Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/23

Rh and south, over a space of from four hundred and twenty to four hundred and fifty leagues, from two degrees to nearly twenty-three degrees of south latitude; and its greatest breadth is from one hundred to one hundred and twenty leagues, east and west, from two hundred and ninety-seven to three hundred and ten degrees of west longitude, the first meridian being taken at the Peak of Teneriffe. The river of Guayaquil divides it from the new kingdom of Granada on the north side. The depopulated territory of Atacama separates it from the kingdom of Chile towards the south. Another horrible desart, of more than five hundred leagues extent, separates it towards the east from the provinces of Paraguay and Buenos-Ayres; and lastly, the Pacific Sea washes its western shores.

A chain of barren and rugged mountains; several sandy plains, which in a manner reach from one extremity of the coast to the other; and several lakes of many leagues in extent, some of which are situated on the summits of the above chain of mountains, occupy a great part of the Peruvian territory. Throughout, the breaks, and the vallies, which enjoy the benefit of irrigation, present to the view an extensive range of delightful plains, replete with cities and towns, and the climate of which is highly salubrious. That of the elevated spots of La Sierra is extremely cold. In the pampas, or plains, of Bombon, Fahrenheit's thermometer is constantly at from thirty-four to forty degrees above zero. Rh