by Daniel Defoe
go on shore several times, to divert them with shooting andhunting, they would not stir out of the ship, and did not till I cameback again.
Having gone this length, and made everything ready for my adventure, weset out, viz., Captain Merlotte, the Spanish doctor, the old mutineerwho had been my second mate, but who was now captain of the Madagascarship, and myself, with two midshipmen, whom he took as servants, butwhom I resolved to make the directors of the main enterprise. As to thenumber, I found my Spaniard made no scruple of that, if it had been halfmy ship's company.
We set out, some on horses and some on mules, as we could get them, butthe Spaniard and myself rode on two very good horses, being the samethat his two sons came on. We arrived at a noble country-seat, about aleague short of the town, where, at first, I thought we had been only toput in for refreshment, but I soon found that it was really hisdwelling-house, and where his family and servants resided.
Here we were received like princes, and with as much ceremony as if hehad been a prince that entertained us. The major-domo, or steward of hishouse, received us, took in our baggage, and ordered our servants to betaken care of.
It is sufficient to say, that the Spaniard did all that pride andostentation was capable of inspiring him with, to entertain us; and thetruth is, he could not have lived in a country in the world more capableof gratifying his pride; for here, without anything uncommon, he wasable to show more gold plate than many good families in our country haveof silver; and as for silver, it quite eclipsed the appearance, orrather took away the very use of pewter, of which we did not see onevessel, no not in the meanest part of his house. It is true, I believe,the Spaniard had not a piece of plate, or of any household furniture,which we did not see, except what belonged to the apartment of his wife;and, it is to be observed, that the women never appeared, except at adistance, and in the gardens, and then, being under veils, we could notknow the lady from her women, or the maids from the mistress.
We were lodged every one in separate apartments, very well furnished,but two of them very nobly indeed, though all the materials forfurniture there must be at an excessive price. The way of lodging uponquilts, and in beds made pavilion-wise, after the Spanish custom, I neednot describe; but it surprised me to see the rooms hung with very richtapestries, in a part of the world where they must cost so dear.
We had Chilian wine served us up in round gold cups, and water in largesilver decanters, that held, at least, five quarts apiece; these stoodin our chamber. Our chocolate was brought up in the same manner, in deepcups, all of gold, and it was made in vessels all of silver.
It would be tiresome to the reader to particularise my account with therelation of all the fine things our host had in his house, and I couldnot be persuaded but that he had borrowed all the plate in the town tofurnish out his sideboard and table. But my doctor told me it wasnothing but what was very usual among them that were men of anysubstance, as it was apparent he was; and that the silversmiths at St.Jago supplied them generally with their plate ready wrought, in exchange(with allowance for the quality) for the gold which they found in themountains, or in the brooks and streams which came from the mountains,into which the hasty showers of winter rain frequently washed downpretty large lumps, and others, which were smaller, they washed out ofthe sands by the ordinary methods of washing of ore.
I was better satisfied in this particular when, the next day, talking toour new landlord about the mountains, and the wealth of them, I askedhim if he could show me any of the gold which was usually washed out ofthe hills by the rain, in the natural figure in which it was found? Hesmiled, and told me he could show me a little, and immediately conductedus into a kind of a closet, where he had a great variety of odd thingsgathered up about the mountains and rivers, such as fine shells, stonesin the form of stars, heavy pieces of ore, and the like, and, afterthis, he pulled out a great leather bag, which had, I believe, nearfifty pounds weight in it. Here, seignior, says he, here is some of thedirt of the earth; and turning it out upon the table, it was easy to seethat it was all mixed with gold, though the pieces were of differentforms, and some scarce looking like gold at all, being so mixed with thespar or with earth, that it did not appear so plain; but, in every bitthere was something of the clear gold to be seen, and, the smaller thelumps, the purer the gold appeared.
I was surprised at the quantity, more than at the quality of the metal,having, as I have said, seen the gold which the Indians found in thecountries I have described, which seemed to have little or no mixture.But then I was to have considered, that what those Indians gathered wasfarther from the hills which it came from, and that those rough,irregular pieces would not drive so far in the water, but would lodgethemselves in the earth and sand of the rivers nearer home; and also,that the Indians, not knowing how to separate the gold by fire from thedross and mixture above, did not think those rough pieces worth theirtaking up, whereas, the Spaniards here understood much better what theywere about.
But, to return to the closet. When he had shown us this leather pouch ofgold, he swept the ore to one side of the table, which had ledges roundit to keep it from running off, and took up another bag full of largepieces of stone, great lumps of earth, and pieces of various shapes, allof which had some gold in them, but not to be gotten out but by fire.These, he told us, their servants bring home as they find them in themountains, lying loose here and there, when they go after their cattle.
But still, I asked him if they found no pieces of pure gold; upon thishe turned to a great old cabinet, full of pretty large drawers, and,pulling out one drawer, he showed us a surprising number of pieces ofpure clean gold, some round, some long, some flat, some thick, all ofirregular shapes, and worked roundish at the ends with rolling along onthe sands; some of these weighed a quarter of an ounce, some more, andsome less; and, as I lifted the drawer, I thought there could be no lessthan between twenty and thirty pounds weight of it.
Then he pulled out another drawer, which was almost full of the samekind of metal, but as small as sand, the biggest not so big as pinsheads, and which might very properly be called gold dust.
After this sight, we were not to be surprised at anything he could showus of the kind. I asked him how long such a treasure might be amassingtogether in that country? He told me that was according to the painsthey might take in the search; that he had been twelve years here, andhad done little or nothing; but, had he had twenty negroes to have seton work, as he might have had, he might have procured more than this inone year. I asked him how much gold in weight he thought there might bein all he had shown me? He told me, he could not tell; that they nevertroubled themselves to weigh, but when the silversmith at St. Jago cameto bring home any vessel, or when the merchants from Lima came toBaldivia with European goods, then they bought what they wanted of them.That they were sensible they gave excessive prices for everything, eventen or twenty for one; but as gold, he said, was the growth of thatcountry, and the other things, such as cloth, linen, fine silks, &c,were the gold of Europe, they did not think much to give what was askedfor those things. In short, I found that the people in this country,though they kept large plantations in their hands, had great numbers ofcattle, ingenios, as they call them, for making sugar, and land, undermanagement, for the maintenance of themselves and families, yet did notwholly neglect the getting gold out of the mountains, where it was insuch plenty; and, therefore, it seems the town adjacent is called VillaRica, or the Rich Town, being seated, as it were, at the foot of themountains, and in the richest part of them.
After I had sufficiently admired the vast quantity of gold he had, hemade signs to the doctor that I should take any piece or any quantitythat I pleased; but thought I might take it as an affront to have himoffer me any particular small parcel. The doctor hinted to me, and Ibade him return him thanks; but to let him know that I would by no meanshave any of that, but that I would be glad to take up a piece or two,such as chance should present to me, in the mountains, that I might showin my own country, and tell them that I took it
up with my own hands. Heanswered, he would go with me himself; and doubted not but to carry mewhere I should fully satisfy my curiosity, if I would be content toclimb a little among the rocks.
I now began to see plainly that I had no manner of need to have takenhis sons for hostages for my safety, and would fain have sent for themback again, but he would by no means give me leave; so I was obliged togive that over. A day or two after, I desired he would give me leave tosend for one person more from the ships, who I had a great mind shouldsee the country with me, and to send for some few things that I shouldwant, and, withal, to satisfy my men that I was safe and well.
This he consented to; so I sent away one of the two midshipmen, whom Icalled my servants, and with him two servants of the Spaniard, mylandlord, as I styled him, with four mules and two horses. I gave mymidshipman my orders and directions, under my hand, to my supercargo,what to do, for I was resolved to be even with my Spaniard for all hisgood usage of me. The midshipman