appearance not at all pleasing; if to this we add the sameness of the many dead walls of the convents and nunneries, some of the streets must naturally look very gloomy.
Of the principal churches the fronts are elegant and the steeples more numerous and more elevated than might be expected in a country so subject to earthquakes as Peru. The architecture displayed in the façades of these churches is more worthy of being called a peculiar composite than any regular order; but in a great many instances this peculiarity is pleasing: a particular description of them will be given in the course of this work.
The outer walls of the houses are generally built of adobes as far as the first floor, and the division walls are always formed of canes, plastered over on each side; this is called quincha: the upper story is made first of a frame-work of wood; canes are afterwards nailed or lashed with leather thongs on each side the frame-work; they are then plastered over, and the walls are called bajareque. These additions so considerably increase their bulk, that they seem to be composed of very solid materials, both with respect to the thickness which they exhibit, and the cornices and other ornaments which adorn them. Porticos, arches, mouldings, &c. at the doorways are generally formed of the same materials. Canes bound together and covered with clay are substituted also for pillars, as well as other architectural ornaments, some of which being well executed, and coloured like stone, a stranger at first sight easily supposes them to be built of the materials they are intended to imitate. The roofs being flat are constructed of rafters laid across, and covered with cane, or cane mats, with a layer of clay sufficient to intercept the rays of the sun, and to guard against the fogs. Many of the better sort of houses have the roofs covered with large thin baked bricks, on which the inhabitants can walk; these asoteas, as they are called, are very useful, and are often overspread with flowers and plants in pots; they also serve for drying clothes and other similar purposes. Among the higher classes the ceilings are generally of pannel work, ornamented with a profusion of carving; but among the lower they are often of a coarse cotton cloth, nailed to the rafters and whitewashed, or painted in imitation of pannel work. In several of the meaner, however, the canes or cane mats are visible.
Some of the churches have their principal walls and pillars of stone; others of adobes and bajareque; the towers are generally of the latter work, bound together with large beams of Guayaquil wood; the spires are commonly of wood work, cased over with planks, and painted in imitation of stone; with mouldings, cornices and other ornaments, either of wood or stucco.
In large buildings of every description there is generally a great proportion of timber, keeping up a connection from the foundation to the roof; thus there is less danger from the shocks of earthquakes than if they were built of brick or more solid materials; for the whole building yields to the motion, and the foundation being combined with the roof and other parts, the whole moves at the same time, and is not so easily thrown down. I suggested to a friend in Lima the idea of placing between every tenth layer of adobes one of long canes; this he put in practice, and afterwards informed me, that it was considered a great improvement, so much so, that he thought the plan would be generally adopted, especially as it produced a saving of timber, which is a dear article; had also the effect of preventing the walls from cracking by the shocks of earthquakes, and was equal to that of rafters of wood or frame-work and bajareque.
The city is divided into four parishes, the Sagrario, with three rectors; Saint Ann, two; Saint Sebastian, two; Saint Marcelo, one. Here are two chapels of ease, that of Saint Salvador in the parish of Saint Ann, and that of the Orphans in the parish of the Sagrario. Over the bridge are the suburbs of Saint Lazaro, with one rector, a curate at the Cabesas and another at Carabaillo, five leagues from the city, beside several chapels on the different plantations. In the Cercado there is a parish of indians, founded by the Jesuits, and formerly under their care.
The convents are numerous. I shall first give a list of them, and afterwards mention those that are individually worthy of notice.
| { La casa grande. | |||
| San Francisco | 3 | { Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe | } in the suburbs. |
| { Recoleto de San Diego | } | ||
| { La casa grande. | |||
| Santo Domingo | 4 | { Recoleta de la Magdalena. | |
| { Santo Tomas, college for studies. | |||
| { Santa Rosa, hermitage. | |||
| { Casa grande. | |||
| San Augustin | 4 | { San Ildefonso, college for studies. | |
| { Nuestra Señora de guia, for novices. | |||
| { Cercado, college, formerly of the Jesuits. | |||
| { Casa grande. | |||
| La Merced | 3 | { San Pedro Nolasco, college for studies. | |
| { Recoleta de Belen. | |||
| { San Pedro, formerly colegio maximo of the | |||
| San Pedro | 1 | { Jesuits, now Oratorio de San Felipe Neri. | |
| { Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados, formerly | |||
