Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/63

Rh the rest of the year, are supposed to be carried thither, by the east winds, from the Atlantic ocean.

5. The clouds which are observed in the Cordilleras, never pass over the frozen peaks noticed in the preceding reply; they ordinarily maintain and support themselves beneath that altitude, dissolving, in the position they have taken, into rain and vapours, frequently accompanied by lightning and terrible bursts of thunder.

6. The winds which constantly blow in the districts where it never rains, are from the south, their course being parallel to the direction of the Cordilleras.

7. These south winds are invariably accompanied by fogs, which deposit themselves in dews in the parts where rain does not fall.

8. This question is answered by the antecedent reply. The earth being there constantly dry, the vapours which occasionally rise out of it are too inconsiderable to be able to support vegetation. Hence it results, that the great dews which are known to fall, arise from the evaporation of the South Sea; the latter are not, however, so considerable as they are thought to be in Europe. Vegetation and culture, in those districts, are alone in perfection in the vallies which enjoy the advantage of a rivulet, or of the branch of a river, by the means of which they may be watered.

9. This question is answered in the preceding reply.

10. and 11. There are many rivulets and small rivers, termed quebradas, the whole of which have their origin in the mountains situated in the eastern part of Peru.

12. The length of the district in which it never rains is computed at ten degrees of latitude, each of them containing Rh