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PERU. 



amongst tlie parts ; so that the shabby and the 

 gorgeous were blended, and one was never sure 

 that any thing pleasing would not be found con- 

 tiguous to something offensive. The entrance was 

 by a dirty court, like that of a stable-yard, com- 

 municating with a staircase, on the steps of which 

 the soldiers of the guard, in ragged shabby uni- 

 forms, were lounging about, smoking their segars 

 at their ease, and making way for no one. A long 

 and narrow set of winding passages brought us to 

 a suite of waiting rooms, filled with many weary 

 supplicants, amongst whom the etiquette of pre- 

 cedence was not forgotten, the poorest and most 

 hopeless being left in the outer apartments. In 

 the room adjoining the audience chamber, we saw 

 only the priesthood and military ; for, in these tur- 

 bulent seasons, the value of a sword is estimated, 

 at least at its due weight. Our interview, being 

 merely ceremonial, was short, and led to nothing 

 worth relating. 



In the evening I was introduced to several fa-« 

 milies, all of which were more or less cast down by 

 the circumstances of the day ; and their good 



10 



