86 



The History of Guano, from Dr. Gardner^s Essay. Vol. IX. 



The accumulation of recent excrement is 

 extremely slow. " Experience seems to 

 prove," says Humboldt, " that one island 

 will scarcely produce a ship load in a great 

 number of years." 



Several of the older deposits, under sand, 

 were also worked by the Indians. The 

 islands of Iquique, St. Lobos, Isla di Guana 

 near Arica, are mentioned by the first writers. 



We owe most of our information of the 

 present condition and extent of tliese depo- 

 sits to Humboldt and Mr. Winterfeldt, who 

 resided in Peru for a number of years, and 

 publishetl an account in Bell's Weekly Mes- 

 senger, September 11th, 1841. 



Humboldt estimated the range of guano 

 islets from 13'= to 21° south latitude — but it 

 certainly extends beyond these limits, for 

 the island of Lobos is as far north as 6'' 

 south latitude, and Mr. Bartlett, recently 

 from Peru, states that they extend to the 

 2oth degree south. 



The following islands and ports are best 

 known as furnishing the manure : 



Iquique, lat. 20° 20' south, near the port 

 of Iquique, has been wrought from time im- 

 memorial, and is beginning to be exhausted, 

 according to Mr. Winterfeldt. 



At Pabellon de Pica, from the hill of Pica, 

 large quantities are obtained, this bed being 

 a mile in length and extremely deep — it is 

 even said 800 to 900 feet. The deposit was 

 coveretl with a considerable accumulation of 

 drift sand. 



From St. Lobos island, three leagues south 

 of Pica. 



At the island of Torrecella. 



At the port of Islay, from the islands of 

 Islay and Jesus, which formerly yielded up- 

 wards of twenty tons of recent guano, but 

 whence the birds have been driven by the 

 opening of the port. 



At the port of Mcllendo, larg-e quantities 

 are sold for the province of Arequipa, where 

 it is extensively used for maize and other 

 crops. In the adjoining province of Tara- 

 capa, it is also used in even larger quantities 

 as a manure for wheat, maize, fruit trees, 

 and indeed every crop except sugar. (Win- 

 terfeldt.) 



The Chincha islands, lying about fifteen 

 miles from the port of Pisco, in lat 14° 23' 

 south, longitude 76° 1' Greenwich, furnish 

 immense supplies. One of these possesses 

 an excellent liarbour, so that ships can be 

 warped sufficiently close to the land to take 

 OH a cargo through a canvass hose, oi any 

 similar contrivance. The deposit is esti- 

 mated at 300 feet deep, and the island half 

 a mile in diameter, with a high hill in the 

 centre. Tiiere are three islets — the most 

 favourable is the middle.. 



The islands about the port of Arica, lat. 

 18° 26' south, longitude 70° 16' West 

 Greenwich, have also been wrought for a 

 long time, and abound in excellent guano. 



I'lie islands of Ua and Iza are mentioned 

 by Humboldt. 



Nearly from Coquimbo to Guayaquil, the 

 shore is barren, only here and there present- 

 ing fertile valleys wliere a stream descends 

 from the mountains, as at Arica and Co- 

 quimbo, where an abundance of wheat is 

 raised, and at Quillota and Lambaryeque, 

 where even forests exist. The country 

 near Lima, is moistcr from the proximity of 

 the Andes and the heavy mists called gar- 

 rua. But excepting t!ie valleys, extensive 

 deserts of sand, with naked rocks, are met 

 for 1600 miles. From Coquimbo to Copiapo, 

 300 miles, not a village exists: then the 

 traveller crosses the wastes of Ataeama, 

 and to the north of Truxillo occur those of 

 Picera and Sechura. Along the coast, on is- 

 lands stretching to the sea, on headlands, and 

 uninhabited points, buried under many feet 

 of sand, it is probable immense deposits ex- 

 ist which have never been opened, but which 

 the enterprise of the Peruvian company will 

 discover. 



The amount drawn for the supply of the 

 district of Arequipa only, is stated by Mr. 

 Winterfeldt at 600 to 700 tons. Tarapaca 

 requires more. The lands about Arica and 

 all along the coast are extensively manured 

 with it; hence many surmise that the guano 

 will be rapidly exhausted, but it is probable 

 that only a few islands are yet known, for 

 they extend to upwards of fifteen miles from 

 the coast. The beds of manure are usually 

 under sand or drift, and reach various depths, 

 from a few feet to 900 feet, according to 

 some captains. In superficial dimensions 

 they are equally various, from a few hun- 

 dred feet to upwards of a mile and a half. 



The success attendant on the importation 

 of gniano into England, gave rise to a mer- 

 cantile speculation on the part of a company, 

 who have secured from the Peruvian and 

 Bolivian government a monopoly in the sale 

 of the manure, for which they are said to 

 have paid §1,000,000 ; moreover there is a 

 duty of £3 the ton levied on the export. 



The recent excrement is not an article of 

 export, but that which is red or brown. It 

 usually exhales an ammoniacal odour, which 

 sometimes, after heavy dews, becomes intol- 

 erably offensive. It is said that at Arica 

 the smell from the neighbouring guano 

 islands is sometimes so great as to keep ofF 

 shipping — and an epidemic is even attribu- 

 ted to it: notwithstanding, the crews of ves- 

 sels engaged in transporting it are robust 

 and healthy. 



