19C> A VOYAGE TO Book VllL 



is daily ])rouglit with s^roat fatig-iic from Colan, it 

 louii on Ihe same bay, four leagues N, of Paita, and 

 near AAhich runs the river C'hera, tlie same stream 

 ■which waters Amotapc. The Indians of the town of 

 €olan arc imder an oblipition of daily sendinj^ to 

 Paita, one or two baizes loaded with water, whieh is 

 distributed among the inhabitants by stated propor- 

 tions. From the same town Paita has also the greatest 

 part of its provisions. The nature of the soil, and 

 the situation of the place, render it extremely hot. Its 

 inhabitants who arc about thirty-iive or forty families, 

 and consist of Spaniards, Mulattoes, and Mestizos, 

 live, chiefly by passengers going or returning from 

 Panama to Lima. So that the town owes its whole 

 support to the harbour, wliich, as I have before ob- 

 served, is the place where the cargoes of goods sent 

 from Panama are landed, together with those coming 

 from Callao to the jurisdictions of Piura and Lqja. 



In the bay of Paita, and that of Sechura, v.hich 

 3ies a liíÜe farther to the southcTn, such large quan- 

 tities of tollo are taken as to answer the demands of 

 ihe provinces of the mountains, and part of those of 

 <^uito and Lima. Tlie season for this fishery begins 

 ill October, when great numbers of barks go from 

 Callao, returning when the season is over. Fishing 

 is also the constant employment of the Indians of Co- 

 lan, Sechura, and the small hamlets near the coast ; 

 these seas abounding in several kinds of fish, besides 

 the tollo, all palatable, and some delicious. 



€i!AP 



