Dec] CITY OF LIMA. 181 



rest in warehouses, to be disposed of on their own account to traders 

 who resorted to the place, or to be sent to their factors in the inland 

 provinces. The produce of these sales in the interior was remitted in 

 bars of silver, upon which also a great profit was made at the mint. 



The city of Lima, of which so much has been said, sung, and writ- 

 ten, is the capital of Peru, and was founded by the celebrated Pizarro, 

 on the 15th of January, 1535. It stands in the midst of a broad, spa- 

 cious, fruitful, and delightful valley, called Rimac, which received its 

 name from an idol formerly worshipped there by the Peruvians. The 

 word signifies " He who speaks, 1 and is supposed to have been corrupted 

 by the Spanish pronunciation into Lima. A river of the same name 

 runs close by the city, on the north, watering the valley by numerous 

 canals, and falling into the sea near Callao ; from the roadstead of 

 which can be seen the towers and domes of " the splendid city" stretch- 

 ing for a mile or more in the distance, with the gigantic Andes soaring 

 in hoary majesty at least thirty miles beyond them. These features 

 present a beautiful appearance, as seen from the bay where I was now 

 at anchor, and excited a strong desire in my bosom to visit the " queen 

 of cities." But tnat was now impossible ; I had therefore to rest con- 

 tented with such imperfect descriptions as I could pick up from those 

 who had been there, which I afterward found to be correct from my 

 own observations. 



The form of the city is triangular, the longest side extending along 

 the banks of the river above three thousand yards ; and the greatest 

 breadth from the bas« to the apex is about two thousand two hundred. 

 The whole of the town is surrounded with a brick wall, flanked by 

 thirty-four bastions ; the streets, which are broad and regular, cross 

 each other at right angles : they are well paved, and kept constantly 

 clean by streams of water from the river, which are arched over, and 

 rendered subservient not only to cleanliness, but to many other conve- 

 niences. The number of streets in Lima is not less than three hun- 

 dred and fifty. 



Pizarro, in laying out this city, distributed the spaces for the houses 

 into quarters of one hundred and fifty varas, or Spanish yards. The 

 houses of the wealthy have gardens attached to them, which are wa- 

 tered by the canals that run through the city : these houses are gene- 

 rally built in the Moorish style, as introduced into old Spain by their 

 invaders, — consisting of a square pile, of two stories, enclosing a quad- 

 rangular court, which is surrounded with piazzas, and sometimes con- 

 tain a second, or even a third inner court. Those of the less opulent, 

 though low, are generally commodious, and of a handsome appearance ; 

 they are constructed of wood, on account of the frequent earthquakes, 

 but are so plastered and painted as to resemble stone edifices. 



The best buildings are in and near the centre of the city, and the 

 houses gradually decrease in beauty and convenience as the streets 

 approach the circumference. Indeed, Mr. Stewart very justly remarks, 

 that on entering the city from the Callao avenue, the appearance of 

 Lima is far from being prepossessing. " I scarce ever felt greater 

 surprise," says this observant traveller, "than on entering the first 

 street after passing the gate. Instead of * the splendid city,' of which 



