740 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



From Puren fort to the city La Imperial it was 8 leagues ; to the 

 right were the villages of Claroa and Tirua, and others along the 

 coast among high mountains ; it is very rough country, exceedingly 

 rich in high-grade gold ore ; Tirua is paved with this metal. It is 

 near the Rio Cautin, which passed La Imperial, 9 leagues away ; 

 Tirua forms a triangle with La Imperial and Puren. 



1957. Traveling from Arauco to the city of La Imperial, E. toward 

 the Cordillera, one follows the King's Highway to the city of Angol. 

 This is 28 leagues from La Concepcion ; it is 12 to San Bartolome 

 de Chilian, and 16 from Chilian to Angol. It was founded by Don 

 Garcia de Mendoza in the year 1559 on the so-called Angol plains 

 by the bank of a river whose sweet and crystal-clear waters, after 

 dashing furiously down from the great Cordillera Nevada in which 

 it rises and originates, irrigate and fertilize its fields and meadows, 

 which were the most fertile and prolific to be found in the entire 

 Kingdom. On them they raised quantities of corn, wheat, barley, 

 chickpeas, lentils, porotos, and other cereals ; their cattle increased 

 rapidly for the land was highly suitable ; their vineyards produced 

 so plentifully and abundantly that this city provided all the upland 

 cities in the Kingdom with wine ; their raisins and figs were famous, 

 and all other kinds of Spanish fruit. 



1958. This river ran through the southern part of the city, and 

 a smaller one through the northern part, with many gristmills on it. 

 The city was at 38° 30', between the two Cordilleras, 8 leagues from 

 the Cordillera Nevada to its E., and 2 from the coast range to the W. 

 When Don Garcia founded it he named it Villanueva de Los Infantes ; 

 later. Gov. Villagra called it de Los Confines. Its territory extended 

 E. and W. from the Cordillera Nevada to the sea, 10 leagues, and 

 18 N. and S., 8 of them to the Rio de la Laja (Crag), from a very 

 high crag in it, 25 stades high, past which it dashes with furious 

 ^current. To cross the river above these rapids to the E. one has 

 usually to swim one's horse, it is so large. The other 10 leagues 

 run S. along the La Imperial highway ; on this stretch to one side 

 along the sea are the villages of the Puren swamp, as one comes on 

 the straight road from Arauco. All through this region there are 

 very tall cypresses, very fragrant ; they make fine sealing wax (lacre) 

 from them. There are numerous pine groves with tall pines producing 

 very large pine nuts (pifiones) ; they have them as far as the Rio 

 de la Plata in the Province of Paraguay, and other parts, of the 

 same size as these of Puren ; each is as large as a good acorn. The 

 Puren Indians and those of the region make them their food and 



