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

by Johann Jakob von Tschudi

On the coast of Peru the horses are for the most part natural amblers, and, if they do not amble naturally, they are taught to do so. There are several varieties of amble peculiar to the Peruvian horse; the most approved is that called the paso llano. It is very rapid, but not attended by any jolting motion to the rider. A well-trained horse may safely be ridden by a young child at the paso llano; the motion being so gentle and regular, that the rider may carry a cup of water in his hand without spilling a drop, at the same time going at the rate of two leagues an hour. Another variety of ambling is called the paso portante. It consists in the fore and hind foot of one side being raised simultaneously, and thrust forward. In this movement, the greater or less speed depends on the degree in which the hind foot is advanced in comparison with the fore one. It is a rapid, rocking sort of motion, and for long continuance is much more wearying to the rider than the common trot, as the body cannot be held upright, but must be kept in a constant stooping position. The speed of a good ambler in the paso portante is so great, that he will outstrip another horse at full gallop. The giraffe, as well as the Peruvian horse, has this peculiar movement naturally. The paso compañero is merely a nominal modification of the paso portante. Many horses have no paso llano, but in its stead a short trot. These have naturally the paso portante, but they are little esteemed for travelling, though they are good working animals. They are called cavallos aguelillos. Trotting horses cannot be taught the paso llano, though they easily acquire the paso portante. These are called cavallos trabados.

In Peru a horse is valued less for beauty of form than for the perfection of his amble. The finest trotters are sold at very low prices, and are used exclusively as carriage horses. If a horse when spurred has the habit of flapping his tail, it is considered a serious fault, and greatly depreciates the value of the animal. This vice is called mosquear (literally brushing off the mosquitoes), and the Peruvians cure it by an incision in the muscle of the tail, by which means the horse is disabled from making the movement.

The Peruvians take very little care of their horses. The remark, that the more the horse is tended, the worse he is, would seem to be a generally admitted truth in Peru. The stable (coral) is either totally roofless, or very indifferently sheltered. In the mountainous parts of the country, and during the rainy season, horses are frequently, for the space of six months, up to their knees in mud, and yet they never seem to be the worse for it. The fodder consists of lucern (alfalfa), or maisillo, which is usually thrown down on the ground, though sometimes placed in a stone trough, and the drink of the animals consists of impure water collected from the ditches at the road sides. Occasionally the horses are fed with maize, which they are very fond of. As no oats are grown in Peru, barley is given together with maize, especially in the interior of the country. Mares and geldings have sometimes the hair between the ears cut off quite closely, and the mane arranged in short curls, which gives them a resemblance to the horses in ancient sculpture. Mares are but little valued, so little indeed, that no respectable person will ride one.

The horse-breakers (chalanes) are generally free men of color. They possess great bodily vigor, and understand their business thoroughly; but they use the horses very cruelly, and thereby render them shy. For the first three years foals are suffered to roam about with perfect freedom; after that time they are saddled, an operation not performed without great difficulty, and sometimes found to be impracticable, until the animal is thrown on the ground and his limbs tied. The young horse under the management of the chalan is trained in all sorts of equestrian feats, especially the art of pirouetting (voltear). This consists in turning either wholly or half round on the hind legs with great rapidity and when at full gallop. Another important object of the chalan is to teach the horse to stop short suddenly, and to stand perfectly motionless (sentarse) at the signal of his rider; and to go backward (cejar) for a considerable space in a straight line. When all this is accomplished, the horse is regarded as completely broken (quebrantado).

As an instance of the certainty with which a Peruvian horse will make a pirouette (voltata) at the signal of his rider, I may mention the following fact, which occurred under my own observation. A friend of mine, in Lima, rode at full gallop up to the city wall (which is scarcely nine feet broad), leaped upon it, and then made his horse perform a complete voltata, so that the fore-feet of the animal described the segment of a circle beyond the edge of the wall. The feat he performed several times in succession, and he assured me he could do the same with all his horses.

Peruvian taste requires that the neck of the horse should present a finely-curved outline, and that the mouth should be drawn inward, so as to approach the breast. The horses called Cavallos de Brazo are much esteemed. At every step they describe a large circle with their fore-feet, in such a manner that the horse-shoe strikes the lower part of the stirrup. This motion is exceedingly beautiful when combined with what is termed the "Spanish pace," in which the noble form of the animal and his proud bearing are advantageously displayed.

The mule is a very important animal in Peru. The badness of the roads would render commercial communication impracticable, were it not for mules. The Peruvian mules are fine, strong animals. The best are reared in Piura, and sent to Lima for sale. The amblers are selected for the saddle, the trotters for harness, and the rest are used as beasts of burthen. The price of a mule of middling quality is one hundred dollars; a better one double or treble that price; and the very best may even cost ten times as much. The endurance of these animals under fatigue and indifferent nurture is extraordinary, and without them the vast sand plains of Peru would present insuperable obstacles to intercourse between one place and another. In the power of continuous ambling they exceed the horses, and are often equal to them in speed.

In Lima there is a public lottery, which the Government farms to a private individual, for a considerable sum. The tickets are drawn weekly. The price of a ticket is one real. The largest prize is 1000 dollars; the smaller prizes 500, 250, or 100 dollars. A lottery on a larger scale is drawn every three months. The highest prize in this lottery is 4000 dollars, and the price of the ticket is four reals. To every ticket is affixed a motto, usually consisting of an invocation to a saint, and a prayer for good luck, and at the drawing of the lottery this motto is read aloud when the number of the ticket is announced. Few of the inhabitants of Lima fail to buy at least one ticket in the weekly lottery. The negroes are particularly fond of trying their luck in this way, and in many instances fortune has been singularly kind to them.

"Eating and drinking keep soul and body together." So says the German proverb; and it may not be uninteresting to take a glance at the Limeños during their performance of these two important operations. The hour of breakfast is generally nine in the morning. The meal consists of boiled mutton (Sancochado), soup (Caldo), with yuccas, a very pleasant-tasted root, and Chupe. This last-mentioned dish consists, in its simplest form, merely of potatoes boiled in very salt water, with cheese and Spanish pepper. When the chupe is made in better style, eggs, crabs, and fried fish are added to the ingredients already named; and it is then a very savory dish. Chocolate and milk are afterwards served. A negress brings the Chocolatera into the breakfast-room, and pours out a cup full for each person. The natives prefer the froth to the actual beverage; and many of the negresses are such adepts in the art of pouring out, that they will make the cup so overflow with foam, that it contains scarcely a spoonful of liquid. Chocolate is the favorite beverage of the Peruvians. In the southern parts of the country it is customary to offer it to visitors at all hours of the day. The visitor is no sooner seated than he is presented with a cup of coffee, which is often so thick that the spoon will stand upright in it. It would be a breach of politeness to decline this refreshment, and whether agreeable or not it must be swallowed!

The best cocoa is obtained from the Montañas of Urubamba, and from the Bolivian Yungas. The long land transport, however, renders it very dear, and therefore the nuts brought from Guayaquil are those commonly used in Lima.