The climate is generally cold, and in the parts bordering on Lake Titicaca are cultivated Peruvian bark, papas, barley, &c. The chief occupation of the inhabitants consists in breeding cattle, sheep, pigs and llamas, and there are many vicunas, deer, partridges and lake fowl, which are caught or killed by the natives; the lake also supplies fish, and by means of it the Indians carry dressed hides, thread, &c., and take in exchange wines, brandies and other commodities from the adjacent districts. They fabricate their clothing and other articles from the wool of the Peruvian camel, and carry on a considerable traffic in that article.
The capital was formerly the present settlement of the same name, but it was transferred to that of Huancane, till the discovery of the mines of Laicacota, when that large village became the chief town; since that time it has again changed, and is now seated at Puna, from whence the whole province is sometimes called.
Cancharani and San Josef, two mountains in this district, contain rich veins of silver, which have been worked with great effect; on the north of these is the mountain Del Azogue, or of quicksilver, which was formerly worked to such advantage that it exceeded the produce of the celebrated mines at Guancavelica: but the government suspended the operations at this place from some political motives.
The furnaces in the mines of this province are supplied by the natives, who breed cattle, with cow-dung, to serve as fuel, which is used instead of wood, on account of the scarcity of that article, and proves a good substitute.
The inhabitants of this province amount to more than 26,000 souls, dispersed in fifteen settlements and towns.
Paucarcolla, the old capital, is situated on the banks of Lake Titicaca, and inhabited by a few Spanish families. The Inca Yupanqui, third emperor of Peru, added this place to his territories, the natives submitting voluntarily.
Puna, the present capital, stands on the shores of the lake in 16° 20' south latitude, 70° 26' west longitude, and is a rich and populous place, containing many illustrious families, with a beautiful church for the whites, and another for the Indians. The mines in the neighbourhood of this town were among the richest in Peru, but were abandoned on the death of their owner, who built the Spanish church. It is, however, said, that the rich mines of Salcedo or Laycacota are again in work. Puna is fourteen miles north-west of Chucuito.
The remaining districts towards the Peruvian frontier, and which were under the jurisdiction of the audience of Cuzco, until the formation of the new kingdom of Buenos Ayres, are Asangaro, Carabaya and Lampa.
Asangaro or Asangaro y Asila, is bounded on the north-east and east, by Carabaya, south-east and south by Laricaxa, south-west by Paucarcolla and lake Chucuito, and west and north-west by Lampa. It is sixty miles in length and as many in breadth, containing about 3000 inhabitants.
As it lies almost entirely on the Andes, which are here very high, its climate is cold, and the soil produces little else than grass to pasture the cattle, in which its trade consists. Papas, quinoas, and canaguas, grow plentifully in its plains; of the two last, the natives make an intoxicating liquor common in Peru, called chica, which is nearly the same as the spirit procured in Mexico from maize; and chica is also the principal beverage of the Indians inhabiting the Andes.