Ch.VIII. south AMERICA. 267 



contain above a hundred families ; but thofe fcattered 

 over the country exceed a thouiand. 



VIII. Coquimbo, or la Serena, according to fa- 

 ther Feville, ftands in 24.° 5^)/ 10" fouth latitude. 

 This was the fecond iovm built in the kingdom of 

 Chill, in 1544, by Pedro dc Valdivia, with a view of 

 iecuring the intercourfe betvN'een Peru and Chili, for 

 the more convenient lupply of what fuccours might 

 be wanted ; and at the fame time, for fccuring the 

 fideUty of the Indians who lived in [hat valley. I'his 

 place is fituated in the valley of Coquimbo, from 

 whence it received its original name; but Valdivia 

 gave it that of le Serena, from an aftedion to the pro- 

 vince of that name in Spain, and of which he was a 

 native. It ftands about a quarter of a league from the 

 ccail of the fouth-fea in a moft delightful fituation, 

 having an exienfive profpeft of the fea, the river, and 

 the country, which prcicnts the fight with a cha^-ming 

 variety of fields of diiferent kinds of grain, and woods 

 of a hvely verdare. 



This town is of itfelf large, but not proportionally 

 peopled ; the number of families not ainounting to 

 above four or five hundred, confiiling of Spaniards, 

 Meftizos, and a few Indians. The ilreets are ftrait 

 and of a convenient breadth, fome of which lying N. 

 and S. and others interfcdling from E. to W. the 

 town confifts of fquares of buildings, like Santiago, 

 and other places of note in this part of America. 

 The houfes are all of iViud walls, and covered with 

 leaves ; but none are without a large garden, well 

 planted with fruit trees and efculent vegetables, both 

 thofe of America and Spain ; for the cliirate is hap- 

 pily adapted to a variety of both kinds, the heats not 

 being exceíTive, nor the colds fevere -, lo that both in 

 the fertility of the earth, and the chearful appearance 

 of the country, the whole year wears an afpeét of one 

 perpetual Ipring. The ilreets, though regular and 

 ¡convenient as abovementioned, are not entirely formed 



by 



