The families of the upper classes of Arequipa usually own estates in the neighbouring warm valleys of the coast, such as Vitor, Tambo, Siguas, Majes, and Camana, where the rich vineyards yield them a profitable return by the sale of aguardiente. Their houses in the city are built round a _patio_ or courtyard, on which the principal rooms open. Their sons are frequently the leaders of the turbulent _Cholos_ in revolt, and follow the professions of _abogados_, lawyers or politicians, traders, and _haciendados_ or farmers, while the more ambitious adopt a military life, the _carrera de armas_. The ladies are considered the most beautiful and intelligent in Peru, and, at Lima, the most attractive women are usually Arequipeñas. Perhaps the majority have never moved beyond the campiña, and adjacent warm valleys, and many have never seen the sea. Yet they are sprightly and agreeable in society, full of intelligent curiosity, and almost invariably excellent musicians. They frequently sing the plaintive _despedidas_, and other sonnets of their native poet Melgar, whose love for a fair townswoman was unrequited, and whose melancholy fate has surrounded his name with a halo of romance. He was barbarously shot, after having been taken prisoner by the Spaniards, at the battle of Umachiri in 1815, the first attempt which the Peruvians made for their independence. During the winter months the wealthier families remove to villages in the campiña, either to Tingo, Tiavaya, or Savandia, taking furniture with them. At the commencement of the season droves of mules leave the city laden with beds, chairs, and tables, to render the country houses habitable. Here the Arequipeños enjoy the delights of the country and of bathing in large swimming-baths faced with masonry, and planted round with rows of tall willows. The rides in the country which surrounds these villages are exceedingly pretty. The trees consist chiefly of tall willows and of the _Schinus molle_ with its bunches of red berries, while bushes of fragrant white _Daturas_ and of the beautiful _Bignonia fulva_ fill the hedges, and the streams are bordered by masses of _Nasturtiums_. The fields either bear crops of vivid green alfalfa, or tall Indian corn, six to eight feet high, over which the _Tropæolum canariensis_ creeps in golden masses, and at whose feet the bright blue _lupins_, and a _Solanum_ with rich purple flowers, grow as weeds. From many points of view the rapid waters of the river Chile complete the picture, while far away the snowy peaks of Chuquibamba, Charcani, and the volcano glisten in the beams of the sun. Above Arequipa the river flows through the valley of Chilinos, the steep sides of which are lined with _andeneria_, or terraced maize-gardens, with here and there a picturesque group of the stone huts of the Indians, often completely hidden by the dark green leaves and golden flowers of the gourds which cover them. The courtyards of