PAYTA. 



131 



CHAPTER VII, 



PAYTA. 



Arrival at Pay ta— Curiosity of the inhabitants for poli-^ 

 tical news — Description of Payta — Its commerce- 

 No rain for two years ^ — Mode of receiving water and 

 provisions— No insects — Relations of Payta with the 

 United States, &c. — A tedious voyage — Bird-cage 

 houses — The aboriginal race — Treaty with a whaler — ^ 

 Visit to a female politician and her daughters — Resi» 

 dence and family of the American consul — The envi- 

 rons of Payta — The Peruvian Indians — Their reforma- 

 tion under Manco Capac — Tribes near the Amazon — 

 Earthquakes — Vegetable and mineral wealth of Peru— 

 The paper-maker and paper-destroyer 



Payta, April 4.— In spite of the cap taints 

 foreboding, he has landed me safe at Payta?, 



