326 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



the parochial distri6ls that have been named, were the only 

 ones the department contamed ; but at the end of a few years 

 it became necessary to subdivide this last, on account of the 

 increase of territory, and of the settlers it constantly received, 

 either as the result of the new conquests, or of the emigrations 

 from the bordering provinces. Agreeably to its present ex- 

 tent, it comprehends the frontier of las Salinas, distant twenty- 

 five leagues from the principal town. 



La Concepcion was eredled into a parochial distri6t by the 

 efFe6t of the above-mentioned disjunction. The progress of 

 time, and the increase of settlers, produced afterwards the 

 same necessity of a subdivision. In this distridl are situated 

 the extensive vineyards of Angostura, Misericordia, &c. which 

 yield wines of an excellent quality, partly for exportation, but 

 chiefly consumed in the province. 



Chahuaya, which formerly constituted a part of the pre- 

 ceding parochial district, lies at the extremity of the depart- 

 ment. It has two appendages, one of them named Padcaya, 

 where the redlor finds it convenient to reside ; and the other, 

 the valley of Bermejo, which extends in a right line to a dis- 

 tance of ten leagues, and, proportionally, in a western direc- 

 tion, to the valley of Tariquea, where a few fugitive Indians, 

 who belonged to the missions destroyed in the insurredtion of 

 1727, already referred to, have sought an asylum. The valley 

 bf Bermejo is indifferently peopled ; but there is still room for 

 new settlers, who would do well to make it their residence, in 

 following up the pursuits of husbandry. It has a circumfe- 

 rence of from twenty-five to thirty leagues ; its temperature is 

 warm and moist ; and it is adapted to the rearing of cattle, as 

 well as to the culture of olives, canes, and a variety of plants 



and 



