lao, the Chilians had erected their batteries for bombarding the
fortress. As it was difficult to obtain provisions, the commanders of
the foreign ships of war sent every morning a small detachment of
sailors with a steward to Bella Vista, to purchase meat and
vegetables. The merchant-ships joined in the practice, so that early
every morning a long procession of boats with flags flying proceeded
to the Chilian camp. But a stop was soon put to this, as an English
butcher in Callao found means to go with the boats for the purpose of
purchasing large quantities of meat, which he afterwards sold at an
immense profit, to the fortress. Though the besieged did not suffer
from want, they were far from having superfluity.

Having sufficient time to make myself acquainted with the country in the
immediate vicinity of Callao, I took advantage of every opportunity for
excursions; going from place to place by water, which was more safe than
journeying by land.

The bay of Callao is one of the largest and calmest on the west coast of
South America. On the south-west, it is bounded by the sterile island of
San Lorenzo; on the north it flows into the creeks, which are terminated
by the Punta Gorda, the Punta Pernal, the Punta de dos Playas, and the
Punta de Dona Pancha. The beach is flat, for the most part shingly, and
about the mouth of the Rimac, somewhat marshy. Between the mouth of the
Rimac and that of the Rio de Chillon, which is a little southward of the
Punta Gorda, there is a tract of rich marshy soil. A small boot-shaped
tongue of land stretches from the fortress westward to San Lorenzo. On
this spot are the ruins of old Callao.

San Lorenzo is a small, long-shaped island, about 15 English miles in
circumference. It is intersected throughout its whole length by a ridge
of sharp crested hills, of which the highest point is about 1387 feet
above the level of the sea. On the north-eastern side, the declivity is
less steep than on the south-west, where it descends almost
perpendicularly into the sea. Seals and sea-otters inhabit the steep
rocks of the southern declivity, and swarms of sea-birds nestle on the
desolate shore. San Lorenzo is separated on the southern side by a
narrow strait, from a small rocky island called El Fronton, which is
also the abode of numerous seals.

The coasts of Callao and San Lorenzo have undergone very remarkable
changes within a few centuries. Mr. Darwin, the English geologist, is
of opinion tha