ome others, are
remarkable for the beauty of their ornaments, which attract the notice
of all strangers visiting Lima.

Owing to the heat of the climate, the doors and windows are almost
always kept open, so that the houses have not the privacy and comfort
of European dwellings.

Of the numerous churches and convents in Lima, some are deserving of
particular mention. The cathedral occupies the whole eastern side of
the Plaza Mayor. The foundation stone of this edifice was laid on the
18th of January, 1534, by Don Francisco Pizarro, who named it the
Church of _Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion_. Ninety years elapsed
before the building was completed, and on the 19th of October, 1625,
it was consecrated by the Archbishop, Don Gonzalo de Ocampo. Such was
the pomp observed at this ceremony, that, though mass commenced at
six in the morning, it was five o'clock in the afternoon before the
host was raised.

The interior of the cathedral is exceedingly beautiful. The grand altar
is ornamented with seven Ionic columns of silver, twelve feet high, and
one and a half thick, and is surmounted by a massive silver gilt crown.
The tabernacle is seven feet and a half high, and composed of
exquisitely wrought gold, set with a profusion of diamonds and emeralds.
On each side of the altar there are massive silver candelabra, each
weighing four and a half arobas (712-1/2 pounds). On high festival days,
the gorgeous splendor of the cathedral of Lima probably exceeds that of
the principal churches in Rome. The robes and ornaments worn by the
priests correspond with the magnificence of the altar; they are
embroidered in gold, and set with precious stones. The cathedral service
is performed by the canons (Canonigos).

Among the Churches of Lima, San Lazaro is distinguished for its tasteful
exterior, and the chaste simplicity of its internal decoration. The
bodies of persons unknown, found dead in the streets, are conveyed to
the door of the church of San Lazaro, and there exposed for the space of
twenty-four hours.

The convent of San Francisco, the largest of the monastic
establishments in Lima, is an immense building, situated in the
vicinity of the Plaza Mayor. In this convent mass is read daily every
half-hour, from five in the morning till noon. A small chapel within
the convent is called the _Capilla de los Milagros_, and a
superstitious tradition records that during the great earthquake of
1630, the image of the Madonna, which surmo