IDEA OF ENGLISH BEAUTY. 177 with him. Her arrival was looked for with some anxiety, on the part of the English merchants, in the hope that she might retrieve the lost credit of her countrywomen, and with some curiosity on the part of the fair Limenians; for a clergyman having a wife at all, was a thing they could not understand. But when the lady did arrive, her appearance was only calculated to prove more strongly than before, that beauty did not exist in England. She had lost or left behind most of her luggage, in crossing the Isthmus of Panama, and several ladies would have lent her clothes; but no Limenian wardrobe, it was found, could furnish garments that would fit her. One day she wanted some shoes, and went to be measured for some; but Crispin glancing at her foot as she thrust it out, crossed himself and said: "No; that it was quite useless to try and make a shoe for her, as Peru could not produce a last large enough for the purpose. The number of donkeys used in Lima and the adjoining country is enormous. They all have their nostrils slit, which, it is said, enables them to breathe more freely. Lima is said to be a paradise for women, a purgatory for men, and a hell for asses. As to the two first allegations, I shall not venture to pronounce an opinion, but the truth of the last is evident to everybody. They come from the country in droves, and are often so loaded with grass that nothing is visible but their heads. All the streets of Lima have an open channel of water running through them, which would appear fresh and cooling, only that the dirt and rubbish of the town is thrown into the stream, and thus carried away. These channels are supplied by a large water-carrier, which branches off from the river a short distance above the city. The gallinazos, or Turkey N 178 RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONS. buzzards (Cathartes atratus), of which there are numbers in the town, may be seen waiting on the edge of the channels, fishing out everything edible that passes by. These gallinazos are most disgusting-looking birds; but like the dogs at Constantinople, are most efficient scavengers. When a horse or mule dies on the road-a not uncommon occurrencethey come down to it in crowds, and eat till they are gorged, when they sit on some wall in the sun, with wings half extended and eyes shut, to digest their meal. The root of the bills and foreheads are covered with a sort of horny armour, well suited to their habits and condition of life. The horses in Peru are good, and very showy, but not so enduring as those of Chili. Some of them are wonderful pacers or rackers. A good one, though he will hardly shake his rider the least in his saddle, will keep another horse at a rapid gallop. At Chorillos, I saw some curious religious processions. The Indians took an ill-stuffed figure of our Saviour round the town mounted on a donkey; and the fishermen, to insure a good take of fish, rowed a Guy Faux, like the figure of St. Peter, round the bay in a boat, with a large fresh fish hanging to his hand. CHAPTER XII. VOYAGE TO THE SANDWICH AN EXTINCT OF THE PEOPLE-NATIVE HUTS DIAMOND HILL BEAUTIFUL PLAIN AFTER a stay of five weeks at Lima, I had almost made up my mind to leave it for Panama and go to Mexico and the West Indies, when H.M.S. 'Amphitrite' coming in, I was kindly offered a passage to the Sandwich Islands, by Captain Rodney Eden. I gladly accepted the offer, as I had before thought of going there in the 'Inconstant;' but as she had been ordered off to California, I had been obliged to alter my plans. I soon completed my arrangements, and with about sixty doubloons in my pocket-having changed here all my South American circular notes-I went down to Callao, and on the 21st of April we weighed, and stood out of the bay with a fair wind. burden, but very rei fores pins but a year-dre var heavy ones, and bet man densisted of two hunii ni ir nen und Hess who were much mached a fer can. Rodney Elen, while it would be impossible to find a better or smarter tĒcer faz Mr. Walker the first-lentenant We left Callas on the 21st of Acril, and the south-east madeand carded as to about 5 N. lat, where we had an inval of a few days calm, with squals and beary showers of rain; then meeting with the north-east trade, we ran before it in giant style, usually making 200 to 240 miles in the twentyfour hours. The distance in a straight line from Callao to the Sandwich Islands is 3120 miles, and in the whole voyage But though we did not once see land or even a single sal a great distance from land throughout, the ship was generally followed by some of those beautiful birds Phaeton etherius the Boatswain, or Tropic birds, which, soaring high in the air, followed us for days and days, and I often heard their shrill ery at night rising over the breeze. On the thirty-first day from Callao, we sighted the high land of Maui, and soon afterwards the snow-capped volcanoes of Hawaii. We lay to for the night, and the next morning ran in between the islands, and anchored off Honolulu, the capital of the Hawaiian Islands. The appearance of the island of Oahu is sterile and barren. The mountains, many of which are evidently extinct volcanoes, are furrowed from top to bottom with deep-cut watercourses; but no trees are visible. As we approached, everything looked burnt up and desolate, and it was not till we were close to the shore that we saw little valleys running |