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Show 316 CHILE. Aug. 1834. which are absurdly large. I measured one which was six inches in the diamete'r of the rowel, and the rowel itself contained upwards of thirty points. The stirrups are on the same scale, each consisting of a square, carved block of wood, hollowed out, yet weighing three or four pounds. The Guaso is perhaps more expert with the lazo than the Gaucho; but, from the nature of the country, he does not know the use of the bolas. AuausT l8TH.-We descended the mountain, and passed some beautiful little spots, with rivulets and fine trees. Having slept at the same hacienda as before, we rode during the two succeeding days up the valley, and passed through Quillota, which is more like a collection of nursery-gardens than a town. The orchards were beautiful, presenting one mass of peach-blossoms. I saw also in one or two places the date-palm. It is a most stately tree ; and I should think a group of them in their native Asiatic and African deserts must be superb. We passed likewise San Felipe, a pretty straggling town like Quillota. The valley in this part expands into one of those great bays or plains, reaching to the foot of the Cordillera, which have been mentioned as forming so curious a part of the scenery of Chile. In the evening we reached the mines of Jajuel, situated in a ravine at the flank of the great chain. I staid here five days. My host, the superintendent of the mine, was a shrewd but rather ignorant Cornish miner. He had married a Spanish woman, and did not mean to return home · but his admiration for the mines of Cornwall remained' un-bounded. Amongst many other questions, he asked me "No w t ha t George Rex is dead, how many more of the' family. of Rexes are yet alive ?" This Rex certainly must be a relatwn of the great author Finis, who wrote all books ! These mines are of copper, and the ore is all shipped to ~wansea, to . be smelted. Hen~e the mines have an aspect smgularly qmet, as compared to those in England : here no smoke, furnaces, or great steam-engines, disturb the solitude of the surrounding mountains. Aug. 1834. CHILIAN MINES. 317 The Chilian government, or rather the old Spanish law, encourages by every method the searching for mine~. The discoverer may work a mine on any ground, by payi~g five shillings; and before paying this he may try, even m the uarden of another man, for twenty days. 0 It is now well known that the Chilian method of mining is the cheapest. My host says the two principal im?rovements introduced by foreigners have been, first, reducmg by previous roasting the copper pyrites-which, being the common ore in Cornwall, the English miners were astounded on their arrival to find thrown away as useless: secondly, stamping and washing the scorire from the .furnaces-by which process particles of metal are recovered m abundance. I have actually seen mules carrying to th~ coast, for transportation to England, a cargo of such Cl~~ers. . But the first case is much the most curious. The Chllmn rnmers were so convinced that copper pyrites contained not a particle of copper, that they laughed at the English~e~ for thei. r I. gnorance, wh o 1a ug h e d m· t urn, and bou(}b "ht • their nchest veins for a few dollars. It is very odd that, m a country where mm. m. g had b een ex t ensi·V e ly carried on for many years so simple a process as gently roasting the ore, to expel the sulphur previous to smelting it,. had. never b~en discovered. A few improvements have hkewise been m- troduced m. some of the s·i mp1 e mach 'I n ery '· b. ut even to the present day, water is removed from some mmes by men carryinu it up the shaft in leathern bags! . . The bl abourm• g men work very h ar d · They have l.i ttle time allowed for thei. r meals, and d urm· g summ er and Winter the.y begin when it is light and leave off at dark. They are pai.d one pound sterlm. g a m' onth , an d the .i r f o odis given them: this for breakfast consi. sts of s.i xteen fi gs an d two small loaves odf bread · for dm. ner boi.l e d b eans ; f or sup per broken roaste wheat'g ra.m . Theyscarcelyever taste mea t., a s' with the twelve pounds per annum, they h ave to cl ot he thems· elves ' .a nd. sup- port the.u fami.h .e s. The mm. ers wh 0 wo rk in the rome Irts el1f, have twenty-five shillings per month, and are allowed a Itt e |