The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1935-04-26
BY e. r. GUAM
Cristobal, Canal Zone,

Apru II, 1880.
Sailing north along the west coast
Of South America Is pleasant sur
prise to anyone who came south on
the east coast. The Humboldt cur
rent comes from the Antarctic and
carries cold water to the shores OF
Chile and Peru. which mobiles and
mollifies the climate nearly a. far
north>a the equator. It was not until
we had passed Peru and were OPP
posite Ecuador that tropical humidity
and temperature came forth. The
change came suddenly and 1t the
point where the Humboldt current
turns westward. to let Its cooling
process be felt almost a. far Is Toxic.
Several interesting results are due
to this cold water, one being the in
flusnce on marine life. A certain
small herring, or anchovy. exists
along the whole Peruvian coast In
enormous quantities. For many GEN.
turtles this fish has formed the staple
diet for the guanay. large water
bird Of the cormorant family. There
are many islands. large and small.
along the coast and all Of them are
roosting places for the guanay. From
q distance these islands appear snowy
white, like icebergs, the color being
due to the deposits from the birds,
l. e., from "guano," the world-famed
fertilizer.
Sees Flock Of Guanay
The use Of guano was known to the
prehistoric Peruvians, but It has
been chiefly In the past century that
its use has interested world COM
merce. Through its expectation many
millions Of dollars are paid into the
Peruvian treasury yearly.
The sight Of q flock Of guanay feed
ing on fish at the surface Of the sea
Is long to be remembered. The
"flock" through which our steamer
plowed one day formed . line sew
eral miles long and two or three hum
bred yards across. The birds were
40 busy catching and eating fish that
only q few noticed the approaching
steamer. Many were so heavily load
ed with fish that they could not fly
or get out Of the way Of the boat. It
would be impossible to guess how
many million guanay were IN that
"flock" alone, or how many fish they
had eaten for dinner that day. In
vestigators have taken - many as
seventy-fi five herring from the crop
and outlet OF Q single bird. No won.
der guano lies 100 feet deep on many
Of the islandsl No wonder the guanay
Is considered the foremost industrial.
ist and taxpayer In Perul
The Santa Clara stopped to take on
cargo at several places along the
coast. Various articles Of nerchan.
disc were accumulated. Several hun.
dred tons OF copper were added to
others already In the hold. At an.
other place n1olasses was pumped
out Of two lighters into one Of Claras
internal cavities. This goes to New
York for further distribution. The
watts out Of which 1t came and the
manner OF transfer are likely to Be
remembered next time pancakes ana
syrup appear on any restaurant
menu.
stop at Ecuador Port
A stop at Guayaquil, the seaport Of
Ecuador, was very interesting. It
gave US q chance to see an old tropi-
cal city very near the equator. and .
people enduring life under conditions
which to us seemed most uninviting.
The people Of Ecuador greatly re-
eemble their neighbors In Peru. The
majority are distinctly Indian and the
majority Of the minority distinctly
mestizo, that Is. part Indian and part
white.
Many Of the older houses were
made Of bamboo poles with . layer OF
plaster Smeared over the outside.
Buildings three and four stories high
were constructed In this manner. It
Is considered the safest form Of archi.
lecture In view OF the frequent earth
quake shocks. An auto ride disclosed