henfible progrefs of nature, imperceptible to human ob-
fervation. We are therefore ftill very much in the dark,,
relating to thefe bones, as well as, with refpecl to our
knowledge o f foil'll fubilances. in general ; having yet to
afcertain, a more accurate difcovery o f their former natural
iituation, as well as the true origin of the mountains,,
and ftrata o f earlh in which they are found(tf)-
($; “ Philofophers, antient and modern, (fays a fate writer) Have Hitherto coniideredmoun*--
tains, in general, from a point o f view, too confined, or entirely different from that off
mineralogy and mining; being unimproved by the light o f volcanos,, and by that exter^/ive
knowledge, which they might Have reaped’, in the deepeft mines, oron tHeHigheft mountains,,
and from the instruction of unfcientific miners, they fluck only to'their libraries, and to the-
uppermoit cruft o f the earth, which they had an opportunity of examining, without any great-
trouble to themfelves, in the moft pleafing countries, and in the moft' fuperficial quarries of
fandftone, limeftane, agd-fláte. We are not to wonder therefore, that orology, or the fcb-
ence of mountains, i&fo little underftood amongft.the learned,, and that, the defcriptions of
the higher mountains of Peru, Teneriffe, Switzerland, and different parts of. Europe, are
generally filled with meteorological'obfervations, Botany, and'Other accounts, which leave-
their very nature,-in a mineralogical, and orological refpe<ftv full as /unknown, ..as they were;
before. The confequence was plain, that, general conclufions have been too railily drawn,,
from a fingl'e kind of mountains, and that, the pretended fyftems, o f the origin o f moun-
tains in general, are, for the greater part,. fo very romantic, and fuperficial.”— Travels*
through the Bannat o f Temefwar, Tranfylvania and Hungary,, by Baron Inigo Born, tranflai*
ted from the German, by R. E. Rafpe. London, 1777,. See preface, page xxix.
P A R T II.
L E T T E R I.
B on Guillermo Bowles's journey, by order o f Government,: to infpeSt the
mine o f Almaden, in La Mancha, defending his new method o f exlratd-
ing.the quichfilver from the ore o f that mine; with fame account of
the ufe made o f quickflver, by the Spaniards, in the filver mines
o f Mexioo, and Peru.
IN the year 1752» I received orders, from the mi-
niftry, to infpeil the rich quicklilver mine, at Almaden,
in La Mancha. Our firft ftage, from Madrid,
was to GetaFe, and from-thence to Toledo. The waters
of the Tagus are very good here, and mix well with
foap, though they are bad at Aranjuez, on account of
their union with limy and faline particles, in that part
o f the river. From Toledo I proceeded to Mora,
through a well cultivated valley, and from thence to
Confuegra, paffing forwards by the Puerto Lapiche,
Daimiel, and Miguelturra, to the village of Carrafcal.
Hitherto the country is well cultivated, but further on,
the