102 



PERU. 



than the capture and wanton destruction of the 

 town. 



We had scarcely anchored, before the captain 

 of the port came on board, accompanied by a 

 person whom he chose to call an interpreter ; but 

 who, upon being put to the proof, was so drunk, 

 as not to be able to articulate one word of any 

 language whatever. 



The heat is always considerable at Payta ; and, 

 as no rain falls, the houses are slightly construct- 

 ed of an open sort of basket-work, through which 

 the air blows freely at all times ; the roofs, which 

 are high and peaked, are thatched with leaves : 

 some of the walls are plastered with mud, but ge- 

 nerally speaking, they are left open. After hav- 

 ing examined the town, a party was made to visit 

 the neighbouring heights, from whence we could 

 see nothing in any direction, but one bleak, un- 

 broken waste of barren sand. Our guide, who 

 was rather an intelligent man, expressed much 

 surprise at our assiduity in breaking the rocks ; 

 and at the care with which we wrapped up the 

 specimens. He could not conceive any stone to 

 be valuable that did not contain gold or silver ; 



