82 



LIMA, 



ing to overhang the town^ much nearer than 

 they really are. The summits of the moun- 

 tains are almost always covered with clouds^ 

 black and threatening, as if about to burst over 

 Lima in a frightful storm. Yet it never rains, 

 and thunder and lightning are unknown in 

 the plains of Peru. The rain falls only in the 

 mountains, where these dark clouds spend 

 themselves in violent hurricanes. In winter a 

 great deal of mist falling on the plains supplies 

 the want of rain, and the sun is scarcely ever 

 seen but through a dense vapour. In summer, 

 for a few hours in the morning, the sun shines 

 without any interruption in all the brilliancy of 

 the tropics ; but for the rest of the day a canopy 

 of clouds extends itself quite over the town, 

 and ladies might walk uncovered by hats or 

 parasols in the streets of a metropolis, not twelve 

 degrees from the equator, without injury to 



