PERU IN THE GUANO AGE.* IN this little work of
a hundred and fifty pages will be found much matter entertaining and instructive alike to many readers besides holders of Peruvian Bonds. Although of Mr. Duffield's some- what discursive book it may be said, as the Scotchman remarked of Johnson's Dictionary, that it is "yarn enteresting, but a little disconneckit," we yet find a number of topics relating to Peruvian history and society, treated with a point and freshness not often met with in the ordinary run of books of travel. We learn that Mr. Duffield, who had been previously familiar with Peru and with the Spanish language, was commissioned on this his last visit to inquire into and report upon the probable value of the remaining guano deposits at the disposal of the Peruvian Government. In- formation of this kind he furnishes fully and in detail, having personally visited and examined not only the celebrated Lobos de Tierra, "the largest guano island in the world," but almost all the other principal spots in which this valuable commodity has been found. The conclusion he has arrived at is that the Peruvians, if they have the will to meet, are certainly not without the means of meeting, and more than meet- ing, all the demands of the public creditor. But as to the will, he expresses himself very doubtfully, having regard to the present temper of Peruvian society, and to the character of their public men. Even in his dedicatory epistle to his "distinguished friend, Don Juan Espinosa y de Maldonado," Mr. Duffield finds it matter of special compliment to address him as an exceptional instance of one who, on grounds of public policy alone—not to speak of honesty—" has always insisted on Peru paying her debts." Of the bulk of the people, Mr. Duffield speaks as if they had become reconciled to national bankruptcy as their normal state, on the plea that they cannot forego their little luxuries on such fanciful and unsubstantial considerations as national character or credit. The Spanish whites are described as incorrigibly idle, almost the whole of the heavy labour of the country (unprofitable State Railways included) being performed by Chinese, and other able-bodied men imported from the islands of the Pacific. Education is at a very low ebb among these Spanish descendants, literature is little cultivated, and the range of reading,,even of the more educated classes, seems to be re- markably narrow for a people who claim to be regarded as a civilised community. Marriage, which is, of course—the country being Roman Catholic—a sacrament, is greatly respected in this, —that husbands are very commonly quite as faithful and devoted to their neighbours' wives as to their own. Nor is this so very
&• Peru in the Guano Age. Being a Short Account of a Recent Visit to the Guano Deposits, with some Reflections on the Money they have Produced, and the ITees to which It has been Applied. By A. J. Duffield. London: Richard Bentley and Son.
much to be wondered at, seeing that, according to our author, he "has known a parish priest who had living in several houses more than thirty children by several women ; and a Bishop of the Peruvian State Church, sworn to celibacy, whose illegitimate children were more numerous than the years of his life" (page 14). "Incontinence," we are told, is general, and the number of illegitimate children greater than of those born in wedlock." A startling contrast this to the state of things the Spaniard found on first taking possession of Peru. Curious and apparently very trustworthy testimony on this point is afforded by one of the first Spanish conquistadores (conquerors) of Peru, in the con- fession attached to his will on the 15th of September, 1589, before one Geronimo Sanches de Quesada, escribano public° (public notary), and which appears in the article "Indio," of Espinosa's People's Dictionary. Mr. Duffield sets this out at length in an English version, by no means the least interesting portion of his book. It is sufficient to say here, that accepting Mancio Sierra Lejesama's admissions against himself and his countrymen, they imported Spanish Christianity and civilisation to the poor unsophisticated children of nature, with results of which every honest heathen, as well as Christian, may feel heartily ashamed, on the ground of their common humanity, not to speak of religion at all.
Lax, however, as the Peruvians now are in their morals and manners, they are not without some redeeming qualities, as Mr. Duffield frankly admits. They are universally courteous and hospitable to strangers, and often put themselves to much incon- venience in lodging and entertaining them. This hospitality is at times severely taxed by the tribes of people of various nation- alities who make for that country, seeking their fortune. "Among all the classes of immigrants in Peru," writes Mr. Duffield, "or in Lima, its capital, the English stand first and highest. They are certainly better represented than they were twenty years ago, but there is still much to improve. One great drawback to the English is the absence of a home, or the meatus of seeking one. The construction of the houses is one cause. There are no snug corners sacred to quiet and repose, and if the house be not a convent, it is something between a theatre and a furniture-shop. Domestic servants are another fatal drawback, but the rent is the greatest of them all. The rents of some of the dingiest houses in the back streets are higher than those in May Fair in the season, while the principal houses in the chief streets are treble the amount."
As we have stated, almost all the heavy labour in Peru falls upon the (we had nearly said) ubiquitous Chinaman. His strength, his patience, steadiness, and sobriety, notwithstanding all that can be urged against him, make him a welcome—perhaps too welcome—visitor (to employers) in every country ill-sup- plied with labour. Mr. Duffield, who has known him in Australia, as in South America, is evidently rather partial to poor John. "The Chinaman," says he, "is not only very intelligent, he is even superior in his personal tastes to many of those who pride themselves on being his masters. If he has time and opportunity, he will keep himself scrupulously clean in his person and dress. After his day's work, if he has been digging dung, for example, be will change his clothes and have a bath before eating his supper. He is polite and courteous, humorous and ingenious.
He is by no means a coward, but will sell his life to avenge his honour. It is always dangerous for a man twice his size to strike a Chinaman. The only stand-up fight I ever saw in Lima was between a small Chinaman and a big Peruvian of the yellow breed, and the yellow-skinned big 'un ' must have much regretted the insult which originated the blows he received in his face from the little one. The China- men of the better class,—the Wing Fats, Kwong Wos, the Wing Hing Lees, and Si, Tu, Pous—whose acquaintance I made, are all shrewd, courteous, gentlemanlike fellows, temperate in all things, good-humoured, and kind, and exquisitely clean in their houses and attire. It was an infinitely greater pleasure to me to pass an evening with some of these than with my own brandy-drinking, tobacco-smoking, and complaining countrymen, whose conversa- tion is garnished with unclean oaths, whose Spanish is a disgrace to their own country, and their English to that in which they reside."
After this little burst of comparative sociology, truer probably than we could wish it to be, we shall give no more of Mr. Duffield on so delicate a subject than the following characteristic little anecdote, with which we shall conclude this notice :—
" One day I picked up a New Testament in Chinese, and after stay- ing one evening with my Celestial friends for an boar, I took it out of my pocket, and asked them to be kind enough to read it for me, and tell me what it was about, for that in my youth my parents had not taught me that language, and I was too old to learn it now. The next night our conversation was renewed, all being, for the most part, of the rifest heathenism. They made no allusion to my New Testament ; they evidently preferred to talk of other things, or to sell fans. At last, in a tone of indifference I asked after my book, which one of their number produced out of a. sweet-scented drawer. 'We do not know,' they said, 'what the book is about,' and therefore they could not tell me. They had read it? 0 yes ; it was not a cookery-book, nor a song-book, nor a book about women, but seemed to be a pot of many things not well boiled.' There was no laughter ; all was as serious as melancholy itself. I was a little disappointed, and Clime away without buying anything. It must require great gifts to be a missionary to the heathen, and especially the heathen Chinese. I should be inclined to think it to be as easy to bring a rich Chinaman to repentance as a rich Jew. The failure of my New Testament to make itself understood was a great blow to me. They might probably have understood some por- tions of the Book of Genesis better, but to my regret I had not the means of putting it to the test."
There is, perhaps, in the above passage a little more of Socratic irony than will be relished by readers who think irony rather out of place on such subjects as missionary work.
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