"All these castings must be delivered in Cornwall in four months from
 the time the orders are given; therefore, if you take the job, or any
 part of it, you must enter into an engagement to fulfil it in the
 time. As there ought not to be a moment lost, I wish you to answer me
 immediately in what time you will deliver those materials in Cornwall;
 or otherways, what part of them you can execute in the time.

 "I am making the drawing, which will be ready before I can receive
 your answer. For whatever part of the job you may engage I will lodge
 the money to pay for the whole in Mr. Fox's hands, which will then
 be paid for before you begin the work, as soon as you execute the
 agreement.

  "R. T.

  "MR. PENGILLY, _Neath Abbey, South Wales_."

It is an odd coincidence that while writing of the events of
fifty-eight years ago, pumping engines are being sent to those same
mines with the steam-cylinder in twenty-two pieces, no piece to weigh
more than 300 lbs.--a facility in mechanical arrangements not enjoyed
by Trevithick--having Trevithick's high-pressure boilers, giving steam
of 50 lbs. on the inch.[122]

[Footnote 122: Made by Harvey and Co., Hayle, 1870.]

 [Rough draft.]

  "SIR.                "CAMBORNE, _June 2nd, 1813_.

 "I drop you this note just to inform you that I have begun your job.
 Yesterday I engaged a great many smiths and boiler-builders, who set
 to work this morning. I have also engaged all the boiler-plates in
 the county, which will be sent to-day to the different workmen. The
 master-smiths that I have engaged are the best in the kingdom. I have
 obligated them to put the best quality of iron, and to be delivered
 at Falmouth within four months. I have been obliged to give them a
 greater price than I expected, otherwise they would not turn aside
 their usual business employment for a short job of four months.

 "Mr. Teague is with me, and one other, assisting about the drawings.
 If you call at Camborne about Friday, shall be able to show you
 the designs. The drawings for the castings will be sent to the
 iron-founders by the end of this week; and by the end of next week
 shall have the whole of the different tradesmen in full employ. If
 you wish to have a greater quantity of machinery ready by the end of
 September, there ought to be as little time as possible lost in giving
 your orders. I can get you double the quantity, provided you give the
 orders in time.

 "As soon as it is convenient to you to arrange the payments I would
 thank you to inform me, because we find in practice that the best way
 to make a labouring machine turn quickly on its centres, is to keep
 them well oiled.

  "R. T.

  "F. UVILLE, Esq., MR. HOOPER'S, _Falmouth_.

 "N.B.--If you intend to be at Camborne, please to drop me a note by
 post, and I will be at home."

In all Trevithick's moves there was a scramble for money, in which
he invariably came worst off. He could give a good hint that working
centres would not turn well without the essential oil; but he failed
to apply the principle to himself. Liberal words and golden prospects
carried him off at once; and before Uville was strong enough to visit
the Cornish mines and to fully explain what he wanted, the machinery
was being made, though at that same time the thrashing and ploughing
engines, and the locomotive and rock-boring engine, and the great fight
with Watt at Dolcoath, were in progress.

 [Rough draft.]

  "MR. RASTRICK,         "CAMBORNE, _June 8th, 1813_.

 "Sir,--Enclosed I send to you a drawing for a set of pumps for one
 of the engines for South America, with a drawing for a part of the
 castings for one of the boilers, for you to make a beginning. The
 drawings for the engines I will send in a few days. The Spanish
 gentleman who is now gone to London to arrange his money concerns,
 will be down again in about ten or twelve days, and then we shall both
 call at Bridgenorth, and bring with us the engagement for you to sign,
 for the performance of such quantities of work as you can execute in
 four months.

 "I have made arrangements with the smiths and boiler-*builders here,
 to weigh and pay at the end of every week. The regulation of your
 payment is left to you to point out in any way you please. As time is
 of the greatest consequence, I hope you will set to work immediately.

 "The reason for making the pumps so short, is on account of the
 extreme badness of the roads over the mountains, where these engines
 are to be conveyed, it being almost impossible to carry above five
 hundredweight in one piece. The West India engine is sold to send to
 Lima, but not to be conveyed over the mountains. I shall also bring
 drawings with me for one or two winding engines for the same place.
 Please write to me by return of post.

  "R. T."

 [Rough draft.]

  "CAMBORNE, near TRURO, _June 11th, 1813_.

  "MR. FRANCIS UVILLE,

  "at MESSRS. CAMPBELL AND CO.'S, London.

 "Sir,--I have your favour of the 9th instant, respecting the weight
 of the largest parts of the engines. I will take care to reduce the
 weight if possible, so as to be carried on the backs of mules.

 "By the time I receive your letter I shall have arranged the whole
 of the engine business, and intend to go immediately to Wales and
 Shropshire, to get the engagements executed for the performance of the
 work by the time proposed. I shall write to you again before I leave
 home, and as soon as I arrive in Wales will also write to you. I shall
 not stay in Wales above two days, but go to Bridgenorth in Shropshire,
 where I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you, as it will only be
 about twelve hours' ride out of your road to Cornwall.

 "In the North I shall introduce you to the sight of a great deal of
 mining and machinery, and in about ten days from the time you arrive
 at Bridgenorth, shall be able to accomplish the business so as to
 return again to Cornwall.

 "I would thank you to inform me as early as you can, of the number
 of engines you intend to get executed by the proposed time, because
 when I am in the North I shall be able to arrange with the founders
 accordingly. The smiths are all at work for you.

  "R. T."

 [Rough draft.]

  "MR. UVILLE,          "CORNWALL, CAMBORNE, _June 19th, 1813_.

 "Sir,--Your favour of the 9th instant, dated from Falmouth, I
 received, and in return wrote to you immediately--directed for you at
 Messrs. Campbell and Co.'s, London. As you said in your last letter,
 that immediately on your arrival in town you would write to me, I have
 expected every post since last Tuesday would have brought me a letter;
 but as I have not received it according to your promise, I am fearful
 that your letter may be unexpectedly detained, especially as you told
 me the last time I saw you at Falmouth, that you would enclose me
 a bank post bill. All the founders and other tradesmen are in full
 employ on your engines.

 "I intended to have left Cornwall for Wales and Shropshire by
 this time, with the founders' articles for execution; but being
 disappointed in not hearing from you, agreeable to our appointment, I
 shall delay it until I hear from you, which I must request you to have
 the goodness to do by return of post, because those delays make very
 much against the execution of your work; and as time is of so great
 a consequence to you, I hope you will not lose a moment in writing
 and giving me the necessary instructions, with a few drops of that
 essential oil that you proposed sending me on your arrival in town.

  "R. T."

The sugar rolling-mill engine that had been made for the West Indies
so pleased Uville that he purchased it at once, intending it for the
Mint at Lima. He also ordered one or two winding engines, in addition
to the pumping engines. Trevithick had arranged that no piece should
exceed 560 lbs. in weight. Then came Uville's order, "if possible to
be reduced so as to be carried on the backs of mules." Since that time
the path on the mountains has been improved, yet the present limit
of weight is 300 lbs. The absence of the promised bank post bill was
another difficulty.

 [Rough draft.]

  "CAMBORNE, _June 23rd, 1813_.

  "MR. FRANCIS UVILLE,

  "at MESSRS. CAMPBELL AND CO.'S, Park Buildings, London.

 "Sir,--Your favour of the 19th instant came safe to hand.

 "I was in hopes that I should have found a remittance enclosed. All
 the tradesmen that I have employed on your work were to have been paid
 every Saturday, and I made my arrangement with you accordingly. Unless
 this mode of proceeding is followed up, you cannot get your work done
 in any reasonable time, especially as you are an entire stranger. For
 my own part I have placed the greatest confidence in your honour, with
 which I am fully satisfied.

 "But I have to get this work from a great number of different
 tradesmen, and must make regular payments agreeable with my
 engagements with them. As the articles are about to be executed by
 different tradesmen, regular weekly payments ought to be established,
 of which I informed you before the work began.

 "I am ready for my journey to Wales and Shropshire, but cannot proceed
 with further engagements until I hear again from you. I have placed
 the fullest confidence in your word, a proof of which you have in the
 great exertion I have made to get the work done; but unless you in
 return place some confidence in me, or any other engineer that you may
 employ, a work of this magnitude cannot be carried on with promptitude.

 "As the whole of the work in my part has been put into immediate
 operation, it would be a very serious loss both of money and time to
 discharge the hands. I hope you will fully consider this business, and
 must beg you will have the goodness to write to me by return of post.
 On receiving the needful from you I shall leave Cornwall for Wales and
 Shropshire.

  "R. T."

Trevithick for once in his life was wise, and would not start on his
journey to Bridgenorth until the money had reached him. This prudent
resolve was soon forgotten in the love of making the steam-engine
useful; and as such creations in his hands grew into shape and size
before other men would have got through preliminary discussions,
pecuniary difficulties sprang up, as mushrooms do in a night.

 [Rough draft.]

  "CAMBORNE, _September 4th, 1813_.

  "MESSRS. HAZELDINE, RASTRICK, AND CO.,

 "Gentlemen,--Enclosed you have three of Mr. Uville's drafts, value one
 hundred and fifty pounds.

 "I should have sent it in one draft, but had not a suitable stamp. The
 castings, pipes, ale, &c., arrived safely. I hope that all the boilers
 and wrought-iron work will be finished by the end of this month, and
 shipped off for London. Immediately after Mr. Uville and I shall leave
 Cornwall for Bridgenorth on our journey to town. We are both very
 anxious to see the 'Sanspareil' engine at work, and hope you will have
 it ready by that time. I have received orders from different persons
 since I have been here, for steam-engines for the West Indies, and
 must, if possible, have three ready early in November, as the ships
 sail then that will take them.

 "I wish you would say in your next if this can be done in time,
 because these persons are very extensive agents for the planters, and
 are extremely anxious to generally adopt them in the West Indies.

 "We find from your letter that you are getting on pretty fairly with
 Uville's work.

  "I remain,
  "Your very humble servant,
  "RICHARD TREVITHICK."

 [Rough draft.]

  "GENTLEMEN,       "CAMBORNE, _September 7th, 1813_.

 "After writing to you on Sunday last, Mr. Uville received letters from
 Cadiz, from the Spanish Government, informing him that there was a
 line-of-battle ship there that should take the engines to Lima. Now as
 this ship is detained for this purpose, all possible dispatch must be
 made to get the whole of the materials shipped as early as possible
 for Cadiz. I am pushing the smiths as hard as possible, and you must
 do the same at your works, that the greatest dispatch may be made.
 I am ordered by Mr. Uville to request you to get one water-engine,
 pumps, &c., complete, one winding engine, winding apparatus, &c.,
 complete, and one crushing apparatus, complete, in addition to the
 former order. I wish you would also get on as fast as possible with
 the new engine, but do not let this engine prevent the getting forward
 the work for Lima.

 "I wish to have made apparatus to work expansively, and also a
 temporary water-pump, to load the engine, so as to prove its duty by
 the consumption of coal.

 "If the jobs are not completed by our arrival, you need not expect any
 rest until its completion. Your answer will oblige,

  "R. T."

 "MESSRS. HAZELDINE, RASTRICK, AND CO."

The money difficulty was for a time surmounted, with a prospect of
the completion and shipment of the work for London within four months
of the giving of the order; and the Spanish Government proposed that
a line-of-battle ship should take the engines to Lima from Cadiz. An
order was given for another pumping engine and another winding engine,
to be provided with gear for working expansively, and a temporary
water-pump, that in case of need the amount of work the engines could
do with a given amount of coal might be tested. A crushing machine, now
called "quartz-crusher," also formed part of this additional order.

The new engine, which he hoped they would get on with, was probably the
steam locomotive plough then being constructed at Bridgenorth.

 [Rough draft.]

  "GENTLEMEN,      "CAMBORNE, _September 22nd, 1813_.

 "I have your favour of the 14th instant, and hope to find you as
 forward on your job on our arrival at Bridgenorth as you state. I
 expect all the boiler and smith work will be shipped for London early
 in October; we shall then leave Cornwall for your works, at which time
 you will be very much annoyed with our company, unless we find your
 assertions grounded on facts. Enclosed I send you Mr. Uville's draft
 for 150_l._ Your receipt for the draft enclosed in my letter of the
 16th instant has not yet arrived.

 "I hope you will also have all the apparatus ready to try the new
 engine; Mr. Uville is very anxious to take the first of these new
 engines with him. When you send a receipt for the enclosed, please to
 say what state of forwardness the whole of our work is in, and do not
 neglect a moment to get the whole executed with all possible dispatch.

 "Nothing short of a want of cast iron will confine our friend in
 England one day after the end of this month.

  "I am, Gentlemen,
  "Your very humble servant,
  "RICHARD TREVITHICK.

 "MESSRS. HAZELDINE, RASTRICK, AND CO."

It seems probable that in 1813 a railway locomotive, with apparatus
for rock boring, and steam-crane, was made for South America as the
forerunner of the 'Sanspareil' of 1829.

 [Rough draft.]

  "GENTLEMEN,      "CAMBORNE, _October 1st, 1813_.

 "I received your favour of the 27th last evening, and now enclose you
 another draft of Mr. Uville's for 150_l._ We shall wait impatiently
 for your next letter to know when you will finish. Mind, this is
 the 1st of October, and agreeable to promise the time is up. Mr.
 Uville wishes you to cast sixty carriage-wheels for him, 11 inches
 in diameter from out to out, and to weigh about 20 lbs.; cast them
 of strong iron, and of a strong pattern, to take a 1-1/2-inch axle
 by 2-1/2 inches deep in the hole; also cast four plunger-pistons 11
 inches diameter to suit the 11-inch working barrels, provided it
 should be used for the purpose of a plunger. They must be in every
 respect the same as the 14-inch plunger-pistons, only 3 inches less in
 diameter.

 "Soon after the receipt of your next letter you may expect to see us,
 as a vessel has been engaged to take all the boilers and smith work on
 board to-morrow week for London.

  "I remain, Sir,
  "Your humble servant,
  "RICHARD TREVITHICK.

 "MESSRS. HAZELDINE, RASTRICK, AND CO."

Probably those cast-iron wheels were ordered with a view to steam
locomotion in the Cordilleras. An engine is described in the invoice as
having chimney, axles, carriage-wheels, &c.

 [Rough draft].

  "GENTLEMEN,     "CAMBORNE, _October 11th, 1813_.

 "On making the drawings of the engine with the winding and crushing
 apparatus, when at work I find that if there is no crank, but the
 sweep rod is connected to a pin in the arm of the fly-wheel; in that
 case the fly-wheel will cut off the engineer from getting at the
 cock; but if the sweep is connected to a crank, then there will be
 sufficient room. The copy of materials taken from your books and given
 to Mr. Uville does not say in which way it was intended. I send you a
 sketch how it will stand worked by a pin in the fly-wheel, and also
 if worked by a crank over the cylinder, with the fly-wheel outside
 the wood partition of the house. If you have cast all the parts for
 the winding engine, you should try to alter it, having the fly-wheel
 outside the wall of the house, and a crank for the inside end of the
 shaft. The fly-wheel shaft will be nearly the same length both ways,
 only it must be long enough for the fly-wheel to pass between the
 wood partition and the 4-feet cog-wheel. The centre of the winding
 cylinder will be 17 inches from the outside of the wood end of the
 house, against which the fly-wheel ought to run. I have received
 your favour of the 5th instant, and have enclosed, agreeably to your
 request, a draft of Mr. Uville's for 800_l._, which will be the last
 from Cornwall. All I have to say is, you have taken longer time for
 the completion of your work than you first proposed, which has made
 Mr. Uville apprehensive that it will be the means of his losing the
 Spanish ship promised him to take the engines. He desires me to inform
 you that he has complied with this advance on purpose to enable you to
 push your work with the utmost exertion.

 [Illustration: WINDING ENGINE FOR SOUTH AMERICA.]

 "Please to inform us the precise time we must quit Cornwall for
 Bridgenorth; we now wait entirely on you without any other thing to
 engage us. I fear Mr. Rastrick being so much from home will impede
 our job. If we miss this ship it will certainly make much against us
 all, losing three or four months in getting a South Sea whaler, and
 having the engine in a vessel not able to defend herself against an
 enemy, and having to pay 15 or 20 per cent. insurance, and prevent our
 getting other orders for another set of engines, and if taken by the
 enemy perhaps altogether damn the undertaking. Therefore I would have
 you to well consider the great inconveniences attending delay.

 "I think I need not say much more to you on this head, as you ought to
 feel more for your own interest than I can scribble to you on paper.

  "Yours, &c.,
  "R. TREVITHICK.

 "MESSRS. HAZELDINE, RASTRICK, AND CO."

This rough hand-sketch and letter fully describing his requirements,
is an illustration of the facility with which Trevithick designed his
engines and made known his wishes to others.

 [Rough draft.]

  "GENTLEMEN,      "CAMBORNE, _October 23rd, 1813_.

 "Mr. Uville wishes everything to be sent off as soon as finished,
 except the rolling engine, which is to remain until he arrives. We
 intend to leave Cornwall for Bridgenorth on Monday, November 1st. You
 may expect to see us three days after that date. The wheels ordered
 for the carriages are to run on the ground and not on railroads. Mr.
 Uville now wishes to have seventy-two instead of sixty as ordered
 before.

  "I remain, Gentlemen,
  "Yours, &c.,
  "R. TREVITHICK.

 "MESSRS. HAZELDINE AND CO."

The last-named engine was intended for the coinage operations in the
Mint at Lima. The use of railway locomotion had been under discussion
with the engine builders, and probably those particular carriage-wheels
were ordered in the hope that the portable engine built for conveying
itself from place to place in the sugar plantations of Jamaica, would
in the Cordilleras be made to draw waggons on common roads.

The hand sketch of the winding engine in the letter of the 11th
October, was to correct an error in an order hastily given a month
before; when, to save time, outline instructions for this complicated
work were hurriedly sent to the manufacturer, that a commencement
might be made while the more perfect detail drawings were being
completed; the first-proposed position of the fly-wheel would prevent
the engineman from conveniently reaching the four-way cock; Trevithick
therefore suggested that the fly-wheel should be moved to the outside
of the house, and a crank placed on the end of the driving shaft
in lieu of the crank-pin in an arm of the fly-wheel. The sketch
illustrating this change makes us fully acquainted with the kind of
winding high-pressure steam-puffer engines of 8-horse power, with
open-top cylinders of 12 inches in diameter and about 3 feet 6 inch
stroke, sent to Peru in 1814. Steam, of 30 lbs. to the inch above the
pressure of the atmosphere, was admitted under the bottom of the piston
by a cock moved by an eccentric on the fly-wheel shaft; the gradual
closing of the cock reduced the supply of steam when about one-third
of the stroke had been made, wholly cutting it off some time before
its completion, making it a high-pressure steam expansive engine. The
movement of the cock then turned the steam from under the piston into
the chimney blast-pipe, and the down-stroke was performed by the weight
of the descending piston, made more than usually deep and heavy to
prevent the tendency to twist in the cylinder from the angle of the
jointed connecting rod, and also by the momentum of the fly-wheel and
its balance-weight, moving at a speed of thirty strokes a minute. Its
boiler was the Trevithick wrought-iron cylindrical, with internal tube
and fire-place, but so arranged that if necessary the fire could be
placed in brick flues under the boiler, returning through the tube.

The cylinder for the winding engine was probably fixed in the boiler,
costing, with whim-barrel and winding apparatus complete and ready for
work, 210_l._ Does the reader ask, Did so cheap an engine ever work?
Or perhaps his knowledge of engineering gives rise to the question,
How did it work? for it looks like a Newcomen of just exactly a
hundred years before, only it needs no injection water or great main
beam; and certainly it is not a Watt, for it has neither air-pump
nor condenser, nor vacuum, nor cylinder-cover, nor parallel motion,
nor any other thing like Watt invented; but it has high-pressure
steam, which he disapproved of, and it really worked thousands of
miles away, where there were no mechanics to keep it in order, and on
mountains so difficult of access, and in so light an atmosphere, that
Watt, who had the first chance of supplying steam-engines to the New
World, declared it to be impossible. The pumping engines are described
in Trevithick's note of 22nd May. They also were high-pressure
puffer-engines with open-top cylinder, 24 inches in diameter, 6-feet
stroke, with a cross-head working in guides, and side rods connecting
to the pump-rods. Two valves turned the steam on and off from under the
piston, with the ordinary gear and handles. The boiler was similar to
that for the winding engine, but larger, and had not the cylinder fixed
in it; a balance-beam regulated the movements, as it had no great main
beam, and differed from ordinary engines just as the winding engine
did. The power was 33 horses, and with an 11-inch pump barrel, 150 feet
of 11-inch pumps, a winch, and all apparatus necessary for draining the
mine, the cost was but 1400_l._

[Rough draft.]

  "PLOUGH INN, BLACKWALL, _December 28th, 1813_.

  "MR. RASTRICK,

 "Sir,--I am requested by Mr. Uville to write to you, to push the
 boilers as fast as possible. A ship will sail for the South Sea
 fishery in about five weeks, and will engage to take the whole of
 the engines. We have not finally closed with her, because we cannot
 state the exact time until we hear from you. You must not lose a
 moment in sending the boiler to town. I should have gone to Cornwall
 before this, but have been detained, getting a ship; and I do not like
 leaving until my agreements are executed, which cannot be done until
 the beginning of next week.

 "I have been obliged to have all the transactions between the mines,
 and the Spanish Government, and Mr. Uville, translated into English,
 before the outlines of an agreement could be drawn up, which has been
 a most tedious job.

 "Most of the people have been out of town, and those that were not
 would do no business in the Christmas, which has occasioned a loss of
 near ten days.

 "As soon as the agreements are executed, I will immediately send to
 you money from this place. I have been kept so long here, that it will
 not be worth returning to Cornwall until after Mr. Uville sails. I
 shall be at Bridgenorth in about ten days, and will remain until the
 work is finished. Write how the work is getting on, and what state the
 winding engine is in.

  "Yours, &c.,

  "RD. TREVITHICK."

[Rough draft.]

  "DEAR SIR,

  "CAMBORNE, _March 4th, 1814_.

 "Your favour of the 23rd February was sent to me from Bridgenorth. I
 have also received your favour of the 1st instant, and will attend to
 the drawings you mention, and be prepared to meet you as early as you
 please, only give me as much notice as you can.

 "I hope by this time that Mr. Page has done something toward the
 needful, to be at your service. I have, agreeably with your letter
 this day, desired Capt. Thomas Trevarthen to hold himself in readiness
 for London about the end of this month. I have not yet seen Bull. I
 wish you to write me if I am to give him notice also to hold himself
 in readiness for town. I fear that those two persons will not be
 sufficient to conduct the work with speed, especially if Capt.
 Trevarthen should be unwell; he is a good miner and pitman, and could
 assist in fixing the engines. Bull can only act as an assistant to an
 engineer, therefore neither of them can take the sole direction of the
 work.

 "There will be those four large boilers to be put together on the
 spot, which neither of those persons know but little about. I think
 it would take a great charge and care from your mind to have a third
 person with you that could go through the whole of the undertaking,
 especially as the distance from England is so great. This undertaking
 of such immense magnitude and value ought not to depend solely on your
 own health, as neither of the other two could get on without your
 assistance in laying down and planning the outline of the whole of
 the work belonging to the machinery. If any one of the parts should
 be lost or broken, it would require some ability in that country to
 contrive a substitute. The expense of a third able man might prevent
 much loss of time and difficulty, and would not be an object in a
 business of such a scale as you have commenced with.

 "I recommend a third person, that you might count on a speedy and
 effectual start. Even in this kingdom, where machinery is so well
 understood, I have known several good undertakings fail, from not
 employing at first an experienced engineer to conduct the work; which
 I am doubtful would be the case at Pascoe, if you were not able to
 attend yourself to the erection, and do not take a person with you for
 that purpose. I beg your pardon for thus attempting to recommend to
 you a third person to go out; but I think a work of this magnitude,
 where expedition is important, ought not to rest on the health of one
 man, especially under a changeable climate. Please to consult your
 friends, and give me your opinion on it in your next.

 "My health is much improved; my wife desires her best respects, and
 thanks for your present. Please to write soon.

  "Yours, &c.,

  "RD. TREVITHICK.

 "MR. UVILLE, _12, East Stien, London_."

[Rough draft.]

  "MR. PAGE,

  "CAMBORNE, _March 8th, 1814_.

 "Sir,--Yesterday Mr. Joseph Edwards, of Truro, informed me that Teague
 had given notice of trial, and that the case would come on at the
 Assize on the 26th, and requested me to desire you to write to him
 immediately, and give him the whole of the transaction relative to Mr.
 Uville's arrest in London.

 "He also wishes that some attention had been paid to the threat that
 Mr. Uville received from Teague's so-called friend, so as to ascertain
 whether it came direct from him, which he thought would have some
 weight in court. I shall attend to give evidence at the Assize with
 Mr. Edwards. I shall anxiously await a reply to my last. How does
 Harvey's business get on?

 "My respects to Mr. Day, and shall be very glad to find him recovering
 his health as fast as I am. A crust of bread and clear air are far
 preferable to luxuries enveloped in clouds of smoke and heaps of filth.

  "Your obedient servant,

  "RD. TREVITHICK.

 "P.S.--I hear that Teague is still in London, and that his furniture
 is removed to his friend's house, to save it from the hands of
 surrounding evil spirits."

Trevithick showed no undue amount of discontent on discovering that
Uville had led him into pecuniary difficulties, and even his tendency
to interfere in engineering matters was not hastily resented.

In December, 1813, while in London, arranging for a vessel to convey
the engines to Lima, and also to secure written agreements with
Uville, who expected to leave England in a week or two, the going into
the documents made known many weak points, one of them being shortness
of money. The expected week or two had lengthened out to three months,
and Uville was still in London, and Capt. Thomas Trevarthen and Bull
were to be there, ready to start, about the middle of March, 1814. Four
large boilers, in pieces, were to go for the pumping engines, to be put
together in the mines; and Trevithick strongly recommended the sending
a third man, to take general charge of the practical work, which Mr.
Uville thought he himself could manage.

Page and Day were lawyers, who drew up very long documents. Money to
pay expenses was raised by the sale of shares in a company formed by
Uville without sufficient authority, and Page was to go to the mines
to look after his own and the English shareholders' interests; between
them Uville was arrested, apparently for some trifle.

[Rough draft.]

  "MR. UVILLE,

  "CAMBORNE, _March 15th, 1814_.

 "Sir,--I shall write to him again by this post, and push him to send
 down the transfer of my shares, already agreed on, for my execution,
 and hope I shall be able to meet Messrs. Hazeldine and Co.'s demand
 before it will be due. The young man Bull has been with me. I told
 him I expected that you intended to take him with you, and Capt.
 Trevarthen is making preparation for going. I am glad you intend to
 take a third person with you. I have not thought or said anything to
 anyone about this business. Mr. Vivian informed me that, from the
 conversation he had with you on the subject, he had expected to hear
 from you. I can answer for Mr. Vivian's honesty, ability, and pleasant
 behaviour, and he is a person very suitable for the engagement, only
 that one failing of making too free with an evening glass, which
 you were not unacquainted with while in Cornwall at Dolcoath Mine. I
 do not like to take an active part in this business, because if any
 accident should happen to him, my sister or his family might charge me
 with being accessory to his going; therefore I must beg to be exempt
 from taking any part in this engagement.

  "I remain, Sir, yours,
  "RD. TREVITHICK."

 [Rough draft.]

  "MR. PAGE,    "CAMBORNE, _April 9th, 1814_.

 "Sir,--I have your favour of the 5th instant. I intend to be in town
 on Sunday week, but this need not prevent their writing to me here;
 and both you and they may still be doing your best towards disposing
 of shares.

  "Your obedient servant,
  "RD. TREVITHICK."

 [Rough draft.]

  "MR. UVILLE,    "CAMBORNE, _April 9th, 1814_.

 "Sir,--I intend to be in London on Sunday, the 17th, and shall call
 immediately on this person for money, which shall be at your service.
 Wheal Alfred and Wheal Prosper agents wish you a prosperous voyage,
 and success in your mines.

  "I remain, Sir,
  "Your obedient servant,
  "RD. TREVITHICK."

Trevithick was now embarked with a crew of speculators, and in payment
for his services was made a partner, and sold a portion of his shares
to pay for the engines which Uville had ordered.

Henry Vivian, his brother-in-law, and the brother of his late partner
Andrew Vivian, wished to be the third person engaged to go with the
machinery to America. Trevithick spoke of his honesty and ability, but
declined, on account of the family relationship, to take any part in
the appointment.

The two notes on the 9th April, 1814, close the correspondence. Page
was busy selling shares to raise money, and Trevithick was to get some
money, which was to be at the service of Uville.

The delay between this period and the time of starting was mainly
caused by financial and other arrangements managed by Uville. On the
1st September, 1814, Uville, Henry Vivian, Thomas Trevarthen, and
William Bull sailed from Portsmouth for Lima in the 'Wildman,' taking
with them four pumping engines, with pump-work and rods complete; four
winding whim-engines, with all winding apparatus complete; one portable
locomotive engine on wheels, to be used for a rolling mill or other
purposes; one mill for grinding ore; and one rolling mill, probably
for the Mint at Lima. These nine steam-engines, with their apparatus
complete for work at the mines, cost 6838_l._; the grinding and rolling
mill cost 700_l._ more; but various other expenses more than doubled
the amount, which reached the large sum of over 16,000_l._

On reference to the conditions of agreement under which Uville acted,
dated 17th July, 1812, Don Pedro Abadia, Don José Arismendi, and Don
Francisco Uville, were partners engaging to drain a range of mines.
Uville was to go to London to purchase two steam-engines, and was
authorized to expend $30,000 (say 6000_l._). $2000 (say 400_l._) was to
be paid to him as the value of Trevithick's model, which he had a few
years before bought in London for 21_l._ He was to engage one or two
English workmen. No new partner was to be allowed. They also contracted
with the various workers of mines in Yauricocha, Yanacancha, Caya
Chica, Santa Rosa, and in the mining ridge of Colquijilca, for a period
of nine years, to commence within eighteen months of that time, to
sink a general pit for the drainage of those mines, and to pump out
the water by steam-engines. The payment for this drainage was to be
one-twentieth part of the ore raised by the different mines.

 "An agreement made at London this 8th day of January, 1814, between
 Don Francisco Uville, of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, of the one
 part, and Richard Trevithick, of Camborne, in Cornwall, engineer,
 of the other part. Whereas, by an agreement of partnership made and
 signed at Lima, and whereas the said Francisco Uville did in pursuance
 of his contract with the said miners soon after the ratification
 thereof, embark for England, for the purpose of fulfilling the same on
 his part, and on his arrival there in the month of April last, made
 application to the said Richard Trevithick, who is an experienced
 engineer and miner, and requested him to assist him in promoting
 the object of his journey, which the said Richard Trevithick (being
 penetrated with a high sense of its utility) agreed to do, and hath
 accordingly applied himself wholly to that object, ever since the
 arrival of the said Francisco Uville in England: And whereas under
 the direction of the said Richard Trevithick, and by the orders of
 the said Francisco Uville, various machines and engines have been
 made for the purposes of the said concern, a part of which has been
 already paid for by the said Francisco Uville; but several of the
 bills brought by him to England not having been honoured, by reason
 of the absence from England of the parties upon whom they were drawn,
 the said Francisco Uville hath not at present sufficient funds to
 answer the engagements he has entered into in this country, and Don
 Juan ..,[**] to whom he was in that case directed by his partners to
 offer shares in the said concern, and from whom he could have received
 supplies, not being at this time in London, the said Francisco Uville
 has agreed to admit the said Richard Trevithick to be a partner in
 the concern, upon his advancing and paying a proportionable part of
 the expenses necessary for carrying on the same. Now these presents
 witness that in consideration of the said Richard Trevithick having
 paid and agreeing by these presents to pay certain bills for machinery
 ordered by the said Francisco Uville to the amount of 3000_l._
 or thereabouts, the particulars of which have been ascertained
 and settled by and between the said Francisco Uville and Richard
 Trevithick, and also in consideration of the services which the said
 Richard Trevithick hath already rendered to the said undertaking, and
 of the future benefits which he is expected to perform for it, the
 said Francisco Uville for himself, and on the behalf and in the name
 of the said Pedro Abadia and José Arismendi (who will ratify these
 presents in the capital of Lima as soon as it shall be produced to
 them, to which the said Uville holds himself bound), Doth, by virtue
 of the power and authority given to him by his said partners, agree to
 admit the said Richard Trevithick to be a member of the said company,
 and doth hereby declare him to be a member thereof and a partner
 therein to the extent of 12,000 dollars, and as such, entitled to a
 share and interest in all the profits and advantages of the company
 in the proportion which the said sum of 12,000 dollars shall bear to
 the amount of capital employed by the company in the purposes of their
 establishment, which proportion will amount as nearly as can now be
 ascertained to one-fifth of the capital stock embarked in the said
 concern.

  "FRAN. UVILLE.
  "RICHARD TREVITHICK.

 "_8th January, 1814._"

So Trevithick paid 3000_l._ and received nothing for his engineer's
work, to be made a partner, contrary to Uville's limit of authority, in
a speculation that proved to be not worth a farthing.

The following is a summary of the detail invoice of engines and
machinery which left London for Lima in September, 1814, in charge of
Uville, just fifteen months after his landing at Falmouth in search of
Trevithick:--

 "Invoice of four steam-engines, four winding engines, one portable
 rolling engine and materials for ditto, two crushing mills, four
 extra-patent boilers, spare materials for engines, boring rods,
 miners', blacksmiths', and carpenters' tools, &c., shipped on board
 the 'Wildman,' John Leith, master, from London to Lima, by, on account
 and risque of Don Francisco Uville, Don Pedro Abadia, and Don José
 Arismendi, merchants at Lima. Dated 1814.

  To four steam-engines of 33-horse-power each           £  _s._ _d._
     (complete for lifting water with under-adit
      and house lift-pumps, and wrought-iron
       pit-work, rods, &c., at 1399_l._ 13_s._ each    5,598  12   0

  To four winding engines of 8-horse-power each,
      with whims, barrels, shafts, &c., complete
      for lifting ore, at 210_l._ each                   840   0   0

  To one portable steam-engine of 8-horse power,
      for rolling, with its chimney, axles,
      carriage-wheels, &c.                               400   0   0
                                                         -----------
                                                       6,838  12   0

  A mill for grinding ore               £517   0   0
  A rolling mill                         204   0   0
  Duplicates, sundries, freight,
  insurance, &c., &c.                  8,592   9   1
                                       -------------   9,313   9   1
                                                       -------------
                                                     £16,152   1   1"

The nine steam-engines, including a locomotive, with its chimney,
axles, carriage-wheels, &c., a crushing mill and a rolling mill,
cost but 7560_l._ Other expenses, for freight, insurance, &c., &c.,
increased the amount to 16,152_l._

William Williams,[123] on his return from the Cerro de Pasco Mines,
states:--

[Footnote 123: Residing at Angarrack, near Hayle, 1872.]

 "On the 3rd March, 1872, I saw in Yauricocha Mine two of Mr.
 Trevithick's engines at work; one of them was a horizontal 12-inch
 open-top cylinder pumping engine, about a 4-feet stroke; there
 were two fly-wheels about 10 feet diameter and a cog-*wheel 7 feet
 diameter, giving motion to two wrought-iron beams working a 10-inch
 pump bucket. The other was a 12-inch cylinder winding engine with
 a large fly-wheel. Three Cornish boilers, about 5 feet 6 inches
 diameter, with 3 feet 9 inch tube, 30 feet long, made of 7/16ths of an
 inch plates, supplied steam of 40 lbs. on the inch."

CHAPTER XXII.

PERU.

 "Conditions under which Don Pedro Abadia, Don José Arismendi, and Don
 Francisco Uville, establish the project of draining the mines by means
 of steam-engines, to be brought from England.

 "1st. The company is composed of three contracting persons without
 admitting therein any other whatever.

 "2nd. There are intended as a fund for the undertaking 40,000 dollars,
 to be divided into four shares in the following manner:--Two shares
 to Don Pedro Abadia, one to Don José Arismendi, one to Don Francisco
 Uville. Four shares, dollars 40,000.

 "5th. These principles of good faith and friendship being established,
 the project is to be carried into effect with the greatest possible
 activity, for which purpose, by the first opportunity, the funds shall
 be forwarded by Don Pedro Abadia to the amount of 30,000 dollars, with
 the necessary instructions for the construction of the machinery to a
 person who may be appointed.

 "7th. As it has been estimated that 30,000 dollars will cover the cost
 of two engines in England, if the said Uville finds another on credit,
 he is authorized to purchase it on account of the company.

 "11th. Should the undertaking yield profits, Uville shall also be
 credited for 2000 dollars for the value of the model.

 "12th. In the instructions that may be given to Uville, it shall be
 stipulated on what terms he may engage one or two English workmen.

 "LIMA, _17th July, 1812_."

 "_Contract._

 "1st. The present contract shall be considered binding for nine years,
 to be computed from the time the steam-engines may be erected in the
 different parts of these mines that may be judged suitable.

 "2nd. The miners herein contracting cede their mines in Yauricocha,
 Yanacancha, Caya Chica, Santa Rosa, and in the mining ridge of
 Colquijilca, and the company offer the means, steam-engines, and
 instruments for draining the same, and on these principles the
 obligations of both parties are as follow, to wit.

 "3rd. The company binds itself within the period of eighteen months,
 or sooner if possible, to bring over the steam-engines to drain
 successively the different parts of these mines, and immediately
 on their arrival to place them in Yauricocha, and afterwards in
 Yanacancha, Caya Chica, Santa Rosa, and in the mining ridge of
 Colquijilca, to sink a general pit for the collection of the waters at
 a depth of 40 varas from the adit or drainage level of Santa Rosa.

 "8th. Each miner whose mine situated in the parts above specified is
 not perfectly drained in consequence of the filtration or natural
 gravity of the water to the general pit, is to continue a tube to
 communicate with the said general pit on his own account, in order
 fully to enjoy the benefit of the draining, it being well understood
 that the company shall not refuse to admit the waters of any of the
 mines situated in this part whatever their quantity may be. And
 the company shall be further bound to supply funds to any miner
 who may not have sufficient to defray the expenses of such tube of
 communication at an interest of 6 per cent., to be refunded out of the
 first metals which may be obtained.

 "10th. The recompense to be made to the company for the general drain
 procured in the place or places agreed on, shall be, with regard
 to Yanacancha and Yauricocha, in consequence of the known richness
 of those places, and of the timber required by the softness of the
 ground to secure the mines, 15 per cent. on the ore that shall be
 extracted therefrom, and lodged either in the common depots or in the
 respective warehouses; and in the mines of Santa Rosa, Caya Chica,
 and Colquijilca, 20 per cent., which distribution is respectively to
 be made on the quantities obtained.

 "14th. That the miner who refuses to enter into this fair contract
 whose mines are benefited by the means of the engines, shall be
 compelled to pay the contributions and to perform what has been
 therein stipulated according to ordinance.

 "This contract being agreed to, the contracting parties signed
 respectively to be bound and compelled; and I, the Royal Judge
 and Sub-delegate hereof for His Majesty, signing it with all the
 contracting parties and witnesses before me on the said day, month,
 and year.

 "Pedro Abadia, José Arismendi, Francisco Uville, José Maria de Ulloa,
 Ignacio Beistequi, The Marquis de la Real Confianza, José Herressæ,
 Publo Anellfuertes, Ramon Garcia de Purga, José Antonio de Arrieta,
 José Camilo de Mier, José Lago y Lemus.

 "For myself and Don Remiqia, p. procuration Manuel Queypo, Rafael
 Doper, Juan Gonzalez, Augustin Zambrano, Francisco Rasines, Francisco
 Fuyre, Manuel Ysasi, Alberto de Abellaneda, Ysidro Crespo, Juan
 Antonio Arrasas, Pedro Gusman, Manuel Yglesias, Patricio Bermudez,
 Bartolome de Estrada. For the miners, Don Castano Villanueva, Juan
 Isidoro, Manuel de Santalla, Juan Palencia, Antonio Perez, Manuel
 Cavellero, Domingo Pallacios, Matias Canallero, Ambrosio Ortega,
 Francisco de Otayequi, Pedro de Arrieta, Juan de Erquiaga, José
 Zeferino Abaytad, Antonio Villaseca, Estanislas Maria de Arriola, José
 Maria del Veto, Ambrosio Guidones, Santiago Oreguela. For Don Pedro
 Mirales, p. procuration, Thomas Hidalgo, Nicholas Berrotarran, Barnabe
 Perez de Ybarrela, Augustin Bayroa, Francisco Xavier de Uribe, Manuel
 Varela. For my brother, Juan Francisco de Aspiroz, Juan Miguel de
 Aspiroz.

 "In the city of Los Reyes on the 26th September, 1812."

These extracts from an agreement drawn up by the leading men in Peru
in 1812 are proofs of remarkable energy. Rumours of the power of
steam-engines used in mines in England had reached Lima, Don Francisco
Uville was sent on a mission of inquiry, and in 1811 consulted Boulton
and Watt at Soho, who gave an opinion that their engines were not
suitable to so elevated a position where the atmosphere was so much
lighter than in England, and the difficulties of transit so great. On
his return to Lima he carried with him a small model of Trevithick's
high-pressure steam-engine. The Spaniards on seeing it work had the
good sense and courage to put aside the Watt report and adopt the
principle of the small but active high-pressure steam-puffer engine.

An influential company was formed, which sent Uville again to England
to seek out the high-pressure engineer and purchase his engines. What
stronger evidence could be given of the great difference between the
rival engineers and their engines? The one with low-pressure steam and
vacuum, the other with high-pressure steam and without vacuum.

The three persons contracting to drain the Peruvian mines agreed
that no other should be allowed to join them in the contract; two
steam-engines were to be purchased, and if convenient a third engine
might be ordered on credit. One or two English mechanics were to
accompany the engines which the contractors engaged should be in Lima
within eighteen months. Ten months had passed before Uville reached
Trevithick, and when in May, 1813, he communicated to the Cornish
engineer the same wants that he had made known to Watt two years
before, how different was the answer received. "I engage to supply in
four months six 24-inch cylinder high-pressure steam pumping engines,
with pumps and all necessary apparatus complete."[124] This promise was
nearly fulfilled,[125] but want of money, the ordering of additional
machinery, and difficulty in finding a ship,--for Spain was then at
war, or on the verge of it, with the South American republics,--delayed
for a time the completion of the order; but within eight months even
the additional work seems to have been ready, and the following
agreement was entered into, though the ship with her freight of _nine_
steam-engines did not leave England until September, 1814, fifteen
months after Uville's first meeting with Trevithick.

[Footnote 124: See Trevithick's letter, 22nd May, 1813, vol. ii., p. 198.]

[Footnote 125: See Trevithick's letters, 22nd Sept. and 23rd Oct., 1813,
vol. ii., pp. 206, 209.]

 "_Agreement dated the 8th January, 1814._

 "The said persons from whom he (Uville) would have received supplies,
 not being at that time in London, the said Francisco Uville has
 agreed to admit the said Richard Trevithick to be a partner in the
 concern, upon his advancing and paying a proportionable part of the
 expenses necessary for carrying on the same. Now these presents
 witness, that in consideration of the said Richard Trevithick having
 paid, and agreeing by those instruments to pay certain bills for
 machinery ordered by the said Francisco Uville to the amount of
 3000_l._, and also in consideration of the services which the said
 Richard Trevithick hath already rendered, and of the future benefits
 which he is expected to perform, doth agree to admit the said Richard
 Trevithick a partner therein, as nearly as can be ascertained to
 one-fifth share of the whole.

 "He hath planned and directed the particular construction of three
 steam-engines, and hath for that purpose taken many journeys to
 manufacturing towns and other places.

 "He hath given to the said Francisco Uville a general knowledge of
 English mining, miners' tools, winding and crushing engines, &c., &c.,
 and for that purpose hath taken him to various mines in England, to
 which the said Richard Trevithick, through his interest, had access.
 He hath instructed the said Francisco Uville in the art of making
 drawings of mines, and in engineering.

 "He hath furnished him with various drawings of English mines, and
 plans for the future working of Spanish mines, and hath given to him
 every other engineering and mining information.

 "He hath increased the power of the three engines above mentioned to
 the extent of one full third, without making any additional charge
 for so doing, and he hath agreed to supply the said company with a
 fourth engine, and to wait for the payment of it, until the return
 of the said Francisco Uville to Lima, in recompense for all which
 the said Francisco Uville doth for himself and his partners grant
 to the said Richard Trevithick one and quarter per cent. of the net
 produce or profits (all expenses first deducted) of the ore extracted
 from the said mines, and as a further recompense, doth appoint him
 sole engineer in Europe for all the machinery that shall be used or
 required."

The nine steam-engines, with apparatus for minting, crushing ores,
draining, winding, and even locomotion, with miners' tools complete
down to mine ladders, borers, picks and gads, and hammers, were
received by a large and influential body of Spaniards residing near
Lima, under the special patronage of the Viceroy. The machinery had
then to be taken up precipitous tracks that foot-passengers trembled to
walk on, to the height of more than 15,000 feet.

The calculated profit was 500,000_l._ a year, of which 100,000_l._ a
year was to be Trevithick's share, a portion of which was sold to pay
for the engines. A prospectus drawn up in England states that "the
whole capital was in four hundred shares, of which Trevithick held
eighty, valued at 40,000_l._, together with special advantages to be
accorded to him."

The machinery having left England in September, 1814, reached Peru in
the early part of 1815, shortly after which one of the engines was at
work in the Mint at Lima, within two years from the giving the order
for it in England; for in the early part of the latter year Trevithick
wrote to one of his men:--

 "I am sorry to find by Mr. Uville's letter that the Mint engine does
 not go well. I wish you had put the fire under the boiler and through
 the tube, as I desired you to do, in the usual way of the old long
 boilers, then you might have made your fire-place as large as you
 pleased, which would have answered the purpose, and have worked with
 wood as well as with coal, and have answered every expectation.

 "I always told you that the fire-place _in the boiler_ was large
 enough for coal, but not for wood, and desired you to put it under it.
 The boiler is strong enough and large enough to work the engine thirty
 strokes per minute, with 30 lbs. of steam to the inch. I hope to leave
 Cornwall for Lima about the end of this month, and go by way of Buenos
 Ayres, and cross over the continent of South America, because I cannot
 get a passage; none of the South Sea whalers will engage to take me
 to Lima, they say that they may touch at Lima or they may not, in the
 whole course of their voyage; therefore, unless I give them an immense
 sum of money for my passage, they will not engage to put me on shore
 at Lima, and for me to risk a passage in that way, and to be brought
 back again to England after two years' voyage, without seeing Lima,
 would be a very foolish trip; therefore to make a certainty, I shall
 take the first ship for Buenos Ayres, preparations for which I have
 already made."[126]

[Footnote 126: Unfinished rough draft of letter by Trevithick.]

The whole of the machinery having been sent off, Trevithick was
prepared to make his way across the then little-known continent of
South America in its broadest part, from Buenos Ayres to Cerro de
Pasco.[127] His departure was deferred from various causes until the
20th October, 1816, when he sailed from Penzance in the South Sea
whaler 'Asp,' Capt. Kenny.

[Footnote 127: See Trevithick's letter, December 9th, 1815, vol. ii., p.
31.]

[Illustration: PENZANCE IN OLDEN TIME. [W. J. Welch.]]

  "DEAR SIR,    "PENZANCE, _20th August, 1817_.

 "I am enabled to furnish you with a few particulars which led to the
 introduction of steam-engines into Spanish America, which you will
 embody into your interesting paper for our next Geological meeting, as
 you deem most proper.

 "Captain Trevithick was born in Illogan, Cornwall, 1771, but he has
 generally resided at Camborne, the adjoining parish. He has devoted
 the greatest part of his life to mechanics and to improvements in the
 high-pressure steam-engine, and many engines of Captain Trevithick's
 construction are now working in different parts of England.

 "Mr. Francisco Uville, a native of Switzerland, visited Lima and the
 rich Peruvian mines in the neighbourhood of Lima, at an early age,
 and being a gentleman of great intelligence, he thought it possible
 that the silver mines at Pasco, about 150 miles from Lima, which were
 fast falling into decay for want of machinery to drain the water,
 might be restored to their former celebrity by the introduction of
 steam-engines.

 "Mr. Uville, who is now about thirty-six years of age, came to England
 in 1811, where he continued a few months, and just as he was about to
 leave London he observed by accident a model of a steam-engine, made
 by Captain Trevithick, at the shop of a Mr. Roland, Fitzroy Square,
 and Mr. Uville so much liked the simplicity of its construction, that
 he immediately purchased it at twenty guineas. Mr. Uville returned to
 Lima with it, and tried it on the mountains of Pasco, in consequence
 of which, on the 17th of July, 1812, Mr. Uville, with Don Pedro Abadia
 and Don José Aresmendi, eminent merchants at Lima, were so confident
 of success, that they formed a company to drain the mines at Pasco and
 its vicinity; and on the 22nd of August then following a contract was
 entered into by these gentlemen and the proprietors of the mines in
 that district. Soon after which Mr. Uville was deputed by the company
 to return to England and to find out some able engineer to assist him
 in procuring proper steam-engines to be conveyed to the mines.

 "Uville having put into Jamaica, came to England in the 'Fox' packet,
 Capt. Tilly, and arrived at Falmouth early in the summer of 1813.
 During the passage Mr. Uville frequently talked of the object of
 his voyage, and that he was particularly anxious to find out the
 maker of the model of the engine he took to Lima, and recollecting
 that the name of 'Trevithick' was on the model, he mentioned it to a
 Mr. Teague, who happened to be on board the packet, when the latter
 informed him that Capt. Trevithick was his first cousin, and that he
 resided within a few miles from Falmouth. Immediately on Mr. Uville's
 arrival an interview took place between him and Capt. Trevithick, and
 soon after Mr. Uville removed to Capt. Trevithick's house in Camborne,
 where he resided several months, during which time Capt. Trevithick
 instructed him in mining, machinery, &c.

 "Capt. Trevithick and Mr. Uville, after seeing most of the mines in
 Cornwall, visited several other mining districts in England, to afford
 Mr. Uville a better opportunity of acquiring the best knowledge of
 engineering by examining the steam-engines erected. Afterwards they
 went to London, when Mr. Uville was introduced to a Mr. Campbell, of
 the East India Company's department. Mr. Campbell informed Mr. Uville
 that the best engineers in Europe were Messrs. Boulton and Watt, of
 Birmingham; and strongly recommending them to him, he observed that he
 was convinced if engines could be made capable of being transported to
 the mines of Pasco across the mountains they would be able to do it.
 Mr. Uville accordingly applied to these gentlemen, and fully explained
 to them the nature of the engines which would be wanted, and the state
 of the road by which they must be conveyed, and Messrs. Boulton and
 Watt returned an answer that it would be impossible to make engines
 small enough to be carried across the Cordillera to the mines.

 "Capt. Trevithick, however, was not startled at the difficulties,
 and having applied himself to the improvements of his high-pressure
 engines, entered into a contract with Mr. Uville to provide nine
 steam-engines for the company at Lima; and, by virtue of the powers
 with which Mr. Uville was invested, Capt. Trevithick was admitted a
 partner of one-fifth in the concern; besides which, for his great
 pains and services he had rendered, Mr. Uville guaranteed to him a
 handsome percentage on the profits of the company (_vide_ Articles of
 Agreement of 8th January, 1814).

 "These matters being settled, nine engines were provided at an expense
 of about 10,000_l._, and were shipped on board the 'Wildman,' South
 Sea whaler, Capt. Leith, who sailed from Portsmouth for Lima the 1st
 September, 1814, accompanied by Mr. Uville and the following Cornish
 engineers,--Thomas Trevarthen, of Crowan; Henry Vivian, of Camborne;
 and William Bull, of Chacewater, in Gwennap.

 "The engines arrived at Lima, and were received by a salute from
 the Government batteries, and the greatest joy was testified on the
 occasion.

 "On the 27th July, 1816, the first steam-engine was set to work at
 Santa Rosa, one of the mines of Pasco, under the direction of Mr. Bull
 (_vide_ despatch of that date, signed José G. de Prada).

 "On the 20th October, 1816, Capt. Trevithick sailed for Lima in the
 'Asp,' South Sea whaler, Capt. Kenny, accompanied by Mr. Page, a
 gentleman of London, and James Saunders, of Camborne, an engine maker;
 and on the 6th February, 1817, they arrived at Lima, where Capt.
 Trevithick was immediately introduced to the Viceroy by Don P. Abadia,
 and he received the most marked attention from the inhabitants (_vide_
 'Lima Gazette' of 12th February).

 "Perhaps you will think it proper to notice the furnaces which Captain
 Trevithick took out in the 'Asp' to Lima for the purpose of purifying
 the silver by sulphur. A great expense will be saved by these means.
 Any further information which I can afford you I will readily give.

  "I am, dear Sir,
  "Your very obedient and humble servant,
  "RD. EDMONDS.

 "H. F. BOAZE, Esq."

This statement, from a solicitor more than fifty years ago,
inadvertently points out the difference between the steam-engine of
Watt and that of Trevithick. The former said it was impossible to make
engines having the required power small enough to be carried to the
mountain mines, whereas a small high-pressure engine by the latter had
sufficient power.

Day and Page were lawyers advising Mr. Uville in London. Page sailed
from Penzance with Trevithick and James Saunders, a boiler maker, in
the 'Asp,' a South Sea whaler, on the 20th October, 1816, just two
years after the departure of Uville with the machinery and engines. The
difficulty of conveying heavy weights up the mountain foot-paths was
almost insurmountable.

Mr. Rowe, who went to these mines in 1850, says,--

 "The Cerro de Pasco mines are about 170 miles from Lima; we crossed a
 ridge 25,000 feet high. The mines were about 13,400 feet high above
 the sea. There was but one road; no wheel vehicle could be used;
 everything was carried on mules. Sometimes the road was only 2-1/2
 feet wide, cut in precipices three or four hundred feet perpendicular:
 some of the men were afraid to walk, and dared not ride.

 "I lived in the house that used to be Mr. Trevithick's office and
 store-room; it was in the suburbs of the town of Cerro de Pasco. The
 shafts are some of them in the middle of the town; several pieces of
 Captain Trevithick's engines lay about the shafts, and some on the way
 up, as though they had stuck fast, and some we saw at Lima. Mr. Jump,
 a director on the mine, pointed out a balance-beam that Mr. Trevithick
 had put up thirty years before. Only one Englishman then remained
 there who had worked for Mr. Trevithick; he was called Sycombe, and
 said Trevithick's men were an unmanageable lot.

 "The natives worked in the mines underground. The atmosphere was only
 about 10 lbs. on the inch. We found a coal mine not far off; the
 quality was not very good. The smiths had difficulty in welding with
 it. Our heaviest pieces of machinery did not exceed 280 lbs. The worst
 parts of the road have been a little improved since that time."

Just one month before Trevithick sailed from Penzance for Lima, the
first pumping engine taken out by Uville had been satisfactorily put
to work in the mountain mine of Santa Rosa, with its steam-cylinder
weighing double the limit fixed on by modern engineers.

The following information respecting the progress of the steam-engine
fixed on the Santa Rosa Mines, one of the mineral ridges of Pasco, in
the Viceroyalty of Peru, is extracted from the Government-Gazettes of
Lima, dated the 10th of August and 25th of September, 1816:--

 "PROGRESS OF THE STEAM-ENGINE, &c.

 "_His Excellency the Viceroy of Peru to the Editor._

 "In order to satisfy the eager expectations of the inhabitants of this
 Viceroyalty, those of the greater part of these Americas, and even of
 the Peninsula itself, I hereby order the printing, at full length,
 in the next Government Gazette, or at same time in a separate sheet,
 the enclosed despatch from the Intendant Governor of Tarma, giving
 the details of the admirable results of the steam-engine fixed in the
 mineral territory of Pasco, for the most important purpose of draining
 its mines, and for the extraction of its rich ores. This authentic
 communication must produce the most lively and grateful sensations in
 those true Spaniards, who with grief contemplated as irreparably lost
 the only spring from which flowed the prosperity of this continent,
 excite their just acknowledgments to the meritorious co-operators in
 such an expensive and difficult as well as eminently-advantageous
 enterprise, and encourage to similar undertakings in other parts those
 who, with personal aptitudes and patriotic sentiments, have been
 waiting the final success of the first.

  "JOAQUIN DE LA PEZUELA.

 "LIMA, _4th August, 1816_."

 "_Certificate of the Deputation._

 "We, Don Domingo Gonzales de Castañeda and Don José Lago y Lemus,
 Commissaries and Territorial Magistrates in this Royal Mineral
 Territory, and deputed by the United Corporation of Miners in this
 district, do hereby certify judicially, and as the law directs, in
 manner following:--

"Though this deputation never doubted the extraordinary power of steam
compressed, and consequently the certain operation of engines worked by
its influence, it nevertheless entertained some fears respecting the
perfect organization of all the mechanical powers of the machines. This
uncertainty, rather than any doubt, has been completely dissipated
by our personal attendance this day to witness the draining of the
first pit, situated in Santa Rosa. The few instants employed in the
same produce a full conviction that a general drainage of the mines
will take place, and that their metals will be extracted with the
greatest facility from their utmost profundity: as also that the skill
of the company's partners and agents will easily overcome whatsoever
difficulties nature may oppose, until they shall have completed all
the perpendiculars and levels; and consequently that the meritorious
undertakers who have risked their property in the enterprise will be
rewarded with riches.

"We and the whole Corporation of Miners would do but little were we
to erect them a monument, which should transmit down to the remotest
posterity the remembrance of an undertaking of such magnitude and
heroism; but for the present we will congratulate ourselves that our
labours, co-operation, and fidelity, keeping pace in perfect harmony
with the exertions of the agents, the company may thus attain the
full completion of their utmost wishes, extracting from the bowels of
these prolific mountains, not the riches of Amilcar's inexhaustible
wells, not the treasures of the boasted Potosi in its happiest days,
but a torrent of silver, which will fill all surrounding nations
with admiration, will give energy to commerce, prosperity to this
Viceroyalty and to the Peninsula, and fill the royal treasury of our
beloved sovereign.

"Thus certifies this Magisterial Deputation of Yauricocha, the 27th of
July, 1816.

  "DOMINGO GONZALES DE CASTAÑEDA.
  "JOSÉ LAGO Y LEMUS."

 "_Despatch from the Intendant Governor of the Province of Tarma to His
 Excellency the Viceroy._

  "MOST EXCELLENT SIR,      "PASCO, _27th July, 1816_.

 "Having finally conquered the great difficulties consequent on the
 enterprise, though with immense and incessant labour, and at an
 enormous expense, the object has been accomplished of purchasing,
 importing, and erecting the steam-engine in the celebrated rich and
 royal mineral territory, called 'The Mountains of Yauricocha,' in
 this province of Tarma, of which I have the honour to be Governor,
 the chief and valuable works of which have ceased to produce ore, in
 consequence of their bases being completely submerged in water.

 "The day is arrived when we witness with admiration the advantageous
 and useful effects of the before-named steam-engine; the completion
 of the promises made by the generous and undaunted individuals who
 united themselves to supply the funds sufficient for the realization
 of an enterprise so important, and the fulfilment of the wishes of
 these valuable subjects, to render to the State the highest possible
 service; a service, although at all times of extreme importance, at
 this crisis is infinite; because the State, being weakened by a series
 of disastrous events for six years past, requires salutary remedies;
 and none exist so effectual as the re-establishment of the mines,
 which the steam-engines are achieving.

 "After some experiments, which (although they left no doubt of
 ultimate success in draining the mine) discovered some slight defects,
 these were corrected on the 23rd instant; and this day the first
 of the four pumps which arrived for the use of the royal mines was
 erected in the particular mine called Santa Rosa; the result of its
 operation has been the exhaustion of the water from the well or hollow
 below the adit. In twenty minutes, by this engine, an aggregate of
 water is ejected amounting to 6 yards or 18 feet in diameter, 3 yards
 24 inches in length, and 1 yard 30 inches in breadth. In the same
 manner a second engine, accessory to that which drains the water,
 is worked by the same steam, on the same point, and in the same
 perpendicular shaft, from the surface of the earth, which extracts
 the ore, and with advantages hitherto unknown here, on account of the
 considerable saving of expense and the economy of manual labour.

 "The steam-engine will continue evacuating the water from the pit
 until it is reduced to 6 yards below the old adit, whence they must
 eject the water raised by the engine by a continued elongation of
 the barrel of the pump gaining depth, until they have completed the
 number of yards required, or until the progress of the work indicates
 a proper situation for forming a new line of levels and channels of
 communication to those mines which are not yet drained. In proportion
 to the successive acquisition to these subterranean works which are
 daily advancing, will be the increased operations of the mines, and
 consequently the increased prosperity of the mining interest, which
 had most astonishingly fallen from the degree it had attained in
 former years.

 "In a short time, similar effects will be seen in the three remaining
 mineral ridges of Yauricocha, Caya, and Yanacancha, productive of ores
 of a better quality than that of Santa Rosa, which has nevertheless
 obtained the preference for the erection of the first engine upon it
 from its being more abundant in its peculiar produce, and on account
 of the greater number of persons interested in this property; as
 also its contributing immediately to relieve the necessitous, by
 employing the workmen in the vicinity of the mines. In my opinion, no
 event so beneficial has occurred as the erection of the steam-engine,
 since the discovery and addition of these dominions to the crown of
 Castile. From this time, by the help of these machines, immense and
 incalculable riches will accrue to the nation.

  "God preserve your Excellency many years,
  "JOSÉ GONZALES DE PRADA."

 "_The Viceroy's Answer._

  "LIMA, _5th August, 1816_.

 "Your Lordship's official despatch, No. 898, the 27th of last month,
 communicated to me the satisfactory detail of the complete results
 which you witnessed on the 23rd and 27th, produced by the grand
 steam-engine placed over the mine of Santa Rosa, one of those situated
 in the mountains of Pasco, for the purpose of draining the mine and
 extracting the ores.

 "I desire particularly to distinguish and patronize the chief agent
 and assistant, Don Francisco Uville; the generous promoters of the
 undertaking, Don Pedro Abadia and Don José Arismendi; their agents
 and assistants, Don Luis de Landavere and Don Tomas Gallegos; and
 lastly, Mr. Bull, and all those associated in this great work, whom
 you recommend to my notice. Your Lordship, by having exerted yourself
 to facilitate, by all the means which your zeal and authority could
 procure, the happy consummation of so profitable an enterprise, has
 added a new claim to the many preceding which you possessed, to the
 high consideration of the king and the public.

  "JOAQUIN DE LA PEZUELA,
  "Viceroy of Lima."

 _Extract from the 'Lima Gazette' of the 25th of September, 1816._

 "We have the satisfaction of communicating to the public the
 information that the company for draining the mines of Pasco have just
 received accounts from their agents in that mineral territory; and
 they promise for our next Gazette a description of the state of the
 works for fixing the remaining three engines.--EDITOR.

  "CERRO, _September 20th, 1816_.

 "'After having observed the progress of the machine at the Santa
 Rosa Mine last Saturday, the 14th instant, at 10 o'clock at night we
 began to act; at 11 o'clock the pitmen went down to clear the shaft,
 and have not since ceased working an instant. The clearing of the
 mud and rubbish which had remained at the bottom of the shaft, and
 clogged every moment the buckets and suckers of the engine, lasted
 till Wednesday; but this being accomplished, at 12 o'clock at noon
 they began to break through the level. At half a yard below the shaft
 we found a lively coppery ore, with its particles of silver. This
 bronze-coloured ore indicates that the veins of Yauricocha and San
 Diego incline to the west, or towards the Santa Rosa Mine. The mines
 in the vicinity of this pit are all dry. Some of them, at the distance
 of 300 yards, in the ridge of Santa Rita, have also felt its effects;
 and even as far as the territory of Caya, behind our steam-works, the
 waters have fallen in several mines. Don John Vivas has begun to work
 in San Diego Mine. They are also going next Monday to begin working in
 several points of the Santa Rosa Mine. The pit is already 8 yards in
 depth, and we are proceeding with the greatest activity. The workmen
 are relieved every two hours, and as they go out they give up their
 tools to those who succeed them, by which means not a minute is lost.
 Continuing thus, in the course of a month we shall be at more than 20
 yards depth, and have many mines in full activity. The winding engine
 raises a basket (which is a load) in two minutes; the draining or
 steam-engine, with two vibrations per minute, keeps the surface always
 dry. Both work with the greatest ease, certainty, and regularity.

 "'By dint of searching after a vein of coal, we have at last found one
 near at hand, of excellent quality and of great richness. The pit we
 are now at work at is at the distance of a quarter of a league from
 Rancas, and at the same distance from Vista Alegre which the Cerro is
 from these works. We have likewise found a vein of plumbago, which
 was an object of search, on the supposition that it was coal. This
 substance, of which much is consumed, mixed with grease, to soften the
 friction of the piston, &c., we have now here; and thus the necessity
 of sending to Lima, or perhaps to Europe, for it is obviated.'"

Within six months of the setting to work the pumping engine in Santa
Rosa, another pumping engine was at work at Yanacancha Mine.

The following extracts from the 'Lima Gazette' were published in the
Cornish papers by Mr. Edmonds:--

 "_From the Government Gazette of Lima, 12th Feb., 1817._

 "We have had the pleasure of receiving a letter from Pasco, dated 6th
 instant, containing the following account:--

 "The second engine established in the mine called Yanacancha, which is
 far superior in point of beauty, convenience, and size to that called
 Santa Rosa, was set to work on Friday last, and notwithstanding the
 great quantity of water which filtered into this mine the engine with
 only half its power drained the mine completely in nine minutes. This
 filtration did not happen in Santa Rosa, on account of the quantity of
 hard copper ore on which the engine is situated.

 "By this successful operation, the water in several mines has been
 lessened considerably, amongst which in particular is that belonging
 to Don Juan Vivas, situate in the hill called Chucarillo, which at
 present affords ore of 400 marcos per caxon (50 cwt.). Of this ore
 about 25 lbs. has been received in this city, with a proof of 2 lbs.
 made in Pasco, showing not only the richness of the ore, but its easy
 extraction and cleanness for the ready refinement of it. And another
 proof has also been received from another mine, situate in Chucarillo,
 belonging to the widow Mier, in company with Don Joachin Aitola, which
 yields 100 marcos per caxon of 25 cargas.

 "To this agreeable news we ought to add that at the arrival of the
 whaling ship 'Asp,' bound from London, having on board a large
 quantity of machinery for the Royal Mint, and for the constructing of
 eight engines more, equal to those in Pasco, with the advantage that
 they are of the last patent and more easy to be worked; but what is
 of greater importance is the arrival of Don Ricardo Trevithick, an
 eminent professor of mechanics, the same who directed in England the
 execution of the machinery now existing in Pasco. This professor can,
 with the assistance of the workmen who accompany him, construct as
 many engines as are necessary in Peru, without any need of sending
 to England for any part of these vast machines. The excellent
 character of Don R. Trevithick, and his ardent desire for promoting
 the interests of Peru, recommend him in the highest degree to public
 estimation, and make us hope that his arrival in this kingdom will
 form the epoch of its prosperity, with the enjoyment of the riches
 enclosed in it, which could not be enjoyed without this class of
 assistance, or if the British Government had not permitted the
 exportation from England, which appeared doubtful to all those who
 knew how jealous that nation is in the exclusive possession of all
 superior inventions in arts or industry."

So far everything promised success. Two pumping engines had so reduced
the water in two of the mines, that the miners were at work, and the
people of Lima believed that many more such engines would be usefully
employed, now that Don Ricardo Trevithick was with them.

  "DEAR SIR,      "LIMA, _February 15th, 1817_.

 "We arrived here last Saturday in good health. The (our) Mint is at
 work, and coined five millions last year, and in their way of working
 does very well; but I trust to make it coin thirty millions per year.

 "Two engines are drawing water, and two drawing ore, at the mines, but
 in an imperfect state. If I had not arrived, it must have all fallen
 to the ground, both in their mining and in their engines. I expect we
 shall go to the mines in about ten days, from where I will write to
 you every particular.

 "There are still two engines to put up for lifting water, and two for
 winding ore, and those at work to be put to rights. They are raising
 ores from one mine which is immensely rich, and from what I can learn,
 a much greater quantity will be got up, when the whole are at work,
 than these people have any idea of. Several other mines will also be
 set to work by engines that we shall make here. We have been received
 with every mark of respect, and both Government and the public are in
 high spirits on account of our arrival, from which they expect much
 good to result.

 "Mr. Vivian died the 19th of May. I believe that too much drink was
 the cause of it. Uville, I think, wished him gone, and was in great
 hope that I should not arrive. His conduct has thrown down his power
 very much, which he never can again recover.

 "They all say that the whole concern shall be put entirely under my
 management, and every obstacle shall be removed out of my road. Unless
 this is done, I shall soon be with you in England. I am very sorry
 that I did not embark with the first cargo, which would have made a
 million difference to the company. The first engine was put to work
 about three months since, the other about two months; but they are as
 much at a loss in their mining as in their engineering. The Mint is
 the property of our company, and Government pays us for coining, which
 gives us an immense income; the particulars of which, and the shares
 in the mines, I have not yet gone into. I shall be short in this
 letter, because I know but little as yet, and that little I expect Mr.
 Page will inform you. A full account you shall have by the next ship,
 which I expect will sail in three weeks. This letter goes by a Spanish
 ship that will sail this afternoon for Cadiz. My respects, and good
 wishes to your family and to Mr. Day, and hope this will find you all
 as hearty as we are.

 "Mr. Page would not depart this life under the line, as he promised
 when at Penzance; but, on the contrary, has a nose as red as a cherry,
 and his face very little short of it. His health and spirits far
 exceed what they were in England. I am glad to have such a companion.
 With ... think he will have no reason to repent.... He will get a
 command at Pasco ... such as his ingenuity may find out, when on the
 spot; whether as a miner or an engineer I cannot say, but time will
 show.

 "If you have not insured my life I would thank you to do it now, if
 you can on reasonable terms. I do not wish them to take the risk
 of the seas in the policy, because the voyage here is over, and on
 my return I hope I shall not want it, therefore it must be for two
 years in the country. I will get a certificate of my health, if they
 wish it, from the most respectable inhabitants, and also from the
 Vice-king, if they wish it. The policy may be drawn accordingly.

 "Be so good as to write me often, with all the news you can collect.
 If you wish your dividends in this company to be applied to further
 advantage in any new mines I may engage in, in preference to having
 it sent to England, I will, as the dividends are made, do everything
 in my power to improve the talent. On this subject I must have your
 answer before I can make any new arrangement under this head. I will
 thank you to send a copy of Mr. Page's letter to my wife; I mean such
 parts of it as belong to the business; there may be some things that I
 have forgotten to mention.

  "I remain, Sir,
  "Your humble servant,
  "RICHD. TREVITHICK.

 "MR. JAMES SMITH, _Limekiln Lane, Greenwich_."

In the early part of 1817 four engines were at work in the mines, two
pumping water and two raising the ore; while a fifth engine was coining
in the Mint at Lima. Trevithick believed that he could much improve the
engines and the mining, and that it would be necessary and practicable
to arrange for the construction of engines in Lima; for though death
and dissension had caused difficulty, the authorities were still
prepared to give him full power.

A strange defect in his character is evidenced in this letter. He
wished his life to be insured for the benefit of his wife and family,
but never thought of paying the yearly insurance premium, leaving it
for his wife to pay, whom he had left, as far as he knew, penniless in
England.

On his sailing from Penzance, he told his wife that he had paid the
house-rent for a year in advance, mentioning the sum. At the end of
that time a demand was made on Mrs. Trevithick for a year's rent,
being a larger sum than her husband had mentioned as the proper rent.
It turned out that Trevithick had taken and paid for the house at
six-monthly periods, instead of yearly periods. It was in the same
street, and but three or four houses from that occupied by the parents
of the eminent Sir Humphry Davy.

A person pressed him for payment of a bill. Trevithick said, "Give
me your bill," and writing on the bottom of it "Received, Richard
Trevithick," handed it back to the claimant with "Now, will that do
for you?" The payment of the life insurance obliged Mrs. Trevithick to
part with her personal property, on which she had counted for support
during her husband's absence. This inability to see the necessity of
methodical action, when working with others, and utter disregard for
hoarded money, caused him to be a somewhat unmanageable partner, though
his genius never allowed him to sink; and in November, 1817, he wrote a
letter, of which the following is an extract:--

[Illustration: MARKET, JEW STREET, PENZANCE. [W. J. Welch.]]

 "There are also nunneries beyond number, and in those places no male
 is ever suffered to put his foot. Through one of the most noted runs
 a watercourse, which works the Mint; and Mr. Abadia has repeatedly
 made all the interest he could to be admitted, for the purpose of
 inspecting it, but could never get a grant. The Mint belongs to our
 engine concern, and now coins about five millions per year. We have
 a contract from Government for making all the coin, both gold and
 silver, which gives an immense profit; and as there must now be coined
 six times as much as before, I must build new water-*wheels to work
 the rolls which we took with us from England. It was on this account
 that I wished to examine the watercourse for this purpose, without the
 knowledge of Mr. Abadia or anyone but Mr. Page and the interpreter,
 who always attends me. I walked up and knocked, in my blunt way, at
 the nunnery court door, _without knowing there were any objections to
 admit men_; it was opened by a female slave, to whom the interpreter
 told my name and business. Very shortly three old abbesses made their
 appearance, who said I could not be admitted. I told them I came from
 England, for the purpose of making an addition to the Mint, and could
 not do it without measuring the watercourse; upon which a council
 was held amongst them; very soon we were ordered to walk in, and
 all further nunnery nonsense was done away. We were taken round the
 building and were shown their chapel and other places without reserve.

 "Uville knew nothing about the practical part of the engines, and Bull
 very little, therefore you may judge what a wretched state this great
 undertaking was in before my arrival; no one put any confidence in
 it, and believed it was all lost, together with five hundred thousand
 dollars that had been expended on it. The Lord Warden was sent from
 Pasco to offer me protection and to welcome me to the mines. They have
 a court over the mines and miners, the same as the Vice-Warden's Court
 in England, only much more respected and powerful. The Viceroy sent
 orders to the military at Pasco to attend to my call, and told me he
 would send whatever troops I wished with me. The Spanish Government
 and the Vice-king since my arrival are quite satisfied that the mines
 will now be fully carried into effect, and will do everything in their
 power to assist me. As soon as the news of our arrival had reached
 Pasco, the bells rang, and they were all alive down to the lowest
 labouring miner, and several of the most noted men of property have
 arrived here--150 miles. On this occasion the Lord Warden has proposed
 erecting my statue in silver. On my arrival Mr. Uville wrote me a
 letter from Pasco, expressing the great pleasure he had in hearing
 of my arrival, and at the same time he wrote to Mr. Abadia that he
 thought Heaven had sent me to them for the good of the mines. The
 water in the mines is from four to five strokes per minute.

 "Tell the members of the Geological Society that Mr. Abadia is making
 out a very good collection of specimens for them, which will be sent
 by the first opportunity; and soon after I arrive at Pasco I will
 write them very fully."

After Trevithick's death, in 1833, casts were taken from the head, and
busts presented to scientific societies were thankfully received, with
the single exception of his near neighbours at Penzance, who, under the
name of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, refused it.

Mr. W. J. Henwood, who had frequently drawn the attention of Cornishmen
to Trevithick's engines, being about 1870 President of the Royal
Institution of Cornwall, presented to it a bust of Trevithick, which
was admitted within its walls.

In 1819 Mr. R. Edmonds forwarded to the 'Cornwall Gazette' news from
Lima, from which the following is extracted:--

 "We have much pleasure in stating that accounts have lately reached
 England from Lima, giving the satisfactory intelligence that our
 countryman and able engineer, Captain Trevithick, was in February last
 in good health, and super-*intending the rich and extensive mines of
 Pasco.

 "Don Francisco Uville, a Spanish gentleman, having, with Don Pedro
 Abadia and others, formed a company to drain the mines of Pasco,
 unfortunately for Captain Trevithick, F. Uville was anxious to impress
 his countrymen with an opinion that it was _solely_ owing to him
 that steam-engines were first introduced into the silver mines of
 South America; and notwithstanding the obligations he was under to
 Captain Trevithick, he sought every opportunity, soon after Captain
 Trevithick's arrival at Pasco, to oppose him, in claiming to have the
 direction of the mines.

 "Captain Trevithick, knowing but little of the country, and disgusted
 with the treatment he received from Uville and the party he had formed
 against him, amongst whom was a gent who had lately arrived from
 England, retired from the concern, and proceeded on other important
 discoveries on his own account.

 "Things remained in this state until August, 1818, when Uville met his
 death, in consequence of the cold penetrating air of the Cordilleras
 on coming out of the mines in a strong perspiration. Mr. Abadia and
 his friends were then under the necessity of soliciting the assistance
 of Captain Trevithick. On condition of his having the sole direction
 of the mines, he was prevailed upon to accept the situation which
 had been first most faithfully agreed he should have had; and when
 the accounts last left Lima in February, Captain Trevithick had been
 five months at the mines as the chief superintendent. The mines are
 represented as being in the most prosperous state, and likely to
 realize the sanguine expectations of the share-*holders. Mr. Bull, an
 engineer from Chacewater, who left England with Uville, died at Pasco
 about ten months since."

When this was written, Trevithick had been two years in the country,
and found the immense difficulties of the undertaking increased by
jealousies and jobberies. Mr. Uville was no more, neither were Vivian
or Bull; but one man remained alive out of the four who had sailed from
England with the first cargo of machinery. In August, 1818, Mr. Abadia,
who from the first was a leading authority, requested Trevithick to
take upon himself the sole management of the mines, where he continued
until April, 1819, as shown by the following extract from Captain
Hodge's journal, supplied by my friend Mr. Charles Hodge:--

 "The first time they met was at Lima, on the 26th April, 1819, at
 Dr. Thorne's; your father had just come down from the Cerro de Pasco
 mines. On the 8th May following, I find my father witnessed the
 hanging of three men for killing two of your father's men, named
 Judson and Watson."

Mr. W. B. Stevenson says:[128]--

[Footnote 128: See 'Historical and Descriptive Narrative of Twenty Years'
Residence in South America,' by W. B. Stevenson, published 1842.]

 "The Mint was established in Lima, in 1565. The machinery was formerly
 worked by mules, eighty being daily employed till the year 1817, when
 Don Pedro Abadia, being the contractor for the coinage, Mr. Trevithick
 directed the erection of a water-wheel, which caused a great saving
 of expense. In the year 1817 two Englishmen, sent from Pasco by Mr.
 Trevithick (who afterwards followed with the intention of working some
 of the silver mines in Conchucos), were murdered by the guides at a
 place called Puloseco. This horrid act was perpetrated by crushing
 their heads with two large stones, as they lay asleep on the ground.
 The murderers were men who had come with them from Pasco.

 "I have heard Mr. Trevithick say, that on shaking hands with the men
 who work in those quicksilver evaporating rooms, drops of quicksilver
 show themselves at the fingers' ends, and that the workmen wearing
 shoes take them off before leaving the work, to pour out any
 quicksilver that had oozed through the pores of the skin, which had
 been respired in the floating state of vapour. The men so employed
 fell a sacrifice in twelve or eighteen months."

Trevithick's experience in applying the force of running streams
was turned to good account in giving an economical helpmate to the
steam-engine then at work in the Mint. Miers says:[129]--

[Footnote 129: See Miers' 'Travels in Chili and La Plata,' published
1826.]

 "Another instance occurs in the unfortunately ruinous result and
 lamentable ill-treatment of the persons engaged in the attempt to
 introduce European improvements and British machinery into the great
 silver-mining district of Pasco (Chili), in which was engaged one
 of our most celebrated engineers, a most able mechanic, to whom the
 grand improvements in our Cornish mines are chiefly indebted--I
 mean Mr. Richard Trevithick. Trevithick was induced to furnish the
 machinery at an expense of 3000_l._ sterling, upon condition of being
 admitted a partner in the amount of 12,000 dollars in the joint stock
 of the company, and entitled to a share corresponding to the capital
 employed. This share was calculated at a fifth. Trevithick, before
 he embarked for Peru, divided his interest in the concern into 320
 shares, each representing 38 dollars, and these were sold in the
 market for 125_l._ sterling each; some few were sold for 100_l._ cash.
 The success of the engines gave to some of the persons interested much
 confidence, who conceived they could now do without the management
 of the ingenious Trevithick. Every possible obstacle was therefore
 thrown in his way by those who, from motives of jealousy, wished to
 get rid of him. The persons to whom Trevithick's and other shares had
 been sold in London, sent out to Lima an agent, whose duty it was
 to look after their interests in the concern; but as it was found a
 much larger sum would be necessary for carrying the enterprise into
 effect than had been calculated, a collision of interests took place;
 complaints were made on all sides as to the delays and expenses which
 those who did not comprehend the almost insurmountable difficulties
 of the undertaking attributed to mismanagement and carelessness. The
 greatest share of opprobrium fell unjustly upon Trevithick, who,
 being a man of great inventive genius and restless activity, was at
 length completely disgusted, and retired from the undertaking. He left
 Pasco, although Abadia offered him 8000 dollars per annum, together
 with all his expenses, if he would continue to superintend the works;
 on no conditions would he consent to contend with the jealousies and
 ill-treatment of the persons with whom he had to deal. He soon after
 entered into speculations with some of the miners at Conchucos, for
 whom he constructed grinding mills and furnaces, with the view to
 substitute the process of smelting for that of amalgamation in silver
 ores, in which vain pursuit he became a considerable loser."

  "MY DEAR SIR,      "BODMIN, _November 3rd, 1869_.

 "Forty-seven years are now passed since I had the great pleasure of
 meeting your father in Peru, and I have a vivid remembrance of the
 gratification afforded to my messmates when he came to dine with us on
 board H.M.S. 'Aurora,' then lying in Callao. I was then a lieutenant
 of that beautiful frigate, and was introduced to your father by Mr.
 Hodge, of St. Erth, with whom I had become acquainted in Chili. I
 remember your father delighting us all on board the 'Aurora' by his
 striking description of the steam-engine, and his calculation of the
 'horse-power' of the mighty wings of the condor in his perpendicular
 ascent to the summit of the Andes. Your father's strong Cornish
 dialect seemed to give an additional charm to his very interesting
 conversation, and my messmates were most anxious to see him on board
 again, but he left shortly after for the Sierra.

 "The Pasco-Peruvian mines were those which your father was engaged
 to superintend before he left England, and he had actually managed,
 by incredible labour, to transport one or two steam-engines from the
 coast to the mines, when the war of independence broke out, and the
 patriots threw most of the machinery down the shafts. This fearful
 war was a deathblow to your father's sanguine hopes of making a rapid
 fortune. About a year after this terrible disappointment (I think in
 1822), the 'San Martin,' an old Russian fir frigate, purchased by the
 Chilian Government, sank at her anchors in Chorillos Bay, ten miles
 south of Callao, and your father entered into an engagement with the
 Government in Lima to recover a large number of brass cannon, provided
 that all the prize tin and copper on board which might be got up
 should belong to him. This was a very successful speculation, and in
 a few weeks your father realized about 2500_l._ I remember visiting
 the spot with your father whilst the operations were carried on, and
 being astonished at the rude diving bell by which so much property
 was recovered from the wreck, and at the indomitable energy displayed
 by him. It was Mr. Hodge, and not I, who then urged in the strongest
 manner that at least 2000_l._ should be immediately remitted to your
 mother. Instead of this, he embarked the money in some Utopian scheme
 for pearl fishing at Panama, and lost all!

 "I had the honour of dining with Lord Dundonald on board the crazy
 frigate 'Esmeralda,' which carried his flag in Callao Bay, but I never
 heard of the gallant conduct of your father in swimming off to his
 ship and advising him of an intended assassination. I fancy that this
 must have occurred before I came on the station, probably in 1820, or
 1821.

  "Believe me,
  "My dear Sir,
  "Very sincerely yours,
  "JAMES LIDDELL."

Trevithick's floating caissons for the sunken ship of Margate Bay in
1810[130] were similarly applied in 1821 in the Bay of Callao. In Lima he
became acquainted with Lord Dundonald, whom he warned of a plot on his
life, discovered in his friendly intimacy at the residence of President
Bolivar. Those two remarkable Englishmen were alike in their daring
inventiveness, and not unlike in face and person.

[Footnote 130: In 1834 the writer was employed at a marine engine works
in London, and made working drawings for a scheme of Lord Dundonald's,
who expressed great pleasure in meeting the son of his old friend.]

We have traced Trevithick's steps from his landing at Lima in 1817
to the destruction of the mine machinery by the civil wars, and his
departure from there about 1822. But one link in the chain has been
nearly lost. During some portion of those five years he visited Chili,
and set to work mines which are still producing large and profitable
quantities of copper. The late Mr. Waters, an eminent Cornish miner,
who for many years managed some of these mines in the neighbourhood of
Valparaiso, said that Trevithick's name was better known to the miners
there than to the miners in Cornwall. This statement was made in the
Dolcoath account-house at a public meeting, the speaker and the writer
being both on the committee of management.

Simon Whitbarn, of St. Day, informed the writer that at Copiapo and at
Coquimbo he had seen large heaps of copper ore, apparently unclaimed,
which the people said had been raised by Don Ricardo Trevithick. About
1830 a miner, returned from South America, made a claim for wages for
watching mineral left behind by Mr. Trevithick.

To further illustrate this history, we have a report written by
himself:--

 "_Memoranda regarding the Copper and Silver Mine of * * * *._

 "In 1814 an arrangement was made between the miners of Peru and myself
 for furnishing them with nine steam-engines and a mint, to be executed
 in England and erected in the mines of Pasco; and in October, 1816,
 I sailed from England for that country, for the express purpose of
 taking the management of those mines and erecting the machinery, being
 myself a large proprietor of the same. The Government of Peru was at
 that time subject to old Spain, under the immediate superintendence
 of a Viceroy. The machinery having been erected, and its sufficiency
 for the intended purpose of draining the mines having been proved to
 the satisfaction of all parties, there was granted to me a special
 passport by the Viceroy, for the purpose of travelling through the
 country to inspect the general mining system, and to make the native
 miners acquainted with the English modes of working. In return for
 which Government conceded to me the privilege of taking possession for
 my own benefit and account of such mining spots as were not previously
 engaged. In this way I travelled through many of the mining districts,
 and although I met with several unoccupied spots which would have
 paid well for working, yet, being a considerable distance inland, and
 requiring more capital to do them justice than I could then advance, I
 abandoned for the time all ideas of undertaking them.

 "To this, indeed, there was but one exception, and that was a copper
 and silver mine, the ores of which are uniformly united, in the
 province of Caxatambo.

 "When the patriots arrived in Peru, the mine was deserted by all the
 labourers, in order to avoid being forced into the army. In this state
 it remained for a considerable time; but on the Spaniards retreating
 into the interior, I recommenced working; and to secure my right to
 this mine under the new Government I at the same time transmitted a
 memorial and petition to the established authorities, accompanied by a
 plan and description of the mine, the result of which was the formal
 grant, as exhibited in the Spanish document now in your possession.
 It was not my good fortune to be allowed to follow up my plans, which
 almost warranted a certainty of success. I had scarcely commenced
 a second time when the Spaniards returned, and everyone again was
 obliged to fly. The country, as is well known, continued for a long
 time in a most distracted state, and I was ultimately compelled to
 quit that part of Peru, robbed of all my money, leaving everything
 behind me, miners' tools and about 5000_l._ worth of ores on the spot
 ready to be carried to the shipping port. Numerous as my misfortunes
 had been in Peru, and heavy as my disappointments, I felt none so
 sensibly as this, because it was an enterprise entirely of my own
 creation, and so open to view that I was enabled to calculate at a
 certainty the immense value contained within the external circle where
 the copper vein made its appearance in the cap of the mountain, and
 to be obtained without risk or capital. However, revolution followed
 revolution, and the war appeared to me to be interminable. Even
 Bolivar's arrival at Lima made it still worse, for he forced me into
 the army, with my property, which is not paid to this day, to the
 amount of $20,000; and at his urgent solicitations, disgusted as I was
 with what I had seen and suffered in Peru, I determined on quitting
 it for a time at least, and on visiting Colombia. Being at Guayaquil
 I first heard the name of Costa Rica and its recently-discovered
 mines, and having no doubt of the authenticity of my information,
 I immediately proceeded thither instead of going to Bogota to
 carry Bolivar's orders into execution, not having been paid. This
 short digression you will excuse, as it points to the causes of my
 separation from a property of so much value, as I consider the mine of
 * * * * *. Thirty years ago the neighbourhood of * * * * was famous
 for its silver mines. At the foot of the copper hill, on a fine
 stream, are two sets of works on a most extensive scale, which were
 carried on on account of the Spanish Government. The silver was found
 in lead veins, which are very large and numerous all around. The soil
 is very rich, and the climate as good as any in the world, wheat and
 Indian corn both growing round the mountain. Provisions and wages are
 low, the latter 1_s._ per day, and there are about 20,000 inhabitants
 within three miles. Wood for smelting and other purposes is abundant
 on the spot.

 "* * * * is * * leagues from Lima; the port of * * * * where the
 ores are to be shipped, is 37 leagues north from Lima; and * * * *
 copper mine * * leagues back in the country east from this port, a
 good road for mules and plenty of them. The miners contracted with me
 to break the ores and deliver them at the surface for 4_l._ per ton,
 which was double what I ought to have paid them; the farmers likewise
 contracted to carry the ores to the port at the same rate, which
 comes to sixpence a league for each mule cargo. But even at present
 wheel-carriages might travel over a large proportion of the road, and
 a small outlay would make it a carriage-road the whole distance, and
 then the expense of carriage would be diminished more than one-half.
 Taking it, however, at what it cost me, the whole expense on the ores
 delivered on board would not amount to 9_l._ a ton, and as I conceive
 the freight to England would not exceed 4_l._ a ton, the total cost
 would be 13_l._, but say 15_l._ a ton. Its value in England would be
 above 80_l._ a ton. At the time I worked I intended to have sent 300
 tons of ore to England, for in the then disturbed state of the country
 it would not have been prudent to risk myself on smelting works. I
 think it will ultimately be found preferable to smelt on the spot, but
 the course I should recommend in the meantime would be to send out two
 practical miners to direct and superintend the natives, who ought to
 be employed by contract to break and raise the ores and deliver them
 on board. In that case no erections whatever would be wanted; nothing
 but about 70_l._ worth of labourers' tools.

  "I remain, Sir,
  "Your very humble servant,
  (Signed) "RICHARD TREVITHICK."

The foregoing undated report was written after his return to England
from South America. The Viceroy granted him a special passport through
the country, that he might give general instructions to the workers of
mines, with the right to claim any mineral spot for his own working not
under grant to others.

He often spoke of his discovery and working of the great vein of
copper ore in Caxatambo, estimated to contain copper worth twelve
millions sterling, the working of which was prevented by the frequent
revolutions and unsettled government of the country; and of residing
for months with Bolivar, at that time the Republican Governor of Peru.

Bolivar's cavalry were short of fire-arms. Trevithick invented and made
a carbine with a short barrel of large bore, having a hollow frame-work
stock. The whole was cast of brass, stock and barrel in one piece,
with the necessary recess for the lock; the bullet was a flat piece
of lead, cut into four quarters, held in their places in a cartridge
until fired, when they spread, inflicting jagged wounds. He was obliged
to serve in the army, and to prove the efficiency of his own gun. He
was never a good shot, nor particularly fond of shooting; and, after a
long time, Bolivar allowed him to return to his engineering and mining.
Scarcely had he got to work again when the Royal Spanish troops,
getting the best of it, overran the mines, and drove Trevithick away
penniless, leaving 5000_l._ worth of ore behind him ready for sale.

The 300 tons of ore, valued at 24,000_l._, never reached England; and
the writer, who was to have returned to Peru in the ship that had been
engaged to convey it, lost the chance of being a youthful traveller in
foreign lands.

Trevithick left Lima about 1821 or 1822, for Bogota, in Colombia, on a
special mission for Bolivar. On his way, putting in at Guayaquil, he
heard of rich mines in Costa Rica, and thinking they would pay better
than Bolivar's promises, he threw up his engagement and made for the
new venture. It was probably at Guayaquil that he met Mr. Gerard, a
Scotchman of good family and education, then sailing on the Pacific
coast as a speculator.

Since Trevithick left the mines of Cerro de Pasco, more than one
English adventurer has attempted to work them. At the present time they
are in the hands of a large company, and are thus spoken of in the
'Cornish Telegraph' of May 10, 1871:--

 "_Cerro de Pasco and its Silver Mines._

 "This place, in the Republic of Peru, is situated on the top of the
 Andes, on the eastern side of the Western Cordillera. It stands about
 15,000 feet above the sea level, and is said to be one of the highest,
 if not the highest, inhabited place of importance in the whole world.

 "From Callao to here is a distance of 160 miles, but, in consequence
 of the rapid ascent in such a comparatively short distance, it is
 considered a quick journey if mules make it in six days; it more
 frequently takes them a week, and at times, during the season of snow
 and rain, the pampas, which are the table-lands of these mountains,
 are impassable for several days together.

 "The town of Cerro de Pasco, which at present numbers 10,000 souls,
 is of no small importance, considering its great altitude and
 inconvenient distance from the coast, but it lacks order and design
 in every part. The streets are crooked and uneven; and the houses are
 stuck about anywhere and everywhere, with the greatest display of
 uneducated taste that I have ever before witnessed; moreover, it would
 be difficult to find another such place so equally dirty.

 "It rains and snows on these heights with not much cessation for about
 six months in the year, and in what is termed the dry season there are
 also frequent falls of snow. Furthermore, water boils at 180° Fahr.
 instead of at 212°, as with you; consequently it requires six minutes
 to cook an egg.

 "The majority of the inhabitants are a low type of Indians, who
 are small in stature and mind, but are large in cunning, and have
 exceedingly plain features--not possessing the slightest trace of the
 noble features and bold simplicity of the Indians of the North.

 "Any person acquainted with minerals and mining coming up to Cerro
 de Pasco would fancy that the whole town was built on the back of
 one huge lode; go wherever one may, through the streets, or on
 the outskirts of the town, and even up to the slopes of the hill
 surrounding it, he finds it to be all lodestuff everywhere; its
 composition is what we Cornish miners generally term an iron gossan.

 "The greater portion of this mineral spot is parcelled out into setts
 or grants, which consist of pieces of ground 60 yards in length by 30
 in width, giving to the place no less than 664 mines. At present there
 are no more than seventy-eight of them at work, and only sixty-three
 of which are producing ore, and the united returns amount to 2,000,000
 oz. of silver per annum. Owners or companies have roads leading down
 to their mines, formed of steps cut out in the rock, dipping at angles
 varying from 30° to 50°. When you have descended to the depth of the
 mines, the levels or holes leading to many of them are so small that
 one has to drag himself along snake fashion until he reaches the main
 excavation. The miners break down the silver ore with pointed bars of
 iron, and then shovel it into bags made of hide with the shoulder-bone
 of some animal; after which the stuff is carried to surface on men's
 and boys' backs.

 "When all the mineral has been extracted there remains an immense
 excavation, and in consequence of the roof not being properly
 supported with timber, one risks his life in entering it. Heavy falls
 of rock frequently occur, and by which means a vast number of persons
 are annually killed. One day in the last century, at the mines of
 'Matagente' (which word means killed people), which are situated in
 the rising ground on the northern side of the town, while a great
 number of men and boys were at work, the roof of one of these immense
 chambers, consisting of many thousands of tons, fell in without giving
 the least warning, and 'in the twinkling of an eye' the souls of 300
 Peruvian miners rushed into the presence of their Redeemer. Their
 bodies have never been exhumed, and their shattered bones, still
 remaining, will bear evidence of the catastrophe to future explorers.
 An adit has been driven through the district, beginning at the Lake
 of Quiulacocha on the south-west, and terminating at the mines of
 Ganacaucha on the north. The entire length of the adit, including
 its branches, is about 3 miles, and its average depth from surface
 50 fathoms. Three perpendicular shafts, situated at about 600 yards
 apart, have also been sunk from surface to a short distance below the
 adit.

 "The whole of the machinery for the mines in question, which is being
 made and dispatched by Messrs. Harvey and Co., of Hayle, Cornwall,
 consists of four steam pumping engines, six boilers, four iron main
 beams, four balance ditto, and also a sufficient quantity of 24-inch
 pit-work for both shafts. No single piece of all this cumbrous
 machinery must weigh more than 300 lbs., in consequence of its having
 to be transported on the backs of mules from the coast to this
 mountainous region. Although the main distance is no more than 160
 miles, these beasts with their burdens have to climb an altitude of
 15,000 feet before they reach their destination. Moreover, the passes
 in ascending the Andes and Cordillera can only be correctly imagined
 by experienced travellers. Some of the defiles are not much wider than
 a sheep-path, and with a thousand feet below you a roaring cataract,
 and thousands of feet above you snow-capped overhanging mountains,
 looking so dreadful that the awe-struck stranger in the pass fears
 that the next peal of thunder will cause them to topple."

[Illustration: MULE TRACK FROM LIMA TO CERRO DE PASCO. [W. J.
Welch.]]

 "I observe in a paper which is now before me, entitled 'The
 Introduction of the Steam-Engine in the Peruvian Mines, by Richard
 Trevithick, in 1816,' that when Captain Trevithick arrived at Lima
 on board the ship 'Asp,' with sundry small engines for the draining
 of the mines of Cerro de Pasco, he was immediately presented to the
 Marquis de Concordia, then Viceroy of Peru, was most graciously
 received by the most flattering attention of the inhabitants, and
 subsequently the Viceroy ordered the Lord Warden of the mines to
 escort the great man with a guard of honour to the mining district.
 In contrasting the two epochs, that of Trevithick in 1816, with this
 of Wyman and Harrison in 1871, one is led to exclaim that there were
 _gentlemen_ in Peru in 1816, and they gave unto Cæsar that which
 belonged to Cæsar."[131]

[Footnote 131: In 'Mining Journal,' W. R. Rutter.]

The same newspaper, on the 9th November, 1870, stated:--

 "The 'Bride' sailed from Hayle on Thursday with a portion of the
 machinery made by Messrs. Harvey and Co., of Hayle, destined for Cerro
 de Pasco, in Peru. The work comprises four 37-inch cylinder pumping
 engines; no part to weigh more than 300 lbs."

To enable the parts to be reduced in weight, each steam-cylinder was
made of thirty-seven different pieces. The mechanics of Trevithick's
time could not make a steam-cylinder in parts; therefore his
difficulties in designing and conveying the machinery were ten times
greater than they would be in the present day, and necessitated the
extreme simplicity of his engines. His residence with the Peruvians
from 1816 to 1822 taught them the use of high-pressure steam-engines in
their mines; and indirectly heralded the advent of the steam-horse, now
as familiar to them as to the residents in many English towns.

CHAPTER XXIII.

COSTA RICA.

  "MY DEAR SIR,

 "In the month of June, 1822, I disembarked in the port of Punta de
 Arenas, in the Gulf of Nicoya, the only one corresponding to that
 province at present in use on the Pacific side. My object was to
 dispose of a cargo of cotton which I had brought from Realejo, and to
 purchase sugar in return. Circumstances, not necessary to mention,
 and the loss of the small vessel with which I was trading on the
 coast, caused me to remain in Costa Rica. Its name implies a very
 early conviction of its natural opulence; it is certain that gold
 and silver abounded among the Indians at the period of its conquest
 by the Spaniards. It was at one time a favoured and flourishing
 agricultural colony, but from various causes sank into neglect. Such
 was the apathy, both of the Government and of individuals, that the
 very existence of the precious metals in the country had been almost
 entirely forgotten. In the end of 1821, a poor man, Nicolas Castro
 by name, opened the first gold mine known in Costa Rica since the
 conquest, and his success soon induced others to try their fortunes;
 with fortunate results, in a few months a mining district sprang into
 being.

 "A gentleman of the name of Alverado constructed at a very
 considerable expense what is called an Ingenio, consisting of
 various edifices for depositing the ore, machinery driven by water
 for grinding it and afterwards blending it with quicksilver for
 amalgamation.

 [Illustration: PLATE 14.

 London: E. & F. N. Spon, 48, Charing Cross. Kell. Bro^s Lith. London.

 TREVITHICK'S ROUTE ACROSS THE ISTHMUS OF COSTA-RICA.]

 "When I landed in June, 1822, only five or six mines had been
 discovered, but in January 1823, when I left the country, I cannot
 pretend to enumerate those in a state of progress and of promise.
 It is not only in the mining part of the business that the
 want of skill is prejudicial to the result. It is imperfectly
 ground, for instance, and consequently cannot be brought into that
 intimate contact with the quicksilver which is necessary to perfect
 amalgamation. The machine for grinding is very simple: a large flat
 stone, like a mill-stone, is made to revolve upon its fellow by an
 ox or mule power. The poorest people reduce it to powder by manual
 labour, in the same way as they grind corn preparatory to baking it
 into cakes. Alverado's machine promised to be a great acquisition. The
 grinding was facilitated by a little water; when the ore is judged to
 be sufficiently well ground, a portion of quicksilver is thrown in
 by guess, and the motion of the machine continued until the union of
 the metals is supposed to be complete; the whole is then removed into
 large wide-mouthed conical-shaped wooden vessels. In these receptacles
 it undergoes repeated washings, by stirring occasionally round, and
 afterwards communicating to the vessel a swinging or half-rotary
 motion, by which a quantity of the water, having the earthy particles
 suspended, is driven over the edges; the amalgamated mass naturally
 sinks to the bottom, and at last remains tolerably clean.

 "The next step is the recovery of the quicksilver by distillation,
 after which the gold is melted in a crucible and run into ingots. The
 coasts are hot, and from the luxuriant vegetation that everywhere
 abounds, emit, as in all situations of the kind, febrile miasma
 in abundance when acted on by heat and moisture; but black vomit
 is unknown, and all the fever cases I have seen have been of the
 remitting and intermitting, free from character of malignancy. As the
 ground begins immediately to spring from the coast, and does so indeed
 very rapidly, a few miles takes us beyond the region of even these
 slight fevers, and as we continue ascending to the central table-land,
 a climate is encountered that may vie with any in the world for
 benignancy and beauty. We there meet with the fruits of the torrid
 zone, and near them the apple and the peach of Europe. The orange
 tree is in bearing the whole year. As in all situations within the
 tropics, it has a proper rainy season, but it is less inconvenient and
 disagreeable than might be expected, for it seldom rains two days in
 succession, and when it does, is invariably succeeded by an interval
 of fine weather; for the most part every day presents a few dry hours.
 The mines are situated on the ridges of the Cordillera, which without
 presenting snow-covered peaks, attain, nevertheless, considerable
 elevation. The clouds, constantly attracted by those high summits,
 render the rainy season more severe in the mining district than in the
 plains. The greatest inconvenience was from the snakes, which in those
 solitary jungles, now first invaded by man, are very numerous and many
 of them venomous. Provisions are cheap and excellent. In short, there
 is but one fault I find with the country, and it is a great one, I
 mean the frequency of earthquakes.

  "J. M. GERARD."

 MEM. IN MR. GERARD'S WRITING.

 "_Illustrations of the Map._

 "Though the plans and sections explain themselves, a few observations
 will not be misplaced. The deep adit for the Coralillo would be 600
 yards, that for Quebrada-honda 400 yards, and besides serving as
 drains would form admirable roads for conveying the ores into the vale
 where the stamps must be erected.

 "The veins would be worked upward from the adits, and thus no expense
 would be incurred for ages to come in lifting either water, ore, or
 rubbish to the surface. Padre Arias Mine is an exception, requiring a
 powerful water-wheel, or an hydraulic pressure-engine, for which there
 is a fine fall of water of 135 feet. The mines in Quebrada-honda are
 those in which an interest has been procured. Captain Trevithick has
 an interest in the mine of Coralillo; the great watercourse is also
 his.

 "It will be seen by the plan that there are 75 fathoms fall to the
 point where his present mill is situated, and other 75 fathoms to
 the junction of the rivers of Quebrada-honda and Machuca. The whole
 length does not amount to two miles, within which it is estimated
 that sufficient power may be commanded to stamp 500,000 of quintals
 annually. To bring it up to that pitch, the waters of Machuca must be
 brought to join those of Quebrada-honda at Trevithick's mill, and
 then 40 tons of water per minute could be delivered in the dry season."

Extracts from a report by Trevithick and Gerard in 1827:--

 "This map consists of several distinct parts. The middle part shows
 the mining district, the present dimensions of which are small, the
 length being hardly four miles, breadth from two to three, and the
 superficial extent from eight to ten miles. The upper part of the plan
 is a section of the north ridge, called Quebrada-honda, and shows the
 line of the proposed adits. The lower part in like manner exhibits the
 south ridge, called Coralillo. The map further shows the inclination
 or gradual fall of the ground along the valley, and of the streams by
 which the mills are driven.

 "The canal is likewise shown 5000 yards in length, by which the rivers
 of Machuca would be brought to join that of Quebrada-honda.

 "Castro's mine is situated on the southern ridge, and was the first
 mine worked to any extent. There the veins are very large; in fact,
 from the manner in which a number of horizontal veins are seen falling
 into the perpendicular or master vein, the great body of the mountain
 would appear to consist of lodes. This mass of ore is in general
 rich. It has been worked open to the surface, somewhat like a quarry,
 so that it is not difficult to calculate in cubic feet the quantity
 that has been excavated. The mine is supposed to have yielded in the
 course of the last six years gold to the value of 40,000_l._, and by
 measuring the excavations it would appear that this amounts to, on
 an average, one ounce of fine gold to every ten or twelve quintals
 of ore. In 1821 the existence of silver was only imagined. In 1823
 it was fully ascertained. Ever since 1824 it has constituted a small
 but constant portion of the produce of Quebrada-honda, and in 1827
 it was decidedly evinced in Coralillo. The discovery of gold in
 Coralillo led them to work in Quebrada-honda, where they found both
 gold and silver, and the discovery of silver in Quebrada-honda, by
 strengthening the expectation of it in Coralillo, led in its turn to
 the discovery of silver there. In Quebrada-honda they only work on
 the ground in the immediate vicinity of the stream, and that in the
 most imperfect manner; but great light has been thrown on the value of
 the ores on this spot and in the district generally by the progress
 made in working what is called Padre Arias Mine, which takes its name
 from an ecclesiastic who first worked it. This mine is situated in
 low ground near the verge of the stream, and was at first only worked
 for gold. There were soon, however, indications of silver, which
 increased progressively in sinking, till at the depth of only 10 yards
 the influx of water exceeded the means of draining, and the works
 under water-level were necessarily abandoned, at a time when ores were
 yielding upwards of 200 oz. of silver to the ton, a striking proof of
 the tendency of silver ore to improve in this district as the depth
 increases.

 "Mr. Richard Trevithick, that eminent Cornish miner and engineer, so
 well known for his inventions, and particularly for the high-pressure
 steam-engine and the drainage of the Pasco Mines in Peru, when
 unfortunately civil war burst out in Peru, and the Royalists,
 considering those engines as the main instrument for supplying money
 to the Independents, rendered them useless by destroying or carrying
 off some of the most important pieces.

 "Mr. Trevithick having heard favourable reports of the mining district
 we are now describing, soon after repaired thither, and was so fully
 impressed with its value and importance that he made an extensive
 contract for different properties, and resided in the country for four
 years.

 "He is now in England ready to give explicit answers to any inquiries
 that may be made as to the mineral wealth of Costa Rica, and the
 extraordinary facilities afforded by its position and natural
 advantages. An estimate has been made for establishing a complete
 mining concern in Costa Rica, with houses, iron railroads, stamping
 mills, &c., so as to raise, stamp, and bring into refined gold the
 produce contained in 250,000 tons of ore per year.

 "The result of six years' experience shows that the following list of
 machinery and tools with a few miles of railroad would be sufficient.
 The communication with the mines being satisfactorily established
 by the route of the port of San Juan de Nicaragua and the river
 Serapique, the materials would be sent by the Atlantic at very much
 less cost than by around Cape Horn.

 "It is situated within 14 leagues of the Pacific Ocean and 30
 leagues of the Atlantic, in a mountainous district intersected by
 deep valleys or ravines. The mountains are covered with wood fit for
 fuel, mining, architecture, and machinery. There is a population of
 50,000 inhabitants within one day's journey of the mines. The climate
 is perfectly salubrious, provisions of all kinds remarkably cheap,
 labourers' wages from four to five dollars per month. The mines
 secured are freehold property, and with one exception are unencumbered
 by tribute or native partners. The attention of Government and of
 individuals has recently been directed to the discovery of a road
 from the interior to the river Serapique, which, rising in the high
 lands of Costa Rica, pursues a northerly course and joins the San
 Juan about 10 leagues above the harbour of that name, being itself
 navigable for about 12 leagues above the junction. The opening of
 this road is a matter of much importance to Costa Rica in a general