The Bounds 

 of CI)iU fpe- 

 cially fo 

 oJl'd. 



4-7* AMERICA Chap. V. 



The whole Province generally is divided firft into Chile , fpecially fo call'd and 

 fecondly MageHanica, of that part which lieth more Southward down to the Straights 

 of Magellan, 



Sect. II. 



Chile, properly fo call'd. 



CHile, fpecially fo call'd, is border'd Northward with the Defart and barren 

 Countrey of Acatama above mentioned . on the South, with Magellanica . 

 on the Weft, with Mare del Zur h Eaftward, and to the North*Eaft, with 

 fome parts of Paraguay, or rather with fome undifcover'd Countrey s lying betwixt 

 them both : The length of it from North to South is reckon'd to be little lefs than 

 three hundred Leagues, and generally of a fruitful Soil, affording befides abun- 

 dance of Gold and Silver, both Corn, Cattel, Vineyards, and divers forts of Fruits, 

 equal both for kind and plenty to Spain it fel£ and fundry other parts of Europe. 

 The Air likewife temperate, and the People in their Manners and Conditions come 

 much nearer to the Civility, and likewife fubtilty of the Europeans, than other 

 Americans did ; which doubtlefs may be attributed to the conformity of the Climates 

 under which they lie, agreeable to thofe of Europe '. though otherwife in refpeft of 

 the Sphere and Seafons of the Year, there be a diametrical difference betwixt us . 

 As for Example, their Spring beginning in September, which is our Autumn, and their 

 Autumn in March, which is our Spring • their longeft Day being that of St. Lucy, on 

 the eleventh of December, which is our fhorteft 5 and their fhorteft being St. Barna- 

 bas, Vi%. the eleventh of June, which is our longeft, &c. 



The Towns of chiefeft note and importance in this Province, are i. Gopiapo, an 

 importance. ij Town | fl the moft Nortnerl y parts of % fa Province towards the Sea, where it 

 hath a very commodious Haven belonging to it. 



z. La Serena, a Town fituate on the Banks of Coquimbo, a plcafant River a little 

 above its Influx into the Sea, built by Baldivia in the Year 1 544. the Countrey 

 about very rich in Mines of Gold, and the Town it felf fo well Garrifon'd for fear 

 of the Natives, that when the Englifh under Sir Francis Drake, about fourfcore years 

 fince, attempted the gaining of the Place, they found hot Service of it, being 

 ftoutly refilled and beaten back again to their Ships, by a Sally of no lefs than 

 three hundred good Horfe and two hundred Foot. 



3. St. Jago, the principal Town of the Province, a Bifhop's See, and the ordi- 

 nary Refidence of the Governor, lying on the Banks of the River Tapocalma, in the 

 thirty fourth Degree of Southern Latitude, fifteen Leagues diftant from the South 

 Sea, at which it hath a very commodious and much frequented Haven, which they 

 call Valparayfo, and where the Englifl? met with better fortune, as hath been faid al- 

 ready in the report of Sir Francis Drake's Voyage. 



4. La Qonception, a ftrong Town, featcd on the Bay call'd <Penco, fixty or feventy 

 Leagues diftant from St. Jago towards the South, a Place not a little fortifi'd both 

 by Nature and Art, having the Bay and a certain Ridge of high Mountains begirt- 

 ing it almoft round about . and where it is otherwife acceffible, a Caftle, and cer* 

 tain Bulwarks with Ordnance, befides a Garrifon of five hundred Soldiers at leaft 

 continually in it,and all little enough to defend it againft the Araucanes, their deadly 

 Enemies, who live thereabouts, and are ever and anon making Incurfions almoft 

 up to the Walls of it. Over againft this Place in Mare del Zur, but very near the 

 Shore, there lieth a certain Ifland call'd St. Maries, exceeding plentiful in Swine 



and 



Towns and 

 Places of 



