ar cane and cotton as well as other valuable farm products.

But upon the rise of the water in the river depends the life and
prosperity of the people. Like the people of Egypt and the Nile, these
people look upon this river with feelings of reverence. They have a
great feast day for the river. In their spring time when the snows melt
the river gradually rises, spreading over the valley bottom and filling
all the low places and irrigation ditches with water.

As the time for this rise approaches every traveler from upstream is
questioned and on the day the big rise is due the great feast day is
proclaimed and the people, generally five thousand or more, march toward
the coming tide to meet the water. If there is an abundance of water
they are sure of a great harvest. With fife and drum they meet the
oncoming flood and go back with it; if it is a great flood they are
happy and merry, but if the tide is low they are sad and gloomy for they
know that many will be hungry.

It rains here about once in seven years and these are called the seven
year rains. Following the showers there is a wonderful burst of life
everywhere. Quick growing grasses cover the land with a carpet of green
and fragrant blossoms fill the air with sweetness; but in a short time,
except where the irrigation ditches reach the land, the entire region
once more becomes a yellow, parched desert.

In this valley grows the best cotton that is produced anywhere. It is a
well known fact among cotton growers that Piura cotton has a peculiar
strength of fiber that makes it sell for nearly double the price of that
grown in our southern states. As goats can live where other animals will
starve, this valley is also noted for its great goat herds which make
their living on the dry mountain sides.

The greatest seaport of Peru is Callao. If the sea were rough this would
be a dangerous harbor for all ocean liners must anchor far from the
docks as only very small ships can approach them. I counted forty-two
ocean liners in the harbor so you can imagine that it is a busy place.
These liners represented nearly every sea-faring country on the globe.

The city of Callao has had its ups and downs. Some one has said that the
chief product of Peru is revolutions and Callao has had its share of
them. Also, nearly every earthquake along the coast gives this city a
shaking up. At one time many years ago when the city had a population of
some six thousand people there came a