270
MINING IN THE
CHAP. X.
The mine of Zalamea, to the south of theRiver Guadiana in Andalusia , appears to havebeen worked in the middle ages. It containedsilver without any mixture of lead, though nearit is another mine yielding only lead. The minersseem to have mistaken the direction of the vein,and thereby to have lost it. The remains of acrucible, and of a reverbatory furnace, have beenfound in it; but it is inundated, which has beencaused by neglect, as, according to our author, itis situated on an eminence, and might be easilydrained \
Near to Cazalla, in the mountain Fuente de laReina, is the mine of Constantina . In formertimes, probably by the Moors, it was workedwith skill, as is demonstrated by the construc-tion of the shafts and galleries. The vein runsfrom north to south, and crosses a bed of schist.It was slightly worked when visited by Bowles,owing to the want of funds ; though there wasabundance of wood near it, and a rivulet run-ning at the foot of the mountain, by which itmight be easily drained 1 2 .
The chief mines, however, which the Moorsworked in Spain , were those of Linares in theprovince, or, as the Spaniards call it, the king-dom of Jaen . “ The hills which surround the