NOTICES OF PERU. 419 

 Departments. Provinces. 



Lima 8 jCanta, Canete, Cercado, Chancay, Huarochiri, 



^ Ica, Santa, Yauyos. 



Puno 5 CAzangaro, Carabaya, Chucuito, Huaneane, 



I Lampa. 



Population in 1795. 



Departments. 





Arequipa, - 



136,812 



Ayacucho, - 



159,608 



CuzcOj 



216,382 



Junin, 



200,839 



Libertad, - 



230,970 



Lima, 



149,112 



Puno, 



156,000 





Total, 1,249,723 



This population is composed of three original castes — Span- 

 iards, Indians, and Negroes. The secondary species, arising 

 from these three, are the Mulatto, from the Spaniard and Ne- 

 gro ; Quarteroon, from Mulatto and Spaniard, and the Mestizo, 

 from Spaniard and Indian. The other subdivisions are as nu- 

 merous as the possible combination of the primitive castes. 



The coast is occupied by a chain of arid, craggy hills, and 

 sandy deserts. Several lakes, many of them very extensive, 

 expand their bosoms to the sky, some of which are on the very 

 summits of the Cordillera. Such is generally the face of the 

 country, yet its watered valkys and quebrddas contain popu- 

 lous towns and villages, and enjoy a benign climate, while the 

 elevated situations in the Sierra are extremely cold, the ther- 

 mometer ranging, on the Pampas de Bonbon,* which are forty 

 leagues to the eastward of Lima, constantly, from 34° to 40° 

 of Fahrenheit. 



Almost coeval with the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, 

 the country was divided into districts or corrigimientos, over 



♦ Celebrated for the mines of Pasco. 



