CALLAO, the chief port of Peru, lies 8½ miles from Lima, the capital city, in 12° 4' S. lat., 77° 13' W. long It is built on a flat point of land in the recess of a spacious and well-sheltered bay, which is partly enclosed by the islands of San Lorenzo and Fronton, and affords the best anchorage on the Peruvian coast. The modern town lies half a mile north of the site of an older city, destroyed by an earthquake and invasion of the sea in 1746. It consists mainly of houses built of wicker-work and plastered with mud, stronger buildings being dangerous from the frequency of earthquakes; but a walled quadrangular fortress, built by the Spanish Government between 1770 and 1775, extends over about 15 acres, and is now used for the custom-house offices and stores. There are also several forts mounting cannon, and among the public buildings are the military and naval Government offices and barracks, three . Catholic churches and a Protestant chapel, two clubs, a hospital, and four banks. Several newspapers are published in the town. Callao is the headquarters of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company in South America (incorporated in 1840), and the works in connection with their large fleet of steam-vessels— foundries, carpenters’ shops, flour-mills, bakeries, and gasworks—occupy a large area near the custom-house. A large steam sugar-refinery is also in operation. Harbour works, consisting of sea walls of concrete blocks, and docks, with berthing space for thirty large vessels, begun in 1871, were completed in February 1875, superseding the old and inconvenient pier and boat harbour. These works comprise also eighteen steam-cranes for loading goods, a triple line of railway along the dock walls, gas illumination, and supplies of fresh water. A floating dock, 300 feet ...