1S39.] UNIVERSITY. 117 



different branches of science, underneath which are inscribed 

 apposite quotations from classical authors. The lecture rooms 

 open into the corridors ; and in the left angle of the court are 

 great double doors opening into the Aula, or principal hall. 

 On the walls of the Aula are hung portraits of distinguished 

 scholars. The university is partly supported by congress, 

 and partly by the produce of an annual bull-bait! There 

 are only between thirty and fifty students, and most of the 

 professorships are mere sinecures. Besides the university, 

 there are several colleges in the city, one of which (San Car- 

 los) has about one hundred students. There are also good 

 Lancasterian, Latin, and primary schools, and a number of 

 private ones conducted by Europeans. Notwithstanding the 

 many causes, growing out of the social and political condi- 

 tion of the country, which have a tendency to check or hinder 

 intellectual improvement, the cause of education is slowly, 

 perhaps, yet steadily progressing. 



In the vicinity of the square of Independence is the Mint, 

 at which from two to two and a half millions of dollars are 

 annually coined. Near the convent of San Pedro, the ancient 

 Colegio maximo of the Jesuits, is the National Library, 

 founded in 1821, one of the first fruits of the Revolution. It 

 contains not far from thirty thousand volumes, embracing 

 many valuable theological and historical works, and is open 

 to the public daily, Sundays and Fridays excepted. In the 

 left wing of the library building is the national museum, still 

 in its infancy. 



Lima likewise boasts of a theatre, more notorious for the 

 myriads of fleas that infest it, than for the skill and talent 

 displayed in its performances ; a coliseo de g-allos, or cock- 

 pit ; a tennis-court ; and an amphitheatre, Plaza firme del 

 Acho, in the suburb of San Lazaro, where bull-fights are 

 held. 



With the exception of the suburb of San Lazaro, and a 

 part of the north side of the city proper, Lima is surrounded 

 by a brick wall, between eighteen and twenty feet high, from 

 ten to twelve feet thick at the base, and nine feet at the top 



