s rare. Some rich
mines on the coast, and in the province of Arequipa, are now nearly
exhausted. Wash gold is plentiful in the rivers of North Peru, but it is
not carefully collected. Silver, which constitutes the principal wealth
of Peru, is found in greatest abundance in the principal chains, viz.,
in Northern and Central Peru, in the Cordillera; and in Southern Peru in
the Andes. It presents itself in all forms and combinations, from the
pure metal to the lead-ore mixed with silver. Even in the highest
elevations, in parts scarcely trodden by human footsteps, rich veins of
silver are discovered. It is scarcely possible to pass half a day in
these regions without encountering new streaks. Quicksilver is likewise
found, but in such small quantities, that the gain does not pay the
labor of the miners. The only quicksilver vein of any magnitude is at
Huancavelica. Both mountain chains are very rich in copper-ore; but it
is extracted only from the Cordillera, for the distance of the Andes
from the coast renders the transport too expensive. The lead and iron
mines, though amazingly prolific, are not worked; the price of the metal
being too low to pay the labor.

The Cordillera presents an aspect totally different from that of the
Andes. It is more wild and rugged, its ridge is broader, and its summits
less pyramidical. The summits of the Andes terminate in slender sharp
points like needles. The Cordillera descends in terraces to the level
heights, whilst the slope of the Andes is uniform and unbroken. The
summits of the calcareous hills which stretch eastward from the great
chain of the Cordillera are broken and rugged. Large cubical blocks of
stone become detached from them, and roll down into the valleys. In the
Quebrada of Huari near Yanaclara, which is 13,000 feet above the sea, I
collected among other fragments of rock some of a species which is found
at Neufchatel in Switzerland. This disintegration, which is the effect
of protracted rain and cold, imparts to the mountain ridges the most
singular and beautiful forms; their fantastic outlines appearing like
the work of human hands. Imagination may easily picture them to be
monuments of the time of the Incas; for viewed from a distance, they
look like groups of giants or colossal animals. In former times the
Indians viewed these masses of rock with devout reverence, for they
believed them to be the early inhabitants of the earth whom Pacchacamac
in his anger transforme