The small town of Santa contains about two thousand inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Indians. It is situated in latitude nine degrees south, in the valley of Santa, which is twenty or thirty miles in circumference, beautiful and rich in soil, and watered by a deep and rapid stream, which takes its rise in the Andes, at the distance of a hundred miles from the sea coast. Previous to the revolution, it was a flourishing valley, with a numerous population, producing rice, wheat, and other grain, in considerable quantities, for exportation; and frequently large herds of cattle were driven from it to Lima. It abounds also in fruits, such as oranges, lemons, grapes, and a variety of other delicious kinds. Large farming establishments are every where to be seen, each comprehending thousands of acres, and previous to the revolution possessed by gentlemen of ample fortune. All of these are, now in ruins, and most of them unoccupied. The climate of Santa is mild, and almost unvarying. Here, as in nearly all the rest of Peru, bordering on the Pacific Ocean, it never rains, and wherever the land is cultivated it is watered from the rivers. Around the cultivated valley of Santa, are spread extensive plains of barren sand; and at a short distance back from the sea rises the first range of gloomy and sterile mountains which, increasing in altitude as you advance into the interior, terminates in the eternal snow-covered Andes, at the distance of from fifty to a hundred miles. At Santa we obtained wood with ease, and from two or three old wells, near the shore, filled our casks with brackish water. Where the river empties into the harbour it is so much exposed to the sea as to render watering difficult, and almost always dangerous. Santa was a place of some trade before the revolution, it being connected by direct communication with some mines of the precious metals in the interior.