CHAPTER VI.

Sent to Talcahuano....Description of the Bay and Anchorage....Plain between Conception and Talcahuano....Prospectus of a Soap Manufactory here....Coal Mine....Town, Custom-house, Inhabitants, &c....Fish, &c. caught in the Bay....Colonial Commerce....Prospectus of a Sawing Mill.

After staying a few days at Conception, I was sent for by the governor to Talcahuano, a ship being there ready to sail for Lima. I took with me a note to a resident in the port, and was received by him with the greatest possible kindness; he requested me to make his house my home until the ship should be ready to sail; a request with which I very willingly complied.

The bay of Talcahuano is one of the largest on the western shores of South America: from north to south its length is about ten miles, that is from the main land on one side to the main land on the other; from east to west it is seven miles. In the mouth of the bay lies the island Quiriquina, forming two entrances; that on the east side is the safer, being two miles wide with thirty fathoms water, decreasing gradually towards the usual anchorage at Talcahuano, where, about half a mile from the shore, there are ten fathoms water. It is well sheltered from the north wind; but the swell is so great during a norther (as the north winds are here called) that it is almost impossible to land, though at any other time the landing is good on any part of the beach.

From Conception to Talcahuano, a distance of six miles, the surface of the ground is composed of loose sand intermixed with sea shells; about half a yard deep a continued stratum of marine shells is found, exactly similar to those shell-fish with which the sea abounds at this place: they are the choro, muscle, pie de burra, or ass's foot, the bulgados, a species of snail, and the picos, barnacles. This stratum is generally from twelve to fifteen feet thick; and a similar one is found in the hills, three hundred feet above the level of the sea; being, no doubt, the effect of some tremendous earthquake, which took place before this country was known to the old world; for it is certain, that what now constitutes the valley of Penco or Conception was at some remote period a part of the Pacific Ocean. From these shells all the lime used in building is procured. The land between Talcahuano and Conception is not fit for cultivation; it presents rather a dreary appearance; however, some cattle graze on the marshy or low parts, and their meat is considered very delicate. Abundance of salsola grows in this neighbourhood, from which kali might be procured in great quantities for the purpose of manufacturing soap, which, as tallow and other fat can be bought here at a low rate, would be a very lucrative speculation. Soap bears a high price in Peru, and in almost every part of the country, being seldom under forty dollars the quintal or hundred pounds weight in Lima, and higher in the interior. The facility of procuring good lime and plenty of fuel would be of importance to such an establishment, besides which, the cheapness of copper, from the mines of Coquimbo and Copiapo, for making the necessary utensils, is an advantage of some consideration.

Of all the Spanish writers Herrera alone makes mention of the existence of coal in the province of Conception. In Dec. 8, 1. 6, c. 11, he says, "there is a coal mine upon the beach near to the city of Conception; it burns like charcoal;" and he was not mistaken, for the stratum does exist on the north side of the bay of Talcahuano, near the anchorage on that side, and very near the ruins of Penco Viejo, which was destroyed by the earthquake in 1730, and not rebuilt, because the present anchorage was considered preferable. To what extent the coal reaches has never yet been ascertained; all that has been used has been obtained by throwing aside the mould which covers the surface. This coal is similar in appearance to the English cannel, but it is reasonable to suppose, that if the mine were dug to any considerable depth, the quality would be found to improve, and that the work might be productive of immense wealth to its possessor.

There is a custom-house at Talcahuano, and the necessary officers for collecting the importation and exportation duties; barracks for the garrison belonging to the small battery, a house for the residence of the commanding officer, a parish church, also about a hundred houses, with several large stores, bodegas, for corn, wine, and other goods. The population consists of about five hundred inhabitants, principally muleteers, porters, and fishermen.

The bay abounds with excellent fish; the most esteemed are the robalo; this fish is from two to three feet long, nearly of a cylindrical form, having angular scales, which are of a gold colour on the back, declining to a very beautiful transparent white on the belly: it has a bluish stripe along the back, bordered on each side with a deep yellow; the flesh is delicately white, and has a delicious taste. The corbina is generally about the size of the robalo, though sometimes much larger; its body is of an oval form, covered with broad semi-transparent white scales, on which are some opaque white spots; it is encircled obliquely with a number of brownish lines, the tail is forked, and the head small; its flesh is white and well tasted. The lisa is a kind of mullet; it is found both in fresh and in salt water; the latter, however, is much better than the former: it is about a foot long, its back is of a dirty greenish colour, its sides and belly white, with large scales; its flesh is white, very fat, and is excellent. The peje rey is very similar to a smelt, but when full-grown is of the size of a herring; it has not the same odour as the smelt, but is equally nice when cooked.

In the vicinity of Talcahuano is the gold fish, about ten inches long, flat and of an oval form, with small scales; it is of a bright gold colour, and has five zones or bands surrounding it. One round the neck is black, two others about the middle of the fish are grey, one near the tail is black, and the fifth, at the juncture of the tail with the body is grey; its flesh is very delicate. The chalgua achagual, called by the Spaniards peje gallo, cock fish, is about three feet long; its body is round, rather thicker in the middle than at the neck or near the tail; it is covered with a whitish skin, but has no scales; on its head it has a cartilaginous crest about three quarters of an inch thick—its flesh is not good. The tollo, a species of dog-fish, is about three feet long; it has two triangular dorsal spines, remarkably hard, but no other bones; it is salted and dried, and sent to the Lima market, being rarely eaten fresh, although it is then very good. On the coasts the natives catch a variety of species that are common to other seas, such as the skate, the dog-fish, saw-fish, old wife, conger eel, rock cod, whiting, turbot, plaice, bonito, mackerel, roach, mullet, pilchard, anchovy, &c.

Among the mollusca tribe the muscle is very fine; I have frequently seen them eight inches long, and their flavour is excellent. They are often salted and dried; after which they are strung on slender rushes, and in this manner large quantities are exported. The white urchin is of a globular form, about three inches in diameter, with a whitish shell and spines; the interior substance is yellow, but very good to eat. The pico is a kind of barnacle, adhering to steep rocks at the water's edge: from ten to twenty of them inhabit as many separate cells of a pyramidal form, made of a cretaceous substance, with a little aperture at the top of each cell; they receive their food at this hole, where a kind of small bill protrudes, similar to that of a bird, and hence the animal receives its name of pico, a bill. They are very white, tender, and most delicate eating. The loco is oval, and its shell is covered with small tuberosities: it is from four to five inches long, and the interior or edible substance is white, and very excellent. Of the molluscas the piuri is the most remarkable, in respect both to its shape and habitation; the latter is formed of a coriaceous matter, adhering to the rocks, and which is divided into separate cells, by means of strong membranes. In each of these, in a detached state, is formed the piuri; it is about the size of a large cherry, which it so much resembles in colour, that the following anecdote is related: a native of Chiloe had never seen any cherries until he came to Conception, and observing an abundance there he exclaimed, "What a charming country this is, why the piuries grow on the trees!" This animal, if it deserve to be so called, is eaten either roasted or boiled, and has a taste similar to that of the lobster: great quantities are annually dried for exportation.

Of the crustaceous fishes, the xaiva, crab, has a shell that is nearly spherical, about three inches in diameter, and two inches deep, furnished with spines upon the edges. The apancora, another of the crab species, has an oval shell, denticulated, and generally larger than the xaiva; both are red when boiled, and their flesh is well tasted. Crawfish, camarones, are sometimes caught of the enormous weight of eight or nine pounds each, and are very good.

The principal commerce between this port and some of the other Spanish colonies consists in the exportation of wheat, with which article about six ships, of not less than four hundred tons burthen each, are annually laden, making an average of two thousand four hundred tons, which in an infant country, and for colonial consumption, may be considered very great. Nearly the whole of this wheat is carried to Lima. Of jerked beef, charqui, about six thousand quintals, with a proportionate quantity of tallow and fat, grasa; and of wine, on an average, two thousand jars, containing eighteen gallons each, are annually exported. The minor articles are raw hides, wool, dried fruits, salt fish and pulse. The imports are a small quantity of European manufactured goods, sugar, salt and tobacco; the taxes on which produce from one hundred and two to one hundred and five thousand dollars per annum.

I have already mentioned the benefit which would result from a soap manufactory being established at Talcahuano; another establishment, however, of still greater importance, might be formed either on the banks of the Bio-bio, or on those of the Maule: I mean a sawing mill. Both of these rivers have a sufficient current for the purpose, and an abundance of good timber in their vicinity. A dock yard on a trifling scale has been established and small craft have been built at Maule; but Guayaquil is the great dock yard on the western coast of South America, and vessels of eight hundred tons burthen have been built there; beside which the timber markets of Peru have been almost exclusively supplied with wood from the forest of Guayaquil: this article is becoming scarce in that district, and recourse must soon be had to some other parts, and there are none that present the same facilities as the two I have now mentioned. The forests of the province of Conception are as yet untouched; the price of labour there does not exceed one-third of that at Guayaquil; the hire of cattle for bringing the wood from any part of the forests to the river side bears the same proportion as the price of labour; the advantage of superiority of climate is also attached to this province, as well as that of the total absence of ravenous beasts and poisonous reptiles, which abound in the woods, rivers and estuaries of Guayaquil. The conducting of timber to the port of Talcahuano for embarkation, and its shipment in small vessels in the Maule, are facilities of considerable importance; to which we may add the short passage from either of these two places to the principal established market of Lima, the passage from Guayaquil being of a treble duration. Small vessels only can get out of the Maule, because a bar at the entrance of the river would prevent the egress of large ships when deeply laden. Another powerful reason why sawing mills might be established with greater ease on those rivers than at Guayaquil is, that they would increase the means of subsistence among the labouring classes, and consequently would merit their protection; whereas at the latter place sawing is the occupation of a great portion of the inhabitants of the city, who make very high wages, in consequence of which any establishment detrimental to so numerous a body of artizans would be strenuously resisted, and probably attended with fatal results. It will no doubt appear surprizing to persons in England acquainted with this branch of the arts, that three quarters of a dollar, equal to about three shillings and two pence, should be paid at Guayaquil for sawing a plank from a log of wood ten or twelve inches square by eighteen feet long, the timber not being harder than the English fir. The price for timber brought down to the port of Talcahuano is very low. Liñe, somewhat resembling ash, and applicable to the same uses, may be delivered in logs twenty feet long and twelve inches square, for about one dollar each, and all other kinds of wood at similar rates; while a single inch plank from the same tree would be worth nearly double the sum at Lima. Attached to an establishment of this kind, the carrying of fire wood to Lima would be attended with considerable profit—a cargo of fire wood weighing fourteen quintals is sold here for only one dollar, while in Lima it often sells for from one to one and a half dollar per quintal.

The ship Dolores de la Tierra being ready to sail for Lima, I was ordered on board, and obliged to leave with regret an enchanting country, where I had been treated with unbounded hospitality by its inhabitants. My kind host, Don Manuel Serrano, took care to recommend me to the captain, beside which he sent on board, for my use, more provisions than would have served me for three such voyages.

The foregoing is a brief description of Conception as I saw it in the year 1803. I visited it again in 1820, and in the course of my narrative I shall have occasion to mention it at my second visit, and to contrast its appearance at those two periods.

If in my description of this part of South America I have sometimes touched on the changes that have happened or are likely to happen, it has been when speaking of places which I did not afterwards visit.

CHAPTER VII.

Leave Talcahuano in the Dolores....Passage to Callao....Arrival....Taken to the Castle....Leave Callao....Road to Lima....Conveyed to Prison.

My present situation was very disagreeable. The government of Conception had placed me on board a Spanish vessel, and had given orders to the captain to deliver me up, the moment he should arrive at Callao, to the governor of the fortress. At the same time he had been charged with letters, containing perhaps an account of my having landed on the Araucanian coast; of having visited part of that almost unknown territory, as also part of the province of Conception. Such it was reasonable to expect would be the information conveyed, if either the reports prevailing at that time respecting the cruel system of Spanish jealousy in their colonies were to be credited; or those which have been more recently circulated, that all foreigners would be incarcerated, sent to the mines or to places of exile, for having merely dared to tread the shores of this prohibited country. I should have desponded, had not practice taught me to regard those reports as exaggerated tales, the fictions or dreams of the biassed, and not worthy of the least belief. I was, at the time I landed, ignorant of the existence of any prohibitory laws; but I now reflected, that no doubt foreigners were not allowed to settle in a Spanish colony without having obtained those permissions and passports which are considered equally as indispensable here as in the British colonies; documents which are as essentially necessary to Englishmen as to foreigners; but I also recollected the kind treatment which I had received at Conception, as much a Spanish colony as the place of my destination; I had learned, too, that foreigners resided in this part of the country, some of whom were in the actual employ of the government; it had come to my knowledge that an Irishman, Don Ambrose Higgins, had filled the offices of Captain-General of Chile, and of Viceroy of Peru.—These reflections contributed to make me comparatively happy, and by adhering to a maxim which I had established, never to allow the shadow of future adversity to cloud the existence of present comfort, my life was always free from fear and disquietude. My stay among the pastoral indians of Arauco, for barbarous I cannot call them, had been one continued scene of enjoyment, unalloyed with any apprehension of approaching evils, and this conduct had not contributed a little to make me so welcome a guest. I had followed the same principles whilst at Conception with equal success.

The ship in which I embarked had on board eight thousand fanegas of wheat, with some other Chilean produce, and an abundance of poultry, for the Lima market; she was built at Ferrol in the year 1632, of Spanish oak, and was the oldest vessel in the Pacific; her high poop and clumsy shape forming a great contrast with some of the recently-built ships at Guayaquil, or those from Spain. The conduct of the captain, the officers and passengers, was marked with every kindness. I had a small cabin to myself, but I messed with the captain and passengers, and the eleven days which we were at sea were spent in mirth and gaiety, not a little heightened by the female part of a family going to settle in Lima. The father kindly invited me, should an opportunity present itself, to reside at his house during my stay in that city, an invitation of which I should certainly have availed myself had not circumstances prevented it. We were all anxiety to arrive at Callao, the sea-port of Lima, and although I had fewer reasons to wish it than others, still the idea of seeing something new is always pleasing, particularly to a traveller in a foreign country; besides, I had been informed on my passage that war had not been declared between England and Spain, and that the conduct of the government was to be attributed to their wish to prevent any English spies from residing at liberty in the country.

On the eleventh day after our leaving Talcahuano we made the island of San Lorenzo, which forms one side of the bay of Callao. It exhibits a dreary spectacle, not a tree, a shrub, nor even a blade of grass presents itself; it is one continued heap of sand and rock. Having passed the head land, (where a signal post was erected and a look-out kept, which communicated with Callao, through other signals stationed on the island) the vessels in the offing, the town and batteries at once opened on our view. The principal fortress, called the Royal Philip, Real Felipe, has a majestic appearance, although disadvantageously situated; it is on a level with the sea, and behind it the different ranges of hills rise in successive gradations until crowned with the distant prospect of the Andes, which in some parts tower above the clouds. These clouds, resting on the tops of the lower ranges seemed to have yielded their places in the atmosphere to those enormous masses, and to have prostrated themselves at their feet. As we approached the anchorage the spires and domes of Lima appeared to the left of the town of Callao. At the moment of landing, which is the most pleasing to travellers by sea, the passengers were all in high spirits, expecting to embrace ere long those objects of tender affection, from whom they had been separated by chance, interest, or necessity.

Previous to our coming to an anchorage, the custom-house boat with some others visited our ship, and I was sent ashore in that from the captain of the port. I was immediately conveyed to the castle, and delivered to the Governor. On my landing at Callao, I observed a considerable bustle on what may be called the pier. This pier was made in 1779, during the Viceroyalty of Don Antonio Amat, by running an old king's ship on shore, filling her with stones, sand, and rubbish, and afterwards driving round the parts where the sea washes piles of mangroves, brought from Guayaquil, and which appear to be almost imperishable in sea water. At the landing place I saw several boats employed in watering their ships, for which purpose pipes have been laid down, three feet under ground, to convey the water from a spring; hoses being attached to the spouts, the casks are filled either floating on the sea or in the boats.

The houses make a very sorry appearance; they are generally about twenty feet high, with mud walls, flat roof, and divided into two stories; the under one forms a row of small shops open in front, and the upper one an uncouth corridor. About a quarter of a mile from the landing place is the draw-bridge, over a dry foss, and an entrance under an arched gateway to the castle, the Real Felipe. I was presented to the Governor, a Spanish colonel, who immediately ordered me to the caloboso, one of the prisoners' cells: this was a room about one hundred feet long and twenty wide, formed of stone, with a vaulted roof of the same materials, having two wooden benches, raised about three feet from the ground, for the prisoners to sleep on. A long chain ran along the bench for the purpose of being passed through the shackles of the unhappy occupants, whose miserable beds, formed of rush mats, were rolled up, and laid near the walls. I had an opportunity to make a survey of this place before the prisoners entered; until then I was left quite alone, pondering over my future lot, for this was the first time I could consider myself a prisoner; however, I consoled myself with the hope of release, or if not, a removal to some more comfortable situation. In this hope I was not mistaken, for before the prisoners, who were malefactors employed at the public works, arrived, a soldier came and ordered me to follow him. He took up my bed, while I took care of my trunk, and in this manner I left the abode of crime and misery in which I had been placed. I was conducted to the guard-house, where that part of the garrison on duty are usually stationed. I now found myself among such a curious mixture of soldiers as eyes never witnessed in any other part of the world; but I reconciled myself to my lot, especially as it was not the worst place in the castle. In a short time I was sent for to the officers' room. I there found several agreeable and some well-informed young men, with two very obstinate and testy old ones, who, though of superior rank, were heartily quizzed by their subalterns. Such is the ease and frankness of the South Americans in general, that before I had been an hour in the room, one of the officers, a young lieutenant, and his brother, a cadet, had become as familiar with me as if we had been old acquaintance. They were natives of Lima, both had been educated at San Carlos, the principal college, and both lamented that the most useful branches of science were not taught in the Spanish colleges to that extent, and with that precision which they are in England. The lieutenant also observed, that as the rectors and heads of their colleges were churchmen, the studies were confined principally to theology, divinity and morality, which circumstance caused them to neglect the useful sciences; and this he ascribed as a reason why in those studies the students made little progress. But, continued he, our libraries are not destitute of good mathematical and philosophical books, which some of our young men study, and they are at all times willing to instruct their friends. I spent the time in a very agreeable chit chat with my new acquaintance till ten o'clock, when the lieutenant rose and requested me to wait his return, saying he was going to the governor for el santo, the watchword, and for the orders of the night. He returned in about half an hour, pulled off his uniform coat, put on a jacket, and then told me, in the most friendly manner, that the governor had given orders for my removal to Lima on the following morning; on which he congratulated me, saying, that as that was a large city I should be more comfortable, although a prisoner, than at Callao; he also informed me that, it being the first day of the month, September, 1803, part of the garrison would be relieved by detachments from the capital, and that he was included in that number, and would be happy in giving me a seat in the valancin, hackney coach, which he should hire. About twelve o'clock my bed and trunk were carried to his sleeping room, and I remained in conversation with him till day broke; we slept about an hour, and then arose to breakfast, which consisted of a cup of very good chocolate for each of us, some dry toast, and a glass of water. At eleven o'clock, the detachment having arrived, we left Callao in a valancin, which is a kind of carriage, having the body of a coach on two wheels, drawn by two horses, one in the shafts and the postillion mounted on the other.

The city of Callao, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1746 and swallowed up by the sea, was at a short distance to the southward of the present town. On a calm day the ruins may yet be seen under water at that part of the bay called the mar braba, rough sea, and on the beach a sentry is always placed for the purpose of taking charge of any treasure that may be washed ashore, which not unfrequently happens. By this terrible convulsion of nature upwards of three thousand people perished at Callao alone. I afterwards became acquainted with an old mulatto, called Eugenio, who was one of the three or four who were saved; he told me that he was sitting on some timber which had been landed from a ship in the bay, at the time that the great wave of the sea rolled in and buried the city, and that he was carried, clinging to the log, near to the chapel, a distance of three miles.

From Callao to Lima it is six miles, with a good road, for which the country is indebted to Don Ambrose Higgins; but he unfortunately died, after being Viceroy three years, leaving this useful work incomplete. The finished part extends only about two miles from the gateway, at the entrance to the city, and has a double row of lofty willows on each side, shading the foot-walk. He also furnished it, at every hundred yards, with neat stone benches; and at about every mile a large circle with walls of brick and stone, four feet high, and stone seats are erected. These circles are formed for carriages to turn in with greater ease than on the road. On each side of the foot-walk runs a small stream of water, irrigating the willows in its course, and nourishing numberless luxuriant weeds and flowers. It was the intention of the Viceroy to carry the road down to Callao in the same style as it now exists near the city, but only the carriage road was finished. It has a parapet of brick raised two feet high on each side, to keep together the materials of the road. On the right hand side, going from the port, may be seen the ruins of an indian village, which was built before the discovery of South America. Some of the old walls are left, formed of clay, about two feet thick and six feet high, and which perhaps owe their present existence to the total absence of rain in this country. To the right is the town of Bellavista, to which parish Callao is attached, being called its anexo. Here is a hospital for seamen and the poorer class of the inhabitants. Half way between the port and the city stands a very neatly built chapel, to which is connected a small cloister; it is dedicated to the Virgin of Mount Carmel, and many visit it to fulfil some vow or other which they have made at sea to this Madonna, she being the protectress of seamen. Near the chapel is situated a house at which are sold good brandy and wine, and it may easily be guessed which establishment has the most customers! On approaching the city the quality of the soil appears to be very good; large gardens with luxuriant vegetables for the market, and fields of lucern and maize are here cultivated, and close to the city walls there are extensive orchards of tropical fruit trees, all irrigated with water drawn by canals from the river Rimac. The gateway is of brick, covered with stucco, with cornices, mouldings, and pillars of stone: it has three arches; the centre one for carriages has folding doors, the two lateral posterns are for foot passengers.

The mind of a traveller is naturally led to expect to find the inside of a city correspondent with the appearance of its entrance; but at Lima he will be deceived. The distant views of the steeples and domes, the beautiful straight road, its shady avenue of lofty willows, and its handsome gateway, are contrasted, immediately on passing them, with a long street of low houses with their porches and patios; small shops with their goods placed on tables at the doors; no glass windows; no display of articles of commerce; numbers of people of all colours, from the black African to the white and rosy coloured Biscayan, with all their intermediate shades, combined with the mixture of colour and features of the aborigines of America:—the mere observation of this variety of colours and features produces a "confusion beyond all confusions."

As a prisoner of war, although the two nations were at peace, I was conducted by my kind friend to the city gaol, carcel de la ciudad, where I remained shut up for eight months with about a hundred criminals of the worst description. Owing, however, to a recommendation and the promise of a remuneration from my good friend the lieutenant, the alcalde lodged me in a room at the entrance of the prison, allotted to persons of decent families, or to such as had the means of paying for this convenience.

I was fortunate enough to find here a native of Lima, an officer in the army, who was confined on suspicion of forgery. He was a very excellent man, and conducted himself towards me in a manner which contributed, not only to my comfort whilst I was a prisoner, but finally to my liberation. My first object in my confinement was to make myself perfectly master of the Spanish tongue, and to obtain some knowledge of Quichua, the court language of the Incas, and used wherever their authority had been established. I was the more desirous of becoming acquainted with this language, because it is spoken in the interior of Peru by all classes of people: the respectable inhabitants, however, also speak Spanish.

CHAPTER VIII.

Lima, Origin of its Name....Pachacamac....Foundation of Lima....Pizarro's Palace....Situation of the City....Form of the Valley Rimac....River.... Climate....Temperature....Moists and Rain....Soil....Earthquakes....Produce.

Lima is the capital of Peru, and derives its name from Rimac, which original name its river still retains; but the valley was called by the indians Rimac Malca, or the place of witches; it being the custom among the aborigines, even before the establishment of the theocrasia of the Incas, as well as during their domination, to banish to this valley those persons who were accused of witchcraft. Its climate is very different from that of the interior, and having a great deal of marshy ground in its vicinity, intermittent fevers generally destroyed in a short time such individuals as were the objects of this superstitious persecution. It is recorded, that when Manco Capac and his sister Mama Ocollo were presented by their grandfather to the indians living at Couzcou, and were informed by him that they were the children of the sun, their God, the fair complexion of these strangers, and their light coloured hair, induced the indians to consider them as rimacs, and they were in consequence exiled to Rimac Malca, the place of witches, now the valley of Lima.

In September, 1533, Don Francisco Pizarro arrived at Pachacamac, a large town belonging to the indians, where a magnificent temple had been built by Pachacutec, the tenth Inca of Peru, for the worship of Pachacamac, the creator and preserver of the world. This rich place of worship was plundered by Pizarro, and the virgins destined to the service of the Deity, though in every respect as sacred as the nuns of Pizarro's religion, were violated by his soldiers; the altars were pillaged and destroyed, and the building was demolished. However, when I visited it in 1817, some of the walls still remained, as if to reproach the descendants of an inhuman monster with his wanton barbarity. I wandered among the remains of this temple, dedicated by a race of men in gratitude to their omnipotent creator and preserver: a house unstained with what bigots curse with the name of idolatry; unpolluted with the blood of sacrifice; uncontaminated with the chaunt of anthems, impiously sung to the Deity after the destruction of a great number of his creatures; of prayers for success, or thanksgivings for victory; but hallowed with the innocent offerings of fruits and flowers, and sanctified with the incense breath of praise, and hymns of joyous gratitude. It is difficult to describe the feelings by which we are affected when we witness the ruins of an edifice destined by its founder to be a monument of national glory, or even of personal honor; but when we contemplate with unprejudiced eyes the remains of a building once sacred to a large portion of our fellow creatures, and raised by them in honour of the great Father of the universe, wantonly destroyed by a being, in whose hands chance had placed more power than his vitiated mind knew how to apply to virtuous purposes—we cannot avoid cursing him, in the bitterness of our anguish. Cold indeed must be the heart of that man who could view the ruins of Pachacamac with less regret than those of Babylon or Jerusalem!

Pizarro having arrived at Pachacamac, and being desirous of building a city near the sea coast, he sent some of his officers to search for a convenient harbour either to the north or to the south. They first visited the harbour of Chilca, which, though a good one, and near Pachacamac, was still defective; the coast was a sandy desert, and the poor indians who lived upon it for the purpose of fishing were often forced to abandon their houses, because their wells of brackish water became dry. The commissioners were obliged to look out for another situation, and having arrived at Callao they found that its bay was very capacious, with the river Rimac entering it on the north. They afterwards explored the delightful surrounding valley, and reported their success to Pizarro, who immediately came from Pachacamac, and approving of the situation, laid the foundation of Lima, on the south side of the river, about two leagues from the sea. On the 8th day of January, 1534, he removed to it those Spaniards whom he had left for the purpose of building a town at Jauja. Lima is called by the Spaniards La Ciudad de los Reyes, from being founded on the day on which the Roman Church celebrates the epiphany, or the feast of the worshipping of the kings or magi of the east. Its arms are a shield with three crowns, Or, on an azure field, and the star of the east; for supporters the letters J. C. Jane and Charles, with the motto—Hoc signum vere Regum est. These arms and the title of royal city were granted to Lima by the Emperor Charles V. in 1537. Pizarro built a palace for himself, about two hundred yards from the river, on the contrary side of the great square, or plasa mayor, to that where the palace of the Viceroy now stands; and the remains of it may yet be found in the Callejon de Petateros, mat maker's alley. He was murdered here on the 26th of June, 1541.

According to several Spanish authorities Lima is situated in 12° 2´ 51´´ south latitude, and in 70° 50´ 51´´ longitude west of Cadiz. To the northward and eastward of the city hills begin to rise, which ultimately compose a part of the great chain of the Andes; or rather they are parts of the high mountains which run north and south about twenty leagues to the eastward of Lima. These mountains gradually descend to the sea coast, producing between each row beautiful and fertile valleys, of which the Rimac is one. The chain opening at the back of Lima forms the valley Lurigancho, which closes on its suburbs. That of the greatest height, bordering on the city, is called San Cristobal, and the other Amancaes; the former is 1302 feet above the level of the sea, and the latter 2652. The mountains slope towards the west, and when seen from the bridge appear to have reached the level about three miles from that station, which extremity, viewed from the same place, is the point where the sun disappears at the time of the winter solstice. To the south west is the island called San Lorenzo; more to the south lies Morro Solar, about eight miles distant, where large hills of sand are observed, which, stretching to the eastward and gently rising, form with the Amancaes a crescent, enclosing the picturesque valley Rimac, through which the river of that name majestically flows, producing in its course or wherever its influence can be obtained all the beauties of Flora and the gifts of Ceres.

The site of Lima gradually inclines to the westward, the great square, plasa mayor, being 480 feet above the level of the sea. Thus all the streets in this direction, with many of those intersecting them at right angles, have small streams of water running along them, which contribute very much to the cleanliness and salubrity of the city and its inhabitants. The water which runs through the streets, as well as that which feeds the fountains and the canals for the irrigation of gardens, orchards and plantations, which fill the whole valley, is drawn from the river Rimac. This river has its origin in the province of Huarochiri, and receives in its course several small streams, which descend the mountains, and are produced by the melting of the snow on the tops of the Andes, as well as by the rains which fall in the interior, at which time the river swells very much, and covers the whole of its bed, which at other times is in many places almost dry. The water in Lima is said to be crude, holding in solution a considerable quantity of selenite, besides being impregnated with abundance of fixed air; hence, indigestions and other affections of the stomach are attributed to it; but Dr. Unanue very justly asks, "may not these diseases be derived from Cupid and Ceres?" The water is certainly far from being pure; for the artaxea, which supplies the city fountains, and the pugios, which supply the suburbs, called San Lazaro, are stagnant pools; both are often full of aquatic plants, which decay and rot in them; they moreover contain water that has been employed in the irrigation of the plantations and farms at the back of the city, and not unfrequently animals have been drowned in them.

The climate of Lima is extremely agreeable; the heat which would naturally be expected in so low a latitude is seldom felt, and those who have been accustomed to the scorching sun and suffocating heat of Bahia, on the opposite side of the Continent, or to those of Carthagena, in the same latitude, are astonished at the mild and almost equable climate of Lima. The following thermometrical observations, made in the years 1805 and 1810, will evince the truth of what has been asserted:—

THERMOMETRICAL OBSERVATIONS,

MADE AT NOON IN THE SHADE OF AN OPEN ROOM AT LIMA.

The coolness of the climate is occasioned by the wind and a peculiar state of the atmosphere. The wind generally blows from different points of the compass between the south west and the south east. When from the former direction, it crosses in its course a great portion of the Pacific Ocean, and when it comes from the eastward it has not to pass over sandy deserts or scorching plains, but to traverse first the immense tract of woodland countries lying between the Brazils and Peru, and afterwards the frozen tops of the Cordillera, at a distance of twenty leagues from Lima; so that, in both cases, it is equally cool and refreshing. A northerly wind is very seldom felt in Lima; but when it blows, as if by accident, from that quarter, the heat is rather oppressive. On the 6th of March, 1811, the wind being from the north, I made the following observations with a Farenheit's thermometer, at one o'clock, p. m.

The heat of the sun in summer is mitigated by a canopy of clouds, which constantly hang over Lima, and although not perceptible from the city, yet when seen from an elevated situation in the mountains, they appear somewhat like the smoke floating in the atmosphere of large towns where coal is burnt; but as this material is not used in Lima, the cause and effect must be different.

If I may be allowed to give an opinion different from that of several eminent persons who have written on the climate of Lima, it is, that the vapours which rise on the coast or from the sea are lifted to a sufficient height by the action of the sun's rays to be caught by the current of wind from the southward and westward, and carried by them into the interior; whilst the exhalations from the city and its suburbs only rise to a lower region, and are not acted upon by the wind, but remain in a quiescent state of perfect equilibrium, hanging over the city during the day, and becoming condensed by the coolness of the night, when they are precipitated in the form of dew, which is always observable in the morning on the herbage.

Lima may be justly said to enjoy one of the most delightful climates in the world; it is a succession of spring and summer, as free from the chills of winter as from the sultry heats of autumn.

Notwithstanding this almost constant equability, some writers have imagined that four seasons are distinguishable. Such persons, however, must undoubtedly have either been endowed with peculiar sensibility, or have been gifted with an amazing philosophy. Not content with the beauties of this climate, some have attached to it the properties which belong to the ultra-tropical countries—jealous perhaps of the theoretical comforts from which they are practically free, and in the full enjoyment of a climate the maximum heat of which seldom exceeds 78° of Farenheit's thermometer, and the minimum of which is seldom below 62°, wishing to perfect it by having the maximum at 100°, and the minimum below zero! Peralta, in his 8th canto, has very quaintly described the beautiful climate of this city:—