442 
VOYAGE OF THE POTOMAC. 
[December, 
walls on the upper side of the city ; while those on the north pro- 
ject along either side of the river Rimac, till at last they diverge and 
form the valley of Lurigancho, a spacious sehaicircle in front of 
the upper part of the city. The most elevated of the hills in the 
vicinity of Lima, are San Christoval and Amancaes ; the first be- 
ing four hundred and seventy, and the second nine hundred and 
sixty yards above the level of the sea. The view from the sum- 
mit of San Christoval is extensive, and more than compensates 
for the labour of ascending it. There is the city quite at your 
feet, with its numerous towers ; the magnificent Pantheon, or pub- 
lic burial-ground, some distance in the rear ; with Indian ruins 
here and there, and in front the beautiful Bay of Callao, with its 
castle and shipping ; the lofty and desert Island of San Lorenzo 
in the distance ; and beyond, the broad. Pacific Ocean. Placed on 
the summit of San Christoval, the imagination leaps its ordinary 
bounds when the eye has mastered the many enchanting objects 
that are clustered around, and but a few of which we have enu- 
merated ; for we have omitted the avenues planted with trees, 
the public promenade, the orange-groves, the fountains, and the 
fields of the husbandmen, extending up the valley. Directly 
south, along the coast, lies Chorrillas, about eight and a quarter 
miles from the plaza of Lima. Towards the east numerous sand- 
hills appear, which gradually increase in height as they recede, 
until they finally unite with the spurs of the Cordilleras. Such 
are the boundaries which limit the prospect, as the eye is cast 
over the beautiful and spacious valley of Lima. 
The plaza, in the centre of Lima, is one hundred and seventy 
yards above the level of the ocean, towards which the plain in- 
clines so gradually, that the ascent to the city is scarcely percep- 
tible. On examining the qualities of the soil of this inclined plane? 
it will be found that at a certain depth there is a stratum of more 
compact and solid earth, over which are layers of sand and gravel, 
or smooth pebbles, precisely the same as found all along the coast 
at the bed of the ocean. This would lead to the belief, that at 
some former period the waters of the ocean were admitted into 
this basin, and extended two or three leagues farther inland than 
they do at present. One thing is certain, that there is now a gra- 
dual, though imperceptible diminution of the waters along the 
coast. Over these layers of sand and pebbles lies a stratum of 
