But there are still lower depths. We went down nearly two hundred feet more, and at the bottom of the last level, found men at work taking out ore. The dripping of the water at this point is very considerable, and two plans are made use of to get rid of it. A part of the water is carried up to the reservoir in pig skins on the backs of naked and sweating Indians, and a part—the larger part—is pumped up to that point by hand. [Sidenote: PRIMITIVE APPLIANCES FOR MINING.] The pumps are mere straight logs, thirty feet long, with a bore of three inches, and a piston and bucket, pulled and pushed, back and forth, by two stalwart Indians sitting on either side, working by main strength, without even a lever purchase to help them along. There are stations or reservoirs at the end of each pump, and all must be kept continually working, night and day. The Indian pumpers sit down to their work upon the wet rock, and are as naked as when born; the great heat and want of ventilation at this depth, rendering clothing, if they had it, a superfluity. They get fifty cents each, per day, and work twelve hours at a shift. In all my mining experience, I have never seen such a waste of power, and such thoroughly primitive appliances for mining. I went through many of the galleries and drifts, and examined the vein carefully. The main vein is five to twelve feet wide, quite irregular, and runs in a generally southwestern and northeastern direction, dipping to the southwestward as it descends. It carries metal in a very unequal degree in different portions, and though presenting rich specimens, and bunches of almost pure silver in spots, is not generally very rich. In one chamber, I saw a number of mules and horses feeding, a thousand feet below the surface. These poor creatures are let down in slings, from the surface, through the tiro, and never go out again alive. They turned their glazing eyes upon us with evident pain as we passed with lighted torches, and appeared to regard us with mournful interest, as in some way connected with the world above, of which they still retained some dim recollection, but which they were never to look upon again. In another chamber, I saw women and children cooking food for their husbands and parents. They appeared to live here, altogether, probably returning to the light of day only at long intervals. Utterly worn out, at last we climbed our way back to the tunnel, emerging into daylight just as the sun was setting, swallowed a liberal allowance of brandy, to protect ourselves against taking cold, mounted our horses, and galloped back to the city. [Sidenote: THE RESCATA.]