548 
APPENDIX. 
barometer stood at 29.90 ; when we sailed for Guayaquil, and Anchored 
at the Island of Puna in eight days. There were thirty-eight cases of 
dysentery and diarrhoea admitted within the last three weeks, and at this 
time there are twenty on the list ; eight cases of hepatitis occurred within 
the same period, which, however, yielded to medical treatment ; two cases 
of dysentery terminated fatally. During ten days at Puna, the sick-list 
averaged twenty-eight daily ; a majority of the patients were labouring 
under dysentery and diarrhoea. Guayaquil is very unhealthy during the 
wet season, when the rain descends in torrents, and continues for many 
weeks ; hepatitis, bilious and remitting fevers, prevail. The natives are 
remarkable for the clearness of their complexion, as the latitude is but 3° 
south, and is occasioned by their frequent and protracted rains, and their 
carefully protecting themselves from the sun. 
Sailed from Puna on the 28th of September, and arrived at Payta in three 
days, at which time there were twenty-eight on the sick-list. The few 
days we remained in this port the list was reduced to fifteen, which v/eie 
chronic cases of dysentery, the sequel of the disease onboard at the Gal- 
apagos Islands. The climate of Payta is the most salubrious on the 
coast of Peru, and is remarkable for the uniformity of temperature, dryness 
of the atmosphere, and regularity of the winds ; the thermometer during the 
year ranges at 70°. The dense fogs of Callao, and the heavy rains of 
Guayaquil, are equally unknown here. Payta is the port of Piura, a city 
with a population of four thousand, and so called from the purity of the 
atmosphere. The river, which flows past the city, passes through marshes 
of the smilax sarsaparilla ; from which it is said to obtain medicinal quali- 
ties, which, together with the serenity of the atmosphere, make it the 
resort of invalids from this part of the coast. 
The cruising ground of the ships employed in the sperm-whale fisheries 
is directly off this port, and, in consequence of its easy access and the^ 
excellence of the market, it is much frequented by them. 
American whale-ships never carry medical officers, as is the case in the 
English and French whale-ships ; in consequence of the peculiar liability 
to accidents, and tlieir long cruises at sea, many lives are lost and much 
suffering produced for want of medical aid. The establishment of an hos- 
pital at some convenient port would be the means of alleviating much 
human misery and distress, at the same time it would foster this great 
school of hardy seamen. Payta is peculiarly adapted for this purpose, 
where an hospital could be established at a trifling expense ; it is also a 
proper place for the sick of our squadron, where they could be placed in 
charge of a medical officer, and kept until the departure of one of our ships- 
of-war for the United States; instead of being cooped up in merchant 
vessels, without medical attendance, for four months during their passage 
home through the most inclement and unhealthy regions on the globe. The 
expenses that are annually incurred in sending sick officers and seamen 
from the Pacific station, would be amply sufficient to defray all the neces- 
sary expenses of an hospital. 
10th of October, sailed from Payta, and in a few hours had a great 
change in temperature, the thermometer falling to 64°, with thick foggy 
weather, and the sick-list increased during the passage to forty. On the 
16th touched at Lambayeque, and arrived at Callao on the 27th of October^ 
