COPPER MINES. 225 



which we did ; but after two hours' hard 

 toiling, could not find any indication of 

 ore, and felt convinced, from the nature 

 of the strata, that none was to be met 

 with. We therefore returned to Liva, as 

 soon as possible, provoked at having 

 thrown away so much time on idle re- 

 ports. Rivero and myself got fresh horses, 

 and proceeded in another direction, and 

 procured some specimens from spots that 

 had been worked ; they appeared to con- 

 tain a small portion of silver. 



Oct. 11 th. Set off to visit the copper mines 

 of Muniquera ; for more than a league we 

 rode through a sandy country, which ap- 

 peared to have been once the bed of the 

 ocean. We met with quantities of marine 

 shells, chiefly petrified muscles, and cornea 

 ammonis. I selected several of the finest ; 

 and quantities are to be found in a plain 

 which is situated ten thousand feet above 



VOL. II. Q 



