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BIRD ISLANDS OF PERU have proven a tremendous source of wealth to the nation though the 

 government was tardy m assuming control of their operation. The guano industry has been 

 developed chiefly on a dozen of the larger islands. Above is the great modern lighthouse on 

 Lobos de Afuera, one of the most northerly of the chain. Countless millions of marine birds 

 nest on the barren, rocky islands which thrust their peaks skyward from the vast depths of the 

 Pacific. An ideal climate is manufactured by the chill Humboldt Current which sweeps out oi 

 the Antarctic along the southwesterly shores of South America to dissipate itself in the equa- 

 torial mid-Pacific. Rain is unknown and the deposits of birds pile up year after year, almost 

 pure guano and a perfect fertilizer. 



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