GUANO BEDS 43 



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 which the world can boast of. 



