To the south of the equator, and near the coast, is the island of Puna124, about twelve leagues in circumference, containing abundance of game, and having great quantities of fish on its shores. It has plenty of fresh water, and was formerly very populous, its inhabitants being almost continually engaged in war, especially with the people of Tumbez, which is twelve leagues distant to the south. These people wore shirts, above which they had a kind of woollen garments. They went to sea in a peculiar kind of flats or rafts, made of long planks of a light wood fixed to two other cross planks below them to hold them together. The upper planks are always an uneven number, usually five, but sometimes seven or nine; that in the middle, on which the conductor of the float sits and rows, being longer than the others, which are shorter and shorter toward the sides, and they are covered by a species of awning to keep those who sit upon them from the weather. Some of these floats are large enough to carry fifty men and three horses, and are navigated both by oars and sails, in the use of which the Indians are very expert. Sometimes, when the Spaniards have trusted themselves on these floats, the Indian rowers have contrived to loosen the planks, leaving the christians to perish, and saving themselves by swimming. The Indians of that island were armed with bows and slings, and with maces and axes of silver and copper. They had likewise spears or lances, having heads made of gold very much alloyed; and both men and women wore rings and other ornaments of gold, and their most ordinary utensils were made of gold and silver. The lord of this island was much feared and respected by his subjects, and so extremely jealous of his women, that those who had the care of them were not only eunuchs, but had their noses cut off. In a small island near Puna, there was found in a house the representation of a garden, having the figures of various trees and plants artificially made of gold and silver.

Opposite to the island of Puna on the main land, there dwelt a nation or tribe which had given so much offence to the king of Peru, that they were obliged as a punishment to extirpate all their upper teeth; in consequence of which, even now, the people of that district have no teeth in their upper jaws. From Tumbez for five hundred leagues to the south along the coast of the south sea, and for ten leagues in breadth, more or less according to the distance between the sea and the mountains, it never rains or thunders. But on the mountains which bound that maritime plain, there are both rain and thunder, and the climate has the vicissitudes of summer and winter nearly as in Spain. While it is winter in the mountain, it is summer all along the coast; and on the contrary, during the summer on the mountain the coast has what may be termed winter. The length of Peru, from the city of St Juan de Parto to the province of Chili lately discovered, is above 1800125 leagues of Castille. Along the whole of that length, a vast chain of exceedingly high and desert mountains extends from north to south, in some places fifteen or twenty leagues distant from the sea, and less in others. The whole country is thus divided into two portions, all the space between the mountains and the sea being denominated the plain, and all beyond is called the mountain.

The whole plain of Peru is sandy and extremely arid, as it never has any rain, and there are no springs or wells, nor any rivulets, except in four or five places near the sea, where the water is brackish. The only water used by the inhabitants is from torrents which come down from the mountain, and which are there formed by rain and the melting of snow, as there are even very few springs in the mountainous part of the country. In some places, these torrents or mountain-streams are twelve fifteen or twenty leagues distance from each other, but generally only seven or eight leagues; and travellers for the most part are under the necessity of regulating their days journies by these streams or rivers, that they may have water for themselves and cattle. Along these rivers, for the breadth of a league, more or less according to the nature of the soil, there are some groves and fruit-trees, and maize fields cultivated by the Indians, to which wheat has been added since the establishment of the Spaniards. For the purpose of irrigating or watering these cultivated fields, small canals are dug from the rivers, to conduct the water wherever it is necessary and where that can be done; and in the construction of these the natives are exceedingly ingenious and careful, having often to draw these canals seven or eight leagues by various circuits to avoid intermediate hollows, although perhaps the whole breadth of the vale may not exceed half a league. In all these smaller vales along the streams and torrents, from the mountain to the sea, the country is exceedingly fertile and agreeable. Several of these torrents are so large and deep, such as those of Santa, Baranca, and others, that without the assistance of the Indians, who break and diminish for a short time the force of the current, by means of piles and branches forming a temporary wear or dike, the Spaniards would be unable to pass. In these hazardous passages, it was necessary to get over with all possible expedition, to avoid the violence of the stream, which often rolled down very large stones. Travellers in the plain of Peru, when going north or south, almost always keep within sight of the sea, where the torrents are less violent, owing to the greater flatness of the plain as it recedes from the mountain. Yet in winter the passage of these torrents is extremely dangerous, as they cannot be then forded, and must be crossed in barks or floats like those formerly mentioned, or on a kind of rafts made of gourds inclosed in a net, on which the passenger reclines, while one Indian swims before pulling the raft after him with a rope, and another Indian swims behind and pushes the raft before him.

On the borders of these rivers there are various kinds of fruit-trees, cotton-trees, willows, and many kinds of canes, reeds, and sedges. The watered land is extremely fertile, and is kept under continual cultivation; wheat and maize being sown and reaped all the year through. The Indians in the plain seldom have any houses, or at best a kind of rude huts or cabins made of branches of trees, often dwelling under the shade of trees, without any habitation whatever. The women are habited in long dresses of cotton which descend to their feet; while the men wear breeches and vests which come down to their knees, and have a kind of cloak or mantle thrown over their shoulders. They are all dressed in a similar manner, having no distinctions except in their head-dresses, according to rank or the different districts of the country; some wearing a tuft of wool, others a single cord, and others several cords of different colours. All the Indians of the plain are distributed into three orders; the first named Yungas, the second Tallanes, and the third Mochicas. Every province has its own peculiar language or dialect, different from all the rest. But all the caciques or principal people and nobles of the country, besides the language peculiar to their respective countries or districts, were obliged to understand and speak the language of Cuzco. One of the Peruvian kings, named Huana Capac, the father of Atahualpa or Atabalipa, was much displeased that the caciques and principal people of his empire should be under the necessity of employing interpreters when they had occasion to speak to him; and gave orders that all the caciques and their relatives should send their children to reside at court, to be instructed in the language of Cuzco which was spoken by the Incas. This was the ostensible reason of the measure; but in reality he wished to have these children in his power, to serve as hostages for the loyalty of their parents. By this means, all the nobles of the land came to understand the peculiar language of Cuzco which was spoken at court; just as in Flanders all the nobles and persons of any rank speak French. Owing to this circumstance, as the Spaniards have learnt the language of the Incas, or of Cuzco, they are able to converse with all the principal natives of Peru, both those of the mountain and of the plain.