story of my courtship with many more
slanders than ever came to my ears. I knew
this from the faces of those whom I knew,
and others who met me in the street. My
mind being troubled again with these
annoyances, it is no wonder that my old
malady returned with greater terrors than
before. I found myself sinking into a settled
melancholy, till at last I determined to
abandon my business and leave the town; so
I placed my affairs in the hands of an agent,
and went abroad for some time. I am a
different man now, thank Heaven, to what I
was then!

I have now told the whole history of this
sum of money, which proved a curse to me
to the last. I have concealed nothing, not
even my own infirmities, though I know I
have only been exposing myself to the
unfeeling ridicule of my enemies. I hope I
have cleared myself to all reasonable minds
of the calumnies of those who assert that I
insinuated myself into my uncle's good will
by depreciating my brother; that I studiously
prevented a reconciliation between them for
my own purposes; that, having been
compelled by my uncle to swear that I would
give a sum of money to Lionel, I intended to
keep it; but that being sillily fond of
Augusta, I hoped to induce him to give her
up to me by restoring to him his right. This
has been my object in writing this. I have
done.

LEAVES FROM LIMA.

THE railroad from Callao to Lima—a new
creation, as may well be imagined, projected
and completed by native capitalists—passes
round Callao Castle, then close along the old
road, and enters the city of Lima on the
south. The carriages (built at King's Cross,
London), are more than usually comfortable,
and well adapted to the climate. Another
railroad in Peru is on the eve of being
commenced between Arica and Tacua, which,
with other apparently profitable schemes,
seems to show that the country is in a
flourishing condition. Its revenue is about
eight million dollars, raised principally by
import duties, nearly five million, however,
of which is from the sale of guano—an
ephemeral and fleeting cause of prosperity;
which, when science discovers a substitute,
will cease to exist while, in the meantime,
it causes the heedless government to lavish
public money in a reckless manner. They
are building a steam-frigate in the Thames;
but Peru supplies bad sailors and worse
officers.

I had not been in Lima many days (entering
it in the month of October, 1852, by the
same railroad from Callao) when I encountered
a young Irishman—a wild, harum-scarum,
care-for-nothing, sort of fellow—who
came out to seek his fortune, and joined
General Flores' expedition, as aide-de-camp.
Being defeated, he narrowly escaped being
taken by the Ecuadorians; and, before beingkilled, chopped limb from limb, which was
the fate of all prisoners taken by the inhuman
General Urbino, the President of the
Republic. Without a rial in his pocket, he
was obliged to accept the employment of
paymaster at some silver mines in the
interior. This hero had come down to Lima
to procure dollars for the miners ; and was
on his return, when he expressed a wish that
I should accompany him a couple of days'
journey on his road, as a sort of escort, to
protect him and his dollars from the numerous
bands of robbers that infest the neighbourhood
of Lima. As his road lay through a
country which I knew to be full of ancient
remains, I readily assented to his proposal.
The next morning, early, we were in our
saddles, leaving Lima by the Maravillas gate
on the road to Taruca. I was mounted on
an old grey horse ; the Irishman on a mule,
with two thousand dollars sown into the
lining of his saddle, mostly in small money.
For a journey of this sort, it is necessary to
be well armed, for it is often the traveller's
fortune to be beset by more than one man is
able easily to manage. I was equipped with
a brace of horse pistols in my belt, a long
knife down one boot, in the other a life pre-
server, and in my coat pocket a six-barrelled
revolver ; over all a poncho. My friend also
was armed somewhat after the same fashion.

To the little village of Chocolacaya, about
six leagues distant from Lima, the road
passes through a beautifully fertile valley,
where maize and alfalfa (lucerne) are
extensively cultivated. The rocky hills—off-
shoots of the Andes—rise almost perpendicularly
from the valley; which runs north-east
from Lima, and is some four miles broad.
Here and there along the road are several
haciendas and chagras (farms); and, through
the centre of the valley, a rapid torrent,
whose waters irrigate the neighbouring pines,
boils and bubbles over a rocky bed in
admired confusion. This stream is bordered
by lofty canes, averaging twenty feet in
height, and growing so closely as, in many
places, to be perfectly impenetrable. Large
and beautiful willow trees, thorns, orange,
myrtle, arbutus, pepper, jessamine, and
fig-trees line the road, and cover parts of the
valley; while now and then the beautiful
flora-pondia (an enormous white bell-shaped
flower, deliciously sweet, growing on a large
bush), and fragrant roses of all sorts, fill the
air with their perfume. The smaller flowers
are numerous and beautiful.

Hawks, owls, ground doves, and pigeons
abound in vast quantities; turkey-buzzards
are constantly to be seen soaring among the
rocky peaks of the hills, or sitting on the
walls of the corrals (yards for mules and
horses); while now and then, the huge condor
swoops down among them to take his share of
some carrion feast. The finches and smaller