Situation and Description ofChile.
Following the Coast ofMare del Zur, or the South Sea, the next great Province pertaining formerly to the Kingdom ofPeru, is that ofChile. This is the most Southerly Province of the whole Countrey ofAmerica, reaching up as far as theMagellaneStraights, with which to the Southward it is bounded; Northward it hath a Desart, and an undiscover’d Countrey lying betwixt it and the Confines ofPeru, call’dAtacama; on the West it hathMare del Zur; and on the East, up toRio de la Plata, theAtlantick, or North Sea, with some Countreys undiscover’d, which interpose betwixt it andParaguayto the North-East: It lieth all of it beyond theTropickofCapricorn, in a temperateZone, and extendeth it self in length from the Borders ofPeru, to the Mouth of theStraightsfive hundred Leagues or more; but the breadth of it neither equal nor certain: They say ’tis call’dChilefrom the wordChil, which signifiesColdit seems in their Language as well as ours, it being generally a cold and bleak Countrey, the Air in many parts of it so extreamly sharp and piercing, that both Horse and Rider sometimes in travelling are frozen to death, as theSpaniardsfound by experience in their first Search and Discovery of the Countrey, under the Conduct ofDiego Almagro, who is said to have left the greatest part of his Men dead behind him: But this is chiefly towards theAndes, and on the Sea-Coast, the more Inland parts of it, though mountainous also in some parts, yet are more temperate, and being also well water’d with Rivers, are much more fruitfull than the other, affording both Wheat andMaiz, and likewise other Grain, excellent Pasturage in many places, and great store of Cattel, Wine, Honey, and not without many and rich Mines both of Gold and Silver.
Pedro Baldiviataken Prisoner and put to death by theArucans.
The Natives of this Countrey were found to be the most stout and warlike of all theAmericansthat theSpaniardshad hitherto met withal, fighting with them, and oftentimes defeating them in the open Field, surprizing and sacking their Towns, and last of all taking their Captain and Commander in Chief Prisoner: This wasPedro Baldivia, one of those good Men that consented to the death ofAttabaliba, the last King ofPeru, after a greater Ransom accepted and paid, then perhaps the King ofSpaincould well raise on a sudden, if he had occasion to use it for himself. TheArucans(for so are the People call’d that had him Prisoner) are said to have Entertain’d him for a while with great Jollity and Feasting, but for his last Draught gave him a Cup of melted Gold, which the poor Man was forc’d to take down, and so died a cruel, though costly Death.
The whole Province generally is divided first intoChile, specially so call’d, and secondlyMagellanica, or that part which lieth more Southward down to theStraightsofMagellan.
The Bounds ofChilespecially so call’d.
Chile, specially so call’d, is border’d Northward with the Desart and barren Countrey ofAtacamaabove mention’d; on the South, withMagellanica; on the West, withMare del Zur; Eastward, and to the North-East, with some parts ofParaguay, or rather with some undiscover’d Countreys lying betwixt them both: The length of it from North to South is reckon’d to be little less than three hundred Leagues, and generally of a fruitful Soil, affording besides abundance of Gold and Silver, both Corn, Cattel, Vineyards, and divers sorts of Fruits, equal both for kind and plenty toSpainit self, and sundry other parts ofEurope. The Air likewise temperate, and the People in their Manners and Conditions come much nearer to the Civility, and likewise subtilty of theEuropeans, than otherAmericansdid; which doubtless may be attributed to the conformity of the Climates under which they lie, agreeable to those ofEurope; though otherwise in respect of the Sphere and Seasons of the Year, there be a diametrical difference betwixt us; As for Example, theirSpringbeginning inSeptember, which is ourAutumn, and theirAutumninMarch, which is ourSpring; their longest Day being that ofSt. Lucy, on the eleventh ofDecember, which is our shortest; and their shortest beingSt. Barnabas,viz.the eleventh ofJune, which is our longest,&c.
Towns and Places of Importance.
The Towns of chiefest note and importance in this Province, are 1.Gopiapo, an old Town in the most Northerly parts of this Province towards the Sea, where it hath a very commodious Haven belonging to it.
2.La Serena, a Town situate on the Banks ofCoquimbo, a pleasant River a little above its Influx into the Sea, built byBaldiviain the Year 1544. the Countrey about very rich in Mines of Gold, and the Town it self so well Garrison’d for fear of the Natives, that when theEnglishunder SirFrancis Drake, about fourscore years since, attempted the gaining of the Place, they found hot Service of it, being stoutly resisted and beaten back again to their Ships, by a Sally of no less than three hundred good Horse and two hundred Foot.
3.St. Jago, the principal Town of the Province, a Bishop’s See, and the ordinary Residence of the Governor, lying on the Banks of the RiverTapocalma, in the thirty fourth Degree of Southern Latitude, fifteen Leagues distant from the South Sea, at which it hath a very commodious and much frequented Haven, which they callValparayso, and where theEnglishmet with better fortune, as hath been said already in the report of SirFrancis Drake’s Voyage.
4.La Conception, a strong Town, seated on the Bay call’dPenco, sixty or seventy Leagues distant fromSt. Jagotowards the South, a Place not a little fortifi’d both by Nature and Art, having the Bay and a certain Ridge of high Mountains begirting it almost round about; and where it is otherwise accessible, a Castle, and certain Bulwarks with Ordnance, besides a Garrison of five hundred Soldiers at least continually in it, and all little enough to defend it against theAraucanes, their deadly Enemies, who live thereabouts, and are ever and anon making Incursions almost up to the Walls of it. Over against this Place inMare del Zur, but very near the Shore, there lieth a certain Island call’dSt. Maries, exceeding plentiful in Swine and all sorts of Poultrey, which the Garrison ofLa Conceptionmake good use of.
MAGELLANCICA.
5.Los Confines, a Fronteer Town, built by the aforesaidBaldivia, for defence of the rich Mines of Gold atAngol, a Place near adjoyning.
6.La Imperiale, another strong Garrison of this Place on the Banks of the RiverCauten, near to which that great Battel was fought, whereBaldivia, with divers other Soldiers, were taken Prisoners, who were no otherwise overcome, but by being over-wearied with killing of their Enemies, and by that means not able to make their Retreat.
7.Villarica, another Colony of theSpaniardsin these Parts, sixteen Leagues distant fromImperiale, and twenty five from the Sea.
8.Baldivia, so nam’d from the CommanderPedro Baldivia, who built it in the Valley ofGuadallanquen, two or three Leagues distant from the Sea, where it hath a good and capacious Port; but nearer to it the best Mines ofPeru, so rich, that ’tis said they yieldedBaldiviaevery day so long as he could enjoy them, twenty five thousand Crowns.
9.Osorno, a Town lying in the Bay ofChiluein a barren Soil, but otherwise neither less rich, nor less populous thanBaldiviait self.
These three last mention’d Towns,viz.Baldivia,Imperiale, andOsorno, were in the Years 1596, 1699, and 1604, surpriz’d by theAraucanes, and other Salvages confederate with them, sack’d and burnt; and though theSpaniardsbe said to have recover’d and Garrison’d some of them with fresh Soldiers, yet how long they were able to hold them, or whether they be Masters of them at this day, we cannot say.
10.Castro, the most Southerly Town of the whole Province, built on a certain Island within the Bay ofChilue.
11.Mendoza; and 12.St. Juan de la Frontera, both which lie towardsParaguayandRio de la Plata, but on the other side of theAndes, forty Leagues distant from any of those we have spoken of, and perhaps more, not above a hundred fromBuenos Ayres, and theAtlantickOcean.
Situation and Description ofMagellanica.
Magellanica, the other part of this Province, is bounded Northward, withSea-Port, Towns, Isles, and Straights.Chileabovesaid, and some parts of the CountreyDe la Plata; on the South, with the narrow Sea call’dMagellans Straights; havingMare del Zuron the West, and on the East theAtlantickOcean. It contains in length from the Borders ofChileto the Mouth of theStraights, a hundred Leagues, and in breadth from the North to the South Sea, somewhat more,viz.towardsChileand the North-West parts of it, for towards the South and South-West it straitens still more and more, insomuch that they who resemble the Southern part ofAmericato the form of a Pyramid revers’d, make this part of the Countrey to be the Spire or top thereof. It beareth the Name fromFerdinand Magellan, aPortuguese, who first discover’d that narrow Sea, so famously known by the Name ofMagellans Straights. It is a large Countrey, and suppos’d not to be altogether barren of Metals; but as yet no great Discovery hath been made of it, partly by reason of the excessive Cold to which ’tis thought to be subject, and partly perhaps by reason of the difficulty of the Enterprize, it being so far remote, and very hardly passable in many places, by reason of the huge Mountains theAndes, which bar it as it were against all Adventurers; but chiefly by reason of the stoutness and untameableness of theAraucanesand other Natives ofChile, through whose Countrey the March lieth, and who must first be conquer’d, so that very little can be said more of this Countrey, than onely to name the Ports and Places upon the Sea-Coasts, at which theSpaniards, and likewise some other Nations at several times have touched, the chief whereof upon the South Sea are, 1.Cabo de las Islas, a Promontory or Foreland, twenty six Leagues distant from that ofSt. Felixon the Confines ofChile.
2.Puerto de San Stephano, fifty Leagues from that, towards the South.
3.La Villa de Nuestra Sennora, orOur Ladies Dale, a large and secure Bay, eighteen Leagues Southward ofSt. Stephens.
4.La Punta Deglada; 5.Puerto de los Reyos; and 6.Ancona Sin Salida, all of them opening towards theStraights. There is also at the opening of the Straights,Cabo de la Vittoria,Cabo Desseado, and some others.
Upon the North Sea, and up towardsRio de la Plata, the chief Places observable, are 1.Rio de la Crux, and the Cape which they callDe las Rameras, about thirty Leagues distant from theStraightsMouth.
2. The Bay ofSt. Julian, forty Leagues Northward of the former.
3.El Puerto Desseado; 4.Puerto de los Leones; 5. The Bay ofAnegada, all of them good and capacious Havens for the security of Shipping upon these Coasts, and lying at a distance of thirty or forty Leagues one from another, up towardsRio de la Plata, and the Countrey ofParaguay, of which we are next to speak.
Description of theMagellanStraights.
As for the Straights themselves, so much spoken of, and likewise so necessary to be known by those who frequent these parts of the World, they are a narrow Sea or Frith, by which theAtlantickOcean, or rather some parts of it, doth fall intoMare de Zur, or the South Sea: the Passage is long, running, as ’tis commonly suppos’d, well nigh a hundred Leagues together, almost in a paralel Line, or in the same Degree of Latitude from one end to the other; and likewise extreamly difficult by reason of the many windings and turnings of the Sea, which force them to be ever and anon altering of their Course, and a mountainous high Countrey on both sides of it, from whence it is almost continually beaten with Storms, both dangerous and terrible: They were first discover’d byFerdinand Magellan, by Nation aPortuguese, but in the Service of the King ofSpain, and by him nam’dMagellan’s Straights; who although himself liv’d not to return intoSpain, being slain in the Conquest of theMoluccaIslands, yet his Companions did, in the Ship call’dVittoria, from whence the CapeDe la Vittoriaabovesaid took its Name. The Mouth or Entrance of them, by theAtlantickOcean, lies in fifty two Degrees of Southern Latitude, and hath not above fifty three and some Minutes at theExitor opening into the South Sea.
The Straights ofLe Maire.
There is likewise since this, and but of late times,viz.about the Year 1615. anotherStraightdiscover’d by theDutch, and call’d from the DiscovererFretum Mairi, orThe Straights of le Maire, four or five Degrees more to the Southward than those ofMagellan, and suppos’d to be a much earlier and safer Passage.
The Intention by the discovery of theseStraights, was to have found a shorter Way to theEast-Indiesand the Kingdoms ofCathayandChina, than that which was then onely us’d,viz.by theCape de Buena Speranza, and the Coast ofAfrick, but by reason of the great difficulty, as ’tis to be suppos’d, and uncertainty of the Passage, neither the one nor the other is much frequented, theSpaniardsfor the most part serving themselves of theirAmericanPorts upon the South Sea, from whence they make their Voyages and Returns to and from the otherIndies, and from thence home toSpain; and theEnglish, with other Nations ofEurope, Trading still by the Coast ofAfrickandCape of Good Hope, or else by the way ofAlexandriaand thePersianGulf, as heretofore.
PARAQVARIA _Vulgo_ PARAGVAY. Cum adjacentibus.