Chap. V. DESERT OF AREQUIPA. 73 



fugitive army of Salaverry, in 183G, Avho, worn out with 

 fatigue and thirst, had here sunk down to die, and had been 

 lightly covered over with sand. The flesh was in perfect pre- 

 servation. We then entered the great desert of Arequi})a, 

 extending to the horizon on the right and left, and ending in 

 front at the foot of the rocky range of mountains separating 

 the sandy waste from the fertile campina of Arequijia. The 

 desert consists of hard ground, without a blade of vegetation, 

 aftbrding good riding ; but it is covered at short intervals 

 with mounds of the finest white sand, from twenty to thirty 

 feet high, all in the shape of a half-moon, with their horns 

 pointing north-west, and thus denoting the prevailing wind. 

 They are called Medanos. These Medanos shift their posi- 

 tions, and the breeze, whMing the sand in eddies on their 

 sTunmits, often causes a singing noise in the early dawn. 

 Frequently they form athwart the road, which has to deviate 

 in a half-circle, and rejoin the old track on the other side ; 

 but they all resemble each other exactly, and afford no 

 landmark to the lost or benighted traveller. 



In the centre of the desert is the post-house or tambo of 

 La Joya, twenty miles from Guerreros, kept by an English- 

 man, whose homely name of Jimmy Eyres has been con- 

 verted into the more grandiloquent and euphonious Spanish 

 one of Don Santiago Casimiro de los Ayres. AVater and 

 fodder for the beasts are brought from a great distance, 

 and their price is of course proportionately high ; but, consi- 

 dering its position in the midst of a desert and many leagues 

 from all supplies, the little tambo, consisting of several rooms 

 of deal planking roughly knocked together, was very com- 

 fortable. 



Starting at four on a bright starlight morning, the perfect 

 stillness and the wild grandeur of the boundless desert were 

 very impressive, while there was a delicious freshness in the 

 cool air. As the sun rose behind the mighty Cordilleras 



