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 336 PERU that they can only he utilized for irrigation. The largest of these streams, which number about 60, are the Chira and the Piura, in the department of Piura ; the Santa in Ancachs ; the Rimac, which passes Lima and falls into the sea at Oallao ; the Camana and Tambo in Arequipa ; and the Loa, forming the southern boundary of the republic. The great rivers of the eastern slope of the Andes unite to swell the flood of the Amazon, into which they all (except the Purus) discharge before leaving the republic. The most westerly, the Marafion, said to rise in Lake Lauricocha near the mines of Oerro de Pasco, N. of Lima, holds a generally N". N". W. course thence to lat. 5 30', collecting the waters of comparatively few and unimportant streams in the narrow val- ley which it drains. At that point it bends abruptly E. N. E., and maintains that direc- tion to Tabatinga, Ion. 69 50' where it enters Brazil. (See AMAZON.) The Huallaga, whose head waters descend from the same mountains as those of the Marafion, runs parallel with the latter to lat. 7 30', and thence K K E., and falls into that river almost at right angles, in Ion. 75 30'. Next is the Ucayali, formed by the united waters of the Apurimac and Uru- bamba, themselves mighty rivers with large and navigable tributaries, and joining the Ma- ranon at Nauta, about 200 m. N". E. of the junction of the Huallaga. The main stream of the Apurimac, which some geographers long regarded as the head branch of the Amazon, takes its rise in the S. W. corner of the table land of Ouzco, which it drains by numerous affluents, as it does also the valley of Jauja by a river of that name, a tributary of the Man- taro, which last joins the Apurimac in lat. 12. The Urubamba, a considerable stream, but much obstructed by cataracts, rising chief- ly in the Sierra de Vilcanota, unites about lat. 8 30' with the Apurimac, to form the Ucayali. The Javary and the Purus, the upper portions of which have been but recently explored, are less important than the Ucayali, but the Purus is navigable for about 2,000 m. from its em- bouchure. The geological character of Peru, except in particular localities, has not been well examined. Red sandstone is met with both on the coast and in the interior, often accompanied by vast deposits of salt. Granite and porphyry appear on the coast and in the highlands; and the commonest rocks on the sierras are trachyte, augite, porphyry, and di- orite. All the large mountains K of lat. 8 are of trachyte. Between Lake Titicaca and Guzco, the more elevated ground bordering the valleys is formed chiefly of clay slate; and in the neighborhood of Arequipa, and thence to Lake Titicaca, the soil is volcanic. The mineral productions, more particularly the precious metals, have been famous ever since the discovery of the country. Gold is found in many places, and nearly all the mountain streams wash it down in small parti- cles. The mountains are interspersed with veins of gold and silver ores, and with copper and lead. In many places gold is found in quartz. The most celebrated gold mines are those of Oarabaya. The silver ore is particu- larly rich, frequently yielding from 5 to 50 per cent. This ore constitutes the chief mineral wealth of the country, and presents itself in all forms and combinations, from the pure metal to the lead ore mixed with silver. It is found at the highest elevations yet reached. Mining in Peru has until within a few years been in a backward condition ; but with the introduc- tion of improved machinery and lines of rail- way, this industry, in common with all others, has undergone a favorable change. The value of the silver produced between 1630 and 1803 has been calculated at $1,232,000,000, of which, according to the records at Madrid, $849,445,- 500 were from the three mines of Cerro de Pasco, Hualgayoc, and Huantajaya. In eight years (1826-'33) the silver coined at Lima alone amounted to $20,000,000. Humboldt estima- ted the average annual yield of the gold and silver mines in Peru at $5,300,000. The yield of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, Puno, Huan- tajaya, Hualgayoc, &c., in 1873, amounted to $6,000,000 in silver bullion. Silver mines are now worked also near Iquique and Huarochiri. The chief quicksilver mines are those of Huan- cavelica and of Ohota. Lead, iron, aluminum, sulphur, lime, magnesia, and sulphate of soda occur in extensive quantities in the depart- ments of Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Arequipa, Tarapaca, Ancachs, Piura, and Cajamarca; cobalt and nickel are found in the province of Huanta ; borax and gypsum are very abundant in many places. The marble and alabaster quarries of Puno and Ayacucho are extensivo, several species of the first being highly prized ; and writing slate and lithographic stones are plenty. Petroleum occurs in several localities in Piura. In 1825 good coal was discovered at Cerro de Pasco, and still later coal beds were found 18 m. S. of Tumbez, and in 1873 at Pa- racas, 8 m. S. of Pisco. Not far from Arica brown coal occurs on the coast; and an ex- tensive coal tract was discovered in 1873 at Sumbay on the railway from Arequipa to Puno, for the working of which a company was organized at Lima with a capital of about $1,800,000. The working of the numerous coal mines has given a fresh impulse to the in- dustrial and commercial activity of the coun- try. The principal source of Peruvian wealth since 1836 has been the guano islands, which however are mere specks when compared with the vast uninhabited and unexplored southern coast line, where innumerable flocks of birds have resorted for ages, and where rain never falls. (See GUANO.) With the new beds dis- covered in the second half of 1874, it was com- puted that the total quantity of the substance in all the known localities of the republic was about 26,000,000 tons, some 8,000,000 of which, however, were inaccessible. The re- maining 18,000,000, at $37 50, the average