45 



CHAPTER IV. 



MINES. — EARTHQUAKES. COPPER MINES. GOLD WASH- 

 ING. — SILVER MINES. WILD ANIMALS. 



JN a rocky mountainous country, such as 

 Chili, where on the hills the soil scarcely 

 covers the irregular stony formation, me- 

 tallic veins are much more easily discovered 

 than in one like Central America, where the 

 burning and rotting of grass and leaves for 

 many ages have buried almost every trace of 

 them from twelve to twenty feet in depth : 

 I use, the term " vein," in speaking of a 

 " lode," as being the literal translation of the 

 word " veta," which is always used by 

 South American miners ; " veta real," or 

 royal vein, being the term employed to 

 describe a strong regular lode. 



In Chili it is an easy matter to follow up 

 a vein for some distance on the surface, by the 

 " farillons," as the Spanish miners call them, 

 or spirts of the ore, that make their appear- 

 ance now and then in the same, or nearly 

 the same direction ; but in Central America 

 the great depth of soil that covers every part 



