1S39.] CERR0 DI PASCO. 123 



town is elevated upwards of seven thousand feet above the 

 level of the sea, its environs are highly cultivated and remark- 

 ably fertile. Beautiful groves and gardens dot the landscape ; 

 hedges and fruit trees, trimmed en espalier, are occasionally 

 to be seen ; and the shrubs and flowers exhibit a luxuriance 

 of foliage, and a gorgeous brilliancy of color, not surpassed in 

 any other locality in Peru. 



For more than two centuries, Cerro di Pasco has been 

 famed throughout the world for its rich silver mines. It con- 

 tains, at times, when the mines yield abundantly, some eighteen 

 thousand inhabitants, and at others not more than five or six 

 thousand. It is situated in an irregular basin-shaped hollow 

 in the table land of Bombon, on the mountain chain of Ola- 

 chin, and is 13,673 feet above the level of the sea. At a dis- 

 tance, the town presents quite a picturesque appearance, but 

 a nearer approach dissolves the illusion. The streets are 

 filthy, and mere narrow and crooked lanes. Some few of the 

 dwellings are European in style, and well-built; yet in close 

 proximity to them are clusters of miserable adobe huts and 

 hovels, covered with thatch, but nearly destitute of chimneys 

 and windows. The town is so burrowed under, by the nu- 

 merous adits leading to the main lodes, some of which are 

 almost fathomless and usually half full of water, that a ram- 

 ble through it, even in broad daylight, is attended with no 

 little danger. 



Two hundred and ten miles southeast of Lima, on the 

 road to Cuzco, is Guamanga, formerly called San Juan de 

 la Victoria, or de la Frontera. It was founded by Pizarro, 

 and stands in the middle of an extensive and beautiful plain. 

 The houses are constructed with neatness and taste, mainly 

 of stone, and have pretty orchards and gardens attached to 

 them. It has several large squares, and the streets are spa- 

 cious and convenient. The population is said to be fifteen 

 thousand. There is a cathedral in the city, and several other 

 churches and convents. The climate is very fine, and the 

 situation is regarded as being quite healthy. Huacho is a 

 small village, containing some five thousand inhabitants, 



