I 



AXIMALS OF THE SAND-COAST. 35 



Among the lizard tribes large and brilliantly green iguanas 

 are found on the southern coast ; but much more frequently 

 dull and sombre agamas lurk among the rocks and stones. 

 Snakes, both venomous and harmless, are in general tolerably 

 rare, and occur both in the fruitful lands and the sand-plains. 



The animated sea-shore forms a striking contrast to the death- 

 like solitude of the interior. Troops of carrion vultures gather 

 about the large marine animals cast ashore by the surf ; 

 numerous strand-birds are greedily on the look-out for the shell- 

 fish left by the retreating tide, or for the crabs and sea-spiders 

 that everywhere draw their furrows about the beach ; and sea- 

 otters and seals sun themselves on the cliffs along the whole 

 coast, except in the neighbourhood of the seaports where they 

 have been extirpated or driven away by incessant persecutions. 



To the north of Chancay, steep sand-hills rise to the height 

 of 300 or 400 feet, abruptly verging to the sea. The road lead- 

 ing along the side of these hills, would be extremely dangerous 

 but for the unstable nature of the soil. For though at each 

 false step the mule slides with his rider towards the sea, it is 

 very easy for him to regain his footing on the yielding sand. 

 A large stone on one of these hills bears a striking resemblance 

 to a sleeping sea-lion, and almost perpendicularly beneath it lies 

 a little cove, inhabited by a number of seals. At night the 

 bark of these animals, mixing with the hollow roar of the 

 breakers, fills the traveller with a kind of involuntary terror. 



Myriads of sea-birds breed on the small islands along the 

 coast or swarm about the bays, where the fish supply them with 

 abundant food. The number of these birds, a matter formerly 

 of only local interest, is now a subject of general importance, as 

 to them are owing the deep guano beds which have converted 

 the sterile Chincha Islands * into mines of wealth. 



The want of rain, which renders the greatest part of the 

 Peruvian coast so utterly barren, is of the utmost advantage for 

 the production of the guano ; for if the Chincha Islands, like 

 the Orkneys or the Hebrides, had been exposed to frequent 

 storms, or washed by unceasing showers, they would have been 

 mere naked rocks, instead of affording the richest deposits of 

 manure the world can boast of. 



* For a more detailed account of the Peruvian Guano Islands, see * The Sea 

 and its Living Wonders.' Second Edition, pp. 144, 147. 



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