200 



SOUTH COAST OF PERU. 



ing the Cordillera, to behold their snowy tops 

 towering above the clouds, and apparently so close, 

 that it required a considerable degree of expe- 

 rience, and a strong effort of reason, to remove 

 them in imagination to their real distance. At 

 first we were disappointed to find them so much 

 lower than we had anticipated ; but this arose 

 from a misconception of their distance, and gave 

 way gradually to the highest admiration, when 

 we became sensible by measurements, and by due 

 reflectio% how far they were from us. We made 

 observations on some, which, though upwards of 

 a hundred and thirty miles off, were quite dis- 

 tinctly visible. 



The pleasure which this constant view of the 

 Andes afforded is not to be described; and we 

 watched every morning for the day to break with 

 the greatest anxiety, certain of the highest grati- 

 fication. Our enjoyment from this source was at 

 times very short lived, at others it lasted through- 

 out the whole day. One morning, in particular, 

 we were much mortified when the day dawned, 

 to see no mountains in the eastern quarter ; since 

 we were not above a hundred miles from the 



