1835., CALLAO. LIMA. t$7 



visit, there were four chiefs in arms contending for supremacy in the 

 government : if one succeeded in becoming for a time very powerful, the 

 others coalesced against him ; but no sooner were they victorious, than 

 they were again hostile to each other. The other day, at the Anniversary 

 of the Independence, high mass was performed, the President partaking 

 of the sacrament : during the Te Deum Laudamus, instead of each 

 regiment displaying the Peruvian flag, a black one with death's head 

 was unfurled. Imagine a government under which such a scene could 

 be ordered, on such an occasion, to be typical of their determination of 

 fighting to death ! This state of affairs happened at a time very 

 unfortunate for me, as I was precluded from taking any excursions 

 much beyond the limits of the town. The barren island of San 

 Lorenzo, which forms the harbour, was nearly the only place where one 

 could walk securely. The upper part, which is upwards of 1,000 feet in 

 height, during this season of the year (winter), comes within the lower 

 limit of the clouds ; and in consequence, an abundant cryptogamic 

 vegetation, and a few flowers, cover the summit. On the hills near 

 Lima, at a height but little greater, the ground is carpeted with moss, 

 and beds of beautiful yellow lilies, called Amancaes. This indicates a 

 very much greater degree of humidity, than at a corresponding height 

 at Iquique. Proceeding northward of Lima, the climate becomes 

 damper, till on the banks of the Guyaquil, nearly under the equator, we 

 find the most luxuriant forests. The change, however, from the sterile 

 coast of Peru to that fertile land is described as taking place rather 

 abruptly in the latitude of Cape Blanco, two degrees south of Guyaquil. 



Callao is a filthy, ill-built, small seaport. The inhabitants, both here 

 and at Lima, present every imaginable shade of mixture, between 

 European, Negro, and Indian blood. They appear a depraved, drunken 

 set of people. The atmosphere is loaded with foul smells, and that 

 peculiar one, which may be perceived in almost every town within the 

 tropics, was here very strong. The fortress, which withstood Lord 

 Cochrane's long siege, has an imposing appearance. But the President, 

 during our stay, sold the brass guns, and proceeded to dismantle parts 

 of it. The reason assigned was, that he had not an officer to whom he 

 could trust so important a charge. He himself had good reasons for 

 thinking so, as he had obtained the presidentship by rebelling while in 

 charge of this same fortress. After we left South America, he paid the 

 penalty in the usual manner, by being conquered, taken prisoner, and 

 shot. 



Lima stands on a plain in a valley, formed during the gradual retreat 

 of the sea. It is seven miles from Callao, and is elevated 500 feet 

 above it ; but from the slope being very gradual, the road appears 

 absolutely level ; so that when at Lima it is difficult to believe one has 

 ascended even one hundred teet: Humboldt has remarked on this 

 singularly deceptive case. Steep, barren hills rise like islands from the 

 plain, which is divided, by straight mud-walls, into large green fields. 

 In these scarcely a tree grows excepting a few willows, and an occa- 

 sional clump of bananas and of oranges. The city of Lima is now in a 

 wretched state of decay : the streets are nearly unpaved ; and heaps of 



