50 OALLAO AND LIMA. 



The distance from Callao to Lima is about eight miles, 

 and stages run between the two places almost every hour 

 in the day ; the fare is one dollar. The road leads over a 

 plain, but it is not kept in good repair, and is, besides, very 

 dusty, on account of the extreme dryness of the climate. 

 In this part of Peru, there are heavy dews, but no rain. 



We had an opportunity of visiting the " City of the 

 Kings"* several times. We went up in the coaches, and 

 always set out at an early hour, that we might avoid the 

 heat of the sun and the dust. During the first ten or fifteen 

 minutes of the ride, we saw nothing to interest us, for we 

 were passing through the filthy streets of Callao, and its 

 still more filthy outskirts. Of all the places we have as 

 yet visited, civilized or uncivilized, Callao has been the 

 most filthy and disgusting. When about two miles out, 

 we passed Bella Yista, which, ever since the revolution, 

 has been in ruins. 



We next came to the so-called half-way house, where the 

 drivers invariably stop to rest the horses, and to regale 

 themselves with a glass of pisco from its dirty pulperia. 

 This part of the road was formerly infested by banditti, 

 and no one thought of appearing on it without being well 

 armed ; but now this is not necessary, as the police lias 

 taken stej)s to disperse the robbers. 



Resuming our course, we soon reached a section of coun- 

 try laid out in gardens, filled with all kinds of fruit-trees, 

 shaded walks, lined on either hand with stone seats, and in- 

 tersected with running streams of water. It is the usual 

 evening-drive of the Limine ans, and a delightful one it is. 



* The name bestowed on the infant capital was Curdad de los Reges, or City of Kings, 

 in honor of the day, being the 6th of January, 1535, the Festival of Epiphany, when it 

 was said to have been founded by Pizarro. But the Castilian name ceased to be used even 

 within the first generation, and was supplanted by that of Lima, into which the original 

 Indian name was corrupted by the Spaniards. — Prcgcotfs Conquest of Perv, vol. ii. 



