Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/318

272 A warrior belonging to one of the barbarous nations, inhabitants of the mountainous territory, is introduced in Plate XV.; but in a costume appropriate to a particular tribe, such as could be displayed, with a proper observance of decorum, in the capital of Peru, by the civilized Indians, by whom a group of these warriors was represented, in the procession which has been so often referred to in this work. It will be perceived by the engraving, that the performers in the spectacle, constituting the group in question, were masked; no doubt with a view to save themselves the pain and trouble of having the nose perforated, so as to display the pendant which decorates that part.

To return to the subject: of the narration. When compared with the Maldivians above-cited, and with many other nations of Asia, Africa, and Europe, our Indians may be reckoned continent. With the exception of the caciques, who in some instances have two wives, the rest hold in abhorrence polygamy, as well as contracts of marriage entered into with those who are near of kin, to the fourth degree inclusive. They are solicitous to form an alliance with a family distin6l from their own, demanding of their parents their future consorts, with the interposition of the cacique, or, which is more commonly the case, by virtue of a contra£l made between the heads of the two families, the young couple are united, and brought up together from their infancy, cohabiting when they are of an age to enter into the matrimonial state. The mode in which they are reared, has the effect of producing such tender loves, that there are not wanting Artemisias, who bury in their entrails the ashes of their defunct lords. These bonds are not, however, indissoluble; and the husband is as free to quit