Pertusati, Francesco, Count, an ascetic Italian author, was born in JMilan May 9, 1741. The son of a senator of Milan, he was educated among the Jesuits, for some time wore their habit, and never ceased to be attached to them. He divided his leisure between the education of his children and the direction of works of charity. His devotion to the religious and abso- lutist party exposed him to ])ersecution : arrested in 179G, on the invasion of the French, and conducted to Nice, he was obliged, in 1799, to seek refuge in Ven- ice. He died at Milan Jlaj' 22, 1823. His works are verj' numerous, and all translated from tlie French into Italian. See Beraldi, Memorie di reliqiotie (Mo- dena, 1823) ; Rudoni, Cenni sulla vita e sugli scritti del F. Pertusati (Milan, 1823, 8vo).— Hoefer, Xouv. Biog. Generale, xxxix, 673.
Peru, an important maritime republic of South America, bounded on tlie north by Ecuador, on the west by the Pacific, on the south and south-east by Bo- livia, and on the east by Brazil, in lat, 3° 25'-21° 30' S., and in long. 68 '-81° 20' W., has an area estimated at upwards of 500,000 square miles, and a population of 2,200,000. The coast-line is about ICGO miles in length. The shores are in general rocky and steep, and, owing to the comparative unfrequency of bays and inlets along the coast, the harbors are few and unimportant. Those of Callao (the port of Lima) and Payta afford the most secure anchorage. The following account of the countrj' is chiefly condensed from Chambers's Cgclopcedia.
I. Islands. — The islands on the Peruvian coast, al- though valuable, are extremely few in number and small iu extent. In the north are the Lobos (i. e. Seal) Islands, forming a group of three, and so called from the seals which frequent them. On their eastern and more sheltered sides tliey are covered with guano, and the tpiantity on the whole group is stated at 4,000,000 tons, 'i'he Chincha Lslands, famous as the source of Peruvian guano, also form a group of three. Each island pre- sents, on the eastern side, a wall of precipitous rock, with rocky pinnacles in the centre, and with a general slope towards the western shore. The cavities and in- equalities of the surface are filled with guano, and this material covers the western slopes of the islands to within a few feet of the water's edge. There is no vegetation. At the present rate of consumption, the guano will last until the year 1883. The island of San Lorenzo forms the harbor of Callao. The grand physical feature of Peru, and the source of all its min- eral wealth, is the great mountain system of the Aiules.
II. Surface, Soil, and Climute. — The si;rface of Peru is divided into three distinct and well-defined tracts or belts, the climates of which are of every variety from torrid heat to arctic cold, and the productions of which range from the stunted herbage of the high mountain- slopes to the oranges and citrons, the sugar-canes and cottons, of the luxuriant tropical valleys, a. The Coast is a narrow strip of sandy desert between the base of the Western Cordillera and the sea, and extending along the whole length of the country. This tract, varying in breadth from thirty to sixty miles, slopes to the shore with an uneven surface, marked by arid ridges
from the Cordillera, and with a rapid descent. It is for the most part a barren waste of sand, traversed, how- ever, by numerous valleys of astonishing fertility, most of which are watered by streams that have their sources high on the slopes of the Cordillera. Many of the streams are dry during the greater part of the year. b. The Sierra embraces all the moimtainous region be- tween the western base of the maritime Cordillera and the eastern base of the Andes, or the Eastern Cordillera. These ranges are, in this country, about 100 miles apart on an average, and have been estimated to cover an area of 200,000 sipiare miles. Transverse branches con- nect the one range with the other, and high plateaus, fertile plains, aiul deep tropical valleys lie between the lofty outer barriers. The following are the most strik- ing and distinctive physical features of the Sierra, be- ginning from the south : 1. The plain of Titicaca. partly in Peru and partly in Bolivia, is enclosed between the two main ridges of the Andes, and is said to have an area of 30,000 miles — greater than that of Ireland. In its centre is the great Lake Titicaca, 115 miles long, from 30 to 60 miles broad, from 70 to 180 feet deep, and 400 miles iu circumference. 2. The mountain-chains which girdle the plain of Titicaca trend towards the north-west, and form what is called the Knot of Cuzco. The Knot comprises six minor moimtain-chains, and has an area thrice larger than that of Switzerland. Here the valleys enjoy an Indian climate, and are rich in tropical productions; to the north and east of the Knot extend luxuriant tropical forests, while the numberless mountain - slopes are covered with waving crops of wheat, barley, and other cereals, and with potatoes; and higher up extend pasture-lands, where the vicm'ia and alpaca feed. 3. The valley of the Apurimac, 30 miles in average breadth, and extending north - west for about .SOO miles. This valley is the most populous region of Peru. 4. From Cuzco proceed two chains towards the north-west; they imite again in the Knot of Pasco. This Knot contains the table-land of Bom- bon, 12,300 feet above sea-level ; as avcU as other table- lands at a height of 14,000 feet, the highest in the An- des; otherwise, however, the physical features of the country resemble those of the vicinity of Cuzco. 5. The vale of the river Maranon, which is upwards of 300 miles in length, is narrow, deep, and nearer the equator than any other valley of the Sierra, and conse- quently it is the hottest portion of this region ; and its vegetation is thoroughly tropical in character. The conformation of the surface of the Sierra is of the most wonderful description. The soil of the Sierra is of great variety; but wherever it is cultivated it is pro- ductive, c. Tlie Montana, forming two thirds of the entire area of the country, stretches away for hundreds of leagues eastward from the Andes to the confines of Brazil. On the north it is bounded by the Amazon, on the south by Bolivia. It consists of vast impenetrable forests and alluvial plains, is rich in all the productions of tropical latitudes, is of inexhaustible fertility, and teems with animal and vegetable life. Among the products which are yielded here in spontaneous abun- dance are the inestimable Peruvian bark. India-rubber, gum-copal, vanilla, indigo, copaiba, balsam, cinnamon, sarsaparilla, ipecacuanha, vegetable wax, etc. On the western fringe of the Montafia, where there are still a few settlements, tobacco, sugar, coffee, cotton, and choc- olate are cultivated with complete success.