THE PERUVIAN SAND-COAST 39 



at about three in the afternoon ; but in August and September, 

 when it is most dense, it rests for weeks immovably over the 

 earth, never dissolving in rain, but merely descending in a fine, 

 penetrating drizzle, which is called "garua" by the inhabitants. 

 In many parts of the Peruvian coast rain has not been known 

 to fall for centuries, except only after very severe earthquakes, 

 and even then the phenomenon is not of constant occurrence. 

 The mist seldom ascends to a vertical height of more than 

 1200 feet, when it is replaced by violent showers of rain; and, 

 remarkably enough, the limits between both can be determined 

 with almost mathematical precision, as there are plantations, 

 one half of whose surface is invariably moistened by garuas and 

 the other by rain. 



When the mists appear, the Lomas, or chains of hills which 

 bound the sand-coast towards the east, begin to assume a new 

 character ; and, as if by magic, a garden is seen where but a 

 few days before a desert extended its dreary nakedness. Soon 

 also, animal life begins to animate the scene, as the Lomeros 

 drive their cattle and horses to these newly-formed pasture- 

 grounds, where for several months they find an abundance of 

 juicy food, but no water. This, however, they do not require, 

 as they always leave the Lomas in the best condition. 



In some of the northern coast-districts, situated near the equa- 

 torial line, where the garuas seldom appear, the fertility of the 

 land depends wholly upon the streams which issue from the 

 mountains. The dew, which along the coasts of central and 

 south Peru hardly moistens the soil to the depth of half an inch, 

 is there so completely wanting, that a piece of paper exposed to 

 the air durins: the niofht shows no siorn of moisture in the morn- 

 ing; and so thoroughly does the dryness of the soil prevent 

 putrefaction, that after 300 years the mummified corpses are 

 still found unaltered, which the ancient Peruvians buried in a 

 sitting posture. 



Thus the aridity of a great part of the Sahara repeats itself 

 in these American deserts, and is in some measure owing to 

 the same cause, though their geographical position to the west 

 of the Andes, whose eastern slopes absorb all the moisture of 

 the prevailing trade-winds, chiefly accounts for their nakedness. 

 Rain is wanting, as there is no vegetation of any great extent 

 to condense the passing vapours ; and, on the other hand, the 



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