Good broad cloth, per yard, from 18 to 20 dollars.—Kerseymeres from 7 to 10—Broad coloured flannels from 3 to 4—Fine Irish Linen from 3 to 4—Fine German platillas from 1½ to 3—Ordinary German platillas from 1 to 2—Fine French lawn from 3 to 4—Fine French cambric from 10 to 12—Printed calicoes 2 to 3½—Fine printed calicoes from 3 to 4½—Fine muslins from 3 to 5—Fine cambric muslins from 3 to 5—Silk velvet from 10 to 12—Fine velveteens 2½ to 4. Blue and white earthenware plates, per dozen, from 12 to 18 dollars—Common German half-pint glasses from 8 to 12—Common knives with bone handles from 10 to 12—Common knives with wood handles from 6 to 8.
Much has been said by every writer on South America respecting the Spanish colonial restrictions. They certainly were, like all others, most severe, until experience proved to the government of the parent state, that it was not the welfare of the individuals or of particular companies or corporations employed in commerce, that could enrich the government. The Conde de Aranda, when prime minister in Spain, was well apprized of this truth, and what was really sound policy in him was called liberality. However, as Peru was at so great a distance from Europe, she never was so much oppressed as those colonies on the opposite side of the new world.
The returns from this market have been gold, silver, and tin; bark, cocoa, cotton, vicuña wool, sheep wool, and some drugs.
CHAPTER XV.
Visit to Pisco....Town of Pisco....Bay of Pisco....Curious Production of Salt....Huano....Huanaes....Vineyards, Brandy....Vineyards de las Hoyas....Fruits....Chilca, Village of Indians....Leave Lima, Road to Chancay....Pasamayo House....Nina de la Huaca....Maize, Cultivation Use of Huano....Hogs....On the produce of Maize....Different kinds of....Time of Harvesting....Uses of....Chicha of....Sugar of....Town of Chancay....Colcas....Town of Huacho....Chacras of the Indians....On the Character of the Native Indians....Refutation of what some Authors have said of....Manners and Customs of....Tradition of Manco Capac....Ditto Camaruru....Ditto Bochica....Ditto Quitzalcoatl....These Traditions favourable to the Spaniards....Government of Manco Capac....Representation of the Death of the Inca....Feast of Corpus Christi at Huacho....Indian Dances....Salinas.
During my residence in Lima, I availed myself of an invitation to visit the city of Pisco, about fifty leagues to the southward. This place, although it bears the name of a city, is only a miserable village. The present town is situated about two leagues to the northward of the old one. It was sacked in 1624 by the Dutch pirate, James Hermit Clark—in 1686 by Edward David—and in 1687 it was entirely demolished by an earthquake; after which, the new town was begun to be built, about a league from the shore.
The bay is very large, and the anchorage good, but the landing is difficult near the small battery, erected for the purpose of protecting the landing place; it is better however at las Palmas, about two leagues higher up the bay, called la Paraca, and fresh water, which is very difficult to procure near the fort, may be had here. At the southern extremity of the bay, beneath a bed of broken indurated clay and sand stones, a stratum of salt is found, extending from fifty to one hundred yards from the sea, and sometimes more. On removing the upper covering of sand, the broken stones and the clay, the salt is discovered, forming a kind of small white columns, about three or four inches long, the upper part curling, as it were, and hanging downwards again, the whole appearing somewhat like a cauliflower. It is extremely white, and composed of transparent filaments not so large as a human hair. I examined these slender bodies with a good lens; they all appeared perfectly cylindrical and hollow, closely placed together, but not attached to each other, for by a slight pressure they separated, assuming the appearance of asbestos. The salt is as palatable as the common culinary salt, dissolves slowly in a large quantity of cold water, and is not at all deliquescent from absorption. It is seldom used by the inhabitants, except when there is a scarcity of salt from Huacho.
Some small islands at the entrance to the bay of Pisco are famous for the manure which they produce, and which is embarked and carried to different parts of the coast, and often into the interior on the backs of mules and llamas. The quantity of this manure is enormous, and its qualities are truly astonishing; of this I shall have occasion to speak when treating of the cultivation of maize at Chancay. Several small vessels are constantly employed to carry it off; some of the cuts, where embarkation is convenient, are from forty to fifty feet deep, and their bottom is yet considerably above the level of the sea.