Most of the mestizos possess little estates (_chacras_), the produce of which, consisting of grain, vegetables and clover, is disposed of in the towns of the Sierra, or in the mining districts of the Puna. As the profits arising from the chacras usually suffice to provide their owners with a comfortable subsistence, the mestizos pass their lives in idleness and pleasure. They spend the chief portion of the day in the true Spanish style, gossiping in groups in the streets, and wrapped in their mantles. When the state of the weather does not admit of this sort of out-door lounging the time is passed in gaming or cock-fighting. This latter diversion is no less in favor in the Sierra than in Lima. Such enormous bets are laid at these cock-fights, that the losses frequently entail ruin on persons of tolerably good fortune.
The agriculture of the Sierra is wholly consigned to the Indians, who either cultivate their own lands, or for very poor wages labor for the mestizos. In September, the ground is ploughed and prepared for sowing, which operation is performed in October, and the reaping takes place in April or May. By this means the seed is left in the ground throughout all the rainy season. In February violent frost frequently comes on during the night, by which the seed is so much injured that the harvest fails, and the scarcity occasions severe suffering and even famine. When the cold clear nights create apprehensions of damage to the seed, the people form themselves into processions, and go through the villages and towns imploring the mercy of Heaven. In the dead of the night it is no unusual thing to be aroused by the ringing of bells. The inhabitants then get up and hurry to church, where the solemn processions are formed. Penitents clothed in sackcloth go through the streets, scourging themselves; and the Indians, in their native language, utter prayers and offer up vows to Heaven. For the space of some hours an incessant movement and agitation pervade the streets, and when day begins to dawn the people return to their homes, trembling between hope and fear. The fate of the Indians, when their harvest fails them, is indeed truly miserable, for, abstemious as they are, they can scarcely procure wherewith to satisfy their hunger. In the year 1840, which was a period of scarcity, I saw the starving Indian children roaming about the fields, and eating the grass like cattle.