156 AMERICAN MINES. CHAP. XXII. 



Humboldt attributes to this thinness of the 

 population the little progress which Peru has 

 made in the last two centuries ; but to that cause 

 may be added a scarcity of capital to apply to 

 mining, and the unfavourable situation in which 

 the principal mines are found. The mines of 

 Huantajaya are, indeed, in a district not peculiarly 

 severe, but they are in a part of the province of 

 Arica which is entirely destitute of water ; and 

 the projects which have been long entertained of 

 conveying fresh water to it for the use of the men 

 and cattle, and salt water from the small sea-port 

 of Yquique for the amalgamation-works, have failed 

 from the want of sufficient capital. 



The greatest quantity of silver in Peru has been 

 extracted from the mines of Yauriccocho or Laurico- 

 cha, better known in Europe by the name of the 

 mines of Pasco. They are in the midst of moun- 

 tains covered with perpetual snow, and are them- 

 selves at a height of thirteen thousand feet above 

 the level of the sea, and consequently in a severe 

 climate and a barren soil. , They are said to con- 

 tain masses of silver quite equal to the quantity 

 found in the district of Guanaxuato in Mexico, 

 and at no great depth below the surface. But 

 the unhealthiness of the climate, the expense of 

 conveying necessaries to such an elevation, and 

 the water with which the pits are often submerged, 

 have been hitherto impediments to extensive 

 operations. In spite of the obstacles, these mines 

 have, however, annually delivered, during the 



