364 APPEARANCE OF CALLAO. [chap. xvi. 



comes within the lower limit of the clouds ; and in con- 

 sequence, an abundant cryptogamic vegetation, and a few 

 flowers, cover the summit. On the hills near Lima, at a 

 height but little greater, the ground is carpeted with moss, 

 and beds of beautiful yellow lilies, called Ainmicaes. This 

 indicates a very much greater degree of humidity, than at 

 a corresponding height at Iquique. Proceeding northwai'd 

 of Lima, the climate becomes damper, till on the banks of 

 the Guayaquil, nearly under the equator, we find the most 

 luxuriant forests. The change, however, from the sterile 

 coast of Peru to that fertile land is described as taking 

 place rather abruptly in the latitude of Cape Blanco, two 

 degrees south of Guayaquil. 



Callao is a filthy, ill-built, small seaport. The inhabitants, 

 both here and at Lima, present every imaginable shade of 

 mixture, between European, Negro, and Indian blood. 

 They appear a depraved, drunken set of people. The 

 atmosphere is loaded with foul smells, and that peculiar 

 one, which may be perceived in almost every town within 

 the tropics, was here very strong. The fortress, which 

 withstood Lord Cochrane's long siege, has an imposing 

 appearance. But the President, during our stay, sold the 

 brass guns, and proceeded to dismantle parts of it. The 

 reason assigned was that he had not an officer to whom he 

 could trust so important a charge. He himself had good 

 reasons for thinking so, as he had obtained the president- 

 ship by rebelling while in charge of this same fortress. 

 After we left South America, he paid the penalty in 

 the usual manner, by being conquered, taken prisoner, 

 and shot. 



Lima stands on a plain in a valley, formed during the 

 gradual retreat of the sea. It is seven miles from Callao, 

 and is elevated 500 feet above it ; but from the slope being 

 very gradual, the road appears absolutely level ; so that 

 when at Lima it is difficult to believe one has ascended 

 even one hundred feet : Humboldt has remarked on this 

 singularly deceptive case. Steep, barren hills rise like 

 islands from the plain, which is divided, by straight mud- 

 walls, into large green fields. In these scarcely a tree 

 grows excepting a few willows, and an occasional clump 

 of bananas and of oranges. The city of Lima Is now In a 

 wretched state of decay : the streets are nearly unpaved ; 

 and heaps of filth are piled up In all directions, where the 

 black gallinazos, tame as poultry, pick up bits of carrion. 



