THE MAY-DAY OF LIMA.

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banners of the several states, and various military and civic emblems are clustered; while a cornucopia pours around the rich fruits of the country; and the ocean with shipping, intimating the commercial resources of the republic, is seen in the distance.

A canopy of red and white silk, the national colors, with draperies of the same intertwined, spreads over both the picture and chair of state. The only other furniture of the room, besides a carpet, is a brilliant line of glass chandeliers through the centre of the ceiling, and an uninterrupted succession of sofas of scarlet around the walls.

LETTER XIX.

FESTIVAL OF THE AMANCAISE.

Lima, June 25th, 1829.

THE Amancaise, an annual festival celebrated at Lima on the 24th of every June, occurred yesterday.

It is something similar to our "May-day;" the occasion of it being the height of bloom, at that time, of a flower peculiar to Peru, called the "Amancaise." To gather this the citizens of every class, in the afternoon of the day, hasten as to a gala to a spot in the vicinity of the city, deriving its name, as well as the festival itself, from the flower, because found in a greater abundance there than in any other place.

Crowds and holydays afford admirable opportunities

for the study of character, individual and national; and, I seized with avidity this occasion of catching, as it were, a sight of Peru in miniature.

After an early dinner with Mr. Radcliffe the American consul, our party, principally on horseback, set off. It was with difficulty that a sufficient number of horses could be secured, as every animal of the name and similitude in the city, is put in requisition at this time, if at no other during the year. I was indebted to the politeness of my friend, Mr. Stanhope Prevost, for the one I rode the most beautiful creature I ever mounted, full of life and playfulness, but graceful in every movement, and gentle as a lamb.

We left the city by a new and handsome gate on the north, a few rods only from the public square, opening directly on the bridge running across the river Rimac, which at this point flows along the walls. At this season of the year the stream is shallow and insignificant the whole bed of the river, a hundred yards and more in width, presenting only a mass of dry gravel, intersected in two or three places by small rivulets, purling like so many brooks in their pebbly courses. But, in the summer of this latitude, when the snow and ice in the Andes, fifty or sixty miles distant, are melted, a torrent of immense magnitude and force is poured down the same channel, exhibiting at times a grand and fearful sight, as it rushes through the arches of the bridge, in a depth of thirty and forty feet.

On this account the bridge, of brown free stone, is necessarily very substantial and lofty, and is a strong and well looking piece of architecture. Beyond it lies a large suburb; after passing which, we entered a regularly planted and beautiful almeda or avenue, a favorite

promenade of the Limanians, and similar to that already described at the entrance of the city from Callao.

That it was holyday was evident from the throng and the dress of every one; and the direction of the scene of festivity was as clearly indicated by the press of all, carriages, horsemen, and pedestrians, to the same point.

The first striking figure we met was immediately after crossing the bridge, in a lady mounted on a noble black horse, fit for the charger of a field marshal. The dress and attitude of the rider, and caparison of her steed, were entirely Peruvian. She appeared about twenty, tall and elegant in her figure, and of an uncommonly fine face, filled with playfulness and a brilliancy of beauty. A man's hat of Manilla grass, with the customary rich and tasteful arrangement of the hair in the neck and shoulders, and the poncho formed the principal articles of attire. This last was of the finest olive colored cloth, embroidered richly with silk around the edges, in a running pattern of light green, and so large as to fall widely over the saddle cloth, and almost to conceal a pantalet of the finest muslin, a white silk stocking and a black satin shoe.

She was at the corner of a street, and seemed waiting the arrival of a gentleman, who shortly afterwards joined her. The bustle of the passing crowd made the animal she rode restive, and he was constantly pawing the ground and prancing in impatience to join the throng moving by. This gave opportunity for a fine display of horsemanship; and she dashed forward a few yards in one direction, and then the same distance in another, wheeling at every turn without the

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ASPECT OF THE CROWD.

change of a point in the footing of the horse, in an elegance of attitude, and a life and gracefulness of motion becoming the most accomplished cavalier.

A finer subject of the kind for the pencil of an artist could scarce be wished; and so much were we struck by it, that every eye was fixed on her as we passed, while the exclamation-"a Diana Vernon-a Diana Vernon!" burst from the lips of every admirer of that character of Sir Walter's portraying.

After passing the almeda, we entered a narrow, winding, and sandy road, inclosed on either side by high mud-walls, and completely filled by parties in carriages, on horseback, and on foot, gazing at each other, and interchanging looks and bows of cheerfulness and hilarity. In the number were persons of every class of society, from the highest to the lowest, and of every shade and color, from the fairest Briton to the deepest ebony of the African tribes.

At the end of two miles we found ourselves close to the wild and naked hills encircling Lima on the north and east, and immediately in front of a gorge, between two of these, terminating at the distance of half a mile against the steep acclivity of a third. The whole are as bare as volcanic ashes and sand can make them, except where the bloom of the flower, which had called the crowds together, exhibited here and there a tinge of yellow-for this was the " Amancaise," the spot of our visit; and over the precipitous sides of which small parties were already scattered, and even horsemen, at the seeming hazard of their necks, clambering to points fitted apparently only for the footing of the goat or the chamois.

The general appearance of the multitude, at the

distance first seen, was that of a field in America at a general militia-muster, or of a race-course in the sporting sections of the land; and a nearer view, save in the variety of color and novelty of costume, did not lessen the resemblance. There was the same bustle and hum of laugh and talk, the same pressing and hurrying from one place to another, the confused sounds of musical instruments in different directions, and the loud and coarse mirth of the grog-booth and eating-stall.

On either side of the way were carriages drawn by mules, with a postillion and footman, and filled with ladies and children in rich evening dress; around these, groups of genteel-looking horsemen were gathered in gay conversation and laughter, while within a few rods on every side might be seen thronged circles, in the midst of which negroes and negresses, in as full dress as their masters and mistresses, were dancing to music scarce less rude than that heard within the kraals of their aboriginal country. Indeed both the figures thus danced, and the music, if such it can be called, are African in their origin, and introduced by the slaves; and though thus of necessity heathenish and vulgar, I am told that they are not unfrequently danced in the ball-rooms of the first society of the country.

Every person was decorated with the Amancaise, and clusters of the flowers were placed in the bridles and harness of the horses, as well as in the hats and head-dress of the riders. To imitate the example, and on my part to examine the plant more particularly, we made our way to the head of the valley, and alighted to gather some. The root is bulbous, and the leaf in