state of Society — Dedine of Native Fashions. 399 



mode, and the Government of Republican Peru finds it best 

 to leave each to decide the physiology of the question by his 

 own digestive powers. 



Of the state of society in Lima I have little to say. A 

 stranger finds it difficult to obtain a footing among the better 

 families, especially if his stay be as limited as mine ne- 

 cessarily was. The high-pressure existence of the capital 

 has of late years obliterated much of its former origin- 

 ality and poetry. He who saw Lima twenty years ago 

 would hardly recognize it now-a-days. The "Saya" and 

 the " Manto," those singular but in Lima once indispensable 

 articles of apparel of the Limanas, which enabled them like 

 masks to attend church or market, to join processions, in 

 short, never left their face in the street or at the promenade, 

 have entirely disappeared, and with them have necessarily 

 gone many other peculiar habits and customs. Formerly no 

 lady durst venture into the street without a "Saya" or 

 " Manto ; " now, on the contrary, she would run the risk of 

 being insulted, or at least stared at, should she appear in 

 public in this peculiar mask-like disguise. The ancient 

 usages peculiar to the country must give way to French 

 manners ; the Saya, the close-fitting, usually black or cinna- 

 mon-coloured uj)per garment, which once was the customary 

 attire, and consequently rendered a more careful toilette un- 

 necessary, has made way for the voluminous crinolined silk 

 dress, while the Manto, that heavy veil of a thick black 

 silken material, which was thrown over the back, shoulders. 



