98 



LIMA. 



ment at finding the gate shut, and nobody ready 

 to open it for them. The porter had deserted 

 his post, but a boy leaning over the wall told 

 us there was an order issued not to open the 

 town- gates that day, for fear of letting in the 

 monteneros. With some difiiculty, he was pre- 

 vailed upon to go to the nearest guard-house, 

 and state that a lady fainting from heat and 

 alarm, entreated to be let in. We were obliged 

 to wait some time longer on the dusty road, me- 

 ditating in silence upon the desperate condition 

 of Peru, when the lost porter gave notice by the 

 rattling of his keys that he was at hand, and 

 presently opened the gate. 



After breakfast I was determined to wander 

 over the town ; so, with my fellow-traveller, I 

 walked at once to the Plaza. On one side is 

 the famous cathedral, formerly so rich in plate, 

 which the successive patriots and regenerators 



