The subjects of the Incas worked the mines of the sierra throughout this region and had thriving villages in the various mountain districts of the present Department of La Libertad. The town of Huamachuco, now the capital of the province of the same name, was a populous Indian settlement at the time of the Conquest, when Hernando Pizarro discovered it while leading his army southward from Piura in search of the treasure which Atahuallpa had said would be found in the temple of Pachacámac. The Conquerors were too intent on collecting the gold and silver of the Inca’s palaces and temples to occupy themselves at that time with the question of mining and of the wealth to be gained by such a laborious process; they saw the coveted metal within their reach without having to dig for it, and they little guessed the hidden treasures over which they marched on their way to plunder the sacred halls of Pachacámac. Perhaps the source of the rich gold and silver ornaments of the Chimus is to be found in the sierras of Otuzco, Santiago de Chuco, Pataz, and Huamachuco, the fountain-head of that precious stream down which the _peje grande_ floated to lose itself among the _huacas_ of Chan-Chan and Moche. [Illustration: A SUGAR FACTORY OF THE CHICAMA VALLEY.] [Illustration: PAITA, THE CHIEF SHIPPING PORT FOR PERUVIAN COTTON.] CHAPTER XXIII THE COTTON FIELDS OF PIURA [Illustration: A COTTON PLANT ON A PIURA PLANTATION.] When Pizarro chose the valley of Piura as the site on which to found the first Spanish city in Peru, he was especially attracted by its fertility and the abundance of water that supplied its flourishing farms and gardens. Agriculture was highly developed by the ancient inhabitants of this region, and cotton, which is the staple product of Piura to-day, was grown in the coast valleys centuries before the Spaniards visited these shores. Cotton materials have been found in the tombs of the people who ruled throughout this part of Peru before the Incas gained ascendancy, and the use of the product seems to have been known here from time immemorial. No doubt Pizarro and his followers passed through fields of cotton on their way from Tumbes to Piura, as the Conqueror gave an enthusiastic report of the prosperous farming communities seen during his march.