Peru has made but little advance in its recent political changes. The government is in a state of continual anarchy. A new mine of wealth has been discovered in the guano deposits of the Chincha Islands, which has attracted great numbers of foreign vessels to its shores. But the wealth acquired from this source has done little for the people. Lima, the capital, has long been remarkable for the levity and dissipation of its inhabitants. The very dress of the ladies, which may have been originally intended to insure seclusion and privacy, has become an emblem of intrigue. It consists of a peculiar hood and petticoat, covering the wearer entirely, who, when thus in domino, is styled tapada, and is, by common usage, held to be secure from all impertinent interference or insult. The same term is applied to a shawl worn over the head, so as to cover the mouth and forehead. Under this concealment the wearer is known only to the most intimate friends, and ladies thus attired frequent the theatres. It is favorable to intrigue, and so perfect is the security that any place of amusement may be visited with impunity, and, even if suspected by the husband or relative, she is protected from discovery by the respect attached to the custom.
Dr. Tschudi draws a very cheerless picture of the state and prospects of Peru.[330] Its moral degradation is significantly typified in the decline of its population, which has been continually diminishing since the establishment of its independence. That noble land, which contained an enormous population at the time of the Conquest, numbered in 1836 less than 1,400,000 inhabitants; not so many as were formerly found in the department of Cusco alone. The deaths in Lima vary annually from 2500 to 2800 out of a population of 53,000; in the ten months from January 1st to October 31st, 1841, they were 2244, the births in that period being 1682, of which 860 were illegitimate.
“Not less remarkable than the number of illegitimate children is that of the new-born infants exposed and found dead (495). These afford the most striking proofs of the immorality which prevails in Lima, especially among the colored people. To them belong nearly two thirds of the illegitimate births, and fully four fifths of the children cast out to die. There is reason to suspect, though it can not be positively proved, that no small portion of the latter suffer a violent death by the hands of their mothers. When a dead child is picked up before the church of San Lazaro, or in the street, it is carried, without a word of inquiry, to the Pantheon; frequently it is not even thought worth while to bury it. I have seen the vultures dragging about the sweltering carcasses of infants, and devouring them in populous streets. * * * * On comparing the lists of births and deaths from 1826 to 1842, I satisfied myself that the annual excess of the latter over the former averages 550.
“The women of Lima are far superior to the men, both corporeally and intellectually, though their conduct in many respects is any thing but exemplary. They cling with invincible tenacity to the use of their national walking garb, the saya y manto, in which they take their pleasure in the streets, making keen play with the one eye they leave uncovered, and quite secure in that disguise from detection, even by the most jealous scrutiny. The veil is inviolable; any man who should attempt to pluck off a woman’s manto would be very severely handled by the populace. The history of their lives comprises two phases: in the full bloom of their fascinating beauty their time is divided between doing naught and naughty doings; when their charms are on the wane, they take to devotion and scandal. A young lady of Lima rises late, dresses her hair with orange or jasmine flowers, and waits for breakfast, after which she receives or pays visits. During the heat of the day she swings in a hammock or reclines on a sofa, smoking a cigar. After dinner she again pays visits, and finishes the evening either in the theatre, or the Plaza, or on the bridge. Few ladies occupy themselves with needlework or netting, though some of them possess great skill in those arts.
“The pride which the fair Limeñas take in their dainty little feet knows no bounds. Walking, sitting, or standing, swinging in the hammock or lying on the sofa, they are ever watchful to let their tiny feet be seen. Praise of their virtue, their intelligence, or their beauty, sounds not half so sweetly in their ears as encomiums bestowed on their pretty feet. They take the most scrupulous care of them, and avoid every thing that might favor their enlargement. A large foot (pataza Inglesa—an English foot, as they say) is an abomination to them. I once heard a beautiful European lady deservedly extolled by some fair dames of Lima, but they wound up their eulogy with these words: “Pero que pie! valgame Dio, sparece una lancha!” (but what a foot! Good heavens, it is like a great boat!) and yet the foot in question would by no means have been thought large in Europe.
“The Limeñas possess, in an extraordinary degree, talents which unhappily are seldom cultivated as they should be. They have great penetration, sound judgment, and very correct views respecting the most diversified affairs of life. Like the women of Seville, they are remarkable for their quick and pointed repartees, and a Limeña is sure never to come off second best in a war of words. They possess a rare firmness of character, and a courage not generally given to their sex. In these respects they are far superior to the dastardly, vacillating men, and they have played as important a part as the latter (often one much more so) in all the political troubles of their country. Ambitious and aspiring, accustomed to conduct with ease the maziest intrigues with a presence of mind that never fails them at critical moments, passionate and bold, they mingle in the great game of politics with momentous effect, and usually turn it to their own advantage, seldom to that of the state.”
Add to this picture that, though delicate, modest women are rare, actual adultery is not often committed by the sex, but that concubinage is more common, or rather, perhaps, more public than in Europe, the father being usually very fond and careful of his natural children, and a fair view is obtained of female character in Lima. The white Creoles are noted for sensuality, and some of the dances in which they indulge are of indescribable obscenity.[331]
The influx of foreign ships and seamen into Callao, the port of Lima, has brought in its train the usual accompaniments, drunkenness and debauchery. A few years ago it was almost in decay and ruin; now it swarms with drinking-shops (pulperias) and prostitutes, and is probably as profligate a place as any in the western hemisphere.
Passing to the Atlantic coast of South America, we find Robertson, the author of “Letters from Paraguay,” writing of female Spanish society at the city of Santa Fe:
“I was particularly struck by the extremely free nature (to use the very gentlest expression) of the conversation which was adopted with the ladies, young and old. It was such as to make me, with my unsophisticated English feelings, blush at every turn, although such modesty, whenever it was observed, caused a hearty laugh.”