LIMA. 69 



there some cf the former, who were really beautiful. The 

 women of Lima are usually handsome, but their minds are 

 neglected, nor are their morals what they should be. 



There are other sights in Lima well worth seeing ; among 

 the rest, the Convent of St. Francisco, which covers about 

 eight acres of ground. In former times it must have been 

 equal to anything of the kind in the world. Its cloisters 

 are ornamented with fountains and flower-gardens, and the 

 chapels are rich in gilding and carved-work. Part of the con- 

 vent is now occupied as barracks, and the soldiers' muskets are 

 stacked on the altars of several of the chapels. We observed 

 in the church a shrine and an image of St. Benedict, with a 

 jet-black infant Saviour in his arms ! There are but few 

 Friars here at present, but in the days of its prosperity there 

 were four hundred connected with it, and had an income suited 

 to the easy and luxurious style in which they lived. Its collec- 

 tions of paintings have been highly spoken of by connoisseurs. 



I attended the theatre several times ; it is a spacious, 

 handsome edifice, and seemed to be well supported, although 

 the performances were of a very ordinary character. The 

 acting-president, Lafuente, was present each time, dressed in 

 his uniform ; but he did not appear to receive much attention 

 from the audience, and I was subsequently told that he was 

 not generally popular with the people, as he was in favor of 

 the Chilians, and, in fact, owed his present position to them. 

 He has the Spanish features, and appears to be about fifty 

 years of age. The ladies in the galleries wore the say a and 

 manto, and made great display in ornaments. 



During our stay in Lima there were no bull-baits, although 

 it is a common and a favorite amusement with all classes of 

 society.* 



The present state of Peru is far from being promising, if 



