Note 301 — Chapter L

See also Garcilasso de la Vega, i, lib. ix, p. 311; and Acosta, lib. iv, cap. 14, p. 233. Acosta says that emeralds were found most abundantly in New Granada, and in Peru, near Manta and Puerto Viejo. The country round Manta, he adds, is called Esmeraldas, from the reported abundance of emeralds in it.

According to Ulloa the emerald mines of Manta, which were known to the Indians, were never discovered by the Spaniards. The skill of the Indians in working these precious stones is very remarkable. They are found in the tombs of the Indians of Manta and Atacames: and are, in beauty, size, and hardness, superior to those of New Granada. They were worked by the Indians into spherical, cylindrical, conical, and other shapes, and it is difficult to explain how this could have been done without a knowledge of steel or iron. They also pierced the emeralds with a skill equal to that of modern jewellers. Ulloa’s Voyage, i, lib. vi, cap. 11.

Velasco says that an emerald was among the insignia of the Scyris or kings of Quito, and that the Indians of Manta worshipped a great emerald under the name of Umiña. Historia del Quito, i, p. 29. There are also some interesting remarks on the emeralds of Manta in Bollaert’s Antiquarian and other Researches in New Granada, Ecuador, Peru, etc., p. 84.