The village of _Zeruma_ is celebrated for having some rich gold veins in its neighbourhood, which have failed, owing to the want of proper exertion being made to clear them. This town or village was one of the first which was built in the province, and contains five or six thousand inhabitants. _GOVERNMENT OF JAEN DE BRACAMOROS._ This government following that of Loja on the south, we shall describe it before those of Quixos and Maynas, although it is the most southern of the provinces of Quito. It is bounded on the north by Loja and Quixos, or Macas, on the east by Maynas, on the west by Piura, and on the south by Caxamarca, or Chachapoyas in Peru. Its southern and western frontiers limit the territories of the viceroyalty of Peru. Bracamoros was first discovered and explored in 1538, by Pedro de Vergara, who was appointed to command an expedition by Hernando Pizarro. Juan de Salinas was sent afterwards to this province with the title of governor; by courage and artifice, he conquered the native tribes, and built several villages, some of which are dignified with the names of cities. The Indians of the country, known at that time by the names of Yaguarsongo, and Pacamoros revolted and destroyed all the principal settlements, and those which escaped, dreading a return of a similar calamity, united themselves into one town called Jaen, from which the whole province has now taken its name. The town, or city of _Jaen_, lies in nearly the same longitude as Quito, and in about 5° 25ʹ south latitude; it was founded in 1549, by Diego Palomino, on the river Chinchipe at its conflux with the false Maranon. Its inhabitants amount to about 4000, being chiefly mestizoes, a very few Indians, and still fewer Spaniards. There are three other villages called _Valladolid_, _Loyola_, and _Santiago de las Montañas_, which are styled cities, but contain very few inhabitants to support this title. The other villages, which are about ten in number, are mostly peopled by Indians. The Pongo de Manseriche, or strait by which the False Maranon passes the Andes, is partly in this district. The embarkation on the Lauricocha, the present name for a river which was until very lately supposed to be the Maranon, is usually at Chuchunga, a village of Bracamoros, in 5° 29ʹ south latitude, four daysʼ journey from Jaen; the river not being navigable nearer than this, on account of the rapids. In Jaen, the climate is hot, though the rains are not so violent or lasting as in Quixos; the summer is the pleasantest season, as the heat, the rains, and the tempests abate during that period.