816 



SOUTH AMEEICA— THE ANDES REGIONS. 



VII. 



Topography. 



In her northern provinces Peru has no cities to rival the Ecuadorean seaport 

 of Guayaquil in commercial importance. Tumbez, sighted by vessels coming 

 from the south, before penetrating into the Jambeli channel, at the entrance of 

 Guayaquil bay, is more interesting for its historic memories than for its 

 exchanges. Here the first Spanish adventurers landed in the year 1528, at which 

 time this city of the Incas possessed a strong fortress, a palace, a wealthy temple, 



Fig. 120. — Tumbez and its Deserts. 

 Scale 1 : 750.000. 



0to5 

 Fathoms. 



5 to 25 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



25 to 50 

 Fathoms. 



50 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



18 Miles. 



and a convent of the " Vestals of the Sun." At present it has little to show 

 except its low houses threatened by the sands ; and the Rio Tumbez, descending 

 from the auriferous Zaruma regions, no longer feeds the network of irrigating 

 rills which formerly ramified to a great distance over the surrounding plains. 

 At Tumbez the beach shoals so gradually that the shipping has to ride at anchor 

 a long way off the coast. 



West of the Amatope " Pitch Hills " the port of Talam has recently been 

 founded by some capitalists interested in the petroleum industry. An under- 

 ground conduit, 7 miles long, fed by pumping gear capable of raising 1,000 tons 

 of petroleum in a day, conveys the oil from the wells of Negritos to the Talara 



