even after years of absence, may be reclaimed on
their return. The value of slaves is not so high in Peru as in the
southern states of North America. In Lima, the average price of a
young, strong, and healthy negro is 400 dollars; the price of a
negress, especially a _Negra de Chavra_ (capable of field work), is
100 dollars higher. The value of those destined for domestic service
depends on character and qualifications. A negress who is a good cook
or needlewoman, is of course worth more than a negro who is to be
employed as a water-carrier or a footman. In the plantations their
value depends wholly on health and strength.

The treatment of slaves in Lima, especially by the Creoles, is
exceedingly mild, and generally much on the same footing as the
treatment of servants in Europe. It is seldom that a master inflicts
severe corporal chastisement on a slave. If the latter requires
punishment, he is sent into the _Panaderia_ (the bakehouse) to knead the
dough and bake the bread, which work they perform under the supervision
of a Mayordomo, who is usually a hard task-master. Owing to the heat of
the climate, working in the _Panaderia_ is more feared by the slaves
than any other kind of punishment.

In Lima the special laws for the protection of slaves are more
favorable to them than the similar laws of any other slave country.
The slaves bring their complaints before a particular judge, whose
business it is to protect them against ill-treatment. A slave is free
whenever he can pay the sum which his master demands for him,--which
sum, in disputed cases, is fixed by legal decision. The slave also
possesses the right of selling himself to another master, and the
latter may pay the purchase-money to the former owner, who, however
unwillingly, is obliged to conclude the bargain. The negroes have
ample opportunities for saving money. They are permitted, during five
or six hours of the day, to work for themselves; so that in the course
of a few years they may with ease save the sum requisite for
purchasing their independence. But in general they spend their
earnings in mere idle enjoyments, and care but little about obtaining
their freedom. As slaves they are provided with lodging, food, and
clothing, and they are nursed in sickness; but as soon as they become
free, they must supply all these wants for themselves; an undertaking
which their natural indolence renders them little inclined to. On the
whole, domestic negroes may be