CERRO DE PASCO. 



101 



the untold treasures beneath ; two beautiful little lakes, only divided 

 by a wide causeway at the southern extremity of the crater, and another 

 embedded among the hills to the westward ; hills, (on one of which he 

 stands,) of five hundred feet in height, with bold white heads of rock, 

 surrounding these ; and the magnificent Cordillera from the right and 

 left overlooking the whole. 



These are the objects that strike the eye of the traveller at his first 

 view. As he rides down the hill, he sees the earth open everywhere 

 with the mouths of mines now abandoned ; he is astonished at their 

 number, and feels a sense of insecurity as if the whole might cave in at 

 once and bury him quick. He rides into the narrow, ill-paved streets 

 of the city, and, if he can divert his attention for a moment from the 

 watching of his horse's footsteps, he will observe the motliest population 

 to be met with anywhere out of the dominions of the Sultan. I believe 

 that he may see, in a single ride through the city, men of all nations, 

 and of almost every condition ; and if he don't see plenty of drunken 

 people, it will be a marvel. 



I was delighted when we turned into the patio of the house of the 

 sub-prefect of the province, Don Jose Mier y Teran, and escaped the 

 rude stare and drunken impertinence of the Indians, thronging the 

 streets, and doors of the grog-shops. This gentleman, whose kindness 

 we had experienced at Tarma, gave us quarters in his house, and pressed 

 us to make ourselves at home, to which his blunt, abrupt, and evidently 

 sincere manners particularly invited. 



After a wash, to which the coldness of the weather and the water by 

 no means invited, I put on my uniform in honor of the day, and went 

 out to see Mr. Jump, director of the machinery, and Mr. Fletcher, an 

 employe of the Gremio, (Board of Miners,) to whom I brought letters 

 of introduction from Lima. These gentlemen received me with great 

 cordiality. Mr. Jump offered me a room in his house, and Mr. Fletcher 

 handed me a number of letters from friends at home, at Lima, and at 

 Santiago. These letters were cordial medicines to me ; I had arrived 

 cold, sick, and dispirited, and but for them should have passed the first 

 night of mental and physical suffering that I had been called upon to 

 endure since leaving Lima. 



July 6. — Rain nearly all night; I was cold and sick, and sat by the 

 fire all day, trying to keep myself warm. The houses in Cerro Pasco 

 are generally built of stones and mud, and covered in with tiles or straw ; 

 most of them have grates, with mud chimneys, and are plentifully sup- 

 plied with good coal, both bituminous and hard. Mier says that if the 



