Brian Condon: Diary of James Alipius Goold, 1848-1886

July 1st. Tuesday. This morning we called at another small settlement. It enjoys the advantage of a resident [clergyman], as do all settlements on the coast. Most of the resident clergymen of S. America are native born - the descendants of the combined races of the aboriginal inhabitants and the Spanish colonists. Some of these missions have never been visited by the Ordinary.

On the following day we visited "Arica". It is a small sea-port town with a population of from 4 to 5000 of the mixed Spanish and Indian races. The town is clean and picturesquely situated. Luxuriant gardens everywhere meet the eye, a pleasing and agreeable contrast to the sterile scenery of the coast and highland. It is at this port the Bolivians receive their foreign importations and hence they ship their copper and silver ore.

We experienced great attention during our short stay here from a Mr Taylor and family. Mr Taylor is a native of N. America but has been a long time a settler in Arica. His wife is descended from a mixed marriage between a Spaniard and [an] Indian.

I was informed that a few miles from the town a cave was discovered in which were found the skeleton forms of some of the aboriginal inhabitants. The tradition of the place is that these poor people retired to these caves, taking with them a small portion of grain (some of which has been found in the cave above alluded to sound and unimpaired), there [to] linger out their quickly passing existence - no longer available for labouring exertion.

The French were the first to settle down here. They built the town. A stately church attests their attachment to the True Faith. During the revolutions that lately ravaged the country this building was not only despoiled of its ornaments and sacred vessels, but it suffered in its walls and roof most seriously. It is now undergoing a thorough repair at the expense of the people.

Two clergymen have the spiritual charge of this place - a native and an Italian. The people do not speak very favourably of the energy and morality of their pastors. The people seem a simple and well-disposed race, fervently attached to the true Faith. The town and country are well supplied with water. It seldom rains here: irrigation is the chief means of giving the land the necessary amount of moisture. Wheat is produced in great abundance in the interior. The soil is rich and the climate salubrious. It is by no means peopled in proportion to its extent and availability.

Education is entirely in the hands of the Government; religious instruction does not meet expectation. The people's unwillingness or inability to support a school under the immediate direction of the resident clergymen accounts for this latter serious drawback.

The Asylums for the sick and poor are supported entirely by the free offerings of the people. The olive and vine are successfully cultivated here. The oil and wine produced from them are very good.

Thursday 3rd July. We called today at Islay, another small sea-port town - it is twenty five years [since] it was founded. It enjoys the advantage of one or two handsome fountains. The water, which is good, is supplied by means of pipes from a river three miles in the interior.

The Ordinary of this place lives in the chief city of the Republic, situated about 60 miles inland. He is approaching his seventieth year. He made but one Episcopal visit to this part of his diocese since his consecration. The neglect of Episcopal visitation has been productive of serious evils to the Church of S. America. The priest charged with the spiritual care of Islay is a Spaniard. The church is a poor building, it is made of wood - though excellent brick and stone, apparently granite, may be had on the spot.

The great export of this place consists of silver, copper and alpaca wool. The drink used by the people is a sort of small beer, made from Indian corn. It is an agreeable beverage.

Friday 4th July. We put in nowhere today. The weather was foggy. It seems that it is peculiar to the present season. This fog continues for several days, obscuring the heavens to the partial light of twilight until noon. It is damp, and to a certain extent supplies to the parched earth the want of rain, which never falls in Peru. At Bolivia rain falls periodically. This damp foggy sort of weather prevails during four months, the other eight months of the year are dry and pleasant, the sky cloudless.

Sunday 6th July. At 7 this morning we arrived in the harbour of Calao, the seaport of Lima. Immediately on landing we proceeded to the house of the Parish Priest, our bags being previously inspected pro forma at the Customs House. The clergyman was celebrating Mass when we called. The church is large but rudely built, it would accommodate from 5 to 600 persons. The interior seems to be neglected. An old oil-cloth covers the altar - over this are spread the altar linens, too short and small in every way to conceal the dirt and rents of the oil cloth. There appeared throughout the whole place a shameful neglect. The Congregation was large and assisted at the celebration of the Holy Mysteries with great attention, and devotion. The music was barbarous. After Mass I introduced myself to the parish priest, a man of advanced age, venerable and clerical in appearance. I offered up the Holy Sacrifice. The priest very kindly invited us to his house. As we were taking breakfast he gave us information about himself and the Mission. He is 80 years of age, and was the first priest appointed to the parish of Calao. He took part in the Revolution. He has two assistants.

The town is large and well built. Its fortifications are the work of the Spaniards. The population, chiefly Catholic, exceeds 10 thousand. The harbour was crowded with ships of almost every nation. The Spanish Corvette which conveyed Dr Serra to Perth and which I had seen in Sydney was lying in the harbour. She is the first Spanish vessel of war that visited S. America since the revolution. The object of her calling was to recognise in the name of the Spanish Government the several republics of S. America.

There are a few Irish and N. American Catholics at Calao. They were anxious to procure the services of an Irish Priest. Emigration from Ireland to Peru was a scheme which had long occupied their attention, and was now on the eve of being tried. As to its success, I am not at all sanguine. The Irish labourer has but little sympathy to expect from a Government unsettled and jealous of strangers. This is a serious disadvantage, for the sympathy and protection of a strong and settled Government are necessary to the welfare of the poor and struggling colonist, upon whose simplicity and helplessness the unprincipled and selfish are ever disposed to practise. And this latter class of our kind are to be found in S. America as well as elsewhere. Again the climate is very trying on constitutions accustomed to the moderate summers of Europe. An Irish Priest with zeal and talent would do a great deal of good amongst the few Catholics from Ireland who live in Calao.

At 10 o'clock I proceeded by train to Lima. The distance is 6 miles, the time, twenty minutes. Lima is built on a plain 600 ft above the level of the sea. When the weather is cloudless [it] is visible to the naked eye from Calao. It is ten miles in circumference. Its population is 60,000. The population of Peru is calculated at one million eight hundred thousand.

The country between Calao and Lima is fertile, and under cultivation. But villas or country seats in small numbers attract the stranger's notice as he looks abroad on the luxuriant landscape. The respectable families live for the greater part of the year in the towns; the summer months they spend near the coast, on account of the salubrity of sea air and bathing.

On our arrival in Lima we went to the residence of the Archbishop, who most kindly invited us to remain with him during our stay there. Luna Pizzaro is the name of this venerable prelate. His age is 75, which his infirm constitution sufficiently indicates. He possesses a high order of intellect, and enjoys a large share of popular respect throughout the Republic. He took an active part in the struggle for independence. He is a Native of Peru. Owing to the feebleness of advanced age he is unable to undertake the visitation of his extensive diocese. Most of the Prelates of this, the Pacific side of South America, are inadequate to the satisfactory fulfilment of this most important duty by reason of their great age. Their appointments were obtained by them late in life. The consequence of this is that Confirmation is rarely administered in the distant Missions. The sacraments are not frequented as often as necessary owing - in some measure, if not entirely - to the apathy and irregularity of those whose awful duty it is to administer them.

In Lima, however, religion is more generally practised and this is mainly attributable, after the disposing grace of heaven, to the pious solicitude of the Venerable Archbishop and the active zeal of the resident Ecclesiastics. Those forming his household are young men, distinguished for their piety, zeal and talent. We remained the guests of the Archbishop's kind and unaffected hospitality during the few days we spent in Lima. And all that time the kindness and attention of the Archbishop and his household surpassed our most sanguine expectations.

To the parish priest of Calao we owe a large debt of gratitude. Our expenses to and from Lima were paid by him. He volunteered to pay our passage to Panama, but this we would not allow. Lima has many large and handsome churches, erected by the Spaniards when in possession of the place. Their interior ornaments speak much for the delicate and cultivated taste of the Spaniard. Several of the religious orders have establishments, and these are on a grand scale.

The church belonging to the Augustinians is a fine specimen of Ecclesiastical ornament. The high altar is rich in massive silver ornaments and precious marbles. It stands within a spacious sanctuary immediately under the lofty and graceful dome or cupola. The choir which is behind it attracted our particular attention, its benches presenting rare specimens of superior carving. The convent covers a large space, its cloisters are very fine: they, however, bear evident marks of neglect. In fact, time and neglect are visible on most of the ecclesiastical buildings throughout Spanish America. To the apathy and selfishness of the Governments which possessed themselves of the revenue of the church, this is mainly attributable.