Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine old city, though then greatly fallen into decay. During the period of the Spanish dominion it was an important place, most of the gold and silver convoys passing through it on their way to Cartagena, there to be shipped in galleons for Europe. The mountainous country to the west was rich in silver, gold, and other metals, and it was Mr. Stephenson's object to select the best site for commencing operations for the company. With this object he "prospected" about in all directions, visiting long-abandoned mines, and analyzing specimens obtained from many quarters. The mines eventually fixed upon as the scene of his operations were those of La Manta and Santa Anna, long before worked by the Spaniards, though, in consequence of the luxuriance and rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old workings had become completely overgrown and lost. Every thing had to be begun anew. Roads had to be cut to open a way to the mines, machinery had to be erected, and the ground opened up, when some of the old adits were eventually hit upon. The native peons or laborers were not accustomed to work, and they usually contrived to desert when they were not watched, so that very little progress could be made until the arrival of the expected band of miners from England. The authorities were by no means helpful, and the engineer was driven to an old expedient with the object of overcoming this difficulty. "We endeavor all we can," he says, in one of his letters, "to make ourselves popular, and this we find most effectually accomplished by 'regaling the venal beasts.'" He also gave a ball at Mariquita, which passed off with éclat, the governor from Honda, with a host of friends, honoring it with their presence. It was, indeed, necessary to "make a party" in this way, as other schemers were already trying to undermine the Colombian Company in influential directions. The engineer did not exaggerate when he said, "The uncertainty of transacting business in this country is perplexing beyond description." In the mean time laborers had been attracted to Santa Anna, which became, the engineer wrote, "like an English fair on Sundays: people flock to it from all quarters to buy beef and chat with their friends. Sometimes three or four torros are slaughtered in a day. The people now eat more beef in a week than they did in two months before, and they are consequently getting fat."[66]