LIMA. 



89 



time become a fashionable lounge for the beaux 

 and belles of the metropolis in summer^ who 

 like sea-bathing. The walls of the houses are 

 all built of cane-work^ which is covered with 

 mud^ and whitewashed; some are neatly fur- 

 nished^ and laid down with mats^ which add 

 much in this climate to the coolness. On enter- 

 ing an open piazza overlooking the sea^ where 

 the breakfast-table was laid out, I perceived a 

 gentleman in a grass hammock swinging him - 

 self and a child. The hammock was suspended 

 from the beams of the roof, and he was lying 

 on his back, with one foot out, which, by touch- 

 ing the floor, kept up a constant motion. The 

 custom of swinging in hammocks is universal 

 on this coast among all colours ; but it origi- 

 nates with the Indians. The best hammocks 

 come from Guyaquil. They supersede, in most 

 houses, the luxury of sofas ; two or three being 



