Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/352

 338 PERU sulphuretted hydrogen. The only noticeable physiological effect upon the inhabitants is an aggravated form of cephalalgia. The cold in the higher mountain regions is excessive ; hail and thunder storms are frequent and terrific ; and such affections as the veta or mareo, pro- ducing weariness, blood-spitting, and vertigo, and the surumpe, an acute inflammation of the eyes, sometimes attended with delirium, and caused by the reflection of the solar rays on the snow, render these districts unfavora- ble for prolonged abode. The flora of Peru is particularly rich and productive. The soil is everywhere as much as 2 ft. deep, and in many parts 3 ft. Extensive arable tracts, pasture lands, and forests alternate in all directions, except in the most elevated districts, and in a few patches of the shore region. The arboreal vegetation in the north and east is most lux- uriant, including a great variety of timber and cabinet woods; and the cinchona groves of the north are equal to those of the famous Loja district in Ecuador. Among the other remarkable trees are the caoutchouc, the qui- llay, serviceable for cleansing woollens, the vegetable silk tree, the copal, yielding a resin efficacious in pulmonary affections, the bread- fruit tree, the mulberry, and many others; clove, copaiba, cinnamon, sarsaparilla, ipeca- cuanha, jalap, indigo, and other useful trees and plants abound. A very important tree is the erythroxylon coca, the leaves of which are extensively used by the Indians as a nutritive stimulant. Especial mention is made of the escabedier and of the cedron, the latter being considered an efficacious antidote for the most deadly poisons. The tree ferns range between 1,500 and 5,000 ft. above the sea ; beyond the height of 10,500 ft. arborescent vegetation dis- appears; between 6,500 and 13,500 ft. alpine plants are found ; and species of the Wintera and Eseallonia, occur between 9,200 and 10,- 800 ft., and form scrubby bushes in the cold and moist climate. The fruits comprise or- anges, peaches, apricots, apples, pears, quin- ces, pomegranates, plums, cherries, bananas or plantains, cocoanuts, dates, mangos, sapotes, medlars, with pineapples, aguacates, chirimo- yas, granadillas, and many others of exqui- site flavor unknown in the temperate zones. Peru produces all the cereals and vegetables common to western Europe. Maize in many districts of the montana or eastern plains yields four good crops annually. The cheno- podium quinoa is commonly cultivated on the table lands as a substitute for the potato, so- lanum tuberosum, which is likewise abundant in the northern highlands. This region is sup- posed by some to have furnished, instead of the plains of Bogota, the first potatoes introduced into Europe. The sweet potato grows plen- tifully in all the valleys. Cotton, the sugar cane, the vine, the olive, coffee, and tobacco (in Jaen and Santa) are cultivated for export, but the yield of the last two is as yet incon- siderable ; and vanilla and a species of the nopalea cochinilifera receive attention. Cot- ton plantations are fast multiplying in the lit- toral departments from Piura southward to Moquegua, the mean annual production now being about 300,000 bales, and the qualities of the different varieties are ranked as equal to those of middling Orleans, sea island, &c. Sugar plantations are also on the increase in almost all the departments E. and W. of the cordilleras ; and the cacao of Cuzco, where the plant is almost exclusively produced, is said to be superior even to that of Caracas. The vine thrives best in lea and Moquegua, where it bears after the second year. Wines and brandies of excellent quality are produced, es- pecially the wines named " Elias," " Latorre," and " Cabello." As the mulberry is particu-, larly prosperous here, the rearing of the silk- worm has of late years become an important industry. Agriculture on the highlands and the eastern plains is still carried on in the rudest manner, and with almost the same kind of implements found in the country by the Spanish conquerors ; but on the coast modern appliances are gradually gaining ground. The fertile valley of Canete is occupied with sugar plantations, mostly furnished with perfect la- bor-saving machinery ; and one of them, em- bracing 10,000 acres, yields rum and sugar of a mean annual value of $2,000,000. All the ploughing is there performed by steam. The tendency at present is to supplant cotton culture with sugar. The puma, jaguar, and wild cat infest the forests ; bears roam in the mountainous districts. The principal game are two varieties of deer, peccaries, tapirs, and rabbits. Among the rodents are the vizca- cha and myriads of mice ; and there are foxes, skunks, armadillos, "the large and small ant- eater, porcupines, sloths, and in the north- west all the varieties of monkey common to the great Amazonian forests. The llama is in- digenous, and, like its congeners the vicuna, poco vicuna, alpaca, and guanaco (all of which, however, are smaller and slenderer), thrives best in the highlands. Cattle, horses, mules, and asses are extremely numerous, particularly in the littoral provinces ; and countless flocks of sheep are everywhere to be met with in the fertile Andine valleys. The rivers and lakes of the montana abound in delicious fish, in- cluding the salmon, several varieties of which are unknown north of the equator ; the man- atee or river cow is likewise common in the Apurimac and Ucayali, together with a large cetacean somewhat resembling the sword fish ; and huge alligators haunt the banks in such numbers as to render them unapproachable without the utmost caution. Turtles are so abundant that several tribes of Indians carry on a profitable traffic in oil extracted from their eggs. Land lizards are comparatively few, but serpents are extremely common, and embrace several varieties, some of which are among the most venomous, as the rattle and corral snakes, and the hideous trigonocepha-