120 PRIVATE HOUSES. 1839 J 



usually surrounded by a balcony. Two large folding doors 

 lead into the sola, or hall, which is generally carpeted with 

 straw matting, and furnished with a sofa, a hammock, and 

 several chairs. From the hall a glazed door opens into the 

 cuddro, or drawing room ; among the wealthier classes this 

 room is always elegantly furnished. Adjoining the cuddro, 

 are the sleeping rooms, the dining room, and nursery. All 

 these apartments communicate with the traspdtio, an inner 

 court yard laid out as a garden, the walls of which are taste- 

 fully adorned with decorative paintings in fresco, some illus- 

 trating scenes from scripture, others the festival of the Aman- 

 caes, and others representing various subjects, according to 

 the taste of the painter or the fancy of his employer. Beyond 

 the traspdtio is the kitchen and stable, — the latter often noth- 

 ing more than a mere yard, or corral. 



The roofs are uniformlv flat. The best houses have a larsfe 



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terrace, called the azotea, over the sdla and cuddro, which is 

 paved with free stone, or thin baked bricks, and surrounded 

 by a railing. The azotea serves as a play-ground for the 

 children, is ornamented with flower pots, and covered with 

 an awning to shade it from the sun. Where there is an 

 upper story, the roof is composed of mats and bamboos, cov- 

 ered over with mortar or a light layer of earth. As in Cal- 

 lao, the windows of some of the rooms are in the roof. The ' 

 other windows, generally few in number, are on each side of 

 the house-door ; they are ornamented with casings of carved 

 work, in stone or wood, and often have richly gilt lattices. 



It was once the custom in Lima to bury the dead in graves 

 dug within the churches, but the heat of the climate forbade 

 the continuance of this custom, and early in the present cen- 

 tury, a general cemetery, styed the Panteon, was established 

 outside the walls, on the eastern side of the city, on the high 

 road leading to the Sierra de Tarma. It is a square inclos- 

 ure, neatly laid out in walks and gardens. The surrounding 

 walls are filled with niches for the reception of corpses. Bur- 

 ials are not permitted to take place after noon. The bodies 

 of the rich are deposited in coffins, but those of the poor are 



