1012 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



wrought state, in the greater niiniber 

 of the mountains. If, in thecase of 

 others, the inferior qnrilify of the 

 ores does not rejiay (he expenccs of 

 refining;, it is because, in IVru, me- 

 tallurgy has been rethieed to a tradi- 

 tional practice, in uhich the un^te 

 has been greater (haii the riches that 

 hare been coMecfed. 



''A century and a half have elapsed 

 since this immense loss was first 

 lamented by a native vriter, v, hose 

 norli is of high anlhority on this 

 subject. In his Treatise on the Art 

 of refining Metals, Don A!on/.o 

 Baiba, rector of San Bernardo in 

 Potosi, mokes th,o. following obser- 

 vat Gn«;: " 1( m.ay be asserted, Mith- 

 ont exaggeration, that many thou- 

 saiids of pi.istres have been lo.= t, as 

 well in the extraction of the mcfallic 

 ytibs(ai\fes from the ores, the quali- 

 ties aiul diirerences of which hare 

 not been well understood ; as in the 

 disproportionate expenditure of 

 qiiii.ksilver, of which upwards of 

 ^two hundred and thirty-four thou- 

 sand seven hundred quintals hare 

 been consumed, in the space of sixty- 

 three years,* in the jinpeiial city of 

 I'otosi. Those who have been en- 

 gaged in this pursuit, have, in the 

 management of the ores, proceeded 

 at random, and without any funda- 

 mental rules, or cert.iin information 

 relative to the silver they contained, 

 and might be made to yield." 



" Notwithstanding (he ignorance 

 of mineralogy w;is attended by such 

 prejudicial consequences, it would be 

 dithcult to believe, that it reached 

 the unfortunate e.xtrenie which is 

 described in an ancient and authentic 

 document by Don Francisco Texada, 

 intendant of the mine of Guadal- 

 canal, dated in 1607. Speaking of 



tlie productiveness of many of the 

 ores dujr from tiie silver mines of 

 Europe, each quintal (jf «hich yield- 

 ed tilteen, thirty, and even sixty 

 marks of thcpure metallic substance, 

 he adds as follows : *• In the cele- 

 brated mountain of Potosi, which is 

 now working, there is not a greater 

 produce than one ounce and a half of 

 pure and limpid silver, from each 

 quintal of metallic earth, or stone, 

 which is extracted ; or, in other 

 word-", one thousand six hundred 

 outres of (he above mentioned earth, 

 } ield an ounce and a half only of sil- 

 ver.' It is not, however, possible 

 to reconcile so small a cain with the 

 annual produce of four millions two 

 hHndrcti and fifty thousand and forty- 

 three piastres, resulting from an aver, 

 age estimate of the first ninety-three 

 years during which (hemines of Po- 

 l.si were wrought. This was the 

 amount of the coinage ; but the ex- 

 traction of silver was still greater, it 

 having been annually carried to five 

 thousand quintals. 



This facundity was calculated to 

 draw the public attention exclusively 

 to the above mineral territory, and 

 to throw a discredit on all the other 

 mines of Peru, which were not capa- 

 ble of yielding, collectively, more 

 than a thousand quintals of silver. 

 Of this produce, Oruro supplied 

 seven hundred quintals : Castro Vir- 

 reyna, two hundred; and the re- 

 mainder belonged to the excavated 

 mountains. At Potosi, however, the 

 encouragement w^as equal to the 

 abundance of the acquired riches. 

 Thirteen thousand Indians were plac- 

 ed on a permanent establishment, 

 and constantly engaged in the differ- 

 ent tasks assigned to them ; at rhe 

 same time that five thousaud quintals 



* The treatis* from whi«h this quet*ti«n is nnide, was published in 1637. 



Qf 



