50 A VOYAGE TO Book VII. 



observations and nautical remarks, as Ave hope will 

 pri)\e agreeable to the intcllijrent reader. At the 

 same time it opens a method of extending our re- 

 íearchesiütothe oilier more distant countries, for thti 

 farther utility and ornament of this voyage ; which, 

 as it was founded on the most noble principles, should 

 be conducted and chased with an uniform dignity. 



My design however is not to represent Lima in its 

 present situation, as I should then, instead of noble 

 and magnificent objects, introduce the most melan- 

 choly and shocking scenes; ruinated palaces, churches^; 

 towers, and other stately works of art, together with 

 the inferior buildings of which this opulent city con- 

 sisicd, now thrown into ruin and confusion, by the 

 tremendous earthquake of October the 2Sth, 1746 ; the 

 alfecting account of which reached Europe witii the 

 swiftness which usually attends unfortunate advices, 

 and concerning which, we shall be more particular 

 in another place. Í shail not therefore describe Lima, 

 as wasted by this terrible convulsion of nature ; but 

 as the emporium of this part oí America, and en- 

 deavour to give the reader an idea of its former glory, 

 magnifjcencc, opulence, and other particulars which 

 rondercd it so famous in the world, before it sutfered 

 under this fatal catastrophe ; the recollection of which 

 cannot fail of being painful to every lover of his 

 country, and every person of humanity. 



The city of Lima, or as it is also called the city of 

 the kings, was, according to Garcilaso, in his history 

 of the Yiicas, founded by Don Francisco Pizarro, 

 on the feast of the Epipliany, 15o5 ; though others 

 affirm that the first stone was not laid till the 18th of 

 January that year ; and the latter opinion is confirmed 

 by the act, or record of its foundation, still preserved 

 in the archives of that city. It is situated in the 

 spacious and delightful valley of Iliniac, an Indian 

 word, and the true name of the city itself from a 

 corrupt pronunciation of whittli w ord the Spaniards 

 ^ have 



