During our whole
visit the climate was far from being so delightful as it is
generally represented. A dull heavy bank of clouds constantly hung
over the land, so that during the first sixteen days I had only one
view of the Cordillera behind Lima. These mountains, seen in
stages, one above the other, through openings in the clouds, had a
very grand appearance. It is almost become a proverb, that rain
never falls in the lower part of Peru. Yet this can hardly be
considered correct; for during almost every day of our visit there
was a thick drizzling mist, which was sufficient to make the
streets muddy and one's clothes damp: this the people are pleased
to call Peruvian dew. That much rain does not fall is very certain,
for the houses are covered only with flat roofs made of hardened
mud; and on the mole ship-loads of wheat were piled up, being thus
left for weeks together without any shelter.
I cannot say I liked the very little I saw of Peru: in summer,
however, it is said that the climate is much pleasanter. In all
seasons, both inhabitants and foreigners suffer from severe attacks
of ague. This disease is common on the whole coast of Peru, but is
unknown in the interior.
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