The Desert of Islay. 415 



the quartz grains sends a burning ray. A recent traveler 

 on horseback, who unluckily failed to reach Arequipa be- 

 fore morning, gives the following picture: "About five 

 o'clock a clear whiteness appeared in the sky, the stars 

 paled their lustre, the day began to break. Soon a ruddy 

 orange tint spread over the soil of the pampa, now become 

 firm and compact. In a few minutes the disk of the sun 

 appeared above the horizon ; and as we marched full in 

 the front of the god of day, we found ourselves in the 

 midst of a luminous torrent, which so dazzled and incom- 

 moded us that to escape from this new torture we doubled 

 ourselves up like hedgehogs. This anomalous and incon- 

 venient posture rendered us unjust to the claims of the 

 rising sun. Instead of welcoming his appearance with 

 transport, we were inclined to curse him ; but, notwith- 

 standing my own feeling about the matter, I could not 

 help laughing at my Peruvian attendants, who in so many 

 words sent to the devil the god they worshiped. It was 

 not till eight o'clock that the sun, now high above the 

 horizon, permitted us to raise our heads." 



The first relief was a procession of snow -clad mount- 

 ains along the eastern horizon, whose summits stood from 

 eighteen to twenty thousand feet above the Pacific. On 

 the right was the serrated ridge of Pichu-pichu ; next rose 

 beautiful Misti, one of the finest volcanoes crowning the 

 Andes ; then followed precipitous Chichani and, farther 

 north, the lofty Coropuno. Within sight of these tower- 

 ing peaks, which seemed to grow in altitude as we ap- 

 proached them, we flew along the edge of dizzy embank- 

 ments, passed the iron baths of Tingo, and suddenly en- 

 tered the city of Arequipa, 107 miles,'Or eight hours, from 

 Mollendo. 



Arequipa — " the place of rest," as the name signifies — 

 is one of those bright spots so often seen in the Andes, all 



