ince of Larecaja and discovered the famous gold deposits of the Tipuani River, on the eastern slope of the Andes, from whose sands the Incas had washed millions of gold before the coming of the Spaniards. This marked the beginning of the first organized gold-mining venture ever undertaken in Bolivia. That this was the El Dorado of the Incas is well supported by a single extract from these ancient records. Señor Tomás Rada, writing of their discoveries to his friend, Señor Antonio Guillen, an expert miner of Chile, said:
We have found abundant gold in these kingdoms on the other side beyond the snows, where foot traveling is difficult. If you should wish to come here, you will get gold to your heart's content.
Mining operations in northwestern Bolivia now rapidly multiplied, and, through the richness of the mines and unpaid labor of the Indian miners, vast fortunes were rapidly accumulated. It was at this period that the "rescate de oro," or annual sale of gold, was established and became the one great feature of the annual fairs or feasts held at Chuchulaya, Chiquitos, Tacacoma, and Yani, in the province of Larecaja. So much gold was offered on these occasions that it was sold at 15 pesos, or 9 bolivianos, per ounce.
This annual sale of gold, a sort of Wall-street exchange, is still carried on in these ancient Indian villages and attracts to them once a year the gold dealers of the country. It was my good fortune to be present at one of these great feasts, held at Chuchulaya last year, where I witnessed this "rescate de oro," established in that very pueblo more than two centuries before. It was interesting to observe that two hundred years of history had served to acquaint the 3,000 Indians present with something of the commercial value of this metal, as they had advanced the price from 9 bolivianos per ounce to 28 bolivianos, and yet they were selling it at 3 bolivianos less than the market price in this city, 110 miles distant.
In 1781, the Indians, smarting under the oppressive rule of the Spaniards, rose in revolt from Cuzco, Peru, to Tucuman, in the
