According to the “Guia Politica, Eclesiastica, y Militar del Peru,” edited by Dr. Unanue of Lima, the city of Arequipa is situated at 16° 13´ 20´´ south latitude; and it stands at the distance of about thirty leagues from its present sea-port, Islay. In making from seaward to the port of Chule, the burning mountain of Arequipa, (which now emits no smoke,) described as resembling a sugar-loaf with the top broken off, used to be taken as a landmark by the Spanish pilots on the South-Sea coasts. The population is estimated at about twenty thousand, among whom there are exceedingly few negroes or pardos. Towards the end of the twelfth century, Maita Capac, fourth sovereign of Peru, colonized the valley of Arequipa with three thousand families chosen from the neighbouring provinces; and some refer the origin of the name Arequipa to this early period, as in the Indian language the word Arequipa means, “Remain as you are, if you like it,”—in allusion to the permission given by the Inca to such of his captains as were inclined to settle in this garden in the midst of the desert.
By order of Don Francisco Pizarro, the city was founded in the year 1540. It suffered severely from the great earthquakes of the years 1582, 1600, 1604, 1687, 1715, and 1784.[62] All about Arequipa is a volcanic country, of which the natural history is very interesting, as may be learned from the following account, taken from an essay originally written and published in Spanish by Don Mariano Rivero, director-general of the mining department in Peru. This essay is deficient in minute chemical analysis; but it has the recommendation of being the only one, so far as we know, that has been written by a native Peruvian on the subjects which it embraces.
TRANSLATION.
GEOGNOSTIC DESCRIPTION.
All the environs of the city of Arequipa are composed of volcanic products; so much is this the case that its edifices are constructed of a white and very light rock, rough to the touch, which contains pieces of pumice-stone and lava. It is called in the country piedra sillar, and, in fact, is a real trachyte (traquito). It is met with in different places, at the distance of several leagues from the city,—as, for example, in the glen through which passes the road of Islay. In the route which leads to the glen of Yura, over and above the loose pieces and sand, we meet the trachyte porphyry, not only in large detached masses, but also forming portions of the soil. The principal mass is compact, of a greyish black colour, with crystals of white vitreous felspar, and spangles of bronzed mica; it passes by decomposition into an ash-coloured trachyte, less hard than the first, and very rough to the touch: the crystals of felspar and mica suffer no decomposition.
The adjacent hills are formed of rocks such as these, without presenting a decided stratification. At various points there appears a rock which, from its grain, its little hardness, the pieces of trachyte it contains, and its reddish colour, would seem to be a conglomerate of aqueous formation.
The waters which run through rocky passes give rise to deep excavations, and with much good reason these parts (along which there is a road) are denominated narrows,—for they are only a yard and a half broad. The way is intersected at various points by ravines, (quebradas,) through which several small streams descend from the snowy mountain called Chachani. About a league before we reach Yura, and on the opposite side of the glen, there is an horizontal stratification which extends towards the west, presenting an interesting contrast with the Cordillera on the east, and the hills on the side of the valley along which we pass to Yura.
It is not less worthy the admiration of a geologist to behold, amid so much arid nakedness, the bottom of the deep glen of Yura clothed with pure green and cheering verdure, which comforts the pilgrim, and serves as a soothing restorative to the sick who, sacrificing their domestic comforts and the pleasures of society, go in search of health to the baths situated in this solitary spot.
The glen of Yura, which stretches in the direction of from east to west, is in many parts extremely narrow, as at the site of the baths: but towards the Calera it opens up; and its inhabitants take advantage of this space to cultivate lucern, and collect the sub-carbonate of soda, improperly called saltpetre, which they use in manufacturing the soap consumed in Arequipa.[63]