"in souls redeemed," that may adorn it, there will be some two or three at least gathered from the moral darkness of these immortal spirits. If so, "not unto me, not unto me, but unto thy name, O Lord, be the praise."

LIMA.

LETTER I.

SKETCH OF CALLAO, AND RIDE TO LIMA.

Lima, June 23d, 1829.

AFTER dinner with the gentlemen of the Vincennes, I landed at Callao at 4 o'clock this afternoon to take a coach for Lima. It was the first time I had been on shore; and much as I had heard of the wretchedness of the port, I was disgusted with the poverty, filth, and whole aspect of the place.

The shipping between the anchorage of our squadron and the landing had entirely screened the town from view, except the beautiful castle and fortress by which it is defended; and the strength and good keeping of these greatly deceived me as to the size and importance of the place. The population amounts to about two thousand, crowded along a single street of half a mile following the curvature of the bay, intersected by two or three others a few rods only in length, except that formed by the road to Lima.

The extent of ground covered is not equal to that at Honolulu; while scarce a habitation in the town

148

COMMON BUILDINGS.

has an appearance, externally, of greater civilization and comfort than that of Marini the Spaniard there: and every street presents all the offence to the senses found in the metropolis of the Sandwich Islands.

The houses generally are of one story only, on account of the frequency of earthquakes; and as it scarce ever rains, all the roofs are perfectly flat. The walls, terminating abruptly and irregularly above them, without the ornament of a cornice or balustrade, give to the whole the appearance of so many ruins, from which the tops and chimneys have been shaken or blown-an impression not diminished by the shattered and peeled surface of the plaster with which they are covered.

The building of a new house near the coach-office, gave an opportunity of observing the process in putting up a habitation of the common kind. It consists in first planting in the ground upright posts, a foot or more in circumference, and sixteen or eighteen feet high, at a distance of two or three yards from each other, along lines, marking the dimensions of the building. To these, when firmly set, long sticks of bamboo, an inch or more in diameter, are lashed horizontally with thongs of undressed hide, commencing at the ground, with three bamboos close together, then a space of two or three feet, then three bamboos again, and so on to the top. Through these horizontal layers, sticks of the same, but more slender, are wattled perpendicularly, as closely as possible; forming a basis or lathing for the mud or mortar, with which the walls are finished.