Such Is A Rapid View Of That Portion Of Peru Which
Is Called _The Plain_; To Which Must Be Added
That the sea along its
entire coast is always smooth and tranquil, from which it has been called
the _Pacific
Ocean_, being never vexed with storms, or disturbed by high
and low tides; so that vessels can everywhere ride in perfect security at
single anchor.
Those Indians who inhabit the mountainous regions of Peru are entirely
different from the inhabitants of the plain, whom they vastly exceed in
strength, courage, and mental abilities. They live in a much less savage
manner, having houses covered with earth, and being clothed in shirts and
mantles made from the wool of their sheep[21]; but their only head-dress
consists in a species of bands or fillets. The women wear a species of
vestments like shifts without sleeves, and gird their waists with several
turns of a woollen girdle, which give them a neat and handsome shape;
covering their shoulders with a mantle or plaid of woollen cloth like a
large napkin, which they fix round the neck with a large skewer or pin of
silver or gold called _topos_ in their language, with large broad heads,
the edges of which are sharpened so as to serve in some measure the
purposes of a knife. These women give great assistance to their husbands
in all the labours belonging to husbandry and household affairs, or rather
these things fall entirely to their lot. Their complexions are much fairer,
and their countenances, manners, and whole appearance, are greatly
superior in all respects to the natives of the plain.
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