A very handsome brick bridge of one arch, the centre of which was forty-seven yards above the bed of the river, and the span twenty-six yards wide, was erected at the entrance of the town; it was thrown down by an earthquake on the 1st of December, 1806, and the old wooden bridge, which had formerly a redoubt to guard it, has been repaired.
The English pirate Edward David took Huaura and sacked it in 1685, putting to death the _alcalde de la hermandad_, Don Bias Carrera, whom he had made his prisoner; this so terrified the inhabitants that they immediately abandoned the town, nor could they be persuaded to avail themselves of the drunken state of the sailors during the night to revenge the injuries they had suffered; they were fearful of being captured and treated in the same manner as their alcalde. The charter of villa was taken from the town by the King, but afterwards restored.
The valley of Huaura extends about twelve leagues to the eastward, and contains many excellent farms, plantations of sugar cane, and about three thousand slaves.
Seven leagues from Huaura is the village of Supe, with a parish church and eight hundred inhabitants, the greater part of whom are indians. Between these towns there is a large plain, called _pampa de medio mundo_, which before the conquest was under irrigation; the vestiges of the old canals, _asequias_, are still visible, and bear witness of the enormous labour of the ancient Peruvians, as well as of their uncommon skill in conveying water for the purpose of watering their fields to immense distances, without the aid of engines; the principal asequia here took its water from the Huaura river, and winding round the foot of the mountains conveyed it to the distance of ten leagues, irrigating in its course some very beautiful plains, which are now only deserts of sand.
Near to Supe are the remains of a large indian town, built on the side of a rock, galleries being dug out of it, one above another, for the purpose of making room for their small houses; many remains of these are still visible, and also of small parapets of stone raised before them, so that the hill has the appearance of a fortified place. At a short distance are the ruins of another town, on an elevated plain, where water doubtless could not be procured for irrigation; for, as I have already observed, the indians never built on land that could be cultivated.