- M ine
Men
Platin
R4L. by the numerous fu'raaces, ^whith in the night form a grand fpe<£t&cle,11
P This -furprifing mine was difeov'ered, 1545, by1Hualpa ar Peruvian,
in purfuing fome chamoys pulled up a bulh, and beheld under tfe^oot
that amazing Vein of filver afterwards called la rha dr the rich. fe-He
Ihared this difcovery' with his friend Huancar -who revealed it- to a
Spaniard his mater j and the mine was formally regiftered aift^&pril
- - | C T K j f e i 1'?
;uiy. Another celebrated-mine is that kif mercury, indifpenfabi^ih amalgamating
the precious metals. While Mexico is fupplied' from,Spain,
Peru has the native product of Guancfivelica, a diftridt and town not
far to the S. W: of Lima, near the great' bend of the-old Maranon.
The'cinnabar had been ufed by the Peruvians as a red paint; and the
- quickfilver was firft detected about The mineVis^• hoW ifo
large that there mie faid to be ftreets, and'cfra$fel& where roafe"§|'Celebrated.
This mineralTeerhS alfiTto be in aTgttlaceousrlfchiftus' of a\palle
red.,v *
bttWKG* Platina is chiefly found in the mines of iChdecwand Barbaras, ah the
vice-royalty of .New Granada. Tin according to.Heliffs ^fffednd.iat
Chayanza and Paria; and there are alfckfeveral miner t>£ copper ahd
lead. The chief copper mine was at Area; _but'ccfoMes ate haioffly
fupplied from the mines at Cuba. Among the other minerals may be
mentioned the gallinazo ftone, fo tailed- from its black colour, being a
volcanic glafs or obfidian, fometimes confounded with the Inca ftone 01-
mi r tor of the Incas, both being ufed asiooking- glafles. According - to
Ulloa the Inca ftone is o f a leaden colour and foft, "being -p'tobahly a
. marcafite or' pyritical • mixture, not- yet analyfed. In the time o f the
.Incas emeralds were alfo Common, chiefly on the coaft o f Manta, and in
the government,of Atacames, where it is faid that there are-mines which
the Indians will not reveal, as they muft encounter the labour of work-
<> Notes to Ulloa, Memoires Philofophique8,ii. 2,69, .
* In the province of Carangas* abput70 leagues W. from la Plata are found in,digging in t^ie
fands, detached lumps of filver called papal (potatoes) being fomjed like that foot. -Ullpa, liv.
vii. c. xiii. NearPono was a celebrated filver mine, from which'the pure metal.was cut with a.
' chifeh lb. c. xiv.
,>*. Ib. 323. See alfo Ulloa’ s Voyage, liv. vii. c. xii.
13 I I H N
ipg them.* The rly,|j|^ Lmeral^|^|wv^from t^ie Andes tp the North Mineral-
of Quito; and others of inferior quality are found near Bogota, yvhere
are the chief ■ modern mi]h^M%ei^ffiAn-i;etnerald^#,.m^ly Referred to all
olh^ji/igsp^ b^ofe Q^JB^Vpfr^p^^^j..ne^e<^edL.T h o fe ^ fn j tn d in .-the ,
tombs^ai^i worked intoLpheres^ cklmdg^t,f^iaje.^f, ap^^o&^jfcmp&«^nd
pi^re^d. with, ,greai^pr^ci^.0n: wks^'egflrnplifl'ied
remains Unk^,p^^f ( ^Accord i|rg; Ha^y^alf^ freembbjG^iep. '
in J^Jurfjdi^p^pjF^imnzaii . It ji^inmacj^ry ,to menti0n)|H{fab,ukd~
Cyl^nr-j, bi^umen,_ a,n.d y i-tyiol1,,pi;.fulpl^e^of,irQn^)eq|aim^ciaply,
called pop.peras. ■}■
The -natural curififtties>.of aH- defcriptions' are; numetotjs iand -grand; Natural Cu.
Th&'-vpleanpesv’thp1 Andes,-Ithe irfterfe^ifsn^ ofiMte; ehainfby • the Eauli-' N
Goeha, ©jsjfalfe' lyiaranon, haW*^beady b'eeri do^l^^^SAmeng the nu-
men&U3 catafa^Sj-fBojuguQr’ •xhentlons ,that|0§,r,PKg riverk§6^^a|‘ ^hioh
pafles the j feajtjyyo#- tho-‘famd^' name^alfo "Galledj . ' S a n t a , (1
If&Ogfi -before, fo joins »the ‘Magdalena, }faid toUfe a VertibahfalMoftqimie 1
tl^fr-twelve hundred .feet,If1, {However foistbei 'the vaksoUVfcenes
aitiof g the Andjps; muft/be- variegated", with every- feature;of 'fublimity. ,
* According to Bouguer, Figure de V i Terre, p. xiii. the-mountaiu which contaAied the
enierald mines is mil kuovi;n, being about( five, leagues’, from" the. tea, on tlj^;'So ith fide-of t ic ".ti?
river ,'off Emeralds in the midft o f thick forefts. .In his oSlnfon, p. xiv. the kingdom of Peru never
can have been very populous,' eveit, thp old villages-being,, at the' diftanee o^jten- of twelve
le^ks.^
f In the diftrift of Macas, on' the E. of the 'iin'deskafe , mines o f azoles, tranflatedi
ultramarine, but of dangerous accefs on account .of the favages. Ulloaj liv. vi. c iv. Near the
town of Conception in Chili are found quarries of fliells on tiie;'tops of mou-ntams fifty toifek
abovejthe fea. ib. liv.- viii. c. vi. What is called Amazonian ftone, v/6rrubv'tnkibataks.on.tlie'
Maranon, is a hard green jad which refills the file ; and it is difficult to conceive how they carved
ijffii Condamine, p. 141.
*3, Piguje deila.Terre, xci. Humboldt fays; that fome cavertisthrow:oilt.flames: afld-i!5af ;bhe
coaft qfParia there is a noify volcano'of air. Sometimes large plains are hollow 5 and in 1766,
after earthquakes for eleven months, ,a plain opened'on all.fides, qefitj,tik -fu1phureou#-w^r an<|-
bitumen,