The coast line of Peru presents few indentations. Its principal bays are: Tumbes, in the extreme north, an inlet from the Gulf of Guayaquil; Paita and Sechura on the coast of Piura; Chimbote and Samanco near the northern border of Ancash Department, both large and beautiful bays; Salinas and Callao, on the Lima coast; Pisco, San Nicolás, and the famous Bay of Independencia, where San Martin landed the Liberating Army, on the coast of Ica; and the picturesque bay of Arica. A few notable capes and promontories mark the sea line, Cape Blanco being the first point at which the coast curves southward after leaving the Gulf of Guayaquil; and Point Parinas, the most westerly promontory of South America. Near the coast, and presenting the same barren aspect, are several groups of islands belonging to Peru, the most important being Lobos de Afuera, Lobos de Adentro, and Guañape, in the north, and the Chincha Islands a few miles from the port of Pisco, south of Callao, noted for their rich deposits of guano. San Lorenzo Island, which lies six miles to the southwest of Callao, serves as a protection to the chief harbor of Peru. They are all desert rocks, though many interesting prehistoric relics have been found on San Lorenzo which indicate that this island was at one time the abode of a considerable population, apparently of the same race as the pre-Incaic inhabitants of the southern coast district. [Illustration: ANCÓN, A COAST RESORT NEAR CALLAO.] Leaving the coast for the sierra, one is impressed by the rapid change of scene and the beauty of the landscape that unfolds to view in varying aspects as the lower levels are left behind and the towering majesty of the Cordilleras appears in closer proximity. The great Andean system not only divides the region of the coast from that of the Amazon plain, but, by its peculiar formation, gives to this part of Peru certain features not to be found in any other country. Where the Andes mountains cross the border between Peru and Bolivia, they consist of three high ranges, viz., the Occidental and Oriental Cordilleras and an intermediary or central chain. Near Lake Titicaca the Cordilleras join to form the Nudo of Vilcanota; and about three degrees farther north, following a northwesterly direction, they again unite in the Nudo of Cerro de Pasco. The average height of the great ranges, from the Bolivian border as far north as seven degrees south latitude, is from thirteen thousand to seventeen thousand feet above sea level, a few peaks rising above twenty thousand feet; then the altitude diminishes to an average of from nine thousand to ten thousand feet, with frequent openings or passes not more than seven thousand feet above sea level. Farther north, crossing the border of Ecuador, the altitude is again increased to the limit of perpetual snow. Between the mountain ranges extends a high uneven plateau, broken by deep ravines and gorges, where transverse chains have