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struck by the sudden transition from the sterility of the 

 desert to the bright verdure of the irrigated land ; the water 

 channels are, of course, carried as close, as possible to the 

 hill, and at as high a level on each side of the valley as the 

 fall of the river will allow, and while every inch of ground 

 within these limits is covered with luxuriant vegetation, the 

 parched bills on either side from the water's edge, are in a 

 state of perfect barrenness. 



From the small extent of land capable of cultivation, the 

 vallies are for the most part cleared of wood; but a few spots 

 are left for the growth of trees and shrubs for fuel. The 

 trees most valued for this purpose near Lima, are Willow, 

 Manglillo, {Manglilla Jussieui, Pers., Myrsine Manglilla, Br.) 

 and Huarango, a species of Acacia, which resembles, in habit 

 and the hardness of its wood, the Espino [Acacia Cavenia) of 

 Chili. Among the shrubs in the same neighbourhood are 

 various species of Cordia, Buddlea, Heliotropium, Lantana, 

 Lycium, and Jussieua. The wood, however, is strictly con- 

 fined to the vallies, the hills being entirely destitute of the 

 forests that clothe the country to the east of the Andes. 

 There is, indeed, a most remarkable diiference in the features 

 of the eastern and western parts of Peru. Towards the coast, 

 the climate is temperate, the rivers small and distant from each 

 other, and the hills bare of wood : wild animals are very rare : 

 there are few birds, and noxious reptiles are unknown. 

 The country, its climate, and productions, appear to belong to 

 a dry part of the Temperate Zone. We have only to cross 

 the Cordillera, and descend towards the east, to find the 

 country covered with lofty trees, from a great elevation down 

 to the plains, and along the course of the numerous large 

 rivers that fall into the Maranon ; the forests are filled with 

 wild animals and venomous snakes; numbei'less birds of 

 splendid plumage inhabit the trees; while alligators and 

 tortoises abound in the rivers. We have here, in short, all 

 the productions of a moist tropical climate; and yet the two 

 countries, or rather districts, are in the same latitude, and 

 separated only by the mountains of the Cordillera. 



Throughout the whole of Chili, the dry and rainy seasons 



