In the interior of Peru, but more especially in Lima, the writer has met with great courtesy and kindness in private life, and been distinguished by very flattering marks of public favour. He therefore, it may be well believed, has not “set down aught in malice;” and he trusts that in the following pages there will not be found any thing injurious to the Peruvian people, or at variance with that lasting gratitude and honest pride with which he remembers and acknowledges their hospitality. With respect to the manner of executing his task, he feels that he requires the indulgence of his reader; but, with regard to the matter, he persuades himself that, however unskilfully treated it may be, and however deficient in that exquisite minuteness of detail which delights the curious, it will nevertheless be found to convey to the intelligent reader a fair general idea of the physical and moral condition of Peru; which, as it is all that the writer has aimed at, so to have attained it is all that he desires. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAPTER I. Boundaries of the Peruvian Republic.—General appearance and climate of the coast.—Seasons divided into Wet and Dry.—Vegetation.—Lunar influence.—Enervating effects of the climate of Lima. Page 1 CHAPTER II. Chances of life in Lima diminished by neglect of medical police.—Statements showing the proportion of deaths to the population of Lima.—Proportion between the different sexes and castes of the inhabitants. 18 CHAPTER III. Food, fruit, and water used in Lima. 32 CHAPTER IV. Remarks explanatory of certain Dietetic maxims, and established notions or prejudices, illustrative of the physical constitution and domestic habits of the Limenians. 46 CHAPTER V. Condition of Slave population, and its influence on the family economy and moral sentiments of the European race. 106 CHAPTER VI.