As the degree of health, and vigour of constitution, enjoyed by individuals, depend in a great measure upon the diet, as well as on the air they breathe, climate, and caste, we shall offer a few general observations on the dietetic habits of the Limenians. Besides maize, which is more generally cultivated than wheat, the latter being to a considerable extent an article of importation from Chili and other foreign parts, the staple food of the poor on the coast is derived from the camote and yuca, both of The number of fat pigs killed in the town has been, in the year 1835,—on occasion of imposing, for the support of the colleges, a From forty to fifty head of oxen, and from three to four hundred sheep, are slaughtered daily for the Lima market: the beef is very good; the mutton of inferior quality. We were told by one of the principal beef contractors that, early in the year 1836, the slaughter of oxen in Lima was reduced to thirty or thirty-five head daily; a decrease from the usual number which he ascribed to the poverty peculiar to that particular period of misrule, disabling many families from buying beef, and partly also to a new military order relating to the soldiers’ rations. Instead of his former allowance of meat, the soldier was now allowed two reals daily to provide for himself what food he pleased;—an injudicious alteration in his circumstances, for he either gave his ration-money for drink, or indulged his appetite in eating some unwholesome trash calculated to throw him too often on the sick-list. Pastry and sweet-meat criers are seen everywhere in the Lima streets; and a sort of cook-stand, abounding in fried pork and fish, is to be found at the corner of every square. This practice gives some insight into the dietetic habits of the vulgar; and such poor families of genteel pretensions as from necessity hire out their slaves, are seldom at the trouble or expense of cooking at home when they can more easily call in from the street what little they may satisfy themselves with. Masamorerias, or a sort of pap-shops, are very common in Lima. Of the sweet However salutary in itself may be the quality of the more substantial food of such Limenians as can afford to live well and generously, yet most of their dishes are so sodden in lard, that the common fowl, the pigeon, turkey, and that excellent family dish the “puchero,” consisting of a variety of fruit and vegetables, with pieces of meat Their soups, together with a great variety of vegetable dishes, are so heated with agi-pepper, that the coats of the stomach would indeed require to be well greased to protect them against the piquant effects of this popular condiment. Useful and even necessary as this agi is found to be by those Indians of the valleys who cultivate it around their doors, and whose diet is nearly all vegetable, yet in a climate like that of Lima, and in constitutions so delicate as those of its inhabitants confessedly are, it must prove injurious to the organization of the stomach, and to the health in general, when freely and daily taken with a plentiful allowance of animal food, and a general mode of living sober but not temperate; for though the better classes deal sparingly in wine, yet, by The native dark races are indeed much more robust in form, and hardier in constitution, than strangers to their climate; and many of them drink “aguardiente,” or uncoloured cane spirits, in great quantity, and with less immediate ill effect than one would expect. Their constant use of such excitants as ardent spirits and fermented beverages called “chichas,” with animal food and agi, may possibly be a principal reason why these persons, whenever they are seized with inflammatory complaints, stand general bleeding better than others of their own caste fed upon sango, a name applied to a sort of mash made with maize-meal and sweet potatoes: but persons of European descent, Of water taken by the writer from the fountain of the great square in Lima, just as the river began to rise in January from the effects of the inland rains, he is happy to be able to furnish the following analysis by Dr. Thomson of Glasgow. Sp. gr. 1·00028; purer than Clyde water: 1000 grains contained
Nature has supplied the Peruvians of the coast with fruits most suitable to their wants; and these, though often injurious when eaten in a state of immaturity, or when the stomach is not in a fit state to receive them, are yet, when used in season, most grateful to the taste, and salutary to the constitution, in the regions where they abound. We shall, therefore, introduce in this place a list of the fruits produced in the orchards in and about Lima, with a specification of the months when they are in season. This we are happily able to do by presenting our readers with a list, obligingly given to us January.—Grapes begin to ripen; and also apricots, and a few pears. February.—Grapes, pears in abundance, apricots; peaches begin to ripen; lucumas scarce; figs. March.—Grapes in abundance; pears scarce; peaches in abundance; apples begin to ripen; lucumas in abundance; figs in abundance. April.—Apples in abundance; quinces, ceruela de frayle (spondias dulcis), and cerasas (malpighia glandulosa), palillas (psidium lineatum), and guavas; figs scarce. May.—The same as April; a few grapes are seen in the market, brought from the southward; cherimollas. June.—Cherimollas and guanavanas; sweet and sour oranges; a few apples. July.—The same as June, with the exception of apples and limes; sweet lemons and sour lemons begin to ripen. August.—The same as July; but slight demand for oranges this month. September.—Lucumas, paltas, and the fruits of the previous month. October.—Same as September; but a great demand for limes and sweet lemons. November and December.—During these two months there is a great demand for sweet and sour lemons, for “frescos” or cooling drinks. Sweet oranges rarely remain good after the middle of November. Plantains produce all the year, but the greatest abundance is during the hot months. The pepino is also much eaten during December, January, and February. In the months of April and May, the pulp surrounding In addition to the above account by Mr. Mathews, we may notice that the melon and sandia, or musk and water-melon, are much cultivated in the neighbourhood of Lima; and are to be seen in large heaps by the bridge, and at the corners of streets, where they are bought up, and consumed with avidity, in the hot month of February. Olives too, and very good ones, grow in the Vale of Rimac, and arrive at maturity in February and March. During the late civil wars, several valuable olive plantations were wantonly cut down. Strawberries, and likewise “tunas,” or Indian figs, of inferior quality, grow in Lima; but the market is supplied with these fruits, and of the best quality, from the neighbouring valley of Sta. Ulaya. The pine-apple does not ripen spontaneously in Lima, though attempts are now making near the Callao gate of the city |