the _saya y manto_ gave place to the very full skirt and mantilla,—similar to the costume still worn to church service. A long war was waged against the _manto_ by the authorities of the viceroyalty, who claimed that it fostered intrigue and a thousand dangerous proclivities; but the wearers insisted that it protected their complexion from the sun, and was necessary for their personal comfort as well as convenience. As early as 1609 an attempt was made to prohibit the _saya y manto_ in Lima, but not until it declined in fashion, more than two hundred years later, did the Lima belles abandon this mode for a more modern costume. It is said that the _saya y manto_ played a very important part in the cause of independence, and that the wearers of this effective disguise carried messages, assisted the patriots when imprisonment or hardship overtook them, and rendered a great many valuable services to the cause of liberty. [Illustration: ENTRANCE TO THE BOTANICAL GARDEN, LIMA.] [Illustration: GRAND STAND OF THE JOCKEY CLUB, LIMA.] Many of the leading families of Peru are descendants of Spanish nobles who came over with the viceroys, and a few trace their ancestry from the conquerors; but the best fibre of the nation is derived from the enterprising colonists who established commerce in the country during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and by their industry and practical energy laid the foundations for a better development of the mercantile interests of Peru. They helped to overcome the traditional feeling that it was beneath the dignity of a Spaniard to be employed otherwise than as a statesman, a soldier, a scholar, or a priest; and among the descendants of Spanish grandees are to be found to-day many active and progressive bankers, merchants, constructing engineers, and “captains of industry,” who are contributing to make Peru rich and prosperous among the nations of the modern world. This spirit is more generally seen in the capital and the seaports than in the cities of the interior, though it is gradually extending to the remotest hamlets. [Illustration: PRINCIPAL HALL OF THE INTERNATIONAL REVOLVER CLUB, LIMA.]