PKUU. 257 



" When all the mineral has been extracted there remains an 

 immense excavation, and in consequence of the roof not being 

 properly supported with timber, one risks his life in entering it. 

 Heavy falls of rock frequently occur, and by which means a 

 vast number of persons are annually killed. One day in the 

 last century, at the mines of ' Matagente ' (which word means 

 killed people), which are situated in the rising ground on the 

 northern side of the town, while a great number of men and 

 boys were at work, the roof of one of these immense chambers, 

 consisting of many thousands of tons, fell in without giving 

 the least warning, and ' in the twinkling of an eye ' the souls 

 of 300 Peruvian miners rushed into the presence of their 

 Redeemer. Their bodies have never been exhumed, and their 

 shattered bones, still remaining, will bear evidence of the catas- 

 trophe to future explorers. An adit has been driven through 

 the district, beginning at the Lake of Quiulacocha on the 

 south-west, and terminating at the mines of Ganacaucha on 

 the north. The entire length of the adit, including its branches, 

 is about 3 miles, and its average depth from surface 50 fathoms. 

 Three perpendicular shafts, situated at about 600 yards apart, 

 have also been sunk from surface to a short distance below the 

 adit. 



" The whole of the machinery for the mines in question, 

 which is being made and dispatched by Messrs. Harvey and 

 Co., of Hayle, Cornwall, consists of four steam pumping engines, 

 six boilers, four iron main beams, four balance ditto, and also a 

 sufficient quantity of 24-inch pit-work for both shafts. No 

 single piece of all this cumbrous machinery must weigh more 

 than 300 Ibs., in consequence of its having to be transported on 

 the backs of mules from the coast to this mountainous region. 

 Although the main distance is no more than 160 miles, these 

 beasts with their burdens have to climb an altitude of 15,000 feet 

 before they reach their destination. Moreover, the passes in 

 ascending the Andes and Cordillera can only be correctly 

 imagined by experienced travellers. Some of the defiles are 

 not much wider than a sheep-path, and with a thousand feet 

 below you a roaring cataract, and thousands of feet above you 

 snow-capped overhanging mountains, looking so dreadful that 



