APPENDIX. 265 



shews very distinctly. The best mark for the anchorage is the ship- 

 ping, when any are there. From this road the coast continues low, 

 with broken cliiF, until you reach Point Eten, which is a double hiU 

 (the southern one the highest), with a steep cliff facing the sea. 

 The north side of this cliff is white, and shews conspicuously. 



N. 43° W., a Httle more than four leagues, is the road of Lam- 

 BAYEQUE, the worst anchorage on the coast of Peru. There is a 

 small village on the rising ground, with a church that shews white 

 towards the sea ; off which vessels anchor in five fathoms, a mile 

 and a quarter from the shore. The bottom is a hard sand, and bad 

 holding ground, it is always necessary to have two anchors ready, 

 for the heavy swell that sets on this beach renders it almost im- 

 possible to bring up with one, particularly after the sea breeze 

 sets in. 



Rice is the chief commoditj^ for which vessels touch here : the 

 only method of discharging or taking in a cargo (or in fact landing 

 at all), is by means of the balsa. This is a raft of nine logs of the 

 cabbage palm, secured together by lashings, with a platform raised 

 about two feet, on which the goods are placed. Tliey have a large 

 lug sail which is used in landing, the wind being along the shore 

 enables them to run through the surf and on the beach with ease and 

 safety ; and it seldom happens that any damage is sustained by this 

 peculiar mode of proceeding. Supplies of fresh provisions, fruit, 

 and vegetables may be obtained, but neither wood nor water. 



The coast continues low and sandy, similar in appearance to that 

 of Lambayeque, to the distance of twenty-five leagues : an extensive 

 range of table-land of considerable height, with broken rocky points, 

 then commences, and continues to Point Aguja or the Needle. 

 Fifteen leagues from Lambayeque in an E.S.E. direction, lies a small 

 group of islands called Lobos de Afuera. These islands are a 

 league in length north and south, and a mile and a half broad ; are 

 about a hundred feet high, of a mixed brown and white colour, and 

 may be seen several leagues off ; they are quite barren, affording 

 neither wood nor water. There is a cove on the north side formed by 

 the two principal islands, but with deep water and rocky bottom ; 

 within this cove are several nooks, in which a small vessel might 

 careen, without being interrupted by the swell. 



These islands are resorted to by fishermen from Lambayeque on 

 their balsas ; they carry all their necessaries with them, and remain 



a a 



