124 



LIMA. 



of them he would not have been deterred from 

 landing troops to take Lima^ as he might have 

 easily effected this object without coming within 

 the range of the guns of the fortress. But of all 

 the harbours on the coast of the Pacific^ the 

 river on which the city of Guayaquil is built 

 seems the most eligible for maintaining an 

 arsenal and dock-yards. The coast from Val- 

 paraiso to the Gulf of Guayaquil is^ with scarcely 

 any exception, a sandy desert, without wood ; 

 but at Guayaquil timber is near at hand, and 

 of the very best quality in South America for 

 ship-building. 



The wood of the greatest celebrity for this 

 purpose on account of its incorruptible nature, 

 is called Guachapeli. According to UUoa, a 

 tree of this species, after it has been felled sixty 

 years, will appear as fresh, if an incision is made 

 in it with a hatchet, as if the sap had only just 



