interests of the stricken city
centred at Bellavista, 1-1/4 m. east, where wheat granaries were built
and still remain, but later the greater convenience of a waterside site
drew the merchants and population back to the vicinity of the submerged
town. The importance of Callao in colonial times, when it was the only
open port south of Panama, did not continue under the new political
order, because of the unsettled state of public affairs and the loss of
its monopoly. This decline in its prosperity was checked, and the modern
development of the port began, when a railway was built from Callao into
the heart of the Andes, and Callao is now an important factor in the
development of copper-mining. The port is connected with Lima by two
railways and an electric tramway, with Oroya by railway 138 m. long, and
with Cerro de Pasco by railway 221 m. A short railway also runs from the
port to the Bellavista storehouses. The port is provided with modern
harbour improvements, consisting of sea-walls of concrete blocks, two
fine docks with berthing spaces for 30 large vessels, and a large
floating-dock (300 ft. long on the blocks and capable of receiving
vessels up to 21 ft. draught and 5000 tons weight), which was built in
Glasgow and was sent out to Callao in 1863. The docks are provided with
gas and electric lights, 18 steam cranes for loading and discharging
vessels, a triple line of railway and a supply of fresh water. Callao
was formerly the headquarters in South America of the Pacific Steam
Navigation Co., Ltd. (incorporated 1840), but Valparaiso now occupies
that position. There are, owing perhaps to the proximity of Lima, few
industrial establishments in the city; among them are a large sugar
refinery, some flour-mills, a brewery, a factory for making effervescent
drinks, and a number of foundries and repair shops. Being a port of the
first class, Callao is an important distributing centre for the coasting
trade, in which a large number of small vessels are engaged. The foreign
steamship companies making it a regular port of call are the Pacific
Steam Navigation Co. (British), the Compania Sud-America (Chilean), the
Kosmos and Roland lines (German), the Merchants line (New York), and a
Japanese line from the ports of Japan and China. A subsidized Peruvian
line is also contemplated to ply between the Pacific ports of South
America with an eventual extension of the service to Europe. The
arrivals from and clearances for foreign