1835.] UNHEALTHY COUNTRY. 351 



Humboldt has observed, that, " under the torrid zone, the smallest 

 marshes are the most dangerous, being surrounded, as at Vera 

 Cruz and Carthagena, with an arid and sandy soil, which raises 

 the temperature of the ambient air." * On the coast of Peru, how- 

 ever, the temperature is not hot to any excessive degree ; and 

 perhaps in consequence, the intermittent fevers are not of the most 

 malignant order. In all unhealthy countries the greatest risk is 

 run by sleeping on shore. Is this owing to the state of the body 

 during sleep, or to a greater abundance of miasma at such times ? 

 It appears certain that those who stay on board a vessel, though 

 anchored at only a short distance from the coast, generally suffer 

 less than those actually on shore. On the other hand, I have 

 heard of one remarkable case where a fever broke out among the 

 crow of a man-of-war some hundred miles off the coast of Africa, 

 and at the very same time that one of those fearful periods f of 

 death commenced at Sierra Leone. 



No State in South America, since the declaration of independence, 

 has suffered more from anarchy than Peru. At the time of our 

 visit, there were four chiefs in arms contending for supremacy in 

 the government : if one succeeded in becoming for a time very 

 powerful, the others coalesced against him ; but no sooner were 

 they victorious, than they were again hostile to each other. The 

 other day, at the Anniversary of the Independence, high mass was 

 performed, the President partaking of the sacrament : during the 

 Te Deum laudamus, instead of each regiment displaying the Peru- 

 vian flag, a black one with death's head was unfurled. Imagine a 

 government under which such a scene could be ordered, on such 

 an occasion, to be typical of their determination of fighting to 

 death ! This state of affairs happened at a time very unfortunately 

 for rue, as I was precluded from taking any excursions much 

 beyond the limits of the town. The barren island of S. Lorenzo, 

 which forms the harbour, was nearly the only place where one 

 could walk securely. The upper part, which is upwards of 1000 

 feet in height, during this season of the year (winter), comes within 

 the lower limit of the clouds ; and in consequence, an abundant 



* Political Essuy on the Kingdom of Now Spain, vol. iv. p. 199. 



t A similar interesting case is recorded in the Madras Medical Quart. 

 Journ., 1839, p. 340. Dr. Ferguson, in his admirable Paper (see 9th vol. 

 of Edinburgh Royal Trans.), shows clearly that the poison is generated 

 in the drying process; and hence th.it dry hot countries are often the 

 most unhealthy. 



