Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-09-09
h AYDTTEV lille, TENN,

ICHSdp III OIlc uuuultu lHOuSdhu w
lars, which sum was accordingly hand
; ed over to Don Miguel
With portion Of the amount h
J paid off his debts, and with the re
: mainder made hasty retreat to th,
coast, where he embarked on board
vessel ON the point of sailing 70
Chill. On his arrival at Valparais,
; be was undecided what line of con
duct to pursue, or where 10 90 to
being much inclined to return to hi;
native land, but not wishing to do sc
! poorer than he had left it, because
there was a stigma Of disgrace in old
Spain, attached to any Spaniard ar
irving from Mexico OF South Ameri-
ca, under such circumstances; and.
accidentally hearing there was some
probability of succeeding in mining
opera tons in the neighborhood OF
Copiapo, he determined to make a
trial n that place, with the hope of
better success in future. On his ar
rival at the dreary desert, and miser-
able port Of Copiapo he proceeded to
the "villa'' of that name, some twen-
ty leagues in the interior, in an east
erly direction from the coast, toward
the Cordillera, and few days after
ward to the mineral district of San
Antonio, where he bought>a silver
mine, and commenced working it to
the extent his capital permitted. At
that date, and previously, the Span
iards principally worked mines of
gold and copper in this district, as the
old mines round about and in sight of
the city of Copiapo duly testify.
Some few silver mines were worked,
but in general were little attended,
to, so much so, that even the pro-
ceeds, in 1921, are said to have av-
eraged more than 10000 marks, (of
eight ounces) annually; but a great
change has taken place since that
period, for now mines Of gold are al
most entirely neglected. Some few
Of copper are still work ed, but atten-
ded with any thing but profit, on ac-
count of the scarcity Of wood for
smelling the ores, the DEAFNESS of
provisions, which have to be brought
from Valparaiso and the more south
ern parts of Chill, the want of water,
and difficult, TO say nothing Of the
c Expense of land carriage over desert
districts. In one instance, it is well
known some thousand tons Of ores
had lain, for some years, at the mouth
of mine, which, for the want of
rain, consequently forage for the
mules, it was found impossible to re-
move and carry to.any port for en-
barkation. The working of silver
mines, of late years, has been more
attended to, and the expectation of
that metal has now increased to more
than $50, 1000 marks annually. /.
In the meantime, year after year
rolled on, but Don Miguel met with
no better success than be had previ-
ously done in the "cerro' of Potosi;
yard after yard was excavated, pro-
ducing some manifestations of
silver, sufficient to induce him to
proceed, but insufficient to pay the 7
necessary expenses; and as his CAPT.
tai was diminishing, and his debts I
Increasing, he clearly saw himself
again fast fastening to ruin. He
was also unhappy, for the deceit he
had practised on his countrynlan
friend, which he deeply regretted
and sincerely repented, preyed upon
his mind and spirits, so much so,
that although impending ruin stared
him in the face, he determined never
10 adopt the same stratagem again.
The poverty of Don Miguel by
his time became notorious, and he
vas talked of and pointed at as
Door unfortunate miner. To avoid
icing arrested for debt he galloped
backward and forward on the ."eerro,". 4
md from the mine to the villa, and
rom Copiapo to the mineral of San
Antonio. During these rapid jour
leys he always stopped at the ''ran-
tho, or hat, of an old Indian wo-
nan, about halfway between both {
,laccs, for the purpose Of breathing |
lis horse, taking his .@yerba mate
md smoking cigar. She never
to inquire how the work (
# the mine proceeded, and from him s
llainly understood he vas unhappy, !
nd on the verge of ruin, unless
ONE very extraordinary good luck !
urned up, and the mine became sud
EMILY rich, which yard after yard, he I