Thus you see, seignior, added he, how far we are from improvement in that part of the country which we possess, and many more, which you may be sure are among these vast mountains, and which we never discovered, seeing all these valleys and passages among the mountains, where gold is to be had in such quantities, and with so much ease, that every poor Chilian gathers it up with his hands, and may have as much as he pleases, are all left open, naked, and unregarded, in the possession of the wild mountaineers, who are heathens and savages; and the Spaniards, you see, are so few, and those few so indolent, so slothful, and so satisfied with the gold they get of the Chilians for things of small value in trade, that all this vast treasure lies unregarded by them. Nay, continued he, is it not very strange to observe, that, when for our diversion we come into the hills, and among these places where you see the gold is so easily found, we come, as we call it, a-hunting, and divert ourselves more with shooting wild parrots, or a fawn or two, for which also we ride and run, and make our servants weary themselves more than they would in searching for the gold among the gulleys and holes that the water makes in the rocks, and more than would suffice to find fifty, nay, one hundred times the value in gold! To what purpose, then, should we seek the possession of more countries, who are already possessed of more land than we can improve, and of more wealth than we know what to do with? Perceiving me very attentive, he went on thus: Were these mountains valued in Europe according to the riches to be found in them, the viceroy would obtain orders from the king to have strong forts erected at the entrance in, and at the coming out of them, as well on the side of Chili, as here, and strong garrisons maintained in them, to prevent foreign nations landing, either on our side in Chili, or on this side in the North Seas, and taking the possession from us. He would then order thirty thousand slaves, negroes or Chilians, to be constantly employed, not only in picking up what gold might be found in the channels of the water, which might easily be formed into proper receivers, so as that if any gold washed from the rocks it should soon be found, and be so secured, as that none of it would escape; also others, with miners and engineers, might search into the very rocks themselves, and would no doubt find out such mines of gold, or other secret stores of it in those mountains, as would be sufficient to enrich the world.