Peru as It Is (Vol. 1&2). Archibald Smith
sober but not temperate; for though the better classes deal sparingly in wine, yet, by partaking more or less of every dish at table, and these not a few, they usually eat more than the powers of digestion can comfortably apply to the support of the frame, not usually exposed by so indolent a people to great waste from athletic exertion.
The native dark races are indeed much more robust in form, and hardier in constitution, than strangers to their climate; and many of them drink “aguardiente,” or uncoloured cane spirits, in great quantity, and with less immediate ill effect than one would expect. Their constant use of such excitants as ardent spirits and fermented beverages called “chichas,” with animal food and agi, may possibly be a principal reason why these persons, whenever they are seized with inflammatory complaints, stand general bleeding better than others of their own caste fed upon sango, a name applied to a sort of mash made with maize-meal and sweet potatoes: but persons of European descent, with skin so much more delicate than the darker races in Peru, and endowed with a more susceptible nervous system, suffer much more readily from atmospherical vicissitudes; and their digestive organs and powers of assimilation being comparatively weak, those irregularities, borne by the negro and zambo with comparative impunity, are to the white man, whose organization is not so suitable as theirs for a warm and relaxing climate, the frequent cause of various disorders of the bowels, as indigestion, cholera morbus, or dysentery. The dietetics of the Limenians naturally induce frequent examples of impaired digestion; and worms, too usually the inmates of unhealthy bowels, are so remarkably common, and in acute febrile diseases are so generally expelled either dead or alive, that their appearance in such disorders is looked upon as a matter of course. What share the water, as a vehicle for ova, may have in propagating these worms, it may be difficult to assign; but as the aqueducts are much neglected, and proper filtering-stones not in general use, it is likely that some seeds of disease may thus enter the system; and it may be mentioned that, during the warm weather, a host of animalcules show themselves to the naked eye in the earthen jars, or “botijas,” which are kept in the culinary apartments as receptacles for water intended for ordinary domestic purposes; and even water, heated in hot baths to ninety or more degrees of Fahrenheit, if again allowed to cool, and stand over a few days, is seen crowded with myriads of playful animalcules.
Of water taken by the writer from the fountain of the great square in Lima, just as the river began to rise in January from the effects of the inland rains, he is happy to be able to furnish the following analysis by Dr. Thomson of Glasgow.
Sp. gr. 1·00028; purer than Clyde water: 1000 grains contained
| Grains. | |
|---|---|
| Common salt | 0·05 |
| Sulphate of lime | 0·19 |
| Silica | 0·06 |
| Vegetable matter | 0·04 |
| 0·34 |
Nature has supplied the Peruvians of the coast with fruits most suitable to their wants; and these, though often injurious when eaten in a state of immaturity, or when the stomach is not in a fit state to receive them, are yet, when used in season, most grateful to the taste, and salutary to the constitution, in the regions where they abound.
We shall, therefore, introduce in this place a list of the fruits produced in the orchards in and about Lima, with a specification of the months when they are in season. This we are happily able to do by presenting our readers with a list, obligingly given to us by Mr. Mathews, an English botanist, now making rich botanical collections in the interior of Peru; but whose occupation, as an horticulturist at Lima, afforded him the best opportunity for exact and practical information on the subject.
January.—Grapes begin to ripen; and also apricots, and a few pears.
February.—Grapes, pears in abundance, apricots; peaches begin to ripen; lucumas scarce; figs.
March.—Grapes in abundance; pears scarce; peaches in abundance; apples begin to ripen; lucumas in abundance; figs in abundance.
April.—Apples in abundance; quinces, ceruela de frayle (spondias dulcis), and cerasas (malpighia glandulosa), palillas (psidium lineatum), and guavas; figs scarce.
May.—The same as April; a few grapes are seen in the market, brought from the southward; cherimollas.
June.—Cherimollas and guanavanas; sweet and sour oranges; a few apples.
July.—The same as June, with the exception of apples and limes; sweet lemons and sour lemons begin to ripen.
August.—The same as July; but slight demand for oranges this month.
September.—Lucumas, paltas, and the fruits of the previous month.
October.—Same as September; but a great demand for limes and sweet lemons.
November and December.—During these two months there is a great demand for sweet and sour lemons, for “frescos” or cooling drinks. Sweet oranges rarely remain good after the middle of November.
Plantains produce all the year, but the greatest abundance is during the hot months. The pepino is also much eaten during December, January, and February. In the months of April and May, the pulp surrounding the seeds in the pod of the pacay are much eaten.
In addition to the above account by Mr. Mathews, we may notice that the melon and sandia, or musk and water-melon, are much cultivated in the neighbourhood of Lima; and are to be seen in large heaps by the bridge, and at the corners of streets, where they are bought up, and consumed with avidity, in the hot month of February. Olives too, and very good ones, grow in the Vale of Rimac, and arrive at maturity in February and March. During the late civil wars, several valuable olive plantations were wantonly cut down. Strawberries, and likewise “tunas,” or Indian figs, of inferior quality, grow in Lima; but the market is supplied with these fruits, and of the best quality, from the neighbouring valley of Sta. Ulaya. The pine-apple does not ripen spontaneously in Lima, though attempts are now making near the Callao gate of the city to cultivate it. The pine-apple eaten in Lima is usually brought from the eastern side of Peru, from the Montaña of Tarma and Guancayo, &c. Sometimes, also, a few pine-apples are carried from about Moro on the coast to the northward; but these often decay before they arrive in Lima.
CHAPTER IV.
Remarks explanatory of certain Dietetic maxims, and established notions or prejudices, illustrative of the physical constitution and domestic habits of the Limenians.
In Lima there are certain opinions and rules, relating to the nature and cure of diseases, so very popular and well received among the vulgar, and at the same time so habitually countenanced by many of the native practitioners, that, for any one who proposes to practise in that part of the world, and hopes to be honourably acquitted by the jury of nurses and attendants who are always numerous about the sick, it may be worth while to consider the tenor of the following remarks:
I. No conoce nuestro clima.—It is affirmed by native doctors, but not always acceded to by the vulgar, that there is something occult in the climate of Lima, which only a Limenian or Creole physician can sufficiently comprehend. Hence the prejudiced objection, “No conoce nuestro clima,”—that is, “he knows not our climate,”—is sanctioned by high professional authority; and this much hackneyed caveat is usually laid at the threshold of every European doctor who desires to make himself professionally useful in Lima.
Every one, we think, will admit that the practice of medicine must be modified, or considerably altered, according to the topography of any particular country; for it is observed, that difference of locality affects not only man, but plants and