Gfl. I. . SOUTH AMERICA. 3 



expectediy received a letter from the marquis de Villa 

 Garcia, vice-roy of Peru, desiring us to come with 

 all speed to his capital : any delay on our part might 

 have heen improper; and we were solicitous not to 

 merit an accusation of the least remissness in his ma- 

 jesty's service. Thus we were under a necessity of 

 suspending our observations for some time ;* though 

 all that remained was the second astronomical obser- 

 vation, northward, where the series of our triangles 

 ter.ninated. 



The occasion of this delay, arose from an ac- 

 count, received by the vice-roy, that war being 

 declared between Spain and England, the latter was 

 sending a considerable fleet on some serret desi;2:ns 

 into tliose seas. Several -precautions had been taken 

 to defeat any attempt ; and tjie vice-roy, being- 

 pleased to conceive that we might be of some use to 

 him in acquitting himself with honour or this occasion, 

 committed to us the execution of some of his mea- 

 sures ; giving us to understand, that tlie choice he 

 made of iis, was the most convincing proof of the high 

 opinion he entertained of our abilities ; and indeed 

 our obligations were the greater, as the distance of 

 four hundred leagues had not obliterated us from his 

 lemerabrance, of which he now gave us so honourable 

 a proof. 



On the 24th of September, 1740, the vice-roy 's 

 letter was delivered to us, and we immediaiely re^- 

 paired to Quito, in order to furnish ourselves Vfith ne- 

 cessaries for the journey. 



Every thing being performed, we set out from 

 that city on the 3?Jth of October, and determined 

 to go by Guaranda and Guayaquil ; for tho' thcrií is a 

 road by land thro' Cuen<;a and Loja, yet the other 

 seemed to us the most expeditious, as the ways are 

 neither so bad, nor mules and oth(?r bea-^its of carriage 

 so diilicult to be met with. The long stays in villagc^i 

 * Vol. 1, Book V, Chap. II. 



jB 2 were 



