The record-union., 1891-01-12
PERUVIAN CHARACTER.
Pulling the Hides Off of Living
Animals in Peru.
aoW DONKEYS ARE KEPT GOING UN-
TIL THEY FALL DEAD.

TIL THEY FALL DEAD.
Love-NIal<ing with a, Brass Band-An-
ecdotes Illustrative OF the Peruvian
Character-The Bull FiGhts-Splcn-
did Music in the Churches.
Special correspondence of the REcoRD-UNIoNl
LIMA, Peru, 1880.
In common with other Spanish Ameri-
cans the Peruvians show a strange mix
lure of gentlencss and cruelty, sentiment
Atty and heartlessness. They are
excessively polite to the minutest detail
Of an exaggerated etiquette, on all occa-
mons at home or abroad. Their voices
IRE always low and musical, their viva
cious gestures and profound obeisances
The perfection of grace,a and their every
day manners such as Lord Chesterfield
might have envied. If a lady-young or
Did, handsome or hideous-comes into
any public place where gentlemen are
congregated, instantly the buzz of conver-
sation ceases, every man rises to his feet,
takes off his hat and remains standing
until she has passed out or is seated.
When a funeral procession goes by, men
Ia their carriages, in the horse-cars, on the
street and in the door-ways or balconies
OF their houses, uncover and bow their
heads; and the same custom is observed
whenever the door OF church is passed.
Their Difference 10 the aged, the obedience
Of adults to their parents, their tenderness
TO the young and their federation OF and
charity toward the vast army of beggars,
are beautiful to behold and worthy of
emulation.
They viii put themselves to the greatest
amount of trouble to serve stranger,
without expectation of reward; their hos
pitality is unbounded, their generosity
proverbial, and for point OF honor most
of them will lay down their lives. Yet
the temporarily reduced Will resort to 4
thousand polite preteXts to get money out
Of you, such, for example, as dead
friend who had recently lost all his prop
erty and whose coffin must be bought by
subscription; won't you donate ten dol
lars toward so charitable an object? or u
tale Of woe about a poor widow and her
children, left penniless in the cold world,
who are desirous OF going to their rela-
tives in some distant place; surely the
sonora viii be happy to assist them? etc,
etc. / myself subscribed small amounts
from time TO time for dozens of collins
poor widows with weeping families, until
i learned the little game. Even the Pc
ruvian highwayman Will take off his nat
to you in The most deferential manner
before politely requesting your money or
your LIE; ana il IL comes to the unpleas-
ant necessity OF forcibly taking the latter
III order TO secure the former, he will
crave your pardon while piunging his
dagger into your vitals; Will compliment
your handsome appearance in death, and
tarry long enough, at whatever risk to
himself, to not only bury you decently,
but to set up cross over your grave, so
that future passers-by may pause to say
prayers for your unShriyen soul.
In all the months l have remained in
this country have never seen child
whipped and have scarcely heard one cry.
The poorest among them loves music and
poetry, flowers and sentimentality, more
than his daily meat and drink; yet vein
of coldest cruelty and utter heartlessness
runs through the best of them. This is evil
denced in many ways besides the bull
fight, the cockpit and their conduct in
war. Perhaps the most common example
is in their treatment OF donkeys. No
tongue can tell what those patient and
tr2ctable little creatures are made to en-
dure till mercifui death at last releases
them from torment, over-work and slow
starvation. Everywhere we see pitiable
examples Of beasts bearing heavy bur-
dens upon raw and bleeding backs, which
daily press deeper and deeper into the
fostering flesh until the bone Is laid bare,
ana still no attention is paid TO il, nor is
the burden in any way liGhtened. We see
them with huge welts criss-crossed along
their backs and TANKS, raised by the mer-
ciless whip, which falls increasingly,
whether the poor animals travel fast or
slow. Some nave their ears Topped and
broken By blows from cudgels, and many
have their nostrils slit up ON each side of
the nose, so that there may be mo nom
sense in the way of difficulty of breath
ing and consequent loss Of speed in the
higher attitudes.
The theory appears to prevail that q
donkey can carry as much as can be piled
upon him, and they are generally COW
cred from head to tail with loads that
bulge far out on each SIDE; or when car
Tying human freight, two men, or =
couple of woman, or three or four boys
bestride him at once. When hardly able
TO move, either from excessive burdens
or lack of food, his energies are stimu-
lated as long as possible by twisting his
stub of tail or his sensitive ears; or by
the boy who rides him, who selects nice
soft spot on the animals flank or fore
shoulder, and works away at it with q
rusty nail or scrap Of iron or tin, till the
hide is worn away, the raw flesh ex-
posed and bleeding, and then to continue
ndgging the wound.
Not less 10 be pitied are the street-car
mules and horses, which are beaten in
eessantly, no matter how hard they pub
or how desperately they exert them
SelveS-iash, lash. goes the long, heavy
whip over their suffering backs, up grade
and down, from dawn till midnight. An
extra man is hired for The express pur-
pose OF whipping the animals, who stands
beside the driver and appears to be about
fhe most industrious person i'll Peru.
The most blood-cardling, cruel thing
that has yet come under nay observation
is the manner III which are obtained the
so-called ''pig-skinS'' that so commonly
serve for bottles and casks. They are not
the hides of pigs, but those of sheep, and,
horrible to relate, are pulled of the living
animal, the poor sheep being actually
skinned alive, or, more correctly speak
ing, skinned dead, for of course he does
not long survive the operation. The
modus operandi is as follows: The beasts
are driven, one by one, to the appointed
place and firmly tied to stake. Then
the hide IS neatly cut around the neck and
down the middle, without touching the
flesh or severing the arteries or hurting
the animal much, after which hooks are
fastened into the loosened skim rope
being attached to each hook; strong men
take firm grip on the ropes and pull back
wards, pulling and pulling, until the
hide is torn off clean to the tail. tits said
that during this frightful torture the cries
OF the poor sheep are almost human in
their expression OF agony, and that the
bloody, quivering mass sometimes lives
several minutes. The only excuse fol
the barbarous practice is that the skins
are much more flexible and durable when
thus taken off alive than when the ami
mails are dead.
a youthful army officer, who was intro.
duced TO our party by the resident consul
has been eXemphfying some of the traits