MINING SYSTExM. 



61 



these goods can be made at present only by bills, 

 in specie, or in copper. If this last be decided 

 upon, the consignee at Santiago writes to his cor- 

 respondent at Coquimbo, the British merchant al- 

 luded to above, telling him, that on such a day a 

 ship will call on the coast for so many quintals of 

 copper, and authorizing him to purchase at a cer- 

 tain price, and to draw bills upon Santiago to the 

 required amount. AH that the Coquimbo mer- 

 chant has to attend to, is to see that a sufficient 

 stock of copper be ready by the appointed day. 

 To enable him to do this at all times without risk 

 of failure, it is essential to possess the complete 

 command of many hundreds of mines. His me- 

 thod of acquiring such influence has been detail- 

 ed ; but to carry his plan into effect on an exten- 

 sive scale, he must have capital to work with ; and 

 this is accordingly furnished by the various cre- 

 dits which the Santiago merchants supply him 

 with from time to time. 



Thus, by a beautiful system of interchange of 

 advantages, the benefits of unrestricted commerce 

 are rendered very apparent. The European or 



