r. "Like the deeds of the founder, it gains more
admiration when observed at a distance than when examined closely. We
admire Pizarro when we regard alone the wonderful conquest he achieved;
but when we learn the wrongs, the injustice, the misery he inflicted,
the blood he spilled, and the ruin he caused, he and his companions
appear monsters of iniquity, worthy of detestation rather than
admiration."

We entered the city by a handsome gateway, and immediately found
ourselves in a long street, with low, mean, ruinous houses on either
side. The houses had porches in front, and _patios_ or court-yards.
The shops were small, with their goods placed on tables at the doors;
there was no glass to the windows, and no display of articles of
commerce. The street was badly paved, though there was a rough footway
on each side. The walls of many of the houses were composed of double
rows of bamboo, but some were of brick; the roofs were flat, and very
few of the houses had two stories. As we rode on, however, the
appearance of the place improved; and in and near the principal square I
observed some fine buildings, with handsomely ornamented _facades_, and
many fine churches and convents; but altogether I had to own that the
outside beauty was sadly deceptive.

The streets were crowded with persons of every variety of costume, and
every hue of skin; from the people of Northern Europe, and the
bright-complexioned native of Biscay, to the red Indian and the
jet-black African. Some were on horseback, and others in carriages of
very clumsy and antique construction; and of the lower order, some were
riding on mules and donkeys, and others were driving animals laden with
ice from the mountains, skins of brandy, and fruits and provisions of
every description. Among this motley crowd we forced our way, till we
reached the house of my father's agent, a Spanish merchant, Don Jose
Torres de Santillan by name, a very honest and good man.

As the plan of his house was similar to that of most of the larger
dwellings in Lima, I will describe it. In what may be called the front
of the house were two doors; one, the _azaguan_, was the chief entrance,
and the other led to the coach-house. By the side of the _azaguan_ was
a small room with a grated window, where the ladies of the family were
fond of sitting to observe the passers-by. This building formed the
street side of a spacious court-yard or _patio_, on either side of which
were a