The products of none of the mines that have just been mentioned can on the whole compare with the beautiful stones which have come from South America. At the time when the Spaniards grimly conquered Peru and ruthlessly despoiled the country of the treasures which could be carried away, immense numbers of emeralds—some of almost incredible size—were literally poured into Spain, and eventually found their way to other parts of Europe. These stones were known as Spanish or Peruvian emeralds, but in all probability none of them were actually mined in Peru. Perhaps the most extraordinary were the five choice stones which Cortez presented to his bride, the niece of the Duke de Bejar, thereby mortally offending the Queen, who had desired them for herself, and which were lost in 1529 when Cortez was shipwrecked on his disastrous voyage to assist Charles V at the siege of Algiers. All five stones had been worked to divers fantastic shapes. One was cut like a bell with a fine pearl for a tongue, and bore on the rim, in Spanish, “Blessed is he who created thee.” A second was shaped like a rose, and a third like a horn. A fourth was fashioned like a fish, with eyes of gold. The fifth, which was the most valuable and the most remarkable of all, was hollowed out into the form of a cup, and had a foot of gold; its rim, which was formed of the same precious metal, was engraved with the words, “Inter natos mulierum non surrexit major.” As soon as the Spaniards had seized nearly all the emeralds that the natives had amassed in their temples or for personal adornment, they devoted their attention to searching for the source of these marvels of nature, and eventually in 1558 they lighted by accident upon the mines in what is now the United States of Colombia, which have been worked almost continuously since that time. Since the natives, who naturally resented the gross injustice with which they had been treated, and penetrated the greed that prompted the actions of the Spaniards, hid all traces of the mines, and refused to give any information as to their position, it is possible that other emerald mines may yet be found. The present mines are situated near the village of Muzo, about 75 miles (120 km.) north-north-west of Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The emeralds occur in calcite veins in a bituminous limestone of Cretaceous age. The Spaniards formerly worked the mines by driving adits through the barren rock on the hillsides to the gem-bearing veins, but at the present day the open cut method of working is employed. A plentiful supply of water is available, which is accumulated in reservoirs and allowed at the proper time to sweep the debris of barren rock away into the Rio Minero, leaving the rock containing the emeralds exposed. Stones, of good quality, which are suited for cutting, are locally known as _canutillos_, inferior stones, coarse or ill-shaped, being called _morallons_.