620 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



the jurisdiction of Oruro ; they are 12 leagues farther on. This 

 canyon which starts at Cochabamba, extends nearly to Oruro, which 

 is its eastern bound. 



Chapter VII 



Of the Province of Los Carangas, the Town of Porco and the 

 Pilaya and Paspaya Valleys. 



1643. The Province of Los Carangas is one of the largest and 

 finest in Peru ; it comes next to the Province of Paria. It contains 

 large villages, like Corquemarca, which is the capital of this province 

 and the residence of the Corregidor appointed by the Viceroy ; it 

 is on the Oruro highway ; others are Huaillamarca ; then 5 leagues 

 to Curaguara, and 5 again to Totora ; Andamarca and Tulco, where 

 there are very rich silver mines, from which they have taken large 

 amounts of pure silver, and if they had not struck water, they would 

 have been the richest mines in the Indies. This village and the mines 

 lie near the King's Highway running from Arica to Potosi, to the 

 left, 2 leagues from the tambo of Titiri. This province contains 

 many other villages, which are very rich, as well as the curacies, 

 on account of the large llama ranches it contains ; these llamas are 

 the best and sturdiest to be found in Peru, and for that reason are 

 worth more than those of the other provinces. The King's Highway 

 from the port of Arica to Potosi runs through the center of it. This 

 province provides the largest mita for Potosi, but they have all fallen 

 off, for the villages have shrunk and the Indians are exhausted. 



1644. On the N. it is bounded by the Province of Los Pacajes ; 

 on the E., by Porco and Potosi ; on the S., by that of Atacama; and 

 to the W., by the Arica and Tarapaca Valleys. It has a cold climate ; 

 the land is flat, with a few ridges ; besides flocks of domesticated 

 llamas and sheep, there are large numbers of wild and escaped stock, 

 like guanacos and vicufias ; vizcachas, which are like rabbits ; ostriches, 

 partridges, geese, and other species and varieties of birds. It is very 

 healthy country ; the only crops are potatoes, quinua, and ocas ; corn 

 and fruit are brought up from the hot valleys ; scattered over the 

 fields and plains rise heathen tombs like those already described. 



1645. The Corregimiento of the town and mines of Porco adjoins 

 this Province of Los Carangas on the E. ; Porco is 7 leagues from 

 the imperial town of Potosi. This mining establishment is the oldest 

 in Peru ; it was worked in the days of the Incas ; it has yielded great 

 quantities of silver, and still does. This is a Spanish town, and the 

 Viceroy appoints a Corregidor for the administration of justice in it. 



