CHAP. XXII.
AMERICAN MINES.
155
A division of Peru took place in this century,when its extent was diminished, first, by theseparation from it of the province of Quito ,which was in 1718 allotted to the kingdom ofNew Granada, now denominated Columbia; and,secondly, by detaching from it, in the year 1778,the districts of La Paz, Cochabamba , Potosi,Oruro , Carangas, and some others, which were thenadded to Buenos Ayres, on occasion of that pro-vince being erected into a viceroyalty. In viewingthe produce of the precious metals between theyears 1700 and 1810, it will be better to consi-der them under the new than the old divisions.Peru , Columbia, and Buenos Ayres, when herespoken of, are intended to be distinguished as theyexisted in the beginning of the present century,and up to the time when the Spanish authoritybegan to be dissolved.
In this diminished extent Peru , though it con-tains avast surface 1 , has very few inhabitants: theydo not appear by any authentic census to exceedone million one hundred thousand persons, amongwhom are reckoned six hundred and eight thousandIndians, two hundred and forty thousand Meestees,and eighty thousand negroes; and it is doubtful ifthey have increased or diminished since that censusWas taken in 1803 2 .
1 The extent of Peru , as given by Argiielles in his Diccionariode Hacienda, is three hundred and sixty thousand squareftnles, or about seven times that of England.
2 The census here mentioned is in the work entitled Gaiad° Peru, por Hippolito Uanane, printed in Lima , 1804.