hundred and fifty feet—the blows of many
picks and hammers are distinctly heard. The
mines are generally private property, though
some of them, indeed, belong to English
companies. The mode of working is
extremely careless. The descent into them is by
a bucket hung on an old chain, or worn-out
rope. The sides and roof of the galleries
are frequently left unsupported, because
timber happens to be scarce and dear:
accidents therefore constantly occur, but nobody
concerns himself about them. The rubbish
is removed after a fall in; and the work goes
on as usual. The miners are, for the most
part, Indians. They earn, on an average, from
four to six reals (two or three shillings) daily;
but when a rich vein has been opened, they
are paid in ore, and often earn very high
wages, which they spend in brandy, chicha,
and fine clothes. The town abounds with
liquor-shops, eating-houses, and cafés, which
are generally kept by foreigners, men of all
nations. From these places the Indian
miners buy their food ready cooked. It
consists chiefly of maize bread and charquí
—slices of beef dried in the sun—great
quantities of which are imported from the
more southern republics, especially the Argentine.
Even before food, however, the chief
comfort of the Indian is the coca leaf. The
coca plant is not unlike the vine in its
appearance. It is cultivated by the Indians at
the foot and on the sides of the Cordilleras,
and bears a white flower, with a small red
fruit. At the proper season, the leaves are
stripped from the plants, carefully dried, and
packed in bags containing each from fifty
to a hundred pounds. They have an
aromatic bitter taste. The cholo never is without
his little pouch of coca leaves, and a small
calabash containing quick lime, or the ashes
of a hot root. He first chews a quid of leaves
until it is well moistened, and then thrusts a
little lime into the mass on the point of a
small stick: thereupon the mastication is
continued till the quid is dry. This kind of
refreshment is taken by the miners three
times a day, about a quarter of an hour being
set apart for its enjoyment upon each
occasion; and the men will go through the
most arduous toil, or travel for days over the
mountains, with no other support than coca
leaf. In travelling, a quid is kept continually
in the mouth. On first using the coca, there
is some excoriation suffered by the lips; this,
however, passes off, and, when mixed with a
little quinna, I must say that I have found
the stuff very agreeable. It produces the
exhilarating effects of opium without the
drowsiness and stupefaction; it will ward off
sleep, destroy the sense of hunger, and act as
a spur upon the strength and spirits. The
cholos who use it regularly are unquestionably
healthy and long-lived; but the coca, like all
other stimulants, is liable to serious abuse.
The coquero or coca-chewer, who is never
without a ball of it in his mouth, often passes
the night through without sleep; he becomes
debilitated, languid, nervous; his complexion
takes a greenish hue; and, if he will persist in
his excess—which soon becomes a vice beyond
the power of his will—he perishes.

In the shops of Pasco are found the
products of all countries. Bass's pale ale is
in high favour here, and knives and forks
carry the stamp of Sheffield cutlers. I
remember being pleasantly surprised in a
shepherd's hut on the Puna, at having placed
before me some boiled maize on a plate
ornamented with a picture of John Anderson my
joe and his gude wife, with two verses of the
song beneath it. The Indian was delighted
at the pleasure I took in the plate, and was
solicitous to have the lines translated.

The most common contents of dishes at the
fondas or eating houses, are pucheros and
picantes; the former a mixture of everything
—beef, pork, camotes, frijoles, bananas, potatoes,
maize, &c., highly seasoned with aji—a
sort of ground pepper, of a peculiar and
pleasant flavour. The latter, the picante, is
comprised of jerked beef, chopped small, and
mixed with bread crumbs or crushed maize.
The usual liquors are a sweet unpleasant wine,
chicha, and guarapo—the latter made from
fermented sugar and water; still good wines
are procurable, and spirits are much too
plentiful. Under the influence of spirit
frequent battles occur among the Indians, in
which the long knife is freely used.

As the high table-land is altogether
unproductive, provisions and other necessaries
are brought from the valleys on the backs
of mules. That is the only practicable
mode of carriage; although it is a curious
fact that, during the War of Independence,
cavalry and artillery were transported to
these heights, and two battles were fought
close to Pasco. At the latter of these Bolivar
had ten thousand troops besides artillery in
the field, and Canterac, the royalist general,
opposed him with an equal number. They
must certainly have had a taste for fighting
under difficulties if they dragged themselves,
their guns, and horses up these mountains for
no other purpose.

An English firm at Callao, which has
considerable mining property on the Ceno de
Pasco, has recently procured from England a
quantity of improved machinery for the
extraction of the silver from its ore. The old
method is still commonly practised, that is to
say, the ore is amalgamated with quicksilver
by treading together quicksilver and ore
beneath the feet of mules and horses; this
proceeding causes a considerable loss of
quicksilver, ruins the feet of the animals, and does
not properly fulfil its purpose. The quicksilver
nearly all of which is brought from
Europe is afterwards evaporated by the
application of heat. Coal is found on the
Puna.

The whole annual produce of the mines
of Ceno Pasco once reached the amount