Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/702

Index Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/702 670 PERU length along the Pacific coast is 1240 miles, while the width ranges from 300 to 400 miles. Bound- Boundaries. The republic is bounded on the W. by the aries. Pacific Ocean, on the E. by Brazil and Bolivia, on the N. by Ecuador, and on the S. by Chili. The northern boundary commences at the village of Santa Rosa, near the southern shore of the Gulf of Guayaquil, whence it passes southwards to the river Macara, a tributary of the Chira, which falls into the Pacific. It takes the course of the Macara, up the ravine of Espindula, to its source in the cordillera of Ayavaca ; in the Amazonian basin it follows the river Cauches to its junction with the Chinchipe, and the Chinchipe to the Maranon. The Maranon then forms the boundary until the first Brazilian town is reached at Tabatinga. The frontier with Brazil was determined by article ii. of the treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777. A treaty dated 23d October 1851 further settled the boundary, which was fixed by the commissioners Avho explored the Yavari in 1866 and 1871. It first follows the course of the Yavari from the point where it falls into the Amazon, in 4 13 21&quot; S., up to a point near its source in 7 1 17&quot; S. ; from this it forms a straight line to a point in 6 52 15&quot; S. on the left bank of the Madeira, being half the distance between the mouth of the Mamore and that of the Madeira. This is the point where the frontiers of Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia meet. The Peru-Bolivian frontier, within the basin of the Amazon, has not been accurately defined. It follows the Madeira to the mouth of the Mamore, then the Beni and its tributary the Madidi to the junction of the latter with a stream called the Pablo -bamba, ascending the ravine of the Pablo-bamba to the source of that stream in the eastern Andes. The line then crosses the Andes in a straight line southwards to the village of Conima on the shore of Lake Titicaca. Thence it passes across the lake in another straight line to the isthmus of Yunguyo, and thence to the mouth of the Desaguadero. From the Desaguadero the frontier takes a south-south-west direction to the source of the river Mauri, and then, until the recent war with Chili, it ran south along the watershed of the Maritime Cordillera to the source of the river Loa, which falls into the Pacific. The southern boundary separating the Peruvian province of Tarapaca from the Bolivian province of Atacama was formed by the ravine of Duende, south of the Loa, to the coast of the Pacific in 22 23 S. near Tocapilla. This part of the frontier was carefully delineated in 1628, and the boundary marks are recorded in a document which is still extant. But the Chilians conquered and in 1884 annexed the Peruvian province of Tarapaca. Physical Physical Geography. Pern is divided longitudinally into regions, three well-defined regions, the coast, the sierra, and the montana. The coast, extending from the base of the Maritime Cordillera to the Pacific Ocean, consists of a sandy desert crossed at intervals by rivers, along the banks of which there are fertile valleys. The sierra is the region of the Andes, and is about 250 miles in width. It con tains stupendous chains of mountains, elevated plains and table-lands, warm and fertile valleys, and ravines. The montana is the region of tropical forests within the valley of the Amazon, and skirts the eastern slopes of the Andes. The The coast has been upraised from the ocean at no very distant geological epoch, and is still nearly as destitute of vegetation as the African Sahara. It is, however, watered by fifty streams which cross the desert at intervals. Half of these have their origin in the summits of the Andes, and run with a permanent supply of water into the ocean. The others, rising in the outer range, which does not reach the snow -line and receives less moisture, carry a volume of water to the sea during the rainy season, but for the rest of the year are nearly dry. The absence of rain here is caused by the action of the lofty uplands of coast. the Andes on the trade-wind. The south-east trade-wind blows obliquely across the Atlantic Ocean until it reaches Brazil. By this time it is heavily laden with vapour, which it continues to bear along across the continent, depositing it and supplying the sources of the Amazons and La Plata. Finally, the trade-wind arrives at the snow-capped Andes, and here the last particle of moisture is wrung from it that the very low temperature can extract. Coming to the summit of that range, it rushes down as a cool and dry wind on the Pacific slopes beyond. Meeting with no evaporating surface, and with no temperature colder than that to which it is subjected on the mountain-tops, this wind reaches the ocean before it becomes charged with fresh moisture. The constantly prevailing wind on the Peruvian Cliim; coast is from the south. From November to April there on cou are usually constant dryness, a clear sky, and considerable, though by no means oppressive, heat. From June to September the sky is obscured for weeks together by fog, which is often accompanied by drizzling rain called &quot;garua.&quot; In 1877 the maximum temperature at Lima was 78^ Fahr. in February and the minimum 61 Fahr. in July. At the time Avhen it is hottest and driest on the coast it is raining heavily in the Andes, and the rivers are full. When the rivers are at their lowest, the &quot;garua&quot; prevails on the coast. The climate of various parts of the coast is, however, modified by local circumstances. The deserts between the river -valleys vary in extent, the largest being upwards of 70 miles across. On their western margin steep cliffs generally rise from the sea, above which is the &quot;tablazo&quot; or plateau, in some places slightly undulating, in others with ridges of considerable height rising out of it, the whole apparently quite bare of vegetation. The surface is generally hard, but in many Sand- places there are great accumulations of drifting sea-sand, hills. The sand usually forms isolated hillocks, called &quot; medanos,&quot; of a half-moon shape, having their convex sides towards the trade- wind. They are from 10 to 20 feet high, with an acute crest, the inner side perpendicular, the outer with a steep slope. Sometimes, especially at early dawn, there is a musical noise in the desert, like the sound of distant drums, which is caused by the eddying of grains of sand in the heated atmosphere, on the crests of the &quot; medanos.&quot; Appa rently the deserts are destitute of all vegetation ; yet three Coast kinds of herbs exist, which bury themselves deep in the flora&amp;gt; earth, and survive long periods of drought. One is an amar- anthaceous plant, whose stems ramify through the sand hills ; the other two are a Martynia and an Aniseia, which maintain a subterranean existence during many years, and only produce leafy stems in those rare seasons when suffi cient moisture penetrates to the roots. In a few hollows which are reached by moisture the trees of the desert find support, the &quot;algarrobo&quot; (Prosopis horrida), a low tree of very scraggy growth, the &quot;vichaya&quot; (Capparis crotonoides), and &quot;zapote del perro&quot; (C olicodendrum scabridum), mere shrubs. Far away towards the first ascents to the Andes a tall branched cactus is met with, and there are Salicornias and Stdsolas near the coast. But, when the mists set in, the low hills near the coast bordering the deserts, which are called &quot;lomas,&quot; undergo a change as if by magic. A blooming vegetation of wild flowers for a short time covers the barren hills. Near Lima one of the low ranges is brightened by the beautiful yellow lily called &quot; amancaes &quot; (Ismene Amancaes). The other flowers of the &quot; lomas&quot; are the &quot; papita de San Juan &quot; (Begonia geranifolia), with red petals contrasting with the white inner sides, valerians, the beautiful Bomarea ovata, several species of Oxalis, Solanum, and crucifers. But this carpet of flowers is very partially distributed and lasts but a short time. Generally the deserts present a desolate aspect, with no sign of a living creature or of vegetation. Only in the very loftiest