22 PHAON COMET HUMMING-BIRD. 



are fertile in the extreme, and produce 

 sugar, cotton, and all the riches of a sunny 

 clime. 



The table-land, cold and rugged as it is, 

 has many inhabitants ; for here are found 

 those wonderful mines of gold and silver 

 that were such a source of wealth to the 

 Spaniards. And here a city was built, 

 called Potosi, which is the most elevated 

 city in the world. 



The mountain on which the city stands 

 is pierced in every direction by the shafts 

 of mines. At night, when the mines were 

 working, and used to glow with the light 

 of innumerable furnaces, the sight was 

 very grand indeed. 



• At one time, more than fifteen thousand 

 persons were employed at the mines. But 

 the veins of ore are now less productive, 

 and are comparatively deserted. 



You may imagine the desolate state of 



