One of the most celebrated silver mines of Peru was that of Salcedo, renowned alike for its richness and for the tragical end of its possessor. Don José Salcedo, a poor Spaniard who had settled in Puno, fell in love with an Indian girl, whose mother, on condition of his marrying her daughter, revealed to him the existence of a rich silver lode. The fame of Salcedo’s wealth spread far and wide, and excited the envy of Count Lemos, the viceroy, who sought to obtain possession of the mine. As the good-natured and liberal Salcedo had become very popular among the Indians, this circumstance was made use of by the rapacious viceroy to accuse him of fomenting among the natives a spirit of rebellion against the Spanish yoke. He was cast into a dungeon, and the obsequious judges condemned him to death. While in prison Salcedo begged the viceroy to submit the case to the high court of justice at Madrid, and to allow him to appeal to the mercy of the king. At the same time he offered, as an acknowledgment for this favour, to give the viceroy daily a bar of silver, from the day the ship left the port of Callao to its return from Europe. If we consider that in those times a journey from Peru to Spain and back required at least from twelve to sixteen months, we may form some idea of Salcedo’s wealth. The viceroy, however, would not listen to the proposal, the very brilliancy of which probably inflamed still more his cupidity, and he ordered Salcedo to be hung. But his cruelty met with the disappointment it deserved; for when it became known that nothing could save Salcedo, his Indian friends destroyed the works of the mine, and so carefully concealed the entrance that it has remained undiscovered to the present day. After performing this work of retribution, the Indians dispersed, and neither promises nor tortures could wring the secret from those that were caught. Though the mines of Peru have yielded and still yield vast quantities of silver, yet probably only a few of the richest lodes are worked; for the Indians, to whom other lodes are well known, will never reveal their existence to the white men. They know by experience how small a benefit they derive from the mines, which are to them but a source of severe labour. Thus they prefer leaving the treasures of the earth undisturbed, or use them only in cases of extreme necessity. In many provinces undoubted proofs exist that the richest silver mines are secretly worked by the Indians, but all efforts to discover them have proved fruitless.