In which the narrative is continued down to the foundation of the city
of San Miguel, and who was the founder. Also of the difference of the
seasons in this kingdom of Peru, which is a notable thing; and how it
does not rain along the whole length of these plains, which are on the
coast of the South Sea.
The city of San Miguel is the first that was founded in this kingdom, by
the marquis Don Francisco Pizarro; and here the first temple was raised
in honour of God our Lord. To describe the coast valleys, I must begin
with the valley of Tumbez, through which flows a river which rises (as I
have before said) in the province of Paltas, and falls into the South
Sea. The land of this valley of Tumbez is naturally very dry and
sterile, but it sometimes rains, and showers even extend to near the
city of San Miguel. But these showers take place in the parts nearest to
the mountains, and it never rains in the vicinity of the sea coast. The
valley of Tumbez was formerly thickly peopled and well cultivated, full
of beautiful fresh watercourses drawn from the river to irrigate the
land, and yielded maize and other things necessary for the support of
man, besides plenty of delicious fruit. The ancient chiefs of the
valley, before they were subjugated by the Yncas, were dreaded and
obeyed by their subjects in a greater degree than any other chiefs of
whom I have yet written, as is notorious to all, and they were served
with much ceremony. They dressed in mantles and shirts, and wore an
ornament on their heads, consisting of a circlet of wool adorned with
pieces of gold and silver, and very small beads, called _chaquira_.
These Indians were addicted to their religion, and were great
sacrificers, as is stated at large in my account of the founding of the
cities of Puerto Viejo and Guayaquil. They are very industrious
labourers in the fields; and carry heavy burdens. They till the ground
in concert, with beautiful regularity, and raise maize and many kinds of
well-tasted roots. The maize yields a harvest twice in the year, and the
beans and peas also come up abundantly when they are sown. Their clothes
are made of cotton, which they grow in the valley, according to the
quantity they require. These natives of Tumbez also have a great
fishery, from which they derive no small profit, for with it, and their
trade to the mountains, they have always been rich. From this valley of
Tumbez a journey of two days brings the traveller to the valley of
Solana, which was thickly peopled in former days, and contained edifices
and store-houses. The royal road of the Yncas passes through these
valleys, with pleasant shady trees on either side. Leaving Solana, the
road next comes to Pocheos, on a river also called Pocheos, though some
call it the Maycahuilca, because there is a chief or lord of that name
in the valley. This valley was once very thickly populated indeed, as we
are led to suppose from the numerous remains of great buildings. These
buildings, though now in ruins, prove that the valley was as populous as
the natives describe, and they also show the great estimation in which
the Kings Yncas held this place, for here there were royal palaces and
other buildings. Time and wars have so entirely obliterated them that
nothing can be seen now but vast numbers of great tombs of those dead
who once cultivated all the fields in this valley. Two more days’
journey beyond Pocheos bring us to the great and wide valley of Piura,
where two or three rivers unite, which is the reason why this valley is
so broad. In it is built the city of San Miguel. Although this city is
now held in little estimation, the _repartimientos_ being small and
poor, it is just to remember that it deserves privileges and honour,
because it was the beginning of all the cities that have since been
built, and is on the site selected by the brave Spaniards, before the
great lord Atahualpa was seized by them. At first the city was founded
on the site called Tangarara, which was abandoned on account of its
unhealthiness. It is now built between two very pleasant level valleys,
full of trees. It is said to be rather unhealthy, and the people suffer
in their eyes from the wind and dust of summer and the dampness of
winter. They say that it never rains in this district, but some dew
falls from heaven, and, at intervals of a few years, a heavy shower of
rain comes down. The valley is like that of Tumbez, and there are many
vines, figs, and other trees of Spain growing in it. This city of San
Miguel was founded by the Adelantado Don Francisco Pizarro, governor of
Peru, then called New Castile, in the name of his Majesty, and in the
year of our Lord 1531.
* * * * *
Before going any further, it seems well that I should say what I have
learnt in the matter of there being no rain. In the mountains summer
commences in April, and lasts during May, June, July, August, and
September. In October winter begins, and lasts during November,
December, January, February, and March, so that there is little
difference in the seasons between this land and our Spain. The fields
are ploughed in the proper seasons, and the days and nights are almost
equal. The time when the days increase a little and are longest, is
during the month of November. But in the coast valleys bordering on the
South Sea, the seasons are opposite to what I have here described; for
when it is summer in the mountains it is winter on the coast, where we
begin the summer in October, lasting till April, and then the winter
commences. It is truly a strange thing to consider this great difference
in the same country. What is still more worthy of note is, that you may
start in the morning from a country where it is raining, and, before
vespers, you will find yourself in another where it never rains. From
the beginning of October it never rains in any of the coast valleys,
except in such small showers as scarcely to lay the dust. For this
reason the inhabitants are dependent upon irrigation, and do not
cultivate more land than what the rivers can irrigate, for everywhere
else (by reason of the sterility) not even a blade of grass will grow,
but all is an intensely dry, stony, or sandy waste, where nothing is
seen but a tree with few leaves and no fruit. In some parts there are
thorn bushes and cacti, in others nothing but sand. What they call
winter on the coast is nothing more than the season when clouds arise,
which look as if they were charged with plenty of rain, but nothing
comes of it save a drizzle so light that it barely damps the ground. It
is a strange thing that though, as I have said, the heavens are well
charged with clouds, yet it does not rain more than these slight
showers. At the same time, some days pass during which the sun is not
seen, being concealed by the thickness of the clouds. As the mountains
are so high, and the coast valleys so low, it would appear that the
former attract the clouds to themselves without allowing them to abide
in the low lands. And when it is the natural time for rain, it falls in
the mountains, while there is none in the plains, but, on the contrary,
great heat. On the other hand, the light showers fall on the coast when
the region of the mountains is clear and rainless.
There is another curious thing, which is that there is only one wind on
this coast, and that is from the south; and although the wind from that
quarter is moist and attracts rain in other countries, it is not so
here, and this wind prevails continually along the coast as far as
Tumbez. Further up the coast, as there are other winds, it rains, and
the winds are accompanied by heavy showers. I do not know the natural
reason for these things, but it is clear that this sterile rainless
region extends from 4° south of the equinoctial line to beyond the
tropic of capricorn.
Another thing, very worthy of note, is, that on the equinoctial line in
some parts it is hot and moist, and in others cold and dry; but this
land of the coast of Peru is hot and dry, while on either side it rains.
I have gathered all this from what I have myself seen, and he who can
assign natural reasons for these things, let him do so. As for me, I
have said what I saw, and can do no more.[322]