2.^0 ' The VOY 
Chili by Thouiands, for Tallow and Lard, made by try- 
ing up the Fat and the Marrow of the Bones, which, 
throughout all South America , ferves inftead of Butter or 
Oil, not ufed by them in their Sauces : The Flefh they ei- 
ther dry in the Sun, or in the Smoke, to preferve it inftead 
of faking, as is ufed in France. Thefe Slaughters alfo af- 
ford the Hides, and efpecially the Goats-skins, which they 
drefs like Morocco Leather, by them called Cordovanes , and 
fent to Peru to make Shoes, or for other Ufes. Be- 
fides the Trade of Hides, Tallow, and Salt-meat, the In- 
habitants of La Conception deal in Corn, with which they, 
every 1 ear, lade eight or ten Ships, of forty or fifty Tons 
Burden, for the Port of Calao ; befides the Meal and Bif- 
cuit they fupply the French Ships with, that take in Pro- 
vilions there to proceed to Peru , and to return to France. 
All this would, be inconfiderable for fo fine a Country, fince, 
if the Land were well improved, it is fo extraordinary 
fertile, and fo eafy to till, that they only fcratch it with the 
Plough for the moft part, made of one fingle crooked 
Branch of a Tree, drawn by two Oxen ; and, though the 
Grain is fcarce covered, it feldom produces lefs than an 
Hundredfold : Nor do they take any more Pains in pro- 
curing their Vines to have good Wine ; but, as they know 
not how to glaze the Jars they put it into, they are fain to 
pitch them, which, together with the Tafte of the Goat- 
skins, in which they carry it about, gives it a Bitternefs like 
Treacle, and a Scent, to which it is hard for Strangers to 
accuftom themfelves. The Fruit grows after the fame man- 
ner, without any Induftry, on their Part, in Grafting: Ap- 
ples and Pears grow naturally in the Woods ; and, confi- 
dering the Quantity there is of them, it is hard to compre- 
hend how thefe Trees, fince the Conqueft, could multiply, 
and be diffufed into fo many Parts, if it is true, there 
were none before, as they affirm. The Mines of Chiilogoya 
and Quilacura lie within four Leagues of this Port, and 
afford vaft Quantities of Gold ; and the Efiancia del Re , 
or King’s Farm, which is alfo at no great Diftance, is by 
very far the moft plentiful Lavadero , or Waffiing-place, in 
all CM/, where there are fometimes found Lumps of pure 
Gold of a prodigious Size. The Mountains of La Cor- 
dillera are reported to be a continual Chain of Mines, for 
many hundred Miles together-, which is fo much the more 
probable, becaufe, hitherto, fcarce any of thefe Mountains 
have been opened, but vaft Quantities of Metals have been 
found in them, particularly Copper, remarkably fine, of 
which all the Artillery in the Spanijh IVefi Indies , or at leaft 
in the South Seas, are caft. 
There is another confiderable Port in Chili , and, indeed, 
the moft confiderable of them all, which is that of Valpa- 
raifo , which is efteemed one of the beft Harbours in the 
South Seas. It lies upon a River, fifteen Leagues below 
St. Iago , the Capital of Chili. To this Port alfthe Riches 
of the Gold Mines behind it, and on every Side, are brought, 
particularly from thofe of Filtil , which are immenfely rich, 
and lie between this Port and the City of St. Iago. The 
Gold here is found in a very hard Stone, fome of which 
fparkles, and betrays the inclofed Treafure to the Eye; but 
moft of it has not the leaft Sign of Gold, but appears to 
be an hard harfh kind of Stone, of very different Colours, 
fome white, fome red, fome black. This Ore, broken to- 
pieces, is ground in a Mill, by the Help of Water, into a 
grofs Powder, with which Quickfilver is afterwards mixed : 
To this Pafte they let in a fharp Stream of Water ; which 
having reduced it to' a kind of Mud, the earthy Particles 
are carried off by the Current, and the Gold and Quick- 
filver precipitated, by their own Weight, to the Bottom : 
When this Mud has fettled a little into a fort of Pafte, 
they put it into a Linen Bag; ftrain it very hard, by which 
Operation the Mercury is driven out, or at leaft the greateft 
Part of it ; and the Remainder they evaporate by the Help 
of Fire ; fo that they have all the Gold together in a little 
Wedge, like a Pine-apple, and thence it derives its Name 
of Pinna. In order to clear the Gold from the Silver it is 
firft impregnated with, the Lump muff be run ; and then 
they know the exad Weight, and the true Finenefs ; it is 
not done any otherwife there. The Weightinefs of the 
Gold, and the Facility of its making an Amalgama, or 
Pafte, with Mercury, makes the Drofs immediately 
part 'from it : This is an Advantage the Gold-miners have 
6 
AGES of Book I. 
over thofe of Silver ; they every Day know what they get 5 
whereas the others fometimes do not know It till two 
Months after, as has been Lid in another Place. Accord- 
ing to the Nature of the Mines, and the Richnefs of the 
\ ems, every Caxon, or fifty Quintals, that is. Hundred- 
weight, yields, four, five, or fix Ounces : When it 
yields but two, the Miner does not make good his Charge, 
which often happens ; but he has alfo fometimes good 
Amends made him, when he meets with good Veins ; for 
the Gold Mines are, of allMines, thofe which produce Metals 
the moft unequally. They follow a Vein, which grows wider, 
then narrower, and fometimes feems to be loft in a fmall 
Space of Ground. This Sport of Nature makes the Miners 
live in Hopes of finding what they call the Purfe, being 
the Ends of Veins, fo rich, that they have fometimes 
made aMan wealthy at once : And this famelnequality fome- 
times ruins them ; which is the Reafon, that it is more rare 
to fee- a Gold-miner rich than a Silver-miner, or of any, 
other Metal, though there be lefs Expence in drawing it 
from the Mineral, as ffiall be laid hereafter. For this 
Reafon, alfo, the Miners have particular Privileges ; for 
they cannot be fued to Execution on civil Accounts; and 
Gold pays only a twentieth Part to the King, which is 
called Covo , from the Name of a private Perfon, to whom 
the King made the Grant, becaufe they ufed before to pay 
the fifth, as they do of Silver. 
On the Defcent of this Mountain, there runs, during 
the Winter, or rather during the rainy Seafon, a pretty 
brisk Stream of Water, which, paffing through the Gold 
Ore, waffies away abundance of that rich Metal, as it 
ripens and breaks from its Bed : And therefore, for about 
four Months in the Year, this is accounted one of the richeft 
Lavaderos in Chili ; and very well it may, fince there are 
fometimes found Pellets of pure Gold, of the Weight of an 
Ounce. At Palma , which is but four Leagues from Val- 
paraifo , there is another rich Lavadero ; and every-where, 
throughout the Country, the Fall of a Brook, or Rivulet, 
is attended more or lefs with thefe kind of Golden Show- 
ers, the richeft of which fall into the Laps of the Jefuits, 
who farm or purchafe abundance of Mines and Lavaderos, 
which are wrought for their Benefit by their Servants. The. 
Soil about this Port is exceffive rich and fruitful ; fo that 
forty Ships a Year go from hence to Lima, laden with Corn , 
and, notwithftanding their prodigious Exportation, that 
Commodity is fo cheap here, where Money at the fame 
time is fo plenty, that an Englifo Buffiel may be bought for 
lefs than three Shillings ; and it would be much cheaper 
ftill, if all the Country could be cultivated ; but, as they 
have dry Weather for eight Months together, this is im- 
poffible, except where there are Brooks, or little Rills, run- 
ning from the Mountains through the Vales. 
But before we clofe this Subjed, it may not be amils to 
obferve, that there is a great Trade carried on through all 
Chili , from the North Seas, by the Way of Buenos Ayres , 
by which they receive fome European Goods, and a very 
large Balance of Silver in Return for their Commodities. 
This is, perhaps, the greateft Inland Commerce in the 
World ; for the Road, from Buenos Ayres to Potofi , is 
1500 Miles ; and, though the Diftance from Valparaifo be 
not above 1 60 Leagues more, yet it is crofted with greater 
Difficulty than all the reft ; becaufe they are obliged to pafs 
that Chain of Mountains fo often mentioned, called by the 
Spaniards La Cordillera , which Paflage can be attempted 
only during the three firft Months in the Year, when the 
Paftages are open, and the Merchants come from Mendoza , 
which is an Inland Town, about 300 Leagues from Buenos 
Ayres to the City of St. Iago , which lies at the Opening 
ol the Paftes from the Cordilleras. This Journey through 
the Mountains takes up fix or feven Days, tho’ not above 
fixty Leagues ; and the Paffengers are obliged to carry with 
them not only Provifions for themfelves, and their Attend- 
ants, but Provender likewile for their Mules, the whole 
Road being a continual Trad of Rocks and Precipices, 
and the Country round about fo exceffively barren, and 
withal fo expoled to Snows in the Winter, that there is no 
living in it. The Journey, however, from St. Iago to the 
Mines, and from thence to Valparaifo , is equally fafe and 
pleafant ; and the Merchants have nothing to trouble them, 
but the Fear of flaying too long, and lofmg their Paflage 
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