ome are friendly and social with the Creoles, others
are reserved and distrustful. In general, the Indians regard with
unfriendly feelings those whites who seek to trace out new mines; for
they cherish a bitter recollection of the fate of Huari Capcha, the
discoverer of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, who, it is said, was thrown
into a dungeon by the Spaniard, Ugarte, and ended his days in
captivity. I have not met with any proofs of the authenticity of this
story, but I frequently heard it related by the Indians, who referred
to it as their justification for withholding from the whites any
directions for finding mines.

But to return to Cerro de Pasco. That city has, by its wealth, become
one of the most important in the Peruvian Republic; and under improved
legislation, and a judicious mining system, it might be rendered still
more prosperous and fully deserving of its title of "Treasury of
Peru." Though from its situation Cerro de Pasco is cut off from the
principal lines of communication with other parts of Peru, yet the
city is itself the central point of four roads, on which there is
considerable traffic. Westward runs the road to Lima, through the
Quebrada of Canta, by which all the silver that is not contraband is
transported to the capital. The silver, when melted into bars, is
consigned to the care of the mule-drivers, merely on their giving a
receipt for it; and in this manner they are sometimes entrusted with
loads of the value of several hundred thousand dollars, which they
convey to Lima unattended by any guards or escort. There is, however,
no danger of their being plundered; for the robbers do not take the
stamped bars of silver. The silver specie, on the other hand, which is
sent from Lima, is escorted by a military guard as far as Llanga or
Santa Rosa de Quibe. The escort is not, however, very adequate to
resist the highway robbers, consisting of numerous bands of armed
negroes. On the east is the road running through the Quebrada de
Huarriaca to the town of Huanuco and the Huallaga Forests. The road on
the north of Cerro de Pasco leads to the village of Huanuco el Viejo,
one of the most remarkable places of Peru, being full of interesting
ruins of the time of the Incas. From Huanuco the road leads to Huaraz,
and from thence to the north coast. The south road passes over the
level heights to Tarma, Jauja, and the other southern provinces.

From the village of Pasco two roads diverge, the one leading to L