From Arica (IS' 23' S. 1st.) to Point Carreta (14' 10'), a distance of more than 460 miles, the coast lies east-south-east and west-north west. Where the cliffs come close to the sea, they rise from 50 to 300 feet above it, and the waves in some plates break with great vice knee along the shore. The first harbour which occurs, after leaving Arica, is that of Islay, or flay, the port of Arequipa. Cove Slollendo formerly serr,d for that purpose, but it has so changed that at present it only admits boat. or very small coasting-vessels. Port Islay, formed by a few straggling islands which lie off Point Islay, affords good anchorage in 10 or 12 fathom. for about twenty sail. It is one of the most frequented ports on the Peruvian coast; but the landing is extremely difficult. Point Lomas, the port of Ac.ari, lies farther west, and is an open roadstead, but has good anchorage in from 5 to 15 fathoms. Some distance farther west there are two good harbours, San Juan and San Nicolas. Farther west is the Bay of Indepeodencia, which lies between Cape Quemada and Cape Carreta, is protected towards the sea by two islands (Santa Rosa and Santa Vieja), extends 15 miles from south-east to north-west, and is about 3% miles broad. There is anchorage in all parts of this spacious bay, the bottom being quite regular in about 20 fathoms, but the country along here is sterile, and very thinly Inhabited.
The coast from Cepa Carreta (14' 10' S. lat.) to the roadstead of Lambayeque (6' 46' S. lat.), a distance of about 620 miles, runs north north-west, and exhibits a much greater portion of low sandy beach than is found farther south. A high ground invariably appears at the back of the low 'gore. Towards the south-eastern extremity are some islands, and between 7' and IV S. lat. some inlets, which are larger than commonly occur on this part of the coast, and good anchorage is found in them. The most southern of these harbours is the Bay of Piece, which is between the mainland and a row of islands extending along the coast. The most sonthern of these islands, that of Gallen, is 21 relies long, 1 mile wide, and of considerable elevation. North of it are the low rocky Balli.ta Islands, and north of them the Chinches Wands, (Cuteenas.) The sea about these islands is deep, and the Bay of Piece may be entered safely by all the passages thus formed. Within the bay there is good anchorage in 12 fathoms. The Bay of Callao is between the coast and the island of San Lorenzo, which is 41 miles long from south-east to north-west, and a mile wide ; its highest part is 1050 feet above the nes-level. The bay, which is extensive and commodious, has good anchorage. Salinas Bay, on the north of Salinas Head, which extends 5 miles into the sea from south to north, is of large dimensions, and affords good anchorage. The Bay
of SAO, to the north of Cape Thomas, and the port of Guarmey, north of Point Legarto, are small, but afford good anchorage. Between 9' and 10' S. lat. there are fonr comparatively good harbours—Casma, Sarneince, or Iluarnbacho, Ferrol, and Santa. There is no harbonr farther north. Opposite the towns of Truxillo and Lambayeque there are only open roadsteads with bad anchorage.
North of the roadstead of Lambayeqne, and between it and the Bay of Guayaquil, a huge promontory runs out into the sea. At its base, between Lambayeque and Point Malpelo (3° 30' S. lat.) it is 220 miles wide, and its coast-line exceeds 300 miles. Between Point Abuja and Cape Blanco, the most projecting part of this promontory, the shores are rocky and steep, and rise to a considerable elevation ; hut near the roadstead of Lambayeque, and on the Gulf of Guayaquil, they are sandy and partially covered with brushwood. In this part there are two indentations, which form two tolerably deep but open bays. The southern is the Bay of Sechura, which is 6 miles deep, and at its entrance, between Cape Pisura and the Little Lobos Island of Payta, 12 miles wide. It is open to the swell of the sea, and is only navigated by the Indians in balsas. The Bay of Payta, which is farther north, is of smaller dimensions, but it is the best harbour on the coast of Peru, and is more visited by foreign vessels than any other harbour except Callao.
As the heavy surf occasioned by the swell of the Pacific renders landing with boats always dangerous, and often impracticable, 'balsas' are used along this coast, which carry two or three persons, and run through the surf and on the beach with ease and safety. These balsas, in Chili and the southern coast of Peru, are cane rafts sup ported by two inflated seal-skins made air-tight. Along the northern coast of Peru they are rafts formed of logs of the cabbage-palm scoured together by lashings, with a platform raised about two feet, on which the goods are placed ; and at Lambayeque, where the Burr is very heavy, they consist of bundles of reeds fastened together and turned up at the bow.
As Peru comprehends the whole of the mountain masses of the Andes which lie between 15° and 5° S.lat., together with the countries on both declivities of the chain, it is naturally divided into three different regions. The country between the elude and the Pacific is called Los Valles, and that included between the higher ranges of the Andes, Montana. The region east of the Andes may be conveniently called the Eastern Plains.