The increasing population of foreigners in Peru, and the custom among well-to-do Peruvians of sending their children to Europe and the United States to complete their education has led to the introduction of more cosmopolitan social customs than formerly existed, and this is seen especially in the outdoor sports and amusements. Although the bull fight and the Spanish game of _pelota_ still attract a large number of spectators, the lawn tennis games are also popular; football and baseball claim a great many enthusiastic Peruvian players, and regattas are always attended by immense crowds of people. The horse races have become a regular feature of sport, and at the _Cancha_, or race track, on “Derby Day,” the best Lima society may be seen in its most fashionable attire, which is usually of Parisian style and is often imported direct from the French capital. The new president-elect of Peru, Don Augusto Leguia, has a stock farm near the capital, on which some of the best thoroughbreds of South America have been reared, and his horses are usually among the favorite winners on Derby Day. [Illustration: STAIRWAY OF THE NATIONAL CLUB, LIMA.] Though most of the private fortunes of Limeños were swept away at the time of the war with Chile, when the destruction of property was great in Lima and its suburbs, as well as on the _haciendas_ of the wealthy planters, yet the present generation has recovered a great deal of the former prosperity, and at important social functions, such as the balls given within the past two years to the Duke of the Abruzzi and Prince Udine, of Italy, to General Saenz Peña of Argentina, and to Hon. Elihu Root of the United States, the costumes and jewels displayed are of the most costly and elegant description. The ladies of Lima have always been famous for their winning and gracious manners, and every writer on Peru has paid a compliment to their tiny feet, in which one traveller finds a sufficient excuse for the _Q. b. s. p._ (“who kisses your feet”) with which letters to ladies are usually finished in Spanish, instead of the very matter-of-fact “Yours sincerely” that closes an epistle in English. The Peruvian hostess entertains with the _grâce du salon_ which is hers by inheritance, and her _tertulias_ are altogether charming. But she does not confine her energies to social duties alone, her charities occupying a great deal of attention. Three years ago, a number of ladies of the best society of Lima formed a club, called the “Centro Social,” for the purpose of establishing institutes in which the daughters of gentlewomen without fortune could secure, free of charge, the necessary training to fit them for earning their living. It was proposed to teach stenography, bookkeeping, telegraphy, photography, drawing, and other branches, which would provide the knowledge required by girls in search of remunerative employment. This effort shows the spirit of practical benevolence which animates the Limeña in her charitable work.