PUNO, a department and city of the republic of Southern Peru, in South America, lying to the eastward of Arequipa and to the south of Cuzco. The surface of the country is nearly all high table-land, being in few places less than 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. The climate is cold compared with that of the coast, but on that account it is very healthy. The hordes of domestic animals are numerous, consisting of llamas, sheep, horses, mules, asses, pigs, guanacas, alpacas, and cattle in great abundance. The llama is peculiar to the Peruvian Andes, and of great use, particularly upon roads impassable for mules, or in places where forage is scarce. It is employed in carrying ores from the mines, charcoal, corn, and other burdens. From the great height of this district, agriculture is limited to a few objects. The principal are, potatoes, quinoa, rye, barley, and oats; but the three latter do not ripen to seed, and are cut green for horses. Puno contains a number of silver mines, which in productiveness were at one time only second to those of Potosi. The most noted is that of Laycacota, or Salcedo, as it is now called, after its first proprietor. The mines are situated in a high range of hills forming the western boundary of the great lake of Titicaca. These mountain ridges are chiefly composed of a porphyritic rock, which reposes on a sandstone formation, similar to that of the red marl and sandstone of the British islands, and to the great red sandstone formation of the continent of Europe. In its general disposition, as well as in its mineralogical characteristics, the porphyry of Puno corresponds exactly with those metalliferous porphyries which have produced the immense riches of the Real del Monte, of the Bolanos, and partly of the Guanaxuato mines in Mexico and with those of Hungary and Transylvania; and, like them, it abounds in veins containing the precious metals. The hills of Laycacota, Cancharani, and San José, are one continuous range formed of this porphyry nearly to their bases, and in it are situated the rich veins of silver ore which have rendered the place so celebrated. The produce of these mines, particularly that of Laycacota, during ’ the seventeenth century, was enormous. It appears from documents of indisputable authenticity, that the ore extracted in the year 1668 from the mines of Salcedo produced upwards of a million and a half of dollars. They were afterwards neglected, and only towards the end of the last century they again began to be worked with activity. In the year 1805, they yielded 96,528 marcs of silver. The annual average produce between 1796 and 1820 amounted to nearly 30,000 marcs. Since that time they have been again neglected; and in the month of April 1831 only one mine was worked, which belonged to an Englishman. The mining district of Puno being surrounded on all sides by arid mountains, is almost destitute of wood, so that fuel is scarce. This is one of the reasons why the ores are treated by amalgamation, and not by smelting in furnaces, to which they are peculiarly well adapted, from their being very frequently associated with the ores of lead and copper.

The grandest natural feature of South America, next to the cordilleras of the Andes, is the Laguna de Puno, commonly called Titicaca or Chucuito. It is situated between the two cordilleras, and is enclosed by the surrounding mountains. According to Mr Pentland, it is placed 12,795 feet above the level of the sea, and is consequently the largest lake in the world found at such an elevation. The same traveller informs us that it occupies an area of almost 4000 geographical square miles. With regard to its depth, he states that from accidental circumstances he was not able to obtain deeper soundings than a hundred and twenty fathoms (which, however, is a much greater depth than any hitherto assigned to the lake); “but,” he observes, “from the precipitous cliffs which in many parts of it form the shores, and its islands, I am persuaded that its depth in the central portion is much greater. The lake of Titicaca receives numerous streams at its northern extremity, but by no means so great a mass of water as might be expected from the height of the Andes that surround it.” The principal streams which supply the lake are those which on its northern side form the rivers of Asangaro, descending from the cordillera of Crucero and San Juan del Oro, and that of Lagunillas, which rises in a chain of small lakes in the western cordillera. The latter is probably the stream which Dr Meyen calls the Rio Jussecano, which, he says, is one of the largest rivers falling into the lake of Titicaca. One of its sources is in an alpine sheet of water called Laguna Compuerta; and not far from it is another lake called La-gunilla, to which Rivero assigns an elevation of more than 15,000 feet above the level of the Pacific. The only outlet of the lake of Titicaca is the river Desaguadero, which issues from its south-western extremity in lat. 16. 38. 10. and is an inconsiderable stream when compared to the immense extent of the lake from which it proceeds. This anomaly, however, may easily be explained by the great amount of spontaneous evaporation to which its surface is exposed, in an extremely dry and rarefied atmosphere, owing to its excessive elevation. Mr Pentland found the width of the river Desaguadero, in the beginning of the rainy season, and close to its origin in the lake, to be forty-six yards; its course was scarcely two miles an hour, but its depth was considerable. The lake of Titicaca is studded with small steep islands. It derived its name of Titicaca from one of the largest of these, which is situated at the south-eastern extremity. It was held in great veneration by the natives, as they believed it to be the spot where Manco Capac received his divine commission to civilize the inhabitants of the country. Numerous Peruvian ruins are still to be seen upon it. “The low banks of the lake,” says Dr Meyen, “are lined with rushes; and farther inwards its waters are covered with Myriophyllum chuquitense, a new species. Rushes are here a plant of great utility, being employed by the natives for almost as many uses as the bamboo in the East Indies. They supply the place of wood, which is wanting throughout the whole valley of the Desaguadero. The huts of the poor are made of rushes, as also mats for the floor, and bed-covers. The boats with which the rivers and the lakes are navigated are also made of rushes twisted together; the rudder and the mast alone are of wood, and form one of the most valuable possessions of the poor natives. These boats are frequently made with great taste and ingenuity. The smaller ones carry only three or four persons. The larger venture to some distance from the banks of the lake, which, even in calm weather, is subject to a heavy swell. The lake abounds in fish and waterfowl.” Its waters are said to be “bitter” and impure, yet they are drunk by the cattle, and even by the Indians. It appears that the extent of the lake has diminished even within the historical period of this continent; for a Spanish [7:18:740]writer, soon after the conquest of Peru by the Spaniards, in describing the gigantic Peruvian monuments of Tiaguanaco, says that the waters of the lake washed their walls. These ruins are now elevated many feet above the level of the lake, and stand at a considerable distance from it. The valley of the Desaguadero and the lake form together one continuous and immense basin, which, by a calculation of •Mr Pentland, occupies an area of above 16,000 geographical square miles. 'The valley of the Desaguadero is necessarily in the direction of the two chains which enclose both it and the lake. In its southern portion it runs nearly parallel with the meridian; but north of latitude 17° it forms an angle of almost 45° with that line, running very nearly north-west by north, and south-east by south. It is entirely bounded by mountains, having no outlet towards the sea; and the rivers which descend into it are either lost in the sandy soil, or empty themselves into the lake of Titicaca at its northern extremity.

The city of Puno is situated upon the western shores of the lake of Titicaca, in lat. 15. 50. S. and long. 70. 22. W. from Greenwich, at an elevation of 12,832 feet above the level of the sea. It was formerly a rich and beautiful place, but has now very much declined in all respects. It possesses some woollen manufactures, with which it supplies Lima and Arequipa; and it contains a population of about 9000. The number of inhabitants in the department has been estimated at 30,917.