LIMA. 431 



nlar shaped and smaller public square, at one time used as the market place ; and several 

 <>t l.-ssrr si/.i-, in ilill'i 'H-nt parts of the city. Mont of them have rude fountains, with ample 

 supplies of water for th<-ir several precincts. And, in connection with these aqueous reservoirs, 

 it may !> mrnti.iiinl that the city authorities require the water-carriers to slay and bring to the 

 pla/a, every morning, a certain number of dogs. There they must remain until counted by the 

 i.ilicial whose duty it is to inspect and remove them; and as the buzzards commence their feast 

 m. uiiwhile, the sight is by no means attractive. Though a little " hard," the water of the 

 Him. -ic is limpid, cool, and good. It is certainly melted snow, but I do not recollect to have 

 seen more than one or two cases of goitre. 



The cathedral and archbishop's palace occupy the whole of the eastern side of the great 

 plaza; the south has private dwellings, with balconies overlooking it; the western is somewhat 

 similar to the last, except that the Senate chamber and Cabildo are numbered among its edifices ; 

 and on the north is the government palace. There are wide colonnades beneath the balconies 

 both on the south and west sides, and these are lined with shops for the sale of goods and wares 

 of every class. One is called the Portal de los Escribanos; the other, Portal de los Botineros; 

 and both are constantly filled by a sauntering crowd of promenaders or purchasers. 



The churches have received the lauds of many for the intrinsic value of their decorations and 

 ornaments, and they doubtless merit all that has been said of them. Gliding rapidly from place 

 to place, as brief time compelled me to do, and sometimes arriving at the doors of an edifice just 

 as they were being closed, there remains on my memory only a confused impression of moder- 

 ately good taste, much wealth in silver-plate and ornaments, and generally very indifferent 

 paintings. Pre-eminent among them is the cathedral, a truly noble structure in its internal 

 proportions ; its groined roof; its altar, with massive columns of richly carved silver ; its superbly 

 finished chapels and crimson-velvet hangings. It is of colossal dimensions (180 feet front by 

 320 feet deep), but has scarcely pretension to external architectural elegance, and would not arrest 

 attention more than a moment unless one of its several mellow-toned bells chanced to be tolled at 

 the time of passing. Dr. Ruschenberger, U. S. N., says that the largest bell weighs 31,000 

 pounds; a second, 15,500; and a third, 5,500. Softer, more liquid, or more sadly sweet notes 

 never thrilled the heart of man than are uttered by la cantdbria, the first of these old instru- 

 ments. 



Off in an eastern corner of the edifice one may read the following inscription: "Del illmo. S. 

 D. 1). Gonzalo de Ocampo dignissimo IV Arzobispo de esta santa Yglesia celebro la consagracion 

 de este templo en 19 de Octubre de 1625, con la solemnidad correspondiente d tan augusta ceremonia. 



Comenso la funsion d la manana, y termino d las cinoo de la tarde. Este quartro de 



Ernero 1844." 



There is no reason to doubt that a cathedral was consecrated on this spot by the illustrious 

 and most worthy Gonzales de Ocampo, fourth archbishop of that holy church, just two hundred 

 and twenty-five years ago ; but I could not believe that the present edifice was completed at that 

 time. The hour at which the ceremony commenced has been partially obliterated, and is no 

 longer legible after only six years; but Dr. Von Tschudi says: "Such was the pomp observed 

 at this ceremony, that, though mass commenced at six in the morning, it was five o'clock in the 

 afternoon before the host was raised."* His information was doubtless from some better record; 

 but with only the data preserved to us in the cathedral, his Reverence must have been a tolera- 

 bly long-winded gentleman under even the five remaining hours preserved to us. The em- 

 broidered and jewelled robes worn by the dignitaries on high occasions correspond with the 

 internal magnificence of the cathedral ; and its splendor at these times probably exceeds that of 

 most European churches. 



Among the riches and relics the curious visitor is sometimes permitted to see are the mortal 

 remains of Francisco Pizarro. It is not often that the Dean and Sacristan can be found at 

 the same time, and several efforts to obtain access failed. The former has charge of the key, 

 * Travels iu Peru during the yours 1838, 184'.': George Putnam, New York, 1849. 



