PAZ, La, the name of a department, a province, and a large city of Bolivia, in South America. A general account of the department, with the number of its inhabitants, will be found in the article Bolivia. The province of La Paz is a district surrounding the city of the same name, in the vicinity of the western cordillera of the Andes, and at a considerable elevation above the level of the sea. This territory is rough and uneven, but fruitful in barley, cocoa, papas, and fruits of various kinds. Its appearance has been described by Mr Temple. “In casting a glance farther round,” says he, “you perceive squares and patches of every shade of green and yellow, which, to a European, is perhaps the most striking part of the interesting scene. Corn, and fruit, and vegetables, and crops of every kind, may be seen in all their stages, from the act of sowing to that of gathering them in. Here a field of barley luxuriantly green; there another in full maturity, which the Indians are busily reaping; next to it a crop just appearing above the ground; further on another arrived at half its growth; beyond it a man guiding a pair of oxen, yoked to a shapeless stick, the point of which scratches the earth sufficiently for the reception of the seed, which another man is scattering in the furrows; trees bearing fruit, and at the same time putting forth buds and blossoms, complete the scene of luxuriance. Yet it requires only to raise the eyes from the lap of this fruitful Eden, to behold the widest contrast in the realms of nature. Naked and arid rocks rise in mural precipices around. High above these, mountains, beaten by furious tempests, frown in all the bleakness of sterility; higher still, the tops of others, reposing in the region of eternal snow, glisten uninfluenced in the presence of a tropical sun.” The mountains here mentioned arc the Nevada de Illimani and others, situated to the south of La Paz. “Illimani, or Yllimani,” says Mr Pentland, “appears to derive its name from its icy covering, Illi, in the Ymarra dialect of the aborigines, signifying snow. The Nevada of Illimani is situated in latitude 16. 40. Its form is that of a serrated ridge, elongated in the direction of the axis of the chain upon which it rises, offering four principal peaks to the observer, when seen from its western side. From the city of La Paz (latitude 16. 30.), distant about thirty, miles, it presents itself with the imposing grandeur of Mont Blanc, when seen from Salanches, or of Monte Rosa, from the subjacent valley of Macugnaga. The elevation of this giant of the Bolivian Cordillera is 24,200 feet, and the lowest glaciers on its northern declivity do not descend below 16,500.” This is the highest mountain in the New World, with the exception of the Nevada de Sorata, the highest peak of which attains an elevation of 25,250 feet above the level of the sea.

La Paz, the largest city in the republic of Bolivia, is situated in a deep valley, penetrated by the mountain torrent of Choqueapo. It was founded in the year 1548, and has a fine cathedral, several churches and convents, a college, an hospital, and numerous warehouses for the reception of goods. La Paz is the great emporium of Upper Peru, all merchandize from the coast of the Pacific being transported thither, and then conveyed, by merchants and other dealers, to the towns and villages of the interior. In the seventeenth century, about a league from this city, a large mass of solid gold was found by an Indian, and pureliased for about eleven thousand dollars, by the Spanish viceroy, who sent it to the cabinet of natural history at Madrid. Large quantities of native gold have also been found from time to time at the base of the Illimani, in a lake situated at the enormous elevation of 15,780 feet above the level of the sea. This lake is celebrated as having been the depository of a great part of the treasures of the once famed city of Cuzco; for, according to tradition, the Indians chose rather to bury their [7:17:165]wealth beneath the waters, than resign it to the rapacity of the invaders. The city of La Paz, although elevated 12,195 feet above the level of the sea, yet, froħι its sheltered situation, enjoys a mild and pleasant climate. The population amounts to about 40,000.