would be diminished one half; and, large as the supply seems to be, Peru would act judiciously if less disposition was shown to reap immediate benefits by the sale of it to foreigners. After the Chincha islands, the most extensive and chemically valuable collections are at the Lobos islands, in latitude 6° 57′ S.; the Hormigas, latitude 11° 58′; the islands near Yslay, latitude 17°; Punta de Hormillos, &c. There were about thirty vessels at anchor at the northern Chincha as we passed.

Within two hours we came-to off Pisco, a pretty little town in latitude 13° 43′, some ten miles E.S.E. from the Chinchas. The town is about a mile from the beach, its pagoda-like churches giving to it, at this distance, quite an oriental aspect. As the mere port of Ica, a large town some fourteen leagues distant in the interior, Pisco stood still until the increase of the huano trade created a demand for additional population. Now, it contains above three thousand souls. A valley extending to the north and east, and watered by a small river of the same name as the town, teems with vegetation, whose surplus is sent to less favored portions of the coast, the huano ships, &c. Sugar, olives, dates, wine, spirits, and fresh fruits are its principal exports. Large quantities of rum and brandy from sugar and grapes are sent annually to the markets of Callao and Chile. Here, also, they distil a very pure spirit of aromatic odor and flavor from the Italian grape, which thence is called Italia de Pisco. It is put up in conical earthen jars, with narrow necks, each holding about three gallons, and is highly esteemed by connoisseur drinkers of liqueur. A pisquito (the jar is so called) of the best quality will cost $8 on the spot.

We remained at the anchorage very little more than an hour. There was scarcely any cargo . to discharge; and the quantities of wine, italia, and fruits brought off were taken rapidly on board. Baskets of fine cherimoyas, oranges, and sweet potatoes were offered at very reasonable prices to the passengers; and several laid in a stock for themselves, or as presents for friends in Chile. Sweet potatoes form a very regular portion of the freight sent to Valparaiso.

As we sailed to the southward out of the bay, a remarkable object claimed attention on the sloping face of the high land. As nearly as it could be sketched, when passing at the distance of two or three miles, it is of the annexed form; and is apparently made of white or lightcolored stones set in the face of the rock.

From the base to the top of the central cross the height must be greatly more than two hundred feet; but the absence of shrubbery, or other objects of comparison, rendered accurate estimate impossible at such a distance. The proportions between the several parts are pretty well preserved in the sketch. The shadows indicate that each line has been excavated, and that the multitudes of blocks are inserted below the level of the surface. By whom, or for what special object this huge emblem of the Christian faith was constructed on so desolate a shore, there was no one on board who could tell satisfactorily; and I do not find it mentioned by either of the

writers whose volumes are accessible to me. A father of the church, on board, assured me that Christ himself wrought it in a single night, during the rule of Pizarro, and as a warning to the sun worshippers, whose country he was empowered to take possession of; but, as I afterwards saw the reverend gentleman gambling with other passengers at monte, it occurred to me that his assertion was possibly made under the influence of a little too much wine with the water he had imbibed for breakfast. Annually the devoutly inclined come with the priests from Pisco to the cross, and a great ceremony is performed there-its conclusion smacking more of "earth, earthly," than of "heaven, heavenly."

At the southern entrance of the bay the wind increased to freshness from the southeast, and gave us the first wholly clear sky that had been witnessed in many days. To myself its temperature felt wholesome and invigorating; but the multitude of sea-sick passengers, who had been tempted on deck by smooth water near the anchorage, hurried shivering to their berths again, -the sea that it created bringing the landsman's pestilence to them with greater force than before. Towards night there was some decrease in its strength, and by 10 o'clock the heavens were entirely obscured; but there was no diminution of the swell, and the ship could only make five miles and a half per hour against them.

October 16.-During the night the southeast wind lulled, the swell subsided to a considerable extent, and at sunrise the ship was again making fair progress. But with the sun's elevation the wind rose; and before noon we had a breeze as fierce and sea as heavy as on the preceding day-a condition of affairs altogether irreconcilable with the idea of a Pacific ocean. All the morning we were steaming very close to land most abrupt, broken, sterile, and desolate in its aspect; with multitudes of penguins, cape pigeons, cormorants, loons, and ice-birds, about the ship. The afternoon brought with it an accession both of wind and sea, with a temperature varying little from 62° in the open air, so that the passengers huddled about the smoke and steam pipes to keep warm. The night was more moderate, but densely overcast.

October 17.-Our captain says, from the commencement of August until the end of October the southeast trade winds on the coast, for 200 miles to the southward of Pisco, are much more violent than during the other nine months of the year, and often make a difference of eight to ten hours in the length of the voyage between that place and Yslay. The distance between the two is 333 miles. By daylight the wind had wholly subsided, though a long swell continued to set from the southward. The shore along which we were steaming-scarcely five miles distant was much varied in outline; and after passing the quebrada of Ocoña, at 9 o'clock, gradually became quite densely covered with cactus, which somewhat relieved the arid appearance so long offered to us. There were only a few cape pigeons about the ship during the morning. Later in the day considerable numbers of whales were encountered, principally of the fin-back species, and the sea-fowl returned in countless flocks. The dark, fawn-colored rocks of the shore were diversified by white patches hundreds of feet in extent, and in hollows, or sheltered places, several inches thick. A difference of opinion exists respecting the origin of this substance, which is as consistent as flour that has been damped and suffered to dry in a damaged barrel. The people of the neighborhood assert that it was thrown out of the volcano of Arequipa many years ago; to which view Capt. Basil Hall inclines. But the more rational supposition is, that it is a crust of common salt and stratified saliferous alluvium, deposited as the land slowly rose above the sea-level-similar in every respect to the depositions found by Dr. Darwin between Iquique and the saltpetre mines fourteen leagues distant. He found "the appearance of this superficial mass very closely resembled that of a country after snow before the last dirty patches are thawed.

Anchored in the port of Yslay just after dark, and were excessively annoyed all night by the effluvia emitted by whales sporting in the waters around us.

October 18.-Yslay, in latitude 17° S., a collection of less than two hundred wretched houses perched on the brow of a gradually sloping bluff, without a tree or even a blade of grass to relieve its barren look, is at the bottom of a little bay formed by the main coast and a cluster

of volcanic islets tossed up from ocean's abyss. A bold, precipitous, and beachless shore, and a constant swell rolling in from the Pacific, render landing difficult at all times. Here it rarely blows home, and ships ride in comparative safety; but the volume of the rollers in the bay is augmented with every accession to the strength of the wind at sea. However, by the aid of a little pier, "man ropes," a rope ladder, and watching for the smooth time, landing may be effected without danger. The gentler sex are of necessity hoisted out in an arm-chair suspended from a revolving crane; and cargoes are shipped into and from launches by the same implement.

Its population is estimated at 1,000 souls, most of whom are employed by the merchants of Arequipa, a town of 30,000 inhabitants, thirty leagues distant to the northward. Their houses are principally of poles, driven closely together in the earth, and lined with mats. Some few are of planks, as is the custom-house, the residence of the British consul, &c.; but the location of the multitude, and the construction of the individual tenements, excite the wonder of every foreigner who comes here. Water is obtained from rocks to the north of the town, which rise to a height of nearly 3,000 feet. It is the deposit of winter mists and drizzles that filter through crevices and collect in natural basins. Recently the governor directed the laying down of pipes, through which the stream is to be brought into the plaza. On the same hilltops a short, sweet grass is obtained, partially supplying the troops of mules used in transporting goods to and from the capital-Arequipa. Fruits, vegetables, and provisions of every kind for man, are brought from a distance.

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Quite large quantities of alpaca and other wools, cinchona bark, rice, and bullion, annually shipped from the port; English and French vessels obtaining nearly all of them in return for manufactures of their own countries. The amount received by the New Grenada for freight from Callao exceeded $400; and the freight-bills for Chile peppers and salt, received to be delivered at other ports to the southward, nearly half that sum. Usually the freight-bill from Callao amounts to $1,000.

There was a driving mist from the southeast all the morning, and we did not leave port until afternoon. Towards sunset the mist and wind ceased, and the western sky soon mottled with clouds tinged with brilliant colors, whilst to the eastward the mountain summits were bathed in crimson light, with a line of fleecy cumuli floating at a short distance beneath. At night the sky was clouded again, and moderate breezes came from the land, in whose direction also there were occasional flashes of lightning.

October 19.-As the clouds were in more broken masses than had been seen during many mornings, and the thermometer rose with the subsidence of the southeasterly wind, our day commenced auspiciously for the west coast of Peru. At 8 o'clock there was still sufficient breeze to ruffle the water, and mark the contrast between its color and the sky, over which the vision passed to their apparent junction in the west. Close on the left the great Andes rose, a serrated chain above the line of perpetual snow, and, barely perceptible, on the verdant background ahead peeped out the turrets and white walls of Arica. By 10 o'clock we were at anchor, quite near the shore.

The town of Arica, in latitude 18° 28′ S., is built close to the beach, in a small bay formed by a precipitous bluff and a low rocky islet on the right as you enter. The height of the bluff, or morro, as it is called, is more than 600 feet above the sea, and from the anchorage appears to continue at the same level as far as can be seen. The town lies at its northern base. It has experienced many vicissitudes, having been sacked by Sir Francis Drake, in 1579; almost entirely buried by the earthquake of 1608; attacked twice by the buccaneers; again nearly shaken down by an earthquake; and finally has almost been desolated by revolutionary struggles. Portions of the entombed city have recently been disinterred, the lines of its streets traced out, and human bodies, golden idols, crosses, and arrow-heads of translucent flint have been brought to light.

The town built since the earthquake is regularly laid out, has its plaza, custom-house, two

or three churches, and a sufficient number of houses to cover half a mile square. As the ground is sloping, and the churches occupy the higher portion, its appearance from the bay is quite imposing; but on nearer inspection there is nothing attractive about either of them, and one is soon willing to escape from the glare of whitened walls along its narrow and hot streets. I should suppose its population less than 1,500 souls, mostly Indians and half-castes, employed in the conveyance of goods and provisions as far as the interior of Bolivia, 300 leagues distant. Several large foreign commercial houses have agencies here, and there are a few Spanish creole merchants connected with establishments at Tacna-a city of 9,000 people, 36 miles distant in a N.N.E. direction. Recently a railroad has been projected between the two places, and the contracts for its construction entered into await execution only until the country shall again become tranquil. To render the bay more secure, and obtain smoother water for landing goods, they have commenced filling in between the morro and islet, using for the purpose masses of rock blasted from the bluff, to be filled in with the sand now lying over the old town. There is already a convenient mole near the custom-house, where launches may discharge, unless the wind blow freshly. Eight English and French vessels were lying in the bay with goods, and awaiting cargoes. The exports consist of large quantities of Peruvian bark, alpaca and other wool, and copper and silver, both in ores and bars, sent from Bolivia.

A mile to the south of the morro is a burial-place of the ancient Peruvians, whose graves have been so perseveringly violated by foreigners, notwithstanding the prohibition against it, that there are few if any bodies left. Numbers were carried off by the officers of a French ship-of-war some years since. Following universal custom, a friend endeavored to obtain one of the mummies for me, and succeeded in finding a tomb of masonry containing five bodies—a man, a woman, two children, and a dog; but they all fell to pieces on exposure to the air, and he could only send me the earthen and wooden vessels, household implements, provisions, &c., interred with them. Of these an interesting account will be found in the report of Thomas Ewbank, Esq., Appendix E. All the bodies found in these tombs are in a sitting posture with the knees close to the chin, the elbows at the sides, and hands near the face. They are wrapped with many folds of coarse woollen or cotton cloth, and, though dark-colored and shrunken, are usually in good preservation. The nitre contained in the earth is supposed to contribute to this. A tradition still remains among the Indians of the vicinity, that some families caused themselves to be buried alive rather than submit to the rule of Atahualpa. Some ten miles from the city there is another place supposed to have been used for interments; and as this has never been disturbed, we shall probably learn of interesting ethnological researches before the completion of the Tacna road. Soon after my visit, an accomplished friend wrote me: "After my next campaign to Peru, I shall be able to present you something of interest, as I know of an extensive burialground near Tacna entirely occupied by Indians who were interred long before the conquest. On the bare face of the sloping mountain at whose base these tombs are, I noticed huge characters traced in the sand. They can be perceived with great distinctness, and could be read with the unassisted eye-if one understood them-at the distance of ten to fifteen miles. The whole side of the mountain, or hill, as they call it in this country of colossal cordilleras, is covered with them. They appear to be written as are Chinese characters, in vertical lines. Some of them must be ten or twelve hundred feet in length-I mean each character is of that size, and it looks as fresh as if just made. When first seen, I thought them windings and zigzags made by mules traversing the inclined face of the hill; but the mistake was discovered before inquiring of any one. Every person in Tacna from whom information was sought, assured me that they were ancient Indian records." None of the travellers known to me make mention of this gigantic specimen of picture-writing.

There is another object of interest more immediately in the vicinity of Arica. It is a cave whose extremity no one now living has ever seen; and the Indians say that fish were conveyed through it for the Incas all the way to Cuzco. A few years since an old Spaniard came to Arica who had been somewhat famed for appropriating other people's goods to himself on the

high sea. Making known to an American in business here that much riches had been deposited in the cave, the adventurous spirit of the latter tempted him to consent to an exploration. They were seventy hours under ground, and only relinquished the search when accident, fatigue, and want of lights drove them out. As they were proceeding through one of the passages, the old freebooter, who was ahead, suddenly disappeared. He had stepped into a chasm twentyfive feet deep, and was lucky in being able to crawl out much bruised. At this place, the air was so foul that their candles would scarcely burn; they had been on the move nearly all the time since entering, and they returned disgusted as well as fatigued with the results of the exploration. No one has since attempted to penetrate more than a hundred yards.

In the direction of Tacna is the sloping and fertile valley of Azapa, with its palms and evergreens, filling a large portion of the broad interval between the ocean and cordilleras. Cotton, sugar-cane, tropical fruits, and vegetables, thrive most luxuriantly wherever huano is used and water can be obtained. Another valley, whose name is Ocumba (or Locumbo, for it was badly pronounced to me), is famed for its extensive vineyards, as well as for the other products named. The cotton is a perennial, not an annual plant, and is not grown to a greater extent than will supply local demands. Nor is there much sugar for exportation, most of it being consumed in sweetmeats, or as chancaca-cakes of crystallized brown sugar, from which the molasses has been drained. A portion of the life-stream from the valley of Azapa supplies the inhabitants of Arica and the shipping with excellent drinking-water, and irrigates several gardens on the northern skirts of the town. In one of these there were ripe fruit and blossoms at the same time (in October) on a peach-tree destitute of leaves.

Besides the exports mentioned, much fresh meat, vegetables, and fruits, are sent to Iquique, Cobija, and even Copiapó, all lying in absolutely sterile districts. Even flowers are regularly conveyed by the vegetable dealers, carefully enveloped in plantain leaves to preserve moisture about them. These dealers are mostly women-bustling and active-who leave their husbands at home (if they have any), to take care of the babies probably, come down to Arica by the steamer bound north, and have their supplies of meats, maize, potatoes, cabbages, onions, sugar-cane, and fruits, ready to embark a fortnight afterwards. With us it would be remarkable to find a trafficker in such commodities with several hundred dollars' worth of rings on her fingers, silk stockings, and embroidered satin slippers on her feet; yet such is actually the sea costume of a sprightly young half-breed, who is a regular passenger between Cobija and Arica, and purchases most largely. More than 300 packages of freight were taken on board in addition to the provisions for Iquique and southern ports, and at 3 P. M. our journey was resumed. For the first time night brought with it a clear atmosphere, and for an hour or two permitted a view of the southern firmament; but just as I was hoping to be able to contrast the brightness of Canopus and Sirius, the almost eternal misty veil of the coast fell over us. Ocean, as if in recompense, presented millions of animalculæ glittering under the darkened canopy wherever its surface was agitated. This brilliant phosphorescent exhibition extended over the whole belt of ocean we traversed during the night, and the atmosphere was charged with an odor similar to that near beaches, where much sea-weed is deposited.

The lights of the steamer Ecuador were seen approaching from the south shortly after 10 P. M., and by a somewhat unwise manoeuvre on board that vessel, when we were within speaking distance the two ships came in contact. Fortunately, the engine of the New Grenada had been stopped some minutes previously, or the damage would have been very serious. As it was, she escaped with loss of boat and crushed rails-we, with displaced figure-head and a bent

cutwater.

October 20.—Iquique, a town containing about 1,000 souls, mostly Indians and mestizos, is at the bottom of a little open bay, formed by an indentation of the coast and a cluster of rocky islets. Its latitude is 20° 12' S. Its cluster of wretched houses is on a little plain at the foot of a bare rocky wall more than 2,000 feet high, desolate as Sahara. Sea-weed excepted, there is not a blade of grass in sight, nor a drop of drinkable water within more than thirty miles;

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