afterwards returns to Pisco. Then she goes
back to Callao, and finally passes the islands
for the fifth, and happily, the last time, on
her homeward passage. Over all this battledore
duty a ship often wastes nearly a month,
besides generally losing some of her hands from
desertion in Callao. Certain it is, however,
that there is invariably more formality in
petty principalities and dwarf republics, than
in states which are more able to enforce
respect. Peru is by no means a tremendous
power, and it is a token of good in the way
of civilisation, that the huge merchantmen
should let themselves be bullied by her, when
the whole fleet of the golden republic might
be sailed off with in one parcel, quietly stowed
away on board a Cunard liner. It consisted,
when I saw it, of the steamer Rimae, two
guns; the brig Gamarrez, eight guns; and a
little schooner of four guns; the latter
stationed at the islands to enforce respect
from some sixty or seventy vessels of all
nations.

And now up comes the anchor from its
berth amongst the ruins of the old town of
Callao, over which our ship is floating. A
long low point still shows the remains of the
last meal made by the earthquake, which,
like a dragon with the stomach of an ostrich,
has so frequently snapped up tit-bits of town,
that the inhabitants appear to have declined
providing stone fruit for it. The present
houses of Callao are mere sheds of cane and
mud, which, in case of a disturbance, yield no
heavy brick-bats to be cast down on the
heads of their inhabitants. Tall houses built
of any heavy material are not eligible
residences in an earthquake district.

After five days tacking against the trade
wind we round the large island of San Gallan,
which forms part of the Chincha group,
but contains little guano. We anchor then
before the town of Pisco—a little Callao in
point of size, but greater than Callao in the
points of dirt and drunkenness. It gives its
name to a kind of white brandy well known
in the South Seas. It is also especially noted
as the residence of an English butcher, who
supplies his countrymen with all manner of
provisions, from green turtle to red-herrings.
I have little, doubt that his prices are remunerating,
as he has the shipping trade all
to himself.

Again the ship is in motion, and in an hour
the proximity of the guano islands is evident
to all but the most nominal noses, for though
still five or six miles to windward, the scent
of the guano becomes stronger at every ship's
length. The three islands lie nearly due
north and south; the breadth of the passage
between them being about a mile in one
instance, and two miles in the other. The
south island is as yet untouched, and from a
visit I paid it, I should suppose it to contain
more guano than is found in either of the
others. The middle island, at which we
loaded, has been moderately worked, but the
greatest quantity of guano is taken from the
north island. In their general formation the
islands are alike. They all rise, on the side
next the main land, in a perpendicular wall
of rock; from the edge of this precipice, the
guano then slopes upwards to the centre of
each island, where a pinnacle of rock rises
above the surface; from this point it descends
to the sea by a gentle declivity, the guano
continuing to within a few feet of the water.
Each island has, at a distance, the appearance
of a flattened cone, but they have all
been originally broken into rocky hills and
valleys. The deposits of guano having
gradually filled up the valleys and risen
above the rocks, the cuttings of the guano
diggers vary from a depth of eighty or a
hundred feet to merely a few inches. Though
the islands are not large—their average circumference
being about two miles—the accumulation
of guano is almost incredible.
Calculations as to the probable quantity,
must, on account of the varying depth of
the deposits, be very uncertain. I remember
making an average of the depth, and
deducing therefrom a rough estimate that the
three small islands alone contain upwards of
two hundred and fifty millions of tons of pure
guano, which, at the rate of supply which has
been going on during the last five or six
years, would require about one hundred and
eighty years for removal, and, at its English
value—which, after deducting freight, is about
five pounds per ton—would be worth twelve
hundred and fifty millions sterling. This is
exclusive of vast quantities which have been
used by the Peruvians themselves.

A recent traveller in the country asserts
that guano was used in the time of the Incas,
and that the Spaniards learned its use from
the Indians, who employed it constantly. It
is chiefly applied in Peru to the cultivation
of maize and potatoes. The mode of applying
the manure differs from that generally
adopted in England. After the plants appear
above the ground, a small trench is opened,
in some cases round each root, in others, along
the lines. In this trench a small quantity of
guano is placed, and slightly covered with
earth; the whole field is then laid under
water, and allowed to remain in that condition
for a certain number of hours—from twenty
to twenty-four. The water is then drained
off, and the effect of the process is soon
manifest in the rapid growth of the plants.
Where a sufficient supply of water cannot
readily be procured, other means of irrigation
are adopted, but the guano is never sown
broadcast, as in England. The name itself is
Indian, originally huanu, signifying the excrement
of animals, but altered to huano by the
Spanish Peruvians; and, owing to their strong
aspiration of the h, the English have taken
the word from their lips in the shape of
guano. It is found on all parts of the coast
of South America, even so far south as Cape
Horn; but that obtained from the Chincha