at the Peak of Teneriffe. 
£797-] 
vel information, than any that has been 
hitherto given. 
This great empire, the foundation of 
which by the Incas remains enveloped in’ 
the obicurity of a feries of fables, and of 
an uncertain tradition, has loft much of 
its local grandeur fince the time when it 
was firipped, on the north fide, of the. 
provinces which form the kingdom of 
Quito*, and afterwards of thofe which, 
towards the eaft, conftitute the vice- 
royalty of BuenossAyrest. Its prefent 
extent } in length runs, north and fouth, 
for the {pace of from 420 to aso leagues, 
and from 2 degrees to nearly 23 degrees 
of fouth latitude ; and its greateft breadth 
is from yoo to 120 leagues, eaft and weft, 
and from’297 to 310 degrees of weit lon- 
gitude, the firft meridian being vaken 
The river 
of Guayaquil divides it from the new 
kingdom of Granada on the north 
fide. The depopulated territory of Ata- 
cama feparates it from the kingdom of 
Chile towards the fouth. Awother hor- 
rible defart, of more than five hundred 
leagues extent, feparates it towards the 
eaft, from the provinces of Paraguay and 
‘Buenos-Ayres. And,. laftly, the Pacific 
‘Sea wathes its weftern fhorcs. 
A chain of barren and rugged moun- 
tains; feveral fandy plains, which in a 
manner reach from one extremity of the 
coaft to the other; and feveral lakes of 
many leagues in -extent, fome cf which 
are fituated on the fummits of the above 
chain of mountains, occupy a great part 
of the Peruvian territory. Throughout, 
the breaks, and the vallies, which enjoy 
the benefit of irrigation, prefent to the 
view an. extenfive range of delightful 
plains, replete with cities and towns, and 
the climate of which is highly falubrious. 
That of the elevated {pots of la Sierra is 
extremely cold. In the Pampas le Bom- 
bon§, Fahrenheit’s thermometer, is con- 
* In1718, 
‘f In 1778. 
_ J} The geographical map of Santa Cruz, and 
‘the hydrographical chart of Don Ulloa, inferted 
in the third volume of his voyage to South 
America, have been ufeful to us in fixing the 

Curious ahd interefing Defcription of Peru 
ftantly at from 34 to go degrees above 
zero*, 
The population of Peru, fo far as the 
original races aré confidered, is compofed 
of Spaniards, Indians, and Negroes. The 
fecondary {pecies beft known, and pro- 
ceeding from a mixture of thefe three, 
are the Mulatoe, the offspring of the 
Spaniard and Negro woman; the Quar- 
teron, of the Mulatoe woman and Spa- 
niard; and the Meftize, of the Spaniard 
and Indian woman. ‘The final fubdivi- 
fons which are. formed by the fucceffive 
mixtures, are as many as the different 
potiible combinations of thefe primitive 
races. 
The rural operations of fowing and 
planting, as well as domeftic employ~ 
ments, have conftantly fallen to the lor of 
the negroes. It is true, indeed, that withe. 
in thefe four years paftfeveral white peo- 
ple have engaged in thefe different tatks. 
Prior to this, any one, neither a negro 
nor a mulatoe, who.ikould have hired 
himfelf as a valet. or a labourer, would 
have been ina manner reputed infamous s 
to fuch a length was prejudice, or it may, 
perhaps, be faid, pride, carried on this 
head. Enlightened. politicians are not 
wanting who think it would be very 
unfortunate for the kingdom, and more 
efpeciafly for this capital (Lima), if 'this 
prejudice were to be entirely done 
away. ; 
‘The commerce of Peru has been con- 
fideravly augmented, fince it has, bv the 
arrival of the merchant veffels of Spain 
by Cape: Horn ; and by the grant of an 
unrefirained commerce, freed itfelf from 
the oppreffion undex which it groaned in 
the time of the Galeons, and of the fairs 
of Porto-Bello and Panama. Prior to 
that epoch, the bulky and overgrown 
capitals circulated through, and were in 
a manner iof in afew hands; and while 
the little trader tyrannized over the peo- 
ple, by regulating at his own will, the 
prices of the various produétions and 
commodities, he himfelf- recerved. the 
law from the monopolizing wholefale 
dealer. The negociations of this capita 
with the interior were then, in a grea, 

365 
“Mongitudes and latitudes, refpe€ting ‘which 
 Bufching, Lacroix, and various other geo- 
| graphers, differ mof effentially. ’ 
_ § Thefe are plains of fifteen leagues in 
length, and five or fix in breadth, which forma 
part of the fub-delegation of Tarma, and of the ; Dac 
: ety of the fame name, They are difant half an hour; and the extreme variations 
; m Lima, in an eaftern dire€tion, forty throughout the year may, without the inter- 
' Yeagues. The lake of Chincha-y-cocha inter- , vention of extraordinary heat or cold, be efti- 
A feéts them in their length; and they conttitute mated at fixcy degrees at the leafte=xTRANSLA- 
Re mott lofty and moft level part of la Sieixa, TOR; 2 
+ 3 a 
* This equality of temperature muft appear 
very extraordinary to the inhabitants of Europe ; 
a variation of fix devrees only throughout the 
year, by night and by diy! In Great Britain 
there is often a greater variation in the {pace of 

meafure, 
