273 THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC. 



extent in the fashionable circles ; but, I think there is more 

 virtue and morality to be met with in the second ranks. 



The ladies in Lima seldom nurse their children, but confide 

 their tender offspring to the care of the females of the various 

 castes. An infant scarcely attains a month old, before they 

 commence feeding it with broth, which is an abundant reason 

 why the adult population have feeble constitutions, and are un- 

 able to bear cold. In the months of June, July, and August, 

 though the thermometer does not sink below 55° F., men 

 never think of walking the street in the morning or evening 

 without being enveloped in the Spanish cloak. 



Families even of moderate fortunes live in splendid style, 

 and dress as extravagantly as their means and credit will allow. 

 They keep a host of useless servants. There must be a nurse 

 for each child, a porter, a calesero, a waiter, a duena or house- 

 keeper, and two or three blacks in the kitchen and stables. 

 The lady must have a calesa, coute qui coute. When reverses 

 compel the family to dispose of the calesa, which, being the 

 last article parted with, indicates the near approach of ruin, a 

 part of the bargain always urged is, that the purchaser shall 

 alter the paint that it may not be known ! 



Considering the little industry among the ladies, and their 

 want of taste for reading, it may be reasonably asked, how 

 they get through the twenty-four hours. A fashionable belle 

 rises at daylight, hastens through her prayers at the nearest 

 church, and returned home, retires again to slumber till about 

 nine or ten o'clock. About eleven she takes her breakfast 

 alone, which is frequently purchased in the street; few families 

 assemble at this meal, each one eating at his own hour, and 

 whatever his appetite may suggest. A gentleman told me, that 

 he did not see his wife before dinner from one end of the year 

 to the other. In some houses, each one receives a certain 

 weekly stipend for his maintenance from his father, which is 

 spent at the cook shops about the city. The family cook sel- 

 dom prepares any thing, except hot water for making choco- 

 late or mate. 



After breakfast the lady smokes a cigar or two, and strolls 

 about the house with her hair hanging over her shoulders, dress 



