338 A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



August; the sen son when the horrors of the moun- 

 tains of Cuánticas, where it has its source, are at 

 their height ; so that the passsge of it is extremely 

 dangerous, as many travellers, rashly exposing them- 

 selves to the iiitenseness of its cold, amidst thick, 

 snows and violent winds, have fatalK- experienced; 



The inhabitants of Popayan and Quito differ very 

 sensibly in their casts ; fc'r as at Quito and the other 

 towns and villages of its jurisdictions, the most nu-" 

 merous class of peoj)le is that of the casts which 

 sprung from the intermarriages of Spaniards and In- 

 dians i so at Popayan, Cart hagena, and other parts 

 where INegroes abound, the lower class consists of 

 c.ists^resuhing from the marriages of the Vv^hites and 

 Negroes; but very few Indian casts. This is owing to 

 the great multitude of Negro slaves kept as labourers 

 at the plantations in the countrv, the mines, and to 

 do the servile offices h} the city : so that the number 

 of Indians here are very few, compared with the other 

 parts of the province. Thi's government has, how- 

 ever, many large villages of them; and it is only in the 

 capital, and other Spanish tovins, that they are so 

 greatly out- numbered by the Negroes. 



Tup: inhabitants of Popayan arc computed at be- 

 tween twenty and twenty-live thousand ; and among 

 these are many Spanish families, particularly sixty, 

 known to have been originally descended from very 

 Doble families in Spain. It is worth observing here, 

 that, whilst other towns see their inhabitants constantly 

 decreasing, Popayan may boast of a daily increase. 

 This has indeed nothing mysterious in it; the niany 

 gold mines worked all over its jurisdiction, afford 

 employment to the indigent, and, consequently, oc- 

 casion a great resort of people to these parts. 



Popayan istheconstant residence of the governor: 

 whose office being purely civil, it is' not requisite, as 

 in many others, that he should be acquainted with mi- 

 litary affairs. Within the jurisdiction of his govern- 

 ment. 



