In the Montaña, the two seasons correspond to those of the sierra, the wet season being from November to May, called winter, and the dry and cooler season called summer. As the region of the Montaña slopes away from the Cordilleras, its higher levels present the evidences of a tropical zone in the exuberance of their vegetation, though the climate is as cool and mild as that of southern Europe. Foreigners who live in this region pronounce it healthful and delightful, as malaria is unknown, and illness of any kind is a rare visitor. As one descends to the lower Amazon plain, the heat becomes intense in places, though it is generally modified by the daily showers and the cooling effect of the trade winds. Taken as a whole, the climate of Peru may be considered benign and healthful, and favorable to the acclimation of foreigners, the conditions being such that every stranger may find, somewhere in the country, the same climate as in his native land, or a better one. [Illustration: A LAKE AMONG THE GLACIERS OF YAULI.] The extensive territory of Peru, well provided by nature to meet the needs of a great population, has at present between four and five million inhabitants. The coast region supports one-fourth of this population, having an average of 4.53 inhabitants to each square kilometre; the sierra has about two-thirds of the entire population, with an average of 5.32 to each square kilometre: and the Montaña, with less than half a million inhabitants in its vast forests and plains, shows only one inhabitant to every three kilometres. It is in this region that the greatest opportunities are offered for colonization. Of the total population, the official statistics give fifteen per cent to those of European descent; fifty per cent are of Peruvian (Indian) origin; two per cent are African, one per cent is Asiatic, and the remainder are of mixed races, chiefly European and Indian. In the predominance of the descendants of the Incas’ gentle and obedient subjects is explained the peaceable and tractable character of the masses, whose faults are rather those of indolence than of evil intention. The governing class is chiefly of Spanish origin; and, notwithstanding all that has been written to the contrary, their Latin inheritance has peculiarly fitted them to be the rulers of this refined race. The Spanish conquerors treated the Indians with great cruelty, it is true, and reduced their number by forcing them to unaccustomed tasks; but the Indians of North America hardly fared better under the zeal and energy of the Puritan colonist, who instead of making them his servants, drove them away from their homes, took possession of their country, and gave himself no responsibility as to their future in this world,—though earnestly seeking to teach them how to find a haven in the next.