158

AMERICAN MINES.

chap. xxir.

Columbia.

from 1754 to 1799, the gold and silver whichpaid the duty on its coinage at Lima amountedto two hundred and forty million four hundredand eight thousand and fifty-eight piastres. Ifwe take double that amount for the whole term,in which there can be no material error, it will befour hundred and eighty million eight hundredand sixteen thousand one hundred and sixteendollars, or one hundred million one hundred andsixty-nine thousand five hundred and twenty-fourpounds sterling.

That part of the former Spanish dominion inAmerica to which the name of the Republic ofColumbia has been given, and which comprehendsthe former viceroyalty of New Granada and thecaptain-generalship of Carraccas, has never beenproductive of much silver; indeed, in the latterperiods of the Spanish power, remittances of silverwere annually made from Mexico to defray theexpenses of the government in Carraccas.

The western part of this territory has from thefirst yielded a tolerably regular supply of gold. Thewhole is the produce of stream-works establishedin the alluvial districts. Gold veins have beenfound in the mountains ofGuamoco and Antioquia ,but their working was almost entirely neglected.According to Humboldt , the gold is the produceof three provinces only, of which the insalubriousdistrict of Choco furnishes one-half, and the re-mainder is supplied in about equal portions by