88 
VOYAGE TO THE 
tained by the royal general Rodil against the independents 
at Lima. As Rodil possesses the forts of Callao, Chorillos 
is the temporary port where all the trade of Lima is carried 
on. We found here upwards of a hundred merchant vessels, 
together with his Majesty’s ship Cambridge of eighty guns, 
a French man-of-war, and several ships of the Peruvian 
and Chilian squadrons. Nothing can be more barren in 
appearance than the country about Chorillos. A high ridge 
or bank of fine white sand and dust rises almost perpen¬ 
dicularly to a considerable height; and on the perfectly flat 
plain above stands the wretched village, beyond which the 
white towers of Lima, at the distance of nine miles, are 
seen immediately below the Andes, which rise at once to 
a stupendous height. When the weather is clear, which 
is not very often the case, there is something sublime 
in the long flat shore thus backed by the mountains; 
but in general the bare sand-bank forms the boundary 
of the view, which is then dreary and desolate in the ex¬ 
treme. The town of Chorillos is a collection of miserable- 
looking flat-roofed cottages, or rather huts, built of cane 
and reeds, plastered with mud, without windows, and lighted 
from the doors or crevices in the walls. However, as it 
never rains in this part of Peru, these huts afford sufficient 
shelter from the dews, and support the frequent shocks of 
