An excerpt from the Saturday Review, Volume 58: THIS volume contains Mr. Cole's impressions of the Peruvians as they were -at home- twelve years ago when he had occasion to go to South America on private business. The author had been advised by a famous traveler and writer of books never to publish the menu of any meal he might_ have consumed during a sea voyage unless it contained something out of the common. This wise counsel has been taken to heart, and the author waxes eloquent on the brilliant colours of sky and sea, ...
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An excerpt from the Saturday Review, Volume 58: THIS volume contains Mr. Cole's impressions of the Peruvians as they were -at home- twelve years ago when he had occasion to go to South America on private business. The author had been advised by a famous traveler and writer of books never to publish the menu of any meal he might_ have consumed during a sea voyage unless it contained something out of the common. This wise counsel has been taken to heart, and the author waxes eloquent on the brilliant colours of sky and sea, and the bright scales of the flying fish instead of discussing the vexed and burning question whether meals on shipboard should be served at a table-hote or a la carte. Arrived in Peru, Mr. Cole of course went to see a bull-fight, which in that Republic seems to be of a nobler and less cruel type than the exhibitions in the mother-country. We are also entertained by our author with an unpleasing description of a cock-fight. Sneers at the Roman Catholic religion are abundant. Mr. Cole appears to have been somewhat shocked by the strange melange of refreshments offered to him at a Peruvian tertulia, -English stout in liqueur glasses, followed by champagne, port, and sherry.- In Russia he says that -these incongruous ingredients are mixed together in a huge bowl and called punch.- He probably refers to the bewitching but treacherous Junka, from which visitors to the hospitable captain's cabin or genial wardroom of a Russian man-of-war are fortunate if they escape with clear brains and unthrobbing nerves. A Peruvian chanza is in our author's opinion a perfect Garden of Eden. We have not space for his enthusiastic description of one, or for his really clever picture of the Pampas, where in early morning the blazing sun glares like an angry red-hot fire-ball, where cool breezes begin in the afternoon, where a little later a hurricane of burning sand sweeps across the plains, and where heavy rain clouds are seen scudding aloft on their way to the Andes, on whose slopes they will presently pour their contents. 'This is the summer aspect of the scene. In winter, walls and buildings, and the soil itself, are caked with frozen salt, condensed from the cold sea fogs, and the thermometer goes down to zero. Both sides of the coolie question are dispassionately argued by Mr. Cole. It would seem that Chinese immigrants are treated far more humanely in Peru than their unfortunate brethren in Cuba; but they must ever and everywhere be -kittle cattle- to deal with. -Indifferent to everything that concerns the moral side of man, - their lives can never blend or mix with those of the people with whom it suits them to make a temporary home. When they can leave they will, - and, after they have gone, there is no trace of their existence - -not even a tombstone, their very ashes they make an effort to transport to the Flowery Land....
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Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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