Population of Frra.— Newjpajicri. 

 Earthquake! at Lima. 



PERl T . 



Want of moUturc, — Bain —Fire not uictl 

 often.— Tht ri»er Rimac. 



rinses and at the dinner- table. It d.ir- in.1 si-cm 

 to be considered by any duo its unpleasant, an<l 

 foreigners have adopted the custom. 



There dors not appear t«i exist any accurate 

 account of the population of Peru ; but it is gene- 

 rally believed to have decreased, particularly as 

 regards tin- whiles ami negro.'*. The hc«i iuformn- 

 tiiitl gives but little over a million inhabitants, viz. 

 about one hundred ami twenty-five thousand whites; 

 natives and cholos, eight hundred thousand ; with 

 ninety lliousanJ iit^riH-H and ram-Ins, of whom 

 abnui thirty-five thousand ai- slav^. This doi.s 

 not vary much from iho number given by the geo- 

 graphies forty years ago. The count** appears, 

 from all accounts, not only to bave decreased in 

 population, but in have diminished in wealth ami 

 productiveness. A much less proportion of (he Roil 

 in now cultivated than formerly under the "children 

 of the sun," 



There are half a dozen newspapers published in 

 Lima, two of which are issued daily. They are, 

 like the Spanish, small sheers. They hare a good 

 deal uf control over public opinion. Few or nu ad- 

 vertisements are seen in them. These are deemed 

 unnecessary in Limn, ami nil the amusements, such 

 as the theatre, cock-lighting, tVc, are placarded on 

 the portals, A high price is asked for tho news- 

 papers. 



Most of tho buildings in Lima have Buffered 

 more or less from earthquakes. It was the season 

 of earthquakes during our stay, and three were felt. 

 Some of our gentlemen complained of a sickening 

 sensation during tho first. It did not, however, do 

 much damage. The second took place on the oth 

 of June, and was sensibly felt ; a third was expe- 

 rienced on the Huh of Juno, with a continued 

 shaking of the walls and floors. Tho last was 

 reported as having been more severe to ihe north- 

 ward. 



With the name of Peru the want of moisture is 

 generally associated. The genernl impression is 

 that it never rains there. TIn*, however, is far 

 from being strictly true, except in certain parts of 

 it. Were it not, however, for irrigation by the 

 mountain streams, a great portion of Peru would 

 certainly become marly a desert. Indeed, the up- 

 land is so now, nut yielding any herbage whatever 

 until the pasture region of the Cordilleras is reached. 

 We are not to imagine, however, that the atmos- 

 phere is very clear, or that sunshine always pre* 

 vails. It is extremely difficult to get a clear day. 

 Father Feti illce has put upon record, more than a 

 century ago, thai the heavens were generally ob- 

 scured. I can bear testimony to tho truth of this 

 remark, for although a glimpse of the sun was 

 usually had some time during tho day, yet it was 



almost as difficult to get equal altitudes at Callao 

 during our stay as it was at Terra del Fuego. 



The dew (iilmozo) of Limn is never bo great as 

 to product running water, yet it is more hke rain 

 than a Scotch mist. 



The peculiarity of there being no rain, ha* been 

 accounted for in several ways, but not to me satis- 

 factorily. The prevailing cold and dry winds fr«-m 

 the southward sweep over the western shores of 

 the continent; having a ureal capacity for moisture, 

 they absorb it as they advance to the northward, 

 from every thing. On reaching the latitude of 12° 

 S., thi'V ci-a-e, and having become saturated, now 

 rise to a sufficient height, where they are condensed 

 by the cold strata, and again deposited on the 

 mountains iu almost constant rains. This will ac- 

 count for the aridity in the high Cordilleras of 

 Chili, as well as for the existence of the l>et-ert of 

 Ataeamn, the want of rain on the coast of Upper 

 Peru ; arid at the same time, for the moisture of 

 the high Cordilleras of Peru, which will be shortly 

 Hpolu n of. It will be remembered that our parties 

 on tho Cordilleras of Chili found the aridity to 

 increase • - 1 1 ascending, to the very edge of die per- 

 petual snow, and all the plants were of a thorny 

 character. 



The records of Lima mention the fulling of rain 

 only four times in the eighteenth century, ami the 

 occurrence of thunder and lightning an equal nuni- 

 tier of times. Hut this applies to a small part of 

 Peru only, namely, the country bordering the coast, 

 some fifty or sixty miles in width around Lima. It 

 will be wen that our party who visited the interior, 

 when at the height of leu thousand feet, entered a 

 region subject to rain, nnd on the crest of the 

 mountains the soil was kept perfectly nmist by the 

 frequent snows and rain. 



Fire is not used often, but from the continual 

 dampness there is a cold and elammy feeling, that 

 is exceedingly uncomfortable and prejudicial to 

 health. Lima has certainly the reputation of being 

 a healthy place — how obtained 1 know not — but it 

 certainly does not deserve it. The interments have 

 annually averaged over three thousand five hun- 

 dred, in a population amounting by the best accounts 

 to no more than forty-five thousand. Many of these 

 deaths are those of strangers, aud the climate bus 

 always hern fatal to the Indians. 



The Rimac derives its waters exclusively from 

 tho snows of the Cordilleras. It is a mountain tor- 

 rent throughout its whole course. The quantity of 

 water in it is small. The width at its mouth is 

 about thirty feet, and otto foot deep. It has not 

 sufficient force to break a passage through the 

 beach to the sea, nnd the water filters through the 

 pebbly soil. 



