138 MINERAL WEALTH. [1839. 



mines yield abundantly, the laborers receive a share of the 

 ore instead of wages ; but at other times, the barretero is 

 paid six reals per day, and the apire four. 



Mining at Cerro di Pasco, as well as at the other mines in 

 Peru, is not managed with as little difficulty as in other 

 countries, where improvements in science and the arts are so 

 quickly employed to diminish labor and expense. One ad- 

 vantage is possessed at the former place, by which a great 

 saving is made: the mines are near a large coal bed which 

 has recently been opened. 



Besides the mines at Cerro di Pasco, there are other rich 

 mining districts in the provinces of Pataz, Huamanchuco, 

 Caxamarca, and Hualgayoc. The mines of Cerro de San 

 Fernando, in Hualgayoc, were discovered in 1771, and there 

 are now more than fourteen hundred bocam'mas ; the veins 

 of metal intersect each other in every direction ; they are 

 easily worked, and are very productive. The mines of Huan- 

 tajaya*, on the coast near Iquiqua, were at one time consid- 

 ered quite valuable, as they yielded, annually, about fifty-two 

 thousand pounds of silver. The metalobtained was nearly 

 pure, but it was soon exhausted.* In southern Peru, there 

 are some rich mines, among which are those of San Antonio 

 de Esquilache, Tamayos, Picotani, Cancharani, Chupioos, 

 and Salcedo. 



Gold is obtained in Tarma, from the mines of Pataz and 

 Huilies, and in the washings on the banks of the upper Ama- 

 zon. At Huancavelica there is one of the richest quicksilver 

 mines in the world. Between 1570 and 1800, they yielded 

 537,000 quintals of the metal, and the annual product is now 

 estimated at 18,000 quintals. Most of it is used for the pur- 

 poses of amalgamation, at the silver mines. 



Besides the precious metals, Peru produces iron, copper, 

 tin, coal, and saltpetre. 



(7.) Agriculture has never been in a prosperous state in 

 Peru, and it is now languishing more than ever. None of 



* Two masses of native silver were found at Huantajaya, — one weighing 225 

 pounds, and the other 890. 



