70 



it is first tlirov/a up it is black, that it next be- 

 comes brown, and after a long exposure to the sun 

 acquires a grey colour. Pieces of yellow amber 

 are occasioiially found upon the shores, which 

 prove that Chili contains also this valuable pro- 

 duction. In the province of Copiapo, one of 

 the richest parts of the world in minerals^ are 

 two little mountains almost entirely composed of 

 the most beautiful crystallized sulphur, so pure 

 that it does not require refining.* And there is 

 scarce a valley in the Andcs^ but what contains a 

 reservoir of this mineral. 



Sect. X. Pyrites. The whole territory of 

 Chili is sown with pyrites. They are of different 

 qualities and shapes, and discovered at various 

 depths, frequently in groupes, but more usually 

 in veins varying in extent and thickness. They 

 most generally accompany metals of some kind, 

 and arc found both in veins of ore, in chalk, 

 clay, and common stone, but rarely in quartz or 

 in rock crystal. 



In the three divisions, ur.der which they may 

 be classed, the iron, the copper, and the arsenic, 



* On t'le liislirid.sc of tlie Cordillera?, forty leagues south- 

 r-ist from the haiboiir of Copiupo, are the he-,t mines of sul- 

 phur. It i.s procured, from veins about two feet wide, iu a 

 state so pure as to require no refjuin;^'. Fra:iers Voyage, 



