Note 121 — Chapter XVIII

Here is another rather obscure passage: "... pero e pui ricche ... sono le prime che non hanno caricho da lauar la terra & per rispetto del freddo & delle mine que vi e non lo cauano. &c." Oviedo (Hist. General, Parte I, lib. 6, Cap. 8); Acosta (Hist. nat. y mor. de las Ind., lib. 4, Cap. 4); y Garcilasso (Com. Real., Parte I, lib. 8, Cap. 24) distinguish three sorts of gold mines. In the first class are counted those which produce pure gold in rather large grains, so that they can be collected without further operations. These are, perhaps, the sort that the secretary Sancho says are the richest, although he has not spoken of them before. In the second class are included those which produce gold in dust or in very small grains mixed with earth which it is necessary to remove by means of washing, and these are those which Sancho mentions. The third class of mines, which this man does not mention, are those which yield gold mingled with stones and other metals, just as silver is commonly found. These mines, although at times very rich, failed to be worked because of the expenses which labour caused.—Note by Icazbalceta.