La placa esta llana y bien grande' Cronica,
cap. 87.]
Once more in his favorite capital of Lima, the governor found
abundant occupation in attending to its municipal concerns, and
in providing for the expansive growth of its population. Nor was
he unmindful of the other rising settlements on the Pacific. He
encouraged commerce with the remoter colonies north of Peru, and
took measures for facilitating internal intercourse. He
stimulated industry in all its branches, paying great attention
to husbandry, and importing seeds of the different European
grains, which he had the satisfaction, in a short time, to see
thriving luxuriantly in a country where the variety of soil and
climate afforded a home for almost every product. *28 Above all,
he promoted the working of the mines, which already began to make
such returns, that the most common articles of life rose to
exorbitant prices, while the precious metals themselves seemed
the only things of little value. But they soon changed hands, and
found their way to the mother-country, where they rose to their
true level as they mingled with the general currency of Europe.
The Spaniards found that they had at length reached the land of
which they had been so long in search, - the land of gold and
silver. Emigrants came in greater numbers to the country, and,
spreading over its surface, formed in the increasing population
the most effectual barrier against the rightful owners of the
soil. *29
[Footnote 28: "I con que ia comencaba a haver en aquellas Tierras
cosecha de Trigo, Cevada, i otras muchas cosas de Castilla.
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