362 / 1060
344
Royal
Commentaries.
OOK
VII1
.c
HAP.
XXIV.
(
Of Gold
and Silvero
S
Pain
it
felfis
a fufficient witnefS of the Gold and Silver which comes from
Peni
confidering that
for
the twenty five years lafl: pall, (befides what hath
been
for~
merly carried) there hath been every year tranfporred twelve or
thirteen MilJions,
according co Regifler, befides
that
which hacli paffed
~
ithout account. There is
Gold found in all the parts of
Peru,
fome more, and fome lefs generally
in
every
Province.
It
is found on the top or furface of the Earth, carried by fireams
and
currents, and wafhed down by great flouds of Rain, which rhe
India~u
gather
and
ut
into water, feparacing it from the Earth,
as
the Silver-fmiths
do
the
filings
' hich
fall
in their fhops. That which is found in this manner, is called
Goldi~
·
dull-, becau[e it is like filings ; fome of which are indifferently big, and about the
fa(hion of
a
Mellon· feed, fame .are round, and others of an oval form;
all che
Gold of
Peru
is
~out
eighteen or twenty Qiilats, more or lefs, in goodnefS, onely
that which comes from the Mines of
Callavaya,or C;allahuaya,
is
of the fineft fort,being
twenty four Qpilats and better,
as
I
h~ve
been informed by fome Gold-fmiths in
Spai?(.
In
the year
15 56,
there was digged out of the veins of a Rock in the Mines
of
CaUah1tqya,
a
piece of Gold Ore, of the bignefs of
a
Man's head,
in colour like
the
Lungs of
a
living creature, and indeed did fomething refemble it
in
the fuape
ha
ing certain Perforations through
it
from one end to the other;
in
all
which
holes there appeared little kernels of Gold, as if melted Gold had been dropped in–
to them, fome of chem being outwardly in knobs, and ochers more inward: Thofe
that underfrood
the
nature ofMines, were of opinion, that had that piece ofOre
been fuffered
to
remain, it would all with time have been turned into
perfea
Gold.
In
Couo
the
Spaniard.1
looked upon it as ft-range and unufual, and tne
Jmli–
an1
called it
Huaco,
as they did every thing
hich was wonderfull, and worthy
of
admiration ; the which word
alfo
was
u[ed
by them when any thing
~as
abomi·
nable,
or
detefl:able in its kind. The
Mailer
of thi piece of Ore det rmined
ro
carry it with him
into-Spain,
and prefent
it
co
ing
Philip
c:he
econd a a
curio/icy
' great
y
to be efieemed :
But I
was informed by tnofe who were
in
the fame Fleer
with
him,
that the Ship
in
which that perfon embarked was cafl: away,
and
that
he
was drowned, and
all
his treafure, \ irh much more, perifhed \ ith him.
The ilver is digged with much more labour than Gold, and refined
ith much
11
1
ore charge and difficulty: There are many Mine in divers parts of
Peru,
but
none
like thofe of
Potoji,
the hich were difcovered in the year
1545',
being about four·
teen year afrer the
Spaniard1
firfi
poffi
ffi
d d1at Counrrey,
a
appears by the
Re–
cord.
The Mountain
in
which
thefe Mine
ari[e,
i
called
Potoji;
but
why it
is
fo
nan.1ed, I cannot tell, unlefs ic hath fome figni
c
rion in the proper Language of
tl
at
Coumrey ;
for in
the general
eech of
Peru
it hath none.
It
i
Gmared in
the
midft of
a
P
aio,
in
form
of
a
ugar-toaf, i about the
compa~
of
a League
ac
t
e ortom, and
a
quarter of
a
League roward the
ro
it
is r und and
\'er~
plea·
farit co behold, flanding alone, and fingle in a
1
m ; \\ hich
ature
h~rh
adorned
and
b
autified, having added comelinefs
to
that fame, '\\ hich its
Riches
hath
made
renowned, and efieerned in the
1
odd. Some Morning it appear "' ith
a cap of
Snow, the Climate thereabouts being fomething cold.
hat Mountain
in the
divifion '
hich \:
as
firll:
made fell
to
the
fhare
of
Gon_ptlo
Pif~u·ro,
and after'.'
ards
to
Pedro Hino1ofa
·
a we fhall hereafter declare,
in
cale we may be fo free,
a co
bring co
light fome
hidden
and
fi
cret
ra
ices
contri e
in
the
times
of \¥ar,
' ·hi h Hifiorian do often omit;
f<
aring
to
difparage the
A
ions of
grear
Men,
and thereby create enmity
an
difi leafure c themfi
.l
es.
·
Aco..fla
in his fourth
o k
write at
brge
of
old,
and
ilver, and
Qgi
k-fi
ver,
of' hich every day there are
i
di[co\'ere
i
that
Empire
[o
th:u
I
fhall
not
need
to
\"\'rite of them ; onely I {hall mention fome few remarl'
l
Je thing c ncer–
ning thofe Meca , and ho\
the
Indi:;{
11
me ted an founded th m
befo ·
rhe
P·
1 -
11i.11·.
's