THE BOOTH PIER, IQUITOS.
Iquitos is quite cosmopolitan, its population including representatives of many nations; North American and European importers have branch houses here, and the growing prosperity of the city has attracted enterprising merchants from other parts of Peru and from neighboring republics. The climate is healthful and not so oppressive as one might suppose, considering the locality, less than four degrees south of the equator and only a hundred and fifty feet above the level of the river. It represents the aspect of a growing commercial centre with its new wharves, warehouses and modern buildings that are rapidly replacing the straw-thatched cottages and comfortless chozas, or huts, which were features of the town a dozen years ago. Brick and iron are now largely used in the construction of buildings, the roofs being of zinc or tiles. The government house, the municipal chambers, churches, hospital, and other public edifices, reflect the spirit of progress which is beginning to animate the people. A flourishing Chamber of Commerce gives further evidence of local enterprise. The city is surrounded by thick bosques, or woods, in which every variety of vegetation abounds, and tropical foliage is riotous in color and luxuriance. The frequent and heavy rains of the summer season keep the verdure fresh and beautiful, though it is a welcome relief to the inhabitants when winter comes and with it a lessening of the heavy rainfall. In reality, very little change may be noted in the thermometer, which averages from eighty-five to ninety degrees Fahrenheit, all the year round.
ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL STREETS OF IQUITOS.
CALLE DE MORONA, IQUITOS.
The development of commercial traffic through the port of Iquitos may be judged by a comparison of the trade of 1907 with that of preceding years, the total duties on exports and imports of last year amounting to nearly three hundred thousand pounds sterling, while those of the previous year reached less than two hundred thousand pounds sterling, and in 1895 the custom house receipts of this port did not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. This rapid growth of trade signifies that the region of the Montaña, particularly the Department of Loreto, has been developing resources heretofore unexploited; and, when the further possibilities of industrial activity in this part of Peru are considered, the prospect for its future wealth appears very bright.
RIVER SCENE NEAR IQUITOS.
The Department of Loreto includes the provinces of Alto Amazonas, Bajo Amazonas, and Ucayali. At the time of the Independence, all this vast territory belonged to the Intendencia of Trujillo, and was known as the province of Mainas; it was made a province of the Department of La Libertad, and, later, of Amazonas, until, in 1853, the Littoral Province of Loreto was formed, with the city of Moyobamba as its capital. A few years afterward, President Castilla raised the province to the dignity of a maritime military department, with jurisdiction over all the Amazon region bordering on the neighboring republics. At that time the department consisted of the provinces of Moyobamba, Huallaga, Alto and Bajo Amazonas; Huallaga was divided later to form the province of San Martin, from which the present province of Ucayali was separated a few years ago. The creation of the new Department of San Martin in 1905 took from Loreto the provinces of Moyobamba, Huallaga, and San Martin, though this still remains the largest political division of Peru, covering an area of more than a hundred thousand square miles, according to Peruvian claims.