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to another housfe. It is not surprising that tales of this kind should 

 gain easy credit among persons stimulated by avarice and blinded 

 by ignorance, and that the artful men who invent and propagate 

 them, should be tempted by success to repeat their impositions, and 

 corrupt others by their example. The rich iron ores with which the 

 district abounds, and of which I saw many specimens, might furnish 

 employment much more profitable than washing for gold, or follow- 

 ing other idle and chimerical speculations. 



During the first few days of my residence here, my soldiers pro- 

 cured me a quantity of the finest porcelain clay I have ever seen ; 

 that used in the manufactory at Sevres near Paris is inferior to it. 

 It is found at the foot of a mountain of argillaceous schistus, called 

 San Antonio, near Cangones do Campo, in a vein accompanied with 

 quartz and specular iron ore. 



A week after my arrival here, I was invited to go to a pottery 

 about three miles distant. Crossing a bridge over the Rio del Car- 

 men, at the foot of the town of Villa Rica, we ascended another 

 steep mountain, on the summit of which I found iron ore in great 

 quantities. Though not very rich, I have no doubt it would pro- 

 duce 25 per cent, of metal. The want of wood, which is here com- 

 plained of as an objection to working it, might be remedied by 

 planting ; for this summit is a fine plain which proper cultivation 

 would render highly productive. At present, though so near the 

 town, it lies totally neglected, without a single inclosure upon it. 

 The pottery, at which we soon arrived, has been but recently 

 established. The clay is used in its native state, without any ad- 

 mixture, and is cleared of its coarse particles by washing. After 

 the water has been let off and evaporated so as to leave it of a 

 sufficient consistency, it is put on the wheel and formed into plates, 

 mugs, jars, &c. which are bulky and heavy, but by no means strong. 

 They are rendered less fragile by being covered with an excellent 

 thick glazing. The furnaces have no chimneys, but consist merely 

 of a low arch in which are several vent holes. The glazing furnace 



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