1006 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



and the alv.indance of its cietallic 

 spots and vcias. iThc adoption 

 of the newly introduced method of 

 amalgamation; the employment of 

 asuflicicnt number of ind an labour- 

 ers, who may be engaged without 

 ditficulty ; and a few reforms in 

 *be practical part of the laborious 

 cperations ; these arc the only prin- 

 ciples on which this mine, as well 

 as all tiie others in the kingdom, 

 can be brougjit in to a truly liourishing 

 condition. 



"The navigation of Peru is limited. 

 Our commerce in corn drries us 

 to (he ports of Chile ; with Guay- 

 aquil we carry on a trafuc in timber, 

 &c. ; and, lastly, we make a few 

 voyages to Chiloe, Juan-Fernandcs, 

 Valdivia, and Panama. Wo na- 

 Tigate M ith economy and witti ease ; 

 but are deiicient in (he scientific 

 j)art, deriving no aid whatever 

 from astronomy. Those who have 

 the charge of our trading veisels 

 have no skill beyond imitation. 

 The hydrographical charts which 

 arc consiild'd, are, on many ac- 

 counts, dcfei:'tiTe ; and the situation 

 of the coasts is more parallel than it 

 is represented on them. On ano- 

 ther hand, the fogs which almost 

 constantly hover over the land, and 

 hide it from the navigator's view, 

 oblige him to malie a circuitous 

 course, by which his voyage is con- 

 siderably protra6tcd. Until about 

 the year 1780, it was a source of 

 Tast riches to a commercial house 

 to keep a vessel of its own employ- 

 ed in the. coasting trade; but in 

 proportio:i as mercantile specula- 

 tions have been since mul(ij;lied, 

 the price of freightage has been 



* This valley, tlie circumference of w 

 extremely populous. Atunjanja is ths c; 



lowered, and the profits divided 

 among a greater number of adven- 

 turers. 



"The fishery is a branch of indus- 

 try exclusively belonging to the 

 Indians situated on the coast ; but 

 they are destitute of skill, and, 

 being at the same time unprovideti 

 with proper boats and fit instru- 

 ments, keep constantly within 

 sight of the coast, venturing but 

 a very small distance to sea. Hence 

 arise the scarcity and dcarness of 

 fish, so often experienced at Li- 

 ma, and in all the places along the 

 coast. A few years ago several 

 boats of a particular construfticn . 

 were built, for the purpose of 

 fishing throughont the whole extent 

 of these seas; but this scliene was 

 shordy afterwards abandoned. 

 The lakes of Peru afford but few 

 fishes. Were the Indian to resort 

 to them, he would not estimate the 

 fruit of his labours : content with 

 his maize and his dried pr,asp, he 

 considers the multiplicity of foods 

 as a voluntary surrender of health 

 and life. 



" Agriculture might, generally 

 speaking, be made to supply our 

 wants, insomuch that our subsist- 

 ence ought not to be so precarious 

 as it is, m>r so dependent on foreign 

 aid. In the vallies adjacent to the 

 capital, wheat may be cultivated 

 with the greatest success, 'ihe 

 bad, uneven roads, together with 

 the delays and expence of car- 

 riage, almost entirely obstruct the 

 internal circulation of this king, 

 dom, and are so many obstacles 

 in the way of agriculture. The 

 valley of Jauja*, alFords many 



proofs 



liici) is not iiinic than seventeen leagues, is 

 apilal of iLe province of that name, depen- 

 dent 



