IU 





PKKU. 



144 



Uw win U down (bet* U * cJm. About 8 or 9 o'clock in the evening 

 light wind* eon* off th laud, and continue until Min-rie, wheu it 

 Mia become* emltn. until th aebri nU in. Tba oold current 

 which run* alon thi* coa*t from Math to north, and the temperature 

 of wbieh is on an awn** 8 degrees lower than the mean annual 

 temperature of the adjaornt coast, no doubt contribute* to moderate the 

 UMswr-hMt 1 luring the prevalence of the garua however the air u 

 raw and damp. The mean anuual temperature, according to Hum- 

 bold!, u 72'. the maximum 82*, and the minimum 55. In the day-time 

 it ran- between 7'J and 77 , and in the night between 60* an<l 63*. 



The prevailing wind* along the ooart blow from the south, varying 

 betwrao aouth-MNith-eaei and aouth-weat In the south they are 

 a. Mom more than a fresh breese, but farther north they are strong, r 

 and blow with greater rapidity ; and near Cape Blanco they sometimes 

 blow with great force. In wintrr light northerly winds are ooca- 

 tooally experienced. At some distance from the shores the prevailing 

 wiiideblow from south and south-east, and with greatest strength in 

 winter: no thunder-storms occur; lightning indeed is seen from a 

 distance, but thunder is never heard. Earthquakes are very frequent, 

 and sometimes destroy the town* and villages. 



la the Valle, the soil is sandy ; but become* fertile when manur. .1 

 with guano, which U abundant on the rocky islands and cliffa [Cms- 

 CHAI], and the use of which appears to have been well known here before 

 the Spanish conquest. All the grains and fruiU of southern Europe suc- 

 ceed, but many of the intertropical product* do not. Maize is generally 

 cultivated, and constitutes the principal food of the Indians anil !<>-ver 

 ctaBM*. Rice is extensively grown in some of the wider northern 

 vales, and U exported. Wheat succeeds only in the more elevated 

 part of the valleys, where barley also is grown. Potatoes and sweet 

 potatoes are generally cultivated, also mandioe, yams, and bananas to 

 a smaller extent The migar-cane plantations are numerous and exten- 

 sive, and sugar U exported to all the American countries bordering on 

 the Pacific, Vines grow in every valley, and good wine is made iu 

 several places, as at Pisco, Nasca, and Yea. The olive and the tomato 

 are grown in the southern districts; the Aji. or Spanish pepper, is 

 grown exU'ii-ivi ly all along the coast There are few natural meadows; 

 the want of th.-ni U supplied by the cultivation of lucern, which bos 

 spread over all the valleys. 



The JfomirniM Region, or Montana, runs parallel to the Pacific, 

 and from 20 to 50 miles from the shores. It comprehends the central 

 portion of the Ande, namely, the northern part of the Bolivian Andes 

 and the whole of the Peruvian Andes. The Andes here consist of 

 two very lofty chains, which with the country lying between them, 

 known as the table-land of Cuzco, the valley of the Rio Jauja, the 

 table-land of Pasco, and the valley of the Marafion, are described under 

 ANDES, vol. i. cols. 352-355. 



The Table-land of Cuzco extends from the mountains of Vilcanota, 

 its southern boundary, to about 12 30' S. lat, or more than 150 miles 

 from south to north, and about 100 miles from east to west. Its 

 surface is very uneven, being traversed by several ridges of broad- 

 backed bills rising with a tolerably steep ascent, and running from the 

 south, where they are connected with the mountains of Vilcanota, 

 towards the.north-uortli-wc8t, parallel to the great chains of the Andes, 

 which inclose this region. The valleys between these ridges are 

 usually several miles wide, but their surface is diversified by low 

 eminence*. The whole region declines towards the north. The town 

 of Cuioo (13* 31' 8. lat) is 11,380 feet above the sea-level. In the 

 most elevated districts south and west of Cuzco the only cultivated 

 grain is the quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). In the lower parts of the 

 valley* north of 13" S. lat. the agricultural products consist of maize, 

 sweet potatoes, yucag, and plantains. Tho sugar-cane succeeds very 

 well, and is cultivated in some parts, but not extensively. The moun- 

 tains which inclose these valleys are covered with thick forests, but 

 tree* are scarce in the more elevated districts, and in some of them 

 are entirely wanting. Throughout this region a good deal of rain 

 falls all the year round. In the valley of Paucartombo rain falls 300 

 days in the year. 



The VaU of Ike Rio Jauja extends from the table-land of Pasco on 

 the north, about 100 miles southward, between both ranges of the 

 Andes, and in the widest part may be about 30 miles across. Its 

 descent from the table-land is very rapid. At its southern extremity, 

 near 12* 80' S. lat, it is probably lees than 8000 feet above the sea- 

 level. This valley is the most populous district of Peru, and contains 

 several comparatively large towns. The northern districts produce 

 abundance of wh. at, maize, and the fruits of Europe ; in the southern, 

 yucaa, plantain*, and mandioe are cultivated, and the sugar-cane and 

 tobacco are grown to a considerable extent : but here, as in every other 

 part of Peru, agriculture is carried on in the rudest possible manner. 



The Tablt-laiul a/ Patco from south-west to north-east is about 60 

 mile* wide, and in these parta it is inclosed by ranges which rise from 

 600 to 1000 feet above it There u here an ascent from the Pacific 

 near the high summit called La Viuda, about 11 10' a lat, 76 30' 

 W. long. ; and a descent north of the Cerro Pasco, near 10 30' a lat, 

 7S* 40' W. long. The mountain masses are broken towards the north- 

 went and south-eaat by numerous river-courses, and do not constitute 

 a determinate boundary, but sink imperceptibly lower. This u the 

 highest of the table-hinds inclosed within the Andes, the level parts 

 being 14,000 feet above the tea-level, which renders the climate so oold 



that this iiitrict would have remained uninhabited but for the rich 

 mines of Paaco, which have attracted a numerous population. The 

 mean annual temperature probably dues not exceed 40 Fahr. Even 

 in the midit of summer, from May to November, the nights are <-M ; 

 and at nun-rise all the country is covered with hoar-frost, at which 

 time the thermometer indicates 32. During the morning the sky, 

 which is serene in the night-time, is covered with fogs accompanied 

 by a strong wind. This is followed by a fall of snow mixed with 

 hail. In the afternoon storms are frequently experienced, accompanied 

 by frightful thunder and hail, which sometimes cause great loss of 

 pioperty and life. In the winter, from November to March, the 

 weather is much worse, as the snow-storms then last for weeks 

 together. The table-laud is an uncultivated plain divided into a con- 

 siderable number of .-mailer plains by ridges of low hills rising a few 

 hundred feet above their base. The surface of the level parts consist* 

 partly of bore rocks or sand. The sand is partly covered with peat, or 

 by swamps intersected with grassy tracts, which serve as pasture- 

 ground for the llamas, which are kept in considerable numbers fur tlie 

 purpose of carrying the ore from the mines to the smelting-places. A 

 great number of lakes ore dispersed over the plain. They are very 

 deep, and ore the sources of some of the largest tributaries of the 

 Amazouas. In the northern part of the plain is the Lake of Llauri- 

 cocha, the source of the Maranon. In the southern district in the 

 Lake of Chiuchaycocha, which is about 35 miles long, 7 miles wide, 

 and 13,087 feet above the level of the sea. From it issues the prin- 

 cipal branch of the Jauja, one of the greate.it affluents of the Kio 

 UcayalL Near the eastern edge of the table-land is the Lake of 

 Quiluacocho, whence the liio Uuallaga, an affluent of the Amazonas, 

 issues. 



The Vale of the Rio Marai'ton extends from 10 to 5 S. lat. The 

 southern part is merely a wide ravine, but about >' S. lat, it gradually 

 enlarges to a valley several miles wide, and more than 200 miles long. 

 The southern part of this valley is probably not much more than 

 3000 feet above the sea-level and it lowers very gradually ; ut its 

 northern extremity, at the Ponga of Rentema, it is only 1250 feet 

 above the sea. This valley is by far the hottest portion of the moun- 

 tain region, and the vegetation in the lower parts does not differ from 

 that of other tropical countries. Wheat is only grown on the declivi- 

 ties of some adjacent mountains. Maize, mandioe, plantains, and 

 yucaa are most extensively grown for the consumption of the inhabit- 

 ants, and the sugar-cane and tobacco for exportation. 



On the west side of the Peruvian Andes, the region of the tropical 

 productions does not ascend more than 2000 feet above the sea, but in 

 the valleys of the mountain region it rises to between 4000 and 5000 

 feet, probably owing to the abundant rains which fall on the latter. 

 The cultivated grains of this region are rice and maize, and the other 

 products are plantains, bananas, mandioe, yams, camotes, and the 

 sugar-cane. The principal fruits are grapes, anouas, pine-apples, 

 papaws (carica), and cherimoyers. Above this region is that of the 

 European cerealia, which towards the Pacific reaches to 1 0,000 feet, 

 and in the valleys to upwards of 12,000 feet. The grains cultivated 

 in this region are wheat, barley, and maize ; potatoes and different 

 kinds of pulse are also cultivated. The fruit-trees are those of Europe, 

 among which the peach succeeds best Above this region only quinoa 

 and barley are cultivated ; the latter for fodder. Potatoes succeed at 

 a height exceeding 13,000 feet There are no forest-trees on the 

 western declivity of the Andes below 8000 or 9000 feet, but in the 

 interior of the mountain region they increase in size aud number in 

 proportion as the country declines in height, and the lowest districts 

 are covered with nearly impenetrable forests of lofty trees. 



Several roads lead from the coast of the Pacific to the interior of 

 the mountain region. [ANDES.] Six of these roads occur south of 

 15 20' S. lat The most southern is the Pass of Las Gualillas 

 (17 50' S. lat), which ia 14,830 feet high; the most northern moun- 

 tain pass occurs near 5 S. lat, and leads over the^Paramo of Quamani, 

 where it attains the elevation of 10,950 feet above the sea-level. The 

 lowest and most frequented of the southern passes is that of the Altos 

 de loa Huescos ; it runs at the foot of the volcano of Arequipa, aud 

 where it passes the Andes (16 21' S. lat.) it ia only 13,573 feet high. 



Of the eastern declivity of the Andes, the portion best known ia 

 the vale of the Rio Huallaga. This extensive valley lies east of the 

 vale of the Marafion, being separated from it by the Eastern Andes. 

 It extends from 10 30' to 7 30' S. lat, about 350 miles in length. 

 The most southern part, as far north as 9 30' S. lat, is narrow. In 

 this port the descent is rapid. Huanuco is about 9000 feet above the 

 sea-level, but at 9 30' S. lat. the valley is probably not more than 

 4000 feet high. At this place it begins to widen, the Eastern Andes 

 receding to the distance of 15 or 20 miles from the river. About 7 

 S. lat a branch of the mountains comes close up to the river, and high 

 hills approach also on the east close to its banks, forming near 6 30' 

 S. lat the Pongo of Huallaga, at which the valley terminates on the 

 north. The country north of the Pongo is level, and belongs to the 

 alluvial plain of the Amazonaa, The eastern boundary of the vale 

 is formed by a range of lofty hills. The soil of the wider portion o f 

 the vale is chiefly alluvial, and as it combines great fertility with 

 abundance of moisture and a great degree of heat, it is capable of main- 

 taining a numerous population. There are at least 100 very rainy 

 days in the year ; rain falls at all seasons, but the most rainy season 



