446 



PERU. 



July, 1835. 



this place, as I understand it is a good type of the greater 

 part of the coast of Peru. 



July 19th. — We anchored in the bay of Callao, the sea- 

 port of Lima, the capital of Peru. We staid here six weeks, 

 but from the troubled state of public affairs, I saw very 

 little of the country. During our whole visit the climate 

 was far from being so delightful as it is generally represented. 

 A dull heavy bank of clouds constantly hung over the land, 

 so that during the first sixteen days I had only one view of 

 the Cordillera behind I/ima. These mountains, seen in 

 stages, one above the other, through openings in the clouds, 

 had a very grand appearance. It has almost become a pro- 

 verb, that rain never falls in the lower part of Peru. Yet 

 this can hardly be considered correct; for during almost 

 every day of our visit there was a thick drizzling mist, 

 which was sufficient to make the streets muddy and one^s 

 clothes damp : this the people are pleased to call Peruvian 

 dew. That much rain does not fall is very certain, for the 

 houses are covered only with flat roofs made of hardened 

 mud ; and on the mole, ship-loads of wheat were piled up, 

 and are thus left for weeks together without any shelter. 



I cannot say I liked the very little I saw of Peru : in sum- 

 mer, however, it is said that the climate is much pleasanter. 

 In all seasons, both inhabitants and foreigners suffer from 

 severe attacks of ague. This disease is common on the 

 whole coast of Peru, but is unknown in the interior. The 

 attacks of illness which arise from miasma never fail to 

 appear most mysterious. So difficult is it to judge from the 

 aspect of a country, whether or not it is healthy, that if a 

 person had been told to choose within the tropics a situation 

 appearing favourable for health, very probably he would 

 have named this coast. The plain round the outskirts of 

 Callao is sparingly covered with a coarse grass, and in some 

 parts there are a few stagnant, though very small, pools of 

 water. The miasma, in all probability, arises from these : 



