Excerpt from The Andes and the Amazon: Life and Travel in Peru Peru, almost alone of her neighbours in South America, possesses this characteristic. If She consisted only of a strip of coast-zone between the Andes and the sea, such as is Chile, she would have a much less important future. Brazil, with her vast area of territory, has no outlet or dominion on the Pacific. Bolivia is entirely surrounded by the territories of other States since her Pacific seaport of Antofagasta was taken by Chile, although she still enjoys a portion of navigable waters of the affluents of the Amazon. Ecuador borders only upon the Pacific, although the result of the arbitration Of her dispute with Peru may allot her a strip of territory which includes navigable arms of the Maranon, so giving access to the main stream of the Amazon. Colombia alone fronts upon two oceans - the Pacific and the Caribbean Sea; but she has lost the sovereignty of the isthmus of Panama. Venezuela is a country Without communication upon the Pacific or the Amazon; her interests are upon the Caribbean Sea and the Orinoco. The geographical Situation Of Peru is, then, favourable to future development, and it is only a question of time before the tide of human activity sets that way. Let us consider some of the physical features Of the country. The Pacific coast-line of Peru is about miles in length, from its boundary in the north with Ecuador, to that in the south with Chile; that is, from Santa Rosa to the valley of Camarones. Its northernmost coast point is near latitude 3 Degrees south, and its southernmost near latitude 18 Degrees south. AS to its longitude it lies between 62 Degrees and 81 Degrees west of Greenwich.1 It is to be recollected that South America as a whole is almost totally east of North America; and Lima, the capital of Peru, is east of the capital of the United States - Washington. Along this coast-line there are many harbours and ports, whence produce is shipped and goods disembarked. Some of these are splendid harbours, especially Callao. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.