COMMERCE AND RESOURCES.

Since the attachment of several of the Peruvian provinces to this

government, the commerce and resources of the country are greatly

enlarged and altered. From being merely an agricultural state, it

has now become possessed of some of the richest mines in America.

The districts which supply the most considerable quantities of the

precious metal are Potosi, Changata, Porco, Oruro, Chucuito, La Paz and

Carangas, and the mountains of Anauca, near Carabaya, and Asangara,

north-east of lake Titicaca, were celebrated in the first years of the

conquest for their gold mines.

The annual produce of the mines of Buenos Ayres is estimated at

882,000_l._, including those of Caylloma in Arequipa, which are said

to be attached to the government of La Plata. This produce is nearly

all silver. The quantity that has annually paid the fifth being in

fine gold 2200 marcs, and in fine silver 414,000 marcs, or 4,212,400

piastres. Its contraband trade in these metals has also been estimated

at 67,000 marcs, most of which passes to Europe by the Rio de la Plata,

while in Peru, by the Amazons and the South Sea, the same unlawful

trade carries away 100,000 marcs.

The trade of Buenos Ayres consists in these metals, and in exports of

salt beef, tallow, fine furs, sea wolf-skins, wool, sheep-skins, flour,

oil, copper, hides, &c.; to the interior provinces of Peru it sends

Paraguay tea, swan skins, negro slaves, thread, &c., in exchange for

sugar, cacao, cinnamon, rice, indigo, cotton, oil, pimento, wax, baize,

woollen goods, quicksilver, &c.

From Europe La Plata receives linens, woollens, silks, cottons, hats,

iron, &c., and the imports may be estimated, in average years, at

758,400_l._, whilst its exports amount, in agricultural produce, to

434,000_l._, and in gold and silver to 1,183,400_l._, thus forming a

total of 1,617,400_l._ sterling. It formerly remitted 700,000 piastres,

at 4_s._ 4_d._ each, to the royal coffers: but since the late struggle

its expences have been so great in maintaining the insurgent cause,

that it can hardly defray them; especially since the viceroy of Peru

has taken possession of the richest mines for the king.

_Capital._--The capital of this viceroyalty is the city of BUENOS

AYRES, containing a population of sixty thousand souls, or, according

to Estalla, of forty thousand, of whom the greater part are creoles.

This city is situated in 34° 35' south latitude and 57° 24' west

longitude, on the south side of the Rio de la Plata, adjoining to a

small river, from which the plain it is built on, gently ascends. It

was founded in 1535 by Don Pedro de Mendoza, who gave it the name of

Buenos Ayres, on account of its fine climate, but was abandoned soon

after, and not rebuilt until 1582, after which it speedily increased

and was erected into a bishopric in 1620, and into the capital in

1776. Buenos Ayres is well fortified, and its streets are straight,

handsome, and clean, being paved on each side. The principal square is

very large, and contains the residence of the governor, and the houses

are built of brick or chalk, consisting generally of two stories, with

a tiled roof. The cathedral is a spacious and elegant structure, and

there is a church appropriated for the Indians, with several convents,

chapels, &c.

The distance from Cape Santa Maria, the entrance of the La Plata, to

Buenos Ayres, is 200 miles: but the navigation is very dangerous, owing

to rocks and shallows. In consequence of these dangers, large vessels

generally come to an anchor every night in sailing up, and on the most

moderate days it is necessary to be very vigilant, owing to the sudden

effects of the blasts from the plains. After arriving within three

leagues of the city, the cargoes are put into light vessels, and the

ships go to the bay of Barragan, about twenty-four miles below, to

refit and wait for freights.

The principal streets of this town are the Calle de la Santa Trinidada,

and the Calle de San Benito. The former runs almost the whole length of

the city, and is occupied by the richer classes, who have also splendid

villas in the country; almost every house has a garden both before and

behind, and many have balconies latticed for odoriferous shrubs and

flowers. The interior of the houses display great wealth, but not much

cleanliness; and in summer they cover their floors with fine Indian

matting, and in winter with carpets.

The gardens are watered by small canals, and there is generally a large

basin or reservoir in each, from which water is conducted by pipes

into the houses. That part of the city inhabited by the negroes and

castes has a very mean appearance, and, being very dirty, presents a

great contrast to the external show of the other parts. The churches

are covered with cupolas and steeples, which give them a handsome

look, and the town-hall is a fine building in the great square; the

convents, nunneries, the hospital for men, that for women, and those

for foundlings and orphans, being edifices of stone, of a beautiful

whiteness, which is quarried in the plains near the city.

Buenos Ayres is well supplied with provisions, particularly with fish

and flesh; there is no place in the world where butcher's meat is

better, more plentiful, or cheaper; and it is frequently distributed

to the poor, as the merchants often buy the animal for the sake of the

hide alone. Poultry is dear, a couple of fowls costing as much as an

ox. Buenos Ayres was taken by the British in 1806, but retaken after

six weeks by the inhabitants; the subsequent events have been already

noticed. Its port is the great outlet for all the produce of the

interior, and, in times of war, much of the produce of Peru and Chili

pass to Europe by it, as well as Vicuna wool from the Andes, copper

from Coquimbo, gold from Chili, silver from Potosi, and from Paraguay,

the finest tobacco, sugars, cotton, yellow wax and threads. The

commerce carried on with Peru is chiefly returned in mules and cattle,

with matté, or Paraguay tea. Goods are conveyed in covered waggons over

the vast plains to Mendoza in one month; from this place they cross the

ridges of the Andes on mules to Santiago, a distance of eighty leagues;

and thence in carts to Valparaiso, a distance of thirty leagues, which

occupies fifteen days more.

The climate of the city of Buenos Ayres is hot during the summer

season, and during the winter so much cold is felt that water generally

freezes slightly: but if this happens often the season is reckoned very

severe. The north and east winds are the most common; a north-east

wind always brings heat, and a south-east cold; and these winds are

generally violent, and when the westerly winds begin they blow with

extreme force, and are known by the name of Pamperos, from their having

their origin in the great _Pampas_ or plains. The atmosphere is very

moist, and those rooms which have a southern aspect are always damp, as

the walls to the south are covered with moss, and the roofs with long

bushy grass, which grows nearly three feet high, and which requires

to be cleared away occasionally to prevent its injuring the houses.

During summer rains are common, and are often accompanied with dreadful

thunder and lightnings. In the year 1793, the electric fluid struck the

city of Buenos Ayres in thirty-seven different places by which nineteen

persons were killed.

This city is a bishop's see, suffragan of the archbishop of Charcas.

A court of royal audience for the eastern provinces of Buenos Ayres

was erected here soon after the establishment of the viceregal form of

government, but at present is superseded by other regulations which the

independent government have adopted.

_GOVERNMENT OF LOS CHARCAS, OR POTOSI._

This government is one of the recent acquisitions of Buenos Ayres, and

in point of mineral produce is the most valuable of its territories. It

is bounded on the north by the chain or Cordillera of Vilcanota, which

separates it from the Peruvian provinces, and by countries inhabited

by wandering tribes; on the east it has the mountains of Arequipa, the

Pacific ocean and the Chilian Andes; on the west the governments of

Paraguay and Buenos Ayres; and on the south that of Buenos Ayres.

Its most noted districts are Lampa, Carabaya, Ansangaro, Chucuito,

Paucar-Colla, Pacajes, Omasuyos, Larecaja, La Paz, Sicasica, Oruro,

Paria, Carangas, Porco, Chayanta, Charcas Proper, Pilaya, Cochabamba,

Pomabamba, Tomina, Atacama, Lipes, Amparaes, Apolabamba, Santa Cruz de

la Sierra, Tarija, Chiquitos, Moxos and Chacos, the last three being

countries inhabited by independent tribes, among whom there are a few

missionaries and settlements.

This immense tract is covered with deserts, forests, vast plains

and rivers, and its most populous parts are those which are called

Provincias de la Sierra, and which lie on or near the Andes. The Inca

Capac Yupanqui subjected these provinces to his sceptre; his son Inca

Roca continued the conquests of his father, and greatly extended the

dominions of Peru on the east, till he became master of all the nations

as far as the place where the city of La Plata was afterwards built.

After the conquest of the western parts of Peru by the Spaniards, they

turned their attention towards reducing the remote tribes. In 1538

Gonzalo Pizarro marched at the head of a body of troops from Cuzco,

and advancing to Charcas, was opposed with such spirit by the natives,

that it was not till after great efforts that they were subdued; this

was the commencement of the Spanish colonization of La Plata; and the

different conquests, and the descriptions of the numerous districts of

this government will be treated of in describing their chief towns.

The capital of Charcas is _Chuquisaca_, or _La Plata_, in 19° 40' south

latitude, and 66° 46' west longitude, in a small plain surrounded with

mountains. In summer the temperature of the air is very mild, nor is

there any very great difference throughout the year; but in winter,

which commences in September and lasts till March, rains are very

frequent, and are accompanied with thunder and lightning.

This town was erected into a bishopric in 1551, and in 1608 was raised

to the metropolitan dignity. It was founded by Pedro Anzures, in

1539, by order of Gonzalo Pizarro, on the scite of the Indian town of

Chuquisaca; which name it now generally bears, it having received its

other appellation of La Plata, in consequence of the number of silver

mines in its vicinity.

The houses are generally two stories high, and covered with tiles;

they are large, convenient, and have beautiful gardens, in which grow

all sorts of European fruits. The cathedral is also large and well

ornamented, and there is a parish church appropriated solely for the

Indians, who live in the suburbs, and amount to about 3000.

Besides these there are five convents, each of which has a handsome

church, two nunneries, an university, and two colleges.

The greatest evil attending the situation of this city is the want

of water, which is only scantily supplied by the public fountains,

dispersed in different places.

Chuquisaca is famous as being the seat of the Royal Audience of Los

Charcas, which is the supreme court of Buenos Ayres, and has the

viceroy for its president; it was erected in 1559.

The magistracy of this city are chosen from among the first nobility,

and consist of a corregidor, regidores, and alcaldes, who govern the

district attached to the town, which includes a very large space around

it, and contains, amongst others, the celebrated city and mines of

Potosi.

The inhabitants of La Plata are computed at 14,000.

In the district surrounding the capital, and which is called CHARCAS,

are several rivers, which form from their united streams the Pilcomayo.

The names of these rivers are the _Tarapaya_, that runs from _Porco_;

the _Potosi_, which is employed in washing the ores in the mines of

that name; and the _Cachimayo_, which passes near La Plata; after the

junction of this last, the united stream flows through the districts

of Pilaya, Paspaya, and Tomina, from whence it enters Chaco, and runs

80 leagues as far as the Llanos de Manso, after which its channel is

through thick forests to the south-east, and it enters the Paraguay,

south of the city of Asuncion, in between 25° 40' and 26° 20' south

latitude, by two mouths, after a course of 600 miles. Its banks are

inhabited by independent nations, who are so warlike, that the Jesuits

in vain sought for a passage by this stream, from Peru to Paraguay.

The city of _Potosi_, included in this jurisdiction, is in 19° 47'

south latitude, and 67° 22' west longitude, east-south-east of Lima

in Peru, in a country inclosed by the mountainous district of Porco;

the climate is cold, and the environs very barren, the valleys being

destitute of wood, the sides of the hills covered only with moss, and

their summits capped with eternal snows. A few vicunas are now and then

seen grazing in this elevated and desolate region, which would never

have been frequented by man, had it not happened, that Diego Hualca,

an Indian peasant, was pursuing some wild goats, and arriving at a

very steep place, laid hold of a small shrub to prevent himself from

falling, but the shrub being unable to support his weight, was torn up

by the roots, and disclosed to the astonished hunter, a rich mass of

silver, lumps of which adhered to the earth, that came away with the

plant. The Indian who lived at Porco, made use of this inexhaustible

fund of riches for a length of time, but his good fortune could not

remain long concealed, as his friend Guanca, observing a considerable

change in his manner of living, became anxious to investigate the

cause, and pressing Hualca constantly to know the reason, he at last

disclosed the mystery. They however kept their secret for some time,

till Hualca, refusing to show his friend the manner of purifying the

metal, the latter related the whole affair to Villaroel, his master,

who also resided at Porco. Villaroel accordingly proceeded to the vein,

on the 21st of April 1545, and procuring the necessary assistance, the

mine was immediately opened.

The city of Potosi was founded in a narrow glen, on the river of the

same name, on the south side of the mountain which contains the mines,

in the year 1547. A royal mint was established in 1562, and so rapidly

did its population increase, that in 1611, the town contained 160,000

inhabitants, but from various causes, the population of this city

since that time has continually decreased, and at present it consists

only of about 30,000 souls. Potosi has a mint, six convents, two

nunneries, a college and an hospital; and its inhabitants are still

chiefly concerned in the working of the mines, and consist of whites,

mestizoes, and Indians, for the latter of whom there are six curates

and chapels in the city and its district. The city of Potosi is 45

miles west-south-west of La Plata.

The celebrated mines of Potosi are in the same mountain on which the

city is built. This mountain is three miles in circumference, and is

of a sharp conical figure, rising to the height of 4360 feet above

the plain, and is known by the name of _Hatun Potocsi_; its summit is

crowned by a bed of porphyry, which gives it the well defined conical

form it possesses. This famous mine has caused the destruction of

thousands of human beings, for in the latter end of the 16th century,

15,000 Indians were constantly forced to work in it; but at present,

there are not more than 2000 miners, who are well paid, and usually

work from choice alone; 15,000 llamas and 15,000 asses, are constantly

employed in carrying the ore to the amalgamation works in the city. The

mint of Potosi coined in 1790, 299,246 piastres of gold, and 3,293,173

of silver, or 886,620_l._ sterling. From the discovery of these mines,

till the year 1803, they have supplied 1,095,500,000 piastres, or

237,358,334_l._ sterling, which has paid the royal duties; and this

also only includes silver, consequently the gold and smuggled metals

must have swelled the total furnished by the works to a much greater

amount. At present, the minerals are poor, and their abundance only

causes the Spaniards to work them; but according to Helms, if they

were properly managed, they would still produce from twenty to thirty

millions of dollars yearly. The mountain is perforated by about 300

rude shafts; and the numerous furnaces which surround it, form at night

a very singular spectacle. Potosi is distant from its metropolis,

Buenos Ayres, 1873 miles across a road, which for 400 miles, lies over

a rocky mountainous country, very difficult to pass.

The annual produce of this mountain at present, is not more than five

or 600,000 marcs of silver (each marc being two-thirds of a pound).

The richest shafts or workings are in the north-side of the mountain,

and are named, _La Descubridora_, _Del Estaño_, _La Rica_, and _La

Mendieta_, their direction running south.

Other causes occasionally conspire to render the vicinity of these

mines more populous than the mere riches they contain; as some hot

medicinal baths are found here, called Don Diego, to which many people

from the neighbouring towns resort; there is also a great concourse of

peasants and merchants to the city, to supply it with provisions, &c.,

with which articles the district around it is totally unprovided.

The district of TOMINA begins about eighteen leagues south-east of

La Plata, and borders eastward on the _Chiriguanos_, a nation of

independent Indians; it is twenty-four leagues in length from north to

south, and seventy in circumference, containing a mountainous country,

in the valleys of which there are some sugar plantations, and in its

higher parts, it feeds large and small cattle and horses. The climate

is in general hot, and in some of the valleys excessively so.

The rivers which water Tomina are small and unite into one stream,

named _El Dorado_, and it is separated from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, by

the _Rio Grande_, which joins the Mamore. There are some small lakes

in this province, two of which are in a district, named Mayocaya.

In this province, the inhabitants who are mostly Indians, amount to

12,000, and the town of the same name, is fifty-five miles east of La

Plata, in 19° 10' south latitude, and 65° 46' west longitude, but is

inconsiderable; the vicinity of the warlike Indians, rendering the

province an insecure place of abode.

The town of _Porco_ or _Talavera de la Puna_, in 19° 40' south

latitude, and 67° 56' west longitude, is the capital of the province

of PORCO, which commences on the west side of the town of Potosi, and

extends twenty leagues.

The coldness of its situation, amid the high ridges of the Andes,

occasions a scarcity of fruits and grain; but it abounds with fine

cattle, and the mountain of Porco in this province is celebrated, as

having been the place from whence the Incas of Peru drew the greater

part of their silver, and was the first mine worked by the Spaniards

after the conquest; the district still producing great quantities of

that metal, particularly at _Tomahave_, and the mines of the Porco

mountain, which are twenty-three leagues from Chuquisaca.

The inhabitants amount to 22,000.

Thirty leagues south of La Plata, lies the province of CHICHAS Y

TARIJA; it is a very fertile territory, and produces wheat, maize,

oil, wine and fruits; it also contains excellent pastures, abounds in

cattle, and has several gold and silver mines. The river _Tipuanis_,

which flows on its eastern side, carries much gold in its sand, which

the natives employ themselves in collecting.

The greatest extent of this province is thirty-five leagues, and the

eastern parts are only separated from the independent tribes, by the

above mentioned river. Its chief town is _San Bernardo de Tarija_,

which was founded by Don Francisco de Toledo, to repel the incursions

of the warlike Indians, and to defend the high road to Tucuman, in

1591. It has four convents and a college, formerly belonging to the

Jesuits; in one of its convents, a cross is adored, which it is

pretended, was found by the conquerors of Peru in a cave in this

country; and that it was made by one of the Apostles, who had preached

the Gospel to the Peruvians.

Joining Tarija, and on the south-west, is the province of LIPES which

extends 35 leagues.

Its capital of the same name is 150 miles south-south-west of Potosi,

in 21° 40' south latitude, and 68° 16' west longitude.

The climate of this country is excessively cold, and its chief commerce

consists in the produce of its mines, of which it possesses two of

gold, one of silver, and one of copper.

The silver mine of _St. Christoval de Acochala_ was formerly the most

valuable in Peru, but at present is not worked owing to the want of

hands. Lipes abounds in cattle, and with vicunas, alpacas and llamas,

the high chain of the Andes pervading this province.

AMPARAES or YAMPARAES is a district to the east of La Plata, and

bounds the province of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Its productions are

chiefly grain in its warm plains, and cattle on its high lands and cold

districts.

ORURO, or _San Felipe de Oruro_, is a city thirty leagues north-west of

La Plata, and capital of a jurisdiction or province of the same name.

The greater part of this country lying on the Andes is exceedingly

cold and barren, producing only herbage for the pasture of cattle and

sheep, with numerous herds of Peruvian camels. It contains many gold

and silver mines which were formerly very famous, but most of them

have been abandoned, though the mountains of _Popo_ still yield much

silver. The capital has five convents, and four churches, and is a

populous place, with a revenue office for collecting the duties on the

metals.

PILAYA Y PASPAYA, or CINTI, is a province lying forty leagues south

of La Plata and bounded on the north by Tomina and Pomabamba, on the

east by the Chiriguanos Indians, and on the west and south by Porco

and Chichas. Its length is about thirty leagues and its width forty,

and this province is intersected in all directions, by the Cordillera,

among whose breaches and valleys its inhabitants are settled. They

are dispersed in different estates, and amount to 12,000. The climate

in the valleys is moderately hot, and the soil very productive. The

grapes of this district are made into wine and brandies, which are much

esteemed in the neighbouring provinces, and the river _San Juan_ which

rises in Lipes, pervades this country. The _Toropalca_ and the _Cinti_

also fertilise the valleys through which they run, and the _Supas_ and

_Agchilla_ form, by their united streams, the _Paspaya_ which divides

the province from Pomabamba, and runs into the Pilcomayo.

The towns of Pilaya and Paspaya were destroyed by the incursions of the

Indians from the east, so that the corregidor resides on an estate in

the fertile valley of Cinti; but there are some abundant lead mines in

the settlement of Pototaca.

The province of CHAYANTAS begins fifty leagues north-west of La Plata,

extending for about forty leagues. This district is famous for its

silver mines, of which it contains three, with one of copper, one of

tin, and two of lead; and the _Rio Grande_ which flows through it

deposits auriferous particles in its bed. The cattle in this province

are barely sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who are not numerous.

Adjoining to Chayantas is the province of PARIA, which is bounded by

that of Pacajes on the north, on the north-east, by Oruro, east and

south-east by Porco, south-west by Lipes, and west by Caranjas. It

contains several silver mines, and, lying among the mountains, is of a

cold temperature.

There are also some salt mines in it, and a small lake from which that

article is extracted.

A rapid river rising in lake Chucuito, runs through this province, and

is called the _Desaguadero_, or drain, forming a lake four leagues long

and two wide. The river ends in this basin, which has given rise to

various conjectures concerning the manner in which the water finds a

vent, as the lake is always of the same level; but in one part of it is

a whirlpool which sucks down any rafts that get within its vortex. In

the year 1748 this singular lake rose to a great height.

The inhabitants of Paria amount to 10,000, and employ themselves in

farming; and the cheeses of this district are much sought after.

Its capital of the same name is 210 miles north-west of La Plata, in

18° 50' south latitude, and 68° 20' west longitude.

The province of CARANJAS commences 70 leagues west of La Plata, and

extends above 50 leagues on the west bank of Lake Paria. The Andes

pervading this district, the climate is very cold, and it produces no

grain, but has abundant pastures for cattle, vicunas, &c. There are

also many silver mines, two of which are very productive, and one of

copper is worked.

A singular silver ore is found in the mines of Turco, which consists

of beautiful fibres, penetrating the mass of stone in which they are

contained. In the sandy desert parts of Caranjas that extend towards

the Pacific are discovered lumps of native silver, which are called

Papas, or potatoes, because they are dug out of the ground like that

root.

These lumps have the appearance of melted silver, and many of them

have been found weighing as much as 150 marcs, and more than a foot

in length. The capital of this province, which is not populous, is a

small town of the same name, on a rivulet which flows into the southern

extremity of Lake Paria.

The city of _Oropesa_ is the capital of a province named COCHABAMBA,

of about 40 leagues in extent, which is bounded by Sicasica on the

north-west, La Paz on the west, Chayantas on the south, and Charcas,

or La Plata, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra on the east, and lying 50

leagues south-east of Plata. It possesses one gold mine, and several of

silver, but they are not productive. The chief wealth of this province

is in its agricultural produce, as it is fertilized by so many rivers

and streams, that it yields immense harvests of grain, &c. From this

circumstance it has obtained the appellation of the granary of Peru.

The climate is in general mild and healthful.

The _Rio Grande_ is its principal river, which rises in the Andes, west

of the district of Sicasica.

_Oropesa_, the capital, is a very considerable place; it is seated

on a small river, which is one of the streams of the Rio Grande,

in a beautiful and fertile valley; and the chief occupation of its

inhabitants, consists in supplying the neighbouring provinces with

fruits and grain. It is 150 miles north-west of La Plata, in 18° 15'

south latitude, and 67° 6' west longitude.

The province of SICASICA is a very extensive tract, of nearly a hundred

leagues in length, and contains some silver mines, two of which are

worked. The far greater part of this district lies among the mountains,

and it has Cochabamba to its west, Oruro to the south, Paria to the

east, and La Paz to the north. Those parts which consist of plains

or valleys, are extremely hot, and produce great quantities of coca

or betel, with which the neighbouring provinces are supplied. The

mountains feed large herds of cattle, and flocks of vicunas, guanucos,

&c.; and, the capital is _Sicasica_, 40 miles north-north-west of

Oruro.

POMABAMBA is a province bounded on the north by Tomina; east by the

lands of the independent tribes; west by Porco and Amparaes, and south

by Pilaya y Paspaya. It is about 24 leagues in length, and has no

other town than its capital, the inhabitants being dispersed in their

plantations.

Its population is only 3000 souls, who gain a scanty subsistence from

their farms, which are often plundered by the Chiriguanos Indians. It

has the river _Parapeti_ on the north, and the _Rio Nuevo_ on the east,

which separates it from the Indian territories.

The capital of the same name is on the shore of the Parapeti, in 19°

55' south latitude, and 64° 8' west longitude, nine miles east of La

Plata.

The province of La PAZ lies north of Sicasica, and consists only of a

small district round the city of the same name, in the vicinity of the

western Cordillera of the Andes. The produce of this country is barley,

coca or betel, and papas. It is chiefly noted for the city of _La Paz_,

or _Chuquiavo_, or _Pueblo Nuevo_, which was first founded by Mayta

Capac, the fourth Inca, who subdued this country; but the Spaniards

thinking this an advantageous place, as a post between Arequipa and La

Plata, built the city under the presidency of Pedro de la Gasca, who

ordered Alonzo de Mendoza to place it midway between Cuzco and Charcas,

and to call it _Neustra Senora de la Paz_, in memory of the public

tranquillity being settled by the defeat of Gonzalo Pizarro and his

adherents. Accordingly a valley in the country, called Las Pacasas, was

pitched upon, in which the city was begun, on the 8th of October 1548,

the place abounding in cattle, grain, &c.

This city is in 17° 15' south latitude, and 68° 25' west longitude, and

120 miles east-south-east of Arequipa; 288 south-east of Cuzco; 612

south-east of Lima; and 234 west of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, on a fine

river, which flows through the valley.

The adjacent Cordillera, which is only 12 leagues distant, is very

high, and one of its summits, called _Illimani_, is covered with

perpetual snow, which exposes the district to so cold a climate, that

hard frosts, storms of hail, &c., are not uncommon. But the city is not

subject to these, enjoying a salubrious air, and considerable heat.

The unequal ground on which La Paz is seated, the snow-clad mountains,

the fertile valleys and the fine river give peculiar charms to its

scenery. The inhabitants in the district around the city are mostly

confined to the valley, as the higher grounds are covered with forests

which afford shelter to bears, jaguars, pumas, &c.

They find some gold in the river, when it is increased by the melting

of the snow, which forces large masses of rock from the mountain of

Illimani. In 1730, an Indian discovered in this stream a lump of gold

of such size, that it was bought for 12,000 piastres, and sent to the

king.

La Paz has a fine cathedral and four churches, four convents, a

college, three nunneries, and an hospital, and contains 20,000

inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in trading in Paraguay tea. A late

traveller represents it to be an elegant and clean place.

It is a bishop's see, whose revenues are very considerable.

This city had formerly the five following provinces or districts under

its jurisdiction, and its bishop still holds ecclesiastical sway over

them; _viz._ Omasuyos, Pacages, Laricaxas, Chucuito and Paucarcolla.

The district of OMASUYOS begins at the gates of La Paz, and extends

20 leagues, being bounded on the west by lake Chucuito or Titicaca.

Its climate is very cold, so that it produces little corn; but its

pastures feed a great number of cattle; and it has four gold mines. It

is chiefly inhabited by Indians. Near the borders of this province is

the town or village of _Tiahanuaco_, in which are colossal pyramids and

gigantic figures cut out of stone; and these, though much injured by

the weather, are highly singular, and are conjectured to have existed

before the times of the Peruvian Incas. This place is thirty-six miles

north-west of La Paz, in south latitude 17° 17' and very near the

south-east coast of lake Titicaca.

Unfortunately no traveller has given a detailed account of these

images, which are supposed to be the most ancient and singular in

America.

PACAJES is bounded on the north by Chucuito and the great lake;

north-east, by Omasuyos; east, by La Paz and Sicasica; south, by Oruro,

Paria and Carangas, and south-west and west, by the Peruvian province

of Arica, which is separated from it by the lofty chain of the Andes.

Its length from the bridge over the river Desaguadaro, which divides

it from Chucuito to the province of Paria, is fifty-six leagues, and

its greatest width forty. From the neighbourhood of the Andes, its

climate is cold, and its soil not very productive. Its inhabitants are

dispersed in small settlements, and consist chiefly of Indians, who are

employed in tending cattle and sheep, with which it abounds.

There were formerly several mines of silver and emeralds, but they

are not worked at present. A mine of talc supplies the whole of Peru

with plates of that substance to serve instead of window glass for the

churches and houses.

Including Tiahanuaco, there are fifteen settlements in Pacajes, which

has a capital of the same name, eighty miles south-west of La Paz, in

a variable climate, and whose chief commerce consists in the sale of

cattle to the neighbouring towns.

LARICAXAS, north of La Paz, is a district which extends 240 miles from

east to west, and 75 from north to south; it bounds that of Carabaya

on the north, and most of its products are the same as those in that

province. It contains many gold mines, the metal found in which is of

a superior fineness, and four of these mines are in work. The mountain

of _Sunchuli_ in this province is celebrated as having been the

situation of a gold mine which was discovered in 1709, and was worked

with immense profit till 1756, when it was inundated by a spring which

suddenly burst in it, and all attempts to get the water under have

since proved in vain.

CHUCUITO commences twenty leagues west of La Paz, and borders the

western shore of lake Titicaca. The extent of this province from

north to south is about twenty-eight leagues, its climate, from the

high mountains of which it is composed, is cold, and its chief trade

consists in the cattle which are pastured in its elevated plains.

The Andes in this province contain many veins of silver, but none of

them are worked at present, and the great lake _Chucuito_ takes its

name from this district; it is supplied with water from ten or twelve

large rivers, and has no other outlet than by the Desaguadero, which

flows from it into lake Paria, and is there lost. It abounds with fish,

though its waters are bitter and brackish, and numbers of geese and

other wild fowl frequent its shores, which are covered with strong

flags or rushes of which the bridges in the country are constructed.

It contains many islands, one of which, Titicaca, was formerly a

mountain, but was levelled by the Incas. This island gave the lake one

of its names, Titicaca signifying Leaden Mountain; and Manco Capac

having first appeared here, the succeeding Incas raised a temple of the

sun in memory of the event.

This temple was one of the most splendid in the empire, and contained

the greatest riches, owing to the obligation which all the Peruvians

were under of visiting it, and depositing an offering on the shrine.

On the conquest of the country by the Spaniards it is said all these

riches, and even the walls of the temple itself, were thrown into the

lake.

Towards the south part of the lake the banks approach each other, and

form a bay, which terminates in the Rio Desaguadero, or the Drain, and

over this river is a bridge of rushes, invented by Capac Yupanqui, the

fifth Inca, in order to transport his army across the stream, which

is between eighty and one hundred yards in breadth, flowing with an

impetuous under current, though its surface is smooth. The Inca caused

four large cables to be made of the long grass which grows on the high

Paramos or deserts of the Andes, two of these were stretched across the

stream, bundles of dry rushes or flags from the borders of the lake

were laid across them, and fastened together; on these the other two

cables were laid, and they were again covered with other bundles of

flags, smaller than the first and firmly fastened together in such a

manner as to form a level surface, and over this marched the Peruvian

army to the conquest of Charcas.

This bridge, which is five yards broad, and one and a half above the

river, is repaired or rebuilt, as circumstances require, every six

months, in pursuance of a law made by the Incas, and followed up by the

Spanish government, on account of its great utility.

The island Titicaca contains several settlements, and, among others,

that of _Copacavana_, celebrated for its sanctuary of Nuestra Senora

de Copacavana. The island produces fruits, flowers and vegetables,

pastures much cattle, and in its woods are found wild rabbits and

pigeons.

The Indians navigate this lake on balsas or rafts, supported by

inflated skins, and carry on by this means a considerable commerce

with the towns on the banks.

_Chucuito_, a small town on the banks of the lake, is the capital

of this province, which contains, as do the shores in general, many

settlements, villages and towns.

PAUCARCOLLA, the last of the old provinces of La Paz, is bounded on the

north-east by the lake; east by the same and Chucuito; north by Lampa;

west by Moquehua in Peru; and south by Pacajes and Arica, also in Peru.

It is eighty-six leagues long, and twenty-eight broad, and is watered

by several streams flowing into the lake, of which the _Rio Suches_ and

the _Taraco_ are the largest.

The climate is generally cold, and in the parts bordering on Lake

Titicaca are cultivated Peruvian bark, papas, barley, &c. The chief

occupation of the inhabitants consists in breeding cattle, sheep, pigs

and llamas, and there are many vicunas, deer, partridges and lake fowl,

which are caught or killed by the natives; the lake also supplies

fish, and by means of it the Indians carry dressed hides, thread, &c.,

and take in exchange wines, brandies and other commodities from the

adjacent districts. They fabricate their clothing and other articles

from the wool of the Peruvian camel, and carry on a considerable

traffic in that article.

The capital was formerly the present settlement of the same name, but

it was transferred to that of Huancane, till the discovery of the mines

of Laicacota, when that large village became the chief town; since that

time it has again changed, and is now seated at _Puna_, from whence the

whole province is sometimes called.

_Cancharani_ and _San Josef_, two mountains in this district, contain

rich veins of silver, which have been worked with great effect; on the

north of these is the mountain _Del Azogue_, or of quicksilver, which

was formerly worked to such advantage that it exceeded the produce of

the celebrated mines at Guancavelica: but the government suspended the

operations at this place from some political motives.

The furnaces in the mines of this province are supplied by the natives,

who breed cattle, with cow-dung, to serve as fuel, which is used

instead of wood, on account of the scarcity of that article, and proves

a good substitute.

The inhabitants of this province amount to more than 26,000 souls,

dispersed in fifteen settlements and towns.

_Paucarcolla_, the old capital, is situated on the banks of Lake

Titicaca, and inhabited by a few Spanish families. The Inca Yupanqui,

third emperor of Peru, added this place to his territories, the natives

submitting voluntarily.

_Puna_, the present capital, stands on the shores of the lake in

16° 20' south latitude, 70° 26' west longitude, and is a rich and

populous place, containing many illustrious families, with a beautiful

church for the whites, and another for the Indians. The mines in the

neighbourhood of this town were among the richest in Peru, but were

abandoned on the death of their owner, who built the Spanish church. It

is, however, said, that the rich mines of _Salcedo_ or _Laycacota_ are

again in work. Puna is fourteen miles north-west of Chucuito.

The remaining districts towards the Peruvian frontier, and which were

under the jurisdiction of the audience of Cuzco, until the formation of

the new kingdom of Buenos Ayres, are Asangaro, Carabaya and Lampa.

ASANGARO or ASANGARO Y ASILA, is bounded on the north-east and east, by

Carabaya, south-east and south by Laricaxa, south-west by Paucarcolla

and lake Chucuito, and west and north-west by Lampa. It is sixty miles

in length and as many in breadth, containing about 3000 inhabitants.

As it lies almost entirely on the Andes, which are here very high,

its climate is cold, and the soil produces little else than grass to

pasture the cattle, in which its trade consists. Papas, quinoas, and

canaguas, grow plentifully in its plains; of the two last, the natives

make an intoxicating liquor common in Peru, called chica, which is

nearly the same as the spirit procured in Mexico from maize; and chica

is also the principal beverage of the Indians inhabiting the Andes.

The chief towns of the same name are mere villages, but near _Asila_ is

a lead mine, which has been very productively worked; and in the parts

of this province bordering on Carabaya, there are several silver mines,

three of which are worked.

CARABAYA is bounded on the north by the Peruvian frontier, east by the

country of the independent Indians, and west and south by Asangara. The

extreme parts of this province are sixty leagues from Cuzco, and its

greatest extent is more than fifty leagues; but lying in a mountainous

region, its climate is generally cold, though some of its valleys enjoy

heat enough to mature the coca or betel; and it abounds in grain,

vegetables, and rich pastures, which feed numerous herds of cattle.

Carabaya contains silver and gold mines in great numbers, one of the

former and two of the latter being in work.

The river which separates it from the Indian countries, contains much

gold in its sand; and the Indians of Peru are said to come down in

companies to this river, in order to collect sufficient metal to pay

the capitation tax.

In the village of _Poto_ is an office for collecting the royal duties

on the mines, and the most famous lavaderos or washing places, are _San

Juan del Oro_, _Pablo Coya_, and _Monte de Anauca_, two leagues from

Poto.

The greatest gold mine is that of Aporama; the metal being twenty-three

carats fine.

_Carabaya_, or _San Juan del Oro_, is the capital of this province,

150 miles south-east of Cuzco, in 14° 40' south latitude, and 69° 36'

west longitude.

LAMPA is bounded on the north and west by the Peruvian frontier, and

on the south and east by Chucuito and Asangaro. It lies on the ridge

named the Chain of Vilcanota, which separates Buenos Ayres from Peru;

and its climate, though generally cold, is healthy. It carries on a

considerable trade in cattle; and its silver mines are very numerous,

but only two are worked to advantage.

The capital is a town of the same name, ninety miles south of Cuzco; in

the vicinity of which are the richest mines of the province.

This town is in 14° 55' south latitude, and 81° 44' west longitude.

_Pucara_, a village in this province, is remarkable as containing

the ruins of a fort built by the Peruvians, having two large stone

reservoirs within it; some of the stones of which are three yards long

and two broad, and not far from this fort is a fountain of warm water.

Having now described the northern and Andean districts or provinces of

Charcas or La Plata, we must turn to those which lie on the coast of

the Pacific, on the east, and those towards Paraguay on the west.

The viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres enjoys the advantage of possessing a

province on the shores of the Great Southern Ocean, which, though at

present nearly desert, may one day become of great importance. This

province named ATACAMA, is bounded on the north by Arica in Peru, on

the west by the Pacific or South Sea, on the north-east by Lipes,

south-east by the government of Tucuman, and south by Copiapo, in the

kingdom of Chili. It is divided into High and Low Atacama, and is of

great extent, some parts of it being very fruitful, but intermixed

with deserts, particularly towards the south, where there is an

immense tract of untenanted land, which divides La Plata from Chili.

The sea-coast of this province, is noted for the numerous fisheries

established on it, and which supply a large fish, called Tolo, that

forms the chief food of the inland districts of La Plata during Lent.

The inhabitants of Atacama are chiefly Indians, those who live in the

settlements, amounting only to 2500.

Its chief town is _Atacama_, in a barren plain, surrounded by the lofty

summits of the Cordillera, which are uninhabited, owing to the intense

cold. This town is a small place, 100 miles from the South Sea, and

120 leagues from La Plata, in 23° 30' south latitude, and 69° 30' west

longitude.

Crossing towards the east from this western boundary of Buenos

Ayres, we find the provinces of Apolabamba, Santa Cruz de la Sierra,

Chiquitos, Moxos and Chacos.

APOLABAMBA is bounded on the east by the province of Moxos, and on the

west by Carabaya, commencing about sixty leagues from Cuzco in Peru,

and extending eighty leagues from south-west to north-east. The country

is mountainous, and intersected with rocks and precipices, consequently

the roads are very rugged and difficult.

The principal cultivation consists in rice, maize, plantains, &c.,

which are the common food of the inhabitants. In the plains or

valleys, some cacao and cotton are raised, but more grows wild than in

plantations, and the forests are numerous and filled with wild beasts

and monkeys of every kind. The people carry their produce to La Paz,

where they procure what is necessary for their comforts.

Apolabamba is a newly planted colony, and consists mostly of

settlements of Indians, who have been converted by the Franciscan

missionaries. Seven villages are in a flourishing condition, and in

order to defend these from the incursions of the surrounding tribes,

the inhabitants are formed into a militia, governed by a Spanish

officer.

SANTA CRUZ DE LA SIERRA is a very large province including several

districts; it is, as its name indicates, a mountainous country, and

little inhabited by Spaniards, the chief places being the missions,

which were first planted by the Jesuits. It borders on, or rather

contains in its government, the countries of the Chiquitos, Guaranis,

and other tribes, among whom a few missions are settled.

Its climate is warm, and the chief trade of its settlers consists in

honey and wax.

The capital is _Santa Cruz de la Sierra_, eighty or ninety leagues east

from La Plata. It was originally built farther to the south near the

Cordillera of the Chiriguanos and was founded in 1548 by De Chaves;

but the city having been destroyed, it was rebuilt on its present

scite: it is however a place of little importance, though erected

into a bishopric in 1605, the chapter consisting only of the bishop,

dean, and archdeacon. The usual residence of the bishop is at _Mizque

Pocona_, which is the chief town of a large district of the same name.

This latter city, which is 100 miles south-south-west from Santa Cruz,

is a small place in a valley about eight leagues in circumference,

producing all kinds of grain and fruits, and in a warm climate; the

woods and mountains affording large quantities of honey and wax, which

constitutes a principal branch of the trade of the place.

There is also a lake two leagues in extent near this town, and the

district of Mizque is the most populous part of the province.

The _Rio Grande de La Plata_ is the finest river of Santa Cruz; it

rises in some small lakes on the south, and running through the

province into that of Moxos, enters the Piray by a broad mouth, and

forms a good port at Pailas, north of the capital.

The province of CHIQUITOS lies to the north and east of Santa Cruz de

la Sierra, and embraces an immense extent of territory, which reaches

to the Brazilian frontier on the Paraguay.

It was first colonized by the Jesuits who began their missionary

establishments in this country towards the close of the seventeenth

century, and their success was so great that in 1732 they had seven

settlements, each containing more than 600 families. The Indians who

inhabit Chiquitos are small-sized, active and brave, and have always

resisted the endeavours of the Portuguese to carry off members of their

community to slavery; many of them live peaceably in the missions, but

others lead a wandering life amid the mountains and plains of their

native land.

The forests in this country produce the cinchona, or Jesuit's bark,

and many other useful substances; and the great inundation of the

Paraguay, called _Lake Xarayes_, extends through the western parts of

this province, which is also celebrated for containing the third great

branch of the Andes, that leaves the main body between 15° and 20° of

south latitude, and crossing the provinces of the Sierra sweeps round

Chiquitos, between 15° and 23°, stretching from La Paz, Potosi and

Tucuman, through Moxos, Chiquitos and Chaco, towards the government

of the mines, and of St. Pablo in Brazil. The highest summits of this

chain appear to be between 15° and 20° of south latitude, giving rise

to many rivers which flow either into the La Plata or the Maranon.

_San Josef de Chiquitos_, the chief settlement of this province, is

thirty-six miles north-west of Santa Cruz; and south of the Chiquitos

Indians, are another tribe, named the _Chiriguanos_, whom the

missionaries have in vain attempted to convert; they are the terror

of the western provinces of Buenos Ayres, and are continually at war

with the Chiquitos. In their country flows the river _Parapiti_,

which rising near Cochabamba in 18° south latitude, is first called

_Conderillo_, and receiving smaller rivers, assumes the name of

_Parapiti_, and passing through a large lake it turns to the north;

having pursued hitherto a south-east course into this lake, which is

in 19° 50' south latitude. It is now called _St. Miguel_, and still

running north assumes the name of _Sara_, and being joined by the

united streams of the Piray and Plata, as well as several others from

the province of Santa Cruz, it becomes a broad river, and in 14°

south latitude, is called the _Mamore_, till 10° south latitude, when

it leaves Peru or La Plata, and entering the Portuguese territories

becomes the _Madera_, continuing under that name to south latitude, 3°

15', and 60° 40' west longitude, when it discharges its immense stream

into the Maranon, after a course of 1400 miles.

MOXOS or MOJOS is an extensive territory bounded by the Portuguese

government of Matto Grosso on the east, Cuzco and the Peruvian

provinces on the west, and Chiquitos and Santa Cruz on the south. It

extends on each side of the Mamore, and is chiefly inhabited by warlike

and wandering tribes of Indians, who forbid access to its interior.

This country contains the lake _Rogagualo_, a large body of water of an

oval figure, formed by an arm of the _Rio Beni_, which rises near La

Paz on the west side of the Andes, in 18° south latitude, and flowing

north, enters the Ucayale, their united streams joining the Apurimac.

The banks of the Beni have many settlements of the missionaries.

This lake empties itself into the Mamore by a channel called _De la

Exaltacion_, thus forming an immense island of the country lying

between the Maranon on the north, the Madera and Mamore on the east,

and the Beni and Ucayale on the west. From lake Rogagualo three other

rivers take their rise and flow into the Amazons on the north; _viz._

the _Jutay_, the _Juruay_ and the _Puros_.

There are several missionary villages in the province of Moxos: but

the country is still under the power of the aborigines.

CHACOS is another large territory, bounded by Chiquitos on the north;

Paraguay on the east; the great plains of Manos on the south; and

Tucuman and Tarija on the west. It is of immense extent, and chiefly

inhabited by tribes of wandering Indians, having on its east the great

chain of mountains on the banks of the Paraguay, and contains the great

_Rio Pilcomayo_, which flows into the Paraguay near Asuncion.

The Jesuits made several attempts to colonise Chaco, but did not

succeed, and little is known concerning its products or features.

The adjoining government to Los Charcas, which has now been described

as fully as the nature of the work would admit, is,--

_THE GOVERNMENT OF PARAGUAY._

Paraguay is a very extensive government of Buenos Ayres, which is

bounded by Chiquitos, Chacos, and Tucuman on the north-west and west;

on the north it extends to Lake Xarayes; north-east and east it bounds

the Portuguese territories; and south-east and south it is limited by

the Parana, which separates it from the missions of Guayra in Buenos

Ayres, its jurisdiction ending in the south of the city of Asuncion, in

26° 48' south latitude, and it is divided from Tucuman, or the Llanos

de Manso, by the river Paraguay.

HISTORY, DISCOVERY, &c.

The history of this province commences with its discovery by Sebastian

Cabot, in 1526, who sailed up the Parana. This navigator was the son

of a Venetian pilot, who was much employed in England, and by some

accounts is said to have been born at Bristol, in 1477, and having

been brought up to the same profession, went with his father, John

Cabot, to the discovery of Newfoundland, and from thence to Florida.

They had the honour of being the first navigators who saw the continent

of America, Columbus not having discovered it till a year afterwards.

Sebastian, after this voyage, made another to Hispaniola and Puerto

Rico, in the service of Henry VII. of England, and reached the coast

of Brazil, but was hindered from exploring it by the timidity of his

coadjutor Sir Thomas Pert.

Owing to some opposition on his return to England, he went to Spain,

and offered his service to the king; his request was graciously

attended to, and on account of his great skill, he was appointed

pilot-major of the kingdom, an office of great honour in those days.

In 1524, the Spanish merchants entered into a treaty with Cabot, to

command an expedition to the Moluccas, which was to pass through the

newly-discovered streights of Magalhaens. He undertook this voyage,

and proceeded to the coast of Brazil, coasting it southward from the

bay of Todos los Santos, till he arrived at the river La Plata, where

he landed three of his chief officers, who had mutinied, on a desert

island, and being unable, from want of provisions and the bad behaviour

of his crew, to proceed farther to the south, he sailed thirty leagues

up the river, and discovered an island, which he called _San Gabriel_;

three leagues higher up he saw a large river, and named it _San

Salvador_; here he landed his people, and built a fort, from which

advancing in his boats he discovered another river, thirty leagues

distant, called _Zarcacana_ by the natives, on the banks of which he

constructed another fort, and named it _Santi Spiritûs_.

He afterwards explored the river Parana, and sailing up it entered the

Paraguay, where he found the natives tilling the ground. These people

opposed his landing and in a skirmish with them he lost twenty-five

men who were killed and three who were taken prisoners. Cabot wintered,

however, in this country, and was joined by another adventurer, Jayme

Garcia, who had been sent from Europe to explore the river, and

returning together to the fort _Santi Spiritûs_, they dispatched a

vessel with an account of their discoveries to Spain.

So long were the ministry in sending the necessary supplies to Cabot,

that, tired of waiting, he returned to Spain, after an absence of five

years, in the year 1531: but not being well received at court, he

continued a few years in the Spanish service, and returned to England

in the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. In the following reign he

was made grand pilot of England, with a pension of 166_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._

per annum; a sum in those times equal to 1000_l._ at present.

During the reign of Edward, and that of Philip and Mary, many

privileges were granted to Cabot; he was made governor of the Russian

company, and had the management of the expedition which sailed under

Sir Hugh Willoughby to the North Seas.

The variation of the compass was first observed by this celebrated man,

though Ferdinand Columbus in the life of his father, printed at Venice,

in Italian, in 1571, asserts, that the admiral first noticed it on the

14th of September 1492. Cabot published a large map of his discoveries

in North America, which was hung up in the gallery at Whitehall. He

also wrote an account of his voyage in the North American seas, in

Italian, which was printed at Venice in 1583 in one volume folio; and

is very scarce.

Juan de Ayolas followed up the discoveries of Cabot in Paraguay, having

had a commission, troops, and stores given him, in 1536, for that

purpose, by Don Pedro de Mendoza, the first governor of Buenos Ayres.

By the orders of Ayolas, Juan de Salinas founded the city of Asuncion,

but the conquest of the natives being attended with much difficulty,

and Ayolas and his party having been murdered by them, Alvar Nuñez

Cabeza de Vaca, the second governor of Buenos Ayres, undertook their

subjugation in person. He had arrived with 400 men to take the chief

command, in case of the death of Ayolas, and finding that this event

had happened, he collected all the settlers in Buenos Ayres, and

detaching Irala, who had acted as governor before his arrival, into

the interior, with ninety men, to report on the state of the country,

was so satisfied with what he had seen, that he set out with 200

Spaniards, and 1200 Guarani Indians, and entered Paraguay; but meeting

with reverses, owing to the mutinous conduct of his troops, who were

corrupted by Irala, he was forced to return, when he was deposed and

sent to Spain; Irala then assumed the chief command, and by his conduct

soon reduced the natives, and rendered the Spanish settlements secure.

The Indians were parcelled out to the conquerors, and in 1547, the city

of Asuncion was erected into a bishopric.

Much cruelty was practised towards the unfortunate natives, till the

arrival of the first bishop of Paraguay, in 1554, who brought with him

laws and regulations for their protection; but however wise and humane

these ordinances were, they did not totally restrain the colonists

from ill using their vassals; and it being found that Paraguay and the

territories then discovered, were not sufficient to supply Indians

enough to work in the plantations, Parana or Guayra was conquered,

and the city of Ciudad Real being founded, 40,000 of the natives were

reduced to slavery; and in a few years after, the Spanish power was

extended over Chiquitos, on the left of Paraguay, where 60,000 of the

natives were compelled to labour for the profit of their employers.

The year 1556 was a new era for the aborigines, as in that epoch the

Jesuits made their appearance in Paraguay, and taking a method directly

contrary to that of the conquerors, they reduced the natives by the

arts of persuasion alone. They showed them how industry would conduce

to their comfort; and having, by an uniform course of mildness and

conciliation, reclaimed them from their native woods and wandering way

of life, they settled them in towns and villages, which soon increased

and flourished under their guidance.

The number of these settlements was astonishing, and so completely

had these priests gained the affections of the natives, that their

government and power was absolute and unlimited. The principal missions

of the Jesuits, or rather the Jesuit government, was not however in

Paraguay, but in Uruguay, an immense district of Buenos Ayres, on the

south of the Parana; and in describing that country, some further

account of their possessions will be given.

Their order being expelled from the Spanish dominions, in 1767,

the countries they possessed in South America were divided into

governments, and priests of other orders were appointed to take charge

of the ecclesiastical affairs.

_Climate, productions, features, &c._--The climate of Paraguay is in

general moist and temperate, though in some parts it is cold, and white

frosts are common in those places in July and August.

The temperate parts abound with all kinds of grain, beans, pease,

melons, cucumbers, and European vegetables; asparagus is found wild,

and there is a remarkably fine sort of vine, of which good and healthy

wine is made, magueys, sugar-cane, maize, from which the Indians make

their favourite drink; potatoes, a fruit resembling the almond, which

produces an excellent oil; the European fruits; tobacco, and cinchona,

or Jesuit's bark, sarsaparilla, rhubarb, jalap, sassafras, guiacum,

dragon's blood, cupay, whose oil is used in medicine, nux vomica,

vanilla, cacao, the timbabi, supplying a fine yellow gum, which is run

into moulds, and formed into beads, necklaces, crosses, &c. Cedar,

the curi or pine, from whose red knots, which contain a varnish, the

Indians make images; the algarrobo, or carob tree, which is converted

into bread, and the Paraguay tea or matté, a plant which rises about a

foot and a half high, with slender branches, and leaves something like

those of senna; of this there are two kinds, one called Paraguay, the

other Caamina, or Yervacamini, which last sells for one-third more than

the other.

So useful is this western tea, that the mines would stand still, if the

owners were to neglect to supply the workmen with it; and every person

in Peru, Chili, and Buenos Ayres, consider themselves wretched, if not

able to procure it; two millions of piastres worth of this herb, being

sold from the province of Paraguay every year. It is infused and made

nearly in the same way as Chinese tea, excepting that the branches are

put in with the leaves, and that it is drank out of the vessel it is

made in, through a silver or glass pipe, as soon as possible; as if it

stays too long, it is supposed not to be good. The smell, and colour of

this drink, is nearly as fine as that of the best Indian teas.

The pomegranate, peach, fig, lemon and orange, flourish in Paraguay,

as do the cocoa-nut and other palms. The native fruits have among

them the jujuba, the chanar, the yacani, the quabira, from which

candles are made for the churches; the quembe yielding a delicious

pulp; the mammon growing on the trunk of a tree, and resembling a

melon; the tatay, having a fruit like the mulberry; the alaba, with a

delicious fruit; the anguay, whose pips are of a rich violet colour

and triangular shape, are used by the Indian women for necklaces; the

tarumay resembling the olive; the molle, yielding a fragrant gum; the

bacoba, banana, anana, manioc, the cotton tree, which grows to a great

size and is very common; the zevil, whose bark is used in tanning; the

ceibo, with flowers of a purple colour; the izapa, whose leaves distil

a copious supply of water; the ant-tree, which is the chosen resort

of these insects; the umbu, with an immense and spreading head; the

willow; the ambay, used in striking fire; the arucuy, a shrub yielding

a strong scarlet dye; indigo, cochineal, nacalic, whose beautiful

yellow is used by dyers and painters, and reeds of great size, besides

an infinite number of other trees and plants, all useful in their kind,

and an immense assemblage of beautiful flowers.

The wild animals of Paraguay are chiefly found in the mountain regions

bordering on the Great River, and on Brazil, where the forests are of

impenetrable thickness. The jaguar, the puma or the cougar, and the

black bear, are large and very fierce, destroying the cattle whenever

they are exposed to their ravages. The ant-bear is a common animal,

feeding principally on ants, which it catches, by placing its long

tongue on their nests; and the tapir, the water-pig, or capibara,

the river-cavies, and various other amphibious animals, frequent its

numerous rivers. Mosquitos and other venomous insects are the great

plagues of this fine country, and about twenty kinds of serpents, of

which, the rattle-snake is the most common, and the boa constrictor the

largest, frequent its woods and plains.

In Paraguay, the bird tribes are also very numerous, and possess

the charms of song and beauty of plumage, in a degree equal, if

not superior to those of any part of South America. Of these, nine

different kinds of the humming-bird alone have been enumerated.

But the largest bird seen in the plains of Paraguay, is the great

cassowary or American ostrich, remarkable for its immense size, fine

plumage, and swift motion.

The fertility of Paraguay is proverbial, and though no mines are worked

in it, it is one of the most opulent governments of Buenos Ayres, on

account of its various vegetable productions, and the immense herds of

horses, mules, cattle and sheep, which pasture on its extensive plains.

Of this government, the southern parts are those which are best known

and most inhabited; the northern bordering on the Brazilian frontiers,

and reaching to the great inundation of the Paraguay, have been little

explored, and are tenanted only by the aborigines and wild animals.

The great features of this country are the numerous rivers, swamps,

lakes, plains and woods, with which it abounds. Its largest and most

noted rivers being the _Paraguay_, the _Parana_, the _Porrudos_,

_Mbotely_, _Tobati_, _Ipane Piray_ in the north parts, and in the

south the _Cañabe_ and _Tibiquari_, the latter of which, divides the

government from that of Buenos Ayres.

_Commerce._--The trade of Paraguay consists in the export of its tea,

tobacco, sugar, cotton, hides, tallow, wax, honey, cattle, horses,

mules, wool, leather, &c. It is chiefly carried on by the river

Paraguay; the journey to Buenos Ayres by land, being seldom performed

excepting by couriers, who are then obliged to wade and swim over

many rivers, and are exposed to the attacks of the wandering Indians,

even the navigation of the Great River not being free from them; the

_Payaguas_ tribe often collecting sixty or seventy canoes, with five

or six men in each, armed with long lances and clubs, who attack any

vessel unprovided with the means of making resistance.

Peace has been made with these people, but they sometimes commit

depredations, and the whole government is surrounded by nations

equally inveterate and ferocious; on the west are the _Tobas_ and

_Moscobies_, on the south the _Abipones_, on the north the _Guaycurus_

or _Mbayas_, and the _Panaguas_; but the east is free from any

immediate neighbours of this description, though on the distant

mountains in this quarter called _Yerva_, are the _Monteses_, who give

great trouble to the people employed to collect the tea, which grows

spontaneously in their vicinity. The Monteses also greatly annoy the

Portuguese, who are constantly at variance with them. This tribe pushed

its way lately across Cuyaba, and part of Matto Grosso, in Brazil, to

make an incursion into the head settlements of Moxos, in order to open

a path to plunder the country of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz.

These unsubdued Indians frequently attack the settlements of Paraguay,

which has obliged the inhabitants to form a militia in order to repel

their aggressions, which are always sudden, and at times when they are

least expected. The forts of Paraguay are nineteen in number, and are

generally near the river, which is also furnished with guard boats.

The number of Indian villages of the missions is very considerable;

they are governed by magistrates, chosen from among themselves, and

generally consist of stone or mud houses covered with tiles, having a

large square in which is the priest's house, and a good church, the

number of inhabitants in each being seldom less than 600, and often

exceeding 2000, and the total population of Paraguay is estimated at

97,480 Indians and Spaniards or whites, of which the latter do not form

much more than a twentieth part.

The only towns of importance are the capital, Asuncion, Villarica,

Curuguaty, Concepcion and Neembucu.

_Asuncion, or Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion_, the capital, is situated

on an angle made by the eastern bank of the river Paraguay, eighteen

miles above the first mouth of the Pilcomayo, and forty-eight above

that of the second, in 59° 35' west longitude, and 24° 47' south

latitude; it was originally a small fort, built in 1538, which soon

became a town, and was erected into a bishopric in 1547. Its population

consists of 500 Spanish families, and several thousand Indians and

mestizoes.

The adjacent country is rich and fertile, and the climate temperate;

the trees around it are always in bloom, foliage, or fruit, and the

rich pastures in its neighbourhood nourish abundance of cattle. It

exports hides, sugar, tobacco and Paraguay tea; but the boats which

trade to this place from the city of Buenos Ayres, take two or three

months to ascend the river La Plata, though the only difficulty in

navigating it is from the force of the descending current, as the winds

generally blowing from the south are favourable for the passage.

_Villarica_ is 100 miles north-east of Asuncion, in 25° 48' south

latitude, and 56° 31' west longitude, and was founded in 1576, and

contains 3000 inhabitants.

_Concepcion_, in 23° 23' south latitude, and 57° 16' west longitude,

contains 1550 inhabitants, and was built in 1773.

_Curuguaty_, in 24° 28' south latitude, and 56° 54' west longitude,

contains 2250 inhabitants, and was founded in 1715.

_Neembucu_ was built in 1779, in 26° 52' south latitude, and 58° 11'

west longitude, and is peopled by 1730 souls.

_GOVERNMENT OF TUCUMAN._

The third government of Buenos Ayres is that of Tucuman, which is

bounded on the north-east by Chichas and Lipes in Charcas, north-west

and west by Atacama, west and south-west by Cuyo, or Cujo, south-east

by the Pampas or territories inhabited by the Aucaes, Huarcas, or

Pampas, Pihuenches, Puelches, Uncos and other unconquered tribes

which wander over the plains and mountains adjacent to Chili. On the

south-east, it has the jurisdiction of Santa Fé in Buenos Ayres, and

on the east it has the uncultivated Llanos de Manso and the country of

Chacos or Chaco Gualamba.

Its extent is from 22° to 33° 10' south latitude, its length 370

leagues, and its breadth 190 leagues from east to west.

Tucuman was united to the empire of Peru, in the reign of Vira Cocha,

the eighth Inca, by the desire of the inhabitants, who probably

intimidated by the conquest of the adjacent country of Charcas, sent

messengers to beg to be admitted under the Peruvian government.

The Spaniards conquered this country after finishing the subjugation

of Peru, and Diego de Roxas was the first discoverer in 1543, but it

was not subdued till the president Pedro de la Gasca, sent Juan Nuñez

de Prado in 1549, to establish settlements in Tucma or Tucuman. The

inhabitants proving of a mild and peaceable nature, the expedition

was unattended with any bloodshed, and four cities were immediately

founded, namely, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel del Tucuman, Nuestra

Senora de Talavera, and Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia; but these being

found insufficient in so large a territory, Rioja, Santa, and Jujui or

Xuxui were soon afterwards added; the Spaniards then divided it into

three provinces, which they named after the nations they found in it,

_viz._ Juries on the east, Diaguiras on the west, and Comichingones to

the south; of which the Comichingones Indians dwelt in caves.

_Climate, Features, &c._--The climate of Tucuman is hot in those parts

farthest from the main chain and branches of the Andes, but in general

the seasons are regular and the soil prolific and good; and as an

instance of the healthiness of some parts of the country, it is stated

that Louisa Truxo, a negress, lived to the amazing age of 175, and was

living on the 5th of October, 1780.

It produces all sorts of grain, esculent plants and fruits in

abundance, with plenty of excellent pasture for the innumerable herds

of cattle, mules, and horses it contains.

The forests, which overspread a great part of it, contain good timber

for building, and which forms one great article of its trade, supplying

Santa Fé, Buenos Ayres and its own towns with boards which are conveyed

in carts drawn by oxen. It also supplies the timber so necessary in

the mining operations at Potosi, and so dear is a peculiar hard wood

of which axles for the wheels and engines are made, that 2000 dollars

are given for a large axle, owing to the great labour and expence of

transport. Box trees, laurels, pines, dragon trees, walnuts, palms

and cedars, are a few of the useful plants of Tucuman; and cotton,

vines, tobacco, cacao, cochineal, indigo and flax are also cultivated,

but none of these articles enter into its export trade, which chiefly

consists of cattle and timber; honey and wax are also plentifully

produced in the forests.

In Tucuman, the desert places and woods abound with all kinds of game

and wild animals, as pumas, jaguars, ant bears, bears, wild hogs, elks,

deer, hares, rabbits, armadillos, guanucos, vicunas, and many other

kinds. The American ostrich or cassowary frequents the plains, and

innumerable birds are seen in its woods, &c. The immense boa, called in

this country ampolaba, destroys the smaller animals which come within

its reach, and appears, when lying among the grass, like the huge trunk

of an old tree; besides the boa, there are also rattle-snakes, vipers

and other reptiles common to warm climates.

In the rivers and lakes are found abundance of fish, tapirs, cavies,

water-pigs, and other amphibious animals.

The great chain of the Andes, which borders and sends forth branches

into Tucuman, is so high in some parts as to reach the regions of

eternal snow; in it there are several mines, which were formerly worked

by the Spaniards, and there remain striking vestiges of the mining

operations carried on by the Peruvians.

The rivers of Tucuman are numerous, the principal ones being the

_Vermejo_, the _Salado_, the _Xuxuy_, the _Dulce_ and the _Quarto_.

The _Vermejo_, or _Rio Grande_, rises near Casabinda, and flows with a

stately stream into the La Plata, near Corrientes. The _Salado_ takes

its waters from many streams which flow down from the mountains of

Tucuman, in south latitude 24°, and chiefly from those of the valley

of Calchaqui, where it receives a large stream which comes from the

south-west; it then runs into the valley of Huachipas, which name it

takes, but soon changes it for that of Charomores, from a place so

called; it then flows westward, and is called Pasage; as being in

the road from Buenos Ayres to La Plata, it must be here crossed by

travellers with some risk, owing to the rapidity of its current; it

then is called De Balbuena, from passing through the settlement of that

name, and is joined near this place by the _Rio Piedras_, and passes

down through the district of Santiago del Estoro, from whence it runs

eighty leagues, under the name of _Salado_, and loses itself eighty-six

miles north-north-west of the city of Santa Fé, in a lake named El

Mar Chiquito. The _Chacos_, or _Dulce_, runs by the side of this

river, after it passes through Salta, and at last falls into it. Its

whole course is 200 leagues, and it formerly reached Santa Fé, where

it formed a peninsula with an arm of the La Plata, but having opened

itself new channels by its great swellings, it now loses itself in the

lake, which is the case with almost all the rivers of this province, as

they generally form large sheets of water, from which they rarely issue.

The numerous lakes in this province are generally shallow, and produced

by the overflowing of the rivers: but they have the singular quality of

being mostly saline, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the Rio

Vermejo.

There is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense

tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It

extends to the south of Buenos Ayres, and is about 700 miles in length

by 150 in breadth. It is said that in this extent, which reaches to

the Rio Vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are

not brackish. All the rivers which flow through it to the La Plata are

fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till

they enter the great stream. Even the Pilcomayo and Vermejo, although

they have a free course, have always a salt taste when the waters are

low. This substance appears in the greatest abundance between Santa Fé

and Cordova, and the salt quality of the soil reaches to St. Jago del

Estero, where the whole ground is covered with a white incrustation

even to the foot of the Cordillera.

Natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of the country, after

a shower the ground being whitened with it. Chaco contains many salt

lakes, and to the south-west of Buenos Ayres, they are found at from

400 to 450 miles distance. To these, journeys are frequently made with

carts, in order to collect the fine crystallized grains which cover

their banks.

The cattle of this country cannot subsist without this substance; they

devour with avidity the salted clay they find in the ditches; and when

this happens to fail, as is sometimes the case in Paraguay, they perish

in the course of a short time.

From Buenos Ayres, the great road to Potosi and Lima passes through

Tucuman. In 1748, regular stages were built all the way, post-houses

were erected, and relays of horses and carriages provided.

The method of travelling is in covered waggons drawn by oxen or horses,

in which the traveller can recline, and must necessarily exercise much

patience: but the silver and gold from the mines, as well as all kinds

of merchandize, are conveyed along this road on the backs of mules.

Its extent from Buenos Ayres to Potosi, is 1617, or according to some

accounts, 1873 miles, 400 of which are over the elevated chains of the

Andes, and are impassable for the waggons; from Potosi to Lima the

route continues 1215 miles more, and passes over the highest ridges of

the mountains, where the traveller undergoes all sorts of danger and

privations, and is exposed to the utmost extremes of heat and cold.

About the distance of 500 miles from Buenos Ayres, the country is one

plain, covered only with cattle, horses and mules, and stretching

to the horizon; the land then begins insensibly to rise, and in 500

miles more, the road lies over the branches of the chain of Chiquitos,

to the town of Salta, where the grand and snow-covered tops of the

central Andes present themselves. The thick woods of Tucuman are then

lost; but the swarms of locusts, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, toads,

frogs, serpents, and alligators, also disappear, the traveller having

now entered the temperate region; the road then winds amid abrupt and

frightful precipices and chasms, and sometimes with so narrow a footway

that the mules can scarcely move.

The path is here indented with deep holes, in which the animals

place their legs, and thus prevent the danger of slipping over the

precipices; at other places where the road inclines at a great slope,

these sagacious creatures place themselves with their fore and hind

feet close together, and inclining forward, as if about to lie down,

they slide with inconceivable velocity to the bottom.

These mountains in some parts are traversed at the bottom of narrow

and perpendicular clefts, where, if the animal falls, his rider must

infallibly be crushed.

The passage of the many torrents and rivers is also another difficulty;

across those which are shallow, very large and high horses are

used, which are trained for the purpose; over the deeper ones, rope

bridges are thrown; and it is only in summer that this journey can be

attempted, as the swelling of the rivers and the winter torrents render

them impracticable. Even in summer, when the snow in the higher regions

suddenly melts, the torrents are swoln to such a degree, and dash with

such force from the mountains, that many an unhappy traveller perishes.

Mules constitute the great commerce of Tucuman; these animals are

bought in Cordova, Santa Fé and Buenos Ayres, and being fattened during

the winter in the valleys and plains, are driven to Peru, where they

sell for twelve or seventeen dollars each, 50,000 being thus sold every

year, and with them are driven from 14 to 16,000 cows. It also sends

soap wrapped in hides to Peru; but the importation of all articles is

subject to a toll, on passing the Peruvian frontier, the produce of

which is applied to the pay of the troops, the repair of the forts,

and the defence of the frontier against the unsubdued Indians; for

there is not a government in all America so liable to the incursions of

these tribes as Tucuman, as they surround it on the east and south; for

which reason its population has not much increased, the settlers being

continually liable to lose their property from these irruptions. Of the

forts built for the protection of the government, there are at present

thirteen; and the amount of the population, including the converted

Indians, is 100,000.

That singular order, the Jesuits, had some missions in Tucuman, and

formed about 24,000 of the natives into a militia, to repel the

invasions of the Chaco Indians, of whom the _Mataguayos_ are the most

warlike; but the Indians of Tucuman at present are under the care

of the monks of St. Francis, and are employed in cultivating maize,

cotton, tobacco, &c., for their use, and those of the towns.

The capital and chief towns of this government are Tucuman, Cordoba,

Rioxa, Jujuy, Santiago, Londres, and Salta, with thirty-eight other

towns and villages, and ten missions.

Its capital, _Tucuman_, or _San Miguel del Tucuman_, is in 26° 49'

south latitude, and 64° 36' west longitude, 1170 geographical miles in

a direct line from Lima, 462 south of La Plata, and 200 miles east of

Copiapo, in Chili; it was founded by Diego de Villaroel, in 1685, but

placed in another situation, its present site, by the then governor,

in 1680, on account of an inundation which swept away the church and

houses. It is in a pleasant plain, though much in want of water, having

a mild climate, producing abundance of fruits and grain, and containing

a cathedral, a convent of Franciscans, one of La Merced, and a college,

which was built by the Jesuits.

It has a trade in mules, but its principal traffic consists in oxen for

the travelling waggons, and in the waggons themselves; there are also

some unworked silver mines in its neighbourhood.

San Miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at Cordova. The bishopric

is that of Tucuman, and was erected in 1570. In the jurisdiction which

surrounds it, is found a tree, named Quebracho, on account of its great

hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steeped in

water, as solid as stone. The salt river, _Sali_ is about a league

south of this city.

_Cordoba_, or _Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia_, is in 31° 30' south

latitude, 63° 15' west longitude, 156 leagues from Buenos Ayres, at the

foot of the Andes, and was founded, in 1550, by Juan Nuñez de Prado.

The river _Primero_, so called because it is the first of five, is in

its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although

in the plain, the water easily passes off.

This city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but

irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. Few places of

the same extent display equal wealth, the Spaniards and Creoles being

noted for their industry. The chief trade is to the fair at Salta, in

mules, where they are sold for Peru, and the town of Cordova contains

many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths.

The bishop and chapter also reside here.

Wine and grain are brought from Mendoza in Cuyo, brandy in leathern

bags from St. Juan de la Frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly

supplied in the neighbourhood. Cordova is the capital of a province or

district of the same name, extending about 100 leagues in length, and

seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated

for its woollen manufactures.

The mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual

snow, and at Ramauso, sixty miles from Cordova, they branch out, and

are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in

length, extends to Tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola

kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of

fossil salt.

The decayed city of _St. Jago del Estero_ is in this plain, 650 miles

north-north-west of Buenos Ayres, in 27° 46' south latitude, and 65°

12' west longitude, on the banks of the Dolce, which is large and

navigable, and affords great variety of fish. It contains about 300

houses, or 500 families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow

complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate;

as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep

forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. The women are

subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they

are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the

country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of

fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but

are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey.

_Rioxa_, or _Todos Santos de Rioja_, is a small city, founded, in 1591,

by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the

west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle.

Its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor.

This city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient

college of the Jesuits, being in 29° 12' south latitude, and 70° west

longitude, 240 miles west-south-west of St. Jago del Estero.

_Xuxuy_, or _Jujuy_, or _San Salvador_, is twenty leagues north

of Salta, 174 miles north of Santiago del Estero, in 23° 5' south

latitude, and 66° 2' west longitude, and is the chief place of a

district of the same name on the frontier of Peru. This town is seated

at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern Andes, contains about 300

houses, and is the most northerly city of Tucuman. Near it the river

_Xuxui_, being joined by several others, flows towards the La Plata,

after forming the Vermejo in Chaco.

_Londres_, or _London_ is a village which was formerly founded by Juan

de Zuriata, in honour of Mary Queen of England, in 1555, on the event

of her marriage with Philip II.

It is in 19° 12' south latitude, but is at present of little importance.

_Salta_, or _San Miguel de Salta_, is a city and district of this

government, from which the cattle trade with Peru is carried on.

This city stands in 24° 17' south latitude, and 64° 1' 30" west

longitude, and was founded, in 1582, by Don Gonzalo de Obreu y

Figueroa, under the name of _San Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla_, but

was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of

Lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes

a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it.

It contains 400 houses, and 500 men capable of bearing arms, who have

hitherto defended the city against the Indians, though it has no walls.

In it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which

belonged to the Jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly Spaniards and

their slaves. Its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye

and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to

Peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat,

fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of Peru.

The cattle and mules of Tucuman also go from this place, which is

situated on the high road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi.

It is computed that the number of mules fattened in the valley of Lerma

amount, during the months of February and March, when the annual fair

is held, to 60,000, and besides these, there are generally 4000 horses

and cows.

The natives are subject to a species of leprosy, and nearly all the

women, after they have attained the age of 20, have the coto, or

goitrous swelling in the throat, which disfigures them very much, and

which they take great pains to conceal.

Salta is fifty miles south of Xuxui, and the river which washes the

town runs east, and enters the Vermejo.

_THE GOVERNMENT OF CUYO OR CUJO._

Cuyo was formerly a Chilian province; it is bounded on the north by

Tucuman, on the east by the Pampas or deserts of Buenos Ayres, on

the south by Patagonia or Terra Magellanica, and on the west by the

Andes, which separate it from Chili; it is comprehended between the

twenty-ninth and thirty-fifth degrees of south latitude, and extends

about 111 leagues from north to south, its breadth being nearly 110.

_Climate, Features, &c._--In this extensive tract, the climate is

variable, during the summer months those parts which do not lie on the

high Andes are excessively hot, and the winter is very cold. Storms of

thunder and hail are also common, and in the parts nearest Chili, these

storms are of short continuance, but very violent.

The soil consists of arid plains, fertile valleys, and desert

highlands; but those parts, which are the most barren, become extremely

fertile, if irrigated by drawing over them the waters of the numerous

rivers in which it abounds.

Fruits and grains of Europe arrive at perfection much sooner in Cujo

than in Chili, and the vines produce a rich and delicious wine.

The history of this province is uninteresting; the aborigines, of whom

there are few remaining and who are called _Guarpes_, were conquered by

the Peruvian Incas; and on the road over the Andes to Chili, are still

to be seen some tambos or military stations of the Inca Yupanqui.

The Spaniards who explored Cuyo were under the command of Francisco

de Aguirre, who was sent by Valdivia from Chili, but returned without

effecting any thing of importance.

In 1560, Don Garcia de Mendoza sent Pedro Castillo to conquer this

country; he subdued the Guarpes and founded two cities.

The principal rivers in this extensive province are the _San Juan_,

the _Mendoza_, and the _Tunujan_. _The San Juan_ rises in the Chilian

Andes, and washes the walls of St. Juan de la Frontera. The _Mendoza_

also rises in the same chain, and the two, after receiving several

smaller streams, and running twenty-five and thirty leagues, lose

themselves in the chain of lakes called Guanasache, which extends more

than fifty leagues from north to south, and also receives the _Tunujan_.

In these lakes, according to some maps, the great _Rio Colorado_ rises,

which flows into the Atlantic, in about 40° south latitude.

The eastern part of Cujo is watered by several rivers, but of them

very little is known, as these parts are mostly immense plains, in

which the herbage is of such a height as to conceal the cattle and

animals that feed in them. Unlike the savannahs of the Orinoco and the

La Plata, they possess lofty and beautiful trees; of these a species

of cocoa palm is the most singular, its leaves and branches commence

from the ground, and though they bear some resemblance to those of the

cocoa-nut, they are hard and sharp like the aloe, and the tree, which

never exceeds eighteen feet in height, bears a fruit also resembling

that of the cocoa, but containing no kernel or edible substance.

Its trunk is very large, and consists of several concentric layers,

each of which to the heart, are finer as they approach the centre, and

from a yellow decrease by shades to a perfect white. Of these fibrous

coats, the natives make cloth which is strong and flexible, but not

so soft as that of flax. The other trees of Cujo are those which are

peculiar to the warm regions of Chili and La Plata; of them, the cactus

family bear a large proportion, and the nopal or opuntia feeds the

cochineal insect, of which, however, none are exported.

The animals of Cujo are similar to those of Buenos Ayres, or Tucuman,

as jaguars, cougars or pumas, wild swine, deer, &c. The jaguars grow

to a great size, even as large as an ass, and their skin, like that of

the African tiger, is beautifully variegated with white, yellow and

black. The natives hunt them for their skin, arming themselves in these

encounters with long lances of hard wood; but they seldom attack the

animal singly, three Indians usually composing the hunting party, and

exerting all their address and courage to kill it. The cold parts of

this province abound with vicunas, llamas, &c.

Alligators, iguanas, and other amphibious animals, frequent the lakes

and rivers, which are abundantly supplied with fish.

Birds are as numerous in Cuyo as in Paraguay, from the great condor

to the beautiful little picaflor, or humming-bird. Ostriches, or

rather cassowaries, frequent the plains, and are so fleet in their

half-running half-flying motion, that the swiftest horse is soon tired

of the pursuit.

The insect and reptile tribes are as numerous as in the other warm

tracts of America, and only disappear as the land elevates itself

towards the cold regions of the air. Large grass-hoppers, or locusts,

are so abundant in the plains, that they frequently cover several miles

of country, destroying every green thing they settle on.

The northern parts of Cuyo furnish gold and silver, but the mines of

these metals have been till lately unworked, owing to the poverty, or

rather want of numbers of the inhabitants. Its mountains also yield

lead, sulphur, coal and gypsum, while the lakes and plains furnish salt.

In the neighbourhood of St. Juan de la Frontera, the hills are wholly

composed of strata of white marble of a beautiful grain. It is used by

the inhabitants in making fine lime, and in building bridges over the

small canals, with which they irrigate their fields.

In this country, through which the road from Buenos Ayres to Chili

passes, besides the tambos or military posts of the ancient Peruvians,

there are several singular monuments of a far more ancient date. These

are however very imperfectly known; but one of them, on a low range of

hills, between Mendoza and La Punta, has been repeatedly visited. It

consists of a large stone pillar or obelisk, 150 feet in height, and

twelve in diameter, on which are curious marks, supposed to resemble

eastern characters; and near a river is another stone, containing the

same characters, the figures of several animals, and the print of a

foot, of which, the Spanish priests have availed themselves, to impress

their converts with the idea, that it was the work of one of the

Apostles, who left this mark as a token of his mission.

The commerce of Cuyo is of little importance, consisting chiefly in

wines, brandy, and dried fruits, which it sends to Buenos Ayres,

Cordova, &c. Its European fruits, grapes, figs, pears and apples, are

much sought after, and the wool of the vicuna is sent for exportation

to Buenos Ayres; its beautiful fawn colour, gloss and softness,

rendering it of great value in Spain.

Whatever commercial relation is established between the viceroyalty

of Buenos Ayres and the kingdom of Chili, the goods must pass through

Cuyo; the passage over the Andes being in this government, which,

although exceedingly difficult, will one day render it an important

district, especially should the trade of China or the east embrace the

southern and western shores of America.

The capital of Cujo is the city of _Mendoza_, in 33° 25' south

latitude, and 69° 47' west longitude, in a plain at the foot of the

Andes, the environs being adorned with plantations, which are watered

by means of canals.

It contains four convents, a college, formerly established by the

Jesuits, and a church.

A silver mine having been opened in its vicinity, named _Uspallata_,

the number of inhabitants of Mendoza is constantly increasing; at

present, they amount to about six thousand, who are employed in these

works, or in carrying on a productive trade with Buenos Ayres, in

fruits, wool, and wine. The river Mendoza flows by this town, which

is fifty leagues from Santiago in Chili, and the district around it

contains two silver, one copper, and one lead mines.

The next town of note in Cujo, is _San Juan de la Frontera_, forty-five

leagues north of Mendoza, in 33° 25' south latitude, and 68° 55' west

longitude near the Andes, from which circumstance it is also called

_San Juan de la Cordillera_. The neighbourhood of this city, which is

washed by the river San Juan, has some gold mines; but its principal

trade consists in sending wine, brandy, fruits, and vicuña-wool to

Buenos Ayres; the pomegranates of San Juan being greatly esteemed for

their size and flavour.

Its population is nearly the same as that of the capital, which it

resembles in regard to the number of its public edifices.

Besides these two cities, Cuyo contains the towns of _San Luis de

Loyola_, or _De la Punta_, Jachal, Vallofertil, Mogua, Concorto,

Leonsito, Calingarta, and Pismanta.

_San Luis de Loyola_ is the great thoroughfare for the commerce between

Chili, Cujo, and Buenos Ayres; it is situated sixty-two leagues east of

Mendoza, and has a church, convent, and college, of the late order of

Jesuits. The inhabitants amounting to about 200.

The other towns are of little note or importance, and are at present

mere villages.