284 SOUTH AMEEICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



summit terminates in a sort of crown marking tlie orifice of the volcano. Although 

 of less imposing aspect than Misti, Omate was at one time the most restless of all 

 the Peruvian cones. In 1600 the column of vapours escaping from Ubinas, 

 15 miles to the north, is said to have suddenly ceased, while Omate, which had 

 never before emitted smoke, became violently agitated, spreading darkness over 

 a wide space and covering all the surrounding district with ashes. Six villages 

 scattered over the lower slopes disappeared under a shower of scoriae " a spear in 

 thickness." Arequipa, over 42 miles away, was first half-ruined by the earth- 

 quake sho;-ks, and then remained ten days shrouded in black night, during which 

 the multitude prepared for the end of all things, while others tried to lose con- 

 sciousness in drink. 



The roar of the eruption was stated to have been heard at a distance of over 600 

 miles. At Lima, 530 miles off, the people thought a naval battle was raging in the 

 neighbouring waters between the Spanish fleet and some Dutch corsairs. Wafted 

 on the land-breeze, the volcanic dust was borne seawards 930 miles from the coast. 

 In the surrounding district all landmarks between private property were effaced 

 under the rain of ashes, and for six years after the disaster the Arequipa vineyards 

 yielded no returns. 



Farther south, but still within the Peruvian frontier, rises another burning 

 mountain, Tutupaca, or Candarave (18,960 feet), at the south-west foot of which 

 nestles a lagoon fed by the melting snows. The engineer Church, who scaled it 

 in 1862, found on the summit a regular crater, where a little sulphur was 

 deposited by the still ejected vapours. Tutupaca was the scene of a tremendous 

 explosion in 1779. 



The Pacific Coastlands. 



Beyond the Cordilleras, properly so called, the zone of coastlands presents a 

 few eminences whose glittering rocks are seen a great distance seawards bypassing 

 vessels. Thus the projecting headlands of North Peru between Tumbez and 

 Lambayeque represent the terminal spurs of the coast mountains. Amotape, 

 highest of these groups, attains an elevation of over 3,000 feet. It also bears the 

 name of Cerros (Montes) de la Brea (" Pitch Hills "), and for over a century the 

 people of the hacienda de Parinas at the west end of the ridge used this hrca or 

 cope, natural tar or bitumen, for coating the inside of their earthenware utensils. 

 But the substance was utilised for no other purpose until the reports of the fortunes 

 made in the oil districts of the United States induced the local projirietors to turn 

 to better account the treasures contained in the Amotape rocks. 



The chief reservoirs, occupying a space of about 2,500,000 acres, are distri- 

 buted in the hills and along the coast from Tumbez to Sechura, and are far 

 more extensive than the famous oil region of the upper Alleghany basin in West 

 Pennsylvania. The asphalt occurs at an average depth of from 100 to 400 feet 

 below various strata of sands, sandstones of marine origin, decomposed limestones 

 and schists more or less charged with oil. In many places the oleaginous matter 



