s in Saragossa.
Then there are _Conceptions_, _Natividads_, and _Asuncions_, without
number. A girl born on Candlemas-day is named _Candelaria_, and one born
on the first day of the year receives the name of Jesus. The singular
effect of these names is heightened by the Spanish custom of using
diminutives, formed by adding to the name the particle _ito_ or _ita_,
the former being the masculine, the latter the feminine. It may be
readily imagined that a foreigner is not a little startled on hearing a
young lady called Dona Jesusita. In some names the diminutive takes a
form totally different from the full name; as, for example, Panchita for
Francisca, Pepita for Josefa, Conchita for Concepcion. A married woman
does not take the family name of her husband, but retains her own,
adding to it her husband's name preceded by the particle _de_, as, for
example, Dona Maria Juana Rodriguez de Salazar.

On attaining a certain age, the Limenas totally alter their habits of
life. When their beauty fades, and they cease to be the objects of
compliment and flattery; or when weary of an idle, luxurious, and, in
too many instances, a no very virtuous life, they betake themselves to
piety, and become _Beatas_.[23] The Limena who thus renounces the
vanities of the world attends church two or three times every day,
confesses at least once every week, retires during Lent to a house of
penitence; fasts, prays, and receives the visits of her confessor, to
whom she sends presents of sweetmeats;--and should the holy man, as is
usually the case, prefer riding to walking, she shows her piety by
giving him the use of her _Calesa_ to convey him from place to place.

The women of Lima are gifted by nature with extraordinary natural
talent, though unfortunately it is rarely cultivated. They possess
shrewd and penetrating intelligence, clear judgment, and in general
very just views on the ordinary affairs of life. Like the women of the
southern provinces of Spain, they are remarkable for quickness and
smartness of repartee, and in a wordy contest a Limena is sure to come
off triumphant. They have a great deal of decision of character, and a
degree of courage which does not usually fall to the lot of the female
sex. In these respects they are infinitely superior to the timid,
spiritless men. In the various political revolutions of the country,
the women have often taken an active, and, in some instances, a more
decided part than the men.

The Indian