Commerce.
is the great tèfort o£ paflen^ërs Jjrom Spain, who thence croft the
country by Cordova and Tucumafr tto Potofi, there toeing an uninterrupted
poft-roadj with poft-hottfts,| and relays of -horfes and carriages,
acrofs the .cpun^ tQ Peru.*,. Bogota is rarely Withd by travelled ând
little is known, except its pofitioa on a'ftream which joins the river
Magdalena; |
Of the dthei^ ehief towns tSrtha^ena contained fouls ; aaçl Po-
tofi about the feme number ; j* Popayan above 20,©©® ; Quito j?$,o©o ;
Riobamba and Guayaquil àbôUt 1 &gooo each ; Gueriza about 2|j;©oo.
Other places 6Fnote are St. jago* Conception, andf/Mendoza, in/Çhili ;
Santa Fe on the Parana, Gruro,-La Paz, Arequipa, Truxilio and Pafto
in Peru ; Panama, Maracaybo,' Caracas, and St. ThoMe or Guayaha in
the north. The manufactures of Spanifh South Aihierica are inconsiderable,
being chiefly coàrfe woollen elëths Tor tiré Indians aadaa^ioes,
fome cottons, bats, drinking glares, &c. Among the exports are-fugar,
cottony cocoa, Peruvian bark and 'VtcuhM wbct^ But the chiSt èrtports
are from thé mines, of which the following' ftaferHëâfs àré givSân fey
Helms. From the ofEcial regifterfe’ it appears thât the c-Oinagé iîf Spanifh
America, from the firft day of January to the làft day of Déëember
1790, was as follows.
At Mexico
At Lima - ■*
At Potofr
At St. Jago-
‘ In Gold. 1
628,044 Piaftfcs ;
82-1,168
299,846
721^54.
: î à ’Silver, f »
i ?#3ÿ>644lKàft.4
4,342,071 .
ïM M Ê É
146,132
^Total.’1 ’ ■
18,063,688 Piaft.
54 £62421319
4,283,022
, ,8167,886'.
Total -,.. 2,470,812 25,906,923 , 28,376,835 ±
* Montevideo is the only good port on the Parana, and.is IBore llrongly fortified tlian.lBuenos-
Ayres. Falkner, p. 64. An account of Buenos-Ayres may be found.in the Monthly Magazine,
March 1802, from the Viagero UniverfaJ.
f So Robertfob; but Helms, p. 121, computes the inhabitants of Potofi at i06,000 including
the flaves. Hence this city would feem to be the moll populous and flourifliing in all’die Spanifli
territory of South America. La Paz, according to Helm's, Has more than four tboufapd hearths
or 26,000 inhabitants, being an elegant and clean town, chiefly trading in the noted tea'of Paraguay.
The population of Cuzco, the ancient capital, is alfo confidcrable: p. 14J.
* Mercurio Peruano. Lima 17.91,
\ The piastre, not now.coincd, is generally valued at three ,/hillingi and fixpcnce, being at
Madrid computed at right rials; while the dollar of ten rials is cHimatcu at four /hillings and Inc-
IJ
T o sapEopnt;£br;(the great-difference ©/produce from the mines of Commehce.
Mexieo, and from thp/e .©£ ^ em , (ShHiv and BuenosrAyres, Mr. Helms
alleges the. ’IpEawrugi jreafttns.: i .. hecaufe the kingdom of Mexico is-
much more populous than an-y-.otber o f -the American provinces: 2 . it
half litè ' dübapce from the unhiher country, whence it is enabled
the bètter to enforce obedience to the laws and regulations, habits
of indoft-ry, %o©d polihe,' and'.ecoaomy.: 3 . the want o f royal, and private
banks in; Peru,- -where‘.every' thing is frill ia- its primitive chaotic
ftatfe: ~and laftly,4®h .account of rite great? leiicouragemept which the in-
dmfrrious miner readily-dbtains in, every commercifrhoufe o f Mexico.
Iff cefaoiudtii Helms, the provinces löf PeEu, .Chili, and Buenos-Ayres,.
were-in a fimilar favourable fituation as that 5®6 Mie^ieö,'there is no
doubt that in Peru alone; ‘ Oil ;aéeè\mtubf its incomparably richer and
riséré? numerous* gold and hl vér mines,1 föüri times the quantity ©f thèfe
pënçé. The following is the Hate of the mines-in the new vice-royalty of Buenos-Ayres ' as i&i
ported by Helms.
Names o f Provinces.
Tucuman - - . -
Mendoza a Chile ' *’ ‘ . - < '
Aflsribasb ... ,t - -
« j Province- of PotoE rd ' r ,: '
rófco 5
Caranges ,, ■ .
Pacages or Beïengueia
Chucuyto ' ”
Paucarcolla, Town PUno - - j
Lampa
Montevideo -
Chicas, or. Tarifa - -
Cochabamba - 1 ; -
Lavicaja -
Om'aTuijos
Ayangaro - *
Carabaya -
Eotell ,-s. » - - *
Chayanza
B I n ï a
pi jig p -
‘ i Minesi.1
> *
2 i 2
1 i
; ■ i
4 . 5 ,
+
4|
j
2;
1 1
1
I sp Tl 2 J----i
noble: