Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/483

Rh At the mouth of the lake are to be seen several stone pyramids extremely well wrought, a yard and a half square. They are stationed, at the distance of a yard from each other, from one of the banks to the opposite one. They must be fragments of some bridge raised in ancient times for the passage of the Ynca; since, at an inconsiderable distance from them, runs the royal road, which has been the admiration of our historians. Several vestiges of that road, and even very extensive ones, still exist there, without time, the quadrupeds, or man, having been able to annihilate these memorials, which have perchance been preserved to belie the ancient and modern impostures of certain infatuated writers. Father Sobreviela reached Tarma on the 17th; and on the 23d, his peregrination having been prosperously concluded, arrived at the college of Ocopa.

The advantages by which it has been attended, and those that may be derived from it, are manifest. The passage from Huanuco to Playa-Grande has been expedited; the navigation of the Huallaga explored to the lake of Gran Cocama; the rocks and sand-banks noted, and the mode of steering clear of them pointed out; and, lastly, new establishments have been formed on the banks of the Huallaga, to the end that the traveller may be enabled to repose daily after his fatigues, and to find a supply of provisions. The communication between Lima and Maynas has consequently been already facilitated. A mutual commerce in the above-mentioned productions, such as coffee, cottons of various colours, almonds, cinnamon, reeds, frankincense, anil, &c. may be set on foot; and the balance will constantly be in favour of our conductors, as the traffic is carried on by barter, and the effects in those districts estimated at a very low rate. The prompt communication between Lima and Maynas, holds out another very great advantage, that of being able, in case of necessity, to forward a dispatch to Madrid in the short space of three months. This may be effected in the following manner: from Lima to Huanuco, a distance of sixty leagues, eight days; thence to Playa-Grande, the port of embarkation, distant thirty leagues, four days; thence to the river Moyobamba, distant a hundred and eleven leagues, seven days: from Moyobamba to Yurimaguas, a distance of sixty-three leagues, three days; from Yurimaguas to the lake is a distance of forty leagues, which may be navigated in a day and night; from the lake to Tefe, in the line which establishes the boundary between the Spanish and Portuguese possessions, navigating in canoes, with great celerity, night and day, eight days; from Tefe to Gran Para, fifteen days. Total,