SUFFERINGS OF THE INDIANS. 



91 



and blocked up and laid siege to the city^ the 

 Indians^ rather than lie at the Spaniard's mercy^ 

 dug holes in the sand and buried themselves 

 alive. The men as they now lie^ have with them 

 their broken bows^ and the women their spin- 

 ning wheels and distaffs^ with cotton yarn upon 

 them."^ 



Frezier^ a French voyager, who was also in 

 Peru in 1712, confirms the same account. He 

 says, The vale of Hilo, in which there are not 

 at present above three or four farms, formerly 

 maintained an Indian town, the remains of which 

 are still to be seen two leagues from the sea; — 

 a dismal effect of the ravages the Spaniards 

 have made among the Indians. 



There are still more moving marks of the 

 misfortunes of that poor nation near Arica, 

 above the church of Hilo^ and all along the shore 

 as far as the point of Coles, being an infinite 

 number of tombs, that when they dig at this 



* Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America^ 

 page 166. 



