Climate of Lima. 411 



The climate of Lima is uniform and delightful, the tem- 

 perature ranging between 70° and 87°. Heavy rains, 

 scorching suns, and sudden changes are unknown. The 

 people can not say, " Fickle as the weather," but " Steady 

 as the weather." The city is in its best estate between 

 November and March ; the other half of the year it is 

 comparatively damp and unhealth3\* The houses are 

 without chimneys ; the sun is the fire-place of Peru. Yet 

 the number of deaths exceeds that of the births. The in- 

 fant mortality of Lima is about three times that of Lon- 

 don. Not more than two destructive earthquakes occur 

 in a century. The last was in 1806, so that another is 

 now due. Beggary is forbidden, except on certain days ; 

 then the diseased and poverty-stricken scum rises to the 

 surface. 



* The seasons of the coast and the sierras are reversed ; for while it is the 

 rainy season on the mountains (our winter), there is a cloudless sky over the 

 coast; while, in the dry season, a mist hangs, like a veil, over the maritime 

 region. 



