There are many landed proprietors and others, of Paz Soldan's stamp, who have availed themselves of the period of tranquillity since 1844, interrupted only by one year of revolution, to improve their estates, and thus add to their country's wealth, especially in the valleys on the coast. The long slip of land between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean enjoys an equable climate, rain and heavy storms are nearly unknown, and refreshing dews descend during the night. The greater part of this region consists of sandy desert, traversed by ridges of rocky barren hills; but wherever a stream, descending from the Andes, is of sufficient volume to reach the ocean, a rich and fertile valley borders its banks. These valleys, of greater or less extent, and at various intervals, break the monotony of the desert from the bay of Guayaquil to the river Loa, which separates Peru from Bolivia. They are admirably adapted for the cultivation of cotton, the vine, the olive, and sugar-cane. Immense wealth is already derived from these valleys, and, with judicious outlay for obtaining more regular supplies of water, their capabilities might be multiplied indefinitely. The valley of Cañete, south of Lima, which is in the hands of six enterprising proprietors, is covered with sugar-cane plantations. In 1860 it yielded sugar worth 1,000,000 dollars, all raised by Chinese and free negro labour. Further south, the valleys of Pisco and Yca, thanks chiefly to Don Domingo Elias and his sons, yield 70,000 _botijas_ of a spirit called pisco, 10,000 barrels of excellent wine, 800,000 lbs. of cotton, and 40,000 lbs. of cochineal. Still further south there are many valleys which render their owners wealthy by the produce of cane-fields and vineyards, in the departments of Moquegua and Arequipa; and in the valley of Tambo, near Arequipa, there are 5000 olive-trees and seven mills.