THE GOLD AND SILVER MINING DISTRICTS OF PAM- 
PLONA, IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SANTANDER. 
Among the collections of the Museum, there is a series of thirty- 
eight specimens representing the Baja and Vetas groups of mines 
near the city of Pamplona, in Santander. The Alta group near 
the same city is not represented. These specimens were exhibited 
at the World’s Columbian Exposition by Colombia, and later were 
donated to the Museum; but the series is not a portion of the 
Gamba collection. For this and other reasons (vzde znfra), it may 
be inferred that the mines were not in operation in 1892. Indeed, 
this series differs from the Gamba collection in important respects. 
The specimens are small and choice, and appear to represent the 
richest ores only. There are no specimens of associated rocks and 
minerals, and no account of the region accompanies them. In the 
absence of data accompanying the collection, the following account 
has been taken from various sources, chiefly from Vicente Restrepo: 
Etude sur les Mines d’Or et d’Argent de la Colombie:* 
Pamplona, Lat. 7° 20° N.,-Long. 72° 45° FE. a “city sore 
inhabitants, ‘‘stands at an elevation of 7,550 feet, in an old lacustrine 
basin, the source of the Rio Pamplonita.”’ It is in the East Central 
part of the Department of Santander, only twenty miles from the 
Venezuelan frontier. It was founded in 1551, and early became 
very wealthy, from the large quantities of gold and silver obtained 
from its mines. With the subsequent decay of the mining industry 
came its decline, until now several of the neighboring cities are 
much larger. Soon after it was founded exceedingly rich placers 
were discovered, for which the district became famous; but the 
richest were exhausted in a few years. Soon after, gold and silver 
bearing veins were discovered at the Alta and Baja Montuosa, now 
known as Alta and Baja, and at the Vetas, all being districts west of 
the city. During the seventeenth century these mines were very 
celebrated, but were even then on the decline. In 1776 only placers 
were worked. In 1820 the mines were found to be completely 

*The French edition treats the mines of Santander at much greater length than does the 
English version. 
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