Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/503

Rh he entered with a few companions, by the broken ground of Chinchao, the mountainous territory of Huanuco, with the glorious view of converting the pagan nations, the Panataguas, Chuscos, Tulumayos, Tinganeses, and Carapachos, who “To the end that the map might appear with fewer defects than have been noticed in those published in different parts of Europe, I have not been satisfied with the observations of the entrances I have myself made into the mountainous territory, by nearly all the frontiers of Peru; but have carefully examined the routes and plans which have been drawn up since the year 1631, by the priests of my order, and which are still preserved in the archives of my college. With respect to the laying down of the sites which I did not reach in my travels, towards the north, I have followed Condamine and Anville, whose exactitude has been generally approved.

“The number of leagues and days’ journies which are marked on the different roads and rivers, may perhaps appear to some to be excessive, considering the proportion which is regularly observed in the distances by land, to that which is exhibited in the scale of the map by elevation; but this is not in reality the case, since the flexures frequently occasioned by the ascents and descents of the very lofty mountains, and the windings of the rivers, which are encountered at every step, are so great, that in one day the traveller does not advance two leagues in a right line, notwithstanding he travels or navigates more than six, as I have myself experienced. I have also found by experience, that it is less laborious and hazardous to navigate ten leagues by the rivers, than to proceed one by the intricate forests, and thickets planted with briars. From whatever part the mountainous territory is penetrated, it is necessary to ascend the eastern Cordillera, or that of the Andes, which is so elevated and shelving on the western side, that it seems in a manner to bar the passage to its immense plains, from the inhabitants of the more elevated regions; since they are not able to descend to them, unless by broken grounds, the roads across which are both difficult and dangerous, on account of the crags and precipices, of the morasses formed by the snow, and of the infinite number of streams, which, uniting into large rivers, flow to pay the tribute of their portions of water to the famous Huallaga and Ucayali. These obstacles were without doubt the principal cause why nearly the whole of the expeditions to the mountainous territory miscarried, as well in the time of the Yncas, as in that of the Spaniards; and why, during a century after the conquest, not a single ecclesiastic entered, to undertake the conversion of the infinite numbers of barbarians by whom that territory was inhabited.” [Amich—Comp. Hist. p. 4.] “Notwithstanding, the fervent children of St. Francis, after having gathered, with full hands, the copious harvest of infidels which the coasts, the adjacent hills, and the vallies, afforded them, began to overcome these difficulties, by effecting, in the year 1631, and consecutively, by different routes, various entrances, relative to which I have here drawn up brief notices, reserving a more full and particular account of them for the work in which I am now engaged, to be entitled: ‘A Complete Illustration of the Mountainous Territories bordering on Peru; in which are shewn the prosperous and adverse results of the principal entrances from the time of the conquest; the innumerable nations of barbarians who have existed, and still exist, in that new world; their rites and customs; the most seasonable means of converting them to Christianity, and securing their obedience to the sovereign; and, lastly, the valuable productions and treasures, belonging to the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, with which those territories abound.’—The authors of the Peruvian Mercury, in speaking of the present notices by father Sobreviela, observe that, when combined with what has already been given on the same subject, they form a brief but exact history, original in all its parts. were