horizon of the sea. San Fernando is forty leagues from Santiago; and
it was my farthest point southward; for we here turned at right angles
towards the coast. We slept at the gold-mines of Yaquil, which are
worked by Mr. Nixon, an American gentleman, to whose kindness I was
much indebted during the four days I stayed at his house. The next
morning we rode to the mines, which are situated at the distance of
some leagues, near the summit of a lofty hill. On the way we had a
glimpse of the lake Tagua-tagua, celebrated for its floating islands,
which have been described by M. Gay. [2] They are composed of the
stalks of various dead plants intertwined together, and on the surface
of which other living ones take root. Their form is generally
circular, and their thickness from four to six feet, of which the
greater part is immersed in the water. As the wind blows, they pass
from one side of the lake to the other, and often carry cattle and
horses as passengers.
When we arrived at the mine, I was struck by the pale appearance of
many of the men, and inquired from Mr. Nixon respecting their
condition. The mine is 450 feet deep, and each man brings up about 200
pounds weight of stone. With this load they have to climb up the
alternate notches cut in the trunks of trees, placed in a zigzag line
up the shaft. Even beardless young men, eighteen and twenty years old,
with little muscular development of their bodies (they are quite naked
excepting drawers) ascend with this great load from nearly the same
depth. A strong man, who is not accustomed to this labour, perspires
most profusely, with merely carrying up his own body. With this very
severe labour, they live entirely on boiled beans and bread. They
would prefer having bread alone; but their masters, finding that they
cannot work so hard upon this, treat them like horses, and make them
eat the beans. Their pay is here rather more than at the mines of
Jajuel, being from 24 to 28 shillings per month. They leave the mine
only once in three weeks; when they stay with their families for two
days. One of the rules of this mine sounds very harsh, but answers
pretty well for the master. The only method of stealing gold is to
secrete pieces of the ore, and take them out as occasion may offer.
Whenever the major-domo finds a lump thus hidden, its full value is
stopped out of the wages of all the men; who thus, without they all
combine, are obliged to keep watch over each other.
When the ore is brought to the mill, it is ground into an impalpable
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