1839.] CLIMATE. 135 



sioned by the mighty swell almost constantly rolling in upon 

 the shore. 



Peru cannot boast of any great rivers. The Rimac merely 

 carries off the melted snow of the mountains ; it has not suf- 

 ficient force to break through the sand-bar at its mouth, and 

 its waters percolate through it in the most lazy manner im- 

 aginable. But the largest tributaries of the Amazon, the 

 Tunguragua, the Huallaga, and the Ucayale, have their 

 origin here. The Tunguragua has its source in the small 

 lake, Llauricocha, lying north of Cerro di Pasco. There is 

 another lake, the Titicaca, the largest and most elevated in 

 South America, situated partly in Peru and partly in Bo- 

 livia, which abounds in fish, but its navigation is not free 

 from danger, as it is liable to sudden squalls and storms ; 

 and there are several smaller lakes in different parts of the 

 country. The sources of the Amazon are considerable streams, 

 and if the occasional obstructions were removed, they could 

 be navigated for some distance, by steam-vessels of light 

 draught. 



In most of the provinces of Peru, the climate is said to be 

 proverbially fine, but the bills of mortality indicate that this 

 must be taken with some reservations and exceptions, though, 

 upon the whole, it may be pronounced salubrious. There 

 are two seasons during the year — the wet and the dry. 

 From April till October, the coast lands are covered during 

 the morning, and often throughout the day, by a dense fog or 

 mist, which serves to moisten the ground, instead of the rain 

 which nature has denied to it. Towards the north the fogs 

 grow lighter, and in the extreme northern province rain some- 

 times falls ; and when this blessing is vouchsafed, the ar entiles, 

 or arid sands, are soou covered with an exuberant vegetation. 

 En October and November, the mists begin to rise, and, by a 

 gradual transition, the dry season, which commences in De- 

 cember and terminates in March, is at length introduced. 

 During the summer on the coast, heavy rains, often accom- 

 panied with thunder, fall among the montarias, or mountains, 

 in the interior. The rivers and smaller streams now rush 



