y good.
This venerable Cura was a fair type of the Peruvian priesthood. He was
passionately fond of hunting, and for the enjoyment of that recreation
he kept a number of excellent horses, and several packs of hounds,
particularly _galgos_ (greyhounds), for some of which he paid 150 or
200 dollars. In the most shameless way he violated the ecclesiastical
vow of celibacy, and he was usually surrounded by several of his own
children, who called him _uncle_, addressing him by the appellation of
_tio_, the term usually employed in Peru to express that sort of
relationship. The Padre used to boast of his alleged friendship with
Lord Cochrane, in which he affected to pride himself very greatly. He
died in a few weeks after his return to Huacho. He refused so long to
make his confession, that the Indians, uttering furious menaces,
assembled in crowds about his house. Some even compelled a priest to go
in to him, to represent the awful consequences of his obstinacy. On the
approach of death, he declared that the thought which most occupied him
was his separation from his hounds, and when his hands were becoming
cold he called to his negro to fetch a pair of buckskin hunting gloves,
and desired to have them drawn on.

In Peru the clergy have no fixed stipend. Their emoluments are derived
from the fees and perquisites which their ecclesiastical functions bring
in. For baptisms, marriages, and masses, fixed sums are established; but
it is not so with burials, for which the priest receives a present
proportional to the circumstances of the deceased. The interment of a
poor person (_entierro baxo_) costs at least from eight to ten dollars,
which sum is extorted from the survivors with the most unrelenting
rigor. For the burial of a rich person (_entierro alto_) the sum of two
hundred dollars is frequently paid. If a wealthy man should express in
his will his desire for an _entierro baxo_, the priest sets this clause
aside, and proceeds with the costly ceremonies, the payment for which is
insured by the pious feelings of the family. Hence some of the richer
_comunerias_, of which Huacho is one, yield to the priest annually from
12,000 to 14,000 dollars. When a priest dies, the clergy of the
neighboring villages meet and bury him with great pomp, free of any
payment except a good banquet.

A rich Indian of Huacho made a bargain with his countrymen that, on
their paying him weekly a medio (the sixteenth part of a dollar), he
would def