500 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



[to the city of Arequipa.] there are 7 leagues of sand hills, ashes, 

 and a few ridges, all uninhabitable until one reaches the city in this 

 Vitor Valley. In all that country grapes and other fruit begin to 

 ripen by Christmas time, and as the river is in flood at that time and 

 it is hot, there are multitudes of mosquitoes, gnats, and rodadores 

 which are very troublesome by day ; they stick to one's face and bite 

 so savagely that in several localities I have seen people's skin com- 

 pletely altered. The Viceroy appoints a Corregidor for this valley. 



Chapter XLIX [50] (51) 



Describing the City of Arequipa and Part of Its District. 



1389. The city of Arequipa lies 150 leagues S. of the city of Lima. 

 It was founded by the Marques Don Francisco Pizarro in the year 

 1534, 18 leagues inland from the sea on the banks of the Rio Vitor, 

 which renders it fertile, pleasant, and abundantly supplied. It lies 

 to the S. of the river in a level [valley] and has one of the best cli- 

 mates in Peru and indeed in the whole world. In that country they 

 call this climate chaupiyunga, which means between cold and hot ; 

 it is very delightful and temperate, equable the whole year through. 

 On its E. border it has a range or volcano which rises very high, 

 like a sugar loaf, and its slopes come down to the site of the city ; 

 it is 2 leagues from top to bottom [but this is not the one which 

 erupted, for it contains no fire.] On its peak the heathen used to 

 make their sacrifices in the days of their paganism. Near it on the 

 N. is another sierra almost as high as the volcano ; the Rio de Vitor 

 runs between them, from E. to W., making the whole country rich, 

 fertile, luxurious, and delightful. When it rains the volcano and 

 sierra are covered with snow, but in the city itself, built on their 

 slopes to the W., it does not rain and there is no change of tem- 

 perature or of season. 



1390. The city will contain 300 Spaniards, not counting Negroes, 

 Indians, and other servitors. The city covers a very wide and exten- 

 sive area, for the houses are large and they all contain within their 

 enclosures, orchards and gardens with all the native and Spanish 

 varieties of fruit trees, so that it seems a bit of Paradise. They have 

 excellent pears, pippins, apples, large and small peaches, and other 

 Spanish fruit in abundance ; the height of their season is Christmas 

 time. All the year they have pinks, roses, white lilies, and all sorts 

 of Spanish flowers. It occupies the area of a very large city ; the 

 buildings are excellently constructed, with tiled roofs. There is a 

 Cathedral, for it is the see for the Diocese, which was separated 



