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RETURN TO THE CITY.

The throng pressing forward, however, was so great, that I merely observed a man and a woman running to the carriages and horsemen passing, with plates extended for money. On our way back we stopped here for a moment. The musicians were still playing; the instruments, a violin, flute, and rude harp, the air, a monotonous repetition of a few wild notes. But what most astonished and affected me, and what is perfectly characteristic of the religious views and state of the people, was to behold a table, in front of which the dancers were, spread with the flowers of the Amancaise, at which was seated a full length waxen figure of the Saviour of men, crowned with thorns, and streaming with blood! representing Him who was emphatically 66 a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, thus presiding over a scene of mirth and folly, and patronizing exhibitions, that, to say the least, bordered on sin!

The sight induced a sadness which all the gaiety of the thousands we met and passed on our way to the city could not dissipate. And it was only with the deep tones of the vesper bell, falling upon us from the towers of the cathedral as we entered the royal square, invoking from all a moment at least for solemnity and prayer, that a change of thought and feeling came over me. Of all I have seen and known of the Catholic Church and its services, this observance of the "evening oraison" is the most interesting and most impressive, and one in which no one can refuse to join.

At sunset, the great bell of the cathedral is slowly tolled three times, when, in a moment, the stillness

of death, both within and without doors, spreads over the city, and all the thousands of her inhabitants assume the attitude of prayer. Whether walking or riding, whether buying or selling, whether singing or dancing, all at the instant suspend their conversation, their business, and their amusement, and with uncovered heads stand in the presence of their Maker and their Judge. Were the observance as sincere and heartfelt as the signal for it is striking and solemn, the effect would be salutary indeed. But among those who understand the appointment best, in a majority of cases, it is to be feared, it leads only to the counting of the beads of a rosary, or to the repetition of an "Ave Maria"-while those from more enlightened lands, who know better than to trust for a blessing to the efficacy of these, in too many instances there is reason to believe, waste the moment in idle gaze or in an apprehension if the air be damp, of taking cold from the exposure of their heads.

LETTER XX.

NATIONAL MUSEUM, INQUISITORIAL COURT, ETC. Shops in the Plaza.-Market and Museum.-Aboriginal Curiosities. Inquisitorial Judgment Hall.-Instance of Martyrdom.-Style of Building.-Visit to a Private Family.-Night View of a Mansion of Wealth.

Lima, June 26th, 1829.

A HANDSOME brass fountain occupies the centre of the plaza, and formerly must have been highly ornamental to it; but like almost every thing else

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MARKET AND MUSEUM.

public and private in the city, it is now in decay and destitute of water.

The chief attraction of the square at present is the exhibition made by the shopkeepers of their various wares, not only in small apartments under the arcades along the south and west sides, but more particularly in booths and temporary stalls, in front of the others on the square itself, which are put up and their contents arranged for display in the morning, and taken down again and the goods all removed in the evening.

After breakfast I spent an hour in sauntering among these, and in a walk through the principal market in an adjoining street. For this last there are no building or fixtures, and all the articles contained in it, fish, vegetables, fruit, and meat, are exposed on either side of the way according to the taste and choice of the seller. The persons in attendance on the customers were exclusively Indians, and principally females, seated with their children on the ground.

Under the guidance of Mr. Prevost I afterwards visited the building occupied by the Inquisition previous to its abolition here. A part of it is now used as a common gaol, and another as a barrack, while the principal rooms are appropriated as a national museum, collecting under the patronage of Don Rivero, an intelligent and scientific Peruvian educated in Europe, and at present director of the Mint.

It was our expectation to have met this gentleman in the museum, but we were disappointed, and a secretary showed us the collection. It is small and as yet of little interest or value. The cabinet of mi

ABORIGINAL CURIOSITIES.

157

nerals is best filled, but not rich in its exhibition, even of the gold and silver ores of the country. In each corner of the principal room in a glass case, is a mummy or body in a state of preservation as excavated from the ancient burial places of the Indians, and still retaining the attitude and dress of interment. The bandages and grave clothes are of cotton cloth, of a fine texture and still bright and unfaded in colour. The dryness of the atmosphere and soil is such in this climate, that decomposition does not take place under a very long period, and it is probably many hundred years since these ghastly forms were living and moving actors in the theatre of life.

Among the articles of aboriginal curiosity are the sceptre of the Incas, and a variety of curiously modelled and tasteful water vessels and drinking cups, some of them ornamented with gilding, proving the skill and attainment of the primitive inhabitants in the manufacture of earthenware. Within a very short time a golden cup was found in some excavations making, which is said to be the finest specimen of ancient workmanship at present known. It is kept in a private drawer, of which Don Rivero had the key, and I could not be gratified with a sight of it, but Mr. Prevost who has seen it, informs me that it is even exquisitely wrought.

A set of bows and arrows taken within the last fortnight, were pointed out to us. They belonged to a party of Indians, who, on being surprised in the mountains by a company from the coast, fled and left them. The native tribes beyond the distance of sixty and seventy miles from the seaboard, have

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never been in subjection to foreigners. Early witnesses of the oppression and cruelty suffered by their neighbours of the plains, they have ever kept themselves intrenched in the fastnesses of the mountains, and have not only perseveringly rejected every overture to intercourse on the part of the whites, but invariably put to death all messengers sent among them, including several sets of priests, who at different periods have undertaken the perilous enterprise. This is not surprising when we recollect, that in too many instances the contact of the Spaniards with their fellows proved destructive, and their friendship death.

The chief room in the museum is the former judgement-hall of the inquisitorial court, a long and lofty apartment, with a rich and beautifully carved ceiling of cedar. One of the cells for the confinement of the prisoners was shown to us. It communicates directly with the hall, and probably is that which was appropriated to the prisoner immediately under trial. We entered it by two low doors, of most massive thickness, the first of heavy plank only, but the second strongly secured with iron. and completely studded with the heads of enormous bolts. The rusty locks and ponderous bars were moved with difficulty, while the doors, as they were turned, groaned on their hinges, as if in memory of the wretchedness they had imposed on the innocent and the good.

The cell is twelve feet by six, and eight or ten feet high, with a floor of stone and a small heavily grated opening in one corner near the top, admitting be