Richmond daily times. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1853, 1853-01-29
THE DAILY TIMES
From Dickens Household Words.
THE GUANO DIGGINGS,

From Dickens Household Words.
THE GUANO DIGGINGS.
Three rocks, without a blade of grass upon
them--ther brown surface cracked by hot sun,
whose beams are rarely intercepted by cloud
rocks upon which no rain has fallen since the De-
luge-yleld at present the chief riches of Peru -
They are the Chincha Islands. Ships are ever
gathering about them to bear off the fairness CO.
yering their ribs, that is to say, the guano, which
shall tertllize the overtaxed and wasted fields of
distant countries To this guano district may
be added that of the Lobos Islands, to which Pc
ru lays disputed claim; but believe that the
deposit OF Guano in the Lobos Islands falls far
short, both in quanttysand in quality, of that
on the Chnchas, from which all the Peruvian
guano brought into Great Britain has been ia
ken.
My starting point for the guano diggings was
Port Philip, orVictoria, as it is now called; but
we are now going gently, if you please, before
the south. east trade wind, just opening out of
the bay OF Callao, the seaport of Lima. For the
last few hours we have been gliding slowly along
the coast, gazing upon scenery which l should
like to describe, but dare not; for though, like
most sailors, pretty good hand at painting a
lower masthead or topsail yard, l can make
nothing of a sketch in pen and ink. Paint for
yourself, therefore, the huge masses of rugged
brown mountains, rising in steps from the green
sea, and the white surf at their base, until the
pure blue sky seems to be resting ON their dis
tant peaks, where the harsh contrast between air
and earth is softened, less BY distance than by
the dim glitter Of the everlasting snow. A feecy
bank of cloud ascending from some unseen valley
belongs also to the picture.
Though we are bound only for the Chincha
Islands, yet we come to an anchor at Callao; we
have already passed the islands once. Here l
may say word on what is great annoyance to
all masters of ships visiting Peru and a source
of additional expense to English ship-owners and
charterers. Every guano ship is compelled to
enter nwards and outw ards at Callao; thus, in
the first place, sailing about hundred and fifty
miles beyond the islands to reach the port; then
always against head Withdrawing the hun
dred and fifty miles back again to Pisco-a small
port close to the Chinchas. Here she anchors, and
goes through some formal performance or other,
remaining sometimes two Or three days. Then
she sails back again nine or ten miles to the
islands, where she loads and afterwards returns
to Pisco. Then she goes back to Callao, and fl
nally passes the islands for the fifth, and, happi
ly, the last time, on her homeward passage
Over all this battedore duty ship often wastes
nearly month, besides generally losing some of
her hands from desertion in Callao. Certain it
is, however, that there is invariably more for
mality in petty rrincipaities and dwarf republics
than in States which are more able to enforce re-
spect Peru is by no means a tremendous pow
er, and it is token of good in the way of civil
cation, that the huge merchantmen should let
themselves be bullied by her, when the whole
fleet Of the golden republic might be sailed off
with in one parcel, quietly slowed away on board
Cunard liner. 1t consisted, when l saw it, of
the steamer Rimae, two guns; the brig Gamarrez,
eight guns and little schooner of four guns;
the latter stationed at the islands to enforce re
spect from some sixty or seventy vessels of all
nations.
And now up comes the anchor from its berth
amongst the ruins of the old town of Callao,
over which our ship is floating. A long low
point still shows the remains of the last meal
made by the earthquake, which, like dragon
with the stomach of an ostrich, has so frequently
snapped up tit bits of the town, the inhabitants
appear to have declined providing stone fruit for
it. The present houses of Callao are mere sheds
of cane and mud, which, in case of dstur-
bance, yield no heavy brick bats to be cast down
on the heads of their inhabitants. Tall houses
built of any heavy material are not eligible resi-
dences in an earthquake district.
After five days tacking against the trade wind
we round the large island Of San Galan, which
orms part of the Chincha group, but contains lit
tie guano. We anchor then before the town oil
Pisco-a little Callao in the points of dirt and
drunkenness. 1t gives its name TO kind OF
white brandy we'll known in the South Seas. II
IS also especially noted as the residence of an
English butcher, who supplies his countrymen
with all manner of provisions, from green turtle
to red .herrings. l have little doubt that his
prices are remunerating as he has the shipping
trade all to himself.
Again the ship is in motion, and in an hour the
proximity of the guano island is evident to all
but the most nominal noses, for though still five
or six miles to windward, the scent of the guano
becomes stronger at every ships length. The
three islands lie nearly due north and south; the
breadth of the passage between them being
about a mile in one distance, and two miles in the
other. The south island is as yet untouched
and, from visit paid it, should suppose it to
contain more guano than is found in either of the
others. The middle island, at which we loaded
has been moderately worked, but the greatest
quantity of guano is taken from the north island.
In their general formation the islands are alike
They all rise, on the side next the main land, in
a perpendicular wall of rock; from the edge Of
this precipice, the guano then slopes upwards to
the centre Of each island, where a pinnacle Of
rock rises above the surface from this point it de-
sends to the sea by gentle declivity the guano
continuing to within few feet of the water
Each island has, at distance, the appearance Of
fattened cone, but they have all been original
ly broken into rocky hills and valleys. The de-
posts ofguano having gradually filled up the val
leys and risen above the rocks, the cuttings Of
the guano diggers vary from depth of eighty OF
hundred feet to merely a few inches. Though
the islands are not large-their average circum
ference being about two miles-the accumu
lation of guano is almost Incredible. Calcula
tons as to the probable quantity, must, on &C.
count of the varying depth of the deposits, bt
very uncertain. | remember making an average
of the depth, and deducing therefrom rough es
innate that the three small islands alone contain
upwards of two hundred and fifty millions of tons
of pure guano, which, at the rate of supply
which has been going on during the last five OF
six years, would require about one hundred and
eighty years for the removal, and at it's English
value-whch, after deducting freight, is about
five pounds per ton-would be worth twelve