592 PERU. 
worn away. If the sea had acted upon the land at a higher level 
than at present, even for a short period, we should suppose that with 
so yielding a rock, cliffs would have been formed. FHighty feet is 
above the height of the present cliffs on the side facing Callao. These 
cliffs, moreover, would have continued in a good state of preservation, 
at least as long as shells could have preserved their freshness in so 
exposed a situation; and especially in this dry and warm climate, 
where there is no debris formed by frosts and little by water, and where 
also the progress of decomposition or disintegration is for the same 
reason very slow. There is not a gully for a streamlet over the whole 
of San Lorenzo, because there is no water to wear one out; the sur- 
face is singularly smooth from the summit to the shore cliffs, the only 
interruption arising, as stated, from occasional harder layers, which 
project and mark the declivities with a few horizontal lines. It is 
argued that during an elevating movement such cliffs would not form. 
But we have observed that we cannot rightly infer from the facts that 
the land did not stand for a period at eighty-five feet below its present 
level. If this is not admitted, the shells are evidence of a greater 
elevation than eighty-five feet. And again, if the rise was a very slow 
and gradual one, we cannot be assured that in a rock so yielding, (as 
will be soon described,) cliffs would not form to an extent that would 
not have been obliterated in a few centuries. 
The occurrence of relics of Peruvian ware, thread, &c., with the 
shells, is easily accounted for on the supposition that the shells were 
accumulated by the Peruvians themselves; and this is rendered by no 
means improbable when we remember that shellfish are an article of 
food among all natives living upon a sea-coast. I am confident that 
the question ought to be oftener asked, whether human means might 
not have made heaps and beds of shells over land in the neighbour- 
hood of the sea. The natives of Patagonia pile up the refuse shells 
at the entrance of their huts until they close the entrance, and are 
compelled to change their residence. ‘The New Zealanders formerly 
carried basket-loads of shells to the interior whenever they made a 
journey to and from the sea-shore; and the only reason this is not now 
continued to the same extent, arises from their living at the present 
time upon potatoes and Indian corn, which are of comparatively recent 
introduction. 
A rush of waters over the land, such as is occasioned at times by 
an earthquake, is another cause which might be, and has been, 
appealed to, to explain the facts before us. ‘The ruins, consisting of 
