heard, the Palanganas never fail to attend, and they
repeat with the most ludicrous attitudes and gestures all that they
hear, be it a sermon in church, a speech in Congress, or an address
delivered at any public solemnity.

The Mulattos now study theology; for, since the establishment of
independence, the Indian law, which prohibited any person of mixed
blood from entering the ecclesiastical state, is no longer observed.
Many have devoted themselves to medicine; and most of the physicians
in Lima are Mulattos; but they are remarkable only for their
ignorance, as they receive neither theoretical nor clinical
instruction. Nevertheless, they enjoy the full confidence of the
public, who rank the ignorant native far above the educated foreigner.
The business of a barber is one that is much followed by the Mulattos
of Lima. In that occupation they are quite in their element, for they
possess all the qualifications for which the members of that
fraternity are distinguished in all parts of the world.

Among the Mulatto females many are remarkably beautiful--though they
are always wanting in that oval form of the face which is the first
condition of classic beauty. Their countenances are generally round
and broad, their features strongly marked, and their expression
impassioned. Their beauty soon fades; and as they advance in life the
negro character of their features becomes distinctly defined. Their
hair, which does not grow beyond a finger's length, is jet black and
frizzy. They plait it very ingeniously in small tresses, frequently
making more than a hundred. Their complexions vary from white to
dark-brown; but most of them are dark brunettes, with large black
eyes and pearl-white teeth.

Their vanity is quite equal to that of the Negresses, but it is
combined with a certain degree of taste, in which the latter are
wanting. The Mulatto women are passionately fond of music, singing
and dancing. They play the guitar and have pleasing voices, but
their singing is quite uninstructed.

The Zambos are the most miserable class of half-casts. With them
every vice seems to have attained its utmost degree of development;
and it may confidently be said that not one in a thousand is a useful
member of society, or a good subject of the state. Four-fifths of the
criminals in the city jail of Lima are Zambos. They commit the most
hideous crimes with the utmost indifference, and their lawless
propensities are continually bringing the