126 



COMMERCE. 



a Spaniard*, whose reflections on the promotion of agricul- 

 ture, in a great measure conformable to those we have ha- 

 zarded, have been very favourably received by the public. 



Without the aid of roads, canals, and bridges, distances 

 are enlarged ; the interposition of a precipice, a river, an en- 

 closure, or other similar impediment, subjecting the traveller 

 to an infinite number of unnecessary windings and deviations 

 from the track he has to pursue. The a£tive circulation is 

 deadened ; since the swamps which continually occur render 

 the passage impracticable, and expose the guide himself 

 to the greatest risks. The cultivated grounds suffer in a re- 

 markable degree, because, with a view to avoid the mo- 

 rasses, the travellers and beasts of burthen turn aside into the 

 corn fields, where they form, in every direction, paths which 

 aflford a ready entrance to the flocks and wild beasts ; thus de- 

 feating the aim of the cultivator, who had employed his best 

 eflforts to exclude them from his possession. 



These invincible obstacles are the cause why that particular 

 commerce, which consists of the purchase of productions in one 

 province, to sell them in another, is unknown in Peru ; as is 

 likewise, on the same account, the employment of carriages, 

 by which the advantages of the transport are doubled ; since, 

 if two horses can carry on the back five quintals, they will, 

 with less labour, when harnessed to a cart, draw a load of 

 ten quintals, or even more. The merchandizes being subjeCt 

 both to heavy expences, and wearisome delays, their circula- 

 tion and exportation are rendered in a manner imprac- 

 ticable. 



* Don Nicholas Arriquibar, in the Sixth Paper of his Political Recreations. 



There 



