348 Fhe Two Miners of Famatiia, _ [ArRiL, 
them; and having also’ purchased a spot of ground in the valley of 
Famatina, in which there was a convenient fall of water from one of the 
mountain rivulets, Juan Leita, who was a man of great mechanical inge- 
nuity, constructed with his own hands a trapichi mill, for the purpose of 
grinding the ore on a larger scale. The whole of this construction he 
completed without assistance; and then, being the hardier man of the 
two, he returned to the mountain, to work and superintend the opera- 
tions there, while Echavaria came to reside at the mill, and attend to the 
extraction of the metal from the ore. In this manner they proceeded 
for ten years, by which time they had accumulated a capital of a hun- 
dred thousand dollars. But in doing this they had excited the malicious 
envy of the Riojanos, whose cupidity made them covet the wealth which 
their want of industry prevented them from even attempting to compass 
for themselves by similar means. At this period, too, the revolution 
broke out, and afforded the means of, in some measure, accomplishing 
the object which was now contemplated by some of the heads of the 
people. The first step taken against them was to order them to pay a 
contribution of a thousand dollars for the service of the state. This 
was no sooner complied with than another was sent for a similar sum, 
and shortly afterwards others to the amount of five thousand dollars more. 
On this, Echavaria, who was at once a shrewd and a timorous man, 
and foresaw the storm that was brewing, endeavoured to prevail on 
Leita to join him in retiring to Peru with the property they had amassed. 
But Leita refused to consent ; and the result was, that they came to the 
resolution of dividing their property, and Echavaria made his escape 
immediately after—having first buried in a spot, near the mill, that por- 
tion of his gains which he was not able to carry with him. Shortly 
after the departure of Echavaria, it was reported that Leita had dis- 
covered another mine, still richer than any of those they had hitherto 
been working upon. Whether this was true or not, it had the effect of 
exciting still further the cupidity of the new government, and an order 
was speedily sent to Leita, requiring him to furnish a still larger con- 
tribution. This he had expected, and had prepared himself for, by 
burying in the ground nearly all his treasures ; and his reply to the 
government order was that they had already deprived him of all his 
gains. But they were not to be put off in this manner. On receiving 
the above reply, they immediately had a meeting of the Cabildo, in the 
town of Rioja; and the result was the sending a militia officer, and 
twenty men, to take Leita into custody, and lodge him in prison, under 
the pretence that he was an old Spaniard, and an enemy to the state. 
The party arrived at his house, in the Escaleras, just as he was sitting 
down to dinner ; and having immediately taken him, and placed heavy 
fetters upon his legs, they were about to place him on a horse, and 
carry him away. But he determined on having recourse to stratagem, 
‘with the view of, if possible, gaining his liberty, and escaping from their 
hands. Accordingly, pretending the utmost submission to the com- 
mands of the government, he invited the party to take some dinner 
with him before they set out, and offered to supply them with some 
excellent wine, which he possessed. This proposal was immediately 
accepted by the officer commanding the party ; and, as the only 
servant of Leita, a black slave, had ran away on the approach of 
the military party, Leita offered to wait on them himself, and. fetch the 
wine, serve the dinner, &c. This he did for some time with 
