NOTICES OP BOLIVIA. 



171 



they were weighing and embarking. It consisted of a brown 

 oxide, with a hard clear fracture, and a red oxide, a sulphuret, 

 and some green carbonate.* Smelting is not carried on to any- 

 great extent, from the scarcity of fuel. There is no mineral 

 coal in the country, and the charcoal is brought from Chile 

 and Peru. For the purposes of cooking, the wood of the cac- 

 tus is used. It is very light, and affords but little heat. 



We proceeded to the foot of the hill, upon which the mines 

 are Situated, distant a mile and a half from Catica. The 

 road is quite rough, and crosses a gap or mouth of a valley, 

 through which passes the road to Calama and Potosi. ' When 

 arrived at a shed, which is built at the foot of the hill, we 

 found we had ascended perhaps three hundred feet above the 

 level of the sea, and had a view of the highway till it winds 

 out of sight amongst the hills. From the nature of the soil, 

 from the great quantity of pebbles strewed over it, and other 

 features of this road, we came generally to the conclusion that 

 it had once been the bed of a river, or a mighty mountain tor- 

 rent. After a short rest, we began to mount the side of the 

 hill by a zigzag pathway, which ascends at an angle, from the 

 base, of at least thirty-six degrees. From the starting place, 

 we could just perceive, a thousand feet above us, and not half 

 way to the top of the hill, a small white tent, amidst some 

 large trees of cactus, which was the goal of our labors. Many 

 paths are formed by the miners and mules on every part of the 

 hill, and some of them are much more steep than others ; that 

 which we followed, is perhaps the least difficult of ascent. We 

 were forced to stop for breath very frequently on our way up, 

 and at such times we observed the mouths or entrances of seve- 

 ral mines, which had been opened, but not now worked. Some 

 of them are not more than fifteen or twenty feet deep. After 

 considerable toil we reached the tent. A half dozen little 

 hovels, just large enough for two or three persons to crawl into, 



• The gentlemen engaged in the business permitted us to select some speci- 

 mens, and presented us with others which had been laid aside. We obtained 

 some fine crystals of the oxides, and a half dozen pieces containing very mi- 

 nute portions of native gold. These ores are supposed to yield about 25 per 

 cent, of copper, and to contain gold enough to pay the expense of reducing it. 



