Page:The Present State of Peru.djvu/26

6 (1790) in the royal mint of Lima; and 5,206,906 piastres, in both materials, were coined there.

From the mines of Gualgayoc, and from that of Pasco , about the one half of the silver which is annually smelted, coined, and wrought, is extracted. The mine of Guantajaya is abundant in ores and rich metallic veins, but does not yield in proportion, in consequence of the dearness of every necessary, as well for working as for convenience and subsistence. On account also of its distance from the capital, the benefits which would otherwise arise from it are lost: the ores of thirty marks the caxon, do not pay themselves; and the same may be said of the products of the smaller and more superficial veins, which occasionally present themselves, and in which the silver is chiselled out. It is greatly to be hoped that the plan of transporting the produce of this mine to Calloa may be adopted, since such an expedient would not only cause the mine