tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6578019452595492656.post-39873622201929688112008-04-28T20:05:00.000-07:002008-04-28T21:02:19.532-07:002008-04-28T21:02:19.532-07:00<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_jZXaAg-kez4/SBadMxnbVDI/AAAAAAAAAHs/fVPC_BMDTvE/s1600-h/Peru-CIA_WFB_Map.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194512063021143090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_jZXaAg-kez4/SBadMxnbVDI/AAAAAAAAAHs/fVPC_BMDTvE/s320/Peru-CIA_WFB_Map.png" border="0" /></a> On October 26, 1880 the Columbia stopped first at Paita and then Chimbote, just long enough to pick up mail. Chimbote was in the hands of the Chileans.<br /><br />Further south, the Huascar returned from Valparaiso to Arica with two new 180 pound Armstrong guns and continued north.<br /><br />For George Kiefer and Paul Boyton, the extensive barren coast of Peru, dissected occasionally by verdant river valleys, proved of great interest. We can imagine George sitting on the deck immersed in a book of travels about Peru, while Paul eagerly scanned the horizon and thought with anxious anticipation about the approaching adventure.<br /><br />Parts of the coast received less than one inch of rain per year, and others went several years without rain. Cold ocean currents from the west created this severely dry climate, but also produced one of the richest fishery in the western hemisphere. (Moseley, 1992, p 102)<br /><br />A dense fog obscured the coastline at times, so dense that tiny droplets formed making the air heavily moist, a condition locally known as garua. This fog nourished the lomas, areas on slopes and plains of the higher plateaus, and made possible short-lived verdure, providing food for cattle, sheep and goats.<br /><br />Great ceremonial pyramids, now abandoned, lay hidden in the sands and in the upper river valleys. The ancient inhabitants fished the seas, planted in the valleys, and hunted herds of guanaco, wild camelids related to the llama and alpaca, that pastured on the fog plants. (Moseley, 1992, p. 41)<br /><br />Resources:<br /><div>Map: Wikipedia...from CIA World Factbook.<br />Moseley, Michael E. 1996. The Incas and their ancestors: the archaeology of Peru. London, Thames and Hudson.272 pp.</div>Linda Jacobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06096510066972205118noreply@blogger.com0