Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/391

Rh proved by its fine church; the second contains twelve families only; and the third is, as well as Ascension and the other towns, in a ruinous and abandoned state. It also appeared that, it having been the intention of these missionaries to prosecute their spiritual conquest towards the north, they had, in the year 1580, taken the customary possession of these towns, which had been afterward laid waste by repeated irruptions of the barbarians, with the exception of Chavin, which had been protected by its situation. It thus happened that this country fell into oblivion, Monzon excepted, whither an image of our lady, left by the Jesuits, attracted a few settlers, and where many of the inhabitants of the mountains still meet in pilgrimage, on the day of the festival of the blessed Virgin.

The cinchona trees having been examined, and having been found to be of the species named negrilla, reputed to be of the best quality, Bezares perceived that he could carry his project into effect. He accordingly gave notice of his discovery, and offered to treat with those who would undertake to cut the bark. For this purpose he engaged various individuals residing on the frontiers and mountains, and several even belonging to the capital, who have been constantly engaged until this time, in the process of decorticating the trees, from which they have extracted thousands of arrobas of bark. With this resource, and with the assistance of a sufficient number of labourers,