ch swept away huts, and tore up trees by
the roots. The atmospheric currents from the north, which pass over the
hot sand-flats, are not of constant occurrence, but they are
oppressively sultry. There must be other causes for the low temperature
of Lima, for in the villages, only a few miles from the city, and
exposed to the same atmospheric influences, it is much higher.

Miraflores is a small place, about one Spanish league and a half from
Lima, but it is much hotter. Among the records of the thermometer are
the following:--

December 20 to 27, maximum 31.8 deg. C.; minimum, 25.9 deg. C.

December 28, at 6 in the morning, 26.0 deg. C.; at 2 P.M., 32.7 deg. C.;
at 10 at night, 27.3 deg. C.

January 1, at 2 P.M., 33.1 deg. C., maximum of the day.

January 18, at 2 P.M., maximum 34.2 deg. C.

A comparison with the temperature of Lima, on the same days, gives an
average of 5.7 deg. C. of heat in favor of Miraflores.

The River Rimac, which rises among the glaciers of the Cordilleras, and
after a course of no great length, intersects the city, doubtless
contributes to cool the atmosphere.

The climate of Lima is agreeable, but not very healthy. During six
months, from April to October, a heavy, damp, but not cold mist,
overhangs the city. The summer is always hot, but not oppressive. The
transition from one season to another is gradual, and almost
imperceptible. In October and November the misty canopy begins to rise;
it becomes thinner, and yields to the penetrating rays of the sun. In
April the horizon begins to resume the misty veil. The mornings are cool
and overcast, but the middle of the day is clear. In a few weeks after,
the brightness of noon also disappears. The great humidity gives rise to
many diseases, particularly fevers, and the alternations from heat to
damp cause dysentery. On an average, the victims to this disease are
very numerous. It is endemic, and becomes, at apparently regular but
distant periods, epidemic. The intermittent fevers or agues, called
_tercianos_, are throughout the whole of Peru very dangerous, both
during their course and in their consequences. It may be regarded as
certain that two-thirds of the people of Lima are suffering at all times
from _tercianos_, or from the consequences of the disease. It usually
attacks foreigners, not immediately on their arrival in Lima, but some
years afterwards. In general the tribute of acclimation is not so soon
paid by emigrants