Towns of Upper Peru. As BOOK miles. The towns of Upper Peru are in some respects more LXXXVIII. remarkable than those already noticed. At Caxamarca, in the intendancy of Truxillo, are seen the remains of the palace of the unfortunate Inca, who was strangled by order of Pizarro; the ruins of the building are still inhabited by a poor family,t that claims the honour of being lineally descended from the Incas. The population of Caxamarca exceeds twelve thousand souls; the town is situated in the midst of a valley as much renowned for the excellence of its climate as for the abundance and variety of its productions. The famous hot springs, called the baths of the Incas, are about a league from the city. The inhabitants manufacture linen, cotton, and coarse woollen goods, the raw materials of which are obtained in the district. many parts of the country are much more elevated than others, different climates and productions have been observed, within a small extent of territory. Among the secondary towns we may mention Chacapayas, or Juan de la Frontera, the capital of a romantic district on the eastern declivity of the Andes. Huanco consists of a few large and isolated houses, the greater number of which are at present uninhabited. Pasco is one of the principal towns in the province of Tarma, a wild and barren country in the plain of Bombon. But the town, though disadvantageously situated, is populous and considered one of the most important places in Peru, from its vicinity to the famous silver mines of Lauricocha. Atanjauja is the largest town in the valley of Jauja; it has become important from its communication with Pasco, and from the facility with which provisions may be sent from it to the mines. Guanca-Velica is about thirty miles from Guamanga; it was founded by the viceroy Toledo in the year 1572. The climate is cold and variable, rain and snow fall frequently in the same day. The houses are mostly built of tufa, which is obtained from a warm spring in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants earned a subsistence by + The Astorpilcos. * Atahualpa. working the quicksilver mines of Santa Barbara. The ele- BOOK vation of the town is more than 12,308 feet above the level LXXXVIII. of the sea, and the height of Santa Barbara is 14,506 feet. The population of Guanca Velica is now less than 5200 souls; its decay commenced after the mines in its vicinity were neglected. The townsmen obtain materials for building their houses in the following manner: The water of a warm spring is cooled, and the calcareous matter held in solution falls to the bottom of the vessel during the process; the sediment is then put into vases, and assumes gradually the hardness and consistence of stone. cane. Guamanga, a town of twenty-six thousand inhabitants, was the residence of an intendant, and the seat of a university; the houses are built of freestone, and the central situation of the town between Lima and Cuzco might render it still more flourishing, were it not for the unhealthiness of its climate. The finest sugar in Peru is produced Sugar in the district of Calca-y-Lares. The cane is of a very rich quality, and lasts for several years without culture. Alcedo* asserts, that it ripens at the end of fourteen months; but that author is often inaccurate in his statements, and other writers have taken no notice of so extraordinary a fact. The district of Canes and Canches derives its name from two tribes, the remains of which still exist. They were governed by independent princes or curacas, until the Incas forced them to submit. The inhabitants of Condoroma, and other parts of this district, are greatly incommoded during thunder-storms; their hands and faces appear as if stung by insects; and as these sensations are only experienced on such occasions, it is probable that they are produced by the air in a high state of electricity. Arequipa, the capital of an intendancy, is situated in the district of Arequipa Proper; it is about two hun * Alcedo, Dictionnaire, Calcas-y-Lares. + Alcedo, Dictionnaire, article Canes y Canches. Viajero Universal, XIV. p. 183. BOOK dred and seventeen leagues south-east of Lima, sixty LXXXVIII. south-west of Cuzco, and fifty north of Arica. Pizarro marked out a place for the town, but repeated earthquakes, and the inconvenience arising from its being so near the volcano of Guayna Putena, forced the inhabitants to leave it, and to remove to their present site. Arequipa is a large and well-built city, watered by the river Chile, and its population exceeds 24,000 souls. The word Arequipa signifies, in the Peruvian language, to remain; and the reason that that name was given to the intendency has been thus accounted for: the troops of the Inca, who conquered the country, became so fond of it, that they intreated their leader to allow them to pass there the remainder of their lives; the Inca granted their request, and they called the territory Arequipa, to commemorate the event. The lake Chicuito or Titicaca, in the audiencia of Charcas, that has been lately dismembered from Upper Peru, is situated between two of the Cordilleras, and enclosed by the surrounding mountains; it bas no other outlet than the Desaguadero, which flows from it into the lake Paria, and is there lost. Its circumference is about two hundred and forty miles; and in many places it is more than four hundred and eighty feet in depth. The violent storms that rush from the Andes render it dangerous for ships; its waters are bitter, but it abounds with fish, and flocks of wild fowl haunt its shores. The lake has been called Titicaca, or the leaden mountain, from one of its numerous islands, on which the natives believed that Manco Capac received his divine commission to be legislator of Peru. The island for that reason was held in great veneration, and the succeeding Incas erected there a magnificent temple to the sun. As every Peruvian was obliged to visit that building, and to lay an offering at its shrine, the quantity of gold and silver contained in it was very great; when the country was conquered by the Spaniards, the natives, to hinder them from taking possession of the temple, razed its walls, and threw all its wealth into the lake. Near the southern extremity the banks approach each BOOK other, and form a bay, which terminates in the Rio Desa➡ LXXXVIII. guadero or drain. A bridge of rushes was built over it Bridge of by Yupanqui Capac, the fifth Inca, to enable his army to rushes. cross the Desaguadero, which is about eighty yards wide, and flows with an impetuous under current. The Inca caused four large cabies to be made of the long grass which grows on the high Paramos, or deserts of the Andes, two of these having been stretched across the stream, rushes firmly fastened together were laid over them; two more cables were placed on this foundation, and covered with flags smaller than the former, but secured in such a way as to form an even surface. By this means the Peruvian army advanced to the conquest of Charcas. The bridge was five yards broad, and nearly two higher than the river; it was repaired every six months, in pursuance of a law made by the Incas, and, on account of its great utility, adopted by the Spanish government. Southern La Plata, or Chuquisaca, the capital of Charcas, receiv- Towns of ed its first name from a silver mine in mount Porco; this Peru. town, the population of which has been calculated at fifteen thousand souls, is built on one of the feeders of the Pilcamayo. It was erected into a bishopric in the year 1551, and raised afterwards in 1608 to a metropolitan city. La Plata was founded by Pedro Auzures on the site of an ancient Indian town; the great inconvenience of its situation arises from a scarcity of water; the public fountains are not only at a great distance from each other, but very often ill supplied. Before the late revolution in Spanish America it was the seat of the royal audience of Las Charcas, or the supreme court of Buenos Ayres. La Paz, sometimes called Puebla Nuevo, is the chief town in the small district of La Paz. It was built by Capac Mayta, the Inca who subdued the country. Illimani or the summit of an adjacent Cordillera is covered with perpetual snow; on the high grounds the climate is cold and variable, but that of the city is mild and salubrious. The heights near BOOK which the town is built, its river, its snowy mountains, LXXXVIII. and fertile vallies add to the beauties of the scenery around Potosi. Natives of Peru. it. The plains in this district are the only places that are Oropesa is situated in the province of Cochobamba, a district frequently called, from its great fertility, the granary of Peru. Tarija is the capital of Chicas, a country abounding in grain and wine. Atocama is a small town in a province of the same name, which borders with Arica on the north, and Chili on the south. The maritime part of the district is a dreary wilderness, but in the interior, which is not unfruitful, there are some valuable mines. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a considerable town, and the capital of a very large province of the same name, is built in a small district in the midst of a great many hills; the sandy plains of Chiquitos extend beyond them, and join the woodlands in the vallies of Moxos. The history of the Peruvians has been vaguely preserved by oral tradition |