The mines of _Huantajaya_ are surrounded with beds of rock salt, and are celebrated for the quantity of native masses of silver they produce. They are situated in the partido of Arica, near the small port of Yquique, in a desart destitute of water, and furnish an annual supply of from 42 to 52,000_lbs._ troy. Two masses, which were discovered here lately, weighed, one, two, and the other eight quintals. Gold was formerly procured by the Incas in the plains of _Curimayo_, north-east of the city of Caxamarca, at more than 11,154 feet above the sea. It has also been extracted from the right bank of the Rio de Micuipampa, between _Cerro de San Jose_, and the plain called _Choropampa_, or the Plain of Shells; so named, on account of a vast quantity of petrified sea shells, found there, at the absolute height of more than 13,123 feet. At present, the Peruvian gold comes partly from _Pataz_ and _Huilies_, in Tarma, and is extracted from veins of quartz, traversing primitive rock, and partly from washings established on the banks of the _Maranon Alto_, in Chachapoyas. Cobalt, antimony, coal and salt, exist in this country; but as they are, with the exception of the latter, chiefly found in the mountain regions, the high price of carriage prevents their useful qualities from being brought into general use. The coinage of gold and silver in the royal mint of Lima, between 1791 and 1801, amounted to 5,466,000_l._ or 1,113,000_l._ _per annum_; of which 3450 marcs were gold, and 570,000 silver. The number of gold mines and washings worked in Peru is about 70, and the number of silver mines 680, which includes all the different works on the same spot. Of quicksilver, four mines exist, with four of copper, and twelve of lead. Emeralds and other precious stones are found in this country, with obsidian, and the stone of the Incas, a marcasite capable of the highest polish. _Climate_, _Features_, &c.--The climate of Peru is singularly various. The mountains which extend on the west side of America, cause a division of this country into three distinct parts, the maritime valleys, the barren summits, and the plains or uplands between the ridges. The chain of the Andes, arresting the clouds, which dissolve on the mountain districts into rain and vapours, accompanied with storms of thunder and lightning, whilst between 5° and 15° south latitude, on the coast, rain is unknown, and the dry winds from the Antarctic constantly pervade this region, from the desert of Atacama to the gulf of Guayaquil, a distance of 400 leagues. In this tract, the houses are covered only with mats, sprinkled with ashes, to absorb the night dews, and the soil, being moistened only by these dews, is rather sandy and barren.