Bad as the above treatment of the miners appears, it is gladly
accepted of by them; for the condition of the labouring
agriculturists is much worse. Their wages are lower, and they live
almost exclusively on beans. This poverty must be chiefly owing to
the feudal-like system on which the land is tilled: the landowner
gives a small plot of ground to the labourer, for building on and
cultivating, and in return has his services (or those of a proxy)
for every day of his life, without any wages. Until a father has a
grown-up son, who can by his labour pay the rent, there is no one,
except on occasional days, to take care of his own patch of ground.
Hence extreme poverty is very common among the labouring classes in
this country.
There are some old Indian ruins in this neighbourhood, and I was
shown one of the perforated stones, which Molina mentions as being
found in many places in considerable numbers. They are of a
circular flattened form, from five to six inches in diameter, with
a hole passing quite through the centre. It has generally been
supposed that they were used as heads to clubs, although their form
does not appear at all well adapted for that purpose.
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