;^^o ^"^oyige of the No vara. 



did future for it ; but I do not believe that its commerce lias 

 materially increased since then. 



The sole claim to consideration of Port d'Islay consists in 

 its proximity to Arequipa, a city of 40,000 inhabitants, and 

 the variety of valuable natural products which abound in that 

 fertile section of country, from which, however, the port is 

 separated by a sand-barren, 36 miles in width and 120 in 

 length, the city of Arequipa itself being 7500 feet above the 

 sea, at the foot of the volcano of the same name,* and amid 

 a magnificent scenery. 



The dreary waste between Port d'Islay and Arequipa is 

 continually swept by drift sand, which, by constantly ob- 

 structing the road, renders travelling thither absolutely 

 nnsafe, and indeed frequently dangerous to life. For the 

 unfortunate who misses his way amid these wastes is lost 

 beyond all possibility of succour. The wandering sand- 

 columns or medanos,-\ formed of drift sand, present a singular 



* The volcano of Arequipa is 10,500 feet above its base, but 18,000 above sea level. 



t "Peru; Sketches of Travel, 1839—42, by J. J. v. Tschudi." St. Gall, 1846: 

 Vol. i. p. 335. Also, " Investigations on the Fauna of Peru." St, Gall, 1844—46. 

 The author from personal observation speaks as follows of these singular sand- 

 columns, whirling along before the wind. " Driving before a strong wind, the me- 

 danos speedily overleap all barriers, the lighter and more easily-propelled preceding 

 the heavier like an advanced guard. Sometimes they are hurled against each other, 

 when, so soon as they meet, they are dashed violently together, and break up simul- 

 taneously. Frequently a flat stretch of gi'ound is covered within a few hours by a 

 row of sand-hills, which within a day or two more resume their level monotonous 

 appearance. The most experienced guides consequently become confused as to the 

 way, and it is they who the soonest give way to despair as they wander blindly about 

 among the sand-hills. The small mountain-spurs, by which the coixntry is traversed 



