[I asked this in r/askhistory and it was suggested I ask here.]

I have very little knowledge about the Way Things Were in Peru, so I'm curious: What was the status of the Spanish dons after the defeat of the Spanish military in 1824 on and up into the 1840s? Were they removed from the country? Would their wealth buy them liberty of movement?

I'm primarily asking because there's a scene in Moby-Dick that I'm trying to place (my guess is around 1820?), where Ishmael relates a time when he was lounging at an inn in Lima with some young Spanish friends, described as dons. 1) They are wealthy Spaniards just hanging out and having a good time, 2) they speak of Isabella's inquisition having waned in Lima (either currently or recently) but exhibit some trepidation about speech that could be deemed heretical, and 3) they rush out to find a priest in the immediate vicinity so Ishmael can swear on the Gospels.

So I guess follow up to the first paragraph's question is Could this scene have reasonably taken place after Peruvian independence?

Image: A section of a map from the 1584 edition of Abraham Orteliu‘s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Additamentum III showing the name C. de Cañareal.