60,000 square miles; and is capable of supporting 5,000,000 inhabitants. It is called the "Steppe of the Holy Sacrament." [89] The mighty river Amazon, or Maranon, rises in this country, among the Andes, in a number of head streams. Those streams which empty into the Pacific, flowing from the western side of the Andes, are of but little importance, being quite small in size. The climate of the country is variable; that of the Coast or Low Peru, is dry and temperate; that of the Sierras mild, that of the Andes piercingly cold; and that of the Pampas warm, and exceedingly humid. The climate of the Sierras is perhaps the most healthy in the world, if we can judge from the long life of its inhabitants. Persons are often found living at the age of 120, and sometimes reach the extreme age of 150 years. A Spaniard died in the year 1765, in the province of Caxamarea, aged 144 years, 7 months, and 5 days, leaving 800 lineal descendants. But such extreme age is by no means common to the whole country. The climate of the Pampas is far from being healthy. The warmth and extreme humidity render them almost uninhabitable, and the few Indian tribes on the rivers rarely see a man of the age of fifty. In the uplands of this country, the soil is somewhat fertile, but owing to the almost insuperable barriers to communication with the coast, agriculture is generally speaking in a wretched state. Abundance of cotton in a wild state is found in the Montana Real, and on the banks of the Maranon. Flax is common, but the Indians leave the stems to perish, and make a kind of beer of the seeds. In some districts a species of coffee, and cochineal abound, but the quality is not the best. The pimento of Peru is excessively strong, and there is cinnamon stronger than that of[90] Ceylon, though not so valuable for use. A great variety of aromatic balsams, oils, and gums, distilled from the trees are produced here. In the description of Peru, Estalla enumerates the cedar, the olive, the wild orange, the incorruptible algorob, the palm, the willow, and many other trees. On the coast, and western slopes of the Andes, are produced the cabbage-palm, the cocoa-nut, the chocolate-nut, the cotton-shrub, the pineapple, tumeric, plantain, and sugar-cane. No less than twenty-four species of pepper are raised in Peru. Tobacco and jalap grow in abundance at the foot of the Andes. The chief shrubs on the uplands of the Andes are the different species of cinchonas, or the salutary Peruvian bark. The mountains abound in metalic wealth. They are interspersed with veins of gold and of silver ore, in which pieces of pure silver, solid copper, and lead ore occur, frequently intermixed with white silver ore, and virgin silver, in threads. In many parts are rich veins of gold ore in quartz, and gold is also obtained by washing the mud found in the beds of the rivers. Many of the silver mines are neglected, owing to their being inundated by water, which has continued