144 EAMBLES AFTER SPORT. 



I started in the steamer Payta for Lima, tlie capital 

 of the Republic of Peru. Between Valparaiso and Callao 

 there is nothing much of interest. Cobija, the only sea- 

 port that Bolivia possesses, is a wretched place ; its 

 church with two steeples is an excellent landmark for 

 vessels making the port; it looks an imposing edifice 

 from the steamer, but on landing I found it only on a 

 par with others. From here pack trains start for La Paz, 

 the capital; the charge is about 100 dollars. Mexillones 

 has a beautiful harbour, as smooth as glass, and big 

 enough for almost all the ships of the world to float in. 

 There are important guano deposits here, the owner- 

 ship of which is likely to cause trouble between Chile 

 and Bolivia. Miserable, thrice miserable, is the only 

 word I have for all these places. Iquique, however, is a 

 trifle better. A few years ago this place was a mere 

 collection of huts; it now contains over 8000 people, 

 several very fair stores, and some important business 

 houses; it owes all this to the nitrate deposits about 

 thirty miles ofi". A railway connects the works with the 

 port, winding along the mountains by a series of terrific 

 ascents. The very day we arrived the coupling of the 

 engine gave way, and the whole train ran down the line, 

 killing some twenty people. I declined an invitation to 

 go up to the works. There is a company being formed 

 now to lay a series of iron pipes down from the nitrate 

 beds to the coast ; the nitrate is to be dissolved in huge 

 vats at the beds, and run down in a liquid state through 

 the pipes, and be re-crystallised on its arrival alongside 

 the vessel, being by this method conveyed to England or 

 elsewhere in a nearly pure state. 



Arica, the port of Tacna, one of the principal cities in 

 Peru, was once one of the most important places on the 



