Page:The Geologist, volume 5.djvu/180

152 like that of Chile, of tertiary age, excepting, perhaps, that of Bogotá, which may be of the carboniferous or even cretaceous period.

Gold, the yellow representative of earthly riches, at once the blessing and the curse of life, in this auriferous land appears before us everywhere, ornamenting the clothes of the living and decking the bodies of the dead, covering wooden idols and hanging as jingling bells from the branches of the sacred trees; tempting the avarice of the proud Spaniard to murder and to theft, and to gather glistening treasures which should perchance make him the prey of some stronger buccaneer. The mines of Spain are closed; even the Espiritu Santo, from which alone more gold yearly went through Panamá than from all the other mines of America put together. Then there is the gold-district of Coyba; the mine at Bogotá, the king's fifth from which was 300,000 dollars; the gold-dust of Panamá and Pacora; the mountain of the "Block of Gold" in the Cano del Pilon de Oro; the streams of the Chepo, where Major Don shovelled out the gold-earth by panfuls; and the thousands of graves in Chiriqui, abounding in golden images and earthen pots of gold beside the black dust of mouldered bodies.

So much for New Granada. Now for Equador or Quito. We have here too some geological gleanings. Coal is mentioned as occurring in Amortajado, and probably in Puna, Santa Clara, Santa Elena, and the coast of Choro.

Passing by Latacunga and the volcano of Cotopaxi, Quito, and the volcanic Pichineha, we come to the land of the mighty Chimborazo, rearing itself high above the chain of the Andes, like a majestic dome upon those ancient monuments. What mean those tales of giants which the Caras believe came to these coasts on floats of rushes, and were annihilated in their evilness by the wrath of God? Now that man's antiquity is proven, we must seek the interpretation of such old legends; for, like the Eastern fable of the elephant and tortoise, there may be a long-lost meaning in them. In the similitudes of these traditionary tales we shall see the race-badges of many an ancient people.

Whether Manta, the seaport to Monte Christo, has derived its name from the broad mantle-like fish which is said to squeeze the pearl-fishers of Panamá to death, is not to our purpose, but it is so to know that it has an emerald-mine, and that the emeralds are found in crystals in the rock, and have something of a vein-like character. "Some are half-white, others half-green, but they get ripe and come to perfection." At Tezcuco there was, in the "Tribunal of God," a skull crowned with an emerald.

At Manta, too, and Punta S. Elena, large fossil bones are met with; some, so Humboldt states, being those of large cetaceans. Of gold, too, we get frequent accounts, in the form of abundance of ornaments. The entire range of the Cordilleras abounds with gold, silver, and copper, and the former metal is found in every river which has its source in the high lands; the mountain-range of Llanganate (S.S.E. of Quito) is known as the "mother" of the gold found in the streams that run from it. Quicksilver is seen to ooze out of the ground in Cuenca; and the district of Esmeraldas only requires searching in its streams and rocks for the beautiful gems from which it takes its name. But where is the far-famed mine from which the ancient rulers of Quito drew those gigantic emeralds so valued by the Conquistadores, and some of which are treasured as the crown-jewels of Spain. That it exists there is no doubt; but the Indians, if they know the spot, conceal it. An emerald as big as a hen's egg fell into the hands of Pizarro's followers: cannot modern adventurers find it