252 



contain real veins ? or is the gold disseminated 

 here, as in the granites of Guadarama in 

 Spain, and of the Fichtelberg in Franconia, 

 throughout the whole mass of the rock ? Per- 

 haps the waters, in filtering through it, bring 

 together the disseminated grains of gold ; and in 

 this case every attempt to work the rock would 

 be useless. In the Savana de la Miel, near the 

 town of Barquesimeto, a shaft has been sunk in 

 a black shining slate resembling ainpelite. The 

 minerals extracted from this shaft, which were 

 sent to me at Caraccas, were quartz, pyrites not 

 auriferous, and carbonated lead, crystallized in 

 needles of a silky lustre. 



We have already observed above, that in the 

 early times of the conquest the working of the 

 mines of Nirgua and of Buria* was begun, 

 notwithstanding the incursions of the warlike 

 nation of the Giraharas. In this very district 

 the accumulation of Negro slaves in 1553 gave 

 rise to an event, which, little important in 

 itself, becomes interesting by the analogy it 

 displays with the events, that are now passing 

 before our eyes in the island of St. Domingo. 

 A Negro slave excited an insurrection among 

 the miners of the Real de San Felipe de Buria. 



* The valley of Buria, and the little river of the same 

 name, communicate with the valley of the Rio Coxede, or 

 Bio de Barquesimeto. 



