the event is the exclusive topic of conversation, and, strange to
say, the female portion of the population takes greater interest in it
than the men. Bills notifying the approaching entertainment are stuck up
at the corners of the streets; and every one is anxious to obtain a
_lista de los toros_. When the season of the toros[36] commences, a
bull-fight takes place every Monday, and then the whole city of Lima is
thrown into a state of indescribable excitement. The ladies prepare
their finest dresses for the occasion, and they consider it the greatest
possible misfortune if anything occurs to prevent them going to the
bull-fight: indeed, a Monday passed at home in the season of the toros
would be regarded as a lost day in the life of a Limena. Those who
cannot go to the _corrida_, resort to the bridge, or to the Alameda,
where they sit and amuse themselves by looking at the throngs of people
passing and repassing.

In the time of the Viceroys, bull-fights frequently took place on the
Plaza Mayor. Now there is a place expressly built for these
entertainments, called the _Plaza firme del Acho_. It is a spacious
amphitheatre without a roof, and is erected at the end of the new avenue
of the Alameda. The preparations for the sport commence at an early hour
in the morning. Along the Alameda are placed rows of tables covered with
refreshments, consisting of lemonade, brandy, chicha, picantes, fish,
dulces, &c. About twelve o'clock, those who have engaged places in the
amphitheatre begin to move towards the Plaza del Acho.

Most European ladies would turn with horror, even from a description
of these cruel sports, which the ladies of Lima gaze on with delight.
They are barbarous diversions, and though they form a part of national
customs, they are nevertheless a national disgrace. At the same time
it would be unjust to make this love of bull-fighting a ground for
unqualified censure on the Limenos, or a reason for accusing them of
an utter want of humanity. Being accustomed to these diversions from
early childhood, they regard them with perfect indifference; and
custom, no doubt, blinds them to the cruelties they witness in the
bull-ring. The same extenuation may be urged in behalf of the women:
and though to most of the Limenas a bull-fight affords the highest
possible gratification, yet there are some who form honorable
exceptions to this remark, and who, with true feminine feeling, shrink
with horror from such scenes.