Chap. XVTII. STEAM NAVIGATION. 305 



Amazons, under certain restrictions ; and in February 1860 the 

 Brazilian steamer 'Tabatinga' arrived atLaguna on the Peru- 

 vian river Huallaga, upwards of 3000 miles from the mouth 

 of the Amazons. Meanwhile the Peruvian Government have 

 ordered steamers to be constructed to work on the upper 

 Avaters of the Amazons, in conjunction with the Brazilian line ; 

 and roads are to be made connecting inland towns with the 

 nearest navigable points on the tributaries of the Amazons. 

 In June 1860 a party of sixty men left the town of Huanuco 

 to explore the wide forest-covered plains known as the " Pam- 

 pas del Sacramento " to the eastward ; and in July a road had 

 ah'cady been commenced, which is to connect Huanuco witli 

 a navigable part of the river Ucayali, a distance of 150 miles. 

 A small colony of Germans has been established on the river 

 Pozuzu. Other measures of a similar nature are in contempla- 

 tion, and it is impossible to estimate the rapid and certain 

 increase of wealth which will accrue to this hitherto neglected 

 region, when steam communication has thus brought one of 

 the richest regions in the world within reach of a market. 

 Para, at the mouth of the Amazons, akeady exceeds, in the 

 number of its staple commodities of export, all indigenous to 

 the regions of which it forms the outlet, almost any other port 

 on the surface of the globe. My space will not allow me to 

 dilate further on this most interesting subject ; but it is as- 

 suredly one which well deserves the attention of commercial 

 men in England. 



The most remarkable source of Peruvian wealth, and one 

 which has caused effects on her financial system which are 

 perhaps unique in the history of any country, is the guano 

 on the desert islands off the coast. AVhen the South Ameri- 

 can Eepublics were thrown open to the trade of Europe, the 

 value of guano as a manure was soon discovered, the demand 

 rapidly increased, and the Peruvian Government were not 

 long in availing themselves of this, as they believed, inex- 



X 



