47é A VOYAGE TO Book VI. 



to polish others, by rubbing them together; it 

 being highly improbable that they could bring them 

 to such perfection with the few and awkward tools 

 they used ; as for the working of iron, they were 

 undoubtedly strangers to it, there being many 

 mines of that metal in this country, and not one 

 of them with any marks of having ever been 

 touched. And no iron was found among them 

 at the arrival of the Spaniards. But, on the con- 

 trary, they shewed an extreme fondness for any thing 

 made of that metal. 



I HAVE already mentioned the quarries, or mines, 

 producing the two kinds of stone of which the 

 Indians made their mirrors ; and which were those 

 most esteemed. There are likewise quarries of 

 other stones, v/hich, in a country where gold and 

 silver mines do not abound, would be thought va- 

 luable. Of these one is in the plain of Talqui, 

 south of Cuenca; out of which are taken very 

 lari>'e and beautiful blocks of white and very 

 clear alabaster. Its only- fault is its softness: yet 

 that is not such as to hinder all kinds of works 

 from being made of it ; or rather, its easiness con- 

 tributes to their pefection : nor is there any dan- 

 ger of large flakes flying off, which often spoil 

 an entire piece. The only quarries of this stone 

 are near Cuenca; but those of rock crystal I have 

 seen in many parts, from v/hence I have had some 

 very large, clear, and transparent pieces, and of a 

 lemarkable hardness : but, as it is not esteemed 

 here, no use is made of it; so that what is found 

 is purely by accident. In the same jurisdiction of 

 Cuenca, and about two leagues north-west of the 

 city, not far from the villages of Racan and Sa- 

 an^ay, is a small mountain, entirely covered with 

 flints; mostly black, some pf a reddish cast, and 

 others >vhiti^ii. But, being strangers to the manner 



of 



