POTOSI (not to be confounded with San Luis Potosi, the state and state capital in Mexico) is a town of Bolivia, at the head of the department of Potosi, in 19° 36' S. lat. and 65° 46' W. long. It stands in a bleak and barren country not far from the sources of the Pilcomaya, and thus belongs to the great basin of the La Plata system. Situated at the height of about 13,280 feet above the sea, it is one of the highest inhabited places in the world, and the Cerro de Potosi, at the foot of which it stands, reaches a height of 16,150 feet. The wealth of silver ore drawn from it up to 1846 is stated at upwards of £300,000,000 sterling; and, though the works had for a time to be discontinued as heavier machinery and greater capital were required, the store is far from being exhausted. The city is still the seat of the national mint. It consists of nine streets about 30 feet broad, running north and south and crossed at right angles by others of varying breadth. The houses (two-storied in the heart of the town, but only of one story in the outskirts) are built of adobe and whitewashed. Besides the cathedral (restored in 1858) there are a large number of churches, several convents, and other public buildings; but the city as a whole has that dilapidated and melancholy appearance which is the result of a greatly diminished population. In 1611 its inhabitants are said to have numbered 160,000; at present they are probably not more than 11,000, though Hugo Reck about 1867 gave 22,850 and Ondarza in 1882 repeated exactly the same figures....