An essay on the value of the mines, late of Sir Carbery Price by William Waller, Gent ...

A Description of the Mine of Po∣tozi.

THis Mine lies in the Country of Chorcas, in a Province of Peru, Seventy Leagues from the Sea, within the Tropicks, in Twenty one Degrees of South Latitude, and was discovered in 1546. From this great Vein, which is about Six Foot wide, doth issue out some small Sprigs of little account; and yet here they Refine Thirty eight Mil∣sions Five Hundred Thousand Pound weight of Silver yearly, one Pound weight of their Oar yielding one Ounce of fine Silver, at which rate, they must raise in Oar yearly Two Hundred Fifty six Thou∣sand Two Hundred Fifty Tuns, before they can answer that Account in Silver; but, by Gerard Molino's Account, they must raise a great deal more. The great Vein runs directly North and South, sloping in the Hill: They have made a Level which they were 22 Years a dri∣ving, but, being very crooked and run∣ning far under Ground, they carry up their Oar on their Backs, each Man a∣bout

[illustration]

The SILVER-MINE of POTOZI.

a a The Vein. b The Level. c The Smelting Cu∣pilo's. d The Road. E The River of Plate. F Young Potozi. The Scale is four hundred Yards in an Inch.

Note, This Vein is drawn at one End of the Hill, and the Veins of Sir Carbery Price are drawn upon the Super∣ficies and Length of the Hill.

bout 50 l. weight, in Wallets, on Lad∣ders made of Neats Hides, three and three in a row, one of the three having a Candle tied to his right Thumb, to give the rest light.

This Work employs above Twenty Thousand Miners, and is wrought Night and Day, above a thousand Yards deep: See Acosta in his Natural History of the Indies, and the History of the New World, by N. N.

And several Merchants, that have Tra∣velled into those Parts, relate, That this Mountain, by reason of the numerous Smelting-houses built upon it, doth look at a distance as if it were all on Fire: And, That these Mines have been the occasion of building of a very fine Town, at the bottom of the Hill, called, The Town of Potozi.

Thus you see what great things are done at Potozi by the poor Indians; they can raise Two Hundred Fifty six Thou∣sand Two Hundred Fifty Tuns of Silver Oar in a Year; and, yet in England, 'tis thought a Fiction and a Romance, and, by some, a meer Cheat to draw in Per∣sons, to speak of raising but Fifteen Thou∣sand Tun of Oar in a Year. I could hear∣tily

wish, for my Country's sake, that these Mines were as rich in Silver as that, I should never doubt, but in a reasonable time, to equal them in raising Oar, from Veins exceeding them in breadth and wideness, and in many other Respects, provided there were a Stock proportion∣able imployed in the working of them; for there that Mine is wrought a thousand Yards deep, here from the surface of the Ground; there they carry up the Oar on their Backs, in Wallets, as aforesaid, here with the help of a Windless, by which two Men can wind up more than twen∣ty Men can carry on their Backs.

And therefore I hope, in every respect, it will be thought no Vanity to affirm, That we have as much Art and In∣genuity in England as any of the Work∣men in America; and I doubt not, but in some Years, these Mines in Cardi∣ganshire, will give occasion for erecting as large a Town as that at Potozi, which may deservedly be called by the Name of Welsh Potozi; and, one Advantage at least, these will have above Potoz•• that whereas that Mountain is Seventy Leagues from the Sea, here the Proprie∣tors, and Minors, for their Encourage∣ment,

many have the delightful Prospect of seeing the Ships failing into the Port of Aberdovey, to bring them ready Mo∣ney for their Commodities.

But, to come back into our own Coun∣try, there are several Works in the North that come up to this printed Proposal, considering the difference between the Veins; for the Right Honourable the Earl of Darwenwater hath, or lately had, Mines of Lead, in Auston-moor, in Cum∣berland, about Thirty Miles from the Sea, and made of his Duty (which is a fifth part of the Work) 12000 l. a Year. Another eminent Lord, in the North, from a small Vein of Lead, three Foot thick, doth, or lately did, clear 17000 l. a Year. Another noble Lord, from a small Vein, not two Foot thick, and thirty Miles from the Sea, doth, or late∣ly did, clear above 7000 l. a Year, be∣twixt him and his Farmers, and several more such Veins there are in the North.

Now if these small Veins, whereof some of them are thirty Fathom deep before they come to the Oar, and so far from the Sea, can make so great a Profit clear above all Charges, What must those Mines yield, whereof one Vein is so large

as aforesaid, and the least as big as any of them in the North, especially when the Levels are made in a cheap Country, and so near the Sea: But the Advantage of these Works may farther appear, by an Essay on the Value of the Works in the North, and these compared toge∣ther, as followeth.