porphyry and granite of the first quality are con* 

 fttantly met with ; and the skirts of the mountains 

 bordering the high road across the Andes to Cujo^ 

 consist wholly of red, ^reen^ black and other co* 

 loured porphyries. Among these is one which de- 

 serves particular attention ; it is yellow, spotted with 

 red and blue, and from its being found in the 

 neighbourhood of the river Chili, I havç given it 

 the name of savcum Chilense. 



In the plains near the confluence of the Rio-claro, 

 a large quarry of brown porphyry with black spots 

 has been discovered. It is disposed in strata of two 

 feet broad and four inches thick, a proportion which 

 hitherto has been found invariable ; and notwith^ 

 standing the layers are frequently broken by crevi- 

 ces or some foreign substance, pieces have been 

 procured of more than eight feet in length. These 

 pieces are so even and smooth, that they are used 

 by the painters to grind their colours upon, without 

 any preparation. It is not easy to account for the 

 arrangement and regular formation of this stone ; 

 the earth in the environs is composed of sand, clay 

 or marie, and between the layers only is a coarse 

 sparry or quartzeous sand to be found. 



In the plains, and upon most of the mountains, 

 are to be seen a great number of flat circular stones, 

 of five or six inches in diameter, with a hole through 

 the middle. These stones which are either granite 

 or porphyry, have doubtless received this form by 

 artificial means, and I am induced to believe that 

 they were the clubs or maces of the ancient Chi% 



