brilliant white
teeth,[16] and their long black hair, arranged in plaits, falls
gracefully over the bosom and shoulders. Add to all this a captivating
grace of manner and deportment, joined to an exceeding degree of
gentleness and amiability, and it will be readily admitted that the
Limena is a noble specimen of female loveliness.

At home, especially in the summer season, the ladies of Lima dress
lightly and even negligently. For visiting, or going to the theatres,
they adopt the French fashion. When walking in the streets, attending
church, joining religious processions, &c., they appear in a very
singular costume, peculiar to Lima, and consisting of two garments
called the _Saya_ and the _Manto_. Of the saya there are two kinds.
The one called the _Saya ajustada_, was formerly in general use, but
is now seldom seen. It consists of a petticoat, or skirt of thick
stiff silk, plaited at top and bottom, in small fluted folds, drawn
very close together at the waist and widening towards the ankles,
beneath which the saya does not descend. It is tight to the form, the
outline of which it perfectly displays, and its closeness to the
limbs naturally impedes rapid movement. When wearing the _Saya
ajustada_, the ladies find it no very easy task to kneel down at
church, and at the termination of every genuflexion, they are obliged
to twist and twirl about for a considerable time before they can
again stand on their feet.[17]

The other description of saya is called the Saya _culeca_, or the
_Saya desplegada_. It is plaited close at the waist, and from thence
downwards it stands out like a hooped petticoat. This sort of saya is
made by first being plaited both at top and bottom like the _Saya
ajustada_; but, afterwards, the lower plaits are undone to form the
_Saya desplegada_. The saya is always made of some dark-colored silk,
black, green, blue, or cinnamon color.

The _Manto_ is a veil of thick black silk fastened by a band at the back
of the waist, where it joins the _saya_. From thence it is brought over
the shoulders and head, and drawn over the face so closely that only a
small triangular space, sufficient for one eye to peep through, is left
uncovered. A rich shawl thrown over the shoulders conceals the whole of
the under garment, except the sleeves. One of the small, neatly-gloved
hands, confines the folds of the _manto_, whilst the other holds a
richly embroidered pocket-handkerchief.

At first sight this costume