Rolling of' the Sea on Coast of Peru. 183 



geological characters approximate it to a sandstone of a more re- 

 cent formation ; and they have promised on this curious sub- 

 ject more lengthened details, along with plates of the greatest 

 accuracy. — Neues JaJirbuch fur Mineralogie, &c. 1834. 



3. Rolling of the Sea on the Coast of Peru. — Nautical read- 

 ers, it is remarked in the Quarterly Review, will probably like 

 to read Dr Meyen's (author of the Voyage round the World) 

 observations on one of those sudden changes to which the South 

 American seas are frequently exposed. We believe this subject 

 was first brought under consideration by Captain Hall. It is 

 known that, on the coast of North Chili, as well as along the 

 whole coast of Peru, an undulating movement of the sea fre- 

 quently takes place, without any one being able to discover the 

 cause; we ourselves have been lying during the night, and in 

 the most complete calm, in the harbour of Capiapo, when the ship 

 rocked so violently that we all found the motion intolerable. At 

 other places, even south of Arica, we have, when the wind was 

 perfectly still, seen waves thirty or forty feet high. It is known 

 that, on the west coast of South America, the ebb and flood are 

 •very trifling, and, at a short distance from the land, quite invisi- 

 ble ; so that, at the full of the moon, this phenomenon of the 

 rolling of the sea, as it is called in these countries, cannot be 

 ascribed to the tide. It has been attributed to the influence of 

 the moon, and it is maintained that it only occurs at the full of 

 the moon. But, in opposition to this theory, we can assert that 

 this rolling, and in truth with the greatest violence, as for ex- 

 ample in the harbour of Capiapo, took place during the last 

 quarter, from which it may be concluded that the full moon is 

 not the cai\se of it. On the whole, we are of opinion that the 

 great flow of cold water, which sets in from the south-west, and 

 touches the Peruvian coast in the breadth of Arcquipa, must 

 be regarded as the cause of this rolling of the sea. 



4. Large Mass of Native Copper. — The cabinet of Yale 

 College has been recently enriched by a magnificent piece of na- 

 tive copper. The donor mentions that this piece of copper was 

 found at or near the river On-ta-naw-gaw of Lake Superior ; 

 and, as we are informed, above the rapids marked on the map 

 of the river. Those who brought it away were allured by the 

 vain hope of finding in it gold or silver. Its weight was 137 

 pounds, but is now somewhat less, as a few ounces have been 



