Sept. 1834. INDIAN RUINS. 325 



merits possessed an even and well-defined slaty structure ; 

 but the laminae were not inclined at any uniform angle. The 

 mud, after having been left for a year or two, and then 

 rewashed, yields gold ; and this process may be repeated even 

 six or seven times ; but the gold each time becomes less in 

 quantity, and the intervals required (as the inhabitants say 

 to generate the metal) are longer. There can be no doubt 

 that the chemical action, already mentioned, each time libe- 

 rates fresh gold from some combination. The discovery of 

 a method to effect this before the first grinding, would with- 

 out doubt raise the value of gold ores many fold. 



It is curious to find how the minute particles of gold, after 

 being scattered about, and from not corroding, at last accu- 

 mulate in some quantity. A short time since a few miners, 

 being out of work, obtained permission to scrape the ground 

 round the house and mill : they washed the earth thus got 

 together, and so procured thirty dollars' worth of gold. 

 This is an exact counterpart of what takes place in nature. 

 Mountains suffer degradation and wear away, and with them 

 the metallic veins which they contain. The hardest rock is 

 worn into impalpable mud, the ordinary metals oxidate, 

 and both are removed ; but gold, platina, and a few others, 

 are nearly indestructible, and from their weight, sinking to 

 the bottom, are left behind. After whole mountains have 

 passed through this grinding mill, and have been washed 

 by the hand of nature, the residue becomes metalliferous, 

 and man finds it worth his while to complete the task of 

 separation. 



There are some old Indian ruins in this neighbourhood, 

 and I was shown one of the perforated stones which Molina* 

 mentions, as being found in many places in considerable 

 numbers. They are of a circular flattened form, from five 

 to six inches in diameter, and with a hole passing quite 

 through the centre. It has generally been supposed, that 



* Molina, Compendio de la Historia, &c. del Reyno de Chile, vol. i., 

 p. 81. 



