Ch. VIH. SOUTH AMERICA. 269 



wife to the cnilward of the Cor'^ille'-n, and about 

 thirty leagues N. of Mendoza, and S'. l.u'is de Loy^'a, 

 about fifty ieac'CS eaftward of Mend..za. The iatter 

 however is mesn and fmrdi, not conti-i'mng aoo/e 

 twenty-five hoiifes, and fifty or fixry fimllits:, Spmifh 

 and cafts; though n^.any more are fcattered up and down 

 the neighoouring 'i'ountry. In fuch a fniail place i: is 

 fomething remarkable to fee a pariih church, ^ c!o- 

 minican convent, and a college of Jefuus. Here the 

 prcfidents of Chiii are received a= governors of it, in 

 their way co Chili from Buenos Ayres this being the 

 firft place in their government on that fide. The town 

 of S:. Juan de la Frontera is, in every refpc£t, equal to 

 Mi-ndoza itfdf. 



XI. The jurifdi(5i:io:i of Conception is ¡he laft ; 

 but havinc; already given an account of it, I ihall 

 proceed :o confider the commerce carried on by the 

 kingdom of Chili with Peru, Buenos Ayres, Para- 

 guay, and its own towns i and fubjoin an account of 

 that carried on with the wild Indians bordermg on 

 it, with the manner of maintaining a harmony with 

 thefe favage people. In the mean time I iliall con- 

 clude this chapter with obferving, that the corregi- 

 dors of the whole- jürifdió'tion are nominated by the 

 king, except thofe of Rancagua, Melepilla, and 

 Quillota, who are appointed by the prefident of 

 Chili. This is indeed the cafe of all the others, 

 when a corregidor happens to die, before a pejfon 

 is nominated to fucceed him ; but tf^e office of thefe 

 corregidor^ being only (or five years, the prolonga- 

 tion muit be by his majv-fty's exprefs order. The 

 inhabitants are formed into companies of militia, 

 and every one knows the place of arms to which he 

 is to repair on any alarm. Thus to Valparaifo be- 

 longs the companies of militia of Saniiago, Qnil- 

 lota, Mehpilla, Aconcagua, and Rancagua i and 

 thefe in all amount to between two or three thou- 

 fand men, and are formed into troops and compa- 

 nies. 



