A Franciscan monk at Huancayo, a desperate gambler and almost always in want of money, had by his friendly manners gained the goodwill of the Indians. One day, after a severe loss, he bitterly complained of his distress to one of his Indian friends. After some hesitation the man promised to assist him, and brought him on the following evening a bag full of rich silver ores. This gift he repeated several times. But the monk, greedy after more, begged the Indian to show him the mine—a request which, after repeated refusals, was at length reluctantly granted. On the appointed night, the Indian, with two of his comrades, came to the Franciscan’s dwelling, took him on his shoulders, after first carefully blindfolding him, and carried him, alternately with his friends, a distance of several leagues into the mountains. Here they halted, and the Franciscan’s bandage having been removed, he found himself in a subterranean gallery, where the richest silver ores sparkled from the walls. After feasting on the grateful sight and filling his pockets, he was carried back again in the same way. On his return he secretly loosened the string of his rosary, and let a bead drop from time to time, hoping by this means to be able to find the mine. But, on the following morning, as he was about to reconnoitre, his Indian friend knocked at the door, and saying, ‘Father, thou hast lost thy rosary!’ brought him a whole handful of the loose beads. In 1850 the mines in the province of Copiapo in Chili yielded 335,000 marks of silver, nearly as much as the entire production of Europe, and the State of Nevada in North America bids fair to rival the riches of Peru. The ores are found on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in the region of the Carson River, and have since 1859 attracted a stream of emigrants to the Washoe Mine. At the present time they annually produce about 16,000,000 dollars of silver, chiefly from the Comstock Lode, which may be ranked among the richest mineral deposits ever encountered in the history of mining enterprise. Thus we find veins and deposits of silver ore scattered throughout almost the entire length of America; and no doubt many an unknown Potosi still lies concealed in the lonely ravines or on the bleak sides of the Andes, awaiting but some fortunate discoverer to astonish the world with its treasures. CHAPTER XXVI. COPPER. Its valuable Qualities—English Copper Mines—Their comparatively recent Importance—Dreary Aspect of the Cornwall Copper Country—Botallack— Submarine Copper Mines—A Blind Miner—Swansea—Smelting Process—The Mines of Fahlun—Their Ancient Records—Alten Fjord—Drontheim—The Mines of Rivaas—The Mines of Mansfeldt—Lake Superior—Mysterious Discoveries— Burra Burra—Remarkable Instances of Good Fortune in Copper Mining.