During the nine days of our voyage between Valparaiso and Callao de Lima there were some musicians on board, who gave us a concert on deck every evening. As we left the Chincha Islands some frolicsome young Peruvians, disregarding the discord of the flute and violin, and unmindful of the timeless tuneless twanging of the two harps, got up a dance.
In the course of the night we ran into Callao harbour, and when I came on deck, in the cool of the morning, I found we were already lying at anchor in this spacious and secure port. The tradition that with a calm sea and a clear sky it is possible to perceive the ruins of the old town, with its houses and church-towers, which sank here suddenly in 1746 by the shock of an earthquake, has survived to the present day, and is told to every new-comer, who greedily swallows it down, though not one of the narrators has ever beheld the marvel with his own eyes! Earthquakes, indeed, are by no means so frequent as at the beginning of the present century, when it was rare for a fortnight to elapse without at least one _temblore_ or horizontal oscillation. The vertical shocks (_terra-motos_), the most dangerous kind of earthquake, have not occurred here since 1828. The season at which earthquakes most frequently occur are the months of March, April, and September, whence the latter month has received from the people the jocular name of "_Se tiembla!_" (it trembles!) One Peruvian who has long occupied himself with scientific observations has repeatedly witnessed that a magnet, freely suspended, regularly lost its attractive powers a few minutes before each shock, and that a piece of steel held by the magnetic force fell to the ground. If this be confirmed by a series of observations the magnet might ultimately become a sort of earthquake-monitor.
The Callao of the present day is a dirty, ugly hole, with narrow streets, and low houses built principally of mud and cane, with flat roofs. Only a few of the houses of foreigners, erected out of hearing of the hubbub of the port, form a grateful exception. The entire population will be about 20,000 souls.
The most interesting building of the port is undoubtedly the new Custom House with 31 colossal magazines, each capable of containing six to eight entire ships' freights. I repeatedly heard complaints made of the slovenliness of the attendants, in consequence of which it frequently happened that days elapsed ere goods, paid for, were delivered out of bond. The warehouse charge is very small, and consists chiefly of stamp-duties, which are imposed on the money paid for goods. The trade of Callao is apparently on the increase, and, considering the productiveness of the country, would be even greater, were internal order restored, when peace and confidence would follow in its train.