L E T T E R IX.
Extraordinary qualities o f the River Tinto, with fame account o f the
copper mine o f Rio Tinto in its neighbourhood.
AB O U T fourteen leagues from Seville on the frontiers
o f Portugal, and on the banks o f the river
Tinto, Hands the village o f Tinto, which has alfo
given its name to a celebrated and very ancient copper
mine that is near it. It muft have been greatly
efteemed by the Romans as may be judged from the
coniiderable remains o f their works ftill to be feen,
which Alonfo Carranza has fully defcribed, adding that
thefe mines were not worked in his time, though the remains
of the furnaces were found capable of containing
four or five hundred quintals of ore, being much larger
than any ufed in Spain or the Weft Indies ; the country
all round is covered with flag. In the year 1725, a grant
o f this mine was made by the court to Mr. Liebert Wol-
ters a Swede, who drained the mine of the water, and
after that fpent large fums o f money which he had raifed
by fubfcription to very little purpofe, and died two years
after the grant had been made to him, leaving his intereft
to his nephew Manuel Tiquet, who continued the works
with
with better fuccefs, difcovered the vein o f copper, and
eftabliihed a manufacture o f vitriol o f copper o f the belt
fort : but Tiquet had not the good fortune to furvive
thefe promifing appearances, he died in 1758, and le ft
every thing to his mother and two lifters, the mine being
at that time in a flouriihing ftate, producing enough,
to defray all charges, as well as the engagements entered
into for the benefit o f the undertaking, havings fur-
niihed annually for the laft ten years about one hundred,
and forty thoufand pound weight of fine copper, which'
fold for 4 f reals vellón, (about i s . 4,d. fterling) per
pound, and paid one thirtieth part duty to, the king.
The heirs of Tiquet not having received any advantage
from, the mine, have complained to the court, and new.
orders have been given to make an inventory o f the
whole, and report its prefent fituation, when, the a&ual
value o f this mine will be more accurately known.. Don
Guillermo Bowles did not go there, though invited by
the adminiftrator thereof;, however he aflerts that the:
copper is difficult to fufe and has a mixture of iron ore,,
which the miners o f Rio Tinto will not agree to ; fo far
from it, they boaft of its quality, and even- flatter them-
felves it may contain,gold, according to the report of the
aflay matter when the contract was made, which is ftill to
be feen amongft other papers depofited in the archives
o f the royal mint at Segovia. Thofe concerned at prefent.
are. all Spaniards, and. no foreigner has any intereft
therein,,