PAYTA, or Paita, a town of Peru, in the province of Piura, with only 2390 inhabitants in 1876, but of importance as the northmost harbour of the Peruvian coast, the port of the city of Piura (San Miguel de), with which it is connected by rail, a regular calling-place for steamers, and a great rendezvous for whaling vessels. It consists of a single narrow street of reed and wattle houses, but there are a good harbour and an iron custom-house. The great drawback of the place used to be want of water, previous to the construction by the Government of an aqueduct from the Chira river. Straw hats, cattle, hides, and cotton are exported. Formerly a rich and flourishing place, Payta has never recovered from the effects of Lord Anson’s attack in 1741, when only two of its churches were spared. There is a. raised beach at Payta 300 feet high; the slate and sandstone are covered by conglomerate sand and a gypsum formation containing shells of living species.