WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VA/.Ol'EZ DE ESPINOSA 4"/! 



Chapter XXXV [38, 36] 



Describing the District of the Archdiocese of Lima. 



1329. The Circuit Court [District] of Lima holds jurisdiction on 

 the N. over the Diocese of Trujillo, its boundary against the Circuit 

 Court and Diocese of Quito running along the Rio de Calva, in 

 4°2o' S. On the S. it comprises the Dioceses of Guamanga, Cuzco, 

 and that of Arequipa, in whose jurisdiction it borders or touches 

 on that of the Circuit Court of the Charcas in the Moquegua Valley 

 in i7°3o' S., over 30 leagues S. of Arequipa; the river flowing down 

 this valley from the sierra separates the jurisdictions of the Circuit 

 Courts of Lima and the Charcas [and the rest of the Diocese of 

 Arequipa, viz, the port of Arica and its jurisdiction, belong to the 

 Circuit Court of the Charcas.] 



1330. The Archdiocese of Lima has nine suffragan Dioceses : on 

 the N., the Diocese of Trujillo, that of Quito, that of Panama in 

 the Spanish Main, that of Kficaragua in New Spain, district of Guate- 

 mala; to the S. it has Guamanga, Cuzco, Santiago de Chile, and that 

 of La Concepcion, which is what used to be La Imperial, and is the 

 fortified post which His Majesty possesses in that Kingdom [of 

 Chile]. 



1331. The Archdiocese has wide jurisdiction, along the seacoast 

 on the plains where it never rains, over 140 leagues, from the Santa 

 Valley, in 9° S., where it borders on the Diocese of Trujillo, to the 

 La Nasca Valley in full 15° S., where it borders on the Acari Valley, 

 which belongs to the Diocese of Arequipa. Li the center of these 

 plains is the city of Lima, at 12° S. From Lima N. to Santa there, 

 are very fertile valleys [which have been described, where] in which 

 they harvest great amounts of wheat, corn, chickpeas, peanuts, 

 pallares, kidney beans, and many other cereals, both Spanish and 

 indigenous, and many varieties of fruit, both Spanish and native, 

 like melons, cucumbers, which are excellent, and the other kinds 

 described ; there are very good sugar plantations and mills where 

 much sugar is made, and some vineyards and olive groves ; and while 

 there are stretches of land in these plains that are uninhabitable 

 for the heat and lack of water, it is certain that where the rivers 

 come down out of the sierra through the valleys and settlements 

 [in them], this is the best bit of land that God has created on earth, 

 for lavish fertility [and enjoyment]. The greater part of the products 

 grown in these valleys is exported in ships and frigates to the port 

 of Callao for the provisioning and maintenance of the city of Lima. 



