122 cuzco. [1839. 



jillo. Cuzco is about four hundred miles from Lima, in a 

 southeasterly direction. It is situated in an extensive valley, 

 at the foot of some lofty spurs of the Andes, nearly twelve 

 thousand feet above the level of the ocean. Its population is 

 about twenty-five thousand, and consists mostly of Indians. 

 They are exceedingly industrious, and are celebrated for 

 their skill in embroidery, painting and sculpture. Cuzco is 

 famed for its magnificent ruins, particularly those of the 

 Temple of the Sun, and for its splendid religious edifices. 

 The cathedral church and convent of St. Augustine are said 

 to be the finest in South America. The Dominican convent 

 is also an imposing structure, and is raised on walls that 

 originally formed part of the Temple of the Sun ; the high 

 altar, according to Uiloa, standing on the very spot occupied 

 by the golden image of the Peruvian deity. There are six 

 other convents in the city, five churches, three monasteries, 

 four hospitals, a university, and three collegiate schools. 

 Most of the private dwellings were either constructed before 

 the conquest of the city by Pizarro, in 1554, or have been 

 built of the stones that once formed part of the edifices of the 

 ancient Peruvians. On a hill north of the town, are the ruins 

 of a large fortress, principally constructed of the angular Cy- 

 clopean stones so frequently found among the ruins of Eastern 

 cities. A great part of the town was destroyed, during the 

 siege shortly after it was taken possession of by Pizarro, but 

 there is still left much to interest the scholar and antiqua- 

 rian. 



Arequipa has a population of thirty thousand souls. It 

 lies at the foot of Mount Ornate, on the road leading from 

 Lima to the south, thirty miles east of the Pacific, and two 

 hundred miles southwest from Cuzco. It was founded by 

 order of Pizarro, in 1536. The houses are strongly and neatly 

 built, though, on account of the prevalence of earth quali 

 but one story in height. A cathedral, a fine bronze fountain 

 in the Plaza Mayor, a college, and several convents, are the 

 only objects of particular attraction in the city. Its foreign 

 trade is carried on through its port, Mollendo. Though this 



