WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES — VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 543 



from Lima every year, not to speak of much besides, which all crosses 

 at his risk that cold and desolate mountain country which is the puna 

 and has nothing on it but llama ranches. 



Up on the range there are 3,000 or 4,000 Indians working in the 

 mine ; it is colder up there than in the town, since it is higher. The 

 mine where the mercury is located, is a large layer which they keep 

 following downward. When I was in that town (which was in the 

 year 16 16) I went up on the range and down into the mine, which 

 at that time was considerably more than [lOo] 130 stades deep. The 

 ore was very rich black flint, and the excavation so extensive that 

 it held more than 3,000 Indians working away hard with picks and 

 hammers, breaking up that flint ore ; and when they have filled their 

 little sacks, the poor fellows, loaded down with ore, climb up those 

 ladders or rigging, some like masts and others like cables, and so 

 trying and distressing that a man empty-handed can hardly get up 

 them. That is the way they work in this mine, with many lights and 

 the loud noise of the pounding and great confusion. Nor is that 

 the greatest evil and difficulty ; that is due to thievish and undisci- 

 plined superintendents. [The fact is that] As that great vein of 

 ore keeps going down deeper and they follow its rich trail, in order 

 to make sure that no section of that ore shall drop on top of them, 

 they keep leaving supports or pillars of the ore itself, even if of the 

 richest quality, and they necessarily help to sustain and insure each 

 section with less risk. This being so, there are men so heartless 

 that for the sake of stealing a little rich ore, they go down out of 

 hours and deprive the innocent Indians of this protection by hollowing 

 into these pillars to steal the rich ore in them, and then a great section 

 is apt to fall in and kill all the Indians, and sometimes the unscrupu- 

 lous and grasping superintendents themselves, as happened when 

 I was in that locality ; and much of this is kept quiet so that it shall 

 not come to the notice of the manager and cause the punishment of 

 the accomplices. There is much that might be said and animadverted 

 on this theme, but the little I have noted [to tell] will indicate how 

 much more needs to be corrected. 



1472. A small river runs from N. to S. along the E. side of the 

 town, and on the opposite side [of the river] there is a mysterious 

 fount or spring of very beneficial hot water ; I bathed in it and 

 recovered my health. All the water from this spring turns into stone 

 when it cools ofif, and if they want to make molds so as to turn out 

 the stone as they desire, they can do it easily. The whole town is 

 built and constructed of this stone. If any animal drinks this water, 

 he dies. The town has this rich range of mercury ore on its WSW., 



