288 CHIEF COMMISSIONER'S INSTRUCTIONS. CHAPTER IX. All's well that ends well.-Dead asleep.-Carnival merriment.-Costume of the Cholas.-An interesting display of science. Consequence of taking out a passport.-Discovery of a conspiracy.-Thunder-storm.-Singular superstitions of the Indians.-A dinner party. FEBRUARY 15th, I had the gratification of receiving letters from our chief commissioner, approving the steps I had taken in reducing our establishment; and, for the final settlement of our concerns here, he transmitted to me the following powers. "It being necessary to conclude forthwith all the concerns of the Potosi, La Paz, and Peruvian Mining Association, you have my power and authority to take all such steps as you may judge fit for this object. You will sell to the best advantage of the Society all the effects, of whatever description, that there may be at Potosi, and, in a word, for the purpose of conducting the business with the greater convenience, I confer upon you the powers that I hold, con ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. 289 vinced that, in prudence and discretion, you will do every thing in the best manner for the benefit of the Society. Signed, JAMES PAROISSIEN." Although it was very satisfactory to be possessed of such full powers, I had long since anticipated and acted upon them from my own authority, convinced that, in our situation, indecision and delay could produce no good. "The fated sky Gives us free scope, only doth backward pull And wishing all to end well in this case, I settled every claim against the Association over which I had any control, with the single exception of the rent for Linares' house; the money for this purpose I have been daily expecting to receive from the chief commissioner, and the payment of it would leave me free to retrace my steps homeward in solitude and disappointment. 28th. Had a stranger for the first time entered Potosi about noon on this day, he might have imagined that he had arrived in an uninhabited city. All doors and windows were closed; business of every kind was at a stand, 290 LAST DAY OF THE CARNIVAL. even the market-places were deserted and without any supply of provisions: not a living soul was to be seen in the streets: the wary condor, which usually shuns the abode of man, soared over the town as in surprise at the desolation; a death-like silence prevailed, as though the inhabitants were stretched in their tombs or stretched in their beds, dead asleep!-yes, precisely so, dead asleep!-This was the real cause. Yesterday being Shrove-Tuesday, the entire day and night were spent in one continued round of mirth and festivity peculiar to these people, who at all times prefer their numerous holidays to their few days of work; but, on this festival, all thoughts of the concerns of this world or the next are utterly abandoned, for the purpose of devoting them wholly and solely to the enjoyment of the last day of the Carnival. Grandfathers and grandmothers, with one foot in the grave, withdraw it on this occasion for a last feeble hop in the dancing-ring of younger generations. All seem inspired with the innocent folly of first childhood, and the whole population, male and female, become blended as in one family-party of joy and jubilee. Being one of them, I should feel for ever ashamed had I declined performing my LAST DAY OF THE CARNIVAL. 291 part; I therefore dealt and received, with inconsiderate prodigality, showers of flour, powdered starch, and bon-bons; I pelted the ladies and was pelted by them, with dozens of egg-shells, filled with perfumed waters, which are sometimes poured, even to drenching, upon some favourite victim, and a well-directed shot in the face with one of those egg-shells is not at all times agreeable; but, as all suffer alike, no one can feel angry at a fellow-sufferer's joke "Nor jest mean insult, where men sympathize." Such was the scene yesterday, and such the exhaustion occasioned by dancing, racing, singing, screaming, and unbounded indulgence in drink of all sorts for twenty-four successive hours, that this day one half of the inhabitants kept their beds from inebriety, and the other half from excessive fatigue; that is to say, some were as intoxicated with joy as others were with drinking. - Towards evening, animation being restored, all again rose, and, according to ancient custom, dressed and adorned themselves in all the riches and finery they either possessed, or borrowed, or could in any way obtain; then proceeded in promenade to a short distance from 292 DISPLAY OF JEWELRY. the town, under the great mountain, there in one grand tertulia to sit and converse, or, for those who had strength left, to dance till sunset. This assemblage is for the purpose of "burying the festivities of the carnival," for, at the close of the evening, guitars, fiddles, and pipes, are bound round with black crape or ribbons, and, with these emblems of mourning, buried in the earth, their uses being supposed to have ceased with the termination of the carnival, The scene was as curious as it was brilliant ; the quantity of diamonds, pearls, and gold and silver ornaments, that was displayed, according to the circumstances of the wearers, was immense. Some of the ear-rings are so ponderous, as to require round the top of the head a gold chain, the ends of which are attached to the ear-rings, to relieve the ears from the weight. The Cholas, in particular, pride themselves in the exhibition of their jewelry on this evening; their dress, too, is more conspicuous than that of others; a full-plaited petticoat, containing from twelve to fourteen yards of rich velvet or satin, trimmed with ribbons of the most gaudy colours, and sometimes with festoons of artificial flowers. A scarf is thrown over the shoulders, but not so as to hide the shining raven tresses that hang in plaits down |