MINERALOGY. 



75 



ness of the miners in fulfilling their payments, the avarice 

 and exa6tions of those by whom the advances are made. I, 

 who have the satisfa6tion to address myself to a learned and 

 unprejudiced body, such as that of the Academical Society of 

 Lima, do not consider these reticences to be requisite. I am 

 aware of the merit of Egerio's letter, and am free to confess 

 that his complaints are well-founded. They are, however, 

 of a very trivial description. The first, principal, and most 

 vital cause, of the little success which attends the working of 

 the Peruvian mines, is the want of labourers, and the preca- 

 rious system of labour which has been introduced. 



*' If it were necessary to have recourse to rhetoric, to prove 

 this proposition, I should set out by an eloquent exordium, 

 describing, with every minuteness, the different operations 

 which the refining of the metallic substances requires. I should 

 analyze the degrees of heat or cold ; the elevation or profun- 

 dity ; the nature of the works or defences ; and all the other 

 circumstances, whether adverse or favourable, to which the 

 labourer in the mine is subje6led. I should venture my con- 

 je6tures on the proportion of physical strength which is re- 

 quired for this task, and on those who are best qualified to 

 discharge it with efficiency. But as, jn this letter, I am to 

 speak from my experience exclusively, on the testimony of 

 that experience I assert, without hesitation, that Indians alone 

 can be employed in the internal labours of the mines. 



*' This is my mode of thinking ; and I shall proceed to ad- 

 duce proofs in support of my assertion. It is beyond a doubt, 

 that the advances made to the miners are the blood of their 

 enterprizes. But what should we do with that fluid, if we 

 were to want the arteries and veins by which it is vivified and 



L 2 made 



