[Illustration: A HOLIDAY IN CHICLAYO.] Although La Libertad is called the “Sugar State” of Peru, Piura its “Cotton Belt,” and Lambayeque the rice-growing centre, yet all these products are cultivated also in the fertile valleys of Ancash, which is one of the richest and most promising departments of the republic, comprising, within its twenty thousand square miles, the regions both of the coast and the sierra. It has excellent harbors, abundance of irrigation, a great variety of resources and a healthful climate. The sugar farms and rice fields of Ancash are chiefly located in the northern part of the state, in the beautiful valley of the Santa River, and in the region of Samanco and Casma. All this territory is particularly adapted to agriculture and is destined to be one of the richest centres of Peruvian industry. The magnificent bay of Chimbote, covering a surface of thirty-six square miles, affords shelter for the largest ships and is one of the best harbors on the west coast of South America; it is free from sandbanks and hidden rocks, and never gets the rough seas that sometimes break over the shores of other ports along the coast of Peru. Before the war with Chile, a railway was under construction to connect the port with the capital, Huaraz, and half the road was completed when the war broke out. All the workshops and factories were destroyed by the invading troops, who set fire to the fields of sugar-cane and blew up the farm houses with dynamite. This catastrophe paralyzed the progress of the valley for some years, but, under renewed enterprise, the outlook is very bright for future prosperity. The railway is being built again and will soon be completed to the capital of the department, thus affording facilities of transportation for the products of the sierra as well as those of the valleys. Abundant water-power is available for engineering and other enterprises. [Illustration: WORKMEN ON A COAST PLANTATION.] [Illustration: STREET AND OLD CHURCH OF LAMBAYEQUE.]