CHAPTER HI. 



EXPLORATIONS IN PERU AND PAUMOTU GROUP. 



HAVING completed his labors in the interior and 

 on the coast of Chili, Captain Wilkes sailed, on the 

 26th of May, for Callao, in Peru. The description 

 which he gives of Lima, the capital of that country, 

 once so rich and splendid, and connected with such 

 brilliant historical associations, is interesting in the 

 extreme : 



" The neglected walls and ruined tenements, the 

 want of stir and life among the people, are sad evi- 

 dences of decay. The population is now said to be 

 about forty-five thousand, although in former times 

 it has been supposed to amount to as many as sixty- 

 five or seventy thousand. 



"The aspect of the city, especially a bird's-eye 

 view from the neighboring hills, gives to the eye of 

 the stranger the appearance of ruins. There are 

 few buildings that have the look of durability, and 

 no new ones have been put up for the last forty 

 years. The plan of the city combines more advan- 

 tages than any other that could have been adopted 



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