hst being arranged to show the coast, sierra and montaia divisions:—

Area l Estimated 1 Estimated

Departments. l Sq m (loop, 1906 Capital., popq 1906 Coast-

P1ura ' 14,849 154,080 Piura 9,100

Lambayeque 4,615 93,070 Chiclayo 10,000

Libertad 10,209 188,200 Trujillo 6,500

Ancachs 16,567 317,050 Huaraz 13,000

Lima 13,314 250,000 Lima (1903) 140,000

lca (or Yca) 8,721 68,220 lca 6,000

Arequipa 2 1,953 1 71,7 50 Arequipa 28,000 Szerra -

Cajamarca 12,542 333,310 Cajamarca 9,000

Huanuco 14,028 108,980 Huanuco 6,000

lunin 23,354 305,700 Cerro de Pasco 10,000 Huancavelica 9,254 167,840 Huancavelica 6,000 Ayacucho 18,190 226,850 Ayacucho 1 5,000

Apurlmac 8,189 133,000 Abancay 2,400

Cuzco 156,317 328,980 Cuzco 23,000

Puno 41,211 403,000 Puno 4,500

Montaia -

Amazonas, 13,947 53,000 Chachapoyas 4,500

Loreto 238,493 120,000 Iquitos 6,000

San Martin 30,745 33,000 Moyobamba 7,500

Lutoral

Provinces-Tumbez

1,981 8,000 Tumbez 2,300

Callao 14% 33,879 Callao (1905) 31,128

Moquegua 5, 550; 3 1,920 Moquegua 5,000

Apart from the departmental capitals there are few towns of size and importance. The so-called coast towns are commonly at some distance from the seashore, and their shipping ports are little more than a straggling collection of wretched habitations in the vicinity of the landing-stage and its offices and warehouses. Callao (q.'v.) is a noteworthy exception, and Paita and Pisco are something more than the average coast village. Near Lima, on the south, there are three bathing resorts, Chorr1llos, Miraflores and Barranco, which have handsome residences and large populations in the bathing season. North of Lima is the port and bathing resort of Ancon, in an extremely arid locality but having a fine beach, a healthy climate and a considerable population in the season. The towns of the coast region are usually built on the same general plan, the streets crossing each other at right angles and enclosing squares, or quadras. In the sierra there is the same regular plan wherever the site is level enough. High-pitched red tiled roofs take the place of the flat roofs of the coast. The upper storey often recedes, leaving wide corridors under the overhanging eaves, and in the “plazas” there are frequently covered arcades. In addition to the capitals of the departments, Tarma (about 4000) and Xauxa, or lauja (about 3000), are important towns of this region. In the montaia there are no towns of importance other than the capitals of the departments and the small river ports.

Communications.-The problem of easy and cheap transportation between the coast and the interior has been a vital one or Peru, for upon it depends the economic development of some of the richest parts of the republic. The arid c aracter of the coastal zone, with an average width of about 80 m., permits cult1vat10n is available. Only in the

to maintain a large popuwhich

their success as a

and down to the middle

the onl means of ra s

of the soil only where water Ior irrigation sierra and montaia regions is it possible

lation and develop the industries upon

nation depends. During colonial times

ol the 19th century pack animals were y t nportation across the desert and over the rough mountain trails. Ra1lway construction in Peru began in 1848 with a short line from Callao to Lima, but the building of railway lines across the desert to the inland towns of the Iertile river valleys and the Andean foot-hills did not begin until twenty years later. These roads added much to the productive resources of the country, but their extension to the sierra districts was still a vital necessity. Under the administration (1868-1872) of President lose Balta the construction ol two transandean and several coastal zone railways was begun, but their completion became impossible Ior want of Iunds. Ba ta's plans covered 1281 m. of state railways and 749 m. of rivate mes, the estimated cost to be about £37,500, oo0-a sum Iar beyond the resources of the republic. The two transandean lines were the Iamous Oroya railway, running Irom Callao to Oroya (1893), which crosses the Western Cordillera at an elevation of 15,645 ft., and later on to Cerro de Pasco (1904), the Goillarisquisga coal mines (1904) and Haur1 (1906); and the southern line from Mollendo to Lake Titicaca, which reached Arequipa in 1869, Puno in 1871 and Checcacupe (Cuzco branch) in 1906. Surveys were completed in 1909 for an extension of the Oroya l1ne from a point on its Cerro de Pasco branch eastward to the Ucayali, and another transandean line frequently discussed is projected from Paita across the Andes to Puerto Limon, on the Maraion-a distance of 410 m. The most important means of communication in the republic is that of its river system, comprising, as it does, the navigable channels of the Maraiion, or u per Amazon, and its tributaries. It is officially estimated that this system comprises no less than 20,000 m. of connected river ways navigable at high water for all descriptions of boats, or 10,000 m. for steamers of 20 to 2 ft. draught, which is reduced to N5800 m. at low water. The rivers forming this system are the aranon from Puerto Limon to Tabatinga on the Brazilian frontier (484 m.), the japura, Putumayo, ]avary, Napo, Tigre, Huallaga, Ucayali, Pachitea, jurua, Purus, Acre, Curaray and Aguarico all navigable over parts of their courses for steamers of 4t0 8 fr.draught1n periods of high water. As for the Maranon, it is claimed that steamers of 20 ft. draught can ascend to Puerto Limon at all seasons of the year. The inclusion of the upper waters of the Brazilian rivers jurua, Purus and Acre is go forma only, as they are wholl under Brazilian ]urisd1cti0n. tactically the whole of the region tlirough which these rivers runthe montaiia of Peru-is undeveloped, and is inhabited by Indians, with a few settlements of whites on the river courses. lts chief port is Iquitos, on the Maranon, 335 m. above the Brazilian frontier and 2653 m. from the mouth of the Amazon. It is visited by ocean-going steamers, and is the centre of the Peruvian river transportation system. The second port in importance is Yurima uas, on the Huallaga, 143 m. from the mouth of that river 8115528 m. from Iquitos, with which it is in regular communication. There are small ports, or trading posts, on all the large rivers, and occasional steamers are sent to them with supplies and to bring away rubber and other forest products. Of the rivers farther south, which discharge into the Amazon through the Madeira, the Madre de Dios alone offers an extended navigable channel, together with some of its lar er tributaries, such as the Heath and Chandless. Of a widely giflerent character is the navigation of Lake Titicaca, where steamers ply regularly between Puno and Guaqui, the latter on the south-east shore in railway connexion with La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. This is one of the most remarkable steamer routes in the world, being 12,370 ft. above sea-1evel The lake is Iég m. long and from 70 to 80 m. wide and has a number of small In ian villages on its shores. There are two submarine cable lines on the Peruvian coastthe (American) Central and South American Co. extendin from Panama to Val ara1s0, and the (British) West Coast Cable Co., subsidiary to the Eastern Telegraph Co., with a cable between Callao and Valparaiso. The inland telegraph service dates from 1864, when a short line Irom Callao to Lima was constructed, and state ownership Irom 1875, when the government assumed control of all lines within the republic, some of which were subsequently handed over to private administration. They connect all the important cities, towns and ports, but cover only a small part of the republic. The cost of erecting and maintaining tele raph lines in the sierra and montafia regions is too great to permit tgieir extensive use, and the government is seeking to substitute wireless telegraphy. From Puerto Bermudez, on the Pachitea or Pichis river, the terminus of a government road and tele raph line, a wireless system connects with Massisea on the Ucayai and thence with Iquitos, on the Maraiion-a distance of 930 m. by steamer, which is much shortened by direct communication between the three radio graphic stations. This service was opened to Iquitos on the 8th of July 1908, the first section between Puerto Bermudez and Massisea having been pronounced a success. The Peruvian telegraph system connects with those of Ecuador and Bolivia. The use of the telephone is general, 5236 m. being in operation in 1906. The postal service is unavoidably limited and deflective, owing to the rugged character of the country, its sparse po ulation, and the large percentage of illiterates. On the coast, however, in and near the large c1t1es and towns, it compares well with other South American countries. Peru belon s to the international postal union, and had in 1906 a money order and parcels exchange with seven forei n states. A noteworthy peculiarity in the Ioreign mail service is that an extra charge oI 2 cents for each letter and 1 cent Ior each post-card is collected when they are sent across the isthmus oI Panama. N0 charge is made Ior the transmission 0I newspapers within the republic. The letter rate is 5 cents silver Ior 15 grams, or 10 cents to Ioreign countries in the ostal union. Commerce.-Owin to litical disorder, difficulty in land communications, and tie iniigritance 0I vicious fiscal methods from Spanish colonial administration, the commercial development of Peru has been slow and erratic. There are many ports on the coast, but only eight of them are rated as first class, viz. Paita, Eten, Pacasmayo, Salaverry, Callao, Pisco, Mollendo and Ilo, five of which are ports of call for foreign coasting steamers. The inland port of Iquitos, on the Maranon, is also rated as first class,

and enjoys special privileges because of its distance from the national