The first port in the land of Peru is that of Passaos, and from it and the river of Santiago the government of the Marquis Don Francisco Pizarro commenced, for to the northward the land falls within the limits of the province of San Juan, and thus it may be said that the land to the north is within the boundaries of the city of Santiago de Puerto Viejo, where, being so near the equator, the inhabitants are not very healthy.

Touching the equinoctial line, some of the ancient cosmographers were in error when they affirmed that the heat was such as to render the country lying under it uninhabitable. The fertility of the land, and the abundance of all things necessary to sustain man, are manifest to all, and, as the equinoctial line is touched upon in several parts of this history, I will here give an account of what I have gathered from the best cosmographers concerning it. The equinoctial line is an imaginary line round the world from east to west, at equal distances from the poles of the earth. It is called equinoctial, because the passage of the sun across it makes the days and nights equal. This occurs twice in the year, namely on the 11th of March and 13th of September.