﻿246 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  deed, 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  century 
  ago 
  the 
  storm-free 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  region 
  so 
  

   impressed 
  Alexander 
  von 
  Humboldt, 
  for 
  whom 
  the 
  current 
  was 
  

   named, 
  that 
  he 
  advised 
  ships 
  proceeding 
  in 
  this 
  general 
  region 
  to 
  sail 
  

   along 
  this 
  coast 
  whenever 
  possible. 
  

  

  The 
  absence 
  of 
  thunderstorms 
  is 
  exceedingly 
  noteworthy. 
  For 
  the 
  

   Humboldt 
  Current 
  flows 
  into 
  the 
  Tropical 
  Zone 
  in 
  northern 
  Peru, 
  

   and 
  to 
  the 
  Equator 
  itself 
  in 
  the 
  Galapagos 
  Islands. 
  Equatorial 
  

   latitudes 
  are 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  worst 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  for 
  thunder- 
  

   storms. 
  Indeed, 
  directly 
  across 
  the 
  Pacific 
  in 
  Java 
  is 
  found 
  actually 
  

   the 
  most 
  thundery 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  earth. 
  So 
  the 
  contrast 
  is 
  striking. 
  

  

  The 
  explanation 
  is 
  that 
  along 
  this 
  eastern 
  South 
  Pacific 
  coast 
  the 
  

   Humboldt 
  Current 
  acts 
  as 
  a 
  water- 
  and 
  air-conditioner. 
  Except 
  for 
  

   the 
  aridity, 
  the 
  climate 
  has 
  no 
  extremes. 
  It 
  is 
  always 
  cool, 
  but 
  never 
  

   cold. 
  It 
  is 
  like 
  coastal 
  California 
  in 
  summer. 
  It 
  is 
  foggy 
  and 
  often 
  

   misty 
  in 
  the 
  hills, 
  yet 
  rain 
  occurs 
  seldom. 
  The 
  climate 
  varies 
  scarcely 
  

   at 
  all 
  from 
  the 
  inward 
  seaward 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  Humboldt 
  Current 
  to 
  

   the 
  crest 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  ranges. 
  It 
  is 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  the 
  same, 
  also, 
  from 
  

   where 
  the 
  current 
  starts 
  near 
  Valparaiso, 
  Chile 
  (33° 
  S., 
  73° 
  W.), 
  to 
  

   approximately 
  Talara, 
  Peru 
  (4° 
  S., 
  81° 
  W.). 
  

  

  Flowing 
  from 
  south 
  to 
  north, 
  the 
  Humboldt 
  Current 
  is 
  the 
  feature 
  

   which 
  makes 
  the 
  weather 
  approximately 
  the 
  same 
  for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  

   2,500 
  miles. 
  This 
  vast 
  marine 
  river 
  extends 
  some 
  100 
  miles 
  in 
  width 
  

   in 
  Chile 
  to 
  250 
  miles 
  off 
  Peru, 
  where 
  it 
  turns 
  from 
  the 
  continental 
  

   border 
  seaward. 
  West 
  of 
  southern 
  Ecuador 
  it 
  continues 
  its 
  normal 
  

   character 
  to 
  the 
  Galapagos 
  Islands, 
  600 
  miles 
  away. 
  The 
  numerous 
  

   bare 
  and 
  rocky 
  islands 
  within 
  this 
  vast 
  stretch 
  afford 
  ideal 
  nesting 
  

   sites 
  for 
  uncounted 
  millions 
  of 
  cormorants, 
  penguins, 
  and 
  other 
  sim- 
  

   ilar 
  fowl. 
  

  

  The 
  wise 
  people 
  along 
  shore 
  protect 
  this 
  oceanic 
  life, 
  and 
  have 
  done 
  

   so 
  from 
  prehistoric 
  times, 
  except 
  for 
  a 
  half 
  century 
  when 
  foreigners 
  

   interfered. 
  The 
  birds 
  repay 
  their 
  human 
  benefactors 
  with 
  huge 
  de- 
  

   posits 
  of 
  the 
  richest 
  fertilizer 
  on 
  earth 
  — 
  guano. 
  The 
  ancient 
  beds 
  pro- 
  

   vided 
  many 
  fortunes 
  in 
  the 
  latter 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  century. 
  Re- 
  

   cent 
  and 
  accumulating 
  stores, 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  highly 
  constructive 
  con- 
  

   servation 
  practices, 
  will 
  insure 
  permanent 
  fertility 
  to 
  the 
  soil 
  in 
  the 
  

   neighboring 
  fields. 
  Indeed, 
  it 
  is 
  because 
  of 
  guano 
  that 
  the 
  nearby 
  

   land 
  areas 
  have 
  maintained 
  a 
  high 
  productivity 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  1,000 
  

   years 
  of 
  intensive 
  cultivation. 
  

  

  The 
  fertilizer 
  manufactured 
  by 
  the 
  birds 
  is 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  gor- 
  

   mandizing 
  on 
  the 
  enormous 
  fish 
  population 
  in 
  the 
  surface 
  waters 
  of 
  

   the 
  Humboldt 
  Current. 
  Although 
  fishing 
  is 
  a 
  profitable 
  industry 
  to 
  

   the 
  fishermen 
  of 
  the 
  countries 
  adjoining, 
  no 
  systematic 
  exploitation 
  

   of 
  the 
  valuable 
  aquatic 
  resources 
  of 
  Peru 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  made, 
  except 
  

   by 
  the 
  birds. 
  

  

  