In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, here's a description of Lima, Peru in George Juan and Antonio De Ulloa, “A Voyage to South America,” in Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages, volume 14, published in 1813. “We have before observed, that this river and its creeks abound in fish, which . . . some time in the year afford employment for the Indians and Mulattos inhabiting its banks, and for which they prepare towards the end of summer, having then sown and reaped the produce of their little farms. . . . With regards to their provision [while out on their boats fishing], it consists only of maize, palatines [sic], and . . . beef.” Question I cover in my Latin American history course with students related to the passage above are: What are the colonial roots of modern Latin American race relations? What ordered colonial society? What did it mean to be Indian, White, or Negro in colonial Latin America?
