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city_n	call_v	great_a	place_n	10,107	5	4.1120	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30864	The art of metals in which is declared the manner of their generation and the concomitants of them : in two books / written in Spanish by Albaro Alonso Barba ... curate of St. Bernards parish in the imperial city of Potosi, in the kingdom of Peru in the West-Indies, in the year 1640 ; translated in the year 1669 by the R. H. Edward, Earl of Sandwich.; Arte de los metales. English	Barba, Alvaro Alonso, b. 1569.; Sandwich, Edward Montagu, Earl of, 1625-1672.	1674 (1674)	Wing B682; Wing B678; ESTC R17204	82,457	255

above the superficies of the Earth and those within the bowels of it run after the same manner other such like signs they give us whereby to know those Brooks or Rivers that have Gold in them but with less reason because the Gold is not engendred there but in the veins of the mountains from whence time and the downfalls of water have worn it away but without disparaging the judgement of those that have thought as abovesaid and have written to that purpose I say that for the most part in the Mines of Europe and of these parts experience hath shewed the contrary which I foresee they will answer by saying that oftentimes an effect is produced contrary to expectation and that these have their exceptions as well as other rules nevertheless if it be lawful for us in this other world and opposite Climate to make new rules from the experiences in the rich Mines of Potosi I should assign the first place of riches and abundance to those veins that run North and South upon the northernside of the mountain which point of the Compass with a very little declination Westward the four principal Mines of this mountain observe namely the Mine of Centeno which was the Descubridora the Rich mine the Tin mine and the mine of Mendieta the second place I should give to them that run North and South on the South side of the hills A point of the Compass parallel whereunto run the best veins of the second famous Mine of this Kingdom which hath its name from the famous City of St. Philip of Austria called Oruro which in the richness of its veins abundance of Mettals depth of its Mines and great concourse of inhabitants deservedly stands in competition with the grandeur of Potosi In divers places very rich veins of Mettal run East and West and also to several other points of the Compass so that the best rule to go by in this matter is to follow the Mettal as it discovers it self and as long as one gains thereby or at least saves himself it is worth the following on because being sure to lose nothing one hath the vein will lead him to great riches and if the vein be large and have any signs of Gold or Silver in it although for the present it doth not quit the cost men go on couragiously in the working of it having such certain hopes of gaining great profit this hath been confirmed by experience in all the Mines of these Provinces a fresh instance whereof we have in the rich Mine of Chocaia where for the instruction and encouragement of Miners after having followed its veins forty years with very little profit at length they have met with the extravagant riches which all of us in this Kingdom have heard and seen If the veins of Mettal be very small they must be extream rich to be worth the following if the Mettal be found clinging about Stones and likewise in the hollows of those Stones it be found in grains like corns of Gunpowder being that which the Spaniards call Plomo and is Silver unrefin'd although these grains be but few and the rest of the Mettal have no Silver in it nevertheless it is a sign of the riches of the vein when it meets with more moisture As it fell out in that great Mine of St. Christopher of the Lipes which they call the Poor man's Treasure if as they dig forwards they meet with more abundance of those grains de Plomo it is a sign that the rich Oar is very near To find Chrisocola Herrumbre Oropimente or Sandaraca in the Mines or iron-colour'd earth next to the Stones that inclose the Oar or Fullers-earth between those Stones are very good tokens of the richness of the Mine it is no ill sign also to meet with dry Earth if it be yellow red black or any other extraordinary colour and 't is the better when there is some shew of Lead mixt with it Chalky-ground is very promising and Agricola doth judge it a good sign to meet with Sand in the Mines if it be exeeding fine and very ill to meet with Earth full of little Flints if it hold long without changing into another soil CHAP. 26. Of Mettals in particular and first of Gold THe most perfect of all Inanimate bodies and the most esteemed of all Mettals is Gold universally known and coveted by all people It is made of the same matter and in the same manner as other Mettals are as hath been already shewn but of parts so pure and perfect and so well compacted togther by decoction that its substance is as it were incorruptible being out of the power of any of the Elements to be corrupted or destroyed The fire that consumes all other Mettals only makes Gold more pure The air and water diminish not its lustre nor can Earth make it rust or waste By the nobleness of its substance it hath most deservedly obtained that estimation which the world gives it and the natural vertue which flows from the admirable equality of its composition is the best medicine against melancholy and the greatest cordial to the hearts of men which perpetually run after this avaritious Mettal as the Needle doth after the Loadstone The qualities that it hath in common with other Mettals have been briefly touched in Chapter 21. The vertue ascribed to Aurum potabile to preserve a body perpetually in youthfulness without infirmity together with the receipt of making thereof depends upon the credit of those Authors who have written concerning the same Many writers upon this subject relate the names of divers Countries Mountains and Rivers famous for the production of Gold but my design is not to be over-large and therefore I not only forbear to translate what other men have written but also to treat of the greatest part of the Mines in this new world even those of divers of the Provinces of Peru and only apply my self to give your Lordship a short account of those which are found in the Royal audiencia de los Charcas the government whereof is worthily committed unto the care of your Lordship Every body knows the name of Carabaya for being a Country stored with plenty of the finest Gold as fine as the finest Gold of Arabia it is of the ley of 23 Corrats and three grains and although an incredible quantity thereof hath been and daily is gotten thence yet now they begin to work again a-fresh and follow the veins of it under ground whereas hitherunto they have only gathered up the fragments of it which were washed off by the rains The Province of Larecaja borders upon Carabaya and abounds with Gold which in divers Brooks of that Country is found in form and colour like unto small shot which being melted and its outward coat and mixture consum'd away becomes of a red colour he that found this first did not know it to be Gold until a friend of his unto whom I discovered it told him so Next

it but Ammoniac which in Greek signifies Salt of the sand and underneath the sand of the Sea shore I suppose it is found congealed in little pieces by its internal heat and the continual burning of the Sun baked so much that it is made the bitterest to taste of all kind of Salt Goldsmiths use it more than the Physicians It is one of those they call the four spirits because the fire will convert them into smoak and so they fly away the other three are 1. Quicksilver 2. Sulphur 3. Saltpeter It hath a particular property to cleanse and colour Gold and is put into the composition of that Aqua-fortis that dissolves it At this day we have little knowledge of the true Nitre which was anciently made of the water of the river Nilus although Albertus Magnus saith that in Goselaria there was a mountain that contained a very rich Mine of Copper and the water that issued out at the bottom of it being dried became Nitre We know little also of Aphonitro which is but as it were the froth of Nitre Borax which is called by the Spaniards Chrysolica and Atincar is an artificial sort of Nitre made of Urines stirred togethet in the heat of the Sun in a Copper Pan with a Ladle of the same until it thicken and coagulate although others make it of Salt-Ammoniac and Allum Nitre is bitterer than Salt but less Salt Saltpeter is the mean between them two and consists of very dry and subtile parts it grows in the walls of old Houses and in Stables Cow houses Hog-sties and Dove-coats it will grow again in the same Earth it was taken out of if that Earth be throwen in heaps and spared and taken care of or if ordinary Earth be cast up into heaps and watered with brackish water after some years it will give a great encrease as profitable as crops of Grain The use of it in making of Gunpowder and Aqua-fortis is very well known It is used also in the melting of Mettals as shall be shewn hereafter CHAP. 9. Of Juices which the Spaniards call Betunes THe Betune is one of the things that does most damage of all unto Mettals especially in the melting of them because it burns them and makes them become dross if they be not cleared of the Betune before they be put into a fierce fire There be twelve sorts of Betune viz. Asphalto Pissasphalto Naptal la Piedra Gagete Azabache Ampelites Maltha Piedra Thracia Carbones de Mina Ambar de Cuentas Ambar Olorosa Alcanfor But few of these sorts are found mixed with Metals All Betunes are the oyliness or fat of the Earth and although some are of opinion that Alcanphor is the weeping or Gum of the Tree Capar in the Island of Zebat and the Amber of another Hearb called Polco in Spanish whereunto it is commonly found sticking And to the smelling Amber they ascribe for its original a great Fish in the Sea like a Whale because there is great resemblance between it and sperma Ceti Nevertheless that doth not hinder that such substances also may like sweat as it were issue forth of the Earth and make these Juices called Betunes Asphalto is found in the Lake of Sodom or the dead Sea in Judea whereinto runneth the river Jordan three leagues from the City of Jericho It is nothing else but an oyly froth that swims on the surface of the water of that Lake agitated and driven by the winds and waves a-shore and there condenses and hardens It is like unto Pitch but harder and of a better colour Before God overthrew those wicked Cities of Sodom Gomorrha Admah and Seboim that fertile valley had little of this Betune in it as may be collected from Gen. Chap. 14. These are found also in many other places and Provinces some whereof use them to make Candles with instead of Oyl and although in Peru they have not been curious in further search then how best to work their Oar of Gold and Silver yet by the plenty of them that the Indians bring it is known that there are of them in the Cordillera de la Chiriguanes in the frontiers of Lomnia although they have little access to them because they be in the power of the Indians that maintain war against the Spaniard The Pissasphalto is a natural composition of Asphalto and Paz and so the colour of it declares and for want of the true natural Pissasphalto they counterfeit it of those two materials La Napthe is a sulphurous liquor sometimes white and sometimes black also and is that which is called Oyl of Peter of admirable vertue to cure old pains proceeding from cold causes It will draw fire to it as the Loadstone does Iron with that force that it will take fire at a great distance from the flame as hath been confirmed by the miserable experience of the Conde de Hercules de Icontrarii of the Country of Ferara who having a Well in his ground the water whereof was mixed with Petreol and by some breaches or cracks in the Well much of this water ran to waste commanded it to be repaired the Laborer that was let down into the bottom of the Well desired a Candle the better to see his work which was furnished him in a Lanthorn and immediately through the holes of the Lanthorn the Napthe suckt the flame into it self and set fire on the whole Well which discharged it self instantly like a great piece of Cannon and blew the poor man into pieces and took off an arm of a Tree that hung over the Well The Conde himself told the story to Matiolo who reports it in his Dioscorides Asphalto and Pissasphalto melt in the fire as Pitch or Wax and by that they are distinguished from the Piedra Gagate or Ascabache and also from Pit-coal which burns and consumes it self away like Tea or any other sort of wood As yet I have not heard whether there be any Betunes in these Provinces although I perswade my self there be if they were sought for CHAP. 10. Of Sulphur and Antimony SUlphur is a Mineral the most universally known of any It is made of an Earthy unctuous substance and very hot to that degree that it is esteemed to be nearest of kin to the Element of fire of any compounded substance The Chymists call it the Masculine seed and Natures first agent in all generation and they say that the difference between one thing and another arises from the divers preparations and mixtures of Sulphur and Quicksilver It hath happened to an Apothecary that going about to make a salve compounded of those two materials he has found the result to be a Plate of fine silver After many considerations of this substance Thophrastus Paracelsus proceeds to contemplate the wonders produced by Sulphur and saith that God by an especial providence hath concealed those mysteries and that it is an evident confutation of those who oppose the transmutation of Mettals for this Mineral doth effect it and he teaches

unto Larecaja joyns Tipuane a Country inhabited by savage Indians with whom we have had wars and made incursions upon them ever since the building of the City de la Paz where I was present and is now above twenty years ago this Country is so largely reported to be rich in Gold that it were incredible unless so many eye-witnesses had affirmed it the proper name of this City de la Paz is Chaquiyapu which we corruptly call Chuquiabo which in the language of this Country is as much as to say Chacra or the Farm of Gold it hath abundance of Mines in it that were wrought in the time of the Ingas it is a soil generally known to be fertile of Mettals and in the time of the rains the Boys often pick up Gold in the streets in small bits like the kernels of apples especially in that street that goes down to the River by the convent of the Predicadores and in the valley of Coroico and others which they call andes de Chuquiabo in the cliffs of the Rocks Gold is found of a grey colour on the outside like unto Lead The Silver Mines of the famous Town of St. Philip of Austria Oruro are encompassed round about with other hills in which there are many rich veins of pure Gold which have been wrought heretofore at present there is only one wrought and that by my perswasion upon the ridge of that mountain that runs over the Silver-mills which they call de las Sepolturas the Oar whereof being well ground to powder and ensayed by Quicksilver yields a considerable profit they have not followed any more of the veins for want of industry their common trade being getting of Silver or which I rather believe because in those veins they have already wrought they have not gotten so much Gold as they expected although that ought not to discourage them because it may reasonably be supposed that where so many veins of Gold are there be some of them very rich if they have the good fortune to light upon them the same which daily experience hath shewed in the Mines of Silver The bounds of Chayanta are full of veins of Gold and have some ancient Mines already sunk in them and in the Sands of its River which is called el Rio grande kernels of Gold are found and in the River of Tinquepaya seven leagues from this City of Potosi they have found Gold also In the Confines of Paccha Chuquichuqui and Presto near unto the City of Chuquisaca there be many Caves out of which they have gotten some shew of Gold the like also is found from the River Sopachuy up unto the Chiriguanes where it is held for certain that there be rich Mines of Gold which the Indians have this year offered to discover unto us The River of St. Juan which runs at the bottom of the Province of the Chiquas where it joyns with the Calchaguies is very full of Gold in Esmoraca and Chillio of the same Province the ancient Gold Mines are yet to be seen there is one hill of the Lipes which is near unto Colcha which hath Gold in it there is a Mine also three leagues from this Town in a place they call Abitanis which in the Lipean language is as much as to say the Mine of Gold I believe for a certain also that there is Gold in the Province of Atacama because of the abundance of fine Lapis Lazuli which is found there in which Gold is engendred CHAP. 27. Of Silver and the Mines thereof SIlver is the most perfect of all Mettals except Gold whereunto it comes so near as to want nothing but the colour and therefore those that most of all oppose the opinion of the transmutation of Mettals one into another do yet hold it possible to turn Silver into Gold because the colour only being wanting the fire and artificial concoctions can supply that whereof there be many experiments from the good mixture and fineness of its parts proceeds its enduring the fire with very little waste as also its being tough and malleable and endures the drawing out into very thin leaves and small wyre if it were not a common trade to do it it would not be believed to be possible that an ounce of Silver should be drawn out into 1400 yards of wyre and it is yet more admirable that all that shall be made gilt wyre with only six grains of Gold so that although Silver can be extended to admiration yet Gold is a hundred times more ductile than it one ounce of Gold suffering its self to be beaten to that thinness as to overspread ten Hanegadas of land In the Mines oftentimes Silver is found white and pure and like as it were wyre woven one within the other between the Rocks which the Spaniards call Metal Machacada such as is found in that Mine they call the Turks in the Province of Carangas in Choquepina a Mine of the Ingas two leagues from Berenguela in the Province of the Pacages in the mountain that I discovered and registred half a league from the works of St. Christopher in the Province of the Lipes in Yaco of the Province of the Charcas which in the middle of its Oar yields rich Copper there was found last year a Stone coated over with white Silver the Mettal contained within being yellow like unto the colour of a Lion And in the rich Mine of Chocaya in the Province of the Chichas in the richest Stones of that Oar they have found much Silver like wyre woven together as aforesaid and in all the Mines of these Provinces at some time or other Stones have been found made into Silver wyre as aforesaid and wedges of pure Silver but no other Mine hath produed the like unto that of St. Christophers in Oruro which besides the leaves of fine Silver that are found between the Stones produceth fine Silver also in small dust mingled with the mould or earth that is dug there which may be gotten together without any more trouble than washing in the same manner as they use the Gold that is found in sand but most commonly in all Mines Silver is found incorporated with the Stones and is scarce discernable nor to be known but by men of good experience In the circuit of the Charcas there is such abundance of Silver Mines that they alone if there were no other in the world were sufficient to fill it with riches in the middle of this jurisdiction stands the wonderful mountains of Potosi of whose treasure all Nations of the world have liberally participated the excellencies whereof of that imperail City whereunto it hath given the name do so much surmount any other thing in the old or new world that they very well deserve a particular history to eternize their fame it is surrounded for the most part with abundance of rich Mines that of Porco is the famous Mine of the Ingas and the first out of which the Spaniards dug any

Silver those very ancient Mines of Andacava are admired by all Miners for their vast depth and admirable contrivance and plenty of Oar which is such as promises continual employment for half the Indians of this Kingdom Those of Tabacco Nunio are near unto a Lake called by the same name have such wonderful and costly engines appertaining to them that the building of them hath consumed a great part of the treasure of this Kingdom that Lake contains so much water as would make a running river all the year long with which there goes day and night a hundred Silver Mills which grind the Oar which is gotten from its own banks Within the bounds of Potosi also are the Mines of Guariguare Caricari Piquiza la vera Cruz Sipoto and many others In the Lipes there be Farms of Mines of greater fame namly that of St. Isabel of new Potosi the name whereof doth not more predicate its beauty than doth the amenity of the mountain and the richness of the Oar that is found there La Trinidad is a wonderfull rich Mine there be also the Mines of Esmoruco el Bonete which they call so because the top of the mountain is like a Bonnet Xanquegua the new world which hath been discovered in my time yields very rich veins of Mettal namely Abilcha todos Santos Osloque St. Christoval de Achocalia Sabalcha Montes claros and many others In the Chicas are St. Vincent Tatasi Monserrat Esmoraca Tasna Sbina Chorolque old and new Chocaya which to the shame and astonishment of the Miners hath been now last of all found out and is one of the richest in all Peru. CHAP. 28. Continuing the discourse of the last Chapter touching the Mines of Silver THe Province of the Charcas besides the rich mountain of Potosi which alone was sufficient to eternize its name and the other Mines aforesaid that are round about it hath also the Mines of Yaco or the mountain of miracles those of St. Pedro de buena vista and those of Malcocota there is Silver Oar also found near unto Cayanta and also in Paccha and Tarabuco not far from Chuquisaca and in other places Within the Jurisdiction of Panna stand the three great mountains St. Christoval Pie de Gallo and la Flamenca which together make up those Mines which they call of Oruro that famous Town which is near unto them In the neighbourhood of Oruro also are the Mines of Avicaya Berenguela Cicacica la Hoya y Colloquiri which although it is a Mine of Tin yet now and then in following the veins thereof they meet with rich Oar of Silver which they call Lipta In the Province of the Pacages is the rich Mine of Berenguela with the mountains of Santa Juana Tampaya and others and in the bounds of the City de la Paz there are the Mines of Choquepina Pacocava Tiaguanaco and divers others briefly all these Provinces are nothing but a continued Mine and notwithstanding so great a number of Mines are opened at this day yet it is certain that there be many more known unto the Indians which they craftily have concealed from us till this present There is a certain tradition in this Country of an incomparable rich Mine belonging to the Village of Chaqui four leagues from this Imperial City although at present the sight of it is not known divers Indians having killed themselves out of obstinacy that they might not discover it There goes no less fame of the Mine which they call de los Encomenderos in the Province of the Lipes which name was given it divers years ago by the Indians who getting a great quantity of Silver out of that Mine gave that Treasure unto two Spaniards whom they dispatched away into Spain as their Agents they were two brothers of the sirname of Tapias whereupon this rich Province was incorporated into the Crown Whilest I was Curate of this place I spoke with many of the Country people that told me they had helped to load and conduct that riches unto the Port of Arica where it was put on Shipboard it is agreed on all hands that the abovesaid report is true although at present that Mine remains undiscovered which I do not at all wonder at when I consider that all the Mines that are wrought in that Province have been found out and first taken say of by the Spaniards themselves without lighting upon any one ancient work of the Indians whereof no doubt there were formerly very rich ones as appears by the choice Stones and pieces of Oar which Indians have given me without discovering whence they had them and the very streets of the Town when I was Curate there were full of small grains of rich Oar which I swept up and made profit of it In the plains of Julloma in the Pacages the Indians anciently have wrought Mines which at this day remain undiscovered It hath been a vast quantity of small pieces of Plate which they call Corriente that the Spaniards have bought up among this people and I my self have gotten there some of the remainders of that sort of Silver these grounds together with the colour and beauty of the mountains makes one rationally to suspect that Country to be fertile of rich Mettal but it is more certain that there are rich Mines in the Parish of Caquingora in the same Province of the Pacages because I have seen Stones of rich Oar picked out of the paving of their streets and the walls of their houses The same report goes also of divers of the neighbour Towns and a constant fame that in the time of the Ingas each of the parties had their particular Mines CHAP. 29. Of Copper and the Mines thereof THe Sulphureous parts do predominate in the composition of Copper and from their distempered heat rises the fiery colour of that Mettal when it is melted it smells more of Brimston than any other Mettal and because it is over-burnt in its composition therefore it is less subject to injury or corruption by the air earth or water as for the same reason Coals are not subject to such like accidents they use Copper about engines of long duration because it never rusteth as Steel and Iron doth and for the same reason it was highly esteemed by the Ancients who made the bolts and nails of their Ships their weapons and other instruments of this Mettal which also we found in use among the Natives of this Kingdom Copper is engendred in mineral Stones of divers colours although ever the most predominant colour is blew or green it is engendred in the same places with Gold and Silver and oftentimes in following a vein of pure Copper they have met with a nest of the finest Gold but it is more familiar to have its veins change into Silver and those veins of Copper that make any shew above ground commonly prove very rich as they are dug deeper and consequently are more moist The Mine of Osloque in the Lipes was at the top in