18 



SILVER MINES OF CASTRO VIRREYNA. 



prove the assertion. The fur is very fine and valuable ; they are run- 

 ning in and out of holes in the ground or the clefts of rocks, to nibble 

 the mountain grass. The mountains are more rolling, and covered with 

 a thick coat of pasture ; flocks of sheep speckle the mountains — black 

 and white — cleanly washed by the rains. They seek the atmosphere 

 next below the vicuna, while the good-natured shepherdess follows with 

 a womanly regard for the wishes of those she loves. 



Another storm is coming ; we hurry on, and arrive at the next post 

 in the small Indian town of Pancara. The postman told Jose that the 

 Alcalde had come to pay us a visit. A respectable old Indian, with a 

 silver-headed cane, who could not speak Spanish, appeared, so Jose was 

 my interpreter in Quichua. "How many people live in this town, 

 Senor Alcalde?" Alcalde, (eating parched corn from his waistcoat 

 pocket,) "Don't know." "Have you plenty to live upon in this part of 

 the country ?" Alcalde, (with the most laughably contented air,) "Roast 

 corn and few potatoes. The people are going away ; will soon be left 

 by myself." Alcalde — "Going to Cuzco?" Jose — "Yes; and as we 

 have a long travel, we have to feed our mules well. Will you order us 

 barley ?" Alcalde — "I will go now and fetch it." 



The town is falling to decay ; many houses deserted, and their roofs 

 have tumbled in. Climate cold and unpleasant. Except our kind 

 friend, the Alcalde, the people look wretched. 



The vegetable productions of this department are few, and can only 

 be raised in the deep valleys, where the dense atmosphere interrupts the 

 parching rays of the sun, and they are protected from the cold 

 mountain blasts of the night. No department in Peru is more broken 

 and barren than this, with a greater variety of climate. In our sight 

 are peaks of eternal snow, which run up to sharp points of pure white, 

 standing in rows ; the humble Indian, cultivating his patch of green 

 lucerne in the valley, far below. 



The animals are mostly those native to the country, and few of them 

 tame. The horse, ass, and horned cattle, are n*uch smaller than those 

 on the coast, and are little used. Birds are very few, and seldom found 

 domesticated ; even the common poultry find the climate uncongenial. 



Fishes are rare and small; only taken, I believe, in the Juaja river. 

 Of minerals and metals already known, there are silver, quicksilver, 

 copper, lead, iron, stone coal, and lime. 



The silver mines of Castro- Virreyna have been worked for many years. 

 They are situated south of the town of Huancavelica, in the Cordillera 

 range. They count thirty mines, of which, at the present day, but 

 seven are worked. Stone coal is found near by sufficiently good for 



