Lardner Gibbon, Lieutenant, U.S.N.

“ The miners of silver ores are required by law to sell their metal to the government at a certain price. As merchants are willing to pay higher, the silver of Bolivia often passes out of the country in bars. Gold may be exported by paying a duty of three per cent.
Lead, iron, antimony, sulphur, copper, and tin abound in this department; the tin is found on the surface of the plain.
The climate of Oruro is cold, and the soil very unproductive. ”

“ The Puna seems the natural elevation for sheep; they thrive best there, The llama don’t do so well. The place of the vicuña is between these two mountainous distributions of animal life. Horned cattle and horses are above their station here, and thrive badly. ”

“ A moss grows, besides the sprigs of grass, on which the llamas feed, as they slowly move under loads of grain on the way to the grist-mill,
Scarcity of vegetables appears to produce an intimacy among animals. ”

“ A simple cast-iron silver burner, or distilling apparatus, would probably save half this waste, and certainly much labor — both the labor and mercury being the most expensive items in the miner’s list of expenditures. ”

“ There is a sparse population and very little cultivation. The people are supplied with grain and fruits from the ravines on the edge of the Madeira Plata. We changed baggage mules at the town of Sicasica, a flourishing place during the days of wealthy miners, but an uninteresting and lifeless Indian town now. ”

“ Three hundred Indians work the silver mines in the neighborhood. In this province, Sicasica, there exist three hundred and twenty abandoned silver mines. The yield of the nine mines at present worked produces some profit, but no fortunes are made by those concerned. ”

“ The Aymara language and people excite the imagination to a belief that their history is of an anterior date to that of the Quechuas, and more interesting to those who seek, in the depths of time long passed, for a knowledge of the origin of the aboriginal races of men on this part of the earth. ”

“ As the jackass travels very slowly, and the Indian driver generally accommodates his pace to the loaded animal’s, the cargo from Cobija requires thirty-five days. It is difficult to find men willing to make the trip over that barren country. ”

“ Here the sheep graze in flocks, exclusive of horned cattle or horses, and the vicuña keeps aloof from all; but in less productive places,vicuñas are found eating from the same scanty table with the sheep and llamas. Animals which inhabit the highest atmospheres are obliged to come down among those below them. ”