112 lima. [1839. 



New Jersey, ply regularly between the city ana the port. 

 For more than half the distance, the road is flanked on either 

 hand by sandy and uncultivated fields, or low brushwood ; 

 but about one mile from the capital commences the Alameda 

 del Callab, through which the road passes, — a charming 

 promenade, provided with beautiful shade trees, and stone 

 seats for the weary foot-passenger, and bordered with beauti- 

 ful gardens and luxuriant fruit trees. Less than half a mile 

 from the castle is the small village of Bella Vista ; beyond 

 this are the ruins of an ancient Indian town ; and midway 

 between the harbor and the city are the convent of la Virgen 

 del Carmen, a chapel, and a Tambo. The Tambo is an inn, 

 and, were it among us, would probably be styled " The Half- 

 way-House." Among the Peruvians, however, it is called 

 La Legua — The League — which conveys the same idea, as 

 the house is a Spanish league distant from either town. 



(2.) Lima is built in an amphitheatre formed by the spurs 

 jutting out from the great chain of the Andes, near the eastern 

 side of a broad plain which slopes gradually down to the 

 Pacific, and is elevated nearly five hundred feet above the 

 level of the sea. It lies on both banks of the river Rimac, 

 from which the modern name of the city was derived by a 

 corrupt pronunciation. The larger part of the town — the 

 city proper — is on the southern bank of the river, and is con- 

 nected with its suburb of San Lazaro, or the fifth section, on 

 the opposite shore, by an excellent stone bridge of six arches, 

 furnished with recesses and seats, and forming a delightful 

 and favorite promenade. The city is about two miles long 

 from east to west — from the Gate of Maravillas to the Mon- 

 serrate — and a mile and a quarter broad. The plain on 

 which it stands slopes from the east to the west. Like other 

 Spanish towns in South America, it is laid out with great. 

 regularity, in quadras, or squares of houses, the sides of 

 which average from 140 to 145 varas* The streets, gen- 

 erally about thirty-four feet wide, intersect each other at 



* Each vara is about thirty-three inches English measure. 



