PERU. 



737 



Thus the total quantity shipped in the thirty- 

 three years from 1847 to 1879, inclusive, was 

 3,723,182 tons of 2,240 pounds each, at an av- 

 erage value of 14 6s. 8^. per ton, and an 

 aggregate value of $264,345,900 approximate- 

 ly. The rate of duty imposed on nitrate 

 shipped from the port of Iquique from 1830 

 to 1873 was four cents per quintal; from the 

 latter year to the end of 1880 it gradually rose to 

 $1.50 per quintal ; and at the end of 1881 it was 

 $1.60 per metric quintal (of 100 kilogrammes). 



The total length of the twenty-two railway 

 lines open to traffic at the end of 1877 was 

 2,030 miles. Eleven of these lines belonged 

 to the Government, eight were the property 

 of private companies or individuals, and the 

 three remaining lines were in part owned by 

 the Government, and in part private property. 



As recorded in the article PERU, in our vol- 

 ume for 1880, the Chilians, after their victory at 

 Arica, set about preparing an expedition against 

 Lima, for the avowed purpose of putting an 

 end to the prolonged contest, "not by such 

 VOL. xxi. 47 A 



expedients as the conferences of Arica, which 

 could give no positive result, but by striking 

 the final blow in the very capital of the ene- 

 my." As soon as the army was raised to a 

 strength sufficient, 26,000 Chilians, commanded 

 by General Baquedano, began a campaign which 

 culminated in the complete overthrow of the 

 Peruvian army, and the occupation of the Pe- 

 ruvian capital by the victorious Chilian troops. 

 Landing at Curuyaco early in January, 1881, 

 the expedition at once proceeded to camp in 

 front of the Peruvian army, which occupied 

 the heights extending from Bella Vista to Mon- 

 terico, under cover of parapets and ditches. 

 At five o'clock, on the morning of the 13th, the 

 first division, under Colonel Lynch, opened 

 fire, and, the second soon following, the attack 

 became general. A fierce fight of four hours 

 ended in a victory for the Chilians. Yet an- 

 other battle had to bo fought, for some 8,000 

 Peruvians had concentrated in Chorrillos, 

 whence they were " dislodged street by street." 

 The town was completely destroyed. An ar- 

 mistice was now granted, at the request of the 

 foreign ministers resident at Lima, but the Pe- 

 ruvians, again in position under cover of the 

 fortifications at Miraflores, provoked another 

 attack, and were routed and pursued to tlie 

 suburbs of the capital. According to the re- 

 port of the Chilian commander-in-chief, 25,000 

 Peruvians were beaten by halt that number of 

 Chilians at Chorrillos, and the number of the 

 former at the commencement of the fight at 

 Miraflores was 15,000. The Peruvian losses in 

 the first of these two engagements "exceeded 

 7,000, with 1,500 prisoners, over 60 cannon and 

 mitrailleuses, and a quantity of arms " ; while 

 the Chilian losses in both battles were e.-ti- 

 mated at but 600 killed and 2.0CO wounded. 

 Lima surrendered unconditionally, and was oc- 

 cupied by 4,000 Chilians on the "l7th. Callno 

 surrendered on the same day, and here virtu- 

 ally comes to an end the record of the military 

 operations of this protracted struggle. Menu- 

 time Pierola, the Peruvian Dictator, had fled 

 to Chocos, from which place he issued a pomp- 

 ous proclamation. 



Pierola was credited with the design to pro- 

 tract the struggle by carrying the sreiie of hos- 

 tilities to the mountainous regions, distant from 

 the coast, and of difficult access for the Chili- 

 ans. But these had no desire for the indefi- 

 nite prosecution of guerrilla warfare, unprom- 

 i>iiiL' <>f glory or bent tit. Tlie main professed 

 object lor which they had pursued the conflict 

 WH* not the conquest of Pern, but her destruc- 

 tion as a naval power, and her innipacitation 

 for future intervention in Chilian affairs. That 

 object attained, tlieir further desires were lim- 

 ited to two requirements: the establishment 

 of a permanent pence, and the payment to 

 them of a war indemnity. Tho only present 

 means of >ccnring the latter being the occupa- 

 tion of the conquered territory, that H was re- 

 solved to continue indefinitely. With a view 

 to obtain the first, a provisional government 



