1829.] [ 345 ] 
THE TWO MINERS OF FAMATINA.* 
. Tue great mountain of Famatina, situated in the province of Rioga, 
has long been looked upon traditionally as the depositary of enormous 
wealth in the form of gold and silver ore; but the turning this wealth 
to any important practical account is a circumstance of very recent date ; 
partly owing to the superstitious feelings which the native Indians have 
always connected, and still connect, with the supposed demons and other 
supernatural beings who are believed to inhabit the mountain; but 
chiefly, no doubt, from the absence of any sufficient motive, on the part 
of the occupiers of the surrounding country, to encounter the perils and 
hardships attendant on exploring the scene of those, to them, useless and 
unnecessary treasures: for, so rich and fertile are the surrounding plains 
of the Rioja, and the Pampas, and so comparatively trifling is the labour 
required to obtain from them all which the simple-minded inhabitants 
need for their subsistence and comfort, that probably nothing but an 
actual display of the physical consequences (in wealth and considera- 
tion) to be gained by the enterprise in question, could have induced 
them to commence or continue the prosecution of it, even since the revo- 
lution, and the new train of motives and feelings which that event has 
introduced. But before that period the wealth of the Famatina moun- 
tain remained a treasure of the imagination merely ; and was, as such, 
as much superior to the actual possessions of the miser, who has not the 
heart to use what he has hoarded, as the feeling of having all one’s 
wants supplied is to that of wants increasing in the exact ratio of the 
supply to which they refer. The innumerable herds of the Pampas, to 
be had almost by seeking for—the inexhaustible fertility of the soil, 
requiring nothing worthy the name of toil in its tillage—the peculiar 
character of some portion of the vegetation, serving for almost every 
purpose connected with the actual wants of human life ;+ and, finally, 
the beautiful, but enervating and relaxing climate; all these things 
united, afforded ample means of content to the comparatively few inha- 
bitants of the vast province of Rioja; which, even at the present time, 
does not number more than twenty thousand souls. It is true the King 
of Spain and his government have made repeated attempts to work the 
mines, known to have formerly existed in this mountain. But they 
* This brief sketch of the singular circumstances attending the comparatively recent 
discovery of the wealth of the Famatina mines, is by one who collected them on the spot, 
and from persons who may be described as eye and ear witnesses of what they reported. 
+ Allusion is here made to the Algarrova tree, in particular. This tree seems to have 
been expressly provided by Providence for the sustenance of the rude inhabitants of these 
districts, and if it were by any accident of nature to be exterminated, it is scarcely too 
much to say that the population would follow it. It is the universal sustenance of the 
poor, the idle, and the destitute ; there is a drink made from its bean-like pod, which is 
excellent—its seeds are ground into flour—its leaves are used as the general food for 
eattle—and its branches, which are studded with sharp-pointed thorns, are stuck in the 
earth, and wattled together into a sort of palissade, which even a starving bull will not 
attempt to break through, though he see the tempting pasture on the other side. The 
wood, too, is not only excellent for all agricultural and architectural purposes, but is, feom 
its hard and solid nature, almost as durable as coals, for fuel. Finally, even dogs are fond 
of the pod, and pigs fatten on it better than on any other food. The former will often 
Teave their homes, and live in the Algarrova woods as long as the pod is in season ; and 
oe) poor will none of them work—nor need they—while that portion of the Algarrova tree 
M.M. New Seriesm_Vou. VIL. No. 40. 2Y 
