CHILIAN MINERS SKILFUL ROBBERS. 103 



them ; but they will not live here at the height of 

 only three or four thousand feet : it can scarcely 

 be the trifling diminution of tempei'ature, but some 

 other cause, which destroys these troublesome in- 

 sects at this place. The mines are now in a bad 

 state, though they formerly yielded about 2000 

 pounds in weight of silver a year. It has been said 

 that " a person with a copper-mine will gain ; with 

 silver, he may gain ; but with gold, he is sure to 

 lose." This is not true : all the large Chilian for- 

 tunes have been made by mines of the more pre- 

 cious metals. A short time since, an English phy- 

 sician returned to England from Copiapo, taking 

 with him tlie profits of one share in a silver-inine, 

 which amounted to about 24,000 pounds sterling. 

 No doubt a copper-mine, with care, is a sure game, 

 Avhereas the other is gambling, or, rather, taking a 

 ticket in a lottery. The owners lose great quanti- 

 ties of rich ores, for no precautions can prevent rob- 

 beries. I heard of a gentleman laying a bet with 

 another that one of his men should rob him before 

 his face. The ore, when brought out of the mine, 

 is broken into pieces, and the useless stone thrown 

 on one side. A couple of the miners who were 

 thus employed pitched, as if by accident, two frag- 

 ments away at the same moment, and then cried 

 out, for a joke, " Let us see which rolls furthest." 

 The owner, who was standing by, bet a cigar with 

 his friend on the race. The miner, by this means, 

 watched the very point amongst the rubbish where 

 the stone lay. In the evening he picked it up and 

 carried it to his master, showing him a rich mass 

 of silver ore, and saying, " This was the stone on 

 wiiich you won a cigar by its rolling so far." 



May 23d. — We descended into the fertile val- 

 ley of Coquimbo, and followed it till we reached 

 a Hacienda belonging to a relation of Don Jose, 



