"From 1851 to 1860 nearly three million tons were shipped from the Chincha Islands, and between 1853 and 1872 it is estimated that eight millions tons were sent away. In that year the Chincha Islands were practically exhausted. The Peruvians had acted as though they were to last forever as a source of revenue, and the discovery of the great value of the deposits may be considered the cause of the present bankruptcy of the country. They had abolished the taxes and relied upon the Chincha Islands for all money needed by government, including the immense sums expended in the construction of railways. They appointed agents in London and New York for the sale of the guano, and as long as the business was prosperous, a great many men grew rich out of the transactions. "As the Chincha Islands gave out other deposits were worked, some on the Lobos Islands, others on the Guanape Islands, and others in Tarapaca, but none of them are as rich or extensive as was the original source of supply." The youths looked carefully at the islands with their glasses as the steamer proceeded on her course. Dr. Bronson called their attention to a solitary ship that was lying close to the cliff of one of the islands, and said that in the days of the prosperity of the guano trade there were sometimes a hundred ships receiving cargoes or waiting their turns to be laden. "You observe," said he, "that the sides of the islands are quite bold, and in some places precipitous; ships used to lie close to the shore and receive their cargoes through long chutes or spouts through which the guano was poured from the top of the cliff. The air was full of guano dust, and the men engaged in the work suffered greatly from the dust entering the throat and lungs. Ammonia (hartshorn) is an important ingredient of guano; imagine yourselves breathing an atmosphere heavily charged with ammonia, and you can realize the disagreeable features of working on a guano island. [Illustration: SCENE ON A COOLIE SHIP.] "Convicts were employed here, and also coolies from China; the horrors of the coolie trade with Peru have never been fully told, and the narration would be most sickening. Thousands of the coolies threw themselves into the sea to escape the terrible life on these islands; other thousands died here as a result of their toil, and the number was only kept up by frequent arrivals of ships from Macao, the seat of the coolie trade in China." "There are three islands," said Fred, "but they do not seem to be large ones. I should judge that the most northerly is the largest, and it is not more than half a mile long by a third in width."