AT TACNA. 107 



from tbem ; Tacna had at one time extensive Vineyards, but some 

 pi'ejudicial change took place in the quaUty of the water, and they 

 were given up. 



Olives are abundant, and those who like them say they are 

 superior; the demand for the table is so great that hardly any 

 oil is made near Tacna : they are eaten here when quite ripe, 

 black, and full of oil. A full crop of Olives is only obtained 

 every third or fourth year, and the reason of this, I have no 

 doubt, is to be found in the clumsy and destructive way in which 

 the fruit is gathered, the branches being beaten with canes until 

 the Olives fall on mats placed under the trees to receive them, 

 and this rough work cannot fail to destroy many of the fruit-buds 

 on the long, tender, and wiry branches. 



Peaches of three or four sorts are abundant, and the people are 

 very fond of them, looking on this as the healthiest of all fruits ; 

 it may be so, but those grown in Tacna have nothing else to 

 recommend them ; they, with the exception of one kind, are hard 

 and flavourless, never ripen properly, and in fact do not agree 

 with the locality ; they are in season in January and February. 



Pears are of two kinds, a small one in shape and size 

 resembling the " Green Chisel," in immense quantities, and 

 another, a small Bergamot, not so plentiful ; neither sort will 

 keep above a few days, and it is astonishing how so many can 

 be consumed during the very short time they remain in season; 

 they ripen in December. 



Apples : We have but one kind, something like a " Keswick 

 Codlin." The trees are stunted and cankering, and do not 

 thrive ; they are first raised from cuttings, and afterwards 

 ingeniously grafted from the same tree ! In Lima there are 

 several good sorts, and this fruit, wrought on proper stocks, 

 would be sure to do well here. 



Pomegranates : All the hedges are of this plant, and they bear 

 fruit in abundance, but no use is made of this most beautiful 

 Apple. 



Mulberries are plentiful and fine. Any other nation than the 

 Spaniards would have introduced the silkworm in Peru. 



Strawberries are sometimes seen as a curiosity, but of an 

 indifferent sort ; the necessity of irrigation excludes the fruit. 



Plums of one kind, like the Black Jack, are mostly brought 

 from the higher valleys on the borders of the Cordillera. 



Melons, both musk and water, are grown in the greatest 

 abundance, and are very large and fine ; the seed is sown in 



