96 



mand ; and in this manner a kind of fair is grif- 

 dually established, which leads to the erectiod 

 of houses, and finally to the formation of a per- 

 manei-.t town or village, A magistrate, with 

 the title of the Alcajde of the mine, is then ap- 

 pointed by the government to regulate and su- 

 perintend it, and as this oi!ice is almost always 

 very lucrative, ihe governor of the province ge- 

 nerally assumes it, and appoiiits a deputy to ma- 

 nage it for his account. 



The miners of Chili are in general well ac- 

 quainted with metallurgy. They are expert in 

 mining and in the art of assaying and refining 

 metals ; but their knowledge is wholly practi- 

 cal, and they are entirely ignorant of the theory 

 or the real principles of the art. They are di- 

 vided into three classess, the first those who 

 labour in the mine, the second the founders and 

 refiners, the third the porters^ or those who 

 carry off the mineral. In general they are a 

 bold, enterprising, and prodigal class of men. 

 Familiarized to the sight of the precious metals, 

 they Ic'jTn to disregard fhern, and attach but 

 little valr.p to money. They are extravagant in- 

 their cxpciiS'S, and passionafely addicted to 

 gamino-, in which they \)^i^ almost all their 

 leisure moments ; and iii= laixes are not unfre- 

 quent of a miccr io:-i!:^' one or two thousand 

 crowns of a night. Lo-ses of this nature are 

 considered by them a5 trifles, and oa sucii oc- 



i 



