Peru is a vast western region of South America. It shares a northern border with Popayan, a southern border with Chili, an eastern border with the land of the Amazons, and a western border with the [Great] South Sea. This country is about 600 leagues in length and 500 in width.

From the year 1502 onward, Christopher Columbus, finding himself in the province of Honduras that he had just discovered, learned from the natives that Peru was a powerful empire abundant in gold, but located to the East, which prevented him from including it in his explorations. In 1524, Paschal de Andagoya discovered a part of the coast of the [Great] South Sea, but he profited little from this voyage. Finally, in 1524, François Pizaro left Panama and discovered the province of Beru (which was the name of an Indian), the name he gave to the country, in changing the 'B' to 'P' because the Spanish write Péru but pronounce it Pérou. How he conquered this entire region from the kingdom of Quito up to Chili within 10 years is well known.

It is also known that before that period, this vast land was governed by kings called yncas , whose magnificence was stunning, and whose wealth was immense. One can estimate this wealth by the offer of the last remaining Inca, made to Pizaro to gain his freedom. The gold ransom Athualipa offered to Pizaro was enough to fill a room that was 22 feet long, 17 feet wide and 6 feet tall. There still remain vestiges of the temples that honor the sun, and of the great road of Quito, measuring 40 feet wide and 500 leagues long, with huge walls on both sides. The Incan empire encompassed twice as much land within its borders as present-day Peru.

It is divided by a chain of mountains known as Cordillera de los-Andés . It contains several other mountains made famous by their abundant gold and silver mines that were found there. The forests in these mountains produce several species of cedars, cotton plants, ebony trees, and different other species. Valleys, since they are irrigated are very fertile, but most of the country is barren from lack of rain. The heat and the cold are excessive, depending on the location. The mountains that spread along the Andes are very cold, while one suffocates on the flat land.

Since Peru has been under Spanish rule, it has been ruled by a viceroy, whose power is limitless. His fixed salaries go up to forty thousand ducats, and accessory benefits are infinitely more. He designates all the civil and military positions, with the restriction that the procedures are confirmed by the King of Spain, who sometimes does happen. Amongst the Indian natives of the country, some have embraced Christianity, and submitted to its yoke; others, infinitely more, have remained idolatrous and independent.

The Spaniards divide Peru into three governments that they named " audiences" , namely, the court of Quito, the court of Lima, or of Los-Reyes and the court of the Charchas, or Plata. Despite their efforts to divide the country into these courts, now this division is no longer advantageous. Lima bears the name of the capital of Peru. See the royal commentary on Peru by the knight Paul Ricault, 2. vol. in-fol. about this great region of America. It is a great work.