The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1890-12-12
PERU'S BIG GUANO BEDS.
ENOUGH TO FERrlLlzE THE
WORLD.
Visit to the Guano Islands OF the South
Paciflc-How the Stuff ID Handlsd-Nil.
lions Of Tons Of Fertilizer
Spread Broadcast.

@e~~>~
Spread Broadcast.
In the bay of Pisco, IL miles from
the main land, lie the celebrated
Chincaa Islands, three in number,
whereon the guano is found that has
been such an enormous source of
wealth to Peru. To form some idea
of the extent of the deposit and the
magnitude of the industry it may be
stated that between the years 1853 and
1873 nearly 100000 tons of guano
were shipped from here. The amount
of money which Peru has derived from
this one source of revenue cannot be
any more accurately estimated than
the value of the plumber stolen from
the Incas.
The legitimate guano bird is a kind
of tern. Its bill and legs are red; the
top of the head and tip of the tail and
wings are black. while the lower part
of the head is white, with a long,
whisker-like feather curling from un-
der each ear. The body is dark slate
color. and its length is about ten
inches. Divers, pelicans and a variety
of sea-gulls also visit the islands, and
the excrement is mixed with their eggs
and the remnants of shells, and also
with the decayed flesh and bones of
thousands of seals. It is asserted. but
with what truth l do not know. that
i when a seal is about to die it will in
variably climb to the highest point on
the nearest rock. At any rate the
Chincha islands are covered with their
remains, although they have been
hunted so much hereabouts during re-
cent years that they now add little to
the deposits, which makes the guano
all the better for commercial purposes,
that of Bahia de Ferrol being so full
of seal bones as to be worthless for ex-
port.
To form some idea of the vast
accumulation one must understand
that an ordinary little gull will deposit
from four TO six ounces OF guano every
day, which during the ten weeks of the
breeding season amounts to not less
than twenty-eight pounds per gull.
Multiply this by millions and then date
the account back through thousands of
years and one may begin to realize
what these islands contain. Lying
within the rainless belt of the western
coast none of the deposit has been
washed away; and when Humboldt first
brought the Chincha Islands to the at
tention of Europe, in the year 1904, he
said they were covered with pure
guano to the depth of more than sixty
feet, and were capable of enriching all
the wernout lands OF the world.
The islands are all of the same for
nation, bright-hued granite, COM
posed of red felspar and white quartz,
mixed with little mica. As felspar
is decomposed by the action of the air,
all the shores have become frayed and
ragged, being indented by many
caverns, which in process OF time fall
in, and thus diminish the size of the
islands. This chemical force of de-
composition and the mechanical action
of the waves have parted into three
pieces that which once was doubtless
one island; aud in times yet more re-
mote Chincha was probably connected
with the coast, as shown by chain of
rocks which intervene between them
and a hill near the village of Pisco.
Being of volcanic origin, the group
may one day disappear beneath the
waves, as islands have done in various
parts OF the world.
To visit the guano fields one must
20 out from Pisco in row. boat, and
land by means of steep ladder which
leads to h wooden platform built high
up on a perpendicular cliff. The
northern island, which is about 400
yards long by 600 yards wide, is still
covered with excrement, though not
to any great depth. The beds have
been worked downward, the material
being removed in layers and placed in
fiat trucks; then conveyed by tramway
to the edge Of the cliff, whence it is
run down in chutes into barges wait
ing below, and transferred by the lat
ter to vessels which lie off the islands.
The principal cutting is about 100
yards from the brink of the precipice,
and is fully seventy feet Deep showing
the great amount Of labor that has
been accomplished. A small steam
engine of 12-horse power is used in
digging out the guano, and also for
loading the trucks. A crane projects
from the engine. and from it's chains
is suspended an iron trough. like a