TOPOGRAPHY. 



323' 



apply themselves to the culture of the lands, the property of 

 which they hold in inheritance. They sow them with maize, 

 wheat, and barley, in a quantity which scarcely suffices, however,, 

 for their maintenance. They cultivate in the same manner the 

 small hills which lie on the skirts of their distri6l, and from 

 which they procure their charcoal. In these two employments 

 they arevery industrious, and enjoy, in consequence, a greater pro- 

 portion of affluence than the other inhabitants of the province. 



Although Esmoraca is annexed to the parochial distri6t of 

 Santa Isabel, in the department of Lipes, it is the constant resi- 

 dence of thepriest who presides over the do^rina, or community 

 of civilized Indians, and is comprehended in the jurisdidlion 

 of the department of Chichas. This small place, and the one 

 adjacent to it, named Cerrillos, yield an abundance of silver, 

 and a small proportion of gold of a very fine quality. 



In Vitoche, a town belonging to the jurisdi6lion of the 

 parochial distri6t of Calcha, eighteen leagues distant from Po- 

 tosi, leather, in imitation of the Spanish, is manufadlured with 

 great success, and in a quantity which suffices for the population 

 of all the surrounding distri6ts. This branch of industry affiDrds 

 the inhabitants a regular commerce, and a decent support. 

 There are many flocks of goats, which are reared with infinite 

 care, on account of their skins being best adapted to the above 

 manufadlure. 



From fifty to sixty thousand marks of silver, and about a 

 hundred thousand piastres in gold, are, on an average esti- 

 mate, annually extracted from the mines, in the above de- 

 pendencies. This amount the inhabitants exchange for herds, 

 corn, wood, and other produdlions drawn from the side of 

 Tarija, the territory of which is separated from the rest of the 



T t 2 ' depart- 



