, are found three small
islands, or rather barren rocks. Not a tree grows on them--not a blade
of grass. The feathered race for ages past, probably since the last
flood rolled over the face of the globe, have made them their abode.
Strange as it may seem, they are of more intrinsic value than the
richest mines of Potosi; yet their produce is all on the surface, and to
be obtained but with little labour. They are the three Chincha Islands,
and their produce is guano. It is the result of the droppings of birds,
which in that dry and rainless region has preserved all its fertilising
qualities, and has been stored up, by the decree of a beneficent
Providence, to restore strength and vigour to the far-off lands of the
Old World. We sighted them one morning, and running in, brought up in
their neighbourhood. There were sixty ships, mostly English, anchored
near them, for the purpose of loading with guano; and sometimes there
are upwards of a hundred. A boat was lowered, and the captain, Jerry,
the doctor, and I, went in her. We had to climb up to the top of one of
the islands by a ladder; the cliffs are so steep, and being composed of
felspar and quartz, so broken away by the action of the sea, that it is
the only method of reaching the summit. The island was covered with
thick layers of guano, and one cutting, about a hundred yards from the
cliff, was sixty feet deep, or rather high, for the cutting is made into
it from the side, just as a slice is cut out of a cheese. A
steam-engine is employed in digging it out, and filling a set of cars,
which run on a tramway to the edge of the cliff under which the vessels
lie to load. Two hundred convicts were engaged in shovelling down the
guano, and a number of stout negroes are employed in the hold to
distribute it as it comes down through a canvas shoot. They have to
wear iron masks, as the fresh guano is stronger than volatile salts, and
more penetrating than coal-dust.

The bird which produces the guano is a sort of tern, with red bill and
legs. It has a long whisker-like feather curling out under the ear on
each side. The top of the head and the tips of the wings and tail are
black. The body, which is about ten inches long, is of a dark-slate
colour. Large flocks of gulls, divers, and pelicans, likewise visit the
islands. It is calculated that, on one island alone, there were
2,000,000 tons of guano; and although from 200,000 to 300,000 tons are
annually importe