139 



state of Buenos Ayres. The official returns estimated the 

 Indians alone, in the province of Buenos Ayres, at 130,000 • 

 in that of Cordova, at 25,000 - } in the intendance of Cocha- 

 bamba, at 371,000 ; in that of Potosi, at 230,000 ; and in 

 that of Charcas, at 154,000. The inhabitants of every de- 

 scription (Indians, mestizoes, and whites), in the province 

 of Paz alone, were computed at 400,000. 



From these statements it results, that in some districts 

 the returns had included the whole population ; and in 

 others the number of whites, mulattoes, and mestizoes only, 

 excluding the natives of copper-coloured race. Now, con- 

 fining ourselves to the eight provinces of the first description 

 only (namely, Buenos Ayres, Cordova, Cochabamba, Potosi, 

 Charcas, Santa Cruz, la Paz, and Paraguay), we obtain 

 1,805,000 souls. The provinces and districts of Tucuman, 

 Santiago del Estero, the Valley de Catamarca, Rioja, San 

 Juan, Mendoza, San Luis, Jujuy, and Salta, are wanting 

 in this amount. As they contain, according to other re- 

 turns, near 330,000 souls, exclusive of the Indians, we 

 cannot doubt, that the total population of the ancient vice- 

 royalty of Buenos Ayres, or la Plata, already comprises two 

 millions and a half of inhabitants of all descriptions. (Message 

 from the President of the United States at the commencement of 

 the session of the fifteenth Congress, Washington, 1818, p. 20, 

 41, and 44). The very particular estimates* obtained by 

 Mr. Brackenridge, secretary to the mission of the United 

 States at Buenos Ayres, and published in a work replete 

 with philosophic views, give to Upper Peru alone, that is, 

 to the four intendencies of Charcas, Potosi, La Paz, and 

 Cochabamba, a population of 1,716,000. 



United States. According to the increase hitherto ob- 

 served, the population of the United States will amount, at 



* See note D. at the end of the 9th Book. 



