50 CENTRAL AMERICA. 



contrary electricities, and that a shower of 

 rain, or sometimes a heavy clew, had proved 

 a connecting medium, and had produced a 

 shock, the violence of which depended upon 

 the intensity of the charge. " And what do 

 you think is the cause of the other, or Terre- 

 motoT' " Quien sabe ! who knows!" was 

 the answer, and an excellent one it is to 

 every question a person cannot, or will not 

 reply to. 



But to return from this digression to the 

 subject of this chapter. The copper ores that 

 I have seen in Central America are almost 

 all uncombined with sulphur, or any other 

 combination that requires calcining to be got 

 rid of; they might all be smelted in a com- 

 mon blast furnace, with the aid of equal 

 quantities of iron-stone, which lies in large 

 quantities on the surface of all the hilly 

 country. This is the common method used 

 in Chili for this species of copper ore, the 

 copper produced is remarkably pure and 

 malleable ; it is called " Cobre de labra- 

 dores,*" or workman's copper ; it never re- 

 quires tinning when made into pots and pans 

 for all sorts of cooking. The copper ores are 

 what the Spanish miners call " Metal de 

 color ;" metal being the term they use for 



