, 1888-03-24
vENEzuELA,s GOLD MINES.
Auriierous Fields on the Banks of the
Yuruari River-Scenes in Camp.

Nuruari ~River-Scenes in Camp.
The climate is unhealthy, disposing
persons to bilious f~evers, and in the
height of the rainy season the mortality
Is great among the negroes, who often
sleep in the open air and take but little
care of themselves. Chills and fever is a
common complaint. Position in life has
a great deal to do with the liability to
sickness, as upon the quality of the living
accommodations much depends. The
fever seems to thoroughly weaken the
blood of the sick, and for months after a
sick man has left his bed he appears like
a living corpse. Much of the disease
contracted at the mines is no doubt due
to excuses of various kinds, which seem
to be ~inseparable from life in a mining
country, When the greatest care is
needed, in reference to every detail of
eating, drinking, clothing and living,
little is taken by the majority, and the
result is that the various foreign en-
ployes, or officers as they are called
American, English and German-from
the chief mining engineer down to the
Irish blacksmiths, are continually sick or
recovering from sickness.
have seen over half the "officers" of
one company sick. thus necessitating
'bti4t N'Ah llbIll llt OlntTS, COTuuClUR
10 similar sickness. Doctors are plenti-
full. but they, too, are often laid up. At
night a dense mist from the river covers
the whole valley Ikea pail. No wonder
there are fevers.
The ore from the mines. after being
crushed, passes under the stamp heads,
on 10 which a stream of water is flowing,
and then crushed into fine powder from
the battery over the amalgamation tables.
These are of copper, covered with a
coating of mercury. The gold particles
a"malgamatc with the mercury, and the
water carries the quartz grains on into
the race below. The tables are cleaned
every twcnty-four hours, the mill being
stopped 10 allow of this. The result from
the day 5 working of this immense ma
chincry Is n couple of balls of varying
size-say Of an egg-of amalgam, which
are carried down to the house, weighed
and then deposited in the safe anti: a
sufficient quantity is had for retorting.
After reto.ting the resultant gold is
ready for shipment. Some gold is shipped
in the retorted form and some is melted
and cast in the form of bars before ship
mcnt. The shipment of bullion takes
place once Il month, the various COM
paIies bringing their gold to the office
whence the bullion tram starts. The
bullion is carried over the road in charge
of h mounted party of guards well
armed.
Bullion day is sort of n holiday for the
chief officers of the companies. on which
they all meet together and discuss mutual
affairs. The bullion train in returning
brings up mail and the money to pay the
labor and other expenses. Then. for many
days, the scene at n company's office is a
lively one, the miners besieging the win
dows for letters and with inquiries as to
when pay day will come. The money
comes up generally in English sovereigns,
with occasionally some American gold.
There is very little change in the country,
and ten or five cen Venezuelan pieces
are rare. English, French, German and
American money is that chiefly in circu-
lation. The standard of Venezuelan
currency is a 100 cents, or sencillio dol
lar, worth about what our dollar is, but
accounts in Venezuela are kept in Macu-
quino. \ Macuquino dollar is worth
about four-tifths of the sencillio dollar.
or to be exact, 74.7G cents American
GOLD. A five cent piece is n ten cent
piece cut in two, and divided again it
passea@or two and one-half cents.
An event in life at n mine is the ar
rival of a freight train of bullock carts or
burrus. Tn Venezuelan in charge, after
much tumbling. finds the bill of lading,
and then comes the checking of the pack
ages while all the idlers look on. Some
times it is Il cargo of boxes containing
tins of green corn, tomatoes, oysters,
Holsters, preserved fruits, etc, from the
states. Then it is bulky machinery,
stamp heads, TASKS of mercury, dyna.
mite or fuse. The smaller mining stores
such as dynamite, fuse, shoveis, picks,
machetes, hammers, drill iron, rope.
etc, are kept in a store room in the
living house of a mining company.
Let me describe a sleeping apartment
at the mines, as it will give an idea of
the manner of living. The floor is COW
cred where the iron bed stood with mat
ting, under which are some coffee sacks.
The hammock, thrown up over the mos
quito frame of the bed, is stretched across
the room. The carrata roof, in which
are numerous spiders and n friendly
house snake, who occasionally comes
down on the floor, is the ceiling. An
immense toad. who is of use, as he
catches many insects, lives under the
bed, and is IN good terms with n small
dog of the country who sleeps in the
room. The windows, without glass, are
simply protected by rough Venetian
shutters, and when it rains a steady
stream pours in several places through
the roof. The disagreeable insects known
as chigoes are numerous, and great care
has to be taken to avoid their a~cquaint-
ance. The temperature at the mines is
quite high during the day, but as the
nights are cool, warm bed coverings are
indispensable.
All over h country are scattered bar
rancos, or small shafts, sunk on to the
different lodes, some abandoned and some
still worked. These are dangerously near
the roads in many cases, and great care
has to be taken in riding about after dark.
The best way is to let the reins lay loosely
on the mules neck and trust to his sa-
gacity. The river water is used by many
for washing, and that of the mines, well
filtered. is often drunk, being kept cool
in tenagas. These are porous earthen-
ware jars, which are known c~uriously as
"monkeys'' in the West Indies.-New
York Herald.
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