l form of the foot, and the Lima ladies
avoid everything that may tend to spread or enlarge it. Their shoes are
usually made of embroidered velvet or satin, or of very fine kid, and
are so exceedingly small, that they cannot be drawn on and off without
difficulty. It is usual to have two new pairs every week, and the
expense of a lady's shoes not unfrequently amounts to two hundred
dollars per annum. A large foot is a thing held in horror by the
Limenas: they call it _una pataza inglesa_ (an English paw). I once
heard some Lima ladies extolling in high terms the beauty of a fair
European; but all their praises ended with the words:--"Pero que pie,
valgame Dios! parece una lancha." (But what a foot, good Heaven! It is
like a great boat.) Yet the feet of the lady alluded to would not, in
Europe, have been thought by any means large.

_Gourmanderie_ is one of the evil habits of the female inhabitants of
Lima. Between meals they are continually eating sweetmeats and a variety
of things. At one moment they order _tamal_,[19] next _omitas_,[20] then
_pan de chancay_ (a sweet sort of bread), and biscuits, then _masamorita
morada_,[21] or _frijoles coladas_,[22] &c.; and yet dinner is partaken
with as hearty an appetite as though none of these interludes had been
introduced. Can it be matter of surprise that the good ladies are
constantly complaining of indigestion and _mal de estomago_?

In the interior of the houses cleanliness does not extend beyond those
apartments which are open to visitors, namely, the _sala_ and the
_cuadro_. The other rooms of the house frequently bear more
resemblance to a stable than a human habitation, and their condition
reflects little credit on the domestic habits of the female inmates.
But even this is typical of the national character,--a great outward
show and little inward worth.

At first a stranger is struck with the singularity of the names of many
of the women of Lima. A child receives the name of the saint or of the
festival whose celebration falls on the day of its birth. Those who
happen to come into the world on the days on which the Romish Church
celebrates the several manifestations of the Virgin receive the most
extraordinary names. For example, a child born on the anniversary day of
the manifestation to St. Francis on the Snow Mountain, is named _Nieves_
(snow). _Pilar_ (fountain-basin) is another strange name, conferred in
honor of the manifestation of the Virgin at the Fountain