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PERU AS IT IS:
A RESIDENCE IN LIMA,
AND OTHER PARTS OF THE PERUVIAN REPUBLIC,
COMPRISING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOCIAL AND PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THAT COUNTRY.
BY ARCHIBALD SMITH, M.D.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
1839.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,
Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
TO
SIR ALEXANDER CRICHTON, M.D. F.R.S.
PHYSICIAN IN ORDINARY TO THE EMPEROR OF RUSSIA,
AND TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE;
KNIGHT GRAND CROSS OF THE ORDERS OF ST. WLADIMIR
AND ST. ANNE,
KNIGHT OF THE ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE OF PRUSSIA, ETC.
the following account of Peru, a country which,it is probable, the Author never would have visitedbut for his very kind and disinterested patronage,is most gratefully dedicated by
Archibald Smith.
PREFACE.
In this refined age and country, to makea graceful appearance as an author requiresendowments to which the writer of the followingpages has no pretension: neitherwould he have intruded himself on the publicnotice, had he not thought it a duty incumbenton every one who travels, to givehis own country the benefit of his observationand experience. He will venture toassert, that he has had ample means ofmaking himself acquainted with his subject,and that he has treated it with candourand impartiality.
For upwards of ten years he lived inPeru: sometimes residing among miners;at other times associating with agriculturists;and professionally brought into contactwith persons of all classes and ranksin society, from the palace to the humblesthut.
In the interior of Peru, but more especiallyin Lima, the writer has met withgreat courtesy and kindness in private life,and been distinguished by very flatteringmarks of public favour. He therefore, itmay be well believed, has not “set downaught in malice;” and he trusts that inthe following pages there will not be foundany thing inju