150 



forests, between the agricultural and pastoral life of the 

 colonists, and the wandering life of hunting tribes. In maps 

 constructed at Lima, the territory of the most eastern Peru- 

 vian intendances (Tarma and Couzco) frequently is not ex- 

 tended so far as the frontiers of Grand Para and Mattogrosso ; 

 those parts only that are subject to the whites (terras con- 

 quistadas) being called Peru, and the rest are marked by the 

 vague denominations- of unknown land, Indian countries, 

 savage countries (paises descnnocidos , comarca desierta, tierras 

 de Indios bravos y infieles) . The whole of Peru, extending 

 it as far as the Portuguese limits, is 41,420 square nautical 

 leagues, while, if we abstract the wild and unknown coun- 

 tries between the frontiers of Brazil and the eastern banks 

 of the Beni and the Ucayale, we find only 26,220 square 

 leagues. We shall soon see, that, in the ancient vice- 

 royalty of Buenos Ayres, now r called the United States of the 

 Bio de la Plata, the difference is still greater. In the same 

 manner we may compute Brazil at 257,000 or 118,000 

 square leagues, according as we calculate the whole surface 

 of the country from the coast to the banks of the Mam ore 

 and Javary, or stop at the course of the rivers Parana and 

 Araguay, excluding from the area of Brazil the greater part 

 of the provinces of Mattogrosso, Rio Negro, and Portuguese 

 Guyana, three unpeopled provinces, comprising more than 

 a third of the extent of Europe. 



From these considerations we must not be surprised, if 

 geographers, who calculated the surfaces with an equal pre- 

 cision, and according to pretty good maps, found, that the 

 results differed a quarter, a third, and sometimes even more 

 than half, it is not easy to fix the limits of desert regions, 

 or those inhabited by independent natives \ the missions 

 advance amid these savage countries, following the beds of 

 the rivers. The calculated surfaces vary according as we 

 estimate the territory only which the missionaries have ac- 

 quired, or add the forests interposed between their acqui- 

 sitions. Thus the want of conformity observable between 



