42 BOOK II. 



The veins after they have been discovered, and likewise the shafts and 

 tunnels, have names given them, either from their discoverers, as in the 

 case at Annaberg of the vein called " Kolergang," because a charcoal 

 burner discovered it ; or from their owners, as the Geyer, in Joachimstal, 

 because part of the same belonged to Geyer ; or from their products, 

 as the " Pleygang " from lead, or the " Bissmutisch " at Schneeberg from 

 bismuth^^ ; or from some other circumstances, such as the rich alluvials from 

 the torrent by which they were laid bare in the valley of Joachim. More 

 often the first discoverers give the names either of persons, as those of 

 German Kaiser, Apollo, Janus ; or the name of an animal, as that of lion, 

 bear, ram, or cow ; or of things inanimate, as " silver chest " or " ox stalls "; 

 or of something ridiculous, as "glutton's nightshade" ; or finally, for the sake 

 of a good omen, they call it after the Deity. In ancient times they 

 followed the same custom and gave names to the veins, shafts and tunnels, 

 as we read in Pliny : " It is wonderful that the shafts begun by Hannibal in 

 Spain are still worked, their names being derived from their discoverers. 

 One of these at the present day, called Baebelo, furnished Hannibal with 

 three hundred pounds weight (of silver) per day." ^' 



^^These mines are in the Erzgebirge. We have adopted the names given in the German 

 translation. 



" The quotation from Phny (xxxill., 31) as a whole reads as follows : — 

 " Silver is found in nearly all the provinces, but the finest of all in Spain ; where it 

 " is found in the barren lands, and in the mountains. Wherever one vein of silver has been 

 " found, another is sure to be found not far away. This is the case of nearly all the metals, 

 " whence it appears that the Greeks derived metalla. It is wonderful that the shafts begun 

 " by Hannibal in Spain still remain, their names being derived from their makers. One of 

 " these at the present day called Baebelo, furnished Hannibal with three hundred pounds' 

 " weight (of silver) per day. This mountain is excavated for a distance of fifteen hundred 

 " paces ; and for this distance there are waterbearers lighted by torches standing night and 

 " day baling out the water in turns, thus making quite a river." Hannibal dates 247-183 B.C. 

 and was therefore dead 206 years when Pliny was born. According to a footnote in Bostock 

 and Riley's translation of Pliny, these workings were supposed to be in the neighbourhood 

 of Castulo, now Cazlona, near Linares. It was at Castulo that Hannibal married his rich wife 

 Himilce ; and in the hills north of Linares there are ancient silver mines still known as Los 

 P020S de Anibal. 



END OF BOOK II. 



