146 EAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



Soutli America possesses. The streets are narrow and 

 dirty in tlie extreme^ and some of tlie houses are evi- 

 dently of a great age ; some are of an enormous size, 

 covering a whole cuadra or square, and were formerly 

 the residences of the friends and followers of the Con- 

 quistadores. The Plaza is far superior to the one at 

 Santiago, with which it is so often compared, and the 

 cathedral is b}^ far the finest building I have seen in all 

 South America. The front of it is really striking, and 

 when I saw it it had just been repaired with marble. 

 Inside, also, it has a more imposing eflFect than any other 

 church ; the lofty pillars are draped from capital to base 

 in heavy red velvet, which have a peculiarly gorgeous 

 effect in the dim religious light of eve. Some of the 

 " trophies '' or niches dedicated to the saints are of an 

 extraordinary size, composed of pillar upon pillar of 

 carved wood and marble. I visited, of course, the 

 remains of Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru and founder of 

 Lima ; I looked for him all over the cathedral, and was 

 surprised not to find his tomb. As last I asked an 

 attendant where the body was, and he offered for one 

 dollar to show the o^estos del Conquistador. Taking 

 a key from his pocket, and a tallow candle and a few 

 matches in his hand, he opened a side door and showed 

 me the way into a small vault, blocked up with odds and 

 ends of benches and carpets. Throwing the light of his 

 candle on a kind of niche in the wall, he drew aside a 

 dirty linen curtain, and ^''Aqui, senor, son los restos del 

 Pizarro. ^^ I looked forward, and by the flickering light 

 of the candle saw a dried skeleton covered by a few 

 mouldering and musty pieces of silk ; there was no 

 coffin, and the skeleton merely rested on the bare stones. 

 And this was Pizarro ! the man who once ruled the 



