178 
the place presents the appearance of a fair, from the number 
of people who go out to pic-nic, and spend the day in roam- 
ing among the hills and decking themselves with the flowers, 
or in dancing, horse-racing, and other sports. This annual 
promenade commences on St. John's day, the Amancaes being 
then in full flower; and from an early hour, a great part of 
the motley population.of Lima are seen swarming towards 
the hills, gaily dressed in all sorts of colours, of brighter 
hue, but not more varied in their tints than the complexions 
of the wearers. When the day is fine and the mist con 
to the hills, the scene is singularly picturesque. On one 
hand, the steep rocky sides of the valley are studded with — 
cattle tended by their Indian owners, and gradually disap- 
pearing in the mist as they wind among the bills, the plain 
below, extending to the main valley of the Rimac, is covert 
with groupes engaged in various sports, and fresh partes 
constantly arriving; while, on the opposite side of the river, 
with distant mountains for a back-ground, the white spires 
of the city are seen through the groves of orange-trees in the 
gardens of the suburbs; and lower down, the cultivated valley 
leads the eye to the ocean, with the Island of San Lorenzo 
rising abruptly in the distance. ( 
"The season was considered late, and the cloudy weather 
had not extended far inland, so that, after proceeding a few 
leagues, the hills were perfectly naked, and exhibited 3 
marked contrast to the fields of maize and lucerne in the 
valley below. We arrived before sunset at an estate call 
Punchanea, five leagues from Lima. The proprietor, a 
old Spaniard, to whom one of my companions had render? 
some essential services during the revolution, gave us 3 
hearty welcome, and an excellent supper was prepared for 
us, without garlic. As a compliment to our English taste 
too, the supper was no sooner removed than zea was p" 
on the table. | ; ‘ihe 
__ Providing beds, especially to a party, forms no part of e 
hospitality shown to travellers in South America. 947. 
person, if he have a luggage mule, carries bedding with him» [ 
but at all events, he has some rugs and a blanket over - 2 
