109 
Chap. VIII.— B. S.] DISCOVERY OP THE JAVALI. 
rich in silver and gold, and traceable for several 
miles; magnificent waterfalls available for setting in 
motion the most powerful machinery; and in every 
direction timber of excellent quality for mining pur¬ 
poses. This was the now famous Javali mine, the ore 
of which up to that time was taken out in small quan¬ 
tities only, and ground to powder in mortars cut out of 
the solid rock of the river-bed, whenever the Indians 
required gold for trading purposes. Hastening to re¬ 
gister his claims officially, the enraptured miner tried 
to raise the funds necessary for turning this valuable 
discovery to account; but his credit was so low that 
not one of his countrymen would lend him a few dol¬ 
lars to buy picks and shovels. He would have been 
obliged to abandon all thought of working the mine 
if a generous foreigner had not come forward with 
the necessary funds, and also stood between him 
and his relentless creditors, when the richness of 
the Javali came to be known. In a short time the 
miner was able to pay off all his and his father’s 
debts, and purchase houses and estates. The chalice 
promised to St. Peter’s shrine was not forgotten. It 
was made of thirty-six ounces of gold, and by the 
hands of a German goldsmith, under whose hospit¬ 
able roof the miner was living when his wife regis¬ 
tered the vow. 
The mine proper consists solely of a strip of land, 
200 varas wide, by 1000 varas long, running nearly 
due east and west, and its water-power, or “ plantel,” 
is derived from the Javali river, which, within a 
few yards of the vein, takes a leap of about 150 feet. 
