IV 
PREFACE. 
Valparaiso. After four years’ work at Valparaiso he entered 
the mercantile house of Messrs. Anthony Gibbs & Co., and 
was appointed manager of one of their large Nitrate establish¬ 
ments, called La Limena, near Iquique, then in Peru, but since 
annexed to Chili. After four years’ residence in this establish¬ 
ment, which is situated on the high ground of the interior, 
about thirty miles inland, he resigned his post and went into 
business as a merchant at the port of Iquique. On May 9th, 
1877, the frightful earthquake, which ruined a great part of 
that town, took place. This was followed, as is usual in such 
cases, by a huge seismic wave, which completed the destruction 
commenced by the earthquake. James was as nearly as 
possible drowned by the cataclysm ; he was immersed waist- 
high in water, and narrowly escaped by running up to some 
higher land. His house at Iquique and all its contents were 
carried into the sea, and he lost every thing he possessed 
there except the clothes that he was wearing. The site of the 
house was so completely cleared that after the flood was over 
it could not be distinguished from the rest of the beach. 
In 1878 James made a journey into the interior of Peru, 
starting from Lima by the Oroya railway, and penetrated on 
mule-back, by a rough and dangerous route, as far as Chancha- 
mayo. During this excursion, besides making general obser¬ 
vations on the natural history of the country, he collected a 
large series of Lepidoptera, to which group he at that time 
paid special attention. In April 1879 war was declared 
between Peru and Chili,"and in the following October, business 
being at a standstill, James left Iquique for England, making 
a short stay in the West Indies on his way home. 
Upon his return to England, James spent several months 
on a collecting-tour in Sutherlandshire, and in October 1880 
married Miss Lucy Constance Clarke, Ihe daughter of a near 
neighbour in Staffordshire. 
