The principal gold-mines in this viceroyalty arc those of Cochabamba, and Sicasica The latter belong to In dian natives, and are reckoned very productive, but from the elevation of the mountain are not properly wrought. Pieces of gold of near an ounce weight are sometimes discovered in the sand, washed down by the rains. In 1730 an Indian found a lump of this metal, which the larquis de Castel Fuerte bought for 12,000 pieces of eight, and sent it to Spain as a present to his sovereign. Considerable quantities of gold in dust and in grains are found in the sand of the Vermejo in the district of Chay anta ; and particles of gold abound in the streams which run in the vicinity of the Indian town of Moxos, but much of it is lost, as those only arc collected which are of the size of a large pin's head. A gold mine is now wrought in the district of Monte Video. Concerning the quantity of this metal, however, which has been furnished by the viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, from the first discovery of its mines, we have no information. In 1790 there was coined at the mint of Potosi, 4,222,000 piastres, viz. 299,246 piastres, or 2204 marks in gold, and 3,293,173 piastres, or 462,609 marks in silver. At the beginning of the 19th century, the annual produce of the mines of this viceroyalty, which paid the regular duties, was 2200 marks of gold, and 414,000 marks of silver ; in all 4,212,404 piastres.* And estimating, with Humboldt, the fraudulent exportation of silver at a sixth, or 67,000 marks, we have a total annual produce of 4,850,000 pi astres.t In the mountains of Berengucla are mines of talc, called jaspos blancos de Berenguela, which is beautifully transparent, and is used for windows throughout a great part of Peru. There are also several mines that yield gems, particularly one of emeralds, much prized for their quality by the lapidaries of Europe ; but which, owing to some latent reasons, has not been lately resort ed to. It is probable that it was from this mine that the Incas derived those extraordinary emeralds, which ex cited the wonder and avarice of the Spaniards, who igno rantly destroyed great numbers of them from the erro neous idea, that if they were real gems, they would stand the stroke of a hammer on an anvil. Many of them have been found in the ancient tombs of the Perm 1311S, polished and wrought in spherical, cylindrical, and other figures, with mathematical accuracy, and with all the de licacy. of European workmanship.
Among the mineral productions of this country, we may mention a singular mass of iron, in the province of Tucuman, which is described both by Estalla and Azara. It lies about 70 leagues from San Jago del Estero, nearly in lat. and about 30 leagues from Corrientes. It has a horizontal position ; its surface, which is full of rifts and irregularities, is open and exposed, and level with the ground ; and its dimensions are 13 palmos in length, 8 in breadth, and 6 in thickness ; and its solid contents 624 cubic palmos f The quality of this mass is equally pure and ductile with that of any other iron, and pieces hewn out with a chissel show a brilliant colour, like fine silver, speckled with red and yellow spots. It is mallea ble in the forge, and excoriates during the operation, and may be wrought with a file, or drawn into wire like com mon iron ; but it is, at the same time, so hard, that when cutting it, the chissels are often notched and broken. This block of iron has engaged much of the attention of the mineralogists of Europe ; and many opinions have been formed concerning its nature and origin. Don Miguel Rubin-de-Celis, who examined it by order of the King of Spain in 1783, and who published an account of it in the Philosophical Transactions, supposes it to be of volcanic origin. But 1\1. Azara rejects this supposition
as altogether improbable, both from the nature and the situation of the iron ; instead of being brittle, it is both flexible and ductile ; there is not the least appearance of volcanic matter in the neighbourhood ; the nearest vol canoes of the Cordilleras is at 300 leagues distance ; and had it been thrown from any of these, it must have sunk deep into the earth, beyond the inspection of man. " I am, however, unable," says Azara, " to explain the ori gin of this iron ; but I am inclined to believe that it is as ancient as the world, and that it came out of the hands of the Creator in the same state in which it now exists."§ After this brief description of the mineral contents of Buenos Ayres, we may now proceed to give some ac count of the animal and vegetable productions which are peculiar to this region of the world. Among the former we may mention the tapir, or mborcbi, which is one of the largest class of animals in South America. It is about 6 feet long, and 31 high, with a short tail of 3 inches in length.* The legs are short, and the body round and heavy ; yet it runs very swiftly, and swims with great rapidity. It has a long neck, surmounted by a coarse mane, which descends over the forehead as far as the eyes ; and at the extremity of the muzzle is a projection of about 21 inches long, which it can dilate and contract at pleasure, and which serves the same purposes as the trunk of the elephant. Its skin is of a firm texture, and of a dark leaden colour, except the under part of the head, the throat, and the tips of the ears, which are whitish. This animal delights in the water, and lives chiefly in the marshes, and along the banks of rivers and lakes. It is of a dull and timid na ture, never stirring out but at night. It is, however, very easily tamed, and its flesh is eaten by the Indians. But though it lives entirely upon vegetables when in a state of liberty, yet, when domesticated, it devours every thing that comes in its way. Tapirs frequent the banks of the Paraguay and Parana, and generally wander in large companies.
The tamandua, or nurumi, or ant-cater, is a very singu lar animal, both with respect to its form and dispositions. Its body, which is very thick, is 531 inches in length, and its tail 28k, independent of a bunch of hair at its ex tremity. The head is long and woolly, somewhat re sembling the form of a trumpet, and scarcely thicker than its tail; the cars short and round ; the eyes small ; the mouth narrow, and without any kind of teeth, but furnished with a long tongue, not exactly round, fleshy, and flexible, and which it sometimes stretches out a foot in length. Its feet are ill formed, and are merely stumps. armed with claws ; of which, however, it makes very little use, unless for defence. It is a most stupid and sluggish animal ; never flies from an enemy, but waits for his approach, seated on its haunches, and, grasping him in its arms, destroys him with its claws, which are its only weapons. This animal feeds upon ants, which it gathers with its long tongue ; but the smaller species, which climb the trees, and support themselves by the tail, eat honey and bees. This small er species, which is the tamandua of Buffon, is called caguare by Azara. It differs from the nurumi both in size and colour. It is also covered with wool instead of hair ; and about a third of its tail, towards the extremi ty, is perfectly bare.