LITERARY SPECTATOR.
TEMPLE'S PERU.*
THE melancholy Sultan of Serendib was sent all over the world by his astrological physician to seek and procure the shirt of the first truly happy man he should meet with. His search was unsuccessful until he arrived in Ireland: there, at some fair, Ballinasloe or Donny- brook, he saw an Irishman in all his glory: "that is the man!" said the Sultan, and forthwith his slaves stepped forth to strip him of his under-garment by fair means or foul. The man was quickly reduced, and his rags were made to fly in all directions by the obedient ser- vants of the great Sultan of Serendib ; when, ubaboo ! it turned out that Paddy had not a shirt to his back! A Jight-hearted Irishman unquestionably gives assurance that he is happy, and he is the cause of cheerfulness in others. We have caught one in the author of these volumes, and have not the least doubt of his having a shirt to his back : so that if the Sultan of Serendib is still on his travels, he can- not do better than make immediate terms with him for his linen.
A man who travels in a land where the Spaniard has ever put his foot as master, has need of more than patience. He must have strength of body, and good humour, to carry him through the diffi- culties left behind by the filthiest and laziest, the most bigoted and stupid, of all the races of Europe—the true Christian Turk. It is an old story to lament and cry out against them for their suffocation, as it were, of all the great sources of wealth and happiness—their nar- row and selfish views, and their cruelty in withholding every good, and their activity in the propagation of nothing but evil. In the hands of no other Europeans than themselves, could South America have been at this day in the low, wretched, and demoralized state in which it is. It is not Mr. TEMPLE, however, who tells us so: from him we only hear of difficulties to be overcome with a light heart ; and such is his great toleration for ways that differ from his otwn, that he talks with pleasure of all he saw and met with. But then, Mr. TEMPLE had previously travelled in Spain ; he had already learned the nature of Spaniards ; he had seen the misery and po- verty of the old country, and knew how to moderate his expectations. Don Enivronno, too, could speak their language ; and moreover, he is probably adroit in the use of that species of rhetoric vulgarly called blarney, which is greatly cultivated in the Emerald Isle, and nowhere, we should think, better bestowed than on the stupid sons of Spain, who have so long got credit for pride and hauteur, when nothing more was meant than dulness and apathy. Be this as it may, Don EDMONDO'S travels are very agreeable, and what is more, very new; they abound in information respecting the country of ,Upper Peru, not much known here ; and they tell a very striking * Travels in Various Parts of Peru, including a Year's Residence in Potosi. By Edmond Temple, Knight of the royal and distinguished order of Charles III. 2 vols. London,1830. story of the setting up and throwing down of one of the great Bubble Oompanies.. We so call the Potosi Mining Association, not because the scheme was bubblous in its nature, but in its management. It was probably formed to bubble, and it bubbled ; though, if we are to be persuaded (and why not) by Mr. TEMPLE, the field was open, and a successful return upon capital judiciously laid out was insured by the experience of all past time. We thank MT. TEMPLE for entering into the story of his Company, and for mixing up with his private observations, the tale of his treatment and that of his co-employes, by the Directors af home : it is very instructive, and shows, what might indeed have been inferred before, that the failure of these spe- culations had no reference to the nominal object of them. The mines might as well have been in the moon in the instance of the Potosi Company and others, for they were never touched : the Potosi people were ruined by setting out with an establishment that would have served to govern the Continent of America. The salaries of their em- ployes amounted to 10,000/. a year, and their first outlay to 30,000/. No honest men of businesg could begin thus ; and in truth, after the first start had produced its effect, it is probable there was but a very remote idea of continuing the race. . Mr. TEMPLE is very firmly of opinion, and we do not see that it can be doubted, certainly not refuted, that moderate capitals applied on the different mines of South America and Mexico, and superintended by the individuals chiefly concerned, would be attended by the most gratifying success. These mines did, as is proved by irrefragable re- gisters and documents, produce immense wealth ; they ceased to be worked, or the working of them was relaxed, by causes independent of their qualities ; why, then, should they not continue to produce ? The inhabitants cannot work them, for the capital of the country has been destroyed by its revolutions : every encouragement is given to the employment of foreign capital; why should it not be so em- ployed ?—always, be it understood, on well-known rich mines, not on the clay-pits of Mr. BULLOCK, nor on the poor rocks of Chili, nor by a stupendous array of machinery, that cannot be used, nor by British labourers, who grumble, get drunk, and go home ; but with the means that are on the spot, with the aid of native experience, and under the superintendence of European science ? Independent of this history of mining transactions,—which we think really important, and which takes up an exceedingly small space, and is not unamusing, for Don EDMOND° treats every thing lightly, even dishonoured bills and ruined castles in the air,—the book is full of entertaining anecdotes, told in a very mercurial style. He extracts amusement out of every thing ; and if, like Mereutio, he had been hit under a friend's sword, like Signor Mercutio, Don Enmoxno would have jested and died. The merriest people are not thereby the most thoughtless ; nor the gravest the wisest—perhaps a solemn ass is the most common of brutes. Don EDMONDO, as he used to be called, is not only a plea- sant fellow, but a sensible one ; in few books have we seen sounder opinions or better intbrmation.
It is impossible for us to extract one-fiftieth part of the curious matter in these two, volumes; but we will run over some of those- things that appeared to us most worthy of observation. The sea voyage, and the sketch of daily proceedings onboard a ten- gun brig packet, make the most of slender materials. Its fault is, that the author is here too determined to be gay—the gaiety is after- wards more natural. The landing at Buenos Ayres is a miserable chapter of accidents ; the account of the mouth of La Plata, excellent.
The Pampas we all know by heart: the vignettes, however, are lively and striking. The route to Peru leaves that to Chili on the lett : we are therefore carried through a different line of Pampas than by MrEas and Captain HEAD, and fall in with two interesting towns of magnitude, Salta and Tucuman. We would point the attention of our readers to the "inducements to emigrants" in the 13th chapter, under the head of " Salta," and also in the second volume, on the same ground, to the author's description of the province of Tarija, and the warm-hearted Irishman's proclamation to his countrymen.
The approach to Potosi is exceedingly well' described, the effect of the first appearance exceedingly striking, and the subsequent descrip- tion very clear. The journey to Oruro takes us, however, over ground very little known to Europeans. At Oruro, and also at Potosi, the commonest utensils are of silver, and a complete stack of plate is thrown into the yard after dinner by the cook to be washed. Before the Revolution, a proprietor at Oruro had not only his pots, pans, footstools, picture-frames, and pier-tables of silver, but two immense troughs of pure and solid silver in his court-yard for the purpose of wateringhis mules. It was at Oruro that a lady, while sitting and talking with Don EDMOND°, displayed riches of another description. "Bernardo!" cried she to a fine chubby boy, playing in a court before the window ; " Bernardo ! come, my son, come', Bernardo, and take it! "—at the same time putting aside her neck-handkerchief, and with her right hand gently upraising her left breast, she held it out in its full exuberance, alluring the boy, and saying, "Come, see here, Ber- nardo," as when a delicious peach or ripe cherry is,presented to tan- talize a child. The urchin immediately came running in, and standing on tiptoe, with outstretched neck and lips elongated with eagerness, endeavoured to reach the proffered gift, which his mother enabled him to do by a slight inclination towards him. " Hah !" exclaimed the boy, as lie finished his draught out of breath, and ran off to con- . tinue his play in the court. The account of Mr. TEMPLE'S quartering himself on Don MANUEL, at La Paz, is highly comic, and reminds one of the Spanish farces. At page 184. vol. II., is an affecting anecdote of Indian hospitality, very beautifully told. It has the pathos of STERNE, whom perhaps Mr. TEMPLE sometimes has in his mind, without his frivolity. There are some just and humane observ- ations afterwards on the character of the Indian. On the author's return to Potosi, he gave a dinner to General CORDOVA, and invited, among other friends to meet him, Selior V., Doctor of Laws and Secretary to the Government. The answer to the invitation is characteristic of the Spaniard. " Doctor V. is ex- tremely grateful to Don Edmond° for his friendly summons to his feast (festin) ; but Doctor V. not having shaved for some days, and being so very dirty (sueio), he begs to be excused from appearing among decent people (gente decente)." There is a very amusing story of Don EDMONDO'S black servants, from whom a thief had stolen an article of plate out of the stable, of their dismay, and of their revenge upon the culprit when discovered. Don EDMONDO stood godfather to the child of these faithful people : this is by no means a nominal office in South America. A spiritual affinity grows up between the parties, and the connexion is continually kept up by the compadres (co-parents), who take a pride at every opportunity of mentioning the relationship, seldom even allowing him to pass in the street without pointing at him, and saying, with a feeling of evident satisfaction, to the bystanders," Alle va mu compadre." (" There goes my benefactor, protector, friend.") There occurs at p. 291. vol. II., a very pleasant account of' the last day of the carnival at Potosi ; to which fail region the gaiety that used to accompany the festival in Europe seems to have fled. It must be allowed, the field for its enjoyment near Potosi is magnificent. How grand the scenery on the unfrequented route home by the province. of Tarija, a valley of plenty and beauty (about the size of Ireland only), surrounded on all sides by inaccessible mountains, which might be defended against the world by a sergeant and his squad—supposing them to have the spirit of LEONIDAS! Of this province, scarcely in- habited, Colonel FRANCIS BURDETT O'CONNOR, late aid-de-camp to BOLIVAR, and who has fought with great gallantry through the Revo- lutionary war, is Governor. He wishes to found the colony of New Erin, and invites his countrymen to join him : he answers for their pro- vision and establishment. Mr. TEMPLE is very sure of their prosperity on their arrival, but does not seem equally sanguine as to the means of getting them there. Don EnmoNno has several little private schemes of emigration on his own account, and we like amazingly some of his plans. He proposes that some half-dozen should join in the purchase of a considerable property in the interior of the province of La Plata, where every thing is to be sold cheap, andwhich abundantly supply all the wants of nature and many of her luxuries, and farm it in con- junction. The objection is chiefly the unsettled character of the Government,—though in fact it scarcely reaches to any remote point from the capital. If such a scheme could succeed at all, we are very sure, simply from what we see of Don EDMOND° in his book, that it could not have a better chief than himself.
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