V 
l832.] CITY OF LIMA. ' 441 
months it is generally at 8° R. There is here to be found a little 
stinted shrubbery and moss. 
The fourth zone extends from fifteen to twenty-one thousand 
feet in elevation ; this is what Dr. Unanue calls the frozen zone 
Its summit is under the line, and it gradually slopes off towards 
either pole. It crosses the tropics at an elevation of about thirteen 
thousand feet, and at about 45° of south latitude it falls to eight 
or nine thousand feet, and to a level with the superficies of the 
globe : and throughout its whole progress in Peru, it marks the 
boundary of vegetation and hfe. In this region reign tempestuous 
winds, as at the poles : so that in giving a general description 
of Peru, it may be said that its summits are crowned with ever- 
lasting winter, and rocked with whirlwinds and storms ; its sides 
adorned with everlasting spring : that autumn reposes in its bosom, 
while summer, with its torrid heat, slumbers at its feet. 
There is a perpetual canopy of clouds resting upon the sum- 
mits of the Andes, and burying themselves in the ocean. These, 
for a considerable part of the year, shield the valleys from the 
heat of the sun. South winds always blow, loaded with fresh- 
ness and vapour. Here are situated the beautiful valleys of Lima, 
of which one of her own poets has sung : — 
"En su horizonte el Sol todo es Aurora, 
Eterna el tiempo todo es Primavera ; 
Sola es risa del Cielo cada hora, 
Cada mes es cuenta de la Esfera. 
Son cada alienta un halito de Flora, 
Cada aroyo una Musa lisonjera ; 
Y los vergeles, que el confin le debe 
Nubes fragrantes con que al Cielo llu^ve. " 
Lima, which has been decidedly the richest and most celebrated 
city of Southern America, is situated in 12° 2' 51" of south lati- 
tude, and 70° 50' 51" of west longitude from Cadiz, Its aspect 
is sloping to the southward and westward, and from these quar- 
ters only is it exposed to the wind, while to the north it is pro- 
tected by high hills. All the hills around Lima are branches of 
the great Cordilleras of the Andes, the principal chain of which 
pa.sses about twenty leagues inland from the city. The spurs 
which pass to the east descend from north to south, in regular 
gradation, forming delightful valleys, and approaching near to the 
