ON THE COAST OF PERU. 
' The houses are raised on posts, about 
10 feet from the ground, and are entered 
by a ladder. 
cane, thatched with palm-leaves, and bound 
together by bejucos, or stems of a particu- 
lar climbing plant. Not a nail is employed 
in the building, and a hatchet is all that is 
necessary for its construction. They are 
not much unlike large osier bird-cages, but 
have the advantages, in a hot climate, of 
securing a free circulation of air, and are, 
in general, neater and cleaner than the 
houses built on the ground, because all 
kinds of dirt and rubbish fall readily 
through the floors, which are made of 
canes split open; they are consequently 
very elastic and not very convenient for the 
operation of writing, which, however, is one 
the least practised in them. The vegetation 
here consists chiefly of Mimosas, Cactus 
hexangularis, which rises to the height of 
twenty feet, with thorns six inches in 
length, a species of erect Convolvulus, and 
patches of Passiflora fetida ; but my atten- 
tion was chiefly attracted by a large shrub, 
seemingly Octandria Monogynia, remark- 
able for the size and beauty of its bractee, 
which, from their colour and abundance, 
gave it a very magnificent appearance. I 
have not met with it in any other part of 
the country. At this point commences that 
- striking difference observable betwixt the 
Colombian and Peruvian coasts. From 
lat. 9° N. to 3° S. we find either a regular 
rainy season, as in Panama and Guayaquil, 
lasting about six months, or such a predo- 
minancy of wet weather, as along the coasts 
of Choco and Barbacoas, that a summer of 
two months is looked upon as a phenome- 
Commencing from the neighbourhood of 
Tumbez, rain becomes scarcer and more 
uncertain, till it almost entirely disappears 
in the deserts which extend from Payta to 
Lima. The mouth of the river of Guaya- 
quil divides two countries, as opposite in 
features as Arabia Petrea and blooming 
Italy : the cause of this striking difference, 
observable equally on a lesser scale on se- 
veral parts of the Atlantic coast, must be 
E x sought in the direction of the chains of the 
Andes; wherever the mountains recede to 
hg 
They are formed of split 1 
71 
a distance exceeding one degree from the 
coast, the part of the country beyond this 
= ne TRS * e 1 4 dx 13 TE d 
i o 
This is the case with the provinces of Coco, 
and the city of Maracaybo on the Atlantic 
coast. The western side of the province 
of Manabi, near Guayaquil, is for the same 
reason peculiarly dry; and the whole Pe- 
ruvian coast-line falls within the same rule. 
At Zarumilla and Tumbez, there is a fluc- 
tuation in the seasons: the distance from the 
mountains being about forty miles, and it 
increases by the projection of the coast; 
-towards the West the weather becomes 
more constantly dry through the whole 
r. 
* 
& 
On the 11th of October, I hired horses, 
and proceeded to Tumbez, distant scarcely 
two leagues, over a level plain, interspersed 
with copse-wood. On my arrival at the 
village, I proceeded to the house of the 
Alcadi, D. Antonio Abad Puel, to whom 
I related the why and wherefore of my 
coming. It was no novelty to him; for some 
days before, General lllingret and Mr. 
Pflucker, and a young American, named 
Taylor, who had been suddenly seized, and 
banished on suspicion of being suspicious, 
had passed through the place on their way 
to Payta. The name of Flores was exe- 
crated by the Peruvians as the author of 
the last useless and disastrous war betwixt 
them and Colombia, I was accordingly very 
kindly received by Mr. Puel, who provided 
me a lodging, and invited me to his table, 
The village is built without method or or- 
der, on the banks of the river. 
The houses are in the Spanish style, that 
is, built on the ground, instead of being 
raised on poles; they make, however, a 
poor appearance, the walls bei nstruct- 
ed of wattles, sometimes plastered with 
mud, and sometimes bare. The roofs are 
thatched with rushes. The surrounding 
country is dry and bare; but the banks 
of the river, which is navigable for boats 
and even small schooners, are covered with 
pipe hey of Maize, Plantains, 
avas, Batatas. The 
tuberous roots of the latter form the chief, - 
or indeed the only article of exportation. 
They are called Cametes by the inhabit- 
