Horseback riding is a fashionable amusement in Lima, to judge by the number of mounted men that are seen in the streets and in the surrounding country. Our friends learned, somewhat to their disappointment, that it has declined a good deal in the past twenty years, and the gentlemen of Lima are now less renowned than formerly for their equestrianism. Still, there are many excellent riders in Lima, and occasionally one can be seen dressed in the costume that was once universally worn by the Peruvian cavaliers. The fashions of Paris have been adopted by society people in Lima, and the picturesqueness of the old style of dress is fast disappearing. Lima contains many professional horse-breakers, and they are among the best of their class. Peruvian horses are easily instructed, and many of them perform surprising tricks; one of their feats is to turn around rapidly on the hind-legs when going at full gallop, and another is to jump over a wall, and immediately back again, with their riders on their backs. It is said that an English circus company once came to Lima, but the proprietor and performers were disgusted, and made haste to leave the country, when they found there were many horsemen in the city who could fully equal all the equestrian feats of the ring. [Illustration: HORSE-BREAKERS AT WORK.] One of the performances of the horse-breakers is to make a horse jump to the top of a broad wall, and describe a segment of a circle while standing on his hind-feet, and holding his fore-feet over the edge of the wall. He will do this repeatedly, and thus convince the spectator that it was not accidental. Fred made the following note of the costume of the Peruvian cavalier, uncontaminated by foreign influences: "He wears a _poncho_, smaller than that of the country muleteer, and more gaudy in its appearance; it is a fringed shawl reaching to the hips when the wearer is standing upright, and just covering the knees when he is in the saddle. A hole in the centre admits the head, and the shawl hangs gracefully over the shoulders of its wearer; it is more convenient than a jacket, or any other riding-garment, as it leaves the arms perfectly free to move in any direction, and there are no buttons to get loose.