Patrick O'Brian - The Wine-Dark Sea

'That is comforting, to be sure,' said Stephen, cocking his ear to the window. All over Lima church and chapel bells began ringing the Angelus with no more than a few seconds between them, a remarkable medley of tones: both men crossed themselves and remained silent for a while. Looking up again Stephen said 'Except in certain forms the Church is not a well-organized body - scarcely an organized body at all - yet sometimes flashes of sharp, co-ordinated intelligence pierce through and they are the more formidable for being unexpected. There is perhaps a certain analogy here with the Spanish government.'

Gayongos digested this, and then said, 'Let us turn to the administration. The new Viceroy is not intelligent, but he wished to distinguish himself by being active and zealous: he is wholly committed to the King - quite unapproachable by any means - and so are the people he brought with him, his immediate staff. But fortunately most of the secretariat remains unaltered, and I have some reports that will interest you. As for the chief office-holders, there is little change, except at the head of Indian affairs, which is now occupied by a highly-respected man, a friend of Humboldt's and like him an abolitionist; while in the department dealing with trade and customs the deputy-controller has taken over from his chief, but he continues the same kindness towards me, and sometimes with my wide connexions I am able to let him know of a profitable venture, as I did for his predecessor.'

In a kind of parenthesis they talked about trade for a while: it was a subject upon which Gayongos, with his correspondents and business associates up and down the Pacific coast and beyond the isthmus, even as far as the United States, was unusually well qualified to speak. He had many activities but the chief was the insurance of ships and their cargoes, sometimes joining in a scheme he thought unusually sound; and to make a success of these an accurate knowledge of conditions, public feeling and official intention in the various provinces was of the first importance. 'As I am sure you know,' he observed, 'the governors of all the considerable cities, garrisons and districts send confidential reports to the Viceroy. It was Mufioz who first suggested that we should use them, when I began to let him have a share in some of my undertakings; and now of the seven copies made one comes to me as a matter of course: they are particularly interesting at this juncture, since they have an appendix on the political opinion and loyalty of many officers, ecclesiastics and servants of the crown.' He looked at Stephen to see the effect of his words, and with some satisfaction he went on, 'This brings us naturally to the army. But before we speak of the soldiers, may I ask whether you know there is a French mission here?'

'I do,' said Stephen, smiling. 'It would be strange if there were not. But I know only of its existence. Pray tell me what the mission consists of, and how they are coming along.'

'There are five of them, all said to be Swiss, Catholic Swiss. The leader and his brother, the two Brissacs, are mathematicians, measuring the force of gravity and the height of various mountains; the other two are said to be naturalists. The fifth, who speaks very good Spanish, seems merely to arrange their expeditions. They brought a letter of introduction from Humboldt, or what purported to be a letter of introduction from Humboldt, and they were well received at the university. They are evidently men of considerable learning."

'What progress have they made?'

'Not very much. The elder Brissac, Charles, is a man of real ability and he has entered into serious conversation with some who are in favour of the new order. But the present French position on slavery cannot please the sort of people he usually sees, who are abolitionists, and he has nothing like enough money to tempt those who are both open to temptation and worth tempting. On the other hand, in spite of everything, everything, there is still a glamour attaching to France, and combined with the name of Napoleon and the idea of independence it moves some young men to a giddy enthusiasm; and the two naturalists, who appear to have served in the Italian campaign, have a number of followers. Castro may be one of them. He often invites the younger, Latrobe, and he arranged for their journey to the place where Humboldt stayed near Quito, so far up in the Andes that you can touch the moon from the ground floor.'

'That would have been Antisana for sure; and if I do not mistake the house is at more than thirteen thousand feet. If these French agents were not truly devoted naturalists, it must have been the weary, weary climb for them. But Lord, what an opportunity! I long to see the high Andes - to tread the virgin snow, and view the condor on her nest, the puma in his lair. I do not mention the higher saxifrages.'

'I went to Quito once,' said Gayongos, 'which is only nine thousand odd: up and up, always up and up, your lungs bursting, the muscles of your shins on fire; for you often have to lead your mule. Never, never again. I had rather be taken by the Inquisition. And there - how curious - there, hesitating to cross the street - ' They were sitting in a protruding louvered balcony from which they could see without being seen - 'there, the gentleman in black, is a familiar of the Inquisition. Yes. Yes. So he is. That reminds me: Castro is a Marrano - his great-grandmother was a Toledo Jewess - and perhaps that is what makes him so anxious to be cherished by the Viceroy while at the same time he longs to insure himself on the other side.'

'A difficult position,' observed Stephen. 'A Marrano cannot afford to make enemies: one alleged dislike of pork - one seven-branched candlestick found in his house - no matter who put it there - and the familiars come for him. He is accused of Hebrew practices, and you know the rest. Castro had much better keep quiet.'

'Castro is not capable of keeping quiet,' said Gayongos, and from that they went on to discuss the soldiers: it appeared from Gayongos' informed comments and from his appendices that there was a considerable amount of idealism and of support for independence, particularly among the captains and lieutenants; the senior officers were for the most part chiefly concerned with power and personal advantage; and they tended to hate one another. 'There are already bitter quarrels about how various commands and ministries are to be shared out,' said Gayongos. But he also vouched for three relatively disinterested generals and stated that if they were properly approached they might move in concert and precipitate the revolution: this would be all the more feasible if they were supplied with donatives to win the support of five or six regiments in key positions. 'This we can afford to do,' said Gayongos, 'whereas the French can not. Yet these are difficult, imperious men, and the presentation of the scheme is of the very first importance; and in any case it is you who have to decide on their value and on the present situation. General Hurtado is by far the most influential, and he is in Lima at present: should you like to go shooting with him early on Friday morning?'

'Very much. It would I think be indiscreet to ask to borrow your confidential reports.'

'They are indeed very bulky; and although I could explain their presence, no one else outside the palace could do so. May I look through them for some particular point?'

'I should be interested in any recent mention of Father O'Higgins the Vicar-General, of Father Gomez and of Father Panda.'

'Now that the Archbishop is failing, the Vicar-General is the most important man in the diocese. He is an abolitionist and he would be entirely on our side but for the fact that he deplores violence and that the English are for the most part heretics. Father Panda, a tall African, is his confidential assistant; he does not seem to mind violence nearly so much. Although he is so young they say he is very well seen in Rome, and is likely to be a prelate soon: the Vicar-General thinks the world of him. He too is an abolitionist of course. Of Father Gomez I only know that he is descended from Pachacutic Inca, that he is much reverenced by the Indians, and that he is very learned, which is not my line at all.'