1S8 PRODUCTIONS. 



of transporting it to a market. Sugar-cane of gigantic dimensions is 

 found everywhere, with, white and yellow cotton of a staple equal to Sea 

 island. Several kinds of cascarilla grow in abundance, as also sarsapa- 

 rilla and gums, ornamental and other woods, and honey and wax, in 

 immense quantities. Crossing the Mamore from Exaltacion to the 

 southwest, you arrive at the river Machuno, which, according to Don 

 , is a small 'Pactolus;' and he assures me that the whole coun- 

 try between the Mamore and the Itenez, from latitude 14° to the north, 

 is a gold district as rich as California. 



"My opinion decidedly is, that the whole country traversed by the 

 rivers issuing from the slope of the Eastern Cordillera, from Santa Cruz 

 de la Sierra, in Bolivia, to the mouth of the Ucayali, in Peru, is one 

 immense gold and silver region; gold being found in the flats near the 

 rivers, and silver in the mountains. I will venture to predict that the 

 same region contains diamonds and other precious stones, some of which 

 are probably unknown to the lapidary at present. The silver mines of 

 Carabaya were immensely productive when worked by Salcedo ; so 

 much so, that the vice-regal government trumped up an accusation 

 against him, tried him, and ordered his execution, to obtain possession 

 of the mines by confiscation. The attempt failed, as the Indians, who 

 were devoted to Salcedo, refused to give any information to the govern- 

 ment respecting the mines ; and they have remained unworked up to 

 the present time. 



"Gold is known to exist in considerable quantities at Carabaya, and in 



the Pampa del Sacramento. I have seen specimens from the former 



place ; but gold is the least attraction for emigration to Bolivia; the soil 



and its products are the source from which the wanderers from foreign 



lands are to find plenty and happiness. The climate is said to be good, 



and the Indians, except upon the low r er part of the Beni, peaceable and 



well disposed to the whites. In short, according to Don , the 



east of Bolivia affords the greatest sphere for trade and colonization. 

 ********** 



"For myself, I feel full of this vast subject; for I know that within 

 less than one hundred leagues of me is the margin of those great soli- 

 tudes : replete with riches, and occupying the wild space where millions 

 of the human race might dwell in plenty and happiness; where nature 

 annually wastes more than would support the population of China in 

 comfort; and where the most luxurious fruits and fairest flowers grow and 

 bloom unknown and unnoticed. When I reflect on this, and on the 

 miles of rivers rolling on in silence and neglect, I feel doubly the want 



