72 START FOR AREQUIPA. Chap. V. 



yards wide, the lower part of which is undermined, and forms 

 a passage by which the waves rush into the great tinajon, 

 or bowl, with a mighty roar ; and, dasliing themselves against 

 the rocky sides, tlirow back clouds of white spray. The only 

 vegetation near the coast consists of lowiy little 3Iesemhryan- 

 thema, scattered about at long intervals, and an occasional 

 stonecrop (Sedum). 



During our stay at Islay we enjoyed the hospitality of 

 Mr. Wilthew, H.B.M. Consul, and his wife, to whom we 

 were indebted for much thoughtful kindness. The rest of 

 the inhabitants consist of Peruvian officials, agents of com- 

 mercial houses in Arequipa, and a few shopkeepers and 

 artisans, besides the muleteers and other birds of passage, 

 and the porters and - boatmen of mixed Indian and negro 

 extraction. The supplies for the market come almost entirely 

 from the rich valley of Tambo, some leagues down the coast. 



On March 6th, our mules and horses having arrived, we 

 started for Arequipa in the morning, a distance of ninety 

 miles, and, crossing the country near Islay, entered a gorge 

 in the mountains, w'hich winds up to the great desert above, 

 at the commencement of which there is a grove of dusty 

 olive-trees. This dismal ravine, with arid scarped mountains 

 rising up on either side, here and there a tall gaunt cactus, 

 and everywhere a dense cloud of white dust, leads up to a 

 little post-house built of canes, called the " Tambo de Guer- 

 reros," eighteen miles from Islay. 



Guerreros is at tlie head of the gorge leading down to 

 Islay ; and, from a rising ground a little beyond the tambo,^ 

 the great desert of Arequipa opens upon the view, bounded 

 by a range of mountains wliich are crowned by the snowy 

 peak of the volcano. At this point there is a wooden cross 

 wliich marks the gi-ave of a poor soldier belonging to the 



* " Tambo '" is a Spanish corruption of tlie Quichua word Tampit, au iun or 

 post-house. 



