PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OP PERU. 



41 



the rest of the year, are supposed to be carried thither, by the 

 east winds, from the Atlantic ocean. 



5. The clouds which are observed in the Cordilleras, never 

 pass over the frozen peaks noticed in the preceding reply ; they 

 ordinarily maintain and support themselves beneath that alti- 

 tude, dissolving, in the position they have taken, into rain 

 and vapours, frequently accompanied by lightning and ter- 

 rible bursts of thunder. 



6. The winds which constantly blow in the distri6ts where 

 it never rains, are from the south, their course being parallel 

 to the dire6lion of the Cordilleras. 



7. These south winds are invariably accompanied by fogs, 

 which deposit themselves in dews in the parts where rain does 

 not fall. 



8. This question is answered by the antecedent reply. The 

 earth being there constantly dry, the vapours which occasion- 

 ally rise out of it are too inconsiderable to be able to support 

 vegetation. Hence it results, that the great dews which are 

 known to fall, arise from the evaporation of the South Sea ; 

 the latter are not, however, so considerable as they are thought 

 to be in Europe. Vegetation and culture, in those distri6ls, 

 are alone in perfedlion in the vallies which enjoy the advantage 

 of a rivulet, or of the branch of a river, by the means of which 

 they may be watered. 



9. This question is answered in the preceding reply. 



10. and II. There are many rivulets and small rivers, 

 termed quebradas^ the whole of which have their origin in the 

 mountains situated in the eastern part of Peru. 



1 2. The length of the distri6t in which it never rains is com- 

 puted at ten degrees of latitude, each of them containing 



G twenty 



