Book VI 



Of the District of the Circuit Court of the Kingdom of Chile, 

 Describing the Nature of That Kingdom and Its Provinces, the 

 Savagery and the Customs of Its Indians, the Products of the Soil, 

 the Founding of Its Cities, and the Abandonment of Some of Them, 

 Together with the Authority Exercised There by His Majesty in 

 Consultation with the Supreme Council, and That of the President 

 of That Circuit Court, with Other Features of the Country. 



Chapter I 



Description of the Kingdom of Chile, and the Founding of Its 

 Cities. 



1914. The Kingdom of Chile is bounded by the Province of Ata- 

 cama and its deserts. It is so called from a valley and river, the 

 Rio de Quillota, where there were rich gold mines, and still are today, 

 for all that Ki^igdom is paved with this metal. The first Spaniard 

 to explore this Kingdom was Commander Don Diego de Almagro in 

 the year 1536; he had spent the whole year 1536 in progress from 

 the Provinces of Los Chichas through that of Jujuy and then the 

 Province of Los Chicoanas ; he was accompanied in all these trials 

 by good Paullu Inca, son of Huayna Capac, and great-grandfather 

 of Don Melchior Inca, Knight of the Order of Santiago, 



1915. From Chicoana they traveled some days' journeys through 

 deserts and over saltpeter beds, suffering much from hunger and 

 hardships, till they finally descried the Cordillera and the lofty snow- 

 clad sierras. That was the greatest hardship they suffered. The 

 Commander went first with a troop of light cavalry, to reconnoiter 

 the way and look for some source of supply for his army. It took 

 him 3 days to reach the top of the highest range, the one running 

 from Junto to Santa Marta ; from its peak they made out the Copiapo 

 Valley 12 leagues away on the seacoast. 



1916. Next the army crossed the terrible snow-covered Cordillera ; 

 the country was so high, the winds so keen, their weakness and 

 fatigue so great that they were frostbitten and the breath of life 

 failed them; it was still worse at night with the extreme cold pre- 

 vailing and the chill of the snow. Thirty horses of the troop died 

 and many Negroes and Indians were frozen to death ; one Negro 



72s 



