To these public paseos such numbers of the fashionable inhabitants resort on Sundays and other holidays, particularly in the afternoons, that as many as three hundred carriages may sometimes be counted: the richer tradesman in his calesa, drawn by one mule; the nobleman in his coach and two; the titled of Castile in a coach and four; and formerly, the Viceroy in his coach and six; he being the only person in Lima, excepting the archbishop, who enjoyed this distinction. Gentlemen seldom go in the coaches, so that the beauty of Lima have the temporary privilege of riding alone, and nodding without reserve to their amorous _galanes_, who parade the side walks. The _paseo de los alcaldes_, the procession of new mayors, is in the old alameda, and is always an occasion of great bustle, being on new year's day. The Viceroy never attended, because his dignity would have been eclipsed by the brilliant liveries and gay appearance of the alcaldes.
The principal bathing places are Miraflores, one league from the city: it is a pretty village, with several handsome _ranchos_, or cottages. Chorrillos, two leagues from Lima; a large village, with a very neat church, being a parish of indians. Here the descent to the sea is very commodious, and those who prefer bathing to gaming generally visit this place; but there is nevertheless a considerable portion of the latter fashionable amusement here. Lurin is about seven leagues from the capital, it is also a parish of indians, and a place of great resort for the higher classes of gamesters:--the distance precludes a too numerous concourse of the lower orders of society.
The piazzas of the plasa mayor are crowded every night from seven o'clock till ten with the frail part of the female sex. A range of tables with ices, lemonade, and other refreshments stand on the outside of the piazzas, with benches for the weary and thirsty to rest upon. At eight o'clock the _retreta_, the different bands of military music, leave the palace door: this is a great attraction, and forms an excuse for many a fair visitor to attend the piazza. The bridge, as has been already mentioned, is another place for evening chit chat. The piazzas are the genteel lounge on a Sunday and the morning of a holiday, when they are generally much crowded.
