XVI 
BAY OF CALLAO 
389 
one hundred and fifty miles the margin of a grand basin or 
plain ; this, from its outline, manifestly must once have been a 
lake, or more probably an inland arm of the sea, as may be 
inferred from the presence of iodic salts in the saline stratum. 
The surface of the plain is 3300 feet above the Pacific. 
igfA—We anchored in the Bay of Callao, the seaport of 
Lima, the capital of Peru. We stayed here six weeks, but 
from the troubled state of public affairs I saw very little of 
the country. During our whole visit the climate was far from 
being so delightful as it is generally represented. A dull 
heavy bank of clouds constantly hung over the land, so that 
during the first sixteen days I had only one view of the 
Cordillera behind Lima. These mountains, seen in stages, one 
above the other, through openings in the clouds, had a very 
grand appearance. It is almost become a proverb, that rain 
never falls in the lower part of Peru. Yet this can hardly be 
considered correct; for during almost every day of our visit 
there was a thick drizzling mist, which was sufficient to make 
the streets muddy and one’s clothes damp: this the people 
are pleased to call Peruvian dew. That much rain does not 
fall is very certain, for the houses are covered only with flat 
roofs made of hardened mud ; and on the mole ship-loads of 
wheat were piled up, being thus left for weeks together without 
any shelter. 
I cannot say I liked the very little I saw of Peru : in 
summer, however, it is said that the climate is much pleasanter. 
In all seasons, both inhabitants and foreigners suffer from 
severe attacks of ague. This disease is common on the whole 
coast of Peru, but is unknown in the interior. The attacks of 
illness which arise from miasma never fail to appear most 
mysterious. So difficult is it to judge from the aspect of a 
country, whether or not it is healthy, that if a person had 
been told to choose within the tropics a situation appearing 
favourable for health, very probably he would have named this 
coast. The plain round the outskirts of Callao is sparingly 
covered with a coarse grass, and in some parts there are a few 
stagnant, though very small, pools of water. The miasma, in 
all probability, arises from these : for the town of Arica was 
similarly circumstanced, and its healthiness was much improved 
