Among the feasts which the indians of Huacho celebrate, that of Corpus Christi deserves to be spoken of. Besides the splendid decorations of the church, at the gratuitous expence of the indians, there are at the houses of the Mayordomos, Alfereces, and Mayorales sumptuous dinners, from the feast to the octave, provided for all persons who choose to partake of them. They consume an enormous quantity of their favourite beverage, chicha, of which I have been assured, that a thousand jars, each containing eighteen gallons, have been drunk at one feast; and I do not doubt it, for besides the natives, numbers of people flock to the feast from the surrounding villages, and many come from Lima. At these dinners there are always several dishes of guinea pigs, stewed, and seasoned with an abundance of capsicum. Indeed, an indian of the coast of Peru never dispenses with this picante at a feast; and I must acknowledge that I became almost as partial to it as any indian.
During the week the village is enlivened with different companies of dancers: one called huancos is composed of eight or ten men; they have large crowns of ostrich feathers (from the plains of Buenos Ayres) on their heads; the quills are fastened in a roll of red cloth, which contains not less than five hundred long feathers dyed of various colours, but particularly red. They have small ponchos of brocade, tissue, or satin; on their legs they wear leather buskins, loaded with hawks' bells; their faces are partly covered by a handkerchief tied high above their mouths; and they carry as arms a cudgel, and bear on the left arm a small wooden buckler. They dance along the streets to the sound of a pipe and tabor, keeping pace to the tune, that the bells on their legs may beat time to the pipe and tabor.
When two companies of these dancers meet, neither will give way for the other to pass, and the result is, the cudgels are applied to open it. Some of their skirmishes produce broken heads and arms, although they are very dexterous in guarding off the blows with their small bucklers; but no intreaties nor threats from magistrates, who have sometimes interfered, can appease or separate them, until the criollaos appear, when, as if by magic, each party dances along quite unconcerned.
The criollaos go by pairs, accompanied by a pipe and tabor. They have small helmets on their heads, a poncho like the huancos, and a short petticoat; they carry in their right hands a small wooden sword, in their left a bunch of flowers, and they dance to a melancholy tune, while that of the huancos is very lively. They are the peace makers, and such respect is paid to their interference, that not a blow is struck after their arrival; but neither threats nor intreaties will hurry them on to the place of action.
The chimbos are very gaily dressed: they have crowns ornamented with all the jewellery which they can borrow; necklaces, ear-rings, bracelets, and rosaries are fastened on them in abundance, and when these cannot be procured, they have holes drilled in doubloons and new dollars, with which they load them. I have seen fifty of each on one crown. Their dress is a gay poncho, with wide Moorish trowsers; and their music consists of one or more harps or guitars. For the purpose of dancing along the streets, two boys support the bottom of the harp, whilst the top is fastened with a handkerchief tied round the neck of the player.
All these dance before the procession, which, considering the smallness of the town, is very splendid. A double row of indians, the men on one side and the women on the other, with large lighted wax tapers, often as many as two thousand, go before; in the centre are indian boys and girls, burning perfumes in small incense burners, and strewing flowers. A rich pall with six silver cased poles is carried over the priest bearing the host, by the Mayordomos, Alfereces, and Mayorales; and the procession is closed with all the music they can muster. In the course of the procession, as well as every night during the octave, great quantities of fireworks are burnt.
Longevity is common among the Peruvian indians. I witnessed the burial of two, in a small village, one of whom had attained the age of 127, and the other of 109; yet both enjoyed unimpaired health to a few days within their decease. On examining the parish books of Barranca, I found, that in seven years, eleven indians had been buried, whose joint ages amounted to 1207.
The diseases most incidental to the indians, both along the coast of Peru and in the interior, are of an inflammatory nature—consumptions in puberty, and pleuritic affections in old age. With what certainty the origin of syphilis has been traced to America, I know not; but the wild tribes of Arauco, Archidona, Napo, in the vicinity of Darien, and several others, as well as those that live in small settlements among the Spaniards, are totally unacquainted with it; and although I have been particularly inquisitive on this head, I never could hear of one solitary instance of the disease, except in large towns and cities, and then it was limited to a certain class, where it was likely to be most prevalent.
The great decrease of indian population in Peru may almost be called alarming; many theories have been published respecting it, but in my opinion none have given the true cause. Some have attributed it to the introduction of the small pox; but the virulence of this disease was mitigated, as in Europe, by inoculation, and latterly by the introduction of vaccination, which at a great expence was carried from Spain in 1805, by the order of Charles IV. Not less than eighty boys were sent over in a vessel of war, for the purpose of preserving the fluid by transferring it from one to the other; and a tribunal was formed in Lima, of which the Viceroy was the president, having professors with competent salaries, for the preservation of this magnum Dei donum, as it was justly called in the royal order. On examining some church books, I found that the number of deaths was not uncommonly augmented when the small pox was prevalent, although undoubtedly for several years after the conquest many people died of it through ignorance of the method of treatment. Perhaps, too, superstition and fear made the healthy abandon the sick, to avoid the contagious effects of what appeared to them to be a disease brought by the Spaniards for their destruction. Of this idea they were doubtlessly possessed, for while Valdivia was at Talcahuano, several indians took up their residence in the town with the Spaniards, until on the arrival of a vessel from Peru with provisions, a barrel of lentils fell on the ground and burst; the grains appeared to the terrified indians to be a new importation of the small pox, on which account they all immediately fled, and carried the appalling news to their countrymen.
Others have attributed this decrease to the number of indians who died in the mines, being driven there by the laws of repartimiento, distribution, and mita, temporal labour: these also belong to the first years after the conquest. Some have fancied that a social life does not agree with their nature; but this is equally trifling, because the comforts, conveniency, and regularity of such a life cannot be detrimental to human nature; besides, those who were latterly subject to the Spanish domination in Peru, were formerly subject to that of the Incas, and the decrease was as visible on the coast, where the indians may be said to be their own masters, as in the interior, where many are not. Perhaps the introduction of spirituous liquors may have tended to diminish the population; if so, this is almost an incurable evil; and certainly the division of the country, or the cultivated lands into large estates, as they were granted to many of the conquerors and first settlers, was a pernicious error, the fatal effects of which are often felt, and are inimical to the increase of population.