of Africa, sweep over the Atlantic, and become saturated with
moisture. On reaching the continent of America, this moisture is
condensed and falls in the shape of rain, giving supply to the Orino-
co, the Amazon and other mighty rivers which pour their flood into
the Atlantic Ocean. This wind continuing on its way, sweeps over
the summit of the Andes, and is there deprived by extreme cold of
all of its vapor—continuing on, it descends the western slopes of
the Andes, upon which it finds no water, passes over the narrow
space of ocean between the main land and the Chincha Islands too
quickly to absorb any practical amount of vapor, and therefore can
deposit no rain on these islands; consequently, under a tropical
sun, the deposits from the birds becomes dry—water being absent,
decomposition of organic matter and the escape of ammonia cannot
take place, and we have guano on these islands in the same state
of purity in which it was deposited there three thousand years ago.
This explains the reason of the large per centage of ammoniacal
matter in the Chincha Island Guano.

But this condition of Guano cannot exist where there is rain.—
Does rain ever fall fifteen hundred miles from the coast of South
America, on or near the equator ? Known physical and meteoro-
logical laws answer yes—direct, positive testimony shows the same
thing. Whether the winds at this distance come from the east or
the west, the north or south, they will have traversed a sufficient
extent of water to have become imbued with moisture, and on any
change of temperature the moisture will fall in the shape of rain.
Where it does fall decomposition of organic matter must ensue and
ammoniacal Guano, such as the Peruvian, cannot and does not exist.
But we are not left to mere natural physical laws to prove this as-
sertion. The Tellifogos Islands are about seven hundred and fifty
miles from the coast, there sufficient rain falls to produce vegeta-
tion, persons live on them. Take the log book of any vessels sail-
ing through the seas where this island is said to exist, and it will
show rain. It rains north of these islands, east and west of it, south
of it, all around it, and if not on it, the natural laws are suspended.

There can, therefore, be no reasonable anticipations of finding
guano equal to Peruvian in the degrees of latitude and longitude
where this island exists, and it will be an useless expenditure of
money on the part of the government, and useless exposure of our
seamen, to fit out and dispatch such an expedition. If the govern-
ment wishes to really benefit (as it does) our agricultural interests,
let several small vessels be sent through the Gulf of Mexico and
the Caribbean sea, and take possession of all islands not belonging
to other nations, and reserve them for the use of the United States;
many of these islands contain valuable deposits of phosphate—i. e.
guanos, such as Mexican and Columbian, which would prove of
great benefit not only to our agricultural, but also to our commer-
cial interest. This I advised to the Navy Department in the year

64