456 



PERU 



4. Lake. Lake Titicaca, the largest lake m 

 South America, is 240 miles in circuit, and 400 

 feet deep. Its waters are fresh, and it is remarka- 

 ble for the great elevation of its bed, which is 

 about J 3,500 feet above the sea. 



5. Coast. The nature of the coast on the Pa- 

 cific Ocean is by no means favorable to navigation, 

 and affords no harbor except Callao, which admits 

 the larger merchant vessels. There is also on every 

 part of the shore such a tremendous surf, caused 

 by the uninterrupted swell from the sea, that no 

 communication can be had with the land by boats 

 of the common construction. The natives, how- 

 ever, have a contrivance called balsa, consisting 

 of 2 seal skins, lashed together and covered with 

 a sort of platform, on which sits the pilot of this 

 strange craft. Bemg blown up by the breath of 

 the navigator, these balsas are so buoyant, as to pass 

 the most terrific breakers in safety. 



6. Face of the Country. Peru consists of 3 distinct regions, differing in regard to surface, 

 soil, and climate. Between the mountains and the sea, a narrow strip of sandy plain extends 

 along the whole coast, with extensive intervals in which no traces of vegetation appear. In 

 this sterile tract, varying in breadth from 30 to 100 miles, no rain ever falls, but the dews are 

 heavy and uniform ; thunder and lightning are unknown, and there is little variation of tempera- 

 ture, the heat being constant, but seldom intense. Here are produced the tropical plants, 

 sugar-cane, cocoa, plantains, coffee, &c. The next division is the mountainous region, which, 

 commencing at the termination of the sandy district with hills of moderate elevation, rises 

 gradually to the loftiest summits. Here, as in Mexico and New Grenada, the traveler ascends 

 through successive layers of climate, from regions of perpetual summer to those of eternal 

 snows. The valleys and sides of the mountains are covered with impenetrable forests of gigan- 

 tic trees, overrun with luxuriant creeping or parasitical plants. This region spreads out into an 

 extensive table-land, v/hich, stretching far to the east and south, has an elevation of from 

 4,000 to 9,000 feet. Much of the soil in this region is fertile, and the climate of the table- 

 land IS mild and temperate. To the east of the mountains, in the northeastern part, begins the 

 great plain of the Amazon, in which the heat is excessive and the climate moist and unhealthy. 

 Like the Hanos of Venezuela, this great level is intersected by forests along the banks of the 

 rivers, which break up its surface into separate grassy plains, here called pampas. 



7. Vegetable Productions. Cotton is found in great abundance, in a wild state, in the Mon- 

 tana Real, on the Guallaga, and on the banks of the Maranon. Flax is common, but the In- 

 dians leave the stems to perish, and make a kind of beer of the seeds. In the southern parts, 

 the cacao tree is very abundant. A species of cochineal, and coffee of an indifferent quality, 

 abound in some districts. The Peruvian pimento is excessively strong, and there is some cin- 

 namon stronger than that of Ceylon, though not so valuable. Many herbs, and a great variety 

 of aromatic balsams, oils, and gums distilled from the trees are produced here. In the de- 

 scription of Peru, Estalla enumerates the cedar, the olive, the wild orange, the incorruptible 

 algorob, the palm, the willow, and many other trees. On the coast and western slopes of the 

 Andes, are produced the cabbage-palm, the cocoa-nut, the chocolate-nut, the cotton-shrub, the 

 pine-apple, turmeric, plantain and sugar-cane. The large flowei-ed jessamine, and datura ar- 

 borea diffuse their evening fragrance round the vicinity of Lima, and form beautiful ornaments 

 when braided in the hair of the women. No less than 24 species of pepper, and 5 or 6 of capsi- 

 cum are considered natives of Peru. Tobacco and jalap abound in the groves at the foot of 

 the Andes. Immense forests of acacias and mangoes, brooms and ferns in prodigious variety, 

 tall aloes and other succulent plants, clothe the maritime plains and those on the east of the 

 Andes. The ferula, or gigantic fennel, grows to a surprising size. The chief shrubs on the 

 uplands of the Andes are the different species of cinchonas, or the salutary Peruvian bark. 

 The caoutchouc, or common elastic gum, is procurred from the inspissated juice of a variety 

 of different vegetables. 



8. Minerals. The mountains of Peru abound in metallic wealth. They are interspersed 



Mountains of Peru. 



