titiously pieces of ore; but to do this requires great
cunning and dexterity, so narrowly are they watched by the mayor-domos.
Nevertheless, they sometimes succeed. One of the hapires related to me
how he had contrived to carry off a most valuable piece of silver. He
fastened it on his back, and then wrapping himself in his poncho, he
pretended to be so ill, that he obtained permission to quit the mine.
Two of his confederates who helped him out, assisted him in concealing
the treasure. The _polvorilla_, a dark powdery kind of ore, very full of
silver, used to be abstracted from the mines by the following stratagem.
The workmen would strip off their clothes, and having moistened the
whole of their bodies with water, would roll themselves in the
_polvorilla_ which stuck to them. On their return home they washed off
the silver-dust and sold it for several dollars. But this trick being
detected, a stop was soon put to it, for, before leaving the mines, the
laborers are now required to strip in order to be searched.

The operation of separating the silver from the dross is performed at
some distance from Cerro de Pasco, in haciendas, belonging to the great
mine owners. The process is executed in a very clumsy, imperfect, and at
the same time, a very expensive manner. The amalgamation of the
quicksilver with the metal is effected by the tramping of horses. The
animals employed in this way are a small ill-looking race, brought from
Ayacucho and Cuzco, where they are found in numerous herds. The
quicksilver speedily has a fatal effect on their hoofs, and after a few
years the animals become unfit for work. The separation of the metals is
managed with as little judgment as the amalgamation, and the waste of
quicksilver is enormous. It is computed that on each mark of silver,
half a pound of quicksilver is expended. The quicksilver, with the
exception of some little brought from Idria and Huancavelica, comes from
Spain in iron jars, each containing about seventy-five pounds weight of
the metal. In Lima the price of these jars is from sixty to 100 dollars
each, but they are occasionally sold as high as 135 or 140 dollars.
Considering the vast losses which the Peruvian mine owners sustain by
the waste of quicksilver and the defective mode of refining, it may
fairly be inferred, that their profits are about one-third less than
they would be under a better system of management.

In Cerro de Pasco there are places called _boliches_,