During my stay in Huamalies, the news of the invasion of the province of La Plata, by the English, arrived; this induced me to return to Lima, instead of travelling through the country to the northward, because I knew that in the capital I should be less suspected by the government, than by the petty governors and magistrates in the inland towns. Before I quit the subject of the foregoing chapter I shall however make a few general observations.
The total absence of inns, or any similar establishment on the roads, or in the towns and villages, would present to an English traveller an almost insurmountable obstacle; and as this country is now (1824) likely to be frequented by many of my countrymen, I think it will not be uninteresting to those who may stand in need of some information, nor unentertaining to the public at large, if I give a concise description of the general mode of travelling in Peru.
If a resident in Lima wish to go to any considerable distance from the capital, the best plan he can pursue is to inquire at the tambos for _requas_, mules, which are from the country he intends to visit, and agree with the muleteers or carriers for the number of mules he may want. With an eye to comfort, the traveller must provide himself with a mattress, bedding, and an almaufres, leather bag, already described, sufficiently large to hold, besides the bed, his wearing apparel, because the cargo would be otherwise too light.
I always formed another load with a trunk, containing linen, books, and writing materials; also a canteen, holding two or three small pans, oil, vinegar, salt, spices, sugar, coffee, tea, knives and forks, spoons, &c., and thus equipped, having a good poncho, saddle, _al uso del pais_, bridle and spurs, a traveller has little to apprehend from the want of inns. The plan I usually followed was, to go to one of the principal houses in the town or village, and to ask if I could remain there during my stay in that place; this request was never denied me, and nine times out of ten I have had nothing to pay, with the addition, perhaps, of letters of recommendation, or kind messages, to persons residing in the town or village to which I was going. If it happened to be from one cura to another, I was not the less pleased, because their society in such places is generally the best, and their fare is certainly not the worst. It is much to be feared, that the political changes likely to take place in South America will be inimical to the general feeling of hospitality in the inhabitants; civilization will teach them refinements superior to such barbarous practices.