red for
sale some very rich silver ore, and on being questioned as to where he
had obtained it, his answer was that he found it on the road; a tale,
the truth of which was very naturally doubted. The following year, when
I was again in Jauja, the Indian paid me another visit. He then informed
me that he had been for several months confined in a dark dungeon and
half-starved, because the sub-prefect wanted to compel him to reveal the
situation of a mine which he knew of, but that he would not disclose the
secret, and adhered firmly to the statement he had made of having found
the ore. After a little further conversation, he became more
communicative than I had any reason to expect, though he was fully
convinced I would not betray him. He confessed to me that he actually
knew of a large vein containing valuable silver, of which he showed me a
specimen. He further told me that it was only when he was much in want
of money that he had recourse to the mine, of which the shaft was not
very deep; and, moreover, that after closing it up, he always carried
the loose rubbish away to a distance of some miles, and then covered
the opening so carefully with turf and cactus, that it was impossible
for any one to discern it. This Indian dwelt in a miserable hut, about
three leagues from Jauja, and his occupation was making wooden stirrups,
which employment scarcely enabled him to earn a scanty subsistence. He
assured me it was only when he was called upon to pay contributions,
which the government exacts with merciless rigor, that he had recourse
to the mine. He then extracted about half an aroba of ore, and sold it
in Jauja, in order to pay the tax levied on him.

I could quote many well-authenticated instances of the same kind; but
the above examples sufficiently prove the reluctance of the Indians to
disclose the secret of their hidden treasures, and their indifference
about obtaining wealth for themselves. It is true that the Indians are
not, in all parts of the country, so resolutely reserved as they are in
Huancayo and Jauja, for all the most important mines have been made
known to the Spaniards by the natives. But the Peruvian Indians are
composed of many different races, and though all were united by the
Incas into one nation, yet they still differ from each other in manners
and character. The sentiment of hatred towards the whites and their
descendants has not been kept up in an equal degree among them all. In
proportion as s