234 APPENDIX. 



rocks, but no danger of any description outside it. The hill of 

 Mexillones is 2,650 feet high, has the appearance of a cone with 

 the top cut oflF, and stands conspicuously above the surround- 

 ing heights. This in clear weather is undoubtedly the best of 

 the two marks ; but as the tops of hills on the coast of Peru are 

 frequently covered with heavy clouds, the bluff is the surer mark, for 

 it cannot be mistaken ; as, besides its chalky appearance, it is the 

 northern extreme of the peninsula, and the land falls back several 

 miles to the eastward of it. 



Round this head is the spacious bay of Mexillones, eight miles 

 across — but of little use, as neither wood or water is to be obtained- 

 The shore is steep-to ; there is anchorage on the west side, tw^o 

 miles inside the blufF, a cable's length off a sandy spit, in seven 

 fathoms sandy bottom : at the distance of three cables there is thirty 

 fathoms. 



From this bay the coast runs nearly north and south, without any 

 thing worthy of remark, until you reach the Bay of Cobija, or La 

 Mar. This lies N. 13° E. thirty-one mUes from Leading BlufF, is 

 the only port of the Bolivian Republic, and contains about fourteen 

 hundred inhabitants. Vessels call occasionally to take in copper ore 

 and cotton ; but the trade is small (particularly in 1835, as the 

 revolution in Peru had destroyed the little they had). Water is scarce, 

 at least, that which is good : there are wells, but the water from 

 them is very brackish, and will not keep in casks. Fresh meat 

 may be procured at a high price ; but fruit and vegetables, even for 

 their owti consumption, are brought from Valparaiso, a distance of 

 seven hundred miles. They have a mud-built fort, of five or six 

 guns, on the summit of the Point ; the only fortification about the 

 place. 



If coming from the southward toward this bay : after having passed 

 the Leading BlufF (which should always be made), it would be advis- 

 able to shape a course so as to close the land two or three leagues 

 to windward of the port, and then coast along until two white-topped 

 islets, ofF False Cobija Point, are seen ; a mile and a quarter to the 

 northward of them is the port. On the Cobija Point there is a white 

 stone, which shews very plainly, in relief against the black rocks at 

 the back of it : a white flag is usually hoisted at the fort, when a ves- 

 sel appears in the offing — which is also a good guide. In going in 

 there is no danger ; the point is steep-to, and may be rounded at a 



