368 / 1070
344
Royal Commrntaries. ,
BooKVHi.
CH A
P.
XXIV.
Of.Gold and Silver.
S
,P
air.
ic felfis a fufficient
w
imefs of che Gold and Silver whiéh comes from
¡
eru,
coníidering thac for che cwenty five years laíl: pafi, (befides what hath been for–
merly carried) chere hath been every year tranfporced cwelv~ or chirteen Millions,
~cording to Regiíler, beíi9es chat which hach paífed without account. Thére
is
' . Gold found in_all che parts of
Peru,
fome
1
more, and fome lefs_generally in every
Province. le is found on che top or furface of che Earth, carned by füeams and
amenes, and wafhed clown by greac flouds ofRain, which che
Indians
gacher and
puc imo water, feparating it fro~n the Earth, as che _Silver-fmiths do the filings-,
which fall in cheir .fho¡,s. Tbat which is found in thlS mam:ier, is called Gola
in
duít, becaufe ic is like filings ; fome of which are indifferencly big, and about
the
úfhion of a Mellon-feed, fome are round, a11d others of an oval form ; all
che
Gold
QÍ
Peru
is ::bout eighteen or twemy Qµilats, more or}efs, in goodnefs, onely
cha~ which comes from che Mines of
Callavaya,or Callahuaya,
1s of che fineíl: fort,being
twenty four Q¡ilats and better, as I have been informed by forne Gold-fmiths
in
Sp_ai11.
In
the year
1
55
6,
chere was digged
out.ofche veins of a Rock in che Mines
of
C,dlahu19a,
a piece of Gold Ore, of che bignefs of a Man's head, in colour like
the Lungs of a living creature, and indeed did fomething refemble it jn che íhape
fiaving certain Perforacions chrough it from one end to che ocher;
in
all whích
holes there a¡:>peared little kernels of Gold, as if melred Gold had been dropped in–
to chem, fome of chem being outwardly in knobs, and ochers more inward: Thofe
·that underíl:oód .the '1iafore 6fMinesl were of opinion, thac had thac piece of Ore
been fuffered to rediaih, it would all with time have been turned i~ro perfeét
Gold.
In
Co:ud
che
Spaniards
looked upon ir as íl:range and unufual, and ilie
Jndi–
fll'!/
,é31J~d it
Huaco,
a~ chey did every thing which was wonderfull,.and worrhy of
--:1dm1rat1on ; the wh~ch _wor~ alfo was ufed by ther1: w~en any chrng wa~·~bomi-
nab.Je,or deteíl:able m 1cs kmd. The Maíl:et of ch!S p1ece of Ore decerrnmed -to
carry it with him into
Spain,
and prefent it to King
Philip
che Second as a curiofüy
great!y to be eíl:eem~d: But I was informed by chofe who were in che fa:me Fleet
wich.' him, ~hac th~ Ship in which chat perfon ernbarked was caíl away, and chat
he wa'.s drowned,'and a'll his treafüre, wirh much more, perifhed wirh J;iirn.
The Silver is digged wirh much more labour rhan Gold, and refined with much
more charge and difficulcy: There are many Mtnes in divers parts of
Peru,
but none
. like thofe of
Potoft,
'Che w;hich were difcovered in the yeár
1545';
being abou.cfour–
·ceen years afcer the
$paniards
firíl: poffeífed rhat Coumrey, as appeaes by che Re–
cqrd. The Mountain in which tbefe Mines arife, i~called
Potof;
hut why it is
fo
1~an:1ed, I cannot te!\, .unlefs it hath fome fignification in che prnper La'nguage of
that rCoumrey ; for in che generéll Speech of
Peru
ic hath none. le is íimated in
che m1díl: of a Plain, in fonn of a Sugar-loaf, is about the compafs of a League ac
the ~)Ottom, and aquarrer ofa League rowards che top, it
is
round, and very plea~
fant to behold, ílanding alone, and íingle in a Plam ; which Namre harh adorned
and beaurifi~d, baving added cornelinefs ro that fame, which its.Riches hath made
renowned, and eíl:eemed in che World. Some Mornings it appears vVith a cap of
Snow, the Climare rhereaboms being fomerhing cold. That Mounrain·in che
divifion \Yhich ~Yas
firíl:
01ade fell to che 01are of
Gonralo Pifarí·o,
and afcerwards
ro
Pedro Hinojofa
~
as we fhall hereafcer declare, in cafe\ve rnay be
fo
free, as
to
bring to light fome hidden and fecrer prafüces comrived in the times of \iVar,
whid1 Hiíl:orialls do often omit; ·fearing
to
difpara!r che Afüons of great Men,
and thereby creare enmity apd difpleafore·
to
themfe.ves.
Acojl-a
in his fourth Book writes at large of Gold, and Silver, and Qgick-íilver,
of which every
d':iy
tbere are Mines difcovered in cbat Empire,
fo
that I füall noc
need to write of them; onely I fhall memion fome few remarkab!e things concer–
ning.chofe Mecals, and how che
India,;s
rne!ted, and founded them before che
Spa·
·
niard,