the western skies, at certain times of the day looking black,
sharp, and, at their summit, almost as even as a wall.

Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine old city,
though then greatly decayed. During the period of the Spanish dominion,
it was an important place, most of the gold and silver convoys passing
through it on their way to Cartagena, there to be shipped in galleons for
Europe. The mountainous country to the west was rich in silver, gold,
and other metals, and it was Mr. Stephenson's object to select the best
site for commencing operations for the Company. With this object he
"prospected" about in all directions, visiting long-abandoned mines, and
analysing specimens obtained from many quarters. The mines eventually
fixed upon as the scene of his operations were those of La Manta and
Santa Anna, long before worked by the Spaniards, though, in consequence
of the luxuriance and rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old
workings had become completely overgrown and lost. Everything had to be
begun anew. Roads had to be cut to the mines, machinery to be erected,
and the ground opened up, in course of which some of the old adits were
hit upon. The native peons or labourers were not accustomed to work, and
at first they usually contrived to desert when they were not watched, so
that very little progress could be made until the arrival of the expected
band of miners from England. The authorities were by no means helpful,
and the engineer was driven to an old expedient with the object of
overcoming this difficulty. "We endeavour all we can," he says, in one
of his letters, "to make ourselves popular, and this we find most
effectually accomplished by 'regaling the venal beasts.'" {196} He also
gave a ball at Mariquita, which passed off with _eclat_, the governor
from Honda, with a host of friends, honouring it with their presence. It
was, indeed, necessary to "make a party" in this way, as other schemers
were already trying to undermine the Colombian company in influential
directions. The engineer did not exaggerate when he said, "The
uncertainty of transacting business in this country is perplexing beyond
description."

At last, his party of miners arrived from England, but they gave him even
more trouble than the peons had done. They were rough, drunken, and
sometimes altogether ungovernable. He set them to work at the Santa Anna
mine without delay, and at the same time t