The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-01 00:00:00

THE MINES OF ALMAbEN.

•
At the present moment, when the Minister of Fi•
nance awaits the decision of the capitalists of Europe
respecting the loan of 40,000,000 of reals, which he
has proposed to secure the repayment of upon the
quicksilver of Almaden, a brief sketch of the present
state of those famous mines may be interesting to
our readers. It may be noted that this quarter of
the country is now the seat of an active war: ire
against the brigands of Toledo and La Mancha, against
whole Brigadier La Corte is directing the exertions
of between 5,000 and 6,000 troops, and communica-
tion with Almaden is not very easy just now.
These mines have been worked for at least 22 cen-
turies as Theophrastus speaks of their renowned
cinnabar; and the Spanish engineers of the pre=
sent day have declared' that their ascertained con=
tents are still so great, that they will afford a
yearly supply at the present rate of 22,000 quin-
tals for at least 500 years to come. One of the most
recent improvements consists in a return to ancient
workings in the grand valley of Sisapo described by
Pliny that of Valde-Azogues), where the Romans
burrowed superficially, like so many rabbits (not
knowing how to extract the water if they sank deeper),
until -tliey pulled down the side of the hill and com-
pletely interrunted their own scratchings. After
thirty years of toil, frequently interrupted by war and
want of funds, the present miners have hit upon the
original and almost untouched vein of fourteen feet in
breadth, and here • also, as well as in Almaden and
Almadeuejas, their works are in full activity. They
are carried on in a very old-fashioned style, partly
from the natural difficulties connected with the loca-
lity, partly from the unhealthy nature of the work,
and partly from the great disinclination to change old
customs, which marks the Spanish character so
strongly. The isolation of the site may be judged of
from the fact, that the roads around are in the same •
condition that they were in in the days of Theophras-
tus, that is to say, in a perfect state of nature, and
'that the metallic produce is borne to Seville, a jour-
ney
of between three and four days, a ionic; that is,
literally, on the loins of mules, for carriages of any '
kind are yet an unheard-of invention in those rocky
regions. The injurious effects of the labour on the
health of the miners arc, indeed, serious and lament-
able. Formerly condemned felons were employed in
great numbers there, and even paid highly to induce
them to exert themselves ; but they did little excepting
mischief, setting fire to the mines in the year 1752, and '
discrediting the honest calling of the miner. The ad-
ministradors long and loudly complained of their in-
efficiency, and of the want of willing, active, indus-
trious hands to carry on the work. The measures
adopted, in consequence, by the arbitrary Govern-
ment 'of that period were very characteristic of the
system which reduced Spain to the wreck of an em-
pire without ships, colonies, commerce, or a dollar in
her treasury • the free and guiltless peasantry of the
surrounding treasury;
were impressed and driven per-
force to labour in the mines in society with felons !
This could not last, for human sympathies are
stronger than the caprices of courtly politi-
cal economists. The peasantry gradually continued
to run away and leave the mines to the case of the
felons and the barbarous Government that knew
not how to avail itself of the labour of free men. The
succeeding Ministry made, however, a "great step in
reform." Finding that the neighbouring peasantry
were, forewarned by experience, abandoning all con-
nexion with the mines from the dread of forced la-
bour, attempts at colonization were made, and indi-
viduals were induced to come from Arragon by the
promise of high wages and certain valuable privileges,
such as an exemption from taxation, both local and
public, from service in the army,&c. The Arragonese,
however, finding themselves :attacked by the serious
and unknown disease ;induced by worldng in the
mercurial vapours, speedily abandoned their labours
and privileges and returned home again. The felons
were, therefore, still kept in requisition until the year
1801, when they were shipped off to the preside.° at
Ceuta, exactly 49 years after they had set fire to the
mines and stopped the workings for a couple of
seasons ; during which extensive era (comprising two
generations) they had been endeavouring, unsuccess-
fully, to convince the Government that they were the
most unprofitable labourers in existence. At length
the revolution, came, and with it glimmerings of the
unprolitableness of contending with nature. Now
the mines are all worked on the principle of free
labour, well paid and willingly exerted, under diffi-
culties and trials to health almost incredible.