WESTERN COAST OF S. AMERICA. 67 



one of the most healthy and delightful countries in 

 the world, for though it borders on the torrid zone, 

 it never suffers the extremes of heat, the Andes de- 

 fending it on the east, and gentle breezes refreshing 

 it from the west. It possesses an equable and serene 

 temperature, of about 64°. It is neither afflicted by 

 intermittent fevers nor dysenteries. Some years, in 

 the summer and autumn, there occur a few cases of 

 an ardent fever, called by the Indian name of Chaoo 

 longo, which means disease of the head. This com- 

 plaint, in robust subjects, is extremely violent and 

 rapid in its course, but yields readily to bleeding 

 and purgatives. 



The second division, from Coquimbo to Payta, 

 embraces a line of coast of about 1500 miles in 

 length and 70 in breadth ; the chief characteristic of 

 which is, that no rain ever falls in all this immense 

 track, and the sun is generally obscured by a canopy 

 of clouds ; in consequence, the country bordering on 

 the shore, for an indefinite breadth inland, is one 

 sterile sandy desert; and, with the exception of a 

 few fertile valiies, at immense distances from one 

 another, it exhibits an almost continued scene of 

 desolation and barrenness beyond all description. 

 The mean temperature may be called 74°, and the 



