624 



PERU. 



and the loading of the same was disposed 

 of by auction to Messrs. Fernandez and Eche- 

 nique. The national debt, on December 31, 

 1866, amounted to $50,140,621. The army, 

 in 1866, consisted of 16,008 men; the navy 

 consisted of 11 vessels, with 108 guns. In 

 1868 the Government purchased, in the United 

 States, two monitors, the Oneota and Catawba, 

 which had been built, the one in 1865, and the 

 other in 1866. Their names were changed into 

 Atahualpa and Manco Capac, two celebrated 

 Inca chiefs, noted in the history of Peru for 

 their persistent battling with the Spaniards. The 

 value of imports, in 1866, amounted to about 

 $14,000,000 ; the exports to $35,766,797. The 

 number of vessels entering the port of Callao, 

 in 1866, was 1,481, of an aggregate tonnage of 

 998,045 ; and the number of clearances 1,517, 

 of an aggregate tonnage of 977,688. The sta- 

 tistical report of the shipping of Callao during 

 the year 1868 was as follows : 



There entered during the year 312 steam- 

 ers, of 282,349 tons, and sailed, during the 

 same period, 302 steamers, of 283,929 tons. 

 In small-craft, there sailed 547 vessels, of 

 3,282 tons; sailing-vessels entered, 553, of 

 3,258 tons. The total tonnage of sailing-ves- 

 sels and steamers was : entries, 1,046,343; 

 sailings, 1,014,209 ; total tons, 2,060,552. The 

 nationalities of sailing-vessels were as follows : 



Of the national flag of Peru there appear 

 in the reports only one ship and four barks, the 

 rest being schooners and sloops. The total 

 tonnage of the different vessels was : 



Among ships from Asia, ten brought 4,266 

 Asiatic colonists, of 4,732 who embarked at the 

 ports from which they sailed, 466 having died 

 on the voyage, being about a tenth of the 

 whole. On the 22d of July, 315 German col- 

 onists arrived from Europe on the Italian 

 bark Valparaiso, and were disembarked in 

 Huacho. 



In 1868 the construction of a railroad was 

 begun between Islay and Arequipa. The con- 

 tract was awarded to Henry Meiggs for the 

 sum of 12,000,000 soles, and the road is to be 

 finished in three years. One clause in the con- 

 tract binds Meiggs to pay 20,000 soles per 

 month for every month that he is behindhand 

 with the road, the Government paying him 

 the same amount for every month that he gains 

 in the completion of the road. 



A concession was also granted to a company 

 in Cerro de Pasco to construct a line of rail- 

 road to connect all the different mines with 

 the stamping and crushing mills in the town 

 of Cerro. The road will reduce the former 

 price of conveyance (by mules) to one-half, 

 besides securing to the miners a continuation 

 of their labors, which have always been inter- 

 rupted by the military, either by pressing the 

 laborers above-ground, or seizing the mules for 

 the use of the revolutionists. The road at the 

 close of the year had been begun, and was 

 favorably progressing. 



The revolution, which, in December, 1867, 

 broke out against President Prado, was fully 

 successful on the opening of the new year. 

 There were a few more fights in the first days 

 of January, 1868, in all of which the partisans 

 of Prado were defeated. The latter resigned, 

 and, on January 10th, embarked at Callao for 

 Chili. General Canseco acted provisionally as 

 President. The election for President and mem- 

 bers of Congress took place in April. The 

 election for President is indirect, the people 

 choosing electors, who cast their vote in May. 

 Colonel Balta was chosen President by an al- 

 most unanimous vote. Congress assembled on 

 the 28th of July, when Colonel Balta was pro- 

 claimed President, and entered upon the duties 

 of his office. The remainder of the year was 

 unusually quiet, and not disturbed by any revo- 

 lutionary outbreak. 



On the 4th of September, the small steamer 

 Napo was dispatched by the Government to 

 seek a passage to Chanchamayo, by ascending 

 the River Ucayali through regions previous- 

 ly unknown. She started from the port of 

 Iquitos, and navigating the Ucayali from its 

 confluence with the Maraflon up to its forma- 

 tion by the Tambo and the Urubamba (772 

 miles), first ascended the Tambo, and later on 

 the Urubamba, but had to return (January, 

 1869), the machinery of the Napo not possess- 

 ing sufficient power to contend with the 

 current. She was only able to ascend five 

 miles up the Tambo, sixty miles from the fort 

 of Chanchamayo, and thirty-five miles from 

 the Urubamba. " This expedition," says the El 



