without fear of cat or dog; and although they run under foot, they are too sagacious and too much on the alert to be trampled upon. They sometimes approach to court your attention, and when noticed commence their song, producing the clearest and most melodious notes that can well be imagined to proceed from the throat of a bird; and what adds to the interest of their song, is the peculiar manner in which they extend their wings and continue fluttering them, as in ecstasy at their own performance, their eyes at the same time glistening and dilated with the fire and force of exertion. Sometimes they are taught to perform sundry tricks, such as to " fetch and carry," which they do with a grain of maize, or a small coin, following and continuing their search till they find it. Sometimes they feign being dead, stretching themselves on a table with their wings expanded and eyes closed, suffering themselves to be taken up by one leg and suspended in the air as if lifeless, until some person calls out" Aqui viene el gato!” "Here comes the cat!" when instantly they spring up and commence singing, which they will do at any hour even of the night.

The tordo is common in Chile, but it is, I imagine, of a different species from these, which are brought from Santa Cruz de la

EMPORIUM OF PERU.

81

Sierra, and which, from the difficulty of conveying in safety over the cold regions of the Cordillera, sell readily at La Paz for twenty and thirty dollars each. I hired an Indian for the express purpose of carrying mine in all the luxury I could devise for its comfort, and he succeeded in delivering it safe at Potosi, but the coldness of the climate there deprived me in a few weeks of my little companion.

The city of La Paz is the great emporium of Peru; all merchandise from the coast of the Pacific is conveyed hither, then carried off by merchants, great and small, to the towns and villages of the interior; and, I must confess, that since I strolled down Cheapside a twelvemonth ago, I have not seen such crowded streets, or so much bustle in the transactions of business. The annexed plate represents an Indian of the district of Potosi in his gala-dress, bargaining with a Cholo of Cochabamba. The sketch was taken from life by a native in La Paz. English goods are abundant, and are preferred to either French or German manufactures, which seem, however, to have a very fair share of the market. Every sort of flimsy, tinsel, gewgaw, and cargoes of divers kinds of worthless articles, unsale

82

HASTY ACCUSATIONS.

able at home, were at first imported by European merchants, in the hope of finding a ready sale here. Whether they did or not is best known to themselves, but now all such articles are duly despised.

I have heard many lamentable complaints in England, and our public papers have been filled with invective, against the South Americans for entrapping John Bull and obtaining millions of his money under false pretences. But, if the voice of these people could be as easily heard, and their two or three newspapers obtain as extensive circulation as the ten thousand and one of those who accuse and asperse them, I am disposed to believe, that if they could not altogether disprove of the alleged charges, they would at least, by any honest jury, be strongly recommended to mercy, on the ground of their being "more sinned against than sinning."

With respect to the millions of money said to have been obtained in loans from England, I am aware that those who have been disappointed in the payment of the interest upon the money they subscribed to those loans, can receive but little consolation from being reminded, that only a very small portion of their cash was sent to South America; that the greater part of