Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

At a former period there existed in Lima a college exclusively for noble-born Indians; and the eldest sons of the families descended from the Incas, when they wished to study, were received at the expense of the State into the College of San Carlos; but since the declaration of independence, all the privileges enjoyed by the Indians have been annulled.

The negroes in Lima form one-fifth part of the population. Their number amounts to upwards of 10,000, of which 4800 are slaves. Though an article in the Charter of Independence declares that "in Peru no person is born a slave," yet the National Congress has on various occasions thought fit to deviate from this principle. In Huaura it was decreed that children born in slavery shall be free on attaining the age of twenty-five, and the Congress of Huancayo prolonged the period to fifty years. There are no new importations of negroes from Africa, for an article in the Charter just mentioned sets forth that "every person who may be brought, as a slave, from another country to Peru, is free from the moment when he sets foot on the soil of that republic." Accordingly, if a Peruvian take his slave with him on a journey to Chile, and brings him back again, the slave may, on his return, claim his freedom. The only exception to this rule refers to runaway negroes, who, even after years of absence, may be reclaimed on their return. The value of slaves is not so high in Peru as in the southern states of North America. In Lima, the average price of a young, strong, and healthy negro is 400 dollars; the price of a negress, especially a Negra de Chavra (capable of field work), is 100 dollars higher. The value of those destined for domestic service depends on character and qualifications. A negress who is a good cook or needlewoman, is of course worth more than a negro who is to be employed as a water-carrier or a footman. In the plantations their value depends wholly on health and strength.

The treatment of slaves in Lima, especially by the Creoles, is exceedingly mild, and generally much on the same footing as the treatment of servants in Europe. It is seldom that a master inflicts severe corporal chastisement on a slave. If the latter requires punishment, he is sent into the Panaderia (the bakehouse) to knead the dough and bake the bread, which work they perform under the supervision of a Mayordomo, who is usually a hard task-master. Owing to the heat of the climate, working in the Panaderia is more feared by the slaves than any other kind of punishment.

In Lima the special laws for the protection of slaves are more favorable to them than the similar laws of any other slave country. The slaves bring their complaints before a particular judge, whose business it is to protect them against ill-treatment. A slave is free whenever he can pay the sum which his master demands for him,—which sum, in disputed cases, is fixed by legal decision. The slave also possesses the right of selling himself to another master, and the latter may pay the purchase-money to the former owner, who, however unwillingly, is obliged to conclude the bargain. The negroes have ample opportunities for saving money. They are permitted, during five or six hours of the day, to work for themselves; so that in the course of a few years they may with ease save the sum requisite for purchasing their independence. But in general they spend their earnings in mere idle enjoyments, and care but little about obtaining their freedom. As slaves they are provided with lodging, food, and clothing, and they are nursed in sickness; but as soon as they become free, they must supply all these wants for themselves; an undertaking which their natural indolence renders them little inclined to. On the whole, domestic negroes may be said to be willing slaves; it is possibly different with those employed in the plantations, who are liable to harder work and harsher treatment. I knew an old negro, who had hoarded up 6000 dollars, and yet did not purchase his own freedom, though he had paid for the liberation of his children and his two sisters. He often observed to me, that he should not be half so well off if he were free.

The negroes brought from Africa, who are called Bosales, are far better than the Creole negroes. In physical strength they are inferior to the latter, and are less lively; yet they are patient, and much more faithful and attached to their masters than the Creole negroes born in Peru. The Bosales all have a certain degree of pride, but especially those who are of princely blood. A gentleman of old Spain bought a young negro princess, who not without the greatest difficulty could be brought to perform the duties of servitude. When she was directed to go to market, she set her basket down on the ground, and signified that she had been accustomed to be served, and not to serve. Some chastisement was resorted to, with the view of compelling her to do the duty allotted to her; but in vain. Her pride and obstinacy remained unconquerable. Sometimes she would sit for hours gloomily, with her eyes fixed on the ground, and muttering between her teeth, in her broken Spanish, the words, "Yo clavita! yo clavita!"[24] Then suddenly springing up, she would strike her head against the wall until she became almost senseless. As she showed a fondness for the children of the family, she was relieved from household work, and became the nursery-maid. In that way she discharged the duties which devolved on her with the most touching affection and fidelity; but she never would do anything, however trivial, which she considered to be menial service, and her master and mistress were reasonable enough not to require it.

When the number of the African negroes in Lima was more considerable than it now is, the various races kept together, and formed themselves into unions, called Cofradias. They used to meet together at regular periods. At these meetings the negroes of princely descent were treated with marks of respect which they could scarcely have received in their native home. Speeches were delivered, and religious ceremonies performed; whilst music, singing, and dancing, revived recollections of past happiness, and of the far-distant native land. These Cofradias were also conducive to philanthropic ends; for when a slave had a hard master, the sum requisite for purchasing his freedom was raised by a general subscription in the union to which he belonged. Since the independence of Peru, and the consequent prohibition of the importation of negroes, the Cofradias have declined, and have lost much of their original character. Creoles and free negroes have now become members of them. The places in which these meetings are held are situated in the suburb of San Lazaro. The walls of the rooms are painted with grotesque figures of negro kings, elephants, camels, palm trees, &c.

In Lima, and indeed throughout the whole of Peru, the free negroes are a plague to society. Too indolent to support themselves by laborious industry, they readily fall into any dishonest means of getting money. Almost all the robbers who infest the roads on the coast of Peru are free negroes. Dishonesty seems to be a part of their very nature; and moreover, all their tastes and inclinations are coarse and sensual. Many warm defenders of the negroes excuse these qualities by ascribing them to the want of education, the recollection of slavery, the spirit of revenge, &c. But I here speak of free-born negroes, who are admitted into the houses of wealthy families, who from their early childhood have received as good an education as falls to the share of many of the white Creoles—who are treated with kindness and liberally remunerated, and yet they do not differ from their half-savage brethren who are shut out from these advantages. If the negro has learned to read and write, and thereby made some little advance in education, he is transformed into a conceited coxcomb, who, instead of plundering travellers on the highway, finds in city life a sphere for the indulgence of his evil propensities. What is the cause of this incorrigible turpitude of the negroes? To answer this important question is not easy, if we admit the principle that the negro is as capable of cultivation as the Caucasian; and in support of it the names of some highly-educated Ethiopians may be cited. Those who are disposed to maintain this principle, and who are at the same time intimately acquainted with the social relations of the countries in which free negroes are numerous, may solve the problem. My opinion is, that the negroes, in respect to capability for mental improvement, are far behind the Europeans, and that, considered in the aggregate, they will not, even with the advantages of careful education, attain a very high degree of cultivation; because the structure of the negro skull, on which depends the development of the brain, approximates closely to the animal form. The imitative faculty of the monkey is highly developed in the negro, who readily seizes anything merely mechanical, whilst things demanding intelligence are beyond his reach. Sensuality is the impulse which controls the thoughts, the acts, the whole existence of the negroes. To them freedom can be only nominal; for if they conduct themselves well it is because they are compelled, not because they are inclined to do so. Herein lie at once the cause of, and the apology for, their bad character.

The negro women differ but little from the men, in their general characteristics. They are, however, more active and industrious, and better tempered. As domestic servants they are superior to the mixed races. They are much employed as nurses, and in those situations they discharge their duties well. Their personal vanity is boundless, and every real they can save is spent in dress and ornaments. It is amusing to see them, on festival days, parading about the streets, dressed in white muslin gowns trimmed with lace, and short sleeves displaying their black arms. Very short petticoats, seldom extending below the ankle, serve to exhibit the tawdry finery of red silk stockings and light blue satin shoes. From their ears are suspended long gold drops, and their uncovered necks are not unfrequently adorned with costly necklaces. A negress, who was a slave belonging to a family of my acquaintance, possessed a necklace composed of fine Panama pearls, worth several thousand dollars. The pure white of the pearls was wonderfully heightened by the contrast of the jet-black skin of the wearer; and for this reason they were more ornamental to the negress than they would have been to the fairest lady in Europe.

Having noticed the principal races, we will now consider the variegated mass of people of mixed blood, who in Lima form a considerable portion of the population. Stevenson[25] gives a long list of these mixed races, and specifies the proportionate degree, that is to say, how many eighths or sixteenths of black, brown, or white color belong to each. But these data respecting tint are fallacious, for, being founded solely on external appearance, they are liable to endless modifications. Stevenson falls into the mistake of giving to the children of a negro father and a white mother, the name of Zambos; whilst to the offspring of a white father and a black mother, he gives the name of Mulattos. By a similar error, he terms the children of a white man and a Cuarterona, Quinteros; and to those of a Cuarteron and a white woman, he gives the designation Cuarterones. It is, however, an established rule, that the children bear the designation, denoting the same degree of mixed blood, whatever may respectively be the colors of the parents. Accordingly, the child of a negro and a white woman is, properly speaking, a Mulatto; just the same as though the relations of race on the part of the parents were transposed. When a man of mixed blood marries a woman darker than himself, and his children thereby become further removed from the white tint, it is said to be un paso atras (a step backwards).

In Europe it is very common to attach to the term Creole, the idea of a particular complexion. This is a mistake. The designation Creole properly belongs to all the natives of America born of parents who have emigrated from the Old World, be those parents Europeans or Africans. There are, therefore, white as well as black Creoles.[26]