Four Years in the Pacific: in her Majesty's Ship 'Collingwood,' from 1844 to 1848

Front matter

FOUR YEARS IN THE PAC IF I C VOL. ySty/e^y of oya^cuitt-. yaA^ty FOUR YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. IN $er iWarests's £f)tp " Œollingtaootr." from 1844 to 1848, BY LIEUT. THE HON. FRED. WALPOLE, R.N. " Senor a lo que digo Que soy de parte de ello buen testigo." Ksaill/v Arauco. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, Puiltaljet in ©rtrinarg to &n JEajestg. 1849. LONDON 1 Printed by S. & J. Bentley and Henry Fley, Bangor House, Shoe Lane. CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

Chapter I. Peru

PAGE CALLAO HARBOUR. — SITUATION OF CALL ATI. — THE TOWN. — MARKET- PLACE. — GAMBLING. — PLAIN OP THE KIMAC. — GUANO KNOWN TO THE INCAS. — SPORTING. — PICNICS. — ISLAND OF SAN LORENZO. — COMMUNICATION WITH LIMA. — HIGH ROAD. — QUINTAS. — NONE WHOLLY BAD. — ENTRANCE TO LIMA. — THE GATE. — HOUSES. — SQUARE. — STREETS. — BRIDGE OVER THE RIMAC. — THE SATA. — COSTUME. — CAFE. — CEMETERY. — EPITAPH. — A VISIT. THE GARDEN. OLD BUILDING. — THE THEATRE. — FRANCISCAN MONASTERY. — QUIET LODGINGS. — PENANCE. — A SOLEMN CEREMONIAL. — STATE OF THE CHURCH. — CATHEDRAL. — DRUM ON ELEVATING THE HOST. — PIZARRO. — FATE OF THE CONQUERORS. — POSTERITY OF PIZARRO SCENE IN A CLOISTER. — THE RIMAC. . ....... 1

Chapter II. Amusements At Lima

COCK-FIGHTING. — MUSEUM. — ALMEDA. — BULL-FIGHT. — THE RING. — THE PROGRAMME. — THE ATTACK. — VICTORY UNFAIRNESS OF THE SPORT. — FESTIVAL OF ST. JOHN. — REVIEW. — SOLDIERS. — PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. — THE INDIAN CHARACTER. — PROVISION FOR A MARCH. — THE INCA RULE. — ORIGIN OF THE INCAS — ITINERANT DOCTORS.— CLIMATE.- — PRODUCE INCA PROVERB. . . . . . . . .33

Chapter III. The Temple Of The Sun

THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN EXTRACT FROM A JOURNAL. — FIRST VIEW OF THE RUINS. — THE TF.MPLE OF THE SUN.— EXTENSIVE VIEW. SECOND INSPECTION. — INDIAN GRAVES. . . . . . .52 CONTENTS. VI

Chapter IV. Payta

PAGE APPROACH TO PAYTA. — RAFTS. — OVERLAND TRAFFIC. — WANT OF WATER. — VISITORS. — THE TOWN. — A BALL. — THE GUESTS. — DANCERS. — MORNING VISITS. — ANSON SACKS PAYTA. —BURNING OF PAYTA. — STORY OP CATALINA. ESCAPES FROM THE CONVENT. CROSSES TO THE NEW WORLD. AWK WARD DILEMMA. MORE ADVENTURES. — FATAL DUEL. — A NEW LOVE. — MISCONDUCT AND BANISHMENT. — NARROW ESCAPE. — RETURNS TO SPAIN. — REVISITS AMERICA. — DIES. — FATE OF HER MEMOIRS. . . .59

Chapter V. The Society

ISLES— TAHEITE. BEAUTIFUL APPEARANCE OF TAHEITE. — THE BAY OF PAPIETE. — DIS COVERY. ATTACHMENT TO THE ENGLISH. ABUNDANT. VEGETATION. SCENERY. — THE NATIVES.— THEIR COSTUME. — OBSERVANCE OF SUNDAY. — LOVE OF STRONG LIQUORS. — EXCURSION. THE GUAVA. — VISIT TO TOMA PHOR. — WARM WELCOME. POMARE'S ILL-ADVISED ACT. THE NATIONAL COLOURS. — THE RUNAWAY. — EXCURSION. MEANS OF RESISTANCE. — SKIR MISH. — INDIAN GRAVES. — BURIAL.— THE MERRY BATH. — THE REPAST. — COOKERY. — THE FEAST. — THE DANCE. — THE WOMEN OF FATA W A. A DEATH SCENE. — FUNERAL. — THE BROOM-ROAD. — COOK'S ORANGE-GROVE. — GATHERING COCOA-NUTS. — FINE FLAVOUR WHEN FRESH. — NATIVE TREA SON. — SKIRMISH. — DISLIKE OF THE FRENCH. . . . .81

Chapter VI. Excursions

CROSSING STREAMS HOSPITALITY. — ANOTHER SKIRMISH. — VICTOR, THE MALTESE. — GAME AT BALL. — BLOCK-HOUSES. — ANECDOTE. — DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER. — POMARE. — HER HISTORY. — HER HUSBAND. — OTHER SOVE REIGNS. THE MESSAGE. — RECEPTION. NATIVES ASSEMBLED. ANSWER OF THE NATIVES. — LEGEND. — PROPHEOY. — EXTRACT FROM JOURNAL. . 118

Chapter VII. Islands Of The Society Group

EIMEO. — LEGEND THE FLAG OF FRANCE. — MISSIONARIES. — NATURAL STRENGTH OF TAHBITE. — VALUE AS A MILITARY POSITION. — TRADE. THE CONTENTS. VII PAGE TREATY OF 1842. — NEOLECTED RIGHTS. — THE MISSIONARIES.— LEGEND OF THE VINE. — PITCAIRN'S ISLAND. — POPULATION. — GOVERNMENT. — 1IUAHEINE. — RIATEA. — INTERVIEW WITH POMARE. — FIRST LAND CREATED. — BORABORA. — CONFERENCE PROPOSED. — THE MEETING. — THE PRAYER. — THE MESSAGE. — EFFECT OF MUSIC. — EXCITEMENT. — ROROTOE. — CON"ERSION TO CHRIS TIANITY. ........ 153

Chapter VIII. Mexico

— SAN BLAS. DECLARATION OF WAR. — RUINS. — THE FIESTA— COSTUME. — BIRDS. — ALLI GATORS. ACCIDENT. MAZATLAN. — VISIT TO THE MINES. — BEAUTIFUL ROAD. — ST. SEBASTIAN. — COPATA. — ITS ORIGIN. — DIFFICULT ROAD. — PANINO. — DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE. — THE MINE. — MODE OF DRAINING. — WAGES OF THE MINERS. — MINING PROCESSES. — PREPARATION OF THE ORES. PROFITS. — EVENING'S AMUSEMENT. NATIVE VETERINARY ART. SAIL TO THE NORTHWARD. ....... 180

Chapter IX. California

— CAPTURE OF MONTEREY. — CAPTAIN FREMONT. HIS AT TEMPT ON MONTEREY, — INTRIGUES. — SKIRMISH. — DISCOVERY OF CALI FORNIA. — VICISSITUDES. — RIDES ABOUT MONTEREY. — THE LASSO. — THE MISSION. — VOTIVE OFFERING. — THE TRAPPERS. — THEIR DRESS. — THEIR HABITS. — DISCIPLINE RELAXED. — PROVISIONS. — DEPARTURE. . . 204

Chapter X. Sandwich Islands

— BYRON'S BAY. OWHYHEE. — ANCHOR IN BYRON'S BAY. — TRAFFIC WITH THE NATIVES. — TnE WATERFALL. — DANGEROUS FEAT. — GRACEFUL AGILITY OP THE WO MEN. — VISIT TO THE CRATER. — THE ROYAL STKWS. — REST AND REFRESH MENT. — EARLY START.— THE CRATER. — THE DESCENT. — THE INTERIOR OF THE CRATER. — REFLECTIONS. — THE RETURN. — ACCIDENT. — STATE OF THE ISLAND. — PRODUCE. — CAVE. ...... 220

Chapter XI. Honolulu, Capital Of Woahoo

DISCOVERY. — CAPTAIN COOK. — SUPPOSED PRIOR DISCOVERY. — NATIVE SOVEREIGNS. — HELPED BY AN ENGLISHMAN. — ORACLE. — GOVERNMENT. — OFFICE OF PREMIERE. — POPULATION. — PRODUCE. — WOAHOO BUILDINGS. — FURNITURE. — NEWSPAPERS. — MISSIONARIES. — EXPENSES OF MISSION.— CONTENTS. VIII PAGE INDIFFERENCE TO THEIR IDOLS. — FACE OF THE COUNTRY. — INVASION.— BATTLE. — THE TARo PLANU. — REMINISCENCES. — THE YOUNG PRINCESSES. — THE FORSAKEN ALTAR. — NATIVE DANCES .... 238

Chapter XII. The Chief's School

— VISIT. — THE SCHOOL-ROOM. — THE SCHOLARS. — SCHOOL ROUTINE. — CAPACITY OF THE PUPILS. — A GALLOP. — GOOD COMPANY. FEATHER DRESSES. — SINGULAR CEREMONY. TAPPA. — ROYAL AUDIENCE. — KING VISITS THE SHIP. — THE DESCENT OF THE PARI. — SPORTING. — DIS TURBED REST. — REMOVAL OF A HOUSE.— THE AMERICANS. — BOAR HUNTS. FEASTS. — ACCIDENT ....... 260

Chapter XIII. Elekeke

THE HUT. CHILDISH BEAUTY. — GRACE. — OCCUPATIONS. — CONVA LESCENCE. THE MEDICINE. — LEGENDS. — THE VISIT. — WANDERING MIN STREL. — HIS HISTORY. — HORRIBLE OUTRAGE. — HAPPY OLD AGE.— THE CAVA DRINK. — HAPPY IDLENESS. — SYMPATHY. — THE UNCONSCIOUS WINNER.— LOVE OF DRESS. — POE. FAVOURITE POSITION AT MEALS, ETC THE MEAL. — REGRETS. — DEPARTURE. — THE CAROLINES .... 279

Chapter XIV. Taheite

— SECOND VISIT TAHEITE 7 SECOND VISIT. — PROGRESS OF THE FRENCH. — FORT TAKEN. — NATIVES DELIVER UP THEIR ARMS. — SORROW AND RAGE. — PLAN FOR SET TLING ON THE ISLANDS. — THE LEGEND OF ANORO.— THE LEGEND. — TATOO ING. — THE DANCE. — EXACT TIME. — INCREASED ATTACHMENT TO THE FRENCH. — FESTIVAL. — REVIEW. — BOAT-RACE. — ANECDOTE. . . . 302

Chapter XV. The Navigators' Islands

passage. — Bougainville's discovery. — traffic with the natives object of the expedition. — la perouse. — boats sent for water. — boats aground. — the natives attack them. —disastrous flight. — fate of la perouse. — heavy bains.— corallines. — the canoes. — distant CONTENTS. IX PAGE VOYAGES. — HEAD-DRESSES. — LEAF-GARMENTS. — WOMEN'S DRESS. — THE CHURCH. — HOUSES. — MATS. — SCHOOL. — THE SAVAGE AT HIS ARITHMETIC — WAR CLUBS. — OTHER WEAPONS ...... 320

Chapter XVI. Islands Of The Pacific

SAMOAN ISLES. — ANIMALS. — TARo.— YAMS. — BREAD-FRUIT. — THE COCOA NUT.—WILD FRUITS. — LEGEND. — VILLAGES. — CHIEFS. — COURTSHIP. — INTER MARRIAGES. ORATORY. — RECONCILIATION. — PRESENTS. — LANGUAGE.—CUS TOMS. — MOURNING. — DANCES. — GAMES. — FOOD. — ENGLISH AGENTS. — BEG GING. — SETTLING DISPUTES. — RELIGION. — CREDULITY. — THE MISSIONARIES. — DAILY SERVICES. — ROMISH MISSIONARIES. — VESSEL STRANDED. — BATH ING. ......... 344

Chapter XVII. The Islands

THE RAINBOW. — AMERIOAN CONSUL. — HIS RESIDENCE. — LEGEND. — MAK ING A LIGHT. — THE CATARACT DESCENT. — VIEW FROM BELOW. — LEGEND OF THE WATERFALL. — PET-PIQEONS. — FRIENDSHIPS. — ANECDOTE. — THE CHIEF OF APIA. — SURNAMES. — THE SAVAGE. — LOVELY SATCRE. . . 372

Chapter XVIII. Homeward Bound

UNWILLINGNESS TO RETURN. SAD PARTINGS. THE ANCHOR WEIOHED. SAD THOUGHTS. THE DEAD. THE CHANGE. FAREWELL TO CHILI. CAPE HORN.— DISCOVERY OF CAPE HORN. — THE FUEGIANS. — THE PATAGO NIANS. — ORIGIN OF THE NAME. — THE MIRAGE. REFLECTIONS. — ANIMALS ON BOARD. — TOUCH AT RIO. — NEWS FROM EUROPE. — A NEW FIRMAMENT. — THE SOUTHERN CROSS. —THE AZORES. — PRODUCTIONS. — AN OUTWARD-BOUND INDIAMAN.— SPOKEN WITH. — ARRIVAL. — FAREWELL . . . FOUR YEARS IN THE PACIFIC.

Chapter I. Peru

CALLAO HARBOUR. SITUATION OF CALLAo. — THE TOWN. — MARKET-PLACE. — GAMBLING. — PLAIN OF THE RIMAC. — GUANO KNOWN TO THE INCAS. — SPORT 'NG. PICNICS. ISLAND OF SAN LORENZO. COMMUNICATION WITH LIMA. HIGH ROAD. — QUINTAS. — NONE WHOLLY BAD. — ENTRANCE TO LIMA. — THE GATE.— HOUSES. — SQUARE. — STREETS. — BRIDGE OVER THE RIMAC. — THE SAYA COSTUME. CAFE. CEMETERY.— EPITAPH. —A VISIT.— THE GARDEN. — OLD BUILDING. THE THEATRE. FRANCISCAN MONASTERY.— QUIET LODGINGS. — PENANCE. — A SOLEMN CEREMONIAL. — STATE OF THE CHURCH. — CATHEDRAL. — DRUM ON ELEVATING THE HOST. — PIZARRO. — IATE OF THE CONQUERORS. — POSTERITY OF PIZARRO. SCENE IN A CLOISTER. — THE BIMAO. " But what avails this wondrous waste of wealth 1 This gay profusion of luxurious bliss 1 This pomp of nature 1 What their balmy meads, Their powerful herbs, and Ceres void of pain 1 " Kind equal rule, the government of laws, And all protecting Freedom, which alone Sustains the name and dignity of man : These are not theirs."

It was night as we glided slowly through the Borkarvon passage into Callao harbour, between is lands which run parallel to the coast, and, in fact, form the protection to the harbour. Curiously enough, VOL. II. B SITUATION OE CALLAO. the Spaniards, generally so scientific, knew nothing of this passage : we were the first line-of-battle ship that had ever gone in through it. Rain is unknown in Peru, but as respectable a damp mist had been got up for the occasion of our arrival as any Scotch man could have required, and no doubt reminded many of those on board of the " land o' cakes." In the morning, however, Callao appeared a pretty place. Abreast of us was the town, a large village of one-storied houses, gay with consul's flags, and the plastered fronts painted in frescoes. On one hand was the famed Callao Castle, consisting of two strong white martello towers, standing, like the two bottles of an inkstand, in a tray of fortifications : its sea face had the shingle-beach for a glacis.

Further inland, its domes and steeples just visible, was Lima, with the noble Cordilleras for a background. Ahead of us was the long low spit where old Callao formerly stood, and outside, the islands San Lorenzo and his comrades. The anchorage is magnificent, and a vessel may lie for years at anchor here without straightening her cable. The mole is a large struc ture, which must have been commodious when in good repair ; but now, as most of the ladders have lost their steps, it is slightly inconvenient : it turns so as to form a breakwater to shelter the boats, &c. THE TOWN. — MARKET-PLACE. 3 The Peruvian navy was here represented by a very fierce little schooner. The closer appearance of the town is disappoint ing, and you find the gay frescoes but ill cover the lath and plaster of which the houses are com posed ; and it was matter of astonishment on arriv ing at the inn (one of the only two-storied houses) to comprehend how the second floor was supported.

The rest of the town, I was going to say, presents nothing remarkable ; but it is remarkable that a place with such a great trade can continue to be such a wretched hole. Everything in the shape of public works was built by General Miller while governor of the place. He made the mole, made the aqueduct, the road, — everything ; and each, allowing for the wear and tear of time, is just as he left it some twelve years ago. when, like a cavaliero as he is, he nobly preferred the loss of everything to the disgrace of proving traitor to his cause. There is one church, a miserable affair, and a market-place, where every thing is dearer than at Lima. It is like a huge skeleton : on one side is a thing like the unfi nished front of a house, with pillars, &c. ; the rest is . In short, the Revolution came, so it was never finished ; the unoccupied space is boarded in, , to mark what the market-place was to have been, ' B GAMBLING. — PLAIN OF THE RIMAC. and then there is the inn.

The chief sources of amusement at Callao were the gambling-table, bil liards, and drinking, in which we were joined by the American officers. The play in vogue was a game with dice : the table had a cover upon it, in the four squares of which were two a's for assad, and two i's for suerte. The players staked on either ; and the banker, a general in the Peruvian army, whose well-ordered breast spoke of showers of honours, threw the dice, and the general result of all gambling seemed to follow — that nobody won. The country around Callao is a flat plain, irrigated by the Rimac, but now little cultivated. It was built as a sea-port to Lima, and perhaps formerly the river Rimac was navigable for boats ; now it is so small and shallow that sticks find infinite difficulty in getting down it without shipwreck.

Under the rule of the Incas the plain of the Rimac was abundantly fertile, the consequence of careful irrigation ; now half of it is barren, and it is only here and there that " half a tillage stints the smiling plain." Where it is left to itself, the soil appears sandy and barren ; but let water be turned on it, and it repays the gift with abundant fertility. In Peru the decrease of population, and of land under cultivation since the Incas1 time, and ever since their GUANO KNOWN TO THE INCAS. 5 bastard independence of Spanish rule, is awful : under the mild government of the Incas, cultivation was enjoined and abundance promoted by every natural and artificial means. Guano was well known to them as a manure, and even now their terrace gardens on the different plateaux of the Cordilleras are a monument of patient industry.

Some low mounds on the plain mark where tradition says the former inhabitants had a burial-ground. All the bodies that have been exhumed are in a constrained posture, the knees up under the chin, and the hands clasped round them, the countenance wearing a dis torted and painful expression. This is variously accounted for ; the popular legend says that chiefs and nobles, often with whole trains of their followers, were buried alive in this posture, at their own re quest, preferring even this painful death to falling alive into the hands of the Spanish conqueror. The peculiar atmosphere keeps these bodies in wonderful preservation : it is fair to presume they have been buried more than five hundred years ; yet they are scarcely dried, and the features still perfectly recognisable. The sitting posture is the one still adopted by the Patagonians in their burials, so after all it is probably only the ordinary custom of the country.

The plain is much covered also with more SPORTING. — PICNICS. recent works, the fortifications erected during the various rebellions ; for this has generally been the battle-field where the temporary fate of Peru has been decided. Whoever possesses Callao is generally master of Peru. The defence of it by Rodil, the Spanish commandant, against the patriots is matter of history : the forts which were deemed so strong, and which, kept Lord Cochrane in check, are now in utter ruins. . There is some dove-shooting over the plains, — the little beccafico sort and a large blue pigeon : this is the only sport. The bay is full of flocks of the guano birds, cormorants, pelicans, and other aquatic birds. San Lorenzo is the great resting-place of these ; and no doubt, in ages to come, it will produce as valuable manure as the famous Chincha islands to the south ward.

From frequent companionship with Americans we had imbibed a taste for a peculiar style of picnic much in favour with them, and called " chowdering :" for this San Lorenzo afforded every facility. Start ing at sunrise in one of the boats, we usually had a pleasant sail, enlivened by firing at the sea-birds. On reaching the island, which is about six miles from the mainland, each did as seemed best to himself : one party cooked, another lounged about, passing ISLAND OF SAN LORENZO. a pleasant sort of amphibious life, between the water and the cool caves on the beach ; others hunted round the weather-side for seal, sea-lions, and sea otter ; the seamen fished and did as they pleased.* The island is high and barren, covered with loose sand, most laborious to walk on. Our men, curiously enough, discovered an anchor and a skeleton on the highest ridge.

The shoes were in such good preservation that they were abstracted, and put to useful purposes. The sea-lions, like huge great gar den-slugs, were usually found basking on the rocks, and on being approached made an awkward sort of leap into the sea : we killed several. On opening them, stones were found in their insides, which the sailors suppose to be swallowed to enable them to sink with greater ease. Tradition says, this island * In one of our boating parties to San Lorenzo, I was made a member of a most select and secret society, calling themselves the "O'Smokaways." Our principles and doctrines of course it would be improper to divulge ; the other members will, I trust, be equally discreet, and bear with them the secret recollection of the day. Let me hope the feats performed, the figure cut, and the doctrines of the sect, will not be forgotten : — the black feather perhaps — this to the initiated.

To the uninitiated, let me thus far explain, that the society is much the same as that old and revered association called " Buffers " in Chili, open to all people, —all nations. Smoking, as productive of sage thought, short speech, and quiet meditation, is essential. COMMUNICATION WITH LIMA. was once connected with the main by the low sandy neck which now runs no further than the site of old Callao, and which was destroyed by the huge wave that most frequently accompanies the earth quake. Omnibuses run between Callao and Lima, a distance of seven miles, several times a-day ; and, spite of the bad road and heavy vehicle, the driver, with the help of a most formidable whip, gets over the ground pretty well. The cad is a shock -headed Indian boy, as nearly naked as possible. The houses of the port of Callao seem to go through a gradation : the best are lath, or rushes plastered, stuccoed, and painted ; the next best are plastered and stuccoed ; then plastered only ; and then nothing but the rushes.

The population are indolent, debauched Creoles, whose means of life are questionable. Emerging from the place, the holes of the road, into which the 'bus falls suddenly and strugglingly, prevents a quiet survey of the country; and the driver is too much engaged with the whip and with yelling to give you any information : while dust of the smallest and most penetrating kind nearly smothers you. About a mile inland is a small monument, surmount ed by a cross, to mark where a Spanish sixty-gun frigate was thrown up during an earthquake. To have HIGH ROAD. — QUINTAS. effected this, the water must have risen a hundred and fifty feet ; yet people were saved on the church-top, not one third the height. It has an inscription record ing the event. To the right is the little town of Bue navista, in a fine healthy situation.

Here were for merly the barracks of the Spanish soldiery. It monument. is now falling into decay. The omnibus stops once at a place called Magdelena ; it is a pulperia, or grog-shop, but close by is a large and handsome church, attached to a convent. Here formerly the old viceroy of Spain met the new one, and deli vered up all authority to him, when, after mass, the newly-invested made his triumphal entry into Lima. But now the convent is suppressed, the church almost deserted, and a miserable monk, with a tin box, im portunes for alms. At the distance of two miles from Lima the road is very good, as straight as possible, a footpath on either side, seats at convenient distances, and the whole shaded by mimosas. On either hand are quintas belonging to the rich Limaneans. The Spanish Viceroys had a pretty quinta and NONE WHOLLY BAD. gardens here, but they were sold at the Revolution, having first been granted by the State to one of the patriot chiefs : the chapel still remains.

As I was one day sauntering about it, my attention was attracted by the arrival of a Frenchman who had long been a resident at Callao. He was ever foremost at the gambling-table, leading others into play, not over fair even, in his transactions, loose in his conduct, and atheistical in his conversation. I followed him at a distance, anxious to know what could have brought him there. He passed hastily through the small chapel, and entering the cemetery knelt beside a little grave which was evidently much cared for. Taking from his bosom some flowers he placed them over the little head-stone, and then, kneeling down, seemed entirely absorbed in prayer. I walked away, thinking better of mankind, feeling that there are none quite bad. Here was the only link, probably, between that man and virtue, yet all the world, its sins and its vices, could not sever it.

This one grain of feeling, perhaps, was all the good that his life and his nature had retained. Poor fellow ! encourage the small seed ; it may yet spring up into a goodly tree. The road was made by San Martin, who intended to continue it the whole way to Callao, but a revolution deposed him, and it has remained untouched since. ENTRANCE TO LIMA. The town of Lima contains seventy thousand inhabi tants, and is walled, with seven gates, two of which are always closed — (oh Liberty !) — and thirty-three bastions. They are too narrow, however, for heavy ordnance. It lies almost in a circle, one side of which touches on the river. Pizarro wisely consi dered Cuzco as out of the way for a capital ; the lofty mountains cut off all facility for trade with the sea, and he therefore resolved to build another.

San Miguel de Pieusa, founded by him in 1529, was too far north ; so, after much consideration, he fixed on the valley of the Rimac. The valley received its name from a celebrated oracle, Rimac, signifying in the Quecha tongue, " one who talks." It was called the Ciudad de los Reges, from the day of its foundation, the 6th of January, the festival of the Epiphany, in the year 1535; — but even in that generation it was always called Lima, a corruption from Rimac. So we see, through all South America, the royal ordinances could hardly change any of the names. Thus, New Castile still remains Peru ; New Toledo, Chili. The gate by which we entered was hardly worthy of a city of kings, and for fear any contraband royalty should be smuggled in, I suppose, we were stopped and examined ; one of the party, a Creole, being detained to account for four bottles he had THE GATE. — HOUSES. about him.

A French sailor, who was a fellow-pas senger, compared the motion of the omnibus to a vessel in a short head sea : the simile could not be improved on. The houses are not fine, nearly all being of one story only, and presenting but one or two grated windows to the streets. The city, being laid out in regular squares, had a sombre GATE OF LIMA. appearance. The French inn had more the air of a prison, as we turned in, than of the hospitable " mine inn " of our own dear land ; some of the patios and walls were painted in fresco, which, as there is no rain, lasts well, and improves them vastly. The Plaza is spacious ; one side is occupied by the cathedral and bishop's palace, which, from its size, is SQUARE. — STREETS. 13 imposing : that it is only lath and plaster, and that those massive pillars are hollow, need not be known.

On two other sides are pretty Venetian looking buildings, two stories high, with large colonnades that make a nice sheltered walk, and above are closed latticed balconies. The fourth side has the president's palace, formerly the vice-regal one, as ugly SQUARE WITH FOUNTAIN. a building as need be. In the centre is a fountain where Fame, with a cap of liberty on her head, blows a tremendous trumpet. This is not Pizarro's palace ; that stood in another part of the town, and was destroyed. The most fashionable streets are from the Plaza, and there are some gay French shops ; the shopkeepers are nearly all of that coun try, and cheap German and French articles seem BRIDGE OVER THE RIMAC. most in demand. The gold and silver streets con tain shops for working those metals, but the native artificers have no great skill.

French jewellery is better and cheaper. Passing on, the finest thing is the gate of the town, which leads over the Rimac ; it was built by the President O'Higgins, and the bridge, a solid one of stone, is handsome and picturesque ; it has recesses, with comfortable stone seats, and the view either way is pretty ; it connects Lima with the suburbs of San Lazaro ; it was built in 1640, during the vice royalty of the Marquess de Montes Clavos. During one of the seasons of anarchy which are not uncom mon in Peru, the robbers stormed the town on horseback, and, after a pillage, retired almost un molested ; even now, while Peru is enjoying more quiet than usual, the robbers seem pretty much respected ; you are always cautioned not to resist, and government never think of exterminating them. Even from Lima to Callao money is sent down under an escort ; one old gentleman, on his way from Lima in the omnibus, threw away a lot of gold he had with him, at the bare report of robbers being near, and might be seen afterwards wandering about the road, hunting vainly for his lost treasure.

The bridge of an evening was a grand resort of the THE SAYA. fashion and sayas of Lima. Much cannot be learned of the beauty of a woman by merely seeing one eye, but that one is so wondrous fine, that, perhaps in mercy, she veils the rest of the face, lest, over powered by the beauty divine, all should fall down and pine at her feet. The saya is almost univer sally worn ; ladies say they do not wear it, but all ranks do. Miller has described it, and so have LADY IN THE VEIL AND SAYA. many other writers ; ofttimes a slip of the hand re veals a species of face which sadly belies the eye : eyes are all fine here, so perhaps they do wisely to expose no more. There are two sorts of this dress ; the real one is called saya ajustada, and is now COSTUME. seldom worn, consisting of a skirt of quilted silk plaited throughout close to the shape, with strings to allow of tightening or loosening it at pleasure ; the other, now generally worn, is the saya dispiegada, the same, only loosened at the bottom.

Round the body, behind the arms and over the head, a piece of gauze falls, and folding down the face, one hand holds the two portions together, concealing all but one eye. Beneath appear most dainty feet, clothed in white satin shoes ; the streets of Lima not being famed for cleanliness, it requires no small skill for the fair dames to thread their way without destruction to their delicate chaussure. This dress is forbidden in the streets after sunset, by the police regulations ; it often veils intrigue, and the encounters it produces are sometimes most destructive to domestic happiness. The origin of the dress seems unknown : perhaps the love of intrigue introduced it as a cloak. Much the same sort of dress, as far as the head is concerned, is worn at the towns of Tarifa, Conil, and Mantrena, where the women wear a black shawl over their heads, closed in front, leaving only one eye exposed.

They have no saya, however, which (the closed one, at least) disguises the figure more than anything, and from being tight at the ankle, induces a feigned walk that heightens much the difficulty of detection. In CAFE. — CEMETERY. 17 these three towns it is said to be a remnant of Moor ish customs, and the privilege of wearing it is secured by charter. There is a pleasant cafe* near the bridge, through whose antique-shaped lattices, there is a pretty view of the mountains and river. While sitting in its cool vine-covered alleys, you can imbibe coffee or other fluids, and hear harangues on freedom and government from Peruvians, whose appearance attests their wild merit. The only building of note in the suburb is the cemetery, which is prettily laid out and neatly kept. There is one dreadful Golgotha, a field of skulls ; and the hole, or receptacle for the dead, a vast pit with a top like a well, will supply the fancy of a looker down with a sufficient stock of horror for years.