132 



PAYTA. 



and the Tyrian was permitted to pursue her 

 voyage to Mexico the moment I left her, with- 

 out delay or molestation. We discovered the hill 

 called the silla, or saddle, noted in Captain HalFs 

 instructions, early in the day ; but it fell calm, 

 and I despaired of entering the port of Payta, to 

 which this hill is a direction, until the day fol- 

 lowing. We were quite close to the land, and 

 I had ample time to view this barren region 

 with the telescope. Neither tree, nor shrub, 

 nor grass, nor house, nor human face divine,^^ 

 was visible. All the coast, for miles and miles, 

 presents a similar appearance. Hillocks of 

 sand, and undulating ground, backed by low 

 hills without verdure or vegetation, form the 

 only features of this dreary region. There are 

 hardly any bays or inlets, and the Pacific rolls 

 in heavily without interruption, breaking upon 

 a long line of undeviating shore, in white foam- 



