“The undersigned, being convinced of the truths he lays before the public, and at the same time anxiously desiring, in virtue of his appointment, both the welfare of the department and the province which he represents, he proposes to the most honourable Junta,” (viz. the departmental Junta of Junin, assembled in the city of Huanuco,) “a project of the grandest magnitude, capable of making the entire republic prosper, and of placing her in the rank and circumstances to compete with, and be the envy of, the most powerful states in the world. It will be said truly, that we were not heretofore ignorant of the treasures and riches of the actual productions in the Montañas of the Peruvian territory; it is equally certain that the want of hands, capital, and men of enterprise, have been powerful causes why we were unable to enjoy these natural advantages. If this be our state of weakness—if its commencement be traceable to our colonial condition, and that Providence has reserved the remedy till the epoch of our freedom and an age of intellectual light, let us make every effort to reap such incalculable benefits. Commercial relations are those that enlighten the people; by this powerful magic friendships are acquired, and with the most remote inhabitants of the globe bonds of brotherhood are established. Let, then, the grand canal of the Marañon be rendered navigable for steam vessels; so that, by the diverse and lesser streams that form this great river, we may procure them entrance to the immediate environs of our cities, towns, and villages, situated on the banks of the Huallaga. “Ah, gentlemen! What a sudden and extraordinary emotion this idea excites in my mind! My imagination already combines the ideas that suggest themselves respecting this privileged city of Huanuco. Now its spacious fields are held worthy of higher cultivation and care; its abandoned streets I see crowded with useful citizens; the banks of its ample river Huallaga present a varied and charming perspective of shipping, newly elevated towns, open tracts of woodland, and cultivated lawns. Allured by the novelty of this scene, innumerable tribes of the wild Indians will unite themselves with us; they are our brethren, and, when thus intimately brought into contact with us, they may frankly discover to our knowledge those hidden treasures of our forests which their ignorance and barbarism hitherto concealed; and, as integral parts of Peru, they will conduce to its grandeur and respectability. Gentlemen, the most vivid imagination is lost in this contemplation, and finds itself overwhelmed by the number and vastness of the objects which crowd into its thoughts.”