ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



lo-n 



vireroyalty, its natural productions, 

 and its mi tc rology ; and how far its 

 conitnf?co is aftVcfeil by the peculia- 

 rities of .ts soil, rivers, mountains, 

 and atmosphere. 



Thepopuiatioii ofPeru, its decrease, 

 and the causes of tiie sensible diminu- 

 tion thereof, are next stated, to 

 which follows a calculation of the ac- 

 tual state of its comniorce, and the 

 balance of trade, as between it and 

 the different provinces and countries 

 with which it traHicks : the result of 

 which enquiry leads the writer to the 

 conclusion, that the government of 

 Peru have to seek liches in the 

 bosom, not on the superficies, of the 

 earth. 



The following enumeration of the 

 produce of the mineral kingdom 

 may not be unintcr«sting. " Alum, 

 copperas, and ochre : — crystal, ba- 

 saltes, and sulphur ; — the Coj-c, a 

 species of black naph(ha, as hard as 

 asphaltum; — copper, lead, andiron, 

 and lastly, and pre-eminently, gold 

 and silver, the general instruments 

 of equation in every description of 

 commerce.'* (By a singular over- 

 sight, quicksilver is not mentioned in 

 this catalogue). — " At the com- 

 meacement of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury, eighteen thousand spots of mi- 

 neral territory, in which were com- 

 prehended one hundred and twenty 

 thousand mines, were registered in 

 Peru 1" 



In conclusion, the writer of this 

 admirable treatise says, 



" It appears, therefore, to be de- 

 monstrable, that Peru, for want 

 cither of an infernal or extraneous 

 consumption, as well as on account 

 of its local position, and of the difter- 

 cnt invincible obstacles which have 

 been deducwl, cannot aspire to an 

 extensive commerce of productions. 

 It ought^ consequently, to couilnu 



itself to a greater extraction of gold 

 and silver ; and should so proporlio* 

 t' c importations from the molher 

 country, as that the infroducfion of 

 merchandizes should not exceed the 

 annual produce of these metals, that 

 being the sole rule of a just and sa- 

 lutary equipoise. The Peruviari 

 mines are well known to abound ia 

 metallic riches of every kind. The 

 attention bestowed on them ought 

 to correspond with this natural pri- 

 vilege : instead of which, many pro- 

 ductive mines have been unneces- 

 sarily abandoned, as is proved by the 

 very diminished consumption of 

 quicksilver in Pern. 



" It cannot be denied that the dis^ 

 position of the lands, whicli, from the 

 summit of the Cordilleras, observe a 

 constant declination towards the sea, 

 has frequently occasioned the inun- 

 dation of very extensive and distin- 

 guislied tracts of mineral territory. 

 That the small produce of many 

 mines, and the low estimation of 

 their ores, have occasioned them to 

 be abandoned by their proprietors, 

 who were not repaid the expences of 

 working tliem. And that the scar- 

 city of hands, which has been gene- 

 ra! in all the provinces, must neces- 

 sarily hate occasioned a smaller ex- 

 traction, and a less assiduous oul- 

 ture. 



That many of the mines, to come 

 at which deep excavations have been 

 made in the earth, are occupied by 

 running waters, is rather to be ascri- 

 bed to the want of cultivation and 

 encouragement, than to any defec- 

 tiveness of the soil. This mischief 

 may therefore be remedied by a cer- 

 tain share if intelligence, and a pro- 

 per management. In the mean time, 

 a speedy compensation may be found 

 in the immense number of those 

 Svhich present themselves in an un. 

 • 3 T 2 wroaght 



