The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-05-23

In the Bay of Pisco, about one hum dred miles south of Callao and twelve miles out from the mainland, lie the celebrated Chincha 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 during twenty years, between 1853 and '7S, about eight million 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 plunder taken from the Incas.
 The known exports have amounted to fully thirty million dollars, and this for country which never contained more than two million people, two- thirds of whom were Indians who had no share in the profit. Yet in the midst of it's prosperity the improvident country managed somehow to incur a debt of two hundred and fifty million dollars, which could never have been paid but for the saving Grace-Don- onghmore convention. This treasure trove of the Chincha Islands, which when first discovered had been accu- mulating in an exhaustless deposit for unnumbered centuries, was even more easily available than the gold and sil- yer which have made the Inca land the Fl Dorado of the world, and contribu- ted as much toward it's downfall, for the latter-day republic if Peru is the poorest in all South America. When plenty of money came without effort to generation after generation, the care less aristocrats took no steps toward improving or preserving the source of their revenue; and when at last these springs ran low and the country was pillaged by war of everything else that was valuable, the helpless people. reared in the idea of their ancestors that it had been ordained from the be- ginning of the world that they were to have no part in the degradation of la bor, did not know how to set them selves to work. In the matter of their guano beds the Peruvians have shown far less sagacity than did the Indians of the olden days, but have acted as if the supply were literally without end. They abolished taxes and relied entire- ly upon guano for all the money re- quired by the government, including enormous sums expended in railways. When the Chincha Islands were nearly exhausted they turned their attention to other groups; but none of them proved so rich and extensive as the original source of supply which their ancestors so carefully protected.
 The word guano is corruption of the Quichua Huano, meaning fish ma nure. The enlibhtened Incas under stood we'll its value as fertilizer. History tells us that it was not only extensively used throughout their em- pire but that the punishment of death was inicted upon any one who dis turbed the birds during the breeding season, or who killed one of them at any time, either on the islands or else where. With such care were the Chin chas protected that it was not lawful
 
 pain of death, lest the birds should be driven away and frightened from the coast. Each island was set apart for the use of a particular province and the guano was carefully didided, every village receiving it's fair proportion.
 Considerable guano is yet found in the Taracopa Island, the Lobos and Guenope groups, the Vieja Islands of Independence Bay, the Lobilla and Huonillo groups in Cheopana Bay, and others at Punta Alba and Pabellion de Plea. The best of them however. in cluding all the workings of Padellion, Limos and Huanellof, now go the the railroad bondholders, under the Grace Dononghmore contract.
 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, feather curling from un- der each ear. The body is dark slate color, and it's length is about ten inch es. Divers, pelicans and avariety of 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 thou sands of seals. It is asserted but with what truth I do not know, that when a seal is about to die it will invariably climb to the highest point on the near est rock. At any rate the Chincha Is- lands are covered with their remains, although they have been so much hunt ed hereabouts during recent years that they now add little to the deposit, which makes the guano all the better for commercial purposes, that of Ba- hia de Ferrol being so full or seal bones as to be worthless for export.
 To form some idea of the vast accu- 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. this by millions, and then date the account back through thou sands of years, and one may begin to faintly realize what these islands con- tain. 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 attention of Europe, in the year 1894, he said they were cov- cred with pure guano to the depth of more than sixty feet and were capable of enriching all the worn-out lands of the world. To visit the guano fields