WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES — VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 741 



drink. It is 8 leagues from Puren to where the city of La Imperial 

 used to be. 



1959. The whole King's Highway from where the city of Angol 

 stood to La Imperial, was practically uninhabited. Toward the Cor- 

 dillera there were and are numerous villages, such as Vilque, La 

 Cabrera, Rangali, Rangalican, Voroa, Claroa, Mulchen, and many 

 others, and Los Puelches, the last in the Cordillera, on the edge 

 of the Tucuman plains and the Diaguitas Indians ; in the other 

 direction, westward toward the sea, the Indians of the Puren swamp. 

 The King's Highway from Angol to La Imperial is to the WSW. 



Chapter IX 



Continuing the Description of the Kingdom of Chile : the Manner 

 in Which the City of La Imperial Was Founded, and Other Matters. 



1960. After Gov. Pedro de Valdivia had explored and subdued 

 those provinces, he founded the city of La Imperial in the year 1551 

 on the tip of a bluff formed by the Rio de Cautin and a small stream 

 emptying into it W. of the city; he built it on this site because it 

 seemed to him a strong position. It is 3 leagues inland from the 

 sea, at 38°4o' S., 40 leagues S. of La Concepcion, 22 from Villarica 

 and 36 from Valdivia. Its fields and meadows were productive, 

 growing quantities of wheat, corn, barley, lentils, porotos, and other 

 cereals and Spanish and native fruit ; there were large ranches of 

 cattle, sheep, hogs, and llamas, and today there is plenty of stock 

 there for it has multiplied greatly, the land being fertile and with 

 wide pastures; so that the country was not only well populated but 

 very prolific and fruitful. 



1961. Although grapes bore well, they did not ripen enough for 

 making good wine. The city of La Imperial was capital of the second 

 and richer Diocese. When it was abandoned and the country lost 

 through the Indian uprising of the year 1598, when they killed Gov. 

 Martin Garcia de Loyola, its place was taken by the city of La 

 Concepcion, where His Majesty directed that a Bishop should reside, 

 from the year 161 7 {ex 1618) on. The territory and district of 

 La Imperial was thickly settled and abounded in everything necessary 

 for human life. 



1962. The whole neighborhood had a dense Indian population, 

 for in the district there were over 200,000 Indians liable to pay 

 tribute ; and among the large settlements and villages of converted 

 Indians in the district within 6 leagues of the city, there were 3 

 villages of 600 Indians each, settled under their forts. One was 



