Chapter 12

Cerro de Pasco--First discovery of the Mines--Careless mode of working them--Mine Owners and Mine Laborers--Amalgamating and Refining--Produce of the Mines--Life in Cerro de Pasco--Different Classes of the Population--Gaming and Drunkenness--Extravagance and Improvidence of the Indian Mine Laborers--The Cerro de San Fernando--Other Important Mining Districts in Peru--The Salcedo Mine Castrovireyna--Vast Productiveness of the Silver Mines of Peru--Rich Mines secretly known to the Indians--Roads leading from Cerro de Pasco--The Laguna of Chinchaycocha--Battle of Junin--Indian Robbers--A Day and a Night in the Puna Wilds 229