162 



PAYTA. 



disappeared for some time under water^ they 

 rise up again and continue to repeat the same 

 manoeuvre for the whole morning. The quan- 

 tity of manure produced by these birds is 

 incredible. The adjacent land was formerly 

 enriched by ship-loads of it. Forty to fifty 

 vessels are still employed in supplying the 

 valleys of Peru with this manure. 



In the evening I generally walk over to Mr. 

 Higginson^s^ the American Consul^ whose wife 

 and daughters have just arrived from Lima. 

 He is an English merchant^ though he derives 

 his official authority of consul from the United 

 States. The family sit in a patio^ covered 

 with an awnings a common practice throughout 

 Spanish America. The scene which this patio 

 presents is somewhat singular. One portion of 

 it is occupied by bales of cotton^ in another 

 are to be seen two large Gallipagos tortoises^ 

 on one of which I have stood whilst he moved 



