124 OTHER IMPORTANT TOWNS. [1839. 



which, since the war of Independence, has been dignified 

 with the title of city. It is situated on the coast north of 

 Lima. Four fifths of the population are Indians, and the 

 remainder mestizos. The natives employ their time in fish- 

 ing, agriculture, and the rearing of poultry. Every Friday, 

 large caravans of Indian women, mounted on mules, start 

 for Lima, with fowls, ducks, and turkeys. Two bunches of 

 fowls, consisting of from fifteen to twenty each, are attached 

 by every chola to the pommel of her saddle, one hanging 

 down on either side. About two days and a half arc re- 

 quired to perform the journey, and the poor creatures arc 

 kept all the while in this position, except when the caravan 

 is halted. 



Huancavelica lies about midway between Lima and Gua- 

 manga. Its population is estimated at about twelve thou- 

 sand. This town has long been celebrated for its rich quick- 

 silver mines ; they have been worked for almost three hun- 

 dred years, and are still highly productive. Truxillo is the 

 principal town in North Peru, and contains not far from ten 

 thousand inhabitants. It lies on the coast, and was named 

 after the birth place of the conqueror of Peru, Francisco 

 Pizarro. 



(4.) The handful of Spaniards, commanded by Pizarro 

 and Almagro, entered Peru in 1582. Availing themselves 

 of the dissensions among the Indian tribes then occupying 

 the country, as Hernando Cortes and his warriors had aire 

 done in ancient Azteca, they at first formed an alliance wil i 

 Atahualpa, or Atabalipa, the reigning Inca, and afterwards 

 deprived him of his liberty and put him to death. This d 

 of cruelty having been perpetrated, the whole countrj 

 rapidly overrun and reduced tP submission. It, was after- 

 wards formed into a vioeroyalty, and continue i subject to :.. • 

 dominion of Spain until the year 1821. The inhabitants 

 were long firm in their loyalty, and the royalists were eve 

 ually put down, only by a strong Chilian army under ' 

 Martin, in cooperation with the Peruvian patriots. The in 

 pendence of Peru was proclaimed at Lima, on the 28th of 



