[52] In travelling from the inland country to Lima we have had occasion to observe, that when the horse reared on the cold table-lands, and not accustomed to any warmer climate, was taken from the Sierra to the coast in the hot months, he pined away almost as fast as a common fowl on the high seas when confined in a coop, and exposed to the spray in rough weather. But the pony, thus affected by the climate of the coast, will with surprising readiness recover his spirits and health as he returns, and ascends the tortuous and shelving paths that lead to his native element near the glacial peaks of the Cordillera.—Translator. [53] The slaughter thus commenced has passed into a custom of annually destroying these confiding companions of man, when the howl or piteous death-cry of the poor animals rings upon the ear, on fine summer mornings, as the watermen are employed in knocking them down with their iron-pointed sticks in all the streets, and even at the very doors or gates where the persecuted creatures seek protection in vain. To see them dragged along the streets, bound together by the waterman’s lazo, leaving a bloody track behind them, and then heaped up in the public squares, where they are often allowed to lie for days, is truly one of the most painful and disgusting sights which Lima presents, and to which the bloody scenes of the bull-ring are comparatively nothing.—Translator. [54] This earth or “huano,” as the translator has been informed, is an article of commerce at the port of Ilo; whence it is conveyed to the neighbourhood of Arica, the Vale of Tambo, and Arequipa, and sold at so much per quintal. When rubbed between the fingers, it emits an insufferable stench. Tithes are paid upon this valuable manure, which are always put to one side in a heap, and, like the rest, carried away on asses. At Huacho, to the north of Lima, birds’ ordure abounds, and is, we believe, used as manure. But, in general, the soil in Peru receives no top-dressing; though about Arequipa, in particular, the agricultural industry of the ancient Indians has always been followed by their successors, who, by means of the huano, compel the same piece of ground to yield several crops annually.