The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-11-04
"REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL.

"REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL.
THE sketches under this head are prepared
especially for the COURIER, and will he con-
tinued in thcse columns from time to time,
ms. the writersfinds spare moments which he
may devote to the revision of the notes jotted
down during the years covered by his alyen-
tureS.-ED. COURIER,
NUMBER ".
Domestic Life in Lima.
1t has been the fashion among
wandering scribes to decry Lima,
the city CT Viceroys, to belittle her
people, her institutions, her religion
and her amusements. Lima, the
Paris of South America, has two
conditions, each distinct from the
other, two sides as widely different
as light is from darkness, two class
es as widely apart as the polls of the
earth. 1t is lamentably the case
and it has been the subject of much
comment-that American tourists are
too proud to look into the Jordin
Mdbiltes and the Rouge ct NOR salons
of Europe, to the exclusion of high
or pleasures which every respectable
foreigner may find in the society of
those whose friendship itshould be an
object to cultivate. The same rule
obtains with reference to tourists in
South America. There is much that
is very naughty in her gay capitals,
and their vices attract the traveller
rather than their virtues. From the
people whom he has met at the fan.
dango, at the wine gardens and in
the cafes, he forms his. estimate of the
National character, and specifically.
Like prejudiced critic he passes
over everything that Is good, to
dwell upon the few faults which op-
portunely present themselves for his
anlmadvcrsion.
The city of Lima, itself, is not al
together an attractive place. Its ar
chitecture is of tho Moorish order,
and the streets are cramped and mar.
row. tits said to be the counterpart
of the cities of Old Spain, preserving
all their distinguishing features Of
narrow balconies, Of garden walls,
courts and plazas. But few of the
streets are wide enough to admit OF
the passage of two vehicles at once.
For two centuries after the city was
built the entire traffic was carried on
with beasts of burden alone, SO that
until recently the na-rowness of the
streets was not a serious impeachment
robustness. Now, alternate streets
are assigned to vehicles moving in
one direction, and general regula-
tons similar to those of Rio Janerio
and other cities are rigidly enforced.
1t is in the free and unrestricted
intercourse with private families that
tho charm of Lima life consists.
Peruvians of unmixed descent are
reserved in their bearing towards
strangers, but their habitual hateur
dissolvcs under the influence of un-
Improbable testimonials, or letters
Introductory from a foreign Lega-
ton. The aristocracy of the coun-
try is one of blood rather than of
money and its shoddy attributes,
and the hldalgos-their natural
reserve once dissipated-are kind,
generous and hospitablc in the true
sense of the phrase, and as applied
to Spanish gentlemen. There is a
perfect freedom of intercourse and q
total absence of conventionallty
among the better class of Spanish
people as novel as it is delightful to
the victim of the constrained ETH
quette so common among North
Americans. Especially between the
sexes is conversation untramelled,
and freed of that virtuous prudery so
terribly suggestive of corrupt and
evil minds.
| A Peruvian residence is q model
of convenience and comfort, the gar
dens of beauty and exuberance.-
The house, usually OF three stories, is
built with thick walls, to insure cool.
ness and withstand earthquakes
The material used is sun-dried brick,
or concrete. which in time becomes
so cemented together as to sppear
like solid masonry. The walls are
succeed outside and In, the interior
Of the principal rooms frescoed with
pleasing effect. The ground floor is
devoted to the kitchen and household
uses generally, the middle to draw.
ing-room, living and dining rooms,
while the top floor is dedicated to
the drowsey gods. In every we'll
regulated household the upper floor
is divided exclusively into bed-cham-
bcrs, for the reason that the higher
the attitude the cooler it is. By this
arrangement free circulation of air is
secured and nights otherwise sultry
and sitting are made bearable.
The grounds, usually extensive,
are invariably surrounded by the
high Moorish walls, which insure tn
the occupant and his guests the
strictest privacy. Within these
walls grow all the tropical products.
The luscious orange and the lemon,
the fig and the pomegranate, the oil.
Nv 0ho VIZ otsto SiOW Sluc NY Hluc,
while the nutmeg and the Glove min
| gle their aromas with the sweet per-
fume of a hundred kinds of beautiful
and delicately tinted flowers. Ba-
nanas, with great clusters of ripe
fruit hanging pendant from the
stems; Aquacartas bending down
under their rich weights; Guava,
purple with their delicious treasures,
are scattered at random over the
grounds, while here and there a
climbing vine studded with fragrant
blossoms lends additional exuberance
to a scene already richer and more
beautiful than the tabled groves of
the Brahman heaven.
Crystal waters scatter into spray
from numerous fountains, fed by tho
mountain streams Of melted snow
which are led through every street
in the city; statutes exquisitely
wrought meet the eye at the inter-
sections OF every path; while painted
bowers half concealed by creepers,
and wonderfully suggestive of stolen
interviews with some languishing
beauty Of the tropics, stand aside
from the most frequented parts of
| @ko r,anlon nL l. I