COMMERCE. 



85 



earth has lost its internal cold by the efforts of husbandry, the 

 furrows made by the plough having enabled the rays of the 

 sun to penetrate the soil to a considerable depth ; and having 

 been meliorated by the salts of the decayed leaves and plants, 

 the accumulation of which, during a long series of years, has 

 furnished a natural compost, many vegetable produ6lions have 

 shot up, so as to have attained an extraordinary, and even 

 formidable growth, similar to that which has been observed in 

 every mountainous territory subjedled to like circumstances. 



But as industry and labour cannot vary the local situation 

 of countries, that of Peru will be an eternal impediment to 

 the prosperity of agriculture, and to the support and cultiva- 

 tion of its produ6lions. 



The great Cordillera which traverses all South America, 

 forms in Peru another smaller one, denominated the Cordil- 

 lera of the coast, distant from the former from twenty to 

 twenty-five leagues. From the waters it colle6ls, proceed the 

 rivers that empty themselves, by a sudden declination, and 

 with a current of proportionate impetuosity, in the South Sea, 

 in the proximity of which the territory named Valles is situ- 

 ated. It is fertilized as far as it has been practicable to inter- 

 se6l it by canals leading from the rivers. 



Deserts of twenty, thirty, and forty leagues in extent, to- 

 gether with arid and sandy plains, separate the vallies from 

 each other, from the port of Atacama to Guayaquil. The 

 rivers are incapable of supplying them with the means of irri- 

 gation ; and it is impossible to expe6l this benefit from the 

 waters of heaven, which being cooled by the perpetual snows 

 that cover the summits of the mountains, and heated at the 

 same time by the torrid zone, and their proximity to the 



equator, 



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