leagues round, is replete with immenfe pieces o f granite,
lying above ground, like the roelts o f Fontainebleau ;•
the land produces a great.deal o f corn, and is well fur-
nifhed with oak,.
Thefe two mines being fo near to each other, might
be reciprocally advantageous, as the lead would be ufe-
ful for refining the pyritous filver.. In the one which is
abandoned,, the remains o f . a crucible and- reverbatory
furnace are itill to be obferved; they: quitted:it on? being
overwhelmed with water,, but it might eafily be cleared
again, it being fituatedon an eminence, called Cfiantre^
as the lead mine is on another, 500 feet higher than; at
brook, where, ia fumnxer,. there is feldom-any water..
From Zalamea we patTed an extenfive plain o f elevens
leagues, called Vinolas de Zalamea, and came to the village
o f Berlanga ; where, entering upon the; Sierra:
Morena we arrived, in four hours, at the famous town o f
Guadalcanal, obferving great, quantities-of fumach.in
thefe partsT which is cut in the month; of Auguft; after
which the leaves and flowers are pounded'and fold to the
curriers of Seville, who ufe it for drefling of leather (a)..
(a) Thebeft Sumach is that which is greeniih and new : Oporto in Portugal,, being the
place which furnifhes the moft, and generally fpeaking, the beft. Rolfs Di&. of commerce-
L E T T E R V I I .
Defcription o f the famous f iv e r mine at Guadalcanal in Eftremadura.
THE town o f Guadalcanal is the Iaft to the fouthward
in the province of Eitremadura, only feparateci from
Andalufia by the fmall ftream of Benalija. The famous
and boafled filver mine o f Guadalcanal^), fo celebrated
by hiftorians, and of which fuch various and uncertain
accounts have been publifhed, is fituated about half a
league diftant from the town o f that name, belonging to
the knights of Santiago,and furrounded with high mountains,
The firft difcovery o f this mine, according to the
(a) This is not Mr. Bowles’s account of the Guadalcanal mine, but I have reafon to think
it a more perfett one, giving the real ftate and prefent condition o f the mine from whence
a judgment may be formed o f Mr. Bowles’ s conjetures. He fays there are about 800 families
at Guadalcanal; but they exceed a thoufand, befides a convent of friars, three convents
• of nuns, and fixty ecclefiafticks, wlio do not enter into the contribution roll, though they
have houfes and families. He mentions the mine being a league diftant from the town,
whereas it is only a mile and a half. He tells us, Guadalcanal is a very dry fpot, though the
inhabitants allege that there is not a more moift and damp town in all Eftremadura. In the
fquare there is one of the richeft fprings of excellent water that can be met with any where,
and all the houfes have wells at a fmall depth. There are four fountains in different
parts of the town, which have no connexion with the principal fpring in the fquare, befides
feveral fmall fpouts of water continually running in the ftreets, that make the houfes fo damp,
that .the lower apartments cannot be inhabited without inconvenience before July. Though
he fays the galleries of the mine were in perfeét good order, he could not have a juft notion
of them, proceeding no further than 50 feet, for the information of Don Jofeph de Carvajal,
minifter of ftate at that time.