484 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



with grapes, tie them up at the top, and then throw them in the press, 

 treading the grapes in them ; in this way no skins or seeds get out 

 of the bag, nothing but the must ; and so, although all the grapes 

 are black, the wine comes out white, with an excellent delicate flavor ; 

 most of it is very fragrant and so strong that you can put 2 pints 

 of water in a pint of wine and it does not lose its strength and 

 authority. I might describe other brands of wine and their prepara- 

 tion, but this will serve as a description of their method. 



1357. There is a Corregidor in this town, appointed by the Council ; 

 he puts a representative in the port of Pisco, which already has pre- 

 tensions of being a city and throwing off the jurisdiction of lea. 

 This [is certain, that the village of Pisco] is one of the best and 

 wealthiest in the whole Kingdom, and keeps growing every day, 

 thanks to the extensive commerce it enjoys and the numbers of ships 

 which put in to load wine. [The Corregidor] sets another deputy 

 in the Nasca Valley. The town of lea is all tile-roofed, with excellent 

 buildings, many mercantile establishments, grocery stores, and a 

 tambo, like Pisco. There are two fine glassworks there, one in the 

 town and the other in lea la Vieja, thanks to the abundance of the 

 raw material for its manufacture and the [large] amount of wood 

 for the furnaces. 



1358. The land in this region is so good that though the river has 

 very little water, the valley is one of the largest and best in the whole 

 Kingdom of Peru ; for besides all that has been mentioned, there 

 are [also] many groves of fig trees, pomegranates, quinces, and 

 other delicious fruit. It has four potteries which produce plenty of 

 jugs for all the vineyard owners, and their proprietors are the 

 wealthiest and the persons most in demand. Each jug treated 

 with pitch to hold wine, sells for 3 or 3^ reals, and even up to 4 ; 

 and in addition to these, many vineyard owners have potteries and 

 baking ovens on their ranches for the bottling of their wines. Ships 

 loaded with pitch come up to these valleys, clearing from the port 

 of Realejo in Nicaragua ; and ordinarily, in spite of the duties and 

 the freight they have to pay, they make large profits, for while the 

 pitch sells at Realejo for 20 or 24 reals [at the most] a quintal, it 

 brings at the lowest in these valleys 14 or 15 8-real pesos, and since 

 it is an essential commodity and large quantities are used, some have 

 made many ducats in the trade. 



1359. The land is very fertile and the climate delightful ; and for 

 this reason, as soon as one leaves the valleys and the vineyard dis- 

 tricts, one finds extensive woods of guarangos or algarrobos, im- 

 penetrable at many points. Much cattle roams about in them, with 



