Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-11-26
Locety Ito'n"n oJ Lana.

The ladies of Lima are all eyes.
They have the reputation of being, as a
class, the most beautiful in the world,
and meeting them on the way to mass
in the morning or shopping later in the
day, one can easily see how they OBJ
tanned it, 1t is the manta, which they
wear in such coqucttish way, that
gives them their reputation for beauty,
for it conceals every feature except
their bcwitching eyes and lovely olive
camVleXion. No matter how ugly her
mouth and her nose are; no matter how
llig!. her cheek bones or large her ears,
a manta will make any woman with
pretty eyes look handsome, and like
charity, it covers multitude of sins.
On the street the women look like a
procession of nuns, but in their homes,
when they are dressed, like the Queen
Of Shcba. Indoors she is bright, viva
cious, and winning. With more passion
than intellect, with very little llnowl-
edge OF the world outside of her own
orbit, she never reads newspaper and
never looks at book, but she is up in
art and operas, plays the piano brill
iantly and with exquisite taste, and
talks like a conversational blizzard.
She is at1ectionate, impetuous, and
strong willed gllshes over what she
likes and shudders over what does not
please her. 1mpulsive, frank, and
generous, she is easily betrayed, and
the principal object in life of her
mamma is to watch over her like a
| hawk. At II OF is she marries-often
younger still. At IS she is the mother
of three or four children, shrunllcn and
wan, OF else Unfortunately fat. Their
good looks seem to go with youth, and
old maids are unknown.
| A Peruvian soldier is usually accom-
panied by woman called rabona,
who sometimes is his wife. They re-
| ccive rations like the soldiers, but no
pay. They are faithful and enduring,
but degraded creatures, who follow the
army in it's long, weary marches, assist
ing their husbands by carrying part Of
their load, and about half of them have
babies slung over their shoulders in
blankets. When camp is reached they
do the cooking; in battle they nurse
the wounded and rob the dead. Water
is very scarce along the coasts of Peru,
where most of the marching and fight
ing is done, and it is part Of the duty of
u rabona to see that her husband does
not die of thirst.
Milk is peddled about Lima by
women, who sit astride Of horse or a
mule with a big can hanging on either
side Of the saddle behind them When
they ride up to doorway they give a
peculiar shrill scream, which the
servant within recognizes. :
The fashionable entertainment in
Peru is bull-baiting. The bull is not
killed, as in Spain and Mexico and
other countries, and no horses are
slaughtered in the ring. aThe animal is
simply teased and tortured to make a
Liman holiday. The young men of the
city do the batting, and it is regarded
as a very high-toned sort of athletic
sport, like polo at Newport. The
young ladies take darts made of tin,
decorate them with ribbons lace, and
rosettes, and give them to their lovers
to stick into the hide Of the bull. The
great thing is to cast those darts so as
to strike the bull in the fore shoulders
or in the face, and in order to do it he
who throws them must stand before the
animals horns. Active young men do
the trick very dexterously, but it takes
nerve and agility, and at times fair
senoritas have seen their lovers ripped
open.-Letter from Lima.
| No FACULTY is developed. no quality