BONELLI'S TRAVELS IN BOLIVIA..
Arun visiting many parts of the Old and the New World in some capacity or other, Mr. Bonelli "gladly accepted the office of secre- tary to H. B. M. Chargé d'Affaires at the head-quarters of the Bolivian Republic," in order to acquire a knowledge of the interior of South America. These volumes contain an account of his travels out and home again, as well as of his observations during
• Travels in Bolivia; with a Tour across the Pampas to Buenos Ayres, 8r.o. By L. Hugh de Bonelli, of her Majesty's British Legation. In two volumes. Published by Hurst and Blackett.
a residence at La Paz, a principal city, and Chuquisaca, the capi- tal of Bolivia.
Mr. Bonelli is not a man of salience neither has he that acumen which sees at a glance the essential qualities of things, giving to passing observations a depth and truth which most men cannot attain by time or labour. But he is a very pleasant fellow and travelling companion. Apparently foreign by blood, he seems English by training if not by birth, and combines the qualities of two races. He has none of John Bull's reserve or grumbling dis- position. Let him be thrown among what condition or character of people he may, Mr. Bonelli makes himself at home ; getting out of them all he can in the way of pleasure or profit, and himself con- tributing his share of good fellowship. When hen subjected to the an- avoidable inconveniences of travelling in thinly-peopled and back- ward regions, or exposed to the pelting of the pitiless storm, he takes things as they come; the main exception to this philosophy being his complaints of having been done by a friend at Salta in the purchase of a carriage to convey him across the Pampas in- stead of riding on horseback, but after all the bridge carried him safe over. With these companionable qualities he has some of the steadiness and pluck of the Briton, as well as his stricter moral sense.
The book is pleasant in a literary point of view. The style, though not striking, is easy and agreeable. The matter is well varied by anecdote, incident, observation, and characters, which last are numerous in the countries whither Mr. Bonelli's fortune called him. In description of scenery, which if strange is com- mon to the Tropics, the traveller's want of graphic power prevents his giving individual portraitlike character to the landscape ; but some of the scenes, especially near to or amongst the Andes, are of a kind to impress themselves be the artist's powers what they may. Here is a less striking picture as regards form than many others, but accompanied by an incident of danger, from the sudden rush of waters in those mountain gorges' that might make a telling oc- currence in a romance, if it has not so figured already. "After following a slight declivity, we found that we had at last arrived at the river's bed ; and -Batista and myself were congratulating ourselves upon our safe descent into a place of security, when a rushing sound, like the roaring of the ocean caught our ears, and presently a gust of wind forced its passage to where we stood, accompanied by subterranean reports, which accumulated every moment. Our horses became so terrified that they were quite unmanageable. Battista and myself were carried we knew not where. The animal which I rode jumped up a side of rock almost perpendicular, and thence scrambled to a ledge, where I contrived to hold him in, tremb- ling and snorting. The curious phenomenon was then explained. The heavy rains which had of late deluged the country around, and particularly the previous storm, had caused such an accumulation of water in the neigh- bounng mountains, that it had swept along the plains beneath till it had reached this chasm; then, with the fury of a cataract, it had rushed in a fearful body, carrying along before it stones, branches, or any other obstacles that impeded its course. "I looked forth from my perch with anything but satisfaction on the in- creasing tide, which whirled with a vehemence indescribable, foaming and splashing, but, worst of all, increasing to within a few feet of the station where I had planted myself. The thought of being drowned without a chance of succour in this secluded spot in the wilds of Bolivia, far from the country of my birth, with no friend near to heed or pity me, took full pos- session of my mind. These painful reflections damped my spirits for a tame, but I was soon cheered when I looked abroad and fancied that the noise of the rushing waters was abating. It was happily true—the dashing waves were gradually subsiding, and I saw before me the hope of a release. I thanked God and took courage, and after a time ventured to dismount, and having carefully led my horse down the declivity, waded along the shallow stream. I now beheld Battista seated like a crow on a projecting stump. His mule had made her way half up the cliff, and was quietly eating on a little plateau, occasionally leaving off to ce.oh a glance at her master. It is worthy of observation, that these animals, after having been ridden for some time, show an extraordinary attachment to their masters, which they evince by many a curious trait of sagacious instinct."
Mr. Bonelli's mode of progression was by steam from England to Chagres, the Atlantic port opposite Panama ; calling en route at Xamaica and some towns of South America, where they picked up some strange passengers. The journey across the Isthmus was full of small troubles both to our author and the other passengers ; among the rest, to an American diplomatist, accredited to a people of whose language none of the party could speak a word, and whom Mr. Bonelli, after settling the family in lodgings finally left at Quito, unable to ask for what they wanted, much less to carry on the business of the nation. A steam-voyage along the coast of the Pacific from Panama to Arica, including a stay at Lima, furnishes from its novelty some pleasant description of manners and scenery with occasional adventure. From Arica to La Paz, and thence to Chuquisaca, involved the passage of the Andes and their spurs, with daily incidents, fatigues, and occasionally privations, which, though essential to travelling there, would be hard enough to tourists. The return was through the high lands of Bolivia and the Argentine Provinces, till they declined into the Pampas; across which, Mr. Bonelli, instead of galloping, rode in ease if not in com- fort to Buenos Ayres, through a region distracted by the civil war that overthrew Itosas.
The Creoles of Bolivia and the interior provinces of the Argen- tine Republic offer a singular example of European civilization in manners and social accomplishments, with a state of innocence as regards lore or worldly information' and unsophistication in several matters. It is the custom, for instance, of all persons, without re- gard to age or sex, to bathe in common; and Mr. Bonelli having sought a retired spot, found his solitude invaded, and himself put to the blush, by two ladies who joined him in the water as a matter of course. The morals of the community are not of the highest; but, as in other places, things may be done under a veil which are not altogether tolerated openly. Here was a procession of justice in the capital of Bolivia. "One of the judges, a man of letters, but of dissolute habits, was not a personification of Justice as respects her blindness. The charms of beauty had evidently not been lost upon him, as was clearly evinced by the number of pretty Cholo girls with infants in their arms of whom he was the reputed father. One of these women, whose claims upon him had been utterly dis- regarded by this administrator of justice, unfortunately had no means of redress, as it was hardly to be expected that the judge who presided over the tribunal to which alone the case could be carried would condemn him- self in the matter. However, she was determined to shame him into an ob- servance of his duty, and made an appeal to her fellow-citizens in the fol- lowing fashion. Having dressed up her little one as a judge, with wig and robe and all the other paraphernalia belonging to the office, and affixed to it, both before and behind, the name of its father, written in large charac- ters, she carried it in procession through the city to the sound of a drum and trumpet, with a crowd of women, children, and the lowest rabble; who joined in a long-continued volley of shouts, groans, and hisses, coupling at the same time, the name of the learned doctor with the most opprobrious epi- thets. This curious proceeding was effectual in gaining the mother's cause, and the judge and father was but too glad to come to any terms to avoid so glaring a scandal."
"The sports of children satisfy the child." This is part of the public amusements of Bolivia on festival occasions. However, we had its counterparts in morrice-danees, May-days, &c., before the schoolmaster was abroad.
"It is the custom for a party of about twenty-four, with two commanders, to visit all mansions and houses of consequence having court-yards and gal- leries. These men are dressed with great taste, wearing large Spanish slouched hats, with hatbands of feathers beautifully arranged, white shirts with bodices, in the style of the Swiss peasantry, over which is placed a broad blue or red belt, fringed with dollars, which in dancing produce an agreeable clatter. At the side, a small pouch trimmed with doubloons pre- sents to the eye the glitter of its golden charms. Their breeches are of black 'velvet, immensely large, a is Turque, and slashed with red, being fastened to the knee by bunches of coloured ribands. Below this they wear blue stockings with clocks, and shoes adorned with large rosettes. Each indivi- dual carries in his hand a small truncheon, and the dance in which they en- gage is throughout all its arrangements precisely the old English morrice- dance.
"The captains were decidedly the most conspicuous of the whole party. They were attired in old embroidered court suits, a profusion of frills and ruffles, flaxen bag-wigs of an enormous size, cocked hats, silk stockings, and singularly grotesque masks, which did not fail to excite the risible faculties of all the bystanders. In one hand they carried a prodigious postillion's whip, remarkable for its extent of thong, and in the other an eau de Cologne bottle, with which they exhibited much drollery, affecting every species of dandyism, inhaling with studied air its odoriferous sweets as they haughtily gave the orders to the dancers and then countermanded them. From one of their capacious pockets they occasionally drew forth a small mirror, in which they pretended to admire themselves; and as they set about to adjust their huge bag-wigs, they indulged the company by a volley of sharp sayings and witticisms, which occasioned great entertainment. "After the termination of the dance, one of the commanders requests the other to favour the company with a coma el:ogei. To this the latter ex- presses a decided objection, asserts that he is in a delicate state of health, and naturally of a timid and bashful disposition. His companion then pro- poses a stimulant in the shape of wine, and asks him to tell him candidly if be thought that it would give him the requisite strength and courage. He then begins to cough, says that he does not know, but that he has no objec- tion to try. At this broad hint the ladies and gentlemen in the galleries im- mediately send down some bottles; having partaken of which, the two com- mence dancing in good earnest ; one of them, with handkerchief in hand, acting the lady to perfection. This part of the entertainment was so well done, and the various attitudes and manceuvres of the performers so ex- tremely droll, that it was encored three times by general acclamation. Of all laughable exhibitions that I ever witnessed, I was as much amused with this as any."
These extracts will give an idea of Mr. Bonelli's work. It is sometimes slight, and rarely equal to the subject or the author's opportunity ; but it is easy pleasant reading, from the freshness of the field and the bonhomie of the traveller.
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