156 A VOYAGE TO Boor VII. 



all ihe anpcaranccs of melted silver, as any person, a 

 í<íran|j;er to the manner of finding; them, would imme- 

 diaiely eomlude. In ilieni the silver forms a mass, 

 and die surface is covered over with terrene particles^ 

 few or none of which ."^re mixed with the silver ; con- 

 formable to what is seen in metals melted, and suffered 

 to cool without separating:; the dross. Tlie terrene 

 particles adherins; to the silves^* arc black, and exhibit 

 all the marks of calcination, e^-.cept that in some it is 

 stronger than in others ; and as this must ha])pen if 

 the lumps arc formed by the fusion of the metal, it 

 seems natural to conclude that they were really formed 

 in «Iris manner. 



The size and fig-urc of these liunps are very dif- 

 ferent ; some weighi?;g about two marks, and others 

 nuR-h more ; for among several which I saw at Lima 

 were two, one ^veing 60, and the other above 150 

 marks, being* a Paris foot in length; these indeed 

 were the largest ever seen here. These lumps of sil- 

 ver are found in diiferent parts of the same ground, 

 though not often near one another. The metal in its 

 course takes various directions, introducing itself into 

 those places where it finds the least resistance ; and as 

 these parts are more or less capacious, the magnitude- 

 of the ])apa is greater or smaller. 



XIÍ1. About ninety leagues north of the city of 

 Plata, but only forty from Paz, lies the province of 

 (.'iacica. Its capital, M'hich has the same name, ami 

 all the places situated to the southward of it, belongto 

 tiic archbishoprick of Plata ; but many of those to the 

 northwards of it are in the dioccss of Paz. The coun- 

 tries in this jurisdiction extend in some parts above k 

 huTuired leagues, and consequently tUc temperature 

 is various. Some spots are very hot, and produce an 

 exubt^rance of coca, which shrub alone is the source 

 of a very considerable commerce, su])plying all the 

 mine towns from Charcas to Potosí. I'hc leaves of 

 this plant are packed in frails, each of which must, 

 ii) according 



