248 PERU. 
The above are the usual articles crowded into the market, but were 
I to stop here, one half would not be told. All sorts of goods, jewelry, 
cottons, woollens, laces, hardware, linen fabrics, handkerchiefs, shoes, 
slippers, hats, &c, are hawked about by pedlers with stentorian lungs, 
who, with the lottery-venders, with tickets, ink-horn, and pen, selling 
the tickets in the name of the Holy Virgin and all the saints, make 
an uproar that one can have little idea of, without mixing in, or 
witnessing it. 
The convent of San Francisco occupies six or seven acres of 
ground. In its days of prosperity it must have been a magnificent 
establishment. Its chapels are very rich in gilding, carved work, 
&c, and the cloisters are ornamented with beautiful fountains and 
flower-gardens. Part of it is now occupied by the soldiers as 
barracks, and their muskets are stacked on the altar of one of its 
chapels. It has long since been stripped of its riches and deserted, 
but it seems once to have possessed all that wealth, luxury, and taste 
could effect or suggest. The good Father Anculus, who showed the 
building, was shrewd and obliging. The gallery of paintings con- 
tains, it is said, many fine Murillos. The remains of its former 
splendour, even now, justifies what Father Feuillee asserted, that 
there was nothing of the kind to compare with it in Europe. There 
are but few friars here at present, but it is said to have formerly main- 
tained five hundred, living in the greatest luxury and licentiousness. 
The most remarkable object in the church, was the shrine and image 
of a black Virgin Mary, with a white infant Saviour in her arms. 
The public library is composed of rare and valuable books, both in 
French and Spanish, taken from the Jesuits' College and convents. 
They are in good order, and among them are many manuscripts, 
which are beautifully illuminated. The librarian, a young priest, 
deserves our thanks for his attention and civility. 
The public museum has been but lately commenced. It contains 
a collection of curious Peruvian antiquities, some native birds, and 
the portraits of all the Viceroys, from Pizarro down. At the cabildos, 
or city hall, are to be seen some of the archives of Lima, kept until 
recently in good order. Many signatures of the old Viceroys and 
Governors are quite curious ; among others, that of Pizarro is shown. 
As few of them could write, they adopted the Rubrica, made by 
placing the finger of the left hand and making the flourish on each 
side of it, the clerk filling in the name. This method has since been 
