“ ‘Well for our northern friend, Dame Isabella’s Inquisition wanes in Lima,’ laughed Don Sebastian. ‘Proceed, Señor.’

“ ‘A moment! Pardon!’ cried another of the company. ‘In the name of all us Limeese, I but desire to express to you, sir sailor, that we have by no means overlooked your delicacy in not substituting present Lima for distant Venice in your corrupt comparison. Oh! do not bow and look surprised; you know the proverb all along this coast⁠—“Corrupt as Lima.” It but bears out your saying, too; churches more plentiful than billiard-tables, and forever open⁠—and “Corrupt as Lima.” So, too, Venice; I have been there; the holy city of the blessed evangelist, St. Mark!⁠— St. Dominic, purge it! Your cup! Thanks: here I refill; now, you pour out again.’