Chili contains almost every kind of metal. It has mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and tin. There has been lately discovered also in the mountains of Co piapo, the ore of a new metal unknown to the miners, but which, front their description, is supposed to be platina. Gold is particularly abundant, and found in all parts of the country ; in every precipice and mountain, as well as in the sand of its numerous rivers. The principal gold mines ate those of Copiapo, Guasco, Coquimbo, Petor ca, Ligua, Tiltil, Putaendo, Caen, Alhue, Chibato, and Ituilli-Patag-ua. The three last are of recent discovery, the others have been wrought since the conquest. The metal dug in the two provinces of Copiapo and Guasco, has, from its superior quality, received the appellation of cm capote. Though in Chili gold is found united with almost every sort of stone and earth, its usual matrix is a red clay stone, extremely brittle. The course of its veins is commonly front south to north. In some places, however, they descend almost vertically, and, in others, take a circular direction. Independent of the mines, great quantities of gold are obtained by washing the sands of rivers, which sometimes yield solid lumps of a pound in weight. This operation is generally performed by individuals of the poorer class, who arc not able to afford the expellee of mining. The gold of Chili is in general from 22 to 23} carats. There has been no cor rect estimate of the quantity annually collected. That which pays the duty or fifth part to the king, amounts to about 900,000 pounds sterling ; but there is also a very great proportion smuggled. This has been computed at more than a third part of the whole product. The ores of silver are confined to particular districts, and found only in the most elevated regions of the Andes. The most productive are those of St Jago, Coquimbo, Copiapo, and Aconcagua. In the last province is the mine of Aspalata, the largest and richest of the silver mines in Chili. Its precise extent is unknown, but it has been traced running in a northerly direction to the distance of thirty leagues, and is imagined by some to be a ramification of the mine of Potosi. It yields a sort of black ore, which is greatly esteemed. Of this ore there are three varieties, but the best of them is that called piombo ronco, which is the most readily separated. Copper is plentiful, and, like gold, is confined to no par ticular district. The best mines of it, however, are si tuated between the 24th and 36th degrees of latitude. The mine of Paten, which was formerly the most pro ductive in Chili, has been long abandoned, on account of the hostility of the Puddles, in whose territories it was discovered. It is said to have produced pieces of pure metal, from fifty to a hundred pounds in weight, of a co lour resembling pinchbeck, and containing, in most in stances, more than an equal portion of gold. A mine, not inferior to this, has been lately opened at Curico. The copper of Chili is found variously mineralized ; but, in general, it appears in combination, with a greater or less proportion of gold. There arc only two kinds of it at present wrought by the inhabitants : these are the malleable copper, and the grey or bell-metal, which, from its composition, colour, and brittleness, may be re garded as a sort of native bronze. The others, though rich in metal, are considered as of no value, from the difficulty attending their separation. Of the malleable copper, those mines only are wrought, whose ore gives half its weightin refined metal ; and there are at pre sent open between the towns of Copiapo and Coquimbo more than a thousand such mines. Near the river Laxa in fluilquilemu, are hills which afford a beautiful native brass or copper in natural combination with zinc : it re ceives the name of Laxa copper. The mines of tin and lead are both equally neglected. Only so much of the lead is wrought, as may be required for the melting of silver and domestic purposes : small quantities of gold and silver are found in conjunction with it. Tin never appears in a continued vein, but is contained in a black stone of various form and dimensions. It is found also in coloured crystals. Iron also is very abundant, but the mining of it is prohibited in favour of the traders in that metal from Spain. Coquimbo and Copiapo abound in mines of it. Semimetals of all kinds are found either separate, or mineralized with metallic ores. Antimony and quicksilver are the only two in any request ; the first employed in refining the precious metals, the other be ing a royal monopoly. Virgin mercury is found in the province of Coquimbo, but it commonly appears in the form of Cinnabar. With respect to mines in general, the permission of government is to be obtained before working any newly discovered vein. An inspector is then appointed, who portions out the mine into three equal shares ; one for the king, another for the proprie tor of the land, and a third for the discoverer of the vein. If it prove rich, a village is quickly formed in the vicinity, by the immense number of persons that receive employment. An alcade or superintendant of the la bourers is then appointed by the governor of the pro vince. Pyrites are very numerous, but we shall notice only one species, which is the auriferous, found in Quil Iota, called the Inca's stone. It is cubical, and distin guished from all others by emitting but few sparks with the steel. The bitumens are asphaltum, petroleum, pit coal in great abundance, and several kinds of jet. Am bergris is often thrown out by the sea on the coast of Araucania and Chiloe. On the shores, also, are occa sionally found pieces of yellow amber. Two small moun tains of Copiapo consist almost entirely of a beautiful crystallized sulphur, so pure, that it does not want re fining. Salts of these, are the blue, green, white, and mixed vitriol ; sal ammoniac, with an excellent fossil salt, in the form of transparent cubes, crystallized and variously coloured. Several mountains of it occur in the Andes, west of Copiapo and Coquimbo ; and it is used by all the inhabitants in the vicinity. A semi-crys tallized al uminous stone, employed in the process of dye ing, and similar to that of Talca, is obtained from the Andes. • Stones. Of the siliceous kind, there are rubies, sap phires, lapis lazuli, and various sorts of jasper. At Co quimbo was found a beautiful emerald, and a very large topaz in the province of St Jago. Amethysts occur al most at every step in the crevices of rocks ; and near Talca, there is a small hill consisting almost entirely of that stone. There are coloured crystals resembling most -of the precious stones ; and the Andes produce pieces of rock crystal, large enough to form columns six feet in height. These mountains abound also in breccias, por phyries, and granite. Among the calcarious sort, we may notice marbles of all colours, many of them finely striped and variegated. Gypsum, of which there are quarries in a scmi-calcined state, slightly tinged with blue, and employed as a plaster for walls. There is a beautiful hexagonal spar found in the gold mines of Quil Iota, perfectly transparent, and striped with golden fila ments. In the Andes are quarries of alabaster, with a sort cf pellucid selenite, used for glass in the churches of St Jago. Of the argillaceous, the most remarkable are asbestos and the membranaceous mica, which supplies the place of glass, and being- less fragile and more plia ble, is by many preferred to that substance. The con cretions are pumice-stone, which forms the substance of several mountains ; turquoils of a blue colour, which are found in the hills of Copiapo, and have generally been considered as a precious stone, but are nothing more than the teeth or bones of animals in a state of petrifac tion ; and petrified wood, which occurs in every part of the country. The Chilian willow is particularly suscepti
ble of this change, and, in order to accomplish it, it is only necessary to place it for a short time under a moist and sandy soil. Chili contains earths of almost every description, the argillaceous, the calcareous, the sandy, and the mineral. Of the argillaccous, Molina has disco vered five new species. Of these, the two most remark able are the argilla buccarina, which is of a brown co lour, spotted vita yellow, pleasant to the smell, and even when manufactured into cups, Scc. gives an agreeable flavour to the water drunk from them ; and the argilla rovia, which supplies an excellent black, and is employ ed in dyeing wool. Sand abounds in the rivers of Chi li ; but is never found in such quantity on the plains as to prove injurious to vegetation.
The most celebrated mineral springs of Chili are those of Peldehues and Cauquenes, both Spanish settlements. The Peldehues contains both a hot spring and a cold one. The hot spring is clear, inodorous, oily to the touch, and foams like soap, abounding in mineral alkali, and containing a small quantity of fixed air. Its specific gravity exceeds that of common distilled water only by two degrees. The cold spring is iron and vitriolic. The waters of both springs, being distant from each othe• on ly about eighty feet, are united by means of canals, and form a tepid bath. This junction occasions a deposition of Glauber's salt, and of a yellowish ochre. The springs of the Cauquenes, situated near the source of the river Caciopol, in one of the rallies of the Andes, are ex tremely numerous, both hot and cold, and possess very different qualities. Some are acidulated, and contain iron ; others are alkalescent, or vitriolic ; and others gaseous. There are a great many salt springs in the provinces of Copiapo and Coquimbo ; and in the former province is the river Salado, which affords an excellent salt, so pure, that it may be used without any prepara tion.
Chili is one of those countries where vegetable and mineral productions are found in equal abundance, and affords an exception to the general maxim, that mineral countries are deficient in vegetation. The plants of Chili are, on the contrary, every where profuse, vigorous, and luxuriant.
Its plains, vallics, and mountains, abound with trees of unfading verdure and delightful fragrance. Of 97 species already discovered, only 13 shed their leaves. The pellinos, a species of oak, the pine, the cypress, and the red and white cedar, are found in a natural state in the rallies of the Andes. The red cedar is remarkable for its enormous dimensions, particularly in the Archi pelago of Chiloe, where a single tree will sometimes yield 700 boards, each 20 feet long. In other parts of Chili, arc found the mulberry, the chirimoya, and the ta marind. Besides these we may notice particularly the theige, or Chilian willow, which yields manna, and whose bark is used by the natives as a preservative against fe vers ; the molle, of two kinds, the berries of which afford a red wine, well flavoured, but heating ; the Peruvian taper, or cherry, whose thorns are eight inches in length, and serve as knitting needles ; the wild orange, which supplies excellent wood of a fine yellow colour. The floripondio, remarkable for the beauty of its form, and the ambery fragrance of its flowers, which, by uniting its branches at the top, exhibits the appearance of a spheri cal crown ; a single tl oripondio is sufficient to perfume a whole garden. The canello or Winter's bark, held sacred by the Araucania ns, who earl y branches of it on religious occasions, and. after concluding a peace, present them to the enemy as a token of reconciliation and friendship. The carob-tree, remarkable for the extreme hardness of its thorns, which are sometimes employed instead of nails. The maqui, a species of cornel, from whose berries the Indians procure a sort of beverage called theca ; in the juice of its leaves it affords a specific in cases of sore throat. The luma, or lofty myrtle, attains the height of 40 feet, and is exported to Peru for the use of coach makers ; the wine of its berries is reckoned a powerful stomachic. The quillai is a new genus, and named from the Chilian word quilcan, to wash ; its bark, when re duced to powder, and sufficiently moistened, foams like soap, and supplies the domestic purposes of that sub stance. It is even more efficacious than soap in clean sing woollen cloths, but is apt to induce a yellowish tinge when applied to linens. The wood is so hard and tough as to be used in place of metal for stirrups. The or caustic laurel, gives out, in summer, an effluvia of a very peculiar quality, and operating only on certain constitutions. In some it occasions painful swellings or pustnles, on the face and hands, either when stopping under its shade, or passing near it, while on others it has no sensible effect. Its leaves, which are oval and wrin kled, are of a dark green, and an inch in length ; the fruit is similar to that of the common laurel ; its wood is em ployed in houses and shipbuilding, and is valued for the extreme hardness which it acquires by remaining for some time under water. The bollen is found upon the sea coast, and, in point of appearance, is one of the finest trees in Chili ; it is reckor.ed highly poisonous ; the buds, however, when pulverized, are given by physicians as a powerful emetic, the close not exceeding half a scruple ; the mayten is a beautiful evergreen, of a new genus, found in the vicinity of the Hail, and affording an anti dote to its poison ; the patagua, whose trunk will some times measure eight yards in circumference, is much valued for a small flower, in shape and smell resembling the lily. Chili, in its fruit trees, is greatly inferior to the tropical countries of America. The principal of them are the cocoa nut, the guevin, the pehuen, the peumo, and the lucuma. The fruit of the Chilian cocoa nut does not exceed in size a walnut ; it grows in bunch es containing sometimes a thousand individual nuts. The kernel is well tasted, and supplies an excellent oil. The peheun, or Araucanian pine, is by some supposed to be a new genus ; its branches form a quadrangular pyra mid ; the leaves are three inches in length, heart-shaped, hard and shining ; its fruit attains the size of a man's head, and in taste resembles the chesnut. The peumo is a new genus, having four species, and many varieties ; the fruit of one of these (the peumus mantmasa) ) iclds kernels so hard as to serve for rosaries to the inhabitants ; the bark is employed in tanning leather, and in dyeing. The fruit of the lucuma, which is also a new genus, in taste and size is somewhat similar to the peach. The various kinds of European fruit trees, vines, pulse, gar den herbs, and flowers, arc all found to succeed, and many of tnem to improve in Chili. Indeed, so favoura ble is its climate to vegetation, that at the same time, in the same orchard, fruit may be seen in all degrees of progress, in the bud, in the flower, green, and perfectly ripe. Pear and cherry trees produce twice a year. Ex tensive forests of apple trees are found in the province of Quil Iota, while oranges, lemons, and citrons, occur every where in the open fields. The grapes raised on the banks of the river Plata are most esteemed, and afford a sort of muscadel called Conception wine, which is equal to the best wines of Europe. The melons are excellent in their flavour, of an elongated form, with a very slen der rhind. Among the numerous varieties, the musk melon and the scritti are the first in estimation.