1835.J BAY OF CALLAO. 365 



lows for a length of one hundred and fifty miles the margin of a 

 grand basin or plain ; this, from its outline, manifestly must once 

 have been a lake, or more probably an inland arm of the sea, as 

 may be inferred from the presence of iodic salts in the saline stra- 

 tum. The surface of the plain is 3300 feet above the Pacific. 



19th. We anchored in the Bay of Callao, the seaport of 

 Lima, the capital of Peru. We stayed here six weeks, but from 

 the troubled state of public affairs, I saw very little of the coun- 

 try. During our whole visit the climate was far from being so 

 delightful, as it is generally represented. A dull heavy bank of 

 clouds constantly hung over the land, so that during the first six- 

 teen days I had only one view of the Cordillera behind Lima. 

 These mountains, seen in stages, one above the other, through 

 openings in the clouds, had a very grand appearance. It is almost 

 become a proverb, that rain never falls in the lower part of Peru. 

 Yet this can hardly be considered correct ; for during almost 

 every day of our visit there was a thick drizzling mist, which was 

 sufficient to make the streets muddy and one's clothes damp : this 

 the people are pleased to call Peruvian dew. That much rain 

 does not fall is very certain, for the houses are covered only with 

 flat roofs made of hardened mud ; and on the mole ship-loads of 

 wheat were piled up, being thus left for weeks together without 

 any shelter. 



I cannot say I liked the very little I saw of Peru : in summer, 

 however, it is said that the climate is much pleasanter. In all 

 seasons, both inhabitants and foreigners suffer from severe attacks 

 of ague. This disease is common on the whole coast of Peru, 

 but. is unknown in the interior. The attacks of illness which 

 arise from miasma never fail to appear most mysterious. So dif- 

 ficult is it to judge from the aspect of a country, whether or not 

 it is healthy, that if a person had been told to choose within the 

 tropics a situation appearing favourable for health, very probably 

 he would have named this coast. The plain round the outskirts 

 of Callao is sparingly covered with a coarse grass, and in some 

 parts there are a few stagnant, though very small, pools of water. 

 The miasma, in all probability, arises from these : for the town 

 of Arica was similarly circumstanced, and its healthiness was 

 much improved by the drainage of some little pools. Miasma 



