooms, about twelve feet square, seemed pretty general. Each house had a vault beneath, in which were formerly deposited the mortal remains of its inhabitants, together with rude vessels of earthenware, and implements of war or husbandry. These vaults are here termed kuacas; and an English gentleman, not long since, received permission from the Spanish Government to open several of them, from which he made a valuable collection of Indian relics. Some of these vaults are larger and deeper than the 270 PERI. others: they are all, generally, excavated with much precision in the form of a sepulchral urn, to the depth of about four feet. One upon the side of a mound was of much greater dimensions, and admitted of my crawling into it upon my hands and feet, until I found myself in a complete cave, amidst human bones, pieces of rag, and broken remains of earthenware vessels, which as memorials, though frail and mouldering, of the primitive Peruvians, naturally excited a peculiar interest. We were very desirous to ascertain the site of the Inca's Palace, and Temple of the Sun: but as our conclusions could only be drawn from the apparent magnitude of the buildings, and these were nearly all of equal magnitude, we might easily have been mistaken. In one place, undoubtedly, the ruins were upon a much larger scale, and appeared to be separated from the others by a wall, which, though broken down at intervals, and sometimes buried in the ground, was clearly a connected piece of masonry, and formed a considerable enclosure. Nothing, however, could be distinguished within its limits except massive frag ANCIENT INDIAN TOWN. 271 ments of cement mixed with earth, so accumulated one upon the other, as to make an elevation of at least twenty feet. In another part we were surprised at finding a plot of ground, about fifty yards in length by thirty in breadth, completely level and free from ruins; and this we conceived could not have been caused by any artificial means, but must have been originally set apart for and appropriated to some particular purpose, at the time when the city was inhabited: what that purpose was cannot now be ascertained, but it is not unlikely that it was attached to the Temple of the Sun; for the Spanish historian, and after him Robertson, makes mention of a large court at Caxamalca, where Pizarro and Atahualpa first met, on one side of which was the Inca's Palace, and on the other the Temple of the Sun, -a coincidence which gives great support to my crude supposition. At some distance was a small hill, on which the marks of an ancient fortification were plainly discernible. Having with some difficulty scrambled to the top, we could trace the lines of circumvallation, consisting of several rows of walls, witlh 272 PERU. fosses between them, as if to guard the approach. The thickness and hardness of the cement, the vast masses which remained upon every part of the hill, both above and below, showed that it had been a place of considerable strength, and affording abundant protection against an enemy not acquainted with the use of artillery. Johnson says, somewhere, that in contemplating an Indian town, his wonder would be most excited by reflecting that it had been built without the use of iron; and it is undoubtedly from similar considerations that we regard, as objects of curiosity, many things in themselves not otherwise remarkable: but the ruins of this ancient Peruvian town were also rendered peculiarly interesting by their association with a people over whose history all have wept, as well as by their real antiquity, and our ignorance of their history. There were, in truth, no marble columns, no remains of architectural magnificence; and yet, when I viewed the massive fragments and enormous piles of cemented earth which lay scattered upon the plain-when I considered the extent, solidity, and apparently regular structure of ANCIENT INDIAN TOWN. 273 the fallen buildings,-they seemed invested with an air of rugged and uncertain grandeur, which affected the mind perhaps more sensibly than art's most celebrated trophies. All greatness is comparative; and when led to expect unusual magnificence, we raise our conceptions accordingly. But art has limnits, and the imagination is unbounded; whence it happens that reality, for the most part, represents objects less wonderful than we had anticipated. Here my expectations had not been previously raised, and the scene conveyed only a general idea of vague unmeasured greatness, which assisted, rather than checked, the pleasing operations of fancy. In the centre of the valley, and not far distant from the ruined city, ran the main body of the mountain-stream, whose melodious murmurs, as they were conveyed by the passing wind, cheered without disturbing the mournful solitude of nature. Its verdant banks, where haply " Once the garden smil'd, And still where many a rustic flow'r grows wild," appeared to invite, as in days of yore, the friendly hand of industry; and their beautiful verdure T 274 PERU. formed a striking contrast to the savage barrenness of the surrounding hills. The willow and other trees afforded a lively and refreshing shade, and through them the waters might be seen at intervals winding their course along the valley, ere they lost themselves in airy distance. Above my head impended gigantic piles of broken rocks, of which a part had been already precipitated upon the plain. It was evident that some vast concussion of nature had formerly taken place here, and in all probability the town had been destroyed at the same time, as no mention is made of it in Spanish history. Mountains, of which I counted six distant chains, rose gradually above each other, until the distant and still loftier Cordilldra de los Andes finally bounded the horizon. The morning sun had already made his appearance above their summits; and I could not help recurring to those far times when thousands, and tens of thousands, would probably have here been assembled to celebrate his progress through the heavens. What an interesting and tumultuous scene must then have been exhibited!-how different from the silent and deserted waste that ANCIENT INDIAN TOWN. 275 now lay before me! I already began to imagine I saw the city raised again from its ruins, and every successive spot, whither I turned my eye, awakened kindred associations. Upon the very hill where I sat, was perhaps a fortress filled with the deadly implements of war, and guarded by a band of chosen warriors, whose bows and arrows and feathered helmets distinguished them from the vulgar throng. Amidst yonder stupendous piles of rubbish, the Inca's Palace might have stood, where, encircled by the children of the Sun, he administered justice to his people with patriarchal yet dignified simplicity. There, too, like other Royal personages, he doubtless held many a Courtly revel; and at one time distributed prizes to the victors in gymnastic games; at another, viewed the stately war-dance, and listened to those who sang the praises of MancoCapac and his other glorious ancestors. Thence my eye glanced towards the plot of ground which fancy figured as having once been a spacious court belonging to the Temple of the Sun. There this simple people paid their homage to the host of heaven, and more especially T 2 276 PERU. to that glorious luminary, whose vivifying rays are at once an emblem of Divine glory and benevolence. There the Sacred Virgins administered mistaken but inoffensive rites, and, as our Shakspeare says, " Religious in their ignorance, adored The Sun, that looks upon his worshippers, But knows of them no more!" No senseless idols, however, polluted his shrineno barbarous sacrifices were offered up-no human victims bled to appease the imaginary anger of an offended deity. There superstition assumed its mildest and purest form; and the spoils of war, the first-fruits of the field, or the choicest specimens of art and industry, were the only usual and acceptable offerings. While indulging in such reveries, I suddenly found myself alone among the ruins, and was obliged to bid adieu to them with precipitation, and gallop after and rejoin my companions. We met no travellers nor droves of mules; we saw no labourers at work in the fields, nor birds, nor any living creature, as we passed along,-the want of which gave an air of dreary solitude to the country TROOP OF LLAMAS. 277 As we entered Lima, however, an agreeable and novel sight caught our observation: it was that of a troop of llamas, the Peruvian camels, under the escort of two or three Indians. Between twenty and thirty of these animals, each about four feet high, with neck and head erect, came stalking proudly and gracefully along the streets, loaded with the usual burthens. They carry packages weighing 401bs., that being, I believe, the travelling allowance commonly allotted to them. CHAPTER XI. RESIDENCE IN LIMA CONTINUED. April 25.-Made an excursion with a friend to Chorillos, a small village by the sea-side, about eight miles distant from the town. We left on our right the village of Mil-Flores, which had been an important military post during the siege of Lima. When compared with the surrounding waste, it may be said to be rather pretty. It contains about a hundred mud cottages, two churches, and a few deserted villas. In happier times it was much frequented by the Limanians as a convenient, though not very agreeable, place of country residence. Chorillas may be called the Brighton of Lima, and during the summer months is filled with company who resort to it for the benefit of CHORttLIOS. 279 sea-bathing. Unfortunately we paid our visit at the wrong season, and found no company in the place. The houses, to the number of two or three hundred, were inhabited for the most part, as I said, by Indian fishermen. It was difficult to conceive how ladies could be accommodated in such wretched dwellings; and although they bring their own furniture, every approach to comfort or delicate convenience, much less luxury, is absolutely wanting. The Indians whom I saw presented no very interesting appearance, yet their condition is not worse than that of the lowest orders in most countries. They subsist on fish and maize, and the sugar-cane, of which there are some plantations in the neighbourhood. The men dress like the Spanish creoles, in the poncho, and the women wear a loose petticoat and shawl of thick woollen stuff, manufactured fram the wool of the llama. Their jet-black hair is plaited with careful nicety, and falls down behind in a number of small ringlets, or, more correctly speaking, tails. They pay no attention to their persons, which are loathsome and dirty beyond description. Perhaps the 280 PEIU'. Coyas and Virgins of the Sun, being of higher rank and lineage, were possessed of greater personal attractions in ancient times; but if we may judge of the then Indian race by what we see of their posterity in these days, the beauty which has been so long celebrated throughout Europe must be altogether a poetic fiction. The Peruvian countenance is marked with nearly the same features which characterise all Aboriginal Americans: small eyes, broad flat nose, high cheek-bones, black shaggy hair, and dark copper-coloured complexion. There seemed to me very little difference between these Indians and the Puris whom I had seen at Aldea da Pedra in Brazil, except that the latter appear evidently to be more civilized. Immediately above the village is a lofty promontory which juts out a considerable way into the sea, and from its summit affords a magnificent view of the adjoining country. The remains of a fort and telegraph that had been formerly erected by the Spaniards are still to be seen there: I was surprised that they should have been demolished, as the place offered many facilities for smuggling. COUNTRY AROUND CHORILLOS. 281 The coast takes a beautiful sweep for about ten miles from the point of Callao and island of St. Lorenzo, so as to form the bay of Chorillos. The cliffs are high and rocky, and become gradually more elevated, until they join the lofty eminence above mentioned. Hence may be seen the vale of Rimac in nearly its whole extent, terminated by the distant towers and cupolas of Lima, above which the mountainous heights already so often mentioned rise in naked majesty. MilFlores, and a few other villages which had trees around them, together with some neighbouring sugar-plantations, were easily distinguishable; but the absence of all verdure and cultivation elsewhere, rendered the general aspect of the country dismal and melancholy. It had been originally our intention to remain a few days in case we had found the place agreeable; but as the Indian society possessed no attractions, and the face of nature was very uninviting, we returned to Lima the same day. Friday the 26th.-I rode to Callao, and on Saturday the 27th went on board the O'Higgins, an old forty-gun frigate, commanded by Lord Cochrane, 282 2PERU. who had arrived from Guayaquil on the preceding Thursday. She appeared to be in a very bad condition, and was said to be so leaky that they could with difficulty keep her above water. Her crew was composed of Chileans, and sailors of all nations-English, American, French, Danes, Swedes, and others, whose characters and fortunes, and habits of life, in a great measure qualified them for the irregular and buccaneering sort of service in which they were engaged. Lord Cochrane and San Martin were now declared enemies. Their quarrel originated in a difference of opinion as to the measures to be pursued for the reduction of Callao Castle: Lord Cochrane, with his characteristic bravery, wishing to carry the place by storm, or to compel the garrison to surrender at discretion; General San Martin, on the other hand, with his characteristic prudence and moderation, preferring capitulation without bloodshed. The opinion of the General prevailed on this occasion, and the result is thought to have shown that the opinion of the Admiral was founded on the soundest views of good policy; for though a certain degree of sucs LORD COCHRANE. 283 cess has followed the arms and policy of San Martin, and in the name of the Patria (a comprehensive term, which includes the whole or any particular part of South America, when once made independent of Spain,) he had taken possession of the capital of Peru, yet an opportunity was afforded by this temporizing plan to General Canterac, and a large body of Spanish troops, to escape from Callao, and to renew the war in the interior. Another disagreement soon afterwards took place in consequence of the refusal of San Martin to pay the Chilean fleet out of the funds obtained by him in Lima; and the seizure of a large sum of money at Ancon forcibly by Lord Cochrane, who thus took the law into his own hands, rendered the rupture complete. The present object of Lord Cochrane in coming to Lima was to obtain possession of the Spanish frigate Prueva, which had been driven into port by himself, and surrendered to the Peruvian overmnent, at whose hands he now claimed her as his lawful prize. His claim was, however, by no means allowed, and vigorous preparations for defence were made in case of any attempt to seize -284 PERUJ. her by force of arms. The terror inspired on this occasion by the presence of Lord Cochrane was positively ludicrous, and the whole Castle of Callao was in commotion; but he did not proceed to extremities, and finally sailed away again to Guayaquil. A sort of paper-war has since been carried on between the two rival commanders, into which it is far from my wish to enter; but, if their statements against each other are to be received as any thing more than the tirade of the angry moment, it would appear, that the warm eulogiums bestowed upon them by their respective friends and admirers will pass away among the political effusions of the day, and obtain no good place in the pages of history. The stormy times of revolution are, in fact, ill calculated for the growth of public or private virtues, properly so called. The men who then take a lead, in war and in politics, are@ in general not the most just, the -most humane, the most openhearted, and most truly chivalrous spirits of the age. These soon retire in disgust from scenes where all the fierce and tumultuous passions of REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS. *28X3 the human breast are called into play, and where the names of liberty and patriotism are but too commonly used to palliate the mismanagement and promote the interested views of individuals. Great allowances must still be made for the difficulties against which public characters have in such times to contend, and the peculiar temptations to which they are exposed; —difficulties sometimes so great, that they can be surmounted by the strongest measures alone; and temptations so powerful, that the best-intentioned might, under similar circumstances, be hurried away into the commission of similar excesses. Instead, therefore, of taking a part in the jealousies and animosities of men like these distinguished officers, or considering as true to the letter all the foul and opprobrious epithets which they have thought fit to lavish onl each other, it is sufficient for the impartial traveller to observe that such things are, and then to turn to the. contemplation of their naval and military achievements, to which Peru certainly owes in -a great degree her independence, and Spain the loss of her richest colonial possessions. Whatever may have been 286 PERJU. their motives or intentions, while at the head of public affairs they undoubtedly deserve well at the hands of the Patriots for their able prosecution of the war against the armies of Ferdinand in South America. Their names will always stand recorded in connexion with the political independence of that continent; and when, on the one hand, the passionate bickerings of party-spirit shall be lulled, and, on the other, the meretricious glare thrown by the cant and enthusiasm of democratic politicians around revolutionary heroes shall have passed away, they will doubtless receive each his appropriate degree of praise from the unprejudiced historian. April 29.-In the evening of this day I gladly retired from the tumult of the city to take a quiet ride, and ascended some of the heights in the immediate neighbourhood, from which the view, for extent and magnificence, cannot easily be surpassed-for extent, on one side, over the whole plain of Rimac to the CordillEra de los Andes, and for magnificence, extending on the other side from the massive rocks which adorn the summit of the hill in prodigious grandeur, and on which I stood, over the towers and cupolas of Lima, the BANISHMENT OF THE SPANIARDS. 287 Cathedral and Convent of St. Francisco, the river, the bridge, and alamedas, or public walks, on which the gleams of the setting sun shone at that time with peculiar lustre as far as the waters of the great Pacific Ocean. May 2.-This was a busy and eventful day in Lima and Callao. At three o'clock in the morning bodies of armed soldiers, under the orders of Government, beset the houses of all the Spaniards, who, relying on the promises of protection made to them in the name of the new Government, on the capture of the city by the Patriot army, had ventured to continue in the country. They were now dragged out of their beds at a moment's warning, without being allowed to take even a change of linen with them. No fewer than six hundred individuals of all ranks were, it is said, torn thus violently from their afflicted families. As a large proportion of these Spaniards had left the mother-country in early youth, they naturally looked upon Peru as their adopted country and chosen place of residence. There they had been married, had raised families of children, had - established friendships and acquired property-all, 288 2PRU. in short, that could sweeten life, or render the ordinary evils of it tolerable. The old and infirmn, each strapped behind a soldier, were carried on horseback: the remainder, escorted by a strong guard, were marched on foot to Callao, to be embarked on board the Monteagudo, an old merchantship in the service of Government, and be hurried away by this violent and summary sort of process into banishment to Chile or some distant country, they knew not where-perhaps for ever! It was my misfortune to witness this horrifying embarkation. Many were quite outrageous in their grief at being thus unexpectedly forced to quit, for an indefinite period, their homes and families: some required actually to be pushed into the boats by the bayonets of the soldiery; others, more composed, but not less sorrowful at heart, vainly endeavoured to conceal the agony of their feelings; and those among the bystanders whose hearts were not harder than stone, could not refrain from dropping a sympathetic tear at the sight of so much misery. One old gentleman, in particular, excited deep commiseration; he was upwards of fourscore, and had been sixty SPANISH PRISONERS. 289 years in the country, during the last forty of which he had filled a high situation in the Customhouse department. He had for some time been allowed to retain his place under the Patriot Government; but neither his grey hairs, his numerous family, nor his acknowledged respectability, proved of any avail upon the present occasion, and he was forced to join the other victims of broken faith and treacherous cruelty. Friday, the 3d.-Rode to Callao: heard that two Spaniards had already died on board the Monteagudo, and that the misery which prevailed there exceeded all belief. The decks above and below were so thickly crowded with the unfortunate wretches, that they could hardly move; and the stench and heat occasioned by such a multitude of persons herded together confusedly in a ship too small for their accommodation, was literally insupportable. Numbers were ready to expire with thirst, and kept crying out, in the name of every saint, for a drop of water. To add to the horror of the scene, boats full of women and children surrounded the ship on all sides, and filled the air with their lamentations, vainly imploring permission to emu 290: PERU. brace theirt husbands, friends, and relatives once more; but strict orders had been issued to admit no females, and, except by handing up baskets of refreshments, they had only the melancholy satisfaction, if it may be so called, of witnessing the wretchedness which they were not otherwise suffered to alleviate. May 4. —On my return to Lima, I found the road between the port and city thronged with carriages, persons on horseback, and pedestrians; and, on entering the city, it is impossible to describe the sensation every where created by this violent public measure: the whole body of inhabitants seemed to be absorbed in grief, and terror alone prevented the open expression of their dissatisfaction and indignant feeling.- Many having formerly shared the prosperous fortunes of the Spaniards were now the sharers of their ruin, and by one act reduced to a state of absolute want -and beggary. Thus, therefore, the' Severity of the' blow was most extensively felt, and fell less heavily, perhaps, in many cases, on the individual victims than on those whom they ~had left behind PROCLAMATION. 291 Under these circumstances, a sort of proclamation was issued, by way of comfort to the inhabitants, of which the following is a translation, and will explain the professed -policy of the Government in assenting to, though it can never justify the extraordinary harshness of the manner of executing, the measure:GAZETTE OF GOVERNMENT. May 4, 1822 ( IT is long since Peru cried aloud for a solemn act of expiation, sufficient to satisfy, in some degree, the demands of that justice which has, during so great a length of time, been outraged with the most insolent impunity. It required, also, that the Government, which is responsible for the welfare of the people, should get rid of all who have been naturally instrumental to their past slavery, by banishing from our shores those Spaniards whose characters oppose all hope of reconciliation.......: '" With the exception of a small number of mou 2 292 PERU. derate men, in whose minds a sense of rectitude has prevailed over the spirit of the nation to which they belong, the Spaniards who remain scattered throughout the whole extent of this continent are mere soldiers of fortune, always ready to make war, either in the field or cabinet, against the cause of the Patria, and against those who honourably sustain it. The plan of transporting out of Peru the majority of the Spaniards who remained here at the expense of Government, in the midst of its urgent distresses, satisfies at once the claims of justice and of humanity,-claims which have always so great an influence over the hearts of Americans. "This is not a retaliation of injuries, (because, if it were, we should, dip our hands in the blood of those who for three centuries have been dipping their hands in our blood;) but only, as we have before said, an act of expiation, and a memorable example of sober vengeance, which places us beyond the reach of the everlasting machinations of our most implacable enemies. We call to witness, on this occasion, the whole human race; and in their presence make bold to hope that justice will be PROCLAMATION. 293 done as well to the policy as to the humanity of our Government. "' This is one of those resolutions, the salutary effects of which cannot at the moment be duly appreciated. Time and experience will bring to remembrance, more than once hereafter, the opportunity by which we have profited. Let reflections on the past regulate our calculations for the future. How often have we heard unseasonable exclamations of regret in America, as vehement as they were useless, because we did not expel the Spaniards at an earlier moment! The most peaceable, and apparently the weakest, have each in his turn become like burning firebrands in the midst of us. Without excepting their very children, parents, and benefactors, they have exhausted the rancour of their hatred upon us like the tiger, which, when tired of wandering hungry through the woods, falls at length upon its prey, and wreaks with double rage the whole torrent of its fury upon the unfortunate victim. " Nor is this their only mode of doing us injury. When unable to throw away the mask, and act up to the spirit of their designs, they satisfy 294 PERU. their malignity by fomenting divisions in families, spreading unfavourable rumours, aggravating national misfortunes, throwing discredit upon the measures of Government, and destroying, in fact, the base of every social relation. The breast of each individual is like a volcano, emitting flames which, if they could have reached us, would have laid all America in ruin and ashes. Even now, the very remembrance of their ravages in times past fills our souls with anguish, when we contemplate the long protracted servitude imposed by them upon our native land. "Away, then-away with every Spaniard from our shores! and would to God that they could carry away all their vices with them, leaving us the only virtue which they possess, namely, that of constancy, in return for the immense treasures which they have exported by the sacrifice of millions of innocent lives! " Some, undoubtedly, leave families behind; but these are Americans by birth, and remain in the bosom of their mother-country, which is fertile in resources, and takes more interest in their welfare than can be expected from those who were PROCLAMATION. 295 Spaniards by birth before they became parents. Let us labour to consolidate OUUINDEPENDENCE.; and for the attainment of that grand object let us make every sacrifice. If the Spaniards then return to their right senses, and wish for a reconciliation, they will always find us TRUE A MERICANS. But, in the mean time, let them remember the injuries which they have done us, and let us not forget what we might still suffer beneath the yoke of those who recognise no other means of pacification than THE FLAMES.'" The above proclamation seems to have been intended as a sort of practical answer to the address of Canterac to the inhabitants of Lima in February last, wherein he reminds them that whole villages had for their obstinacy in adhering to the Patriots been delivered to the flames., "Head-quarters, Huancayo, February 15, 1822. '~ INHABITANTS OF LIMA AND THE COAST., " I know and feel for your situation. - Your present rulers have been, and always will be, your only enemies. The army which I have the honour to command will be glad to bury-the past in oblivion, and embrace you as friends, the very day when their valour restores to you the title of Citizens of a great nation, provided always your conduct be that of peaceable inhabitants. But if, 296 PERI. Thus the poor people, whichever side they espouse, are doomed to exemplify the truth of the poet's observation" Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi." The Royalists lay waste whole towns and villages with fire and sword-the Patriots retort by banishing from Lima all the Spanish inhabitants, and subjecting their persons to the most cruel indignities. So it happens in numberless other instances, until the war becomes a war of extermination, and the rights, lives, and property of individuals fall a prey to alternate anarchy, tyranny, and military rapine. In the evening of the memorable 4th of May, the friends of Government got up an epilogue every way worthy of the tragedy which had just blind to your true interests, you favour the designs of the Revolutionists, bear in mind the punishment lately inflicted upon the inhabitants of Huaguay, Chacapalpa, and others, WHOSE VILLAGES, IN RETURN FOR THEIR OBSTINACY, HAVE BEEN DELIVERED TO THE FLAMES. " This army expects from you a line of conduct exceeding, if possible, its own in generosity. Such are the sentiments which actuate its members, and which are guaranteed by its General, who now subscribes himself, Your friend, JOSA CANTERAC." PATRIOTIC PROCESSION. 297 been represented. It was a procession in token of gratitude for the solemn act of expiation, and sober example of vengeance, made by the expulsion of the Spaniards from Peru. About a dozen of notoriously dissolute females, dressed out with abundance of finery and national ribands, Orders of the Sun, &c. &c. led the way to the Palace of Government, preceded by a band of music, flags, and large wax-flambeaux: they were received in state by the Supremo Delegado, and read an address in the name of the ladies of Lima, which was answered with all due courtesy and respect by the great personage to whom it was addressed. It was, in fact, an empty vulgar exhibition, intended to delude and amuse the lower orders, producing no substantial good effect on the minds of any, but showing how easily nonsense, trick, and mummery, find their way into the remotest regions of the world. Monday, the 6th.-Among the few public benefits which have as yet been conferred by the new Government of Lima, should be mentioned that of the abolition of bullfights,-a spectacle which for the cruelty of it has always been considered as a 298 P-ERU. disgrace to the Spanish and Portuguese people, and which the Cortes of Spain and Portugal have very properly suppressed in the peninsula of Europe. The example has been followed by the Governments of Rio Janeiro, Buenos Ayres, and Chile, and now by that of Lima; and they will doubtless, in a short time, cease to be tolerated in every part of South America. At Lima the Tauromania, as it is called, was formerly carried on to an incredible extent; and, like the shows of gladiators among the Romans, bull-fights seemed almost as essential as food to the existence of a Peruvian. Civil war has moderated this passion, and turned the attention of the inhabitants to objects of more importance: but the great cruelty with which the war has been conducted may, in some measure, be imputed to the bad influence of this sanguinary amusement on the mind and feelings. Scarcely a Sunday or church-festival passed over, which was not marked by the death of some unfortunate combatant, not to mention the bulls, horses, and dogs, which were of course sacrificed. I have even heard it said, that a box was often set apart for the use of BULL-FIGHT. 299 a confessor, that he might be ready on the spot to shrive the expected sufferers, —a curious specimen of cold-hearted pitiless preparation. It is stated upon good authority, in a Lima newspaper, that no less than five men had been killed on one occasion in the province of Jauja, and that this had at length induced the magistrates to interfere, in order to check the progress of a phrensy which was then beginning to be considered alarming. I have before observed, that San Martin had been in the habit of exhibiting bull-baits at his country-house, and that, being unattended with danger, they were deemed a very polite diversion. He now determined, however, to prohibit bullfights altogether, and ordered that three more only should be exhibited in public, the produce of which was to be appropriated to the buildingof a new lineof-battle ship of 60 guns, for the public service, and towards which, therefore, all good Patriots were expected to contribute. The Amphitheatre is a quarter of a mile distant from the city, and is said to be capable of containing many thousand persons. The area is spacious, and upon a level with it are private boxes; Zoo PERU. above which is the gallery, and above that again another tier of boxes, where the ladies of haut ton take their station. This day was appointed for the first of these last spectacles; at three o'clock every place was filled, and the coup de'treil was undoubtedly very imposing. The soldiers, who received admission gratis, occupied one half of the gallery, and in the centre of them sat the Supreme Delegate, Torre Tagles, with his lady, Monteagudo, and all the grand functionaries of State, as they are pompously styled. San Martin alone was absent; for, since he professes to take no share in the government of the country, he never shows himself in public. When these illustrious personages took their seats, the band of music struck up a national air, but no outward symptoms of national enthusiasm were called forth by their appearance. No sooner, however, did the doors fly open, and admit an infuriated bull into the arena, than every eye glistened with delight, and one universal shout of applause resounded throughout the circus. I gladly refrain from detailing the various modes of BULL-FIGHT. 301 torture used in killing the poor animals: although fully prepared to witness a horrid spectacle, I found the reality infinitely more disgusting than the worst my imagination had conceived. The assailants were dressed in ponchos of different colours, and armed with spears, swords, and knives. Some were on horseback; others on foot; each holding a scarlet or yellow cloak in his left hand, to attract the notice of the bull, and attacking him by turns until the matador came forward to give the death-wound. Ten noble animals were slaughtered in succession; and the delight which all classes of spectators, of both sexes and of every age, took in this butchery, was absolutely rapturous. "Esta muerto! esta muerto!"-" He is dead! he is dead!" was vociferated amidst thunders of applause; and the writhings and bellowing of the poor wretch during his last agonies, equally excited risibility and enjoyment. Two horses only were killed, and one man tossed at the imminent peril of his life; but this accident appeared to be the bon-bouche of the entertainment, and " Bueno toro!" —" Good bull!" was the general cry. 302 PERU. The following is a translation of part of the bill of fare prepared for this occasion, and is enough as a specimen. The names of the bulls, and the verses in their praise, and various patriotic effusions, being left out. VIVE LA PATRIA! LIST OF THE BULLS WHICH WILL BE FOUGHT IN THE PLAZA FIRME DEL ACHO, ON MONDAY THE 6TH OF MAY, 1822, BY THE CARE AND DIRECTION OF THE COMPANY OF MEAT PURVEYORS, IN AID OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE LINE-OF-BATTLE SHIP SAN MARTIN. JUDGES, IN THE NAME OF THE XMOST ILLUSTRIOUS MUNICIPALITY, THE, ALCALDES D. FELIPE ANTONIO ALVORADO AND FRANCISCO CARRILLO AND MUDARRA, WITH THE ALDERMEN MARQUEZ DE CASA MUNOZ AND D. PABLO BOCANEGRA. BULL-FIGHT. 303 "O Liberty! how beautiful is thy presence among us rendered by our heaven-sent Protector! What man can better appreciate thee- than one who has felt the evils which, without thee, overwhelm a country; and who to establish thy dominion has thought no risk, no danger, no sacrifice, too great? O Liberty! how much more art thou to be prized since thy glories are the fruit of his heroism and of his victories!" " NOTE. "No exaggerations are requisite to obtain patronage for an amusement so accordant with the public taste. Suffice it to say, that as the object in view is the construction of a vessel which will serve to secure the liberty of our country, every endeavour has been made to obtain what will create most diversion. So it is that the dogs, bannerets, trappings of the horses, and one of the bull-fighters, who proposes to achieve against the first bull an action of great danger never before witnessed, will all contribute to distinguish the evening, and do credit to the attempt made to 304 PERU. please a public of such high merit. What will most astonish the spectators is, that at the commencement a cloud will appear to rise above the arena, and out of it will issue a Goth flying away from his victorious foes with the utmost precipitation. "An early attendance is requested, as the bullfight will begin before the usual hour." JMaay 10. —The Monteagudo sailed this day for Valparayso with most of the Spanish prisoners: she was said to have a very scanty supply of provisions and water, and it was thought that a large proportion of the old and feeble could not survive 'the voyage. More than a hundred had been permitted to freight two vessels to Rio Janeiro; one of these, the brig Pacific, I visited, and grieve to say the condition of the unfortunate passengers was perfectly deplorable. Theyexpressed great joy, however, at their release from that " hell upon earth," as they emphatically styled the Monteagudo; and declared that no slave-ship could possibly present a scene of greater torment and misery MINT. 305 than they themselves had already experienced on board of her. Monday, the l3th.-I accompanied some friends to see the Mint. The building is large, though not otherwise remarkable. We experienced great civility from the superintendent, who explained to us the various processes in the coinage of the dollar. In the first place, the silver arrives from the mines in bars of 200 marks weight, which are then heated, and formed into smaller bars of one yard in length and two inches in breadth these are made to pass five times successively between two cylinders turned by water-mills, until they are reduced to the thickness of the dollar. This preliminary process was performed by negroes, in an under-ground apartment; whence we were carried into a large upper apartment, in which ten presses were arranged, each worked by one negro. By these presses the intended dollars are punched out of the flattened b)ars of silver; another negro is stationed at each press with a pair of scales to weigh them, and he transmits them to a third, by whom they are filed x 306 PERU. and milled. The subsequent operations of heating the dollars in an oven, and afterwards stamping them, are performed in separate rooms, The stamping-machines are six in number, each of which is capable of coining ten thousand two hundred dollars per day, which gives a total, when the whole are at work, of 61,200. The screw is the power used, and two negroes, with an overseer, are occupied in using it. The impression is received on both sides at one stroke: the dollars are then thrown into baskets, and conveyed away to the treasury. I could not inform myself of the quantity of bullion, or coined money, then in the treasury: but as the mining districts had long been in the possession of the enemy, and lay unworked, it was not to be supposed that any superabundance could remain, particularly as the country affords no other exportable commodity, and every ship which sells her cargo must take away more or less. The law prohibits the exportation of bullion; but, like many other laws in this country, it may be easily evaded by those who wish to smuggle. It was a common complaint, that Lima, once so rich, NATIONAL PROCESSION. 307 had now become one of the poorest cities in the world,/and that the fees of coinage were hardly sufficient to support the establishment. I saw several specimens of native silver ore, valued at eight and a half dollars per mark, and which were offered me for sale at that price; but, if purchased, they would have been liable to seizure upon my quitting the country. Wednesday, the 15th.-This day fourteen merchant vessels were embargoed by the Government, and ordered to fetch troops from Guayaquil. Two of these were American; and the others belonged to native traders, whose interests were materially injured by so sudden and arbitrary a measure. Seven dollars a ton per month were promised them by way of indemnification, but the time of payment might be very distant. Thursday, the 16th.-A great holiday. In the afternoon a splendid procession took place, to a spot about one mile distant from the city on the Callao road, to lay the first foundation-stone of a national monument in commemoration of the independence of Peru. The best companies of all the different regiments were collected together, x 2 308:0PER U. and drawn up under the trees on each side of the road. The whole of them, and more particularly the lancers and hussars, looked exceedingly well, and really made a soldier-like appearance. San Martin, as usual, was not present, and Torre Tagles led the procession in his state-carriage, followed by all the other ministers and official personages. A great number of ladies were there, and equestrians without number, so that the whole scene formed one of the' most animated and interesting coups d'ewil that I had witnessed in the country. The ceremony of laying the foundation-stone was announced by a discharge of artillery and musketry, when Monteagudo, the principal Secretary of State, delivered a speech to the spectators, the purport of the concluding part of which was this: " that the present Government would maintain the cause of independence against the whole world, in arms, were it necessary; and that they hoped in the course of a few months to banish all the Spanish tyrants and plunderers from Peru." He pressed his hand to his heart, and used every gesture which could appear most PATRIOTIC ORATION. 309 eloquent and affecting; but it was all lost upon his audience, who testified neither joy, nor enthusiasm, nor applause. A long parchment scroll was buried with some coins and medals, commemorating the names of all the principal liberators and patriots, to which, pointing with his finger — "There," said he, " are consigned to immortal glory and renown, the names-the ever-memorable names of those gallant Patriots who delivered their country from the Spanish yoke. Future generations will learn to bless their memory. The child yet unborn will hail them as benefactors, historians will commemorate their valiant achievements, and poets will resound their praises throughout the whole habitable world." This will appear very bombastical, and such in reality was his discourse. A stranger would suppose that Peru was the most important and illustrious country o'n the earth, if he judged by the speeches and proclamations of the present rulers; as a specimen of which, a Minister is reported to have said, on one occasion, that the United States had one Washington, but that South America 310 PERU. boasted of a dozen, whose fame would be equally transmitted to the latest posterity. Friday May 17.-I bade adieu to Lima this day, and embarked at Callao, on board the American ship America, bound to the Sandwich Islands, Canton, and New York. . REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XIII. Rise and Progress of the Revolution.-Military Operations in the United Provinces, Chile and Peru.- Geographical Divisions of South America.-Political Prospects of the New States.-Current of public Feeling in England.Evils of Revolution.-Population:-Spaniards-CreolesMestizoes-Negroes-Indians. — Forms of Government. -Disunion of the States of Rio de la Plata. —Anti-revolutionary Opinions in Peru.-Local Miseries.-Religion.Bad effects of Roman Catholic Superstitions.- Progress of Infidelity.-General Political Corruption.-Great length of time requisite for the Consolidation of the New States.General Summary. PREv IOUS to considering, in a general point of view, the present state and political prospects of the New States of South America, a few particu 314 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. lars concerning the rise and progress of the Revo. lution and Revolutionary War may not perhaps be deemed altogether unacceptable. A Patriot writer in Buenos Ayres traces the commencement of the revolutionary spirit among the South Americans so far back as the year 1725; when a rebe1n of some magnitude and duration took place in Paraguay, and democratic principles were not only avowed in defiance of the Jesuits and Spanish authorities, but ostensibly acted upon by a part of the inhabitants with temporary success. D. Jose Antiguera, a native of Lima, was the first to set himself up against the existing order of things, and to encourage rebellious feelings among the people for the advancement of his own ambitious designs. He contrived to usurp the supreme authority during some years, but was at length deposed and imprisoned by order of the Viceroy of Peru. One Mompo then came forward in the character of a demagogue, and headed a party who took to themselves the title of Commons, Comuneros, and branded the friends of the King's Government REBELLIONS IN PARAGUAY AND PERU. 315 with the name of Contrabandos. Their principles were purely democratic, and their proceedings were characterized by the turbulence and disorder which usually characterize democracies. In 1731, Antiguera and some of his partisans were executed as traitors at Lima, but their death served only to increase the revolutionary ferment of the public mind in Paraguay. They were canonized as martyrs to the cause of liberty; and the daughter of Antiguera, instead of mourning for her father, appeared in public sumptuously dressed, and declared, in the true spirit of republican enthusiasm, that she gloried in his death. This anecdote is quoted in her praise by the writer before-mentioned, and certainly tends to exhibit, in a very strong light, the sort of spirit which must have then prevailed. The power of the Commons increased from that moment, and the appointment of a new Governor was speedily followed by his murder; nor was this rebellion finally suppressed until the year 1734.* * For a more detailed account of this rebellion, the inquisitive reader is referred to the third volume of Southey's History of Brazil, c. 35. 316 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. The next political commotion of importance was the rebellion of the Peruvian Indians, in 1781, under Jose Condorcanqui, an Indian who claimed to be descended from Tupac Amaru, the last Inca of Peru. He was himself crowned Inca at Cuzco, by the title of Tupac Amaru II., and waged war with partial success against the Spaniards during a period of two years. In that time one-third of the whole population of Peru is said to have perished, and many flourishing towns and villages were pillaged and laid waste. The Spanish cause at length regained its wonted ascendancyTupac Amaru was defeated, taken prisoner, and put to death; the same city of Cuzco, where he had so lately been crowned in triumph, proving the scene of. his ignominious execution. When tortured to declare the names of his accomplices, he is reported to have answered, "Two only are my accomplices,-you who interrogate me, in continuing your robberies upon the people; and I, in endeavouring to prevent you." Ubalde, a creole of Africa, made the next attempt to overthrow the dominion of Spain over her colonies. He organized a plan, in conjunction COMMENCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION. 317 with others of his countrymen, for the total extermination of every Spaniard from Peru by one simultaneous massacre So cruel an intention was happily frustrated by the treachery of an accomplice, and he too shared the usual fate of unsuccessful revolutionists, by expiring on the scaffold in 1805. He is said to have maintained his political opinions with constancy, and to have cried out during his last moments, that " the death of one or two individuals could not arrest the progress of a cause, whose final success had long been preparing by the corruption of the Government." At length, on the 25th March, 1809, the standard of independence was for the first time hoisted in the town of La Paz, the capital of the province of the same name in Upper Peru. Obstinate, and dreadful to all concerned, was the revolutionary struggle which then ensued; but, although that ill-fated town was filled with executions by the Royalist generals, Goyeneche and Rieto; although Lantz and Rodriguez, the principal Revolutionary leaders, were themselves put to death; although the Viceroy Cisneros did his utmost to uphold the authority of the Spanish Go 318 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. vernment,-still the spirit of independence spread itself throughout the country, and gained ground universally. The Revolutionists, unable to maintain their cause openly and make head against the Government, had recourse to private machinations. Buenos Ayres became their principal place of rendezvous; and the leaders of the Patriot party assembled there were beginning to feel themselves sufficiently strong to strike a decisive blow, when news arrived of the occupation of Spain by the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. This intelligence brought affairs to the desired crisis. A public meeting was immediately held, at which Castelli, a lawyer of eminence, boldly supported the popular cause, and the existing Government was forthwith deposed in a resolute though peaceful manner. The new Administration, consisting of ajunta of nine persons, was established on the 25th May, 1810. General Concha, and Liniers the Ex-viceroy, retired to Cordova, and endeavoured to raise an army for the restoration of their authority; but in vain: they were overcome, apprehended, and shot. The same fate awaited General Sanz and REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 3]19 Rieto: the Royal army of Peru was, for the time being, entirely dispersed; and the Patriots celebrated the anniversary of their revolution at Tiaguenaco in 1811, in security and triumph. Caraccas, Chile, Banda Oriental, and Paraguay, had all declared their independence during the same year; and the long-smothered flame of revolution having now burst forth, its attendant evils of anarchy, licentiousness, and rapine, spread their destructive influence in every quarter, and the whole continent of South America became the scene of a sanguinary civil war. Flattered by the first burst of success, the Patriot army, commanded by General Balcarce, was lulled into a sense of too great security. They were kept for a time in play by negotiations opened to them from Lima, and suffered Goyeneche to fall upon them unexpectedly at the head of an equal army of 6000 men. A battle was fought at Guaqui, on the 20th July, 1811, which ended in the total defeat of the Patriots, and the reestablishment of the Royal authority in Upper Peru. Meanwhile, the members of the Junta Gubernativa at Buenos Ayres were not qualified for the due 32() REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. discharge of the duties with which they had been intrusted. Their President, Colonel Saavedra, acted in such a manner as to produce general dissatisfaction, and the formation of a new junta of three took place in the autumn of the same year, 1811. They appointed General Belgrano to the command of a new army in Upper Peru; and he conducted the war with considerable success, defeating the Royalist General Tristan at Tucuman and Salta, until, through the management of some liberated prisoners, he was himself repulsed, and finally driven from Peru. This happened in the spring of 1815. During the continuance of these military operations, the whole country of Upper Peru was filled with insurrections, slaughters, and executions. The Patriot writer before referred to, attributes all the evils endured by the wretched inhabitants to the cruel spirit of General, Goyeneche, whose headquarters were at Potosi and Oruro. It is probable, however, that both parties deserve to share the odium incurred by the mode of conducting the wvar; and upon considering the influence possessed by all the fiercest passions of the human breast over human conduct, when let loose in society by BUENOS AYRES. 321 the opening of the flood-gates of revolution, the worst state of things, and the most sanguinary measures which the historian may be doomed to relate, appear no more than the natural and inevitable consequences of the political changes which are then taking place. At Buenos Ayres popular disturbances continued to prevail; and it was not till the beginning of the year 1813 that any political measures were adopted of a nature calculated to be really beneficial to the country. The Government was then remodelled, and divided into the. three branches of the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive,-the latter of which was concentrated in the person of one Director. Legal protection and encouragement was at the same time held out to foreigners; the importation of printing-presses and working utensils was admitted duty-free.; slavery and the slave-trade were abolished; and the power of the Inquisition was formally abrogated. It happened here, however, as it must ever happen in new revolutionary governments, that, whatever might be the outward forms of the - Constitution, real power lay in the hands of those y 322 REMARKS ONI SOUTH AMERICA. who commianded the army; and a number of military^Directors successively exercised the supreme authority at the point of the bayonet, rather than on republican, principles. It was in vain that these infant: legislators endeavoured to restrain the undue exercise of such power, by introducing checks and balances into the constitution of the State; and, notwithstanding the Estatutos Provisionales, and Juntas de Observacion, and Cabildos, and Censores,* which were successively established for that purpose, the same irregular state of things has prevailed without intermission up to a very recent period. Thel appointment of General Rondeau to the command of a fresh army in Upper Peru, caused some temporary success; but in October 1815, he was defeated in the province of Cochabarnba by Pezuela, at the battle of SipeSipe, and thus Peru fell a third time into the possession of the Royalists. The revolution in Chile first broke out towards the close of the year 1810, and the deposition of the Spanish authorities was succeeded, as at Buenos * A public paper called Censor was at one time established for the express purpo -of cenauiring the Government, if necessary. 323 REVOLUTION IN CHILE. Ayres, by the formation of a sort of Provisional Government, which was modelled and remodelled, and changed and changed again, according to the usual course of revolutions. The most distinguished political leaders of the Patriot party were D. Jos6 Miguel Carrera and his two brothers, and D. Bernardo O'Higgins, the natural son, by an Indian woman, of'D. Ambrosio O'Higgins, late Viceroy of Peru.* The former appears to have set no bounds " The accidental mention of - Don Ambrosio O'Higgins, in this place, leads me to add a few particulars concerning his eventful life, which are perhaps not generally known. Notwithstanding the recent date of his administration, the early part of his career is involved in some obscurity. Two stories are related concerning him: one, that he was an Irishman of good family, who entered into the service of the King of Spain, and went out to seek his fortunes as a soldier in South America; the other, which is more romantic and passes current in the country, is, that he originally left Ireland as cabin-boy in some whaler or cruizer bound to the South Seas. He then either ran away or was accidentally left on shore in Chile, and for some years earned a livelihood by wandering about the country as apedlar. Being a good Roman Catholic, and of winning manners, he soon conciliated the affections of all with whom he had dealings; and among the Araucanian Indians, in particular, became so great afavourite, that the most unreserved and friendly intercourse subsisted between him and them. At -length it chanced that a war broke out between these Indians and the local Spanish Government, on which occasion the services of Y 2 324 REMARKS ON S01UTH AMERICA. to his ambition, and to have stopped at the adoption of no means, however violent, by which it might be gratified. In November 1811, he conO'Higgins, as guide, interpreter, and mediator, were called into requisition by the commander of the Spanish army. He acquitted himself so ably in this new situation, that a commission was next offered him, and his rise from that time was not less rapid than suited to his high merits. Whatever degree of credit may be attached to this account of his early years, it is certain that he contrived to acquire and retain an extraordinary degree of influence over the minds of the Indians, and owed to that circumstance his subsequent appointment to the command of a regiment, and to the government of Concepcion, a frontier town on the southern coast of Chile. Whilst there, La Perouse the celebrated navigator came in with his squadron to refit, and an opportunity was thus afforded to O'Higgins of displaying all the kindness and liberality of his disposition. He treated his enterprising visitors with the most marked attention and hospitality, insomnuch that La Perouse is said to have requested at parting to know in what manner he could testify his sense of such unusual kindness:O'Higgins suggested that the insertion of his name and services in the Captain's dispatches might perhaps prove advantageous, the Courts of Spain and France being then in intimate political connexion with each other. Without asserting as fact what is nevertheless commonly believed in Chile, namely, that he owed his promotion to this cause, it is certain that, not long after, he was appointed Captain-general of Chile, and then Viceroy of Peru; and his administration was such as to reflect the highest honour upon his name and memory. TRIUMPH OF THE PATRIOTS. 325 trived, by a decisive blow, to overthrow the existing Government, and through military violence placed himself and his friends at the head of affairs. Experience soon proved his inability to fill such a situation: discord, faction, and anarchy, pervaded the councils of the Chilean Patriots to such a degree, that the Spanish Government in Peru was tempted to make an expedition for the recovery of Chile, and, in the autumn of 1814, their arms were crowned with entire success. The two eldest Carreras were taken prisoners, but afterwards escaped over the Cordillera to Mendoza and Buenos Ayres: O'Higgins did the same, and Chile became once more a province of Spain. During this temporary banishment, O'Higgins established his political union with San Martin, who was then Governor of Mendoza, and they planned together the deliverance of Chile from the Spanish yoke. In February 1816, they marched at the head of an army of 4000 men, effected a passage over the Cordill6ra, gained the battle of Checabuco, took the President Marco prisoner, entered the capital of St. Jago, and finally annihilated the power of the Spaniards at 326 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. the well-known battle of Maypo, on the 5th of April, 1818. One of the first acts of the now successful Revolutionists, was to consolidate their power by the death of their rivals and political enemies, the Carreras, the two eldest of whom were apprehended and shot at Mendoza by order of San Martin.* He placed his friend O'Higgins, with the title of Director, at the head of a Provisional Government; and a new Constitution was soon after * The third brother had escaped to the United States, to raise an expedition for the relief of Chile, then in possession of the Spaniards, and actually returned to South America with a ship, arms, and volunteers, subsequently to the period of which I speak. He was then unable to obtain a footing in Chile, where the power of O'Higgins, the enemy of his family, had been established; and wandered at the head of his little army of adventurers and Indian allies for many months about the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, until he was defeated and taken prisoner in an unsuccessful attack upon the town of Mendoza. His execution as a traitor to his country followed by a very summary process; and thus in the same city, and at nearly the same period, the three brothers all came to an untimely end. The whole history of the Carrera family furnishes a lively instance of the selfish ambition which actuates, the errors which attend, and the misfortunes which sooner or later for the most part terminate, (the career of revolutionary heroes. EXPEDITION AGAINST LIMA. 327 published, by virtue of which Chile became a free and independent state. We now come to the Chilean expedition wider San Martin and Lord Cochrane against Lima, the circumstances of which are all too well known to require a very long description. They commenced operations by sea and land in August 1820, and both commanders soon called into action the talents for war which had already distinguished them. The former equipped a naval force upon very scanty resources, and surmounted obstacles before which most men would have given way, with his characteristic courage and perseverance. At length the desired success attended their arms, and by the fall of Lima, in July 1821, the cause of independence was established in Peru. The object of the expedition being now effected, and the services of Lord Cochrane no longer wanted, a rupture ensued between him and San Martin, and he consequently left the country in disgust. San Martin then held military possession of Lima, and presided with the title of Protector over a Provisional Government of his own Creation until the month of July 1;822. Having gone away for a time, in 328 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. the early part of the same year, to solicit aid from Bolivar, who had then completed the independence of Columbia, he found Lima in a state of great confusion upon his return. His favourite minister Monteagudo had, by his measures, given such umbrage, that he was forcibly dismissed from office, and San Martin was now obliged to confirm the popular act. He then called together a National Representative Congress, the first that had ever existed in Peru, and surrendering into their hands the power, which he had never exercised to the satisfaction of the people, retired altogether from public life. The proceedings of the Congress, after the supremne power had been left in their hands by San Martin, were marked by the weakness and discord which might have been anticipated under all the circumstances. A new actor upon the scene appeared in the person of their president, Colonel Riva Aguero; but the jarring elements of democratic faction were not to be controlled by him. The Spaniards, profiting by the dissensions of the Patriot legislators, again took possession of Lima; and the whole country of Peru would probably have SUCCESS OF BOLIVAR IN PERU. 329 been once more brought under their subjection, had not Bolivar, the liberator of Columbia, in pursuance of a former treaty with San Martin, commenced a fresh campaign in Peru. He landed in the autumn of 1823. The success which has subsequently attended his arms is too well known to require much recapitulation here. By the last advices, the victory of Ayacucho, gained by General Sucre, finished the campaign, and Peru may now be fairly considered independent of the mother-country. The geographical boundaries of Chile are so fixed by nature, that no political changes can well affect them. The desert of Atacama, on the North, the Andes on the East, and the Pacific Ocean on the West, all concur to render this part of America distinct from every other; and the modern substitution of an independent government in the place of the colonial administration of Spain, still leaves the geography of the country undisturbed. The boundaries of La Plata and of Peru are less clearly defined, the Spaniards still holding possession of many provinces in Upper Peru, which 330 IREMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. must hereafter constitute part of the territory of one of those two States. It is fair to suppose, however, that the same provinces which once constituted the two separate vice-royalties will now constitute two separate independent States; and that, the form of government only being altered, their geographical limits will remain as before. Until, however, the termination of the war and the consolidation of the new States can set the question at rest altogether, the countries of La Plata, Upper Peru, and Peru Proper, or.Lower Peru, must be separately described. The Republic of La Plata was first established by the.meeting of a National Representative Congress in 1816, although the union of the States has always been rather nominal than real; according to the last accounts it consists of ten States, viz. Buenos Ayres, Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Cordova, Mendoza, St. Juan, Punto de St. Luis, St. Jago del Estero, Tucuman, and Salta. Most of these States, or rather towns, are very insignificant in point of population and political importance, and their scattered insulated situations, with longuninhabited tracts of country extending be UPPER PERU. 331 tween each, afford few natural facilities to their future political union. The provinces of Upper Peru having long been the principal theatre of the revolutionary war, and last strong-hold of the Spaniards in South America, remain as yet almost wholly unexplored by modern travellers. They form, however, a very important part of that continent; and the large number of valuable mines which they contain, will give them increased importance hereafter. According to the old Spanish division, Upper Peru consisted of seven provinces, viz. Chiquitos, Moxos, Santa Cruz de la Sierra or Puno, La Paz, Cochabamba, La Plata or Charcas, and Potosi. These extend from lat. 12~ S. to 23' S. and from the 57th to the 70th degree of W. longitude. They were subdivided again into twenty-one minor dependencies. The capital town of La Paz lies in lat. 160 30' S. and is only 130 miles E. of the Pacific. Peru Proper, or, as called in contradistinction to the above provinces, Lower Peru, extends from Tumbez in lat. 2~ 30' S. to the desert of Atacama, in lat. 22~ S. It is divided into seven intendancies, of which, according to the last acknowledged 332 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. census, the population was 1,076,997: stated as follows: Tarma Guancauchica Guamauga Truxillo Areguipa. Cuzc Lima. 201,259 30,917 ~.. 111,559. 230,967 136,801 *. 216,382 149,112 1,076,997 This population occupies a territory which is calculated to contain 495,000 square miles. The census taken in 1790 states the population of Lima, the capital, at 52,627, divided as follows: Spaniards and Creo Mestizoes Quarterons Quinterons IndiansNegroes Mulattoes 'Zambos Chinos..'* '.. '". Tot les, 17,215.. 4,631 *~. * * * 2,383.' '... 219. *. - 3,912.*..* 8,960 5,972 *. *.* 3,384 '..... 1,120 al.. 47,796 Religious votaries independent of the secular clergy, male and female. 1,647 Living in cdmmunities without having:- ade- thie vows.. -3,184 52,627 POPULATION OF PERU AND LIMA. 333 It does not seem probable that any increase in numbers has taken place since that period: on the contrary, the emigration or banishment of nearly all the Spaniards may have produced some change the other way. With regard to the clergy, whose numbers are always remarked as unusually great in Lima, a printed document inserted in the Lima Gazette, April 20th, 1822, states that, from returns recently made, the number of male individuals then in the cloisters amounted to 944. The monasteries are twenty, the convents eighteen in number. In taking a general political survey of these new States, it would be a delightful and comparatively easy task to contrast their past condition, as the dependent colonies of an arbitrary Government, with that which the imagination readily pictures for the future, when dwelling on the numerous blessings which may ultimately attend the establishment of civil liberty and independence. The vulgar error of the present day appears, however, to be in contemplating with over-avidity the supposed beneficial consequences 334 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. of revolution, instead of remarking its actually attendant evils; for by thus dwelling too exclusively on the bright side of the picture, the mind acquires a distorted view of things, or, confounding the future with the present, loses sight of all the obstacles that intervene between its wishes and their fulfilment. Nor is it matter of astonishment that such should be the case, when we reflect that our national feelings, our interests, our imaginations, and perhaps our prejudices, are all enlisted on one side. The tyranny, bigotry, and illiberality of the Government of Spain has long been proverbial among Englishmen. From early childhood we are accustomed to regard the blood-stained annals of Spanish conquest in America with mingled sentiments of pity and disgust,-pity for the millions of Indian victims who were immolated at the altar of avarice, and disgust at the cruelty of their greedy executioners. The subsequent jealousy and mistrust of England, which, not without reason it must be confessed, has regulated the policy of the Court of the Escurial towards their Transatlantic possessions, called PUBLIC FEELING IN ENGLAND. 335 forth a corresponding degree of ill-will, and even occasional hostility, on our parts to their commnercial regulations. It is not surprising, therefore, that when the revolutionary standard was first hoisted at Buenos Ayres, we were glad to gratify our national feelings, and to take advantage of every opening afforded for the vent of our manufactures and the furtherance of our commercial greatness on the wreck of that of the mother-country The same causes which had directed the tide of public opinion against Spain, could hardly fail to produce a corresponding reflux in favour of her insurgent colonists. There is always to be found in Englishmen a generous spirit of enthusiasmn, and a kindred sympathy for the struggles and successes of other countries engaged in bettering their political condition and rising up to take a place among the nations of the earth, —a spirit which has long operated in favour of South American independence, and, assisted by still more powerful motives of interest in a commercial. sense, has been gradually increasing up to the present day. 336 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. We are, moreover, prone to exaggerate events and occurrences which happen at a distance, particularly if they are involved in some degree of obscurity, according to the old remark of Tacitus, -" Omne ignotunz pro magnifico est." The New World, since the date of its discovery, has thus always been exposed to the notice of Europeans through a magnifying medium; and now, instead of beholding in South America a number of petty democracies, prematurely born, and still subject to numberless revolutionary miseries, we picture to our imaginations the existence of so many enlightened republics, each with a Washington at its head, and favoured by all the blessings which liberty and commercial as well as political prosperity can bestow. When the eye of the observer ranges over the continent of South America, the geographical prospect there exhibited assists this delusion. The magnitude of the country, the fame of its metallic treasures, the grandeur of its mountains, and the excellence of its climate in every quarter, combine to excite the liveliest feelings of admiration and astonishment: but such prospects, it must be con INFLUENCE OF PHYSICAL CAUSES. 337 fessed, afford of themselves a very insufficient ground whereon to form an estimate of the greatness of this part of the world in a political sense; for where is the advantage of an immense extent of territory, if it be not adequately peopled? and where is the advantage of its gold and silver mines, if, as the learned writers of the Peruvian Mercury assert, they check the progress of agriculture and exercise a demoralizing influence over the population? Nor can it be affirmed that the luxuriousness of a tropical and genial climate is in any way well calculated to exalt the national character: on the contrary, it has often been remarked, with too much truth, that in proportion as Nature is most prolific in her spontaneous gifts to man, so are his physical and moral energies the less called into action for the purpose of turning those gifts to a profitable account. It is, indeed, one among the many beautiful proofs of the wisdom with which Providence conducts the moral government of the world, that the very hardships and difficulties which in northern climates might seem likely to embitter existence, z 338 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. serve in the end to promote human happiness and improvement; and that, in more favoured regions, the very ease with which a comfortable subsistence is obtained, by giving encouragement to indolence, tends to weaken the incentives to labour and to retard the progress of bodily and intellectual excellence. By giving, therefore, due weight to the powerful influence of these physical causes on human conduct, we may well be justified in doubting if ever the nations of South America can attain an equal degree of energy, or of political greatness, or even of moral excellence, with those in the less favoured regions of our northern hemisphere. According to the Tables in Humboldt's Essay on New Spain, the population and territorial extent of South America are as follows:PERU AND CHILE. Population. 1,700,000 BUENOS AYRES. Population. 1,100,000 Total. 2,800,000 Square leagues of 25 to a degree: Peru... $0,390 Chile.. 22,574 Buenos Ayres 145,014 Total. 195,978 POPULATION. - 33 9 The great disproportion between the extent of territory and the actual population is very striking, particularly if we consider that the metropolis of Great Britain alone contains more inhabitants than all the provinces of La Plata, extending over twenty-eight degrees of latitude and thirteen of longitude. It may indeed be said, that the rapid increase of population hereafter will render this only a temporary evil; but until the fact of such increase, to which there are numerous hindrances, shall be proved by experience, all reasoning upon it is assuredly superfluous. To judge by what we know and see, the prospect to those who would speculate on the future greatness of this portion of the New World is not very encouraging; for it is not merely the scantiness of the population, but the quality of it, that must also be taken into consideration: and here it may be observed, that the heterogeneous mixture of races which compose this population presents an evil of the first magnitude, which cannot, under any circumstances, be easily removed. The aristocracy of colour, if I may use the expression, has a prejudicial effect upon the minds z 2 340 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. of all classes: the one it inflates with useless pride, the other it degrades by a humiliating sense of inferiority. Sentiments of jealousy and hatred are thus engendered in their minds, ending, if not in open hostilities, at least in disunion and separation of interests. The old Government encouraged, for obvious political reasons, the distinctions of blood between the several castes of inhabitants, by allowing distinct privileges. The new States will, if they are wise, act upon an opposite principle, and endeavour, by putting all these different persons upon an equal footing, to amalgamate them in one social compact. Still, the force of prejudice is so strong, that under any such modification of the laws it will be difficult to render the desired union effectual and permanent; and we may therefore naturally expect, that a nation thus composed will advance by very slow and tedious steps towards a higher degree of political importance. The Spaniards, and creole inhabitants of pure Spanish descent, constitute the first and most enlightened class of inhabitants. The - former may now be said, however, to have been, rather SPANIARDS. 341 than to be; since all, or nearly all, have been either killed, imprisoned, or driven from the country, in the course of the revolutionary war. Their misfortunes entitle them, as individuals, to deep commiseration; and it is but fair to state, that in Peru, where they were settled in the largest numbers, their fall was by no means welcomed with that joy by their fellow-citizens, which the proclamations of the present rulers would lead tle world to imagine. The day of their banishment from Lima was, indeed, a day of mourning to the whole city; and the expression of such sympathetic regret for them in the hour of adversity, furnishes the best evidence that they had made a liberal and honourable use of their prosperous fortunes. They have been reproached for monopolizing all the wealth, knowledge, and official dignities of the country; but admitting it to be true, which it undoubtedly is, we must nevertheless believe that they monopolized all the respectability of the country also. They alone were qualified to form an efficient aristocracy, and their loss will be severely felt before their creole successors can receive such an education, and enjoy such oppor 342 REMARKS ON SOUTHI AMERICA. tunities of improvement, as shall enable them to supply the place of their ancient rulers advantageously in the public councils. —Besides, these creoles of Spanish descent are few in proportion to the other inhabitants of South America; for, in Peru, they have been computed at no more than one-eighth of the whole population, and the same estimate may be made as to the provinces of Rio de la Plata. Next in consideration comes the Mestizoes, or descendants of Spaniards and Indians, and their various descendants, who are classed under the following heads: Quarterons. Descendants of Spaniards and Mestizoes. Quinterons.. Spaniards and Quarterons. Cholos... Indians and Mestizoes. These amount to about one-fourth of the whole. The Indians and negroes, and their descendants, including mulattoes, and Zamboes or descendants of negroes and Indians, who are not very numerous, constitute the remaining classes; and of these the negro-slaves in Peru are reckoned at not more than 40,337, and the free people of colour at about the same number, viz. 41,404. XNEGRO-SLAVES. 343 In the course of the revolutionary war, the negro-slaves have at different times been taken from their masters in large numbers, and forced to serve as soldiers in the army: what will ultimately be their lot, on the termination of the war, it is rather difficult to foresee; for their moral condition cannot be ameliorated by the freedom and licentiousness which a military life in such countries is wont to give, nor will it be an easy task to persuade them to return to their agricultural and domestic labours, either as bondsmen or hired labourers, in a way advantageous to their employers and the community at large. In Peru the slave-trade used formerly to be carried on through Panama, and in the Peruvian Mercury the annual importation is stated at five hundred; but it has long since been discontinued, and now the large majority of the Peruvian negroes are creoles of the country. In the town of Lima they are employed in the largest numbers, amounting to nearly 9000 souls. Their treatment and condition seem to be on a par with that of the lower orders in 344 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. mnost countries. They have lost the barbarous and uncivilized appearance of the native Africans, which in Brazil and in other slave-trading countries attracts remark; and being farther advanced in the scale of civilization, assume more of the appearance of Europeans both in dress and in manners. In Chile the system of slavery was always maintained in so trifling a degree, and the number of negro-slaves was consequently so small, that the abolition of it by the new Government has in fact been rather nominal than real. The Peruvian Indians, among whom are included the Indian inhabitants of Upper as well as Lower Peru, continue, like their ancestors, very far advanced beyond the Indians of Brazil and some other parts of America, in point of moral and social habits of life and general civilization. A part of them, indeed, in the mountainous regions of the Andes, lead a life of savage barbarism, and are independent of all social order; but the majority are fitted, by character and ordinary endowments, to take a place as fellow-citizens with the other inhabitants of PERUVIAN INDIANS. 345 the new States, notwithstanding the debasing influence of the policy of the old Spanish Government, which may have lowered them in some degree in arts and knowledge below the level of their interesting ancestors, the subjects of the Incas of Peru. The prodigious* depopulation which has taken place among them since those happy times, affords a melancholy proof of their misfortunes, and the misery of their past condition under the Spanish Government; so that, whatever may be their future lot, the friend of humanity has at least the satisfaction of reflecting, that if it undergo any change, that change must be rather for the better than the worse. The first fruits of revolution appear indeed already favourable to their cause; for to say no more, the Mita, or annual conscription, a most oppressive law by which they were compelled to labour in the mines, has been discontinued, and virtually if not formally repealed, never to be renewed, at " In 1551 the Indians, in the three viceroyalties of Santa Fe, Peru, and Buenos Ayres, were estimated by the Royal Commissioners at 8,255,000; the present number cannot be supposed to exceed 2,255,000. 346 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. least upon any consistent principles, by a Patriot government. The Patriot newspapers always treat the Indians as their brethren, and profess to hold the cause of all native-born Americans, whatever be their caste, as one and the same: the Sot del Peru is emblazoned upon the national flag, and Indian oppression is a term of reproach constantly made use of in their declamations against the Royalists. But another circumstance, much more to be depended upon than the threats or promises of any Patriot government, is, that the Indian regiments have mainly contributed to the success of the war. That timid nature which history assigns to them, seems to be wearing off; for as soldiers they are hardy, brave, obedient, patient of fatigue, and easily disciplined: indeed, by mixing upon an equal footing with the whites, they naturally become more enlightened, and see their own strength too well to allow themselves hereafter to be ill-treated with impunity nor can there be a doubt that they would make a profitable use of this knowledge in re-asserting their social and natural PERUVIAN INDIANS. 347 rights, in case any daring attempt should be made to renew oppressive regulations. Their ingenuity, in many respects, is truly astonishing: the silver filigree work, made at Guamanga, is surpassed nowhere but in China. In other parts of the country, and particularly in the provinces of Moxos and Chiquitos, they are represented as being excellent cabinet-makers, and fond of playing upon musical instruments of their own fabrication, such as guitars, violins, organs, &c. That which appears to be the greatest drawback to their civilization is the want of Christian knowledge. They have exchanged the worship of the Sun for that of crosses, relics, and images of Saints. The superstitions of Catholicism have, taken root amongst them in their very worst forms, and corrupt priests may be truly said to have " shut the book of knowledge, and made the WTord of God of none effect through their traditions."The traffic in Bulls is carried on to a great extent, and the poor people, in furtherance of it, are taught to believe that their eternal salvation depends upon the purchase of these spiritual nostrums. 348 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. To suppose that they in their ignorance can distinguish between adoration and veneration, is altogether absurd; and the mere fact of their conversion to Christianity under such circumstances, can neither afford much satisfaction to the philanthropic inquirer, nor conduce materially to the improvement of their condition in a political point of view. In summing up this brief account of the population of the new South American States, it is difficult to conceive it possible that the multiplication of the human species can go on with the same, or any thing near the same, rapidity, as in the United States of North America: for the inhabitants of the several nations of Europe may be brought together in a foreign land, and be so assimilated by intermarriages as to form one respectable community; but the mixture of Africans, Indians, and Europeans, and their various intermediate castes, is very different. " Diversum confusa genus Panther a Camelo;"and though Nature may and will take its course, there must arise various checks to the rapid progress of population in the prejudices of some, and FORMS OF GOVERNMENT. 349 not a little in the universal habits of life which are too prevalent in tropical climates, and are known by experience to have a powerful influence in counteiacting the law of Nature in that particular respect. The example, then, of the United States of America, affords no just criterion by which we may estimate the rise of South America in population or in the scale of political greatness, whether we take numbers into consideration, or the character of the people, or the original stock from which they spring, and the sort of education which they have hitherto received. The Republican form of government appears to be adopted, or about to be adopted, in Chile, La Plata, and Peru. In Chile, the brightest prospect of political union and social happiness, arising from the compactness of its territory and the character of its people, is now held out; but from the observations already made, it will be apparent that republicanism exists, as yet, more in name than in reality, and that the progress making in the legal settlement of the country, by means of a regular free Constitution, is very slow, and by no 350 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. means adequate to the wishes of those who are interested in the prosperity of this infant State. The Provinces of La Plata are declared, by the last adopted Constitution, to form one federal republic, corresponding, in a general point of view, to the federal republic of the United States of America. Each State is to be governed by its own particular laws and usages, and a Representative Congress, assembled annually, will legislate for the general interests of the whole commonwealth. This plan looks well in theory and on paper, but its practical adoption, in a manner beneficial to all classes, must be attended with many difficulties. If all the States resembled the principal State of Buenos Ayres, some good practical effects might reasonably be expected; for there, a constant succession of revolutions and the experience of many years, not to mention the comparatively advanced state of the inhabitants in knowledge, arts, and manners, owing to its having long been the capital of the country and seat of foreign commerce, give its government some chances of stability and a just title to superior respect. But Buenos Ayres is DISUNION OF THE STATES OF LA PLATA. 351 only one out of many States whose political union is to form one nation, and its acknowledged superiority renders it, for that very reason, odious to the rest. These other provinces of La Plata afford at present and in prospect much less to admire than to deplore: the jealousy, suspicion, hatred, and contempt of each other, which have been engendered in the course of a long revolutionary war, seem to grow with the growth, and to strengthen with the strength, of the respective States, and afford but bitter ingredients for social union; very different, indeed, from that good-will and mutuality of interest and feeling which are the natural bases of a federal republic. The establishment of a republic in Peru appears likely to be a work of still greater difficulty; and if it be allowable to judge of the people of the interior by those of the metropolis, it would not be too much to say, that the greater number are most partial to a Kingly government. This feeling was at one time very openly avowed, during the Protectorate of San Martin; insomuch, that a writer - in one of the public journals did not hesitate to 352 REMARKS ON SOU'ITH AMERICA. quote a well-known line of Homer in support of his monarchical opinions: and we may therefore be allowed to presume, that whatever the wishes of one party may be for the establishment of a republic in Peru, it is a question still open, to say the least, to much discussion, and a measure likely to encounter some degree of opposition. It will be a work, also, of infinite time and labour, to tranquillize this once happy country, now still suffering under the various scourges of revolution. The mines are no longer worked-the fields are to a great extent left uncultivated-the labouring classes, particularly the negro-slaves, have been taken away from the plantations to serve in the armies as soldiers-the trade of the interior is suspended-whole villages have in some instances been destroyed; and Lima itself, the once gay, rich, and luxurious seat of Spanish Viceroyalty, has been taken and retaken, and alternately exposed to the miseries of siege, famine, anarchy, and military government! Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that the people, who feel the miseries of present revolution, but cannot appreciate or even under STATE OF RELIGION. 353 stand the future advantages which it is expected to produce, should mourn with melancholy satisfaction over the past, and curse rather than bless the names of their deliverers; and that, with the exception of those who were in the immediate enjoyment of wealth and power, most of the inhabitants of Lima, at the time I speak of, should be secretly dissatisfied with the new lights and liberties which had been conferred with most unwelcome generosity upon them. The influence exercised by religion over communities, as well as individuals, is too great and important to be left unnoticed, when treating of countries which have long been exposed beyond all others to that influence. Unfortunately, however, in the spiritual and temporal power possessed by the Roman Catholic clergy, the vital parts of religion appear to have been lost; and in no part of the Christian world is the state of Christianity at a lower ebb. It cannot, therefore, but be regretted by us Protestants, that in all the new States the Roman Catholic religion should be the only one acknowledged and tolerated by the Government. The sale of Bulls, particu2 A 354 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. larly among the Peruvian Indians, has been already mentioned; and it would be easy to recapitulate the many superstitious observances which fall under a traveller's daily observation, such as ridiculous vows of abstinence from certain meats, games, &c.; processions, image-worship, relics, &c. &c. One of the advantages of a new order of things will doubtless be to bring these into merited contempt, and put a stop to frauds and abuses- which, under the mask of religion, have been so long practised to a disgraceful extent upon the credulity of the illiterate inhal)itants. But there are evils of an opposite character attendant on revolution, which may lead to still more dangerous results; for men are ever prone to extremes, and no sooner do they cease to be bigots than they are inclined to become infidels: they learn to detect the follies of vulgar ignorance and the abuses of priestcraft, but cannot distinguish the precious ore from the dross with which it is surrounded, and throw away the essentials together with the superfluous appendages of religion. This fatal error is one of the most com PROGRESS OF INFIDELITY. 335 mon and perhaps most dreadful evils of revolution. The French Revolution was mainly distinguished by it; those of latter years in Spain and Portugal were by no means free from it; anrid in South America the march of free principles, both as regards politics and religion, has been nearly simultaneous. At Buenos Ayres, where the diffusion of knowledge is more general than elsewhere, the tenets of the French school of philosophy are likewise more generally diffused among the higher classes, and they are becoming more and more prevalent in the countries of Chile and Peru, where ship-loads of French deistical books are now freely inmported, and bought up with great avidity Thus, then, until a reformation of religion can take place in these countries, of which at present there seems not to be the most distant prospect, it is to be apprehended that scepticism will fill up the void left by those who desert the ranks of superstitious bigotry, and add another to the long catalogue of revolutionary evils. More might, doubtless, be enumerated; but wmrithout going farther, enough has been said to 2 A 2 2356 REMARKS ON SOUTH AMERICA. show, that allowing the States of La Plata, Chile, and Peru, to have established their independence, and commenced the work of political regeneration upon steady principles, setting aside also the chances of long-continued dissensions and civil war, which are nevertheless more than prol)able,-still, under the very best circumstances, they will have to contend against gigantic difficulties. A scanty, heterogeneous, and divided population, buried for centuries past in ignorance and superstition, and subsequently hurried into all the excesses of revolution, are bad and intractable materials to work upon. To pull down has always been easier than to restore; and because an ugly old building is demolished, it does not follow that a magnificent palace, just and harmonious in all its proportions, shall at once, as if by the stroke of an enchanter's wand, arise in its stead. A good architect must first be found; and even when the desired structure does appear, it may happen that the inhabitant for whom It was intended is incapable, through ignorance, of appreciating its beauties, or making a fit use of its conveniencies. 'So, with reference to South Ame iP()LITICAL PROSPECrTS. 357 rica, we believe that the fabric of Spanish governinent is already virtually demolished; but where are the Patriot politicians capable of rebuilding a new social edifice on firm and equitable bases? Where are the people, whose will, declared in a Representative Assembly, can safely be trusted with the discharge of legislative functions? A very long interval of time, therefore, must necessarily elapse, before the anticipated blessings of independence can be enjoyed to any great extent. Crimes and plunders, alternate periods of anarchy and tyranny, are still likely to prevail for years to come: at least there is at present no visible check to the perpetuation of such miseries, in the moral and intellectual condition of the people; for talent, influence, consistent principles, and superior respectability, are gone with the Spaniards. With the birth and slow education of new generations, the necessary mass of knowledge, skill, talent, and it is to be hoped of virtue also, mnay spring up to assist and direct the labours of the future legislator; but, taking the most favourable view of the actual state of things, it must be confessed that, notwithstanding the sanguine ex 358 CONCLUSION. pectations entertained by modern speculators, the prospect which South America displays is far less brilliant and cheering than the friend of humanity would desire, or than the generality of persons at the present day appear willing to believe. SANDWICH ISLANDS. SANDWICH ISLANDS. CHAPTER XIII. VOYAGE TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, AND RESIDENCE AT WOAHOO. DURING the voyage from Lima to the Sandwich Islands, nothing occurred worthy of remark. The weather was invariably mild andsgreeable, the thermometer ranging between 70~ and 80, and the trade winds so light and fair, that we seldom had occasion to take in any sail. On the 24'h of June, at five P. M. we made the island of Owyhee, at the distance of forty miles. The snow was plainly discernible upon the peak of Mounah-Roah, which is one of the highest mountains in the world. Its height has been 362 SANDWICH ISLANDS. estimated at 18,400 feet above the level of the sea; and if this calculation be exact, it exceeds Teneriffe by 3680 feet, and is little inferior to Chimborazo, the loftiest point of the Andes. June 25.-We passed Mowee during the night, and at daybreak saw only its western extremity. The immense cliffs of Morotoi next arose to view, and gradually, as the morning mists cleared off, exhibited a wild and dreary appearance. A fresh breeze soon carried us along the northern side, where the precipices are steep and the surf breaks upon the rocks with tremendous violence. Upon approaching the south side of Woahoo, the appearance of the land was obscured, as at Mowee, by clouds and mist. Various crags and rocky promontories jut out into the sea, and seem at a distance to form a little archipelago of islets, which, backed by overhanging cliffs and mountains, produce a curious and romantic effect. At two o'clock P. M. we could plainly distinguish the huts, canoes, and persons of the natives on the sea-shore-some employed in fishing, others in mending their nets. The shipping and ARRIVAL AT HANNAH-ROURAH. 363 smoke of Hannah-rourah, the capital of the Sandwich Islands, soon after came into view, and the approach of some boats and canoes kept us all in a state of agreeable excitement. At three o'clock we anchored in the roadstead, and received visits from several American residents. They assured us that no danger was to be apprehended from the natives, with whom they had been accustomed to live upon the most amicable footing, and that some Missionaries and their families were likewise established there. Mr. Jones, the American Consul, kindly offered me accommodation for the night, which I accepted, and immediately accompanied him on shore, leaving my fellow-passengers, who were less eager and impatient, to follow the next day. Upon landing, we were immediately surrounded by a mob of men, women, and children, who pressed forward to shake me by the hand, and eyed me with great apparent curiosity. They were all dressed au naturel, or nearly so, with nothing but the maro, a cincture of cloth made from the paper mulberry-tree, round their waists; their cries were most discordant, and the clatter of women's 364 SANDWICH ISLANDS. tongues not the least audible. I afterwards found out that they were settling a nickname for me, in allusion to some peculiarity in my dress or person. This they do invariably, whenever a stranger comes among them; and it is astonishing how quick-sighted, and even witty, they often are, in ridiculing the least affectation of manner, awkwardness of gait, or bodily deformity. Having thus encountered their jokes on first landing, I went with the Consul to the palace of the King, if such a term can be applied to a grass hut, floored with mats, and only distinguished from the rest by a few cannon placed about it in terrorem. Imagination had pictured the monarch, sitting in- the midst of his chiefs with dignified composure, his interpreter on one side and secretary on the other, (for he really has two such officers); and, as the subject of a brother king, I anticipated a most gracious reception. What, then, was my astonishment on entering the royal hut! ""Oh, majesty!1- Oh, high ambition, lowly laid!" The royal beast lay sprawling on the ground in a INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 365 state of total drunkenness and insensibility. On one side of his head was extended an enormous sow, which every now and then gave a grunt, as if in sympathy with its master; and upon the other side sat his Queen, an immense woman, like him, almost in a state of primitive nudity, who seemed endeavouring, though in vain, by her caresses, to assuage his beastly transports: a few chiefs and domestics, in all about twenty, completed the group-some asleep, others fanning away the flies, and singing the wildest and harshest lullaby that ever saluted mortal ears. We then passed into another room belonging to the head Queen; who, though equally large in her person, had a benevolent and pleasing cast of countenance. She was dressed in a loose robe of English chintz, and, to my delight, was engaged in learning to write, which she had only attempted within a few days. She showed me her performance on the slate with great eagerness; and well she might, for really the letters were by no means badly formed. I then underwent, as on my first landing, a thorough examination, during which her Majesty often laughed immoderately, 366 SANDWICH ISLANDS. and ended her remarks by saying that I was a mere child, and had no beard. The ground part of the apartment was matted, and the walls hung round with mats, with a large and handsome mirror on one side, and upon the whole had a comfortable appearance; though the furniture, comprising several Chinese chests, a mahogany table, and three matted bedsteads-in addition to the living furniture, comprising her Majesty the Queen and her numerous attendants, who lay extended on the floor in different attitudes, and kept up an incessant singing sort of noisegave to the whole scene a truly fantastic character. Mr. Jones accommodated me at night with a bed in his hut, and introduced me the next morning to the other American residents, who were all seafaring men, and had come to this place to carry on a trade for sandal-wood. Wre then paid a second visit to the King, who had by this time recovered a little from the debauch of the preceding night. He shook me heartily by the hand, and was pleased at hearing that I was an Englishman, saying, that his islands belonged to the QUEENS. 367 King of Great Britain, to whom they had been formerly surrendered in Vancouver's time, by his father, old Tama-hama-hah, and desiring me to apply to him for any thing I might want during my stay. He afterwards said, that he was too much intoxicated to talk with me any longer at the moment, but hoped to be sober in the course of a few days, and in the mean time would leave the Queen to do the lhonours of the house. We were ushered accordingly into the inner apartment, where a third lady, whom I had not yet seen, presided at a table which groaned under the weight of bottles of wine, and almost every known spirituous liquor. I immediately drank her health in a glass of the wine; but she, to my great surprise, pledged me in a good tumblerful of gin, and quaffed it off at one draught, as if it had been water. The fourth and last Queen was next introduced, and made a similar libation; but it was evident that she had gone too far already. She did not hesitate to own her frailty, indeed, and said, that as the King her husband had been enjoying a drinking-bout, she had a right to take 368 SANDWICH ISLANDS. the same license herself. She then began to tumble about the room, and sing, or rather utter, discordant cries after the fashion of the country, until I could bear the sight no longer, and turned away in disgust, lamenting the beastly excesses to which the human creature is carried in a natural and unenlightened state. The mere arts of civilization and intercourse with Europeans are evidently insufficient to elevate the character, or correct the immoral habits, of men in such a state of society. This is reserved for an infinitely more powerful and influential cause, namely, the Christian dispensation; and who, then, that had witnessed such a scene in savage life as I have here cursorily described, but would feel most anxious to impart the blessings of Christianity to these rude islanders? So thinking, I directed my steps to the dwelling of some American Missionaries, who had arrived a few months ago, and my visit was altogether most gratifying. Their house, a little distant from the village, is built of wood, brought with them ready prepared from America, and is sufficiently large for the accommodation of four Missionaries, with their wives MISSIONARIES. 369 and families; of whom the principal, Mr. Bingham, seemed very active and zealous in the discharge of his missionary duties. Three English gentlemen were on a visit to them; namely, Mr. Ellis, a Missionary from Otaheite, and Messrs. Bennet and Tyreman, sent out by the London Missionary Society to inspect all their different stations. They had taken advantage of an opportunity which offered from Otaheite to visit the Sandwich Islands, and were agreeably surprised to find that a beginning had been already made in the work of propagating the Christian religion among them. Mr. Ellis found the language analogous to that of the Society Islands, with which he was perfectly acquainted and having brought some converted natives from thence with him, their united exertions proved of great use to Mr. Bingham and his associates. Mr. Ellis gave me much interesting information respecting the past and present state of Otaheite and its dependencies. The efforts of the Missionaries have at length been attended by success: as a proof of which, ~ he said the King, with the - greater part of his subjects, are now not 'only 2 B 370 SANDWICH ISLANDS. good moral Christians, but sufficiently well instructed to be able to read the Gospel and other religious books which have been translated into the language of the country, and they cooperate zealously in the propagation of Christian knowledge among the adjacent islands. With regard to the Sandwich Islands, it cannot be expected that any very beneficial result should be perceived in the short space of a few months after the arrival of the Missionaries. It is enough that a beginning is made, and facilitated by several favourable circumstances, of which the following is the most important; namely, the previous abolition of idolatry. The present King, Rehoreho, upon the death of his father, Tama-hamahah, abolished all' the Taboo regulations, morai or temples, priests, idols, and every idolatrous practice of which we read in the journals of the time of Cook and Vancouver. Since that event the King and all his people have lived without any religious worship whatever, so that in the propagation of a new religion among them, the Missionaries have only to perform the comparatively easy task of establishing truth, without that of eradicating error. XIND RECEPTION OF MISSIONARIES. 371 When the Missionaries first arrived, in the spring of 1822, the King gave them a gracious reception, assigned a spot of ground for their house and chapel, and expressed his desire to receive instruction in reading and writing. He said, however, at the same time, that "he would not be led by the nose, nor give up the free exercise of his own kingly authority to priests of any description." Had the sentiment expressed in this phrase been an original one, it would seem remarkable; but I found that some of the white inhabitants put it into his head, by telling an insidious falsehood respecting the King and Missionaries in Otaheite, so as to make it appear that the intentions of the latter were far from disinterested. He threw no obstacles in their way notwithstanding, but, on the contrary, encouraged his Queens and Chiefs to receive, after his own example, the instruction thus offered them with attention and respect. Such encouragement on the part of the King was most beneficial, and were it not for the dreadful vice of drunkenness to which he is habitually addicted, it is probable he would soon become a proficient in Christian knowledge. Upon him, meanwhile, 2 B 2 372 SANDWICH ISLANDS. depends in a great measure the nominal conversion of his subjects, for many of them have repeatedly told the Missionaries, that before they can attend earnestly to the new religion, they must have the King's express declaration in its favour. The chief obstacle to its progress is perhaps the enmity and unchristian conduct, of the European and American residents, who are most of them directly or indirectly opposed to the cause of religion, as well from their habits of life, as because they perceive that when the 'natives become in-'structed 'in useful knowledge, their own mental superiority will 'cease, and with it the attendant influence which they now possess. But these evils cure themselves: already has the bad conduct of the whites prepossessed the Sandwich Islanders against them, and their influence will no doubt daily decrease, in proportion as the- march of religious civilization advances. June 27.-This day I again visited the King, who lay as usual on the ground, in the costume of a common sailor. He was surrounded by sixteen Chiefs, sitting on chairs, and newly dressed in blue VISIT TO THE KING REPEATEI). 373 nankeen clothes which had just been brought from China in an American brig. Some displayed watchchains, and all seemed very proud of their new dresses, particularly as they were a present from his Majesty. They shook me by the hand very cordially, and with an air of most consequential satisfaction. The principal Queen was engaged within the hut with Mr. Ellis in learning to read and write. The favourite Queen lay on the ground by the King, like him in the fashionable dishabille of the island. The swine, too, which I had before noticed, were still in the apartment, and quietly reposed not far from their Royal master and mistress: so much for the beauty of a state of nature! iJune 28.-After dinner this day I went ashore and walked with a friend to Whyteete, a village on the sea-side, about five miles from the port. Our route lay first over an open plain, but we afterwards passed through cultivated fields, which are divided from each other by) embankments. They are very extensive, and are planted with the tarrowroot, which appears to be the principal or rather sole object of cultivation. Artificial irrigation is 374 SANDWICH ISLANDS. essential to the growth of this plant, upon which, in a great measure, the Sandwich Islanders subsist. It is regularly planted in rows, each one or more in a little bed of soft mud surrounded by water; and the whole field being inundated, banks from two to three or four feet i eight are raised on every side, so as to keep the water within proper limits, and at the same time make a partition of property. The leaf is large and flat, resembling that of a water-lily, as does the stalk, which seldom exceeds a foot in height. The root, which is the only part fit for eating, resembles the yam or manioc; it spoils if kept more than a few days. It is either roasted or boiled, or beat up with water in a calabash until it arrives at the consistency of thick paste, and the name of tarrow is then changed for that of poey. The natives regarded us every where with much curiosity: they appeared remarkably kind and friendly, and readily accompanied us as guides. Whyteete is rather a large village: some of the huts are well built and spacious, and most of them WHYTEETE. 375 have gardens containing melons, water-melons, and sweet potatoes. The King occasionally resides here, and considers it a sort of wateringplace. It is situated in the midst of a thick grove of fine cocoa-nut trees growing along the sea-shore, and offers many advantages for fishing. We saw a great many &noes drawn up regularly on the beach, and others upon the sea with fishermen in them. Women and children were amusing themselves in the surf, and apparently giving way to unrestrained exuberance of animal spirits. Immediately above us towered a rocky hill and promontory called Diamond Point, which juts out into the sea, and forms a conspicuous and fine object, while the horizon was richly and beautifully illuminated by the rays of a setting sun. As it became dark we approached the huts; and, though hungry, our appetites were not provoked by the raw fish and poey which the people were eating, and hospitably offered to us. Ignorance of each other's language prevented conversation; but they understood our wants, and kindly prepared, for our accommodation, clean mats and wrappingcloths, called tappers, of country manufacture, in 376 SANDWICH ISLANDS. an excellent hut; and we passed the night with the most perfect confidence and security. June 29.- At daybreak we took a guide, and started again with the intention of ascending Diamond Hill. Having employed some time fruitlessly in searching upon the beach for shells, we ascended the almost precipitous declivity with great labour, and discovered that the other sides of the hill were scarcely less precipitous. On the summit is an immense basin or amphitheatre, at least a mile and a half in circumference, into the cavity of which we descended, and found abundance of melons and water-melons growing wild, upon which we breakfasted, The prospect which presented itself from the verge of this hill was not less beautiful than extensive: a small but fertile plain, ten or twelve miles in length, tarrow-plantations, cocoa-nut and other trees, and uncultivated moss-ground, interspersed with villages and cottages. Among these Whyteete and Hannah-rourah, the latter distinguished by. its port and shipping, were particularly observable. On the Western side the view was bounded by a range of mountains which divide the island into two RUINS OF MORAIS. 377 parts; and on the North rose nearer hills, whose ridges were broken into a succession of fertile valleys, each excelling the other in variety of foliage and richness of vegetation. Towards the South, the eye was lost in wandering over the great Pacific Ocean, which "lay in calm unruffled magnificence, chequered only here and there by a solitary sail and some straggling canoes. At the foot of the hill stood two morais, or ancient temples, such as Cook and Vancouver describe in the journals of their voyages. The ruins only now remain, to engage the researches of the future philosopher and antiquarian. They consisted of an oblong square enclosure, about sixty feet long by forty broad, the walls being built of loose stones (in a manner perfectly similar to what are called Picts' castles in Scotland,) about five feet high and three or four feet in thickness. I did not hear that these- morals were ever roofed, but within their precincts undoubtedly were placed the! idols of Pagan worship, and the altars upon which Pagan ignorance had been accustomed to immolate its victims. We again passed through the- neighbouring 378 SANDWICH ISLANDS. tarrow-plantations in our walk homewards, and observed more than fifty men and women at work in one of the fields. Their only implement of agriculture is an iron hoe: this serves equally for planting and digging up the root, which they carry away in bundles upon large sticks borne by two men. June 30, Sunday.-I went to church, and heard Divine service performed by Mr. Tyreman according to the Presbyterian form. Many of the natives and one of the Queens attended, from motives of curiosity. She was dressed, or rather undressed, after the fashion of the country, and was attended by several female servants, carrying fly-fans, spitting-box, and pipe. In the afternoon I paid a visit to a Limanian lady, who had arrived with her husband in the English ship Wellington, from St. Blas, the preceding day. While I was in her hut one of the Queens called, and immediately sat down, shaking her violently by the hand, and laughing with the attendants, to her great surprise and my infinite amusement. This lady being rather inclined to the embonpoint, her appearance gave very general INTERIOR OF THE COUNTRY. 379 satisfaction, and she was considered the handsomest European woman that had ever yet visited those shores. July 1.-After dinner this day, I went on shore with a friend, and taking a native as our guide, with a basket of provisions and some other necessary things, we determined to make a short excursion up the country. Our course lay up a fertile valley, in a northerly direction, cultivated throughout; and I had occasion to admire the dexterity and neatness displayed in the numerous embankments and artificial channels through which the water of a rivulet was conducted to irrigate the neighbouring tarrow-fields. Rocky eminences, clothed in wood and verdure, diversified the view, until, having continually ascended for about three miles, the valley became a narrow glen, the torrent foamed and cascaded over a bed of rocks, the hills increased in grandeur of appearance, and at length we were enveloped in a thick grove of trees, when the shades of night came on. Our guide then took us to a small hut, which the inhabitants immediately consented to resign for our use. It was very small 380 I SANDWICH ISLANDS. and low; we could hardly stand upright in it, and to enter had been obliged to crawl through a narrow aperture, upon hands and feet. We enjoyed a sound night's rest notwithstanding, and at daybreak renewed our journey, and soon arrived at a spot worthy of a Salvator's pencil or Walter Scott's descriptive pen. We stood upon the brink of a tremendous precipice; above, below and around us, frowning masses of black rock reared their terrific forms, partly bare, and partly overshadowed by stunted trees and low brushwood. On each side of the pass two impending crags towered above the rest in awful preeminence, and, to use a poet's words, might be said to guard, " Like sentinels, enchanted land." Beneath us lay an extensive tract of land, varied by hill and dale, groves and valleys, cultivated fields and verdant ineadovs, and bounded by the waters of the ocean, upon whose waves the morning sun cast a thousand glittering rays. From a recess formed by Nature in the cliff, I was gazing with mute admiration, when a troop ROMANTIC SCENERY, 381' of natives, male and female, came winding up the pass; and though unadorned by picturesque costumes, such as the traveller might expect to meet with in the mountains of Switzerland, yet their naked forms, as they bounded from rock to rock, had an effect much more novel and romantic. Their wild appearance suited such a spot, and it seemed that man in his savage state best harmonized with the wild and savage aspect of the surrounding scenery. Their shouts and cries upon perceiving us were also much in character. When they drew near, we exchanged the, friendly salutation of Ar-ro-ha, with mutual courtesy, and, in return for the present of a knife, they gave us some baked tarrow-root for our frugal breakfast; after which we quitted, not without re-; luctance, this scene of natural enchantment. It is about ten miles distant from the port of Hannah-rourah. From this spot we descended into the plain below, and finding ourselves on the north-east side of the island, we resolved to return homewards round its eastern extremity. The remainder of our. walk this day, however, was more fatiguing 382 SANDWICH ISLANDS. than agreeable. Exposed to the scorching rays of the sun, we passed over successive hills and plains, dry and barren, without trees or human habitations. We met occasional parties of natives, many of whom appeared to take a pleasure in accompanying us, always singing, or laughing, or chattering to each other. At one time they brought us water-melons, at another they carried us on their shoulders over the brooks which crossed our path; nothing, in short, could exceed the kind and lively attentions every where shown to us. At six o'clock we reached a small village about a mile from the sea-shore, and easily obtained a tolerable hut to pass the night in: it belonged to an English sailor, who had established himself here. He received us with great civility, and killed a pig for our supper, which when baked, together with tarrow-root, furnished a very excellent repast. The method of cooking it, which applies to other meats in the Sandwich Islands, deserves particular notice. A hole is first made in the ground, and filled up with wood and stones; fire being ap MANNER OF COOKING. 383 plied, the stones soon become sufficiently heated, and the pig is placed thereon until the hair is singed off; it is then scraped with a knife, and cleaned, and otherwise prepared for cooking. This done, the meat is again placed upon the hot stones, wrapped carefully up in folds of tarrowleaves, and at the same time covered over with earth, so as to exclude the atmosphere. In this manner, after a certain time, the meat, whatever it may be, is baked, and to my palate in this case was far from disagreeable. The tarrow also I ate, and approved of; but never could prevail upon myself to taste the poey, so dirty and disgusting is their mode of making and eating it. A calabashful is commonly placed in the centre of a party, and the fingers, of all are, with one accord and at the same time, busily employed by each individual in transporting his portion to his mouth. The English sailor informed me that all the land in his neighbourhood belonged to Krimakoo, the King's Minister, familiarly called Billy Pitt, who had given him sixty acres. On part of this he had made a tarrow-plantation, which afforded the means of living; but the rest, he said, was use 384 SANDWICH ISLANDS. less. He seemed wretchedly poor; wore an old shirt and trowsers, more ragged and dirty than can be well conceived,:and was so disfigured by a thick black beard of several weeks' growth, that he was really far more savage-looking than any of the islanders. He spoke very unfavourably of them, and said that they did all in their power-to annoy and injure him; refusing to render him the least assistance, except for money.- He: had long been wishing to build a hut, but was unable to do so for want of materials, and therefore resided with his father-inlaw, in whose grounds he helped to work. Without placing much dependence upon the statements of this poor fellow, I was still interested by what he told me, and pitied the abject condition of dependence upon savages, to which he was now reduced. Among other causes of complaint, he inveighed bitterly and with truth against the tyranny of the Chiefs, who claim a right to possess all private property which is acquired upon their estates, and seize:every thing belonging to the poorer classes for which they feel an inclination. He- said, that whenever an indus TYRANNY OF THE CHIEFS. 385 trious person brought more land into cultivation than was necessary for his subsistence, or reared a good breed of pigs and poultry, the Chief, on hearing of it, had no hesitation in making the property his own. This takes place, independent of the customary presents and tribute; even every dollar obtained by traffic with strangers must be given up, on pain of the Chief's displeasure. Europeans are subject to the same oppression; and fromn this general insecurity of private property, arises in a great degree the absence of much industry or improvement, both among them and the native peasantry, With regard to his person, he had never sustained the slightest injury, except on one occasion through his own misconduct, and then, as he had voluntarily rendered himself amenable to punishment, he had no right to complain. He happened to be engaged at work cutting sandal-wood for Krimakoo for a stipulated pay; on the condition, however, of not touching a drop of liquor during the appointed time of service.,The penalty for breach of promise was to be forty 2 c 386 SANDWICH ISLANDS. lashes, besides the forfeiture of pay. Unfortunately a boat's crew came on shore the same day, from some merchant-vessel, and Jack could not resist the temptation thus afforded him of drinking a few glasses of his favourite grog, never thinking that the Chief would in reality enforce the penalty: greatly to his surprise and annoyance, however, Krimakoo watched an opportunity for seizing him, and inflicted the punishment without pity, enjoying at the same time his temporary distress, and exposing him to the derision of the whole community,-a sad triumph indeed of barbarism over civilized life! July 3.-At daybreak we resumed our walk, and perceived that the ridge of hills we had already crossed the preceding day, extended to the eastern extremity of the island; so that it became necessary to make another journey over them. The path, however, over this ridge being unfrequented, and the cliff becoming very lofty as well as precipitous, our difficulties were proportionably increased. Jack the sailor accompanied us, and proved greatly superior in usefulness to our Indian guide, who knew nothing of EXCURSION ROUND THE ISLAND. 387 this part of the country. Thick jungles of brushwood occasionally impeded our progress, but afforded us the opportunity of seeing many indigenous trees and shrubs. Sandal-wood is not to be found on this side of the island. About two hours were spent in gaining the summit of the cliff; when, bidding adieu to our sailor friend, we descended through a valley thickly wooded, which sloped gradually downwards to the plain, and, after infinite fatigue, found ourselves once more on the seashore, at the south-eastern side of the island. We reposed for two hours in an untenanted hut; and tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep, aided by the refreshing and delicious water-melon, gave us strength and spirits to pursue our journey. We soon passed a village mostly inhabited by fishermen, and containing perhaps one hundred huts. Here was a large salt-water lake, similar to those I have seen on the coast of Brazil. It was divided from the sea by a large embankment of sand, which on extraordinary occasions is probably overflowed by the tide. The inhabitants - all came out to look at us as we passed, and we were followed, rather to our annoyance, by a nu. 2 c 2 388 SANDWICH ISLANDS. merous troop of children, who seemed to consider our appearance highly diverting. Those who afterwards deserted, were quickly succeeded by others,and we never ceased to be without some such noisy escort. Our route lay along the seashore: nothing particularly attracted notice, except occasional huts, scattered here and there, together with several fine groves of cocoa-nut trees, until we reached Diamond Point. Having crossed its northern side, we kept to the right of Whyteete, and at length reached the port, towards sunset, without feeling any inconvenient degree of fatigue, though greatly oppressed during the journey by excessive heat. The distance we had travelled might be computed at fifty English miles; viz. eight miles the first day, eighteen the second, and twenty-four the third. July 4. - This day was the anniversary of American Independence, and duly commemorated as such by the white inhabitants. In the forenoon, a suitable oration was delivered in the Missionary Chapel, according to the usage of the Americans, by Mr. Jones, the Consul: prayers also were offered up; and an ode composed AMERICAN FESTIVAL. 389 expressly for the occasion was recited, and met with great applause. About sixty persons of all nations, but principally Americans, sat down to dinner under a marquee tastefully decorated with flags and colours from the different ships. The King, dressed in a magnificent cloak of red and yellow feathers, and helmet of the same, sat on Mr. Jones's right hand, and the head Queen, Kameamolu, also equipped in the costume of the country, on his left. Krimakoo the Prime Minister, Coxe, and other principal Chiefs, were also there in feather cloaks, but no females except the Queen, and her attendants, who stood behind the chair of their royal mistress. The dinner consisted of turtle-soup, beef, kid, poultry, pork, and various kinds of fish; but no dog's meat, although in reality the islanders are very partial to that sort of food. The English and American Missionaries were all present, and the whole entertainment went off in an agreeable and orderly manner. Many toasts were proposed; and among others, Krimakoo gave, through the medium of an interpreter, " The health of all individuals present, and prosperity to all nations." 390 SANDWICH ISLANDS. Any thing like a national festival is interesting to the heart and feelings of one absent from his native country; and without pretending to share in the peculiar patriotic sentiments of foreigners, it is impossible not to partake of the general enthusiasm which is called forth on such occasions. In the evening a discharge of fire-works was intended, and had actually commenced, but the interference of the King immediately put a stop to them. Upon this, Mr. Jones and several others went and remonstrated, but without effect, for the King persisted resolutely though mildly in his previous determination. He said, with truth, that in a place where all the houses were built of materials easily combustible, the danger of such playthings must be apparent, and that it was his duty to protect the property of his subjects from danger. Had his consent been asked before-hand, he would readily have given it, and at the same time have taken the requisite precautions; but at that late hour he thought it best, and felt obliged, though with reluctance, to prohibit the amusement altogether. Against such reasoning of course no objection ANECDOTE OF THE KING. 391 could be made, and that part of the evening's entertainment was given up. The anecdote, however, does honour to the King, inasmuch as it indicates an habitual feeling of concern for the general welfare of the society over which he presided,-a feeling seldom found, and scarcely supposed to exist, in the breasts of barbarous Indians! July 8, Monday.-The wind at length proved favourable, and we secured a berth in the harbour within fifty yards of the shore. The entrance is very narrow; the ship ran once aground, but was carried off again by the tide without damage. An American pilot, appointed by the King, attends ships on entering the harbour; and the natives are ever ready to render every assistance in case of need. The English ship the Wellington, freighted by some Spaniards from St. Blas to Manilla, having sprung a leak, came here to repair, and obtained every facility and accommodation. The weather being calm, she was towed into port, and for that purpose several hundred natives were employed under the orders of Krimakoo, on a sand-bank which runs out in very shallow water to a considerable distance on one side 392 3SANDWICH ISLANDS. of the channel. The activity, skill, and indefatigable zeal of this Chief, were the just subject of surprise and admiration to all the foreigners present; nor could he have made a greater display of these valuable qualities, had the ship been his own. July 10.-Being soon tired of remaining stationary, and wishing to see as much of the island as my limited time would permit, I accepted an offer made me by the Captain of a small schooner, belonging to Mr. Jones's establishment, which was engaged in bringing sandal-wood from other parts of the coast, and sailed with him this evening, in company with anAmerican ship, the Tartar. July 11.-Having enjoyed a most agreeable sail by moonlight, we this morning entered a small bay called Why-arouah, on the N. E. side of the island, formed by two reefs of rocks, which run out parallel a considerable way into the sea, and bftween which two small rivers discharge themselves. Hence the name Why-arouah; Whye in the country language signifying water, and arouah the numeral two. Here a chief named Coxe, who is one of the richest and most powerful in WHY-AROUTAH. 393 the island, resides; and as he was the person from whom our Captain was to obtain the sandalwood, our first visit was of course paid to him. He bears the name and office, if it can be so called, of Governor. His hut stands on the seashore, and was sufficiently large to accommodate the whole of our party, consisting of several Americans, besides myself. He is a large, athletic, handsome man, of an ingenuous and good-humoured countenance, apparently indolent and reserved, unless particularly roused to action: he speaks English better than any other native I had yet conversed with, and welcomed me in the kindest manner. His hut might be about twenty feet square, and proportionably high, with an entrance aperture on two sides, and one above. It was fitted up as usual with mats: in the midst of it he himself sat on the ground, having no other covering than the maro, and was surrounded by attendants. By his side sat an intelligent-looking American sailor, who had been upwards of twenty years on these islands, and attached himself particularly to Coxe, as his patron and protector; to preserve whose fa 394 SANDWICH ISLANDS. vour the most abject submission and adulation were necessary requisites, even to the extent of getting drunk, bon gre, malgre, with his liege lord and patron, whenever he was thereunto desired. Thus sycophancy follows power in the hut of an Indian chief, as naturally as in the palace of an European prince or Oriental despot; and to gratify the vanity, or pride, or vices, of the rich and powerful, is the road to favour with equal certainty in all quarters of the globe. Yet, what greater degradation can there be, than for one born and educated in a Christian country to be voluntarily subject to all the whims and caprices of an unenlightened and half-savage Indian? In the cool of the evening I took a walk along the banks of the river, and was delighted with the beauty and fertility of the whole district. Plantations of tarrow, maize, tobacco, sweet potatoes, yams, melons, and water-melons, everywhere met the eye, all neatly arranged, and enclosed, some by stone walls, others by fences. Of trees, the cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, banana, cotton, castor, coey, and tee species, were most plentiful. The latter is a shrub peculiar, I believe, to these islands, but APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY. 395 quite distinct from the Chinese tea-tree. The river, in most places about one hundred feet wide and not very deep, winds its still limpid way through this cheerful scene of cultivation, where the huts, rising at intervals from among small groves of bananas and bread-fruit trees, vary in a picturesque and lively manner the soft harmonious touches of nature. July 12.-I slept at Coxe's, who entertained us hospitably. We had several kinds of excellent fish baked for breakfast, and among the rest some uncommonly large flying fish. I took another and longer walk up the country, and met with the same abundant cultivation which I had before observed elsewhere. The natives here took little notice of us, which I attributed to their constant intercourse with the crews of ships coming for sandalwood. In less frequented places, they showed greater curiosity, and, I may add, greater kindness; for it was not unusual to receive little presents of fruit, particularly of melons, gratuitously offered as we passed their grounds. In this more frequented part, however, if I asked for any thing, they held up their fore-finger and thumb in the 396 SANDWICH ISLANDS. form of a dollar, and would not even take other money in payment for their goods. I usually carried knives about me, and found them very serviceable on such occasions. They are often, indeed, more prized than dollars; as the latter are of necessity delivered up, sooner or later, to the Chief whom they serve. In the afternoon Coxe, at our request, gave what is called a Hourah-hourah, or festival, similar to those described by Cook and Vancouver, but comparatively insignificant both as to the numbers and skill of the performers. Two rows of women were formed, twelve in each, who sang in wild and not very sweet tones, and at the same time made corresponding motions with their hands and bodies. They performed with great animation, beating their breasts, and changing their respective attitudes with wonderful agility, and always in the most perfect unison both of tone and gesture. The Volubility of their recitation was surprising, particularly as we were informed that the chief part was delivered improvisatore on the spur of the occasion. The whole, however, was too lascivious and indelicate to ad HOURAH-HOURAH. 397 mit of a very minute description. The spectators formed a circle round them, the coup d'ceil of which presented altogether an interesting scene. The spot selected for the entertainment lay in the midst of a small and verdant meadow, at the distance of about half-a-mile from the sea-shore. Close adjoining, the river before-mentioned rolled gently through the plain, reflecting in its limpid surface the broad shadows of the trees that overhung its banks, and varied here and there by the canoe of some rude islander, hastening from the opposite shore to partake of the day's revel. I gazed with alternate wonder upon these natural beauties, and upon the motley multitude of barbarians who surrounded me. On one side stood the noble Chief and his attendant myrmidons, listening eagerly to the Bacchanalian strains, which were often specially addressed to him; on the other side his wife and mistresses, in the midst of a number of female friends, or, to speak poetically, ministering nymphs, each robed in the simplest of all costumes. Some wore necklaces of glass beads, or of hair finely platted and doubled to a great thickness, from 398 SANDWICH ISLANDS. whitch were suspended pieces of polished whalebone by way of ornament. Others had garlands of yellow flowers gracefully braided round their heads, and small looking-glasses in their hands, in the use of which they take great delight. Others, of maturer age, had their hair besmeared with lime and water, or some such mixture, in a way that made no agreeable addition to their faded beauty. The majority of the spectators, male and female, smoked incessantly, and used for that purpose a curved wooden pipe, not more than three or four inches long and an inch in thickness. Here a party lay sprawling on the ground; there, another pressed towards the performers: all seemed to talk, and sing, and laugh immoderately-giving way to an unrestrained exuberance of animal spirits, heightened, in some instances perhaps, by partial intoxication. The men were less vivacious and diverting than the women, of whom they took little notice, and no flirtations passed between them. To the maro, commonly worn round the middle, was added, by some of the richer individuals, a loose cloth covering of British manufac HOURAH-HOURAH. 399 ture, or a blanket thrown over the shoulders. Their bodies were often, but not universally, tattooed. I observed one man, who had the exact half of his body ornamented in this manner from the top of the forehead to the sole of the foot. No spears or implements of war were carried by any one, unless we apply that term to the walking-staffs of which they make habitual use. Our party, consisting of English and Americans, did not excite much curiosity among the native bystanders. We understood, however, that the women often enjoyed their loudest transports of merriment at our expense, quizzing us without mercy, but never with ill-nature, whilst the singers honoured us occasionally with a place in their extemporaneous compositions. Thus they went on for two or three hours in the same strain, until, worked up into a state of wild enthusiastic excitement,-in attaining which speedily, and continuing in it for the longest possible time, the excellence of their performance, according to the taste of the native dramatic connoisseurs, is reckoned greatly to consist,-at length down they sank, exhausted by the violence of their 400 SANDWICH ISLANDS. efforts; and the audience, by this time, also satiated with the day's entertainment, began to disperse in all directions. I had been sitting apart from the festive scene, under the shade of some banana-trees, whence I could view all that was passing around me, and enjoy my own reveries undisturbed. I remained watching the various groups of natives, as they passed the river and returned in merry mood to their respective dwellings, when the friendly chief Coxe came up with his followers, and invited me again to pass the night under his hospitable roof. The evening was, however, so beautiful, that I preferred leaving him to enjoy his drinking-bout (that being a necessary conclusion to the festival) with those for whom it had the same attractions, and walked with two American gentlemen, to visit an Indian acquaintance whose habitation was three or four miles distant. The situation had been chosen with taste, in a romantic dell, within sight of a rivulet which murmurs through the grove., The hut was built in the usual manner, of wood thatched with hay; INDIAN HUT. 401 the interior being neatly lined with mats, and kept by the attention of the possessor in a state of perfect cleanliness and comfort. The repast prepared for us, which consisted of baked fowl and fish, was spread out under a large bread-fruit tree before the door, while the whole family, including seven or eight playful children, looked on with eager curiosity, each endeavouring in some way to anticipate our wants, but every now and then bursting out into loud fits of laughter, in which we most readily joined. One brushed away the flies, another offered a tobacco-pipe, a third a spitting-box, and, what was most astonishing, perhaps, none petitioned for any present. Clean mats, and pillows of the same material, with large and beautifully white tappers, were spread for us in the principal apartment of the hut, when we wished to retire to rest. It was not without regret that we left, the following morning, such comfortable quarters. In order to recompense the worthy old Indian for his civilities, we bought some dollars' worth of maros and tappers, of different colours, as agreeable memorials of our 2 D 402 SANDWICH ISLANDS. visit, and specimens of Sandwich Island manufacture. July 13.-We returned early to Why-arouah, and found our friend Coxe half-stupefied from the effects of the preceding night's debauch, yet determined, as he said, to keep it up a few days longer. He had used a bottle of spirits, which I left under his care, and requested more, so that I was obliged to surrender my whole stock, which, I had indeed, brought with me for the express purpose of propitiating the favour of the natives, himself among the rest. Being desirous of walking to that part of the country where the sandal-wood is cut, and inspecting some ancient monuments, of which a curious traditionary history had been related to me, I obtained a guide to show me the way, and started this day, in the company of an American fellow-passenger. A walk of three miles over the plain brought us to a deep ravine overhung by rocky precipices, with plantations of tarrow and groves of the breadfruit tree below, and watered by a small mountain-torrent. Beyond this ravine the plain continued for several miles; Without trees or cultiva ANCIENT MONUMENTAL STONE. 403 tion, covered only by high grass, to which in many places the natives had set fire. At length, after walking about twelve miles, a sudden turn opened to our view three spacious valleys, each assuming the form of a vast natural amphitheatre, begirt with woods and gigantic masses of stone from the summit downwards; when we descried the smoke of an Indian hut rising at no great distance, and there determined to take up our abode for the night. July 14.-This morning we again started at daybreak, and having walked three or four miles farther, over the same uncultivated uninhabited plain, the country all at once changed its aspect, and presented a bold outline of hills, with alternate and thickly-wooded valleys. Here our guide pointed out to us the monument of ancient times, which had been described by Coxe and his American friend as well worthy to be seen, both on its own account, and from its connexion with the traditionary history of the country. I had expected to find a monument of great magnitude; instead of which I saw nothing but a flat stone, resembling an English tomb-stone, 2 D 2 404 SANDWICH ISLANDS. about five feet broad by six or seven in length. The surface was very smooth, and upon it I discovered many rude representations of men and animals, similar to those which have from time to time been met with and described among the Indians of America. Many were defaced, and in others I could trace no resemblance to any known objects, either animate or inanimate: the stone itself was very imperfect, pieces of it having evidently been broken off on different sides, which I learnt from the guide had been done by the neighbouring inhabitants, in order to convert the materials into knives, mirrors, pots, and other domestic utensils, which were always fabricated from stone in former times, previous to the introduction of iron by foreign traders. Annexed is a drawing, taken on the spot. The tradition, as related to me by Coxe, is briefly this: —Many hundred moons ago, a race of people, more warlike and savage in their habits of life than the other inhabitants, occupied this part of the island. One Chief, Herimino by name,X who exercised supreme authority CANNIBALISM. 405 over them, was celebrated far and wide for courage and cruelty, and under him they might be said to live entirely by war and pillage. But that which most distinguished them, and spread terror among their more peaceful neighbours, was their avowed cannibalism, the prisoners whom they took in war being always butchered, to satisfy the cravings of this unnatural appetite. The habitation of the said Chief was situated on the very spot since called after him Herimino, where I now stood, and the stone in question served as an altar upon which the unfortunate human victims were sacrificed. Near it a large round hole, about twenty feet in circumference, and still clearly discernible, was pointed out as the place where the kanakas, or men, were cooked and devoured by the Chief and his adherents. The marked expression of horror on the countenance of my guide bore witness to his own belief of this story, as by dint of signs, and the repetition of a few words that I understood, he enabled me to trace the vestiges here de, scribed. 406 SANDWICH ISLANDS. The conclusion of the history is, that these bloody-minded barbarians were at length driven by superior force from the plain into their mountain fastnesses. There Herimino fell by the hand of his brother-in-law, who had some private feud and motive of enmity against him. His followers, however, still continued in possession of their fastnesses, whence they issued from time to time, like the Scottish children of the mist, to wreak their vengeance upon all who had the misfortune to fall into their hands. They were not finally extirpated till about forty years ago, when the principal Chief of the island, previous to King Tamahama-hah, pursued and killed them all, except one man, whose life accidentally was spared. One of this man's children is now a menial dependant upon the present King, and in no respect distinguishable from any of the other natives. Since that period, according to my informants, cannibalism has been exploded in the Sandwich Islands, and even its former existence may be considered as the vice of a particular race, whose ferocity rendered them objects of terror and aversion to all the other inhabitants. Whether that race SANDAL-WOOD. 407 were extinct or not when Cook made his appearance at Owhyhee, cannot be ascertained without more correct dates than tradition has preserved: but that the history here given, upon the authority of Coxe, is authentic, admits not, I should think, of any doubt. We returned the same way to Why-arouah, and found that Coxe, having exhausted all his stock of gin, had been obliged to defer the termination of his carousal to another time. He was in high good humour, however, and busily employed in weighing the sandal-wood on the beach, and shipping it on board the two vessels which lay in the roadstead. At a little distance from his own hut was a large store-house, not less than fifty feet in length by thirty in breadth, and about thirty feet high, where the sandal-wood was piled up, and kept ready for embarkation; work-people of both sexes and all ages were employed in carrying it down to the beach. The Chief and his attendants directed their operations; and one confidential man, whose duty it was to see fair play, stood over the weighing-machine, with the American Captain for whose ship the freight was destined. 408 SANDWICH ISLANDS. Coxe afterwards gave us a dinner at his hut, but preferred taking his own meal alone, in the usual manner of the country. I had much conversation with him, through the medium of his American proteg6; and, among other things, heard him express his recollection of the surprise occasioned by Captain Cook's first arrival. The appearance of a three-masted vessel, when it first hove in sight, could only be accounted for, by supposing it to be a floating island, and the term used to express that object in their language has been ever since applied to ships. In speaking of Captain- Cook's death, he shook his head, and said, it was oun maitai, not good, in those concerned, and that they were afterwards sorry for it. He was himself at that time a mere boy; but the event of the arrival of a new race of men amongst them, was -too important not to be deeply 'impressed on his memory. He considers his country benefited by the changes thereby introduced; and, in proof of it, adduced the magnitude of his own wealth and possessions, which were the result of trade with the Americans. He is said to be worth CONVERSATION WITH COXE. 4)9, twenty or thirty thousand dollars, and derives an increasing yearly income from the sale of sandal-wood, which grows upon his land. He is very covetous and fond of money withal, and knows how to drive a hard bargain. The mention of his wealth and power as very great, gives him infinite satisfaction; and when some one had the boldness to say, that in real importance he was superior to the King, his vanity seemed not a little gratified. He once expressed a desire to go to England, but felt unwilling to abandon so many comforts already in possession for an uncertain good. "Here," said he, ""I have a good house, good eating, good drinking, good wives, and good friends; what more need man desire? In another and strange country, all kinds of misfortunes might happen to me." I assured him, that in England he would meet with a kind and hospitable reception, and our American companions said the same of the United States. I then mentioned my desire to visit Owhyhee, and asked him to give me a passage in his schooner, a small vessel of forty tons, pur 410 SANDWICH ISLANDS. chased by him from the Americans. He consented, and agreed to bring me back by a given time; and I should have closed with his terms immediately, had not all the Americans present concurred in dissuading me. They said it was impossible to depend with safety upon the words and promises of these people, for that their plans were as variable as their humours and caprices; and after depositing me at Owhyhee, they might resolve to keep the schooner there for months, or to send her to some other islands. The risk of being left behind by the America was not worth incurring, for the mere gratification of curiosity; and I therefore, with great reluctance, gave up my anxious wish of visiting Karaka-koah Bay, the scene of Captain Cook's murder, and of ascending the Mountain of Mounah-roah-a mountain hitherto untrodden by the foot of Europeans, but, from its great altitude and its volcano, justly considered as one of the most remarkable in the world. Happy! thrice happy, the traveller who first has the satisfaction of exploring its heights, and discovering the crater of that volcano, which is only known to exist by the vestiges of ancient erup MOUNTAIN OF MOUNAH-ROAH. 411 tions scattered throughout the island. The difficulty of the ascent would be very great, as the sides of the mountain are guarded by thick forests, without paths or guides, and far away from all human habitations. The cold there is so excessive, that the natives themselves could not endure such a transition from the heat of the plains below; and they are besides so terrified at the idea of encountering the wild cattle, which roam in prodigious numbers through the woods, that no threats or entreaties would be likely to induce them to penetrate far with you. These cattle are descended from the stock left by Vancouver, and have multiplied to a prodigious extent; but the inhabitants make no use of them, and they are now absolutely become ferwe nature. It would require a party of foreigners therefore, in order to succeed in the attempt, with unlimited time at their disposal; and even then perhaps they might meet with precipices or other natural obstacles, which no labour could surmount; - but " nil mortalibus arduum est," and few objects are unattainable by those who possess the genuine spirit of enterprise. 412 SANDWICH ISLANDS. On the evening of the same day, I bade adieu to Governor Coxe, as he was styled, and went to visit an American sailor, who had been established upwards of five years in this island, and cultivated a small farm belonging to that Chief. His property consisted of a few acres of tarrow-plantations, in the midst of a fine orchard of breadfruit and other trees, with pasturage for a large herd of goats; and these, in addition to some pigs and poultry, rendered him rich in the eyes of all his neighbours. His cottage was well built, and being furnished with matting, we passed the night very comfortably in it. He liked his situation altogether, and thought it very preferable to a seaman's life; but complained, nevertheless, of the insecure tenure by which property is held in this country. He told me, as others had done, that he was afraid of making any improvements and putting more land into cultivation, lest his prosperity should excite the cupidity of the Chief, who would not hesitate, if he chose it, to appropriate the whole to himself. As it was, he had to bear every sort of petty exaction, according to the caprices of the Chief or the instigations of his ad 1BEAUTIFUL SCENERY. 4 13 visers, and only retained possession of his property by acceding to every demand, and propitiating with continual presents the favour of the great man. July 15.-This and the two succeeding days I devoted to rest and quiet, reading, and writing my Journal, and examining at all points of view the picturesque beauties of the landscape. Eye never beheld, nor did pen ever describe, a more lovely and enchanting spot. Groves of bread-fruit and other trees, through which a limpid river murmured gently along, and glittered at intervals amid the foliage; Indian cottages scattered here and there, with their rude inhabitants passing and repassing in various directions; hills, to which distance lent enchantment-here clothed in perpetual verdure, there broken into valleys and projecting eminences, only equalled in number by the numberless tints of light and shade upon their sides, varied at each instant by successive gleams of sunshine; a clear blue sky, not excelled in brightness by that of Italy, and " airs, vernal airs," dispensing coolness and fragrance through the atmosphere:-these were some of the many 414. SANDWICH ISLANDS. charms which characterized the spot, and made hours swiftly pass away as I roved from walk to walk, and from hut to hut, comparing the rich exuberance of Nature with the moral wilderness that the mind of man presented in such an uncivilized state of society. At first, the habits and manners of the people among whom I was thus strangely thrown, possessed the all-powerful attraction of novelty; but as that wore off, indifference succeeded to curiosity, and feelings of interest were by degrees exchanged for those of disgust. I then courted solitude; but even the loveliest scenery soon loses its exhilarating influence over the animal spirits, when there is no congenial mind to share the pleasure it occasions, and I therefore returned towards the hut to seek diversion in the songs, and prattle, and merriment of the natives who accompanied our party. Two or three of my American companions had their wives with them, and we formned altogether rather a motley assemblage in the hut of our host, each extended on the ground, in the most convenient position; some drinking out of cala HABITS OF THE NATIVES. 41,5 bash bowls, others helping themselves with their fingers to the poey, and others again, more squeamish, awkwardly endeavouring to substitute European fashions for those of the country. The women were always full of vivacity and fun, laughing and chattering with unceasing volubility. When not eating, they generally played at whist, which appeared to be the universally favourite game, and at which they sometimes played for hours together, never betting nor gambling in any way. Two or three times a day the whole party of natives, male and female, repaired to the river, and amused themselves with bathing. The women are excellent swimmers and divers, to which they are habituated from their earliest childhood, insomuch that one would almost think the water was their natural element. July 18, 19.-During these two days I experienced all the petty miseries and discomforts of sickness in such a situation; every possible attention was however shown to me, and I happily felt sufficiently well to start again the following morning, July 20, on my return to Hannahrourah. Before parting, I purchased from my 416 SANDWICH ISLANDS. host half-a-dozen fine milch goats at three dollars, and a dozen kids at one dollar each, which he engaged to deliver safely on board the America. The breed of goats is excellent, and there is great abundance of them. We passed over a long uncultivated plain, varied only by occasional ravines, for a distance of twenty miles, and about two o'clock reached Pearl River, so called from the pearls which are found in small quantities in its bed. The specimens I saw appeared to be of a very inferior quality. The sea here forms a small bay, which has the appearance of a salt-water lake, being landlocked on every side except at the narrow entrance. Two or three small streams, too insignificant to merit the appellation of rivers, discharge their united waters into the bay, which is full six miles in length and two in breadth. The adjoining low country is overflowed both naturally and by artificial means, and is well stocked with tarrow-plantations, bananas, &c. The land belongs to many different proprietors; and on every estate there is a fishpond surrounded by a stone wall, where the fish are strictly preserved FUNERAL DIRGES. 417 for the use of their rightful owners, or tabooed, as the natives express it. One of particularly large dimensions belongs to the King. A civilized native, whose business it is to supply the shipping and foreign residents at Hannah-rourah with fish, eggs, poultry, pigs, and other provisions, accommodated us in his hut. He talked English perfectly well, having made two or three voyages in American ships; but his knowledge had rendered him conceited and vulgarly familiar, and we were not pleased with such a specimen of Indian civilization. He lodged us comfortably, however, and supplied all our wants to the best of his ability; and we soon retired to rest after a sultry day's walk, with much satisfaction. A death had recently taken place in the family, and this being the night of the full moon, a party of old women sat up chanting funeral dirges for several hours. Each sang a few stanzas (if their rude compositions can 'be so termed) by turns, and then united in a general chorus. There was something lugubre and 2E 41S SANDWICH ISLANDS. solemn in these lamentations, notwithstanding the total disregard of melody in the singers; and I was pleased at thus witnessing among modern barbarians the prevalence of a custom which we read of as existing among barbarous nations in the remotest ages of antiquity. July 21.-This day I remained quietly in the same quarters, feeling too weak to pursue my journey with tolerable comfort. I walked about two miles with a troop of women and children, who gladly escorted me to see a spring and waterfall, of which much mention had been made. The cascade in itself is insignificant; the scenery around it beautiful, but so resembling the scenery of other places which I have mentioned, that a minute description of it here would be unnecessary. My laughter-loving companions were full of play and merriment, and dashed into the water the moment we arrived, with simultaneous impetuosity, shouting out and singing in the wildest manner, and urging me to share their diversions. They afterwards accompanied me home, in the same frolicksome mood, and I was altogether highly diverted by such a lively HUMAN IMPROVEMENT. 419 representation of primitive simplicity, good humour, and enjoyment. If exemption from care, and an unceasing flow of animal spirits, constitute happiness, then surely might these rude islanders be pronounced superlatively happy. But let them not be called, as the enemies to human improvement would insinuate, "Yet happiest, if they seek no happier state, And know to know no more." That remark can only be applied with truth to a state of virtuous innocence, —a state from which all human societies, particularly uncivilized ones, are far, very far removed. True happiness, therefore, cannot be supposed to reside where vice, and folly, and ignorance abound; and blessed indeed is the change to Christian knowledge and moral habits, which is already beginning to take place, and will, it is to be hoped, hereafter become perpetual among them! July 22. —We resumed our journey towards the port at daybreak, and arrived at noon. Our route lay over an uncultivated plain within view of the sea, diversified by occasional ravines, where 2 E 2 420 0SANDWICH ISLANDS. the vegetation was very luxuriant, and set off by many thick groves of cocoa-nut trees. We passed a salt lake, two or three miles in circumference, and separated by a wide embankment of sand from the sea. It was full of crystallized masses of salt, which glittered in the sunbeams, and looked at a distance like ice covered with snow. Here the inhabitants of Hannah-rourah and the neighbouring country supply themselves with this necessary article of life, and we collected some beautiful specimens of it in a crystallized state. We passed the remainder of the day, after our arrival, on ship-board, and the pleasure of finding ourselves again at home after an absence of twelve days was enhanced by the prospect of a speedy departure; for now that the novelty of an Indian life had worn off, its coarser and least agreeable features became daily more and more perceptible, and the society of the natives, where it did not disgust, was as least monotonous, tiresome, and uninteresting. July 23.-I paid a round of visits to the King and his Queens, the Missionaries, and other American residents. His Majesty was not intoxicated, THE QUEEN AT HER STUDIES. 421 as at the time of my first visit, but lay asleep by the side of his favourite Queen, under the shed already described, dressed in a common sailor's shirt and trowsers. Round them were the usual attendants, singing and brushing away the flies. Not wishing to disturb their repose, I passed into the inner apartment, where the principal Queen, or rather the Queen (she alone being considered as his real wife), was at work among her women: she was dressed in a loose coloured chintz gown, put on without any regard to European notions of decency in the adjustment of it. She continued, however, to retain the tapper ceinture as a kind of petticoat. They all lay sprawling together on the matted floor, with slates and spelling-books about them; and she in particular evinced much apparent interest in her studies. She addressed me with much cordiality, spoke two or three words in broken English, and inquired where I had been for so many days. She then showed me her writing, and said that my countryman Mr. Ellis was her master, and that the King, though too indolent to study himself, was anxious that she 422 SANDWICH ISLANDS. should learn. We were beginning to become very good friends, when unluckily at this moment she took a fancy to a gold ring, the present of a friend, upon my finger, and wished me to sell or give it her. I refused, and my refusal vexed her, so that my visit terminated rather awkwardly, and I was glad to hasten away to pay my respects elsewhere. The Missionaries welcomed me again most kindly to their humble yet hospitable roof, and I passed a very pleasant evening in their society. They also had made a tour round the island, and it was very satisfactory to compare my notes with theirs. The kindness and hospitality of the natives had been equally extended to us all, and called forth our united praises. They had met and conversed with the ex-high-priest, Heva-heva, the duties of whose office naturally expired when the present King abolished the Taboo system of idolatry. They thought him affable, and by no means prejudiced against them; but he announced his own intention of waiting until; the King should make a public declaration in favour of the new religion, before he took its merits VISIT TO KRIMAKOO. 423 into consideration, which, indeed, seemed to be the general sentiment entertained throughout the island. July 24.-This day I paid a visit to the chief Krimakoo, alias Billy Pitt, so called from his great skill and influence in directing the King's Government. He was sitting in his hut, surrounded by a large family of women,- children and attendants, and occupied in the examination of his fishing apparatus, lines, hooks, &c. The latter, as commonly used by the natives, are made of bone or mother-of-pearl, from one to four or five inches in length, which glitter in the water, and attract fish without the assistance of a bait. He had a great number of these hooks in his possession, putting a high fancy price upon them, and refusing to part with any for less than a dollar each. He showed me some of the feather cloaks, used upon great occasions by the Chiefs; one of which he wore at the public dinner already mentioned, on the 4th of July. They reach from the shoulders to the feet, and were manufactured antecedent to the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook. He refused to sell them at 424 SANDWICH ISLANDS. any price; and I afterwards found that no such purchase could be made under several hundred dollars. For one small bunch of feathers, similar to those of which the cloaks are made, I had to pay one dollar. The character of this Chief for firmness, enterprise, and activity, as well as natural shrewdness, stands deservedly high in the estimation both of foreigners and of his own countrymen. He was for many years the confidential adviser and supporter of old Tama-hama-hah, who left his successor injunctions to consider him always in the same light. The advice of the departed King has been faithfully adopted; and no business of his successor Reho-Reho can be transacted, unless Krimakoo is made acquainted with it, and favourably inclined towards the persons interested or the object in view. July 25.-A cutter of a hundred and twenty tons arrived from Fanning's Island, commanded by Lieutenant Kent of the Royal Navy. This officer had been appointed by Governor Macquarrie, in New South Wales, to take charge of a small schooner mounting eight guns, which, in fulfil PRESENT OF THE KING OF ENGLAND, 425 ment of a promise made by Vancouver, had been sent as a present from the King of England to the King of the Sandwich Islands. He had accordingly left Port Jackson, and after touching at New Zealand and Otaheite, where he took up Messrs. Ellis, Tyreman and Bennet, he executed his commission in Woahoo in the month of April last. Since that time he had been on a voyage to a small island lately discovered in these seas, and called, after the name of the discoverer, Fanning's Island. They found no inhabitants on it, but great abundance of beach la mar, a commodity suited to the Chinese market. He now returned, with the intention of proceeding shortly on his voyage back to Otaheite and New South Wales. July 26.-Visited Menini, a white resident, who acted as the King's interpreter, and by his industry-a rare virtue among the Europeans here-had become a rich and useful member of the community. He was a Spaniard by birth, and spoke English remarkably well. He gave me some wine made by himself from a grape grown in the country, which he had been the first to introduce He showed me his farm-yard, and grounds adjoining, 426 4SANDWICH ISLANDS. stocked with a herd of fine cattle, the only cattle in the island, and with goats, pigs, poultry, and pigeons, and some horses of an inferior South American breed, of his own importation. He had several plantations of tarrow and sweet potatoes in the interior; and besides the vine, was endeavouring to cultivate other vegetable productions, such as the cotton-tree, maize, pease, beans, &c. Of all he showed me samples; some I had seen successfully cultivated elsewhere. He spoke much in favour of the fertility of the soil, and assured me that if the natives could by any means be forced into habits of regular industry, they might turn the whole country into a garden, and export cotton to China. He entertained no hopes, however, of such a change. I remarked that it might gradually be brought about by the influence of religion on their minds and moral conduct, which he did not appear to understand; nor was he disposed to depart from the prejudices of his associates against the Missionaries, to whose exertions in the work of civilizing these people he was evidently opposed. As a trader and farmer, his industry, sobriety, and A WHITE SETTLER. 427 good management, were highly meritorious, and it would be well for the country - if there were many such settlers in it; but in other respects, his mind soared very little, if at all, above his Indian neighbours. He lived, like the other white inhabitants, with a native female, by whom he had one grown-up son, a fine handsome young man, who had come out as steward in the American brig Post Captain, and had sailed with me round Cape Horn. He was now staying with his father, and likely to prove a clever useful assistant to him. Menini was supposed to be worth thirty or forty thousand dollars, amassed during a residence of thirty years in the country: but he held his property by rather a feeble tenure, namely, the King's good will and pleasure; and might at any one moment be deprived of it, without the possibility of obtaining redress. His riches and frugal habits of life were calculated to make him many enemies, and he was, in fact, universally unpopular. Sunday, 28th.-I attended Divine service, and heard a very good discourse delivered by Mr. Bingham. Not many of the white residents were 428 SANDWICH ISLANDS. present, and but few natives. Kaahumanu, one of the chieftainesses, and a sister of Coxe, who had distinguished herself some time before in burning the few remaining idols and destroying every vestige of idolatry at Owhyhee, was specially invited, and had promised to attend. A sudden whim, however, seized her, to go to Whyteete; and there she spent the day, bathing, and playing in the surf with a host of equally frolicksome companions. Coxe, who had now returned from Why-arouah, also promised to attend, but was obliged to stay away in consequence of sudden illness. Monday, 29th.-Upon visiting the King to-day, the house really presented a novel and interesting sight. At least thirty natives of both sexes were present, most of them, the King and his Queens among the rest, engaged in learning to read and write. Two of the Otaheitean converts attended the other Missionaries, and gave instructions to the general satisfaction. Several of the other white inhabitants were likewise present, and we were one and all much diverted by the childish eagerness of the new pupils to execute their respective PROGRESS OF EDUCATION. 4'20 tasks, and to show off to us strangers their recentlyacquired learning. The King seemed least likely to become a proficient, in consequence of his great natural indolence and variable disposition, though not less ready to encourage others who might be more studiously inclined; and he actually commanded that one hundred copies of the Spelling-book should be given to his people. I believe the novelty of the thing to be the chief attraction now; and when that is worn off, few of the grown-up persons are likely to make much progress in scholarship. From the children better results may be confidently anticipated; and Mrs. Bingharn's school, containing upwards of fifty pupils, is already far enough advanced to give a satisfactory assurance of ultimate success, The young Prince, Kau-ke-oule, heir and nephew to the King, about twelve years old, is one of the most promising scholars; and the importance of giving him such an education as may render his Government beneficial to the whole community hereafter, is very sensibly. felt by his instructors. During this and the following days, I was hu, 430 SANDWICH ISLANDS. sily employed in preparing for the voyage and adding to my collection of curiosities. Mats of various patterns, the best of which come from Atooi, tapper-cloths, and maros, bows and arrows, spears, paddles, fishing-hooks and lines, hair-necklaces and bone ornaments, tobacco-pipes, featherbrushes and fans, stone knives, and other articles of local manufacture, were purchased without difw ficulty. Feather-cloaks and helmets were not to be had on any terms; and I searched throughout the whole village, making every possible inquiry in vain for one of the ancient idols. The people expressed great astonishment at my desire to possess what they had themselves ceased to value, and seemed even affronted by my supposing that they could have preserved any such antiquated relics of pristine ignorance and superstition. How variable and uncertain is the mind of man! how subject to fluctuations of opinion, in uncivilized as well as civilized communities! A few years back, this people would have refrained, with superstitious horror and dread, from the infringement of a single Taboo ceremony, and never approached their mordis or temples except with RELIC BELONGING TO COOK'S IMAGE. 431 feelings of mingled terror and veneration. They now entertain sentiments as strong the other way, and despise the very idols which till lately they adored: the mere mention of them appears ridiculous, and scarcely a vestige remains to satisfy the curiosity of strangers. If to reason from analogy is not presumptuous, it may be fairly questioned whether a similar change might not be brought about, by the operation of similar causes, in other Pagan countries,-namely, a despotic monarch's will! How feeble must be the tie, where the ceremonial and not the doctrine constitutes the essential point of religious obligation! One ancient relic which I was fortunate enough to secure deserves particular remark, not so much for its abstract value, as for the associations connected with it. It is generally well known, that after the death of Captain Cook the inhabitants repented them of the deed, and sincerely lamented a man whose previous conduct had been such as to secure their admiration and respect. To perpetuate his memory, therefore, they resolved to deify him; and accordingly made an appropriate image, which for many years was actually carried 432 SANDWICH ISLANDS. in procession round the island of Owhyhee, under the appellation of the Wandering God. This image, during the procession, was immediately preceded by a person bearing in his hand a spear, to which was prefixed an instrument containing twenty lashes, each a yard in length, woven with the same sort of feathers that are used in the manufacture of cloaks and idols. He brandished it before the image, as it were to clear the way; and any person who had the misfortune to be touched by it, was summarily put to death as guilty of violating the Taboo regulation. This identical instrument is now in my possession, and the annexed drawing represents a native Sandwich Islander in the act of brandishing it on the point of a spear, as was formerly the custom. Sunday, August 4.-I attended the Missionary chapel at seven in the morning, when Mr. Ellis performed Divine service before a large congregation of natives. They listened with apparent attention, but were probably more influenced by vague curiosity than by any real desire of improvement. The Otaheitean converts, acting as catechists, were present, and joined in the psalms, as sung by the EXPOUNDING OF THE SCRIPTURES. 433 Missionaries, with melodious voices and seeming earnestness. August 5.-This morning I went to Coxe, intending to purchase some goats. I expected to find him, as usual, either sleeping, or smoking, or drinking, or busy trafficking like myself. The door of his hut was half open, and I was about to enter unceremoniously, when a scene too striking ever to be forgotten, and which would require the hand of a master painter to do it justice, suddenly arrested my whole attention. About a dozen natives of both sexes were seated in a circle, on the matted floor of the apartment, and in the midst of them sat John Honoree, the Otaheitean catechist. All eyes were bent upon him; and the variously expressive features of each individual marked the degree of interest excited by what was passing in his mind. So absorbed, indeed, were they in their reflections, that my abrupt appearance at the door created for some time neither interruption nor remark. The speaker held in his hand the Gospel of St. John, as published at Otaheite, and was endeavouring, by signs and familiar illustrations, to render its 2 F 434 SANDWICH ISLANDS. contents easy of comprehension. His simple yet energetic manner added weight to his opinions, and proved that he spoke, from personal conviction, the sincere and unpremeditated language of the heart. The Chief himself stood in the back-ground, a little apart from the rest, leaning upon the shoulder of an attendant. A gleam of light suddenly fell upon his countenance, and disclosed features, on which wonder, anxiety, and seriousness, were imprinted in the strongest characters. Hle wore no other dress than the maro round the waist; but his tall athletic form, and bust seen bending over the other's shoulders, and dignified demeanour, marked at one glance his rank and superiority over all around. One hand was raised instinctively to his head in a pensive attitude. His knitted brows bespoke intense thought; and his piercing black eyes were fixed upon the speaker with an inquiring, penetrating look, as much as to say -" Can what you tell us be really true?" I gazed for some minutes with mute astonishment, turning my regards from one to the other, and dreading to intrude upon the privacy of per LAST VISIT TO THE KING. 435 sons whose time was so usefully employed. At last the Chief turned round, and motioned with his hand, in a dignified manner, for me to withdraw. I did so; but carried away in my heart the remembrance of a scene to which the place, the people, and the occasion, united in attaching a peculiar interest. I learnt afterwards that Coxe had promised to build a school-house, and present it to the Missionaries for their use: a donation which, considering his acknowledged love of money, affords no mean proof that his inquiries into the truth of the new religion had not been altogether fruitless. August 6.-I visited the King, and found him carousing with a low Englishman, whom he called his gunner. He was in a very jolly mood, and welcomed me heartily; rather too much so, indeed, as I had some difficulty in resisting his solicitations to push about the bottle with them. Being in want of amusement, he sent the gunner to fire off the guns of the adjoining battery, which I was informed he frequently did when he happened to be in a frolicsome mood; and that he 2 F 2 436 SANDWICH ISLANDS. sometimes continued to divert himself in the same way for hours together. August 10.-On the afternoon of this day, having taken in all our freight of sandal-wood, and made every preliminary arrangement, we finally left Woahoo and the Sandwich Islands, in company with the American ship Howqua, and pursued our voyage over the Pacific Ocean to Canton. I took an affectionate leave of the Missionaries, and left them my best wishes for the success of their disinterested and benevolent undertaking. I carried away with me a grateful recollection also of the attentions and hospitality I had invariably experienced at the hands of the American Consul and other white residents, as well as the native population. The King and one of his Queens paid us a farewell visit on board just before our departure; and we in return did our best to entertain them in their favourite way, with wine, spirits, &c. This sort of entertainment at first made them noisy and talkative, then gradually more and more quiet; until at last the King threw himself on one sopha, and the Queen upon the other, and both fell fast DEPARTURE. 437 asleep, their attendants in the mean time standing over them as usual with fans to brush away the flies, and singing their own wild, inharmonious lullaby. At last the ship got under weigh, and we were obliged to rouse our royal visitors rather unceremoniously from their slumbers, that they might take their departure, which they accordingly did; and we exchanged for the last time the friendly salutation of 'Ar-ro-ha' with much mutual cordiality. Between twenty and thirty females, who had been living on board with the sailors, according to immemorial usage, still remained, and seemed unwilling to quit the ship. At length, when we had advanced about a mile out of the harbour, they took a most tender leave of their respective sweethearts, and with loud laughter and cries, and huzzas from the crew, leaped overboard in one instant into the sea. There they remained swimming and diving, and playing about the ship, like so many mermaids in their native element, until a breeze sprung up; and as we bounded merrily before it, women and canoes, and houses and the land itself, gradually disappeared from our view. CHAPTER XIV. Geography of the Sandwich Islands. — Population. — Traditionary History.-Reign and Character of Tama-hamahah.-Last Advice to his Son.-Influence of his favourite Chief, Krimakoo. - Succession of Reho-reho, the reigning Monarch.-Narrative of his Visit to Atooi.-Destruction of the Taboo Idolatry.-Rebellion suppressed.Form of Government.-Power of the King,-Chiefs.Condition of the People.-Vegetable Productions.-Sandalwood.-Nature and extent of the Trade.-Amount of Shippingemployed.-Speculation to Canton.-Foreign Imports. -King's Revenue.-National Customs.-Superstitions.. — Traditions. - Past and present State of the Inhabitants compared.-Evils of foreign Intercourse. - Introduction of Christianity;- its attendant benefits, and probable future establishment. —Conclusion. SOME general remarks on the Sandwich Islands, illustrative of and supplementary to the above Narrative, are now added from information collected on the spot. The group, so designated in honour of his patron by Cook in 1778, are eleven in number, extending from 18~ 54' to 220 15' N. latitude, GEOGRAPHY AND POPULATION. 439 and from 15~ 54' to 160 24' W. longitude. Their names are as follows:-Owhyhee, Mowee, Ranai, Morotoi, Tahoorowa, Woahoo, Atooi, Oneehow, Oneehoua, Morokumee, and Tahoora. The two latter are mere uninhabited rocks. The climate is eminently salubrious and agreeable; the thermometer generally ranging between 70~ and 80~, with a constant trade-wind blowing from the N. E. The population of the whole group was, I have reason to believe, over-estimated by Cook at 400,000; and since that time a great decrease has taken place. I walked over the principal part of Woahoo, and should not estimate the population at above 8000, nor that of the whole group, from all that I could learn on the subject, at more than 160,000, by the highest calculation. When Captain Cook first discovered these islands, they were not united, as they now are, under one King; but governed by a number of independent Chiefs, whose private quarrels and occasional projects of ambition used to involve their respective adherents in constant wars. From an aristocracy so savage and oppressive, the natives:were in part delivered by the courage and 440 SANDWICH ISLANDS. enterprising spirit of one Chief, who, by a happy mixture of personal courage and political shrewdness, had rendered himself the first and most powerful individual in Owhyhee. But Tamahama-hah, for so he was called, was not satisfied with this; and, having established his authority on a firm basis in Owhyhee, he proceeded to reduce all the other islands under his authority. Success everywhere attended him; and at Woahoo, where the principal resistance was made, he finally drove the enemy into the heart of the country, pursued them with vigour, and slew their unfortunate leader at Herimino, the place remarkable for the monumental stone already noticed. He was then universally acknowledged as King of the Sandwich Islands, and during a long course of years maintained peaceable but firm possession of the pre-eminence to which his abilities and bravery had raised him. He was soon aware of the important advantages likely to accrue from an intercourse with Europeans, and gave every possible encouragement to settlers and trading vessels. Under his sanction a regular and increasing trade was carried on with English and American KING TAMA-HAMA-HAH. 441 whalers, and with ships employed in the trade between Canton and the North-west coast of America. In Vancouver's time he had learnt to entertain a high respect for the British flag; and the most friendly relations subsisted between the natives and the discovery-ships. He even went so far as to make a formal surrender of his dominions to the King of England, under the idea of securing his protection in case any other foreign nation should endeavour to disturb the tranquillity of the islands. It is not known what pledge Captain Vancouver gave to that effect; but it is certain that a promise was made to send out an armed schooner for their defence. The impression on the mind of Tamahama-hah, and of Krimakoo, transmitted to the present King Rleho-reho, was this,- that King George was their good ally; and the arrival of Captain Kent with the present of an armed schooner aAirded a gratifying proof that their good ally King George had not forgotten them. This vessel made a valuable addition to their little marine establishment, which had been increasing by the purchase of vessels chiefly for the I 442 SANDWICH ISLANDS. purposes of trade, by the sale of sandal-wood to the Americans, during the life-time of Tama-hama-hah, and since his death. The character of Tama-hama-hah was of a superior cast, and the establishment of his authority conduced, more than any other circumstance could have done, towards the growing improvement of his countrymen. That liberality of sentiment which is characteristic of a great mind, marked all stages of his career; and the only exception appears to have been a too great proneness to superstition, and a bigoted attachment to the Taboo system of idolatry. Considering, however, the natural fondness of all men for the religion and customs of their forefathers, such a fault, if fault it really be, in him, as a Pagan, may justly be held excusable. It was policy, perhaps, after all, which led him to encourage the priests and their religion. Their assistance helped to strengthen his power, and the abject fear thereby created in the minds of the people was constantly turned by him to their mutual advantage. Arbitrary measures, on SUCCESSION OF REHO-REHO. 443 the ground of religion, on the one hand, and slavish, reverential obedience on the other, were thus rendered habitual to both parties, and no one dared to resist the united authority of church and state, enforced by a King of acknowledged courage and abilities. His whole history affords a remarkable proof, that the noble qualities, which, even in civilized countries, can be rarely found, notwithstanding "all appliances and means to boot," are sometimes of spontaneous growth in the breast of an untutored savage, whose only law is his own will, and whose will knows no higher motives for action than those which rude nature alone inspires. Let us now resume our little historical sketch. The last dying words of Tama-hama-hah to his son, enjoined upon him the protection of foreigners, and the cultivation of a friendly intercourse with all nations. He pointed out their great superiority in the arts both of war and peace, the riches and consequent advantages which an extended comrmerce with them would confer, and the opposite 444 SANDWICH ISLANDS. evils which were likely to follow disagreements with such powerful adversaries. The young King, Reho-reho, who was twenty years of age at the time of his father's death, neglected no part of his injunctions. The persons and properties of the white inhabitants remained unmolested. Trading vessels were encouraged, and unlimited confidence established as before, between the foreigners and natives. In these and his other measures Reho-reho displayed much vigour. Woahoo, Owhyhee, Mowee, and the other islands, with the exception of Atooi, immediately submitted to his authority; but some doubt was entertained respecting the King of Atooi, who had always held a right of sovereignty in that island; and though he owned allegiance to Tama-hama-hah, it was known to be paid more through fear of his power than otherwise, and therefore no dependance could be placed on a continuance of his fealty. The point was debated with the King, Krimakoo, and the other principal advisers, as to the measures which should be pursued, in case any refractory spirit were to show itself in Atooi; which ended by a declaration from Reho-reho, to MEETING OF TWO RIVAL KINGS. 445 the effect "that he would manage the whole thing in his own way:" accordingly, he put himself into a small canoe, in spite of their remonstrances, the very same night, with only a few attendants, and made the best of his way to that island. He fortunately arrived safe, and went at once boldly up to the house of his supposed rival, whom he found surrounded, as usual, by a large party of Chiefs and adherents. Their surprise at so unexpected a visit, was only equalled by what they felt when he declared the purport of it. He came, he said, to receive that submission which had been always paid to his father, and which he now claimed in his own person, as successor, by the acknowledged right of inheritance. " It is mine," he pursued, " to command, yours to obey; -but people say that you meditate resistance. I do not believe them, and throw myself, without fear, upon your sense of honour and hospitality. If you are mry enemy in secret, be so now openly, -I am alone, unarmed, and in your power; but if you are my friend, as I hope and believe, merit the confidence reposed in you, by banishing the 446 SANDWICH ISLANDS. remembrance of all past enmities in present cordiality. I hereby offer you my pledge, as King; do you accept it as a faithful subject should do; we will then part friends, and in peace: if not, let each abide by the consequences of his own act." An appeal so noble, so frank, and so energetic, proved, as it deserved to be, irresistible. The young King was welcomed to Atooi with every demonstration of respect. His demands were complied with, and after a short stay in that island, during which hourah-hourahs and other festivities were given in his honour, he returned in state to Woahoo, attended by his brother King and a multitude of his adherents. In considering this story, one is at a loss which most to admire, —the display of intrepidconfidence and chivalrous spirit on the one side, or of generous and honourable feeling on the other; while both evinced that certain elevation of mind, which is, perhaps, more the gift of nature than of education in every country and in every age. The next act of Reho-reho was not less bold in its conception and execution, and is likely to be productive of the most important and bene DESTRUCTION OF IDOLATRY. 447 ficial consequences. The whole Taboo system of idolatrous religion, which had existed from time immemorial, and is described at large by Cook and Vancouver, was radically abolished; all superstitious restrictions, such as those which prohibited the women from eating pork and cocoa-nuts, &c., or from taking their meals in company with the men, were set aside; and the priests, who no longer had any duties to perform, and no religious principle to influence their conduct, yielded a ready obedience to the authority of the King, and acquiesced without hesitation in this important change. The mnorais, or temples, with their blood-stained altars, upon which human victims had been so often immolated to appease the supposed wrath of Heaven, were universally levelled with the ground. The images were committed to the flamnes; and so complete was the work of destruction, that, in the course of a few months, neither sacrifices nor religious observances of any sort were kept, or even thought of, by the inhabitants. So entire a revolution, which disunited religion from politics, in opposition to the known system of the late King, could not fail to breed discontent 448 SANDWICH ISLANDS. in some quarters; and accordingly a partial rebellion broke out in the island of Owhyhee, where a powerful Chief, who possessed the god of Tamahama-hah, endeavoured to restore the ancient religion of the country: but this was productive of no other effect than to afford Reho-reho an opportunity of displaying his great superiority and courage. He lost no time in collecting a body of his warriors, and attacking the enemy, whom with the assistance of Krimakoo he completely routed, destroyed the Chief with about sixty of his followers, and obliged the rest to lay down their arms and submit to the exercise of his authority. Hannah-rourah, in Woahoo, is the usual place of residence of Reho-reho. It is a pretty straggling village, the huts being for the most part surrounded by small enclosures, and not laid out with any regularity in streets. It probably contains between two and three thousand inhabitants. The scheme of Government is nearly the same as in the time of Tama-hama-hah; that is, simply and strictly arbitrary, there being no limitation, direct or indirect, to the power of the King. In FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 449 all the islands, except Atooi, he appoints governors to fill his place, and like him to exercise arbitrary authority. At Atooi, the principal Chief is considered in the light of a tributary though hereditary king,-a distinction which shows, that though he is tributary, he possesses power of his own right, and stands on a different footing from other Chiefs. The King then is a complete autocrat-all power, all property, all persons, are at his disposal: the Chiefs receive grants of land from him, which they divide and let out again in lots to their dependants, who cultivate it for the use of the Chief, reserving a portion for their own subsistence. The cultivators are not paid for their labour, nor, on the other hand, do they pay a regular rent for the land. They are expected to send presents of pigs, poultry, tarrow, and other provisions, to the Chief, from time to time, together with any little sums of money which they may have acquired in trade, or any other property which it may suit the fancy or the convenience of the great man to take. This arbitrary system is a sad hindrance to the pros2 G 450 SANDWICH ISLANDS. perity of the tenant; for if he is disposed to be industrious, and bring his land into good cultivation, or raise a good breed of live stock, and becomes rich in possessions, the Chief is soon informed of it, and the property is seized for his use, whilst the farmer loses the fruit of all his labours. This state of things, as between the King and his Chiefs, is little more than theoretical; but as between the Chiefs and their dependants, it exists mischievously in practice: hence the great stimulus to industry being removed, the people live and vegetate, without making any exertions beyond what the command of the Chief and the care of their own subsistence force upon them. One day in a week, or a fortnight, as occasion may require, the tenants are required to work upon the private estate of the Chief. I have seen hundreds-men, women and children-at once employed in this way on the tarrow-plantations: all hands turn out, for they assist each other in a body, and thus get through the work with greater expedition and ease. When a kanaka, or tenant, refuses to obey the PUNISHMENT OF A REFRACTORY TENANT. 451 order of his Chief, the most severe and summary punishment is inflicted on him, namely, confiscation of his property. An instance in point happened to occur while I was staying at Why-arouah. Coxe had given orders to some hundreds of his people to repair to the woods by an appointed day to cut sandal-wood. The whole obeyed except one man, who had the folly and hardihood to refuse. Upon this, his house was set fire to, and burnt to the ground on the very day: still he refused to go. The next process was to seize his possessions, and turn his wife and family off the estate; which would inevitably have been done, if he had not allowed discretion to take the place of valour, and made a timely submission, to prevent this extremity. It has been before said, that no compensation is made to the labourers for their work, except a small grant of land. This, however, does not prevent the Chief, if kindly disposed, from distributing supplies of maros, tappers, cloth, &c. gratuitously among them. I have heard that Krimakoo once distributed no less than three thousand blankets among his people. 2 G 2 -452 SANDWICH ISLANDS. The King exercises absolute dominion over the sea as well as over the land; and in the same way lets out the right of fishery along the coast to his Chiefs. He can, whenever he pleases, taboo* the sea, that is, interdict every person from fishing for a certain time; and at those times no one even thinks of opposing his order. He takes care to turn this privilege of tabooing to good account, upon suitable occasions. While we were at Hannah-rourah, there happened to be a great demand for provisions to supply the shipping, several foreign vessels being in port at that time: he accordingly took the opportunity of tabooing potatoes. All the farmers who had a stock on hand, were then obliged to give them up without remuneration; and by thus monopolizing the trade, he supplied the market on his own terms. * The term Taboo, in its strict original signification, is only applicable to the religious restrictions of the ancient system of idolatry. Owing, however, to the intimate connexion between politics and religion, the influence of the latter was often called into the service of the former, and by the use of the term Taboo, political restrictions became considered as religious obligations. But when the religion of the country was overthrown, the necessity for political restrictions, such as those here spoken of, continuing the same, the term Taboo was still used to express them. It is now adopted in common parlance to signify any kind of interdiction, as at p. 174,1.19. CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. 453 From the above observations it will be evident that no regular system of government is pursued either by the King or Chiefs; but that they constitute a powerful and rich aristocracy, to which the people are subject, and render through fear or habit the most implicit obedience. There are no laws, no rules of any sort, to counterpoise the two extremes of tyranny and servitude. There are no middling classes-no artificers, no tradesmen, properly so called. The lower orders of people are employed in agriculture or fishing. Formerly a small branch of red and yellow feathers used to be the most valuable commodity, and the circulating medium. Dollars have now supplied their place, and thus made a step in the facilities of trade. Murder, and robberies accompanied by violence, are absolutely unknown. Pilferings are punishable, when detected, by the forfeiture of property: but the vice of stealing, so much complained of by our early voyagers, appears to be now less practised by the natives than in former times. There are, however, some symptoms of a police-regulation, in the case of foreigners, as a protection to trade; for 454 SANDWICH ISLANDS, on the arrival of a ship, some confidential person is sent on board by the King to prevent stealing, and put a check upon every other improper practice. Among the higher orders the rank of Chief is hereditary. To the question, Is nobility of mind generally more prevalent among the favoured few, than among the plebeian followers? I should answer in the affirmative: the word of a Chief in the Sandwich Islands may be relied on, and their minds have, from some cause, acquired an elevation or conscious sense of superiority. This is discoverable at first sight in their gait and manner; and in stature they are, with few exceptions, much taller than the common people, and consequently much respected by them. The same may be said of the females of that class, who are equally proud of their nobility of birth, and of their stature, and equally respected for it: some of them are equally powerful with the men,- of which there is an instance in Opuiia, the widow of Tama-hama-hah, who, though since married to another Chief, retains her accustomed influence, and would, it is said, exercise the supreme power CHIEFS. 455 in case of the death of Reho-reho during the minority of her nephew. By the Chiefs, then, thus pre-eminent in rank and power, are all the advantages of every sort monopolized: they are the only traders upon a large or profitable scale. The warlike sports of their fathers have been softened down in them. No wars ever now interrupt the public peace. Military weapons are out of fashion; nor is the King surrounded, as in former times, by a crowd of armed attendants. He derives a revenue from trade; and, on selfish principles, in every sense, he sees the importance of encouraging it. This must be considered as a new state of things, indicative of actual improvement, and material changes in the temper, and spirit, and condition of the people, and in the policy and liberality of the Government. In the time of old Tama-hama-hah, a spirit of jealousy strongly prevailed between the King and Chiefs, which led him, from his ignorance of more refined policy, into petty measures for preserving his authority, by keeping the Chiefs, at that time a warlike race, under rigid control. His usual residence was in 456 SANDWICH ISLANDS. Owhyhee, at a place not far distant from the spot where Captain Cook was killed. He chose this spot for his residence, precisely because it was barren, and, from the poverty of the soil, not easily rendered productive; at the same time he compelled those Chiefs upon whom he could least rely for peaceable conduct, to reside there also, in order that they might be in his immediate neighbourhood; thus watching them, and making them dependent on him even for necessary subsistence. Large storehouses were accordingly built, from which he gave out or withheld all supplies of provisions and other necessary articles, at his own good will and pleasure; and in this manner retained their fierce spirits in a state of abject subjection. Such was the policy of Tama-hama-hah, which happily is now no longer necessary, nor suitable to the obedient habits of the Chiefs, through the progress and influence of trade-that powerful agent in regulating the affairs of the moral world! It would be no easy task to give an account of the trade and navigation of such mere beginners, upon a systematic plan; and it may, therefore, be SANDAL-WOOD TRADE. 457 better, as well as most convenient, to comprise the particulars, such as they are, in a few miscellaneous observations,,anecdotes, and facts, as affording at the same time a familiar picture of the actual state of the commercial intercourse of these islands with foreign countries. Sandal-wood, with which these islands abound, is the great article of foreign trade. The Americans are the only carriers, and Canton is the only market for it. It is difficult to ascertain the extent of exportation of this article, though it must evidently be considerable, for several coasting vessels are constantly employed in bringing it to the port from distant parts; and the American merchants are known to have made large profits by it. I have, however, been informed, that during the last eighteen months from 35 to 40,000 peculs of sandal-wood had been sent to Canton, which, at the rate of ten dollars per pecul, the usual price, brings into the hands of the King and trading Chiefs a clear receipt of 350 or 400,000 dollars, paid in goods bearing that nominal value. I say a clear receipt, for the expenses of cutting and shipping it are absolutely nothing; the services of 458 SANDWICH ISLANDS. the labourers employed being gratuitous, according to the practice of the country. Sandal-wood must be considered at present as the only production of these islands fit for foreign trade, but it is not likely to become exhausted for a considerable period of time to come; large forests of it still remain untouched, particularly at Owhyhee. The quality of it is said to be inferior to that grown in India, and the market price proportionably less: at Canton the price is now only eight dollars per pecul. It is brought from the woods in logs three or four feet long, and from two to seven or eight inches in diameter. There being no carriages on the island, these logs are carried down to the sea-side on the heads and shoulders of men, women, and children, (for all bear a part in the busy scene,) and lodged in large store-houses, to be ready for shipment. The wood, in its green state, has little or no aromatic smell; but when it becomes dry, the odour sensibly impregnates the whole surrounding atmosphere. For conveying their sandal-wood from the distant parts of Woahoo and the other Sandwich Islands to the port of Hannah-rourah, about VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 459 twelve small brigs and schooners are now employed in place of the large canoes formerly in use for this and other purposes. They are also engaged in bringing provisions of various sorts for the ships, particularly for South Sea whalers, and traders to the North-west coast of America; which, without having any commercial intercourse with these islands, touch there for these necessary supplies, in their passage across the Pacific Ocean. During the short time I was at Woahoo, there lay twelve vessels, of various nations and tonnage, at anchor in the port; and during the season, no fewer than sixty whalers, bound principally to a valuable newly-discovered fishery on the coast of Japan, came in for supplies of fresh provisions, which is enough to give a spur to industry and cultivation for at least such productions; though there is abundant room for the increase of foreign and domestic trade, which will of course follow the march of civilization and wealth. The productions which are common to these and other islands in the South Seas have been frequently described by different voyagers, and I shall, therefore, mention only a few which are 460 4SANDWICH ISLANDS. suitable for foreign trade, or are otherwise remarkable for some valuable properties. Among these are cotton, wine, coffee, which I have already mentioned, but the growth of which at present is not encouraged; and tobacco, which is raised in considerable quantities, for domestic use, the people being much addicted to the habit of smoking: a small plantation of it is generally to be found in the garden of every hut, together with the sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, melons, water-melons, and other fruits. I do not believe any attempt has been made to manufacture sugar from the cane, even in the rudest way. The cocoa-nut tree and bread-fruit tree are very abundant-particularly the former. The tee-root affords, when pressed, a saccharine juice, which yields a good spirit when fermented and distilled. It also makes an excellent beer, with the usual necessary additions. The leaves of this valuable shrub are small, but furnish excellent fodder for goats and other animals. The ononah is a sort of hemp which grows in the mountains, from which nets and twine of great strength and durability are made. The too-tooe AMOUNT OF SHIPPING. 461 nuts have some resemblance to the horse-chestnut, and a number of them being strung together, they are commonly used by the inhabitants instead of candles. The morus papyrifera, or paper mulberry-tree, affords a good substitute for cloth. This plant arrives at perfection in twelve months. The cloth is made from the inner bark of the stem, carefully peeled off, and beaten out in a wet state, upon a stone, with a small square piece of wood; it is afterwards stamped with a diversity of patterns, and various colours extracted from indigenous vegetable substances. As cultivation produces trade, so shipping and navigation are the necessary handmaids of it.Already are there a number of square-rigged vessels required by the growth of commerce, and substituted for the large canoes which the early voyagers describe. They are navigated by the natives, many of whom have learnt a little seamanship in occasional voyages in American or other traders; but the command is generally given to some English or American seaman. These natives are bold, enterprising, and for the most part fortunate in their little expedi 462 SANDWICH ISLANDS. tions: the natural tranquillity of this great ocean, which is never disturbed by hurricanes, gives confidence, by diminishing in a great degree the usual risks of navigation; indeed, the almost amphibious nature of the people, who under the worst circumstances would be sure to preserve their own lives, renders accidents on the water very uncommon. Krimakoo has the reputation of being a most clever and courageous seaman. He certainly has great confidence in himself, and always takes command of the vessel in which he sails, and in which he makes frequent trips to the different islands. Before I left the island, however, he had got himself into a scrape, by losing the little schooner which had been sent by the British Government as a present to Rehoreho. It was the first voyage he had made in her; and, whether by mismanagement or bad luck, he ran her aground among the breakers at the back of Woahoo, where she was completely wrecked. Krimakoo, together with the crew, saved themselves as usual by swimming, and returned to tell their own tale. A fine yacht, built originally by an American SPECULATION OF THE KING TO CANTON. 463 gentleman for a voyage to the Mediterranean, had been sent to Woahoo for sale, which the King bought for 20,000 dollars. She was called the Cleopatra's Barge, and to catch his Sable Majesty had been fitted up in a style of considerable elegance; but she had not been long in his possession, when the timbers on one side were found to be decayed, and the ship altogether not sea-worthy. He had therefore no alternative but to dismantle and break her up, and in that way endeavour to make the best of a bad bargain. The King, in allusion to this transaction, told me one day, that the Americans had cheated him, by selling rotten ships; but that the English had generously presented him with a good ship for nothing. He liked the English, therefore, and would always be happy to show them every attention in his power. Before I dismiss the subject of shipping and trade, I shall here give a short account of a voyage undertaken two years ago from the Sandwich Islands to Canton, which is particularly remarkable, as being made on the King's own account, 464 SANDWICH ISLANDS. and the first speculation of the kind ever entered into by these islanders. In pursuance of a settled plan, a vessel was laden with sandal-wood, and dispatched in the regular way to Canton, manned chiefly by natives, and the command given to an European seaman, without much inquiry or discrimination as to character. The vessel arrived safe at that port; but the Chinese authorities, surprised at seeing a new flag,* with which they were unacquainted, demanded the name of the King and nation to which it belonged, and were told that it belonged to the King of the Sandwich Islands. The subject, we may presume, was properly discussed; for it was finally declared that the King of a barbarous country, never before heard of, was incompetent to establish commercial intercourse with the Celestial Empire, and his vessel was accordingly not allowed to proceed up the river to Canton. The Captain came to an anchor, therefore, in Macao Roads, and contrived to sell his * The Sandwich Island flag is composed of the English jack, and a number of stripes like those of the American flag, in allusion probably to the number of islands. IMPORT TRADE. 465 cargo advantageously in that out-port. So far the undertaking may be said to have been successful; but unfortunately the Captain, a low seaman, was, as might have been expected, unfit for his situation. From inexperience, or some other cause, no return cargo was provided; the profits of the outward voyage were dissipated, and the ship returned, after considerable delays, with a debt of no trifling magnitude for the King to discharge, which he did, after a long interval, by sending the value for that purpose in sandal-wood to Canton. The import trade consists of whales' teeth, an article much pried by these people, which the whalers give in exchange for provisions; silks and cloths, which are more articles of luxury and show than use. Of these latter the King and principal Chiefs generally keep large assortments by them, and dresses of various sorts, which are worn according to the whim of the moment, or on great occasions. Red is the favourite colour, and it is common for the females to exchange their tappers for girdles of red cloth, which they put 2 H 466 SANDWICH ISLANDS. on when they wish to make themselves peculiarly smart. Gunpowder and fire-arms have been introduced in very large quantities, together with all sorts of domestic utensils and hardware. The revenue of the King arises from several sources:-First, from presents voluntarily given as a sort of tribute by the Chiefs and the people generally; Secondly, from the arbitrary seizure of private property, according to the Taboo cutonm, for the sake of the monopoly of trade with Lbfign ships; Thirdly, from the sale of sanda-wood, and profit on the goods taken in exchange, which he sells, as a regular merchant, wholesale and retail, to the inhabitants; Fourthly, from harbour-duties paid by all ships entering the port of Hanahb rourah. The degree of civilization hitherto attained wil be; best judged of by the preceding Narrative and observations. That it is not in itself Vn, considerable, must be sufficiently obvious; but compared with the state of things in Cook's and Vancouver's time, the changes are certainly important. Political union, public tranquillity, and gentle habits of life, have succeeded to party USE OF FOREIGN MANUFACTURED GOODS. 467 feuds, continual warfare, and savage ferocity: instead of a divided and lawless aristocracy, the King and his Chiefs compose a united corps of peaceable merchants, whose principal object is to become rich by the pursuits of trade. The old maxim, cedant arma toge, has been completely verified among them; and the introduction of fire-arms, so far from encouraging a warlike spirit, only tends to create amusement, or to gratify a harmless pride. Brigs and schooners are now substituted in a great measure for canoes, and no mean proficiency is shown by the natives in common seamanship: except the use of the mariner's compass, however, they have gained no knowledge of navigation, nor have they yet acquired the art of building or repairing ships. In this respect they are entirely dependent upon foreigners. The universal circulation of silver specie and iron utensils, instead of feather and stone, must not be omitted under the head of improvements. The use of cloth, nankeens, silks, blankets, and other articles of clothing, is as yet chiefly confined to holidays and particular occasions; maros and tappers of 2 H2 4,68 SANDWICH ISLANDS. island manufacture being the only dress commonly worn. Blankets and cloth cinctures are nevertheless becoming, as I have already observed, more and more prevalent. With a taste for foreign goods no attempt at imitating them has sprung up, and the progress of industry does not seem to have been accelerated by foreign intercourse. The productions of the country continue the same, and the tarrow-plantations alone furnish any regular agricultural employment. The trade in sandal-wood even, though the staple commodity, affords an unsteady demand for labour, the Chiefs requiring the services of their dependants in the woods, from time to time, on the spur of the occasion. The people may be said, therefore, to lead a life of indolence and ease; happy, because devoid of care, and liberally supplied by Nature with the means of subsistence in a delicious climate, but not remarkable for great ingenuity or regularly industrious habits. The Chiefs have more causes for excitement, and the love of wealth rouses in some degree the latent energies of their minds; but in general they, also, are indolent and averse to regular em PREVAILING VICES. 469 ployment. Like other Indians, they sleep away their days, and know no higher gratifications than those of sense. The possession of foreign goods is sought after, more for the sake of novelty and fashion, than because they are really wanted; and few understand their use, or appreciate their value, except in a mercantile point of view. The love of gambling, though generally prevalent, is not greater than among other nations of the world, whether civilized or uncivilized: none but the Chiefs can indulge to any extent in so expensive a vice. Drunkenness is a far more universal and dangerous propensity; all classes indulging, more or less, to excess in the use of spirituous liquors, from the King himself downwards: the consumption, therefore, is enormous; and those who trade in spirits give it, of course, every possible encouragement. Gin, being most approved of by the King, is the most fashionable of spirituous liquors. How far the use of ava, which formerly prevailed, but is now in a great measure discontinued, might have been attended with still worse consequences, is an inquiry that cannot easily be answered: at all events, the pernicious effects of spirits are now 470 SANDWICH ISLANDS. demonstrated in a striking manner; and, by enervating the mental and bodily powers of the inhabitants, not less than by wasting life, constitute a powerful obstacle to the farther progress of improvement. Thus it is that commerce and intercourse with foreigners has been attended with a mixture of evil and beneficial results; and it might almost, at first sight, be doubted whether the former do not preponderate. One great national change, however, the credit of effecting which is altogether due to the present King,* decidedly turns the scale in favour of modern times; namely, the abolition of a cruel and superstitious system of idolatry. No senseless images are now worshippedno crafty priests abuse the credulity of an ignorant people —no human victims bleed upon the altars of imaginary deities! * It may be interesting to some readers to learn that Rehoreho, the King referred to in this and the preceding pages of the Narrative, is the same person whose recent adventures in London, and melancholy death, excited at the time so much observation and concern. The Queen who came with him is the one mentione4 as his favourite Queen, or rather mistress, and the attendants were the same, although not here particularly noticed by me. NATIONAL CUSTOMS AND OPINIONS. 471 A sort of interregnum has arisen between the destruction of the old and the introduction of a new religion; and the change, as far as it goes, without reckoning upon the probable future consequences, is certainly beneficial. A number of ancient usages have passed away, with the Taboo system to which they belonged, and render the descriptions of the traveller necessarily less diversified and curious; but happily, in this respect at least, the inhabitants are gainers, by what the mere traveller may consider as the loss of interesting matter. The hourah-hourahs are now seldom celebrated, and not attended with the same ceremonies which used formerly to characterize them, Mock-fights and martial games have ceased to be favourite amusements; and the spectacle of a fleet of canoes, some double, some single, containing in them an army of warriors, cannot be again ever witnessed. Still there are many of the old national customs and peculiarities remaining. A vague belief in the existence of a Supreme Being, when one asks the question, is generally acknowledged; 472 SANDWICH, ISLANDS. the propriety of appeasing his wrath and meriting his favour is likewise instinctively felt; 1but the ignorance of unassisted Nature cannot point out the use of right means, and the subject therefore seldom comes under consideration. Superstitious fears will, nevertheless, at times intrude upon their thoughts; and dreams are often held to be portentous. The idea of a, future state of rewards and punishments seems to be entertained in the same vague way. The tradition of a deluge has been preserved. The story told is this:-That a certain man, many thousand moons ago, was fishing in the sea, and by some curious fatality caught the Spirit of the waters upon his hook, and dragged him, to his great astonishment, out of the briny element. The consequences of this rash act were destructive to the whole country, the Spirit having declared in his anger that he would cause a general deluge: yet, in pity to the unintentional author of the misfortune, he allowed him to escape with his wife to the summit of Mounah-roah, the SUPERSTITIONS. 473 mountain in Owhyhee, where he remained till after the deluge had subsided, and was thus preserved. The belief in a bad demon is pretty general; and many are afraid to go out of their houses on a dark night. The said demon is supposed to have frequently made his appearance in the form of a white dog. Supernatural powers are still ascribed to lizards, and during the Taboo system they were worshipped. The influence of the moon is much thought of; and at certain periods, after the death of any person, his relations chant funeral dirges in remembrance of him. The night of the full moon is kept with rejoicings, and large crowds assemble together for that purpose. The:extraordinary custom of cutting the body of the dead into pieces, and afterwards burying it under the house of the deceased, deserves to be mentioned. The ceremony is attended with much mystery, and probably arises from some traditionary superstition. Sometimes a small shed is erected, with white poles, upwards of twenty feet 474 SANDWICH ISLANDS. in length, piled round in the form of a pyramid, to mark the spot where the remains have been deposited. On the birth of a child, it is immediately named, and all the neighbours assemble to drink, and sing their hourah-hourahs. The unnatural practice of infanticide continues to prevail, and abortions are still more frequent; the women not only disliking the trouble of rearing children, but dreading the loss of personal charms thereby occasioned, and the consequent diminution of their influence over the other sex. The only ceremony used in marriage, is that of throwing a tapper cloth round the bodies of both persons. The common people generally confine themselves to one wife; the Chiefs have two or three; the King, four. Though chastity is by no means considered a virtue, or the reverse of it a blemish, it is not unusual for a Chief to taboo particular females at an early age, and thus to secure an exclusive right of property in them, which no one would even think Pf violating. W)ein a man wishes to change his wife, he is PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 475 allowed by the custom of the country to contract with another; but he is not allowed to turn away the first. She will always continue to live in his house and to share his fortunes. Comparing the past with the present state of things, important advances in civilization are certainly visible, and many impediments in the way of still greater advances have been removed. Commerce, however, and intercourse with foreign traders, although it may create new wants and give a taste for new luxuries, cannot produce those higher changes in the condition of man which complete the work,of civilization; the moral waste every where apparent must be cultivated, the mental faculties must receive nurture, and the seeds of virtue must be sown in the heart, before any visible national improvements can be satisfactorily effected: nor will the simple introduction of new arts insure the desired benefits, unless some counteracting check to their attendant evils be at the same time brought into play. The Sandwich Islanders have lost their warlike virtues, and the barbarous yet unsophisticated 476 SANDWICH ISLANDS. habits of ancient times: but they are ignorant of the first elements of morality; and vice reigns triumphant in their abodes, under the form of covetousness, sensuality, indolence, and irreligion. Their own native arts and manufactures are sinking fast into neglect and disrepute, and no other arts to supply the place have been taught them by the sordid traders, who are interested in perpetuating their ignorance. Sad indeed, therefore, in a moral point of view, is their condition; and sadder yet would it be, had not the benevolence of distant nations taken steps to communicate a share of the blessings which they themselves enjoy! The prospect opened by the labours of a few disinterested and enlightened teachers of religion is now truly gratifying; and so many concurrent circumstances favour their cause, that its success, in God's own time, may reasonably be anticipated. With Christianity the march of true civilization will be progressive and beneficial. The evils of infanticide and promiscuous intercourse between the sexes, and of polygamy and drunkenness, may BLESSINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. 477 then be expected gradually to give way. Regular laws, and just measures of domestic policy, may ameliorate the present system of arbitrary government, and encourage the industry of individuals, by securing the rights of private property. A knowledge of European arts, as well as letters-for both enter into the designs of the Missionaries-may replace advantageously the arts which have been neglected or given up, and rouse the inhabitants from their present state of indolence into habits of regular exertion. Native youths are now under a course of education in America for this purpose, and cannot fail, on their return, to confer some if not all the advantages that might be wished for. Finally, the temples of a pure worship may be established, and the total absence of all religion, which now unhappily prevails, be superseded by the administration of Christian ordinances and the cultivation of Christian graces. That this delightful picture will be in part, if not altogether realised, ere many years elapse, is tie writer's hope and confident expectation. To his incredulous and less sanguine readers, he would adduce the past and present 478 SANDWICH ISLANDS. state of Otaheite, confirmed as it is by the unanimous testimony of all recent eye-witnesses, in support and illustration of his positions. In the mean while, it rests with time and Providence to determine the final issue of events in these remote and semi barbarous regions. 'THE END, LONDON: PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, DORSET-S''TREET. THE FOLLOWING WORKS Will be ready for publication in a few Days, or have been just published BY CHARLES KNIGHT, PALL MALL EAST. By His Majesty's Special Command. JOANNIS MILTONI, ANGLI, DE DOCTRINA CHRISTIANA Libri duo posthumi, quos ex schedis manuscriptis deprompsit, et Typis mandati primus curavit, CAROLUS RICARDUS SUItMER, M.A. Bibliothecae Regiae Praefectus. 1 vol. 4to. price 21. 10s. 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