"Lima, February 15th, 1817.

""Dear Sir,

"We arrived here last Saturday in good health. The (our) Mint is at work, and coined five millions last year, and in their way of working does very well; but I trust to make it coin thirty millions per year.

"Two engines are drawing water, and two drawing ore, at the mines, but in an imperfect state. If I had not arrived, it must have all fallen to the ground, both in their mining and in their engines. I expect we shall go to the mines in about ten days, from where I will write to you every particular.

"There are still two engines to put up for lifting water, and two for winding ore, and those at work to be put to rights. They are raising ores from one mine which is immensely rich, and from what I can learn, a much greater quantity will be got up, when the whole are at work, than these people have any idea of. Several other mines will also be set to work by engines that we shall make here. We have been received with every mark of respect, and both Government and the public are in high spirits on account of our arrival, from which they expect much good to result.

"Mr. Vivian died the 19th of May. I believe that too much drink was the cause of it. Uville, I think, wished him gone, and was in great hope that I should not arrive. His conduct has thrown down his power very much, which he never can again recover.

"They all say that the whole concern shall be put entirely under my management, and every obstacle shall be removed out of my road. Unless this is done, I shall soon be with you in England. I am very sorry that I did not embark with the first cargo, which would have made a million difference to the company. The first engine was put to work about three months since, the other about two months; but they are as much at a loss in their mining as in their engineering. The Mint is the property of our company, and Government pays us for coining, which gives us an immense income; the particulars of which, and the shares in the mines, I have not yet gone into. I shall be short in this letter, because I know but little as yet, and that little I expect Mr. Page will inform you. A full account you shall have by the next ship, which I expect will sail in three weeks. This letter goes by a Spanish ship that will sail this afternoon for Cadiz. My respects, and good wishes to your family and to Mr. Day, and hope this will find you all as hearty as we are.

"Mr. Page would not depart this life under the line, as he promised when at Penzance; but, on the contrary, has a nose as red as a cherry, and his face very little short of it. His health and spirits far exceed what they were in England. I am glad to have such a companion. With ... think he will have no reason to repent.... He will get a command at Pasco ... such as his ingenuity may find out, when on the spot; whether as a miner or an engineer I cannot say, but time will show.

"If you have not insured my life I would thank you to do it now, if you can on reasonable terms. I do not wish them to take the risk of the seas in the policy, because the voyage here is over, and on my return I hope I shall not want it, therefore it must be for two years in the country. I will get a certificate of my health, if they wish it, from the most respectable inhabitants, and also from the Vice-king, if they wish it. The policy may be drawn accordingly.

"Be so good as to write me often, with all the news you can collect. If you wish your dividends in this company to be applied to further advantage in any new mines I may engage in, in preference to having it sent to England, I will, as the dividends are made, do everything in my power to improve the talent. On this subject I must have your answer before I can make any new arrangement under this head. I will thank you to send a copy of Mr. Page's letter to my wife; I mean such parts of it as belong to the business; there may be some things that I have forgotten to mention.

"I remain, Sir,
"Your humble servant,
"Richard. Trevithick.

"Mr. James Smith, Limekiln Lane, Greenwich."

"There are also nunneries beyond number, and in those places no male is ever suffered to put his foot. Through one of the most noted runs a watercourse, which works the Mint; and Mr. Abadia has repeatedly made all the interest he could to be admitted, for the purpose of inspecting it, but could never get a grant. The Mint belongs to our engine concern, and now coins about five millions per year. We have a contract from Government for making all the coin, both gold and silver, which gives an immense profit; and as there must now be coined six times as much as before, I must build new water-wheels to work the rolls which we took with us from England. It was on this account that I wished to examine the watercourse for this purpose, without the knowledge of Mr. Abadia or anyone but Mr. Page and the interpreter, who always attends me. I walked up and knocked, in my blunt way, at the nunnery court door, without knowing there were any objections to admit men; it was opened by a female slave, to whom the interpreter told my name and business. Very shortly three old abbesses made their appearance, who said I could not be admitted. I told them I came from England, for the purpose of making an addition to the Mint, and could not do it without measuring the watercourse; upon which a council was held amongst them; very soon we were ordered to walk in, and all further nunnery nonsense was done away. We were taken round the building and were shown their chapel and other places without reserve.

"Uville knew nothing about the practical part of the engines, and Bull very little, therefore you may judge what a wretched state this great undertaking was in before my arrival; no one put any confidence in it, and believed it was all lost, together with five hundred thousand dollars that had been expended on it. The Lord Warden was sent from Pasco to offer me protection and to welcome me to the mines. They have a court over the mines and miners, the same as the Vice-Warden's Court in England, only much more respected and powerful. The Viceroy sent orders to the military at Pasco to attend to my call, and told me he would send whatever troops I wished with me. The Spanish Government and the Vice-king since my arrival are quite satisfied that the mines will now be fully carried into effect, and will do everything in their power to assist me. As soon as the news of our arrival had reached Pasco, the bells rang, and they were all alive down to the lowest labouring miner, and several of the most noted men of property have arrived here—150 miles. On this occasion the Lord Warden has proposed erecting my statue in silver. On my arrival Mr. Uville wrote me a letter from Pasco, expressing the great pleasure he had in hearing of my arrival, and at the same time he wrote to Mr. Abadia that he thought Heaven had sent me to them for the good of the mines. The water in the mines is from four to five strokes per minute.

"Tell the members of the Geological Society that Mr. Abadia is making out a very good collection of specimens for them, which will be sent by the first opportunity; and soon after I arrive at Pasco I will write them very fully."

"We have much pleasure in stating that accounts have lately reached England from Lima, giving the satisfactory intelligence that our countryman and able engineer, Captain Trevithick, was in February last in good health, and superintending the rich and extensive mines of Pasco.

"Don Francisco Uville, a Spanish gentleman, having, with Don Pedro Abadia and others, formed a company to drain the mines of Pasco, unfortunately for Captain Trevithick, F. Uville was anxious to impress his countrymen with an opinion that it was solely owing to him that steam-engines were first introduced into the silver mines of South America; and notwithstanding the obligations he was under to Captain Trevithick, he sought every opportunity, soon after Captain Trevithick's arrival at Pasco, to oppose him, in claiming to have the direction of the mines.

"Captain Trevithick, knowing but little of the country, and disgusted with the treatment he received from Uville and the party he had formed against him, amongst whom was a gent who had lately arrived from England, retired from the concern, and proceeded on other important discoveries on his own account.

"Things remained in this state until August, 1818, when Uville met his death, in consequence of the cold penetrating air of the Cordilleras on coming out of the mines in a strong perspiration. Mr. Abadia and his friends were then under the necessity of soliciting the assistance of Captain Trevithick. On condition of his having the sole direction of the mines, he was prevailed upon to accept the situation which had been first most faithfully agreed he should have had; and when the accounts last left Lima in February, Captain Trevithick had been five months at the mines as the chief superintendent. The mines are represented as being in the most prosperous state, and likely to realize the sanguine expectations of the shareholders. Mr. Bull, an engineer from Chacewater, who left England with Uville, died at Pasco about ten months since."

"The first time they met was at Lima, on the 26th April, 1819, at Dr. Thorne's; your father had just come down from the Cerro de Pasco mines. On the 8th May following, I find my father witnessed the hanging of three men for killing two of your father's men, named Judson and Watson."

"The Mint was established in Lima, in 1565. The machinery was formerly worked by mules, eighty being daily employed till the year 1817, when Don Pedro Abadia, being the contractor for the coinage, Mr. Trevithick directed the erection of a water-wheel, which caused a great saving of expense. In the year 1817 two Englishmen, sent from Pasco by Mr. Trevithick (who afterwards followed with the intention of working some of the silver mines in Conchucos), were murdered by the guides at a place called Puloseco. This horrid act was perpetrated by crushing their heads with two large stones, as they lay asleep on the ground. The murderers were men who had come with them from Pasco.

"I have heard Mr. Trevithick say, that on shaking hands with the men who work in those quicksilver evaporating rooms, drops of quicksilver show themselves at the fingers' ends, and that the workmen wearing shoes take them off before leaving the work, to pour out any quicksilver that had oozed through the pores of the skin, which had been respired in the floating state of vapour. The men so employed fell a sacrifice in twelve or eighteen months."

"Another instance occurs in the unfortunately ruinous result and lamentable ill-treatment of the persons engaged in the attempt to introduce European improvements and British machinery into the great silver-mining district of Pasco (Chili), in which was engaged one of our most celebrated engineers, a most able mechanic, to whom the grand improvements in our Cornish mines are chiefly indebted—I mean Mr. Richard Trevithick. Trevithick was induced to furnish the machinery at an expense of 3000l. sterling, upon condition of being admitted a partner in the amount of 12,000 dollars in the joint stock of the company, and entitled to a share corresponding to the capital employed. This share was calculated at a fifth. Trevithick, before he embarked for Peru, divided his interest in the concern into 320 shares, each representing 38 dollars, and these were sold in the market for 125l. sterling each; some few were sold for 100l. cash. The success of the engines gave to some of the persons interested much confidence, who conceived they could now do without the management of the ingenious Trevithick. Every possible obstacle was therefore thrown in his way by those who, from motives of jealousy, wished to get rid of him. The persons to whom Trevithick's and other shares had been sold in London, sent out to Lima an agent, whose duty it was to look after their interests in the concern; but as it was found a much larger sum would be necessary for carrying the enterprise into effect than had been calculated, a collision of interests took place; complaints were made on all sides as to the delays and expenses which those who did not comprehend the almost insurmountable difficulties of the undertaking attributed to mismanagement and carelessness. The greatest share of opprobrium fell unjustly upon Trevithick, who, being a man of great inventive genius and restless activity, was at length completely disgusted, and retired from the undertaking. He left Pasco, although Abadia offered him 8000 dollars per annum, together with all his expenses, if he would continue to superintend the works; on no conditions would he consent to contend with the jealousies and ill-treatment of the persons with whom he had to deal. He soon after entered into speculations with some of the miners at Conchucos, for whom he constructed grinding mills and furnaces, with the view to substitute the process of smelting for that of amalgamation in silver ores, in which vain pursuit he became a considerable loser."

"Bodmin, November 3rd, 1869.

""My dear Sir,

"Forty-seven years are now passed since I had the great pleasure of meeting your father in Peru, and I have a vivid remembrance of the gratification afforded to my messmates when he came to dine with us on board H.M.S. 'Aurora,' then lying in Callao. I was then a lieutenant of that beautiful frigate, and was introduced to your father by Mr. Hodge, of St. Erth, with whom I had become acquainted in Chili. I remember your father delighting us all on board the 'Aurora' by his striking description of the steam-engine, and his calculation of the 'horse-power' of the mighty wings of the condor in his perpendicular ascent to the summit of the Andes. Your father's strong Cornish dialect seemed to give an additional charm to his very interesting conversation, and my messmates were most anxious to see him on board again, but he left shortly after for the Sierra.

"The Pasco-Peruvian mines were those which your father was engaged to superintend before he left England, and he had actually managed, by incredible labour, to transport one or two steam-engines from the coast to the mines, when the war of independence broke out, and the patriots threw most of the machinery down the shafts. This fearful war was a deathblow to your father's sanguine hopes of making a rapid fortune. About a year after this terrible disappointment (I think in 1822), the 'San Martin,' an old Russian fir frigate, purchased by the Chilian Government, sank at her anchors in Chorillos Bay, ten miles south of Callao, and your father entered into an engagement with the Government in Lima to recover a large number of brass cannon, provided that all the prize tin and copper on board which might be got up should belong to him. This was a very successful speculation, and in a few weeks your father realized about 2500l. I remember visiting the spot with your father whilst the operations were carried on, and being astonished at the rude diving bell by which so much property was recovered from the wreck, and at the indomitable energy displayed by him. It was Mr. Hodge, and not I, who then urged in the strongest manner that at least 2000l. should be immediately remitted to your mother. Instead of this, he embarked the money in some Utopian scheme for pearl fishing at Panama, and lost all!

"I had the honour of dining with Lord Dundonald on board the crazy frigate 'Esmeralda,' which carried his flag in Callao Bay, but I never heard of the gallant conduct of your father in swimming off to his ship and advising him of an intended assassination. I fancy that this must have occurred before I came on the station, probably in 1820, or 1821.

"Believe me, "My dear Sir,
"Very sincerely yours,
"James Liddell."

"Memoranda regarding the Copper and Silver Mine of * * * *.

"In 1814 an arrangement was made between the miners of Peru and myself for furnishing them with nine steam-engines and a mint, to be executed in England and erected in the mines of Pasco; and in October, 1816, I sailed from England for that country, for the express purpose of taking the management of those mines and erecting the machinery, being myself a large proprietor of the same. The Government of Peru was at that time subject to old Spain, under the immediate superintendence of a Viceroy. The machinery having been erected, and its sufficiency for the intended purpose of draining the mines having been proved to the satisfaction of all parties, there was granted to me a special passport by the Viceroy, for the purpose of travelling through the country to inspect the general mining system, and to make the native miners acquainted with the English modes of working. In return for which Government conceded to me the privilege of taking possession for my own benefit and account of such mining spots as were not previously engaged. In this way I travelled through many of the mining districts, and although I met with several unoccupied spots which would have paid well for working, yet, being a considerable distance inland, and requiring more capital to do them justice than I could then advance, I abandoned for the time all ideas of undertaking them.

"To this, indeed, there was but one exception, and that was a copper and silver mine, the ores of which are uniformly united, in the province of Caxatambo.

"When the patriots arrived in Peru, the mine was deserted by all the labourers, in order to avoid being forced into the army. In this state it remained for a considerable time; but on the Spaniards retreating into the interior, I recommenced working; and to secure my right to this mine under the new Government I at the same time transmitted a memorial and petition to the established authorities, accompanied by a plan and description of the mine, the result of which was the formal grant, as exhibited in the Spanish document now in your possession. It was not my good fortune to be allowed to follow up my plans, which almost warranted a certainty of success. I had scarcely commenced a second time when the Spaniards returned, and everyone again was obliged to fly. The country, as is well known, continued for a long time in a most distracted state, and I was ultimately compelled to quit that part of Peru, robbed of all my money, leaving everything behind me, miners' tools and about 5000l. worth of ores on the spot ready to be carried to the shipping port. Numerous as my misfortunes had been in Peru, and heavy as my disappointments, I felt none so sensibly as this, because it was an enterprise entirely of my own creation, and so open to view that I was enabled to calculate at a certainty the immense value contained within the external circle where the copper vein made its appearance in the cap of the mountain, and to be obtained without risk or capital. However, revolution followed revolution, and the war appeared to me to be interminable. Even Bolivar's arrival at Lima made it still worse, for he forced me into the army, with my property, which is not paid to this day, to the amount of $20,000; and at his urgent solicitations, disgusted as I was with what I had seen and suffered in Peru, I determined on quitting it for a time at least, and on visiting Colombia. Being at Guayaquil I first heard the name of Costa Rica and its recently-discovered mines, and having no doubt of the authenticity of my information, I immediately proceeded thither instead of going to Bogota to carry Bolivar's orders into execution, not having been paid. This short digression you will excuse, as it points to the causes of my separation from a property of so much value, as I consider the mine of * * * * *. Thirty years ago the neighbourhood of * * * * was famous for its silver mines. At the foot of the copper hill, on a fine stream, are two sets of works on a most extensive scale, which were carried on on account of the Spanish Government. The silver was found in lead veins, which are very large and numerous all around. The soil is very rich, and the climate as good as any in the world, wheat and Indian corn both growing round the mountain. Provisions and wages are low, the latter 1s. per day, and there are about 20,000 inhabitants within three miles. Wood for smelting and other purposes is abundant on the spot.

"* * * * is * * leagues from Lima; the port of * * * * where the ores are to be shipped, is 37 leagues north from Lima; and * * * * copper mine * * leagues back in the country east from this port, a good road for mules and plenty of them. The miners contracted with me to break the ores and deliver them at the surface for 4l. per ton, which was double what I ought to have paid them; the farmers likewise contracted to carry the ores to the port at the same rate, which comes to sixpence a league for each mule cargo. But even at present wheel-carriages might travel over a large proportion of the road, and a small outlay would make it a carriage-road the whole distance, and then the expense of carriage would be diminished more than one-half. Taking it, however, at what it cost me, the whole expense on the ores delivered on board would not amount to 9l. a ton, and as I conceive the freight to England would not exceed 4l. a ton, the total cost would be 13l., but say 15l. a ton. Its value in England would be above 80l. a ton. At the time I worked I intended to have sent 300 tons of ore to England, for in the then disturbed state of the country it would not have been prudent to risk myself on smelting works. I think it will ultimately be found preferable to smelt on the spot, but the course I should recommend in the meantime would be to send out two practical miners to direct and superintend the natives, who ought to be employed by contract to break and raise the ores and deliver them on board. In that case no erections whatever would be wanted; nothing but about 70l. worth of labourers' tools.

"I remain, Sir,
"Your humble servant,
"Richard. Trevithick."

"Cerro de Pasco and its Silver Mines.

"This place, in the Republic of Peru, is situated on the top of the Andes, on the eastern side of the Western Cordillera. It stands about 15,000 feet above the sea level, and is said to be one of the highest, if not the highest, inhabited place of importance in the whole world.

"From Callao to here is a distance of 160 miles, but, in consequence of the rapid ascent in such a comparatively short distance, it is considered a quick journey if mules make it in six days; it more frequently takes them a week, and at times, during the season of snow and rain, the pampas, which are the table-lands of these mountains, are impassable for several days together.

"The town of Cerro de Pasco, which at present numbers 10,000 souls, is of no small importance, considering its great altitude and inconvenient distance from the coast, but it lacks order and design in every part. The streets are crooked and uneven; and the houses are stuck about anywhere and everywhere, with the greatest display of uneducated taste that I have ever before witnessed; moreover, it would be difficult to find another such place so equally dirty.

"It rains and snows on these heights with not much cessation for about six months in the year, and in what is termed the dry season there are also frequent falls of snow. Furthermore, water boils at 180° Fahr. instead of at 212°, as with you; consequently it requires six minutes to cook an egg.

"The majority of the inhabitants are a low type of Indians, who are small in stature and mind, but are large in cunning, and have exceedingly plain features—not possessing the slightest trace of the noble features and bold simplicity of the Indians of the North.

"Any person acquainted with minerals and mining coming up to Cerro de Pasco would fancy that the whole town was built on the back of one huge lode; go wherever one may, through the streets, or on the outskirts of the town, and even up to the slopes of the hill surrounding it, he finds it to be all lodestuff everywhere; its composition is what we Cornish miners generally term an iron gossan.

"The greater portion of this mineral spot is parcelled out into setts or grants, which consist of pieces of ground 60 yards in length by 30 in width, giving to the place no less than 664 mines. At present there are no more than seventy-eight of them at work, and only sixty-three of which are producing ore, and the united returns amount to 2,000,000 oz. of silver per annum. Owners or companies have roads leading down to their mines, formed of steps cut out in the rock, dipping at angles varying from 30° to 50°. When you have descended to the depth of the mines, the levels or holes leading to many of them are so small that one has to drag himself along snake fashion until he reaches the main excavation. The miners break down the silver ore with pointed bars of iron, and then shovel it into bags made of hide with the shoulder-bone of some animal; after which the stuff is carried to surface on men's and boys' backs.

"When all the mineral has been extracted there remains an immense excavation, and in consequence of the roof not being properly supported with timber, one risks his life in entering it. Heavy falls of rock frequently occur, and by which means a vast number of persons are annually killed. One day in the last century, at the mines of 'Matagente' (which word means killed people), which are situated in the rising ground on the northern side of the town, while a great number of men and boys were at work, the roof of one of these immense chambers, consisting of many thousands of tons, fell in without giving the least warning, and 'in the twinkling of an eye' the souls of 300 Peruvian miners rushed into the presence of their Redeemer. Their bodies have never been exhumed, and their shattered bones, still remaining, will bear evidence of the catastrophe to future explorers. An adit has been driven through the district, beginning at the Lake of Quiulacocha on the south-west, and terminating at the mines of Ganacaucha on the north. The entire length of the adit, including its branches, is about 3 miles, and its average depth from surface 50 fathoms. Three perpendicular shafts, situated at about 600 yards apart, have also been sunk from surface to a short distance below the adit.

"The whole of the machinery for the mines in question, which is being made and dispatched by Messrs. Harvey and Co., of Hayle, Cornwall, consists of four steam pumping engines, six boilers, four iron main beams, four balance ditto, and also a sufficient quantity of 24-inch pit-work for both shafts. No single piece of all this cumbrous machinery must weigh more than 300 lbs., in consequence of its having to be transported on the backs of mules from the coast to this mountainous region. Although the main distance is no more than 160 miles, these beasts with their burdens have to climb an altitude of 15,000 feet before they reach their destination. Moreover, the passes in ascending the Andes and Cordillera can only be correctly imagined by experienced travellers. Some of the defiles are not much wider than a sheep-path, and with a thousand feet below you a roaring cataract, and thousands of feet above you snow-capped overhanging mountains, looking so dreadful that the awe-struck stranger in the pass fears that the next peal of thunder will cause them to topple."

"I observe in a paper which is now before me, entitled 'The Introduction of the Steam-Engine in the Peruvian Mines, by Richard Trevithick, in 1816,' that when Captain Trevithick arrived at Lima on board the ship 'Asp,' with sundry small engines for the draining of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, he was immediately presented to the Marquis de Concordia, then Viceroy of Peru, was most graciously received by the most flattering attention of the inhabitants, and subsequently the Viceroy ordered the Lord Warden of the mines to escort the great man with a guard of honour to the mining district. In contrasting the two epochs, that of Trevithick in 1816, with this of Wyman and Harrison in 1871, one is led to exclaim that there were gentlemen in Peru in 1816, and they gave unto CÆsar that which belonged to CÆsar."[131]

"The 'Bride' sailed from Hayle on Thursday with a portion of the machinery made by Messrs. Harvey and Co., of Hayle, destined for Cerro de Pasco, in Peru. The work comprises four 37-inch cylinder pumping engines; no part to weigh more than 300 lbs."