276 SOUTH AMEEICA— THE ANDES EEGIONS. 



and would run eastwards along 1° south latitude as far as tlie confluence of the 

 Yapura and Apaparis, in the region of the llanos. 



Farther on, the boundarj^ towards Brazil would reach the junction of the 

 Amazons with its Yavari tributary from the south. Here the frontier is officially- 

 determined by treaty, and by the commissions appointed to survey the ground in 

 1874, under Guillcrmo Black, and Hoonholtz, acting respectively for Peru and 

 Brazil ; the parting-line coincides with the course of the Yavari from its mouth 

 to the point where it ceases to be navigable. 



But farther on begin the disputed zones. Peru claims, south of 7° south 

 latitude, a strip of territory extending for over 600 miles eastwards to the 

 Madeira, and following the course of this river up to the Beni and its Madidi 

 affluent, which form the boundary towards Bolivia as far as their source. 

 On reaching the mountains the dividing-line again becomes more definite, 

 following the crest of the Eastern Cordillera, and crossing Lake Titicaca in the 

 direction of the Western Cordillera. Here Peru is conterminous with Chili, 

 which, by right of conquest, has dictated the common boundary, which, 

 according to the treaty of peace, coincides with the valley of the Suma between 

 Moquegua and Tacna. 



Except on the coastlands, the claims of the conterminous states are concerned 

 only with little-known or even absolutely unexplored territories, inhabited by a 

 few unreduced Indian tribes. Apart from such solitudes on the plains and on the 

 Amazonian slopes, Peru, properly so called, may be said mainly to comprise only 

 those Andean regions which correspond with the section of the seaboard extending 

 from the Gulf of Guayaquil to the Arica bend, middle point of the west coast 

 of the southern continent. To this should be added the two narrow strips 

 formed by the banks of the Huallaga and those of the Amazons as far as Taba- 

 tinga. Thus defined, Peru constitutes a section of the Andean region presenting 

 tolerably distinct natural limits — on one side, the Gulf of Guayaquil, with the 

 lowest passes of the Andes between the Pacific and the axis of the Amazons 

 valley; on the other, at a distance* of some 1,200 miles, a second segmentation 

 indicated by Lake Titicaca and the abrupt change of trend in the continental 

 shore-line. The whole population, estimated at 3,000,000, is comprised within the 

 limits of the vast quadrilateral. 



Geographical Research. 



During the first years of the Conquest the Spaniards had already traversed 

 Peru in all directions. The two royal residences of Cajamarca and Cuzco being 

 situated at the two extremities of the land, the conquerors were unable to con- 

 solidate their power without frequent expeditions across the intervening region. 

 Then after Lima had been founded by Pizarro as capital of the Spaaish posses- 

 sions, a constant movement of troops took place between the coast and the large 

 mining cities, and the strategical points of the interior. Even certain valleys 

 beyond the Andes, which are no longer visited, such as the auriferous combes of 



