Now that the question of cotton-supply is attracting so large a share of attention in England, it is gratifying to be able to state that landed proprietors on the coast of Peru have seriously turned their attention to the subject, and that in 1860 the cultivation of cotton was becoming a favourite speculation. The soil and climate of these coast valleys are admirably adapted for its growth, and, though the quantity that could be drawn from them would be insignificant when compared with the vast demands of Manchester, yet the quality is good, and they will supply one out of many sources which may hereafter render us partially independent of the Confederate States. The estates of Don Domingo Elias and others, in the valleys of Yca, Palpa, San Xavier, and Nasca, yield 800,000 lbs. of excellent cotton. I visited these cotton estates in 1853, and found that the cotton was carefully picked, and packed by screw presses. A great deal of cotton is also shipped from the port of Payta, which sells in Liverpool at 8_d._ to 9-1/2_d._ the lb.; and in the valley of Lambayeque,[357] between Payta and Lima, cotton cultivation has lately been undertaken on a very large scale. In 1860, in the four districts of Talambo, Cayalti, Collus, and Calupe, there were already 600,000 plants in the ground, and in neighbouring estates extensive tracts of land had been prepared for cotton by the house of Zaracondegui and others. At Talambo, in the valley of Pacasmayo, there are many Biscayan families, numbering in all 176 souls, who are exclusively engaged in cotton cultivation; and the yield in that district in the first year was 800,000 lbs. In the province of Chiclayo 700,000 plants were put in the ground during 1860, and land was being prepared for the growth of cotton crops to a much larger extent. These cotton-growing provinces of Lambayeque, Chiclayo, and Truxillo are fertile and well watered; storms of rain are unknown, and they enjoy an equable climate with a mean temperature between 70° and 84° Fahr. It has been calculated that, after leaving a fifth of the available land for crops to supply provisions for the inhabitants, as many as 140,000 _fanegadas_[358] might be brought under cotton cultivation in these provinces alone. Allowing four feet for each plant, and that each plant yields four pounds a year, this extent of land would produce 580,000,000 lbs. of cotton annually, worth twelve dollars the cwt. at the port of shipment, or 69,600,000 dollars. Deducting 22,400,000 for expenses, this would leave 47,200,000 dollars profit. But these provinces only contain a small fraction of the fertile coast valleys of Peru; and it is clear that, if the speculations of 1860 yield a reasonably profitable return, the cultivation of cotton may, in all probability, be undertaken over a vast area, and render Peru an important source of supply for Manchester.[359]