r line of route, there is no post-office
communication; for example, between Pasco and Caxamarca, or between
Pasco and Tarma, or Jauja; and when it is wished to despatch letters
from one to another of these towns, private messengers must be
employed. The consequence is, that business, which in Europe would be
conducted through the medium of correspondence, can be arranged only
by personal communication in Peru. Travelling is difficult, but not
very expensive, as every one possesses horses or mules.

The best mules employed in the Sierra are obtained from the province
of Tucuman in Buenos Ayres. Formerly the arrieros used annually to
bring droves of several thousand mules through Bolivia and the
Peruvian Sierra, selling as many as they could on the way, and taking
to Cerro de Pasco those that remained unsold. During the Spanish
domination, the mule trade was in the hands of the Government, to
whose agents it afforded ample opportunity for the exercise of
injustice and extortion. It was one of the most oppressive of the
_repartimientos_.[78] Every Indian was compelled to purchase a mule,
and was not allowed even the privilege of choosing the animal. The
mules were distributed by the authorities, and were tied to the doors
of the houses for whose occupants they were destined. After the
distribution of the mules, a collector went round to receive the
payment. During the war in Buenos Ayres the traffic in mules suffered
very considerably. For the space of twelve years not a mule had been
brought from that part of South America to Peru, when in 1840 the
Tucumanians revisited the Sierra with their droves of mules. They were
joyfully welcomed by the Serranos, who gave good prices for the
animals, and since then the traffic has begun to revive.

In tracing the characteristic features of the Sierra, I have as far as
possible confined myself to generalities, and I will not now weary the
reader by entering upon a minute description of particular towns and
villages. All are built pretty nearly after one model. The large
quadrangular Plaza is closed on three of its sides with buildings, among
which there is always the Government house (_cabildo_), and the public
jail; the fourth side is occupied by a church. From this Plaza run in
straight lines eight streets, more or less broad, and these streets are
crossed at right angles by others; all presenting the same uniformity as
in Lima. The houses are roomy, surrounded by court-yards, an