Mexico in 1827/Volume 2/Chapter 3
SECTION III.
It will be seen that this Section embraces two distinct subjects of inquiry:—
1st. The returns likely to be made by the different Companies to the Adventurers engaged in them; and,
2ndly. The probability of the general produce of the country being so increased by these returns, (or by any other causes,) as to equal, or ultimately to exceed, the average annual produce before the year 1810.
With regard to the first of these points, I shall submit to my readers the opinions of such of the Directors of the different Companies as have ventured to enter upon this part of the subject in their communications with me, (which some, from a very natural disinclination to commit themselves, did not,) and state, succinctly, in how far these opinions coincide with my own:—Upon the second point, I shall hazard a calculation myself, founded upon the general tenour of the information, which I have been labouring, during the last two years, to collect. I must, however, premise, that the data, upon which any such calculation must be founded, in the present state of Mexico, are too scanty to admit of the possibility of arriving at any exact result; while success, even where facts are not wanting to guide us in our investigations, and where every thing seems to indicate its probability, is always liable to be retarded by those causes, which I have pointed out in the preceding Section, as exercising a general influence upon the Mining Interests of New Spain, and, consequently, as more or less closely identified with the prospects of the present Adventurers.
No powers of machinery, for instance,—no exertions, or combinations of private ingenuity, could counterbalance the effects of several successive years of scarcity, or afford security amidst the desolation of a second Civil War.
The mines, at the same time that they are the great source of the prosperity of Mexico, are the first to feel any event by which that prosperity is menaced. Like the funds in Europe, they always indicate the approach of a storm; and require security, as well as a concurrence of other favourable circumstances, in order to reach their natural level. Every calculation respecting them must, therefore, take as its basis the supposition, that public tranquillity will not be disturbed, nor the ordinary course of nature interrupted by any unusual visitation, (such as pestilence or famine,) with which the New World is occasionally afflicted. It is upon this supposition, that the gentlemen, of whose authority I shall presently avail myself, have proceeded in their communications with me; and it is upon a similar understanding alone, that I can venture, in justice to them, or to myself, to lay before my readers the result of our joint inquiries. I trust, however, that due weight will be given to this observation, and I shall consequently proceed, at once, with my task; not with a wish to encourage delusive hopes, but merely in order to show the nature of the expectations that may reasonably be entertained by those who have embarked so large a stake in the mines of New Spain.
Captain Vetch, the Director of the Real del Monte Mining Association, in a Report dated the 26th September, 1826, after stating the produce of the mines of Count Regla, during the fifty years in which they were in full activity, to have been Twenty-six millions and a half of dollars,[1] calculates that, by working the two great veins, (La Biscaina and Santa Brigida,) at once, (which was never the case before,) the Company may expect to derive from them a yearly return of one million and a half of dollars:—He adds another million for the other mines belonging to the Company on the Veins of Mŏrān, Ăcōstă, Săn Estĕvăn, &c., in the same district; and at Pĕchūgă, Zĭmăpān, and Ozūmătlān; and declares his expectation, "that the mines, in the course of the year 1827, will cover their own expences, and that, in 1828, the produce will be Two millions of dollars; fully equalling, if not surpassing, the annual average amount derived from them before the year 1810."
In a second Report, dated l6th March, 1827, Captain Vetch confesses that delays have occurred in the completion of the preparatory works, which will, in all probability, render some farther advances on the part of the Company necessary during the year 1827; but he does not modify his opinion with regard to the prospects of the Adventurers in any other respect, and appears to consider success in the years 1828, and 1829, as certain.
The same gentleman, in his capacity of Director of the Bolaños Company, estimates the probable annual produce of the mines of Bolaños, after the year 1828, (the whole of which will be occupied with the drainage,) at two millions of dollars, (Report of 1st October, 1826;) and he adds in a subsequent Report, (of 16th March, 1827,) that he sees no reason to change his opinion either with regard to the mines, or the time at which they may be expected to become productive, as he is borne out in all that he had stated in his former report, by the rapidity with which the works, by which the drainage is to be effected, were advancing towards their conclusion.
Without adopting implicitly these calculations, I am bound to state that they are made by a gentleman of undoubted ability, and that the works, by which they are to be realized, have been carried on by him with the greatest science and activity.
I confess, however, that Captain Vetch's expectations, with regard to Real del Monte, are more sanguine than my own, because his estimate of the probable produce considerably exceeds the average registered amount of former times.
He, however, justifies his calculation, with regard to the Biscaina vein, (the most important of all,) by stating that it is founded upon the produce of its best years, (from 1794 to 1801,) when it yielded six millions of dollars; and that it is not assuming too much to say that, with improved machinery, and an improved system of working, it may again be brought to the same standard, as soon as the deeper levels are reached; in which it is universally admitted that the richest ores were found, although, from the difficulty of keeping them free from water without steam-engines, they were ultimately abandoned.
Should these expectations be realized, and the produce of the year 1829 amount to Two millions of dollars, deducting one million for the expence of keeping up the establishment, the whole outlay of the Company, (400,000l.,) would be repaid in 1830; after which period, they would, as long as the mines continued to yield ores in the same ratio, after dividing the profits with the proprietor, receive an interest of 750,000 dollars, (or about thirty-four per cent.) upon a nominal capital, of the use of which they would have been deprived for only five years.
Reduce these profits to twenty-five, or twenty per cent., during the term for which the mines are contracted, and they will still be enormous; although not at all equal to those which Captain Vetch expects to derive from Bolaños, where, by the investment of 150,000l., (or 750,000 dollars,) commencing in the year 1826, he looks for a produce of Two millions of dollars in the year 1829.
This estimate is a fair one, as it does not exceed one half of the produce of some former years, before the expence of the drainage compelled the proprietors to abandon the deepest levels.[2]
Half the sum, (supposing the other half to be absorbed by the expences,) would repay the whole capital invested, in the year 1829; and leave one million of dollars annually, to be divided by the proprietors in every subsequent year; so that the profits of the Company, as long as the mines continued to be productive, would be equivalent to two-thirds of their whole original expenditure, or something more than sixty-six per cent.Under such circumstances, loss, at all events, either of capital, or of a return upon it, much exceeding any ordinary interest, can hardly be apprehended; for, although mining cannot be subjected to fixed calculations, it is a fact universally admitted in Mexico, that the chances of loss diminish, in proportion to the extent of the operations carried on; and that, although many a poor miner has lost his little all upon one ill-chosen spot, few instances have occurred, in which a district of known richness has disappointed the hopes of those who have possessed the means of exploring it in every part.
The Report of Mr. Williamson, Director of the Anglo-Mexican Association, (dated June 1826,) after stating the progress made, and the probability of concluding the drainage of the Valenciana mine in eighteen months, proceeds to give the average annual produce of Guanajuato before 1810,[3] which appears to have been, on a term of fifteen years, 5,572,206 dollars; two-thirds of which, or 3,714,804 dollars, actually proceeded from the mines now working by the Company.
Mr. Williamson expects, that in two years, (i. e. in 1829,) he shall be enabled to bring the produce of the mines again to this standard; nor do I see any reason to question the possibility of his doing so, now that the reductions mentioned in the preceding Section have placed the establishment on a footing, at once economical and effective. He deducts one-half of the produce for expences, which leaves 1,857,402 dollars, to repay the Adventurers for their advances, which is to be done before any division of profits with the Mexican proprietors takes place, and might, consequently, be effected in four years from the present time; (the outlay being three and a half millions, and the mines covering now their own expences:) and he then takes half that sum again, (or 928,701 dollars,) as the interest to be paid, or rather the profits to be derived from the speculation during the duration of the contracts, if the mines do not prove totally unworthy of their former reputation.
This calculation, like all others upon the same subject, is open to objections. Delays may occur, and the most reasonable hopes may be disappointed; but it has for its basis the records of what has been, and it assumes nothing but the possibility of restoring things to what they were, before a great political convulsion compelled the owners of the most flourishing mines to abandon their works.
To the activity and judgment which were displayed, at the time of my visit to Guanajuato, in the operations by which the result, to which Mr. Williamson looks, was to be produced, I can myself bear witness; and, in the opinion of the natives, such was the progress already made, that a Barr, or share, in the Valenciana, which, in 1825, was not valued at more than 30,000 dollars, was, in 1826, reckoned worth 100,000.
I may add, that from August 1826, up to the time of my departure from Mexico, (May 1827,) the mines covered their own expences; and that, during the month of March alone, (1827,) the silver reduced in the Haciendas of the Company amounted to 54,964 dollars.[4]
The want of Records of former produce has prevented Mr. de Rivafinoli, the Director of the Tlalpujahua Company, from hazarding any calculation, as to the probable amount of the produce of the mines belonging to that Association.
He stated, however, in a Report, dated September 1826, that, from the 1st of January 1827, he expected to be enabled to cover his expences, and to pay an interest of ten per cent, upon the capital invested, which only amounted then to 160,000l.
These hopes have not been realized up to the present moment, accidental delays having occurred, as in every other Association; but, from the forward state of all the preparatory works, the admirable system which has been introduced at Tlalpujahua, and the great promise of some of the ores that have been raised, I am inclined to think that the year 1828 will not elapse without Mr. Rivafinoli's expectations being fulfilled; while I see great reason to hope that, during the two subsequent years of 1829 and 1830, a large portion of the capital invested will be repaid.
The Directors of the "Mexican Mining Company," having neither given to the world a statement of the amount of the capital laid out by them, nor published any documents with regard to the former produce of their mines, I can make no calculation whatever as to the amount which may be expected to be derived from them. The Directors, however, stated, in their communications with me, that, both at Sumoloacan, (near Perote,) and in Oaxaca, the mines actually working by the Company were in full produce: that, at the first place, they considered the quantity of ore on hand as fully equal to the expenditure; and that, although this was not yet the case in Oaxaca, the mines there had yielded, up to the end of December 1826, twenty-six bars of Silver, worth, (including a small Ley de Oro) about 30,000 dollars.
The disorganization of the Catorce Company, occasioned by the failure of the House of Goldschmidt, prevented their Directors from favouring me with any report. I was, however, enabled to ascertain, during my journey North, that their outlay at Catorce did not exceed from Thirty to Forty thousand pounds. Fifty thousand pounds more are required, and two years' time, to complete the principal work which they have undertaken there; but, if they can raise funds to carry it on, there is no mining enterprise in the country of which the Mexicans have so high an opinion; and I should myself be inclined to estimate their probable profits, for some years, at from sixty to seventy per cent, upon their advances.
The former produce of Catorce, during its best years was 2,854,000 dollars, (the average on five years, from 1800 to 1804). The mines from which by far the largest proportion of this sum proceeded, are now unworked, and must remain so, until the great Adit, the contract for which the Catorce Company has taken up, be concluded.
There is, however, every probability that, if carried on, the annual produce would equal that of the most flourishing periods before the Revolution; the riches of the vein having continued undiminished, at the time when the increase of the water obliged the proprietors to abandon the works.
Mr. Alaman, the principal director of the United Mexican Company, in a Report full of curious information, which he had the goodness to draw up for me, declined hazarding any positive calculation as to the probable amount of the produce of the mines worked by that Association, "because, (to use his own words,) "the produce of a mine could never be said to bear any exact proportion to the capital invested in it; sometimes exceeding all reasonable expectations, and at others, falling short of the most moderate estimate, particularly when confined to any given time." Mr. Alaman stated, however, that "as the large capital of the Company enabled it to work a number of districts at one and the same time, the probability of great profits increased in proportion to the number of mines capable of producing them:" and he adds, "that, if the past can be taken as a criterion for the future, many of the mines worked by the United Mexican Association, (as El Pavellon, at Sombrerete; San Bernabé, or San Acasio, at Zacatecas, and Rayas, at Guanajuato,) were capable of covering, in a very few years, the whole outlay of the Adventurers;" (although that outlay amounted, at the close of 1827, to 800,000l.;) "without reckoning many other mines, in the possession of the Company, celebrated for their former riches, or the new mines of Sĕchō and Lŏrētŏ, which had already repaid the advances made upon them, and were producing profits."
In another part of his report, Mr. Alaman stated, that in almost all the districts the preparatory works were nearly concluded; and that, with the exception of the two great mines of Rayas and San Acasio, in the course of the present year, (1828,) all the mines of the Company would be in full produce. For the two exceptions, he fixed, as the maximum of time required, the autumn of 1828, so that in 1829 the Adventurers may hope to reap the full fruits of their present advances.
If my faith can be placed in Mining calculations at all, these fruits must be very considerable; for the United Mexican Company possesses, perhaps, a larger portion than any other, of the mines most celebrated for their former riches, and that on terms sufficiently equitable. I, therefore, rate their prospects high. But, at the same time, it must be confessed, that the vast extent of their undertakings is a disadvantage, from the impossibility of enforcing uniformity of system in operations, which are spread over 800 leagues of country, (from Jesus Maria, North-west of Chihuahua, to Teojomulco, in Oaxaca,) and that, consequently, there is reason to fear that the difficulties of management will tend, whatever be the exertions of the directors, considerably to diminish the profits.
It would be folly in me to attempt to fix what Mr. Alaman has declared his inability to do,—the period at which the Company may look for the repayment of its advances; but should any one of their great undertakings succeed, (and it is difficult for the most desponding to suppose them all failures,) that period cannot be more distant than that fixed by the Directors of other Companies—viz. the year 1831 or 1832.
The Report with which the Directors of the German Company were so obliging as to furnish me, contains many interesting facts, some of which tend not a little to confirm the opinion, which I have expressed in the preceding Section, that, had the attention of the British public not been exclusively directed to the mines which came recommended by Baron Humboldt's authority, capital might have been, in many instances, invested more profitably, in mines of less celebrity, but easier of access, than some of those which have been selected by the English Companies.
Not one of the German mines is known in England; for Ărēvălŏ, the most important one amongst them, (at Chico,) was discovered after Humboldt's visit to Mexico; yet the Germans, by a judicious selection, made upon the spot, by miners of great experience, and activity, have done more, (in proportion,) in less time, and with a smaller capital, than any of the Foreign Companies established in New Spain.
By the statement of the Directors, it appears that they commenced their operations in the Autumn of 1825; and that, at the end of December 1826, they had drawn from the very small proportion of mines, which they had been able, at that time, to bring into work, a sum nearly equal to one-fourth of the capital employed.
The whole outlay of the Company, including the transport of the directors and officers from Germany, amounted to 637,760 dollars; while the produce was 147,153 dollars: a result sufficiently favourable to render any farther calculations as to the ultimate success of the Company unnecessary. That success, however, will not be so rapid as might be expected, unless the capital of the Association (originally 500,000 dollars) be increased, so as to enable its agents to bring the mines taken up by them at once into activity, instead of adopting the slow process of applying the profits of the one to the wants of the rest.
With regard to former produce, the mine of Arevalo, at Chico, is stated to have paid the King's tenth upon five millions of dollars, from 1804 to 1824; or to have averaged 250,000 dollars per annum.
The mines at Real de Arriba, in the district of Temascaltepec, produced, weekly, twelve bars, or 13,000 dollars, (yearly, about 600,000 dollars). Sta Rita, (at Zimapan,) upon the years 1791, 1792, and 1793, left a profit of 100,000 dollars: and the richness of the Gold mines at San José del Oro, led, in former times, to the appointment of a Receiver-general for the King's fifth in that district alone. The present state of the mines there, however, does not appear to warrant any immediate expectations of success.
On the whole, should the undertakings of the Company be prosecuted with vigour, the annual produce, at the lowest possible estimate, may be taken at 600,000 dollars in the year 1830; with a probability of its considerably exceeding that sum; as Ărēvălŏ alone, in the opinion of all the miners whom I have consulted, (both natives and foreigners,) is capable, at the present moment, of producing seven bars weekly, or 365,000 dollars per annum, could a sufficient number of workmen be procured for the extraction of the Ore. Of the two American Companies mentioned in the sketch, (those of Baltimore and New York,) I can say little, except that the first only has effected an establishment in Mexico. The mines to be worked by both are situated at Temascaltepec, (about thirty leagues from the Capital,) and the works are conducted with great economy and activity, by Mr. Keating, a distinguished mineralogist of the United States.
With regard to the result, I have been informed that, from the tables of former produce, during a long series of years, there is reason to hope that the mines may pay an interest of from nine-to fifteen per cent, upon the capital invested, which does not exceed 100,000 dollars. The completion of the works will, probably, be effected in the course of the year 1828.
The preceding pages contain the only data, upon which a calculation "of the returns likely to be made to the Adventurers by the Companies now established in Mexico," can, at present, be attempted. The result is by no means such as I could have wished, as it is founded upon conjectural evidence, and amounts, at best, to nothing more than probability; but I have no hesitation in adding that I regard this probability as strong, and that, after a very careful investigation, I see little reason to consider the expectations of the directors as exaggerated, or to suppose that, before three years have elapsed, these expectations may not be realised. If this be the case, the addition to the amount of Silver now raised, in the year 1830, might be roughly estimated in the following manner:—
| Dollars. | |
| Real del Monte Company | 2,500,000 |
| Bolaños | 2,000,000 |
| Anglo Mexican | 3,700,000 |
| Tlalpujahua | 850,000 |
| Mexican Company | 200,000 |
| Catorce Company | 250,000 |
| United Mexican | 3,000,000 |
| German Company | 440,000 |
| American Companies | 60,000 |
| ————— | |
| Total | 13,000,000 |
| ————— |
In this calculation I have taken the produce of the three first Companies at the estimate of their own directors.
I have allowed for Tlalpujahua what I conceive to be a very moderate sum, considering the exclusive possession by that Company of all the mines of the District, and the great riches that were, undoubtedly, drawn from them in former times, although the records of those times have been lost.
For the Mexican Company I have allowed more than their present produce would seem to warrant, in consideration of their having only just received the means of carrying on their works with vigour, by the arrival of several German miners, whose assistance, in Oaxaca, was the more necessary from the inexperience of the native miners of that state.
The expectations of the Catorce Company cannot be realised so early as 1830, as their works are now suspended: I therefore take the probable produce, in that year, much under the estimate formed in the preceding part of this Section.
For the United Mexican Company I have assigned a sum, which is small, if a calculation of the probabilities in favour of the Association be formed upon the same basis as that which has been adopted for all the rest. But Mr. Alaman's refusal to give an opinion, renders caution in a mere observer doubly necessary.
I have supposed the progress of the German Company to be slow, from the uncertainty of any addition being made to its present capital.
In all, I have given Produce, not Profits, for these, of course, depend upon the manner in which the operations of the Companies are conducted, every shilling injudiciously expended, being, in fact, so much deducted from them.[5] The sum total gives an addition of thirteen millions of dollars to the present produce of the country in, or before, the year 1830.
It remains, therefore, to inquire into the Second part of the question now under review, viz.:—
"The probability of the general produce of the country being so increased by these returns, (or by any other causes,) as to equal, or ultimately to exceed, the annual average produce before the year 1810."
The Coinage of Mexico, although its average amount, from 1811 to 1825, was something more than Ten millions of dollars per annum, as stated in the first Section of this Book, rather decreased, than increased, towards the latter part of this period, and did not amount in the year 1826, to more than Seven millions and a half of dollars: (Vide table of Coinage marked No. 12, Section I.) The causes of this diminution I have endeavoured to develope in the preceding Section.
It does not arise from any deterioration of the mines themselves: they are what they were in 1810, and, consequently, are equally capable of producing what they then produced: but the capital which gave, at that time, so great an impulse to the Mining interests, has been withdrawn from the country, or diverted into other channels. The outlay of the Companies is not, by any means, an equivalent for that capital; and many years must elapse before that equivalent be found: I mean, before a system can be re-organised, that will give to every class of Mining adventurers the facilities, and advantages, which they enjoyed before 1810. A great proportion of the expenditure of the Companies consists, at present, in dead works,—Amalgamation works,—roads, and stock,—all indispensable as preparations, and highly beneficial to the country in general, but not to the interest of the miners, (I mean, those not employed in the Companies,) to whom Avios, or advances in money, are essential, which they can no longer obtain. Besides, the mining population itself has decreased, and there are many districts, in which a want of hands is severely felt. I do not, therefore, think it probable that, even under the most favourable circumstances, the produce of the country can, for some time, exceed the amount of the present coinage, added to that given by my calculation of the probable produce of the Companies, which would make a total of about Twenty millions of dollars.
To this I think it may rise in the year 1830; and should it do so, the increase afterwards will be gradual, but progressive; new mines will be brought into activity as the present scarcity of capital diminishes; and, provided public tranquillity be not disturbed, there is reason to believe that the produce of the mines of Mexico, in five years after that time (1835) will be nearly equal to the annual average amount derived from them before the Revolution.
In taking this view of the subject, I feel myself bound to state that I have been thought too sanguine by many persons to whom I have communicated it, and, amongst others, by some, for whose general knowledge of Mexico I have the highest respect; but at the same time I must add, that the apprehensions, which I have heard expressed, originate either in causes entirely unconnected with the mines, (principally of a political nature,) or in a supposition that the errors committed by the Companies on their first establishment are still persevered in, and, consequently, still occasion the lavish expenditure, with which they were necessarily attended at the outset.
Upon the last of these points my visit to the Mining Districts has relieved me from all doubts. The Companies have served their apprenticeship: they have paid dearly for their experience, it is true; but they have learned that nature is not to be forced, and that, without the strictest attention to economy, and to all the details of management, no command of capital can ensure success. Their establishments have been reduced in consequence; and it only remains, therefore, to inquire, whether the mines are sufficiently good to cover the expence already incurred, and still to hold out a reasonable prospect of advantage? This I have endeavoured to ascertain by a reference to the only data, upon which an estimate can possibly be formed; and by instituting a comparison between the expenditure of the Companies and the former produce of the mines worked by them, as given by Official Records: the result is comprised in one table, and it certainly does appear to be that the mines are able to pay off the whole outlay, in three or four years, provided the produce in 1829 be not very much below the standard of the average annual produce before 1810. This I see no reason to apprehend; for the mines have remained unchanged, and untouched, during the Revolution. In lieu of being exhausted by progressive workings, their riches were locked up, if I may use the expression, by the accumulation of water; and it is only now that the lower levels, from which nine-tenths of the silver raised in 1810 were extracted, are beginning to become accessible. What, then, is to prevent the produce from reaching its former standard, calculated as that standard has been, in this Book, not upon traditionary sayings, or vulgar report, (which is but too often synonymous with vulgar error,) but upon the evidence of those Records, that have survived the Revolution? More than this I do not wish at present to assume; for I think so highly of the ability and practical experience of the Mexicans in all mining matters, that I am very much inclined to believe that we have, at least, as much to learn from them, as they from us. I therefore reject, at once, all those ideas of European mining on the other side of the Atlantic, which have been attended, hitherto, with much ruinous effect: but having admitted this, it would be hard to deny that the accession of science, and skill in machinery, which we bring into the present coalition, when combined with the knowledge of their own country, which the Mexican miners possess in the very highest degree, and applied, gradually, in the mode best adapted to the local peculiarities of each District, must, in the end, have a beneficial influence, and must tend to increase, ultimately, the annual produce of the mines.
This has been already exemplified in more than one instance, as at Real del Monte, and Bolaños, neither of which Districts could have been worked without the aid of European science, to direct the efforts of the natives. In other districts, where capital alone was wanting, the introduction of our machinery was superfluous; in all, however, it will be hereafter of use, for there is a point, at which the machinery of the country, (however improved) ceases to be of any avail. I do not, therefore, regard the expence which has been incurred at Guanajuato, by the Anglo-Mexican Company, for machinery, (but a small portion of which is now in use,) as money lost to the Adventurers. The expence might have been avoided, and was therefore injudicious, as it increased the outlay, in the first instance, so enormously, as almost to occasion the dissolution of the Company; but a time will come, (before the contracts can expire,) when a part, at least, of this machinery may be turned to account upon the spot; while, if the impulse given to the mines continue, opportunities will be found for disposing of the remainder to Adventurers in other Districts, where the use of it would not be restricted by that scarcity of fuel, which, in Guanajuato, would render the general application of the larger engines sent out in 1825, utterly impossible.
With regard to the political apprehensions to which I have alluded, I do not feel myself at liberty to speak. The seeds of disorder certainly still exist in Mexico; and it is, unfortunately, not less certain that, were they to lead to civil dissensions of a serious nature, the mines must suffer from the effects of the struggle. But although I will not predict those halcyon days of peace and concord, which some of the admirers of Republican principles seem to regard as the necessary consequence of the system which has been adopted, I have no hesitation in repeating here, what I have stated in the preceding parts of my work, namely, that great progress has been made towards a better order of things, and that the more I saw of the country, the more I became convinced that the people were wearied out with Civil war, and desired nothing but independence and tranquillity. The race of the old Insurgents has died off; the population of the Provinces has reverted to its original pursuits; and although a struggle for place and power may be carried on with great personal animosity in the Capital, the States are indifferent as to the result, and are occupied only with their own affairs.
I am not aware of the existence of any cause, (with the exception always of a hostile movement on the part of Spain,) that could again disorganise the great mass of the population; and it is this alone that the Companies in general have to apprehend. Partial disturbances indeed may, and probably will occur; but these are of little moment, and could hardly exercise any very prejudicial effect upon the Mining interests of the country, from which so large a portion of the Mexican community derives its subsistence at present, and to which, consequently, they are not less interested than the foreign Adventurers themselves, in affording protection.
The same observation holds good with regard to an increase of duties on the part of the Government, (of which I have heard great fears expressed here,) as soon as the mines begin to become productive anew. Upon this subject it is impossible to give the Adventurers any other security than that which they may derive from the reflection, that this increase of duties must weigh as heavily upon the Mexican proprietors, as upon themselves. The mines are private, not public, property; and the produce, (according to the terms of the contracts,) after the repayment of the capital invested by the Companies in the first instance, is to be divided equally between the Adventurers and the Mexican proprietors.
In order to favour the attempt to work the mines anew by the assistance of foreign capitals, the duties formerly paid on the Silver raised, (seventeen per cent.,) were reduced to about five and a half. There was no pledge that, when the capitals were repaid, some increase would not be made in the duties: but there is also no reason to suppose that they will ever again be raised to their former standard, because the interests, not of the foreign capitalists, but of the very influential class of Mexican proprietors, require that they should not be so. The amount of duties was formerly fixed by the Mother-country. It now depends, not even upon the Executive of Mexico, but upon an assembly of native Mexicans, amongst whom the great Mining Districts are sure to be adequately represented. It is, therefore, hardly natural to suppose that they will give their sanction to a measure by which they themselves will be the first to suffer; nor can they, in any way, in a country which pays for all its Imports in bullion, impose a duty upon the Silver raised in such a manner as to bear upon Foreigners, without affecting themselves. I leave good faith entirely out of the question in this view of the case, because, though always appealed to, it is, I fear, of but little weight with any Government in discussions of this nature. But I cannot refrain from adding that, in the whole course of my residence in Mexico, I have seen nothing on the part of the Government to warrant the supposition, (which those who wish to regard American affairs in the most unfavourable light, so gratuitously make,) that it would violate all its engagements with Foreigners, merely on the score of their not being natives, or seek to deprive them of the fair fruits of their labours. I believe, on the contrary, that a conviction of the advantages which Mexico derives from her intercourse with Europe, has been gradually taking root during the last four years; that many of the exaggerated ideas which were entertained in 1824, of the importance of the New World to us, have given way to a belief that this importance is (to say the least) reciprocal; and that a disposition to cultivate a good understanding with the commercial nations of Europe has increased in proportion to the increased wants which Europe is called upon to supply. I have given in the Third Book some instances of the existence of this feeling, as well as of the ameliorations to which it has already led with regard to Trade: why then should its existence be assumed as impossible, and its operation supposed not to extend to the mines, in which the interests of the Mexican and British Adventurers are much more closely interwoven with each other, than they can be in any other species of international intercourse?
The above observations are merely matters of private opinion, but as such I leave them to the consideration of my readers, who will give them as much, or as little importance, as they may seem to deserve.
I come now to the probability "of the annual average produce ultimately exceeding the Twenty four millions of dollars, which were drawn from the mines before 1810." This probability depends, in my opinion, in a great measure, upon the time at which the attention of the Adventurers in the Mines of Mexico is directed towards the North.
It seems, at first sight, a singular fact, in the history of a country so celebrated for a spirit of mining enterprise as Mexico, that, during three centuries, that spirit should have been confined to a comparatively small circle; and that, with some few exceptions, the richer ores of the Internal Provinces, should have been neglected for the poorer districts in the vicinity of the Capital.
But this fact admits of one simple explanation.
As long as the monopoly of the Mint of Mexico continued, it was absolutely impossible, in the Interior of the country, to obtain a sufficiency of the circulating medium to carry on any great mining enterprise; and, even to commence one, a triple capital was required, as six months elapsed before silver, sent in bars from the North, could be brought back converted into specie.
Dollars were often at a premium in Guanajuato itself; but in the North, they became an article of trade, the price of which, like that of all other articles, increased in proportion to the scarcity of the supply; so that both the Mine-owner, and the Rescatador, (amalgamater on his own account,) were obliged to convert their silver into specie at a loss of one-third of its legal value; while, for every article consumed in the mines, for which they exchanged Plata Pasta, or silver in a raw state, they paid at least double the market price.
It will hardly be believed that silver of the finest quality has been sold, (and currently sold) in the Northern provinces, at four dollars two reals, and four dollars four reals per marc, the Mint price being eight dollars.[6]
Few mines, however rich, could be worked under these disadvantages, and they sufficiently account for the preference, which was given by the old miners to ores, that yielded seven and eight marcs of Silver on the Monton of thirty-six quintals, if within seventy or one hundred leagues of the Capital, in lieu of exploring the tantalizing wealth of the North, where, although fifteen and twenty marcs were yielded by the same quantity of ore, the whole profit was absorbed by usurious charges on every thing else.
These reasons became only more cogent after 1810; for, although Mints were established at Durango, and Chihuahua, quicksilver rose in price, during the Revolution, from forty-one dollars to one hundred and forty, and one hundred and fifty dollars per quintal; while the general want of confidence, and capital, rendered it impossible for the miners to obtain advances, (Avios) even by the greatest sacrifices.
The whole country, therefore. North of Durango, remains almost unexplored. That it will long continue so, I do not believe, for public attention has already been turned in this direction, and should the first adventurers succeed, an extraordinary change may be expected to take place in the Mining interests of New Spain in the course of the next twenty years.
That the great mineral treasures of Mexico commence exactly at the point where Humboldt rightly states the labours of the Spaniards to have terminated, (about Latitude 24°,) is a fact now universally admitted by the native miners, although, hitherto, but little known in Europe.
In order the better to illustrate it, I shall beg to subjoin some details, which I was enabled to collect during my journey into the Interior, premising, that I have the evidence of Registers of produce, and official documents, for every fact that I submit to my readers, (some of the least voluminous of which I subjoin,) and that I have adopted nothing upon mere verbal report.
The States of Durango, Sonora, Chihuahua, and Sinaloa, contain an infinity of mines hitherto but little known, but holding out, wherever they have been tried, a promise of riches superior to any thing that Mexico has yet produced.
The Districts, a list, or sketch of the principal of which will be found in Table IV., are distinguished, not less by the superior quality of their ores, than by the circumstance of their beginning to be productive within a very little distance from the surface (usually from ten to fifteen yards); whereas the Veta Madre of Guănăjūātŏ yields little or nothing until the depth of eighty yards is attained. The metals seem to increase in richness as you approach the North; insomuch that in the Real, or District, of Jesus Maria, in that great branch of the Sierra Madre, which separates the States of Durango and Chihuahua, from those of Sonora and Sinaloa, to the North and West,—the ores of the mine of Santa Juliana (which does not exceed seventy yards in depth) appear, by a certified Report from the Diputacion de Mineria, now before me, to average seven and eight marcs of silver per carga, of (300 lbs.,) which is the average produce often cargas of good ore in Guănăjūātŏ; while ores of the best quality yield as much as from four to ten marcs per Arroba, (of 251bs.) or forty marcs per carga.
At Bătŏpīlăs, (in the State of Chĭhūāhuă,) where the matrix is, in general, quartz, the pure malleable silver intermixed with it often exceeds in proportion one half; and masses of this description, of the weight of eleven Arrobas, (270 lbs.,) have been raised. One of five Arrobas in weight, (125 lbs.,) was in existence at Chĭhūāhuă during my visit to the North, and I was even solicited to purchase it for the British Museum.
Only three Districts in the North have been, hitherto, worked with any sort of regularity, Santa Eŭlālĭă, Bătŏpīlăs, and Guārĭsămĕy. The first, (Santa Eulalia,) from its vicinity to the town of Chihuahua, was worked as early as 1705.
Its registered produce, from that time to 1737, was 55,959,750 dollars, or an average of 1,748,742 dollars per annum. From 1737 to 1791, it yielded something more than Forty-four millions, making a total of One hundred millions of dollars during a period of Eighty-six years.
The district was gradually abandoned during the last years of the last century, on account of the incursions of the savage Indian tribes; but in 1791, it possessed a population of 6,000 inhabitants, with seventy-three Haciendas for reducing metals, and one hundred and eighty smelting furnaces. All these are now in ruins, and the produce, during the last thirty years, has been little or nothing; the whole receipts of the Provincial Treasury of Chihuahua having only amounted to 10,769,096 dollars from 1791 to 1825; but the possibility of restoring the mines to what they were, is, in the opinion of the natives, undoubted.[7]
From Bătŏpīlăs, and Guārĭsămĕy, I have been unable to obtain returns as exact as those from Santa Eulalia; a great part of the wealth derived from the first, by the Marquis of Bustamante, having been sent out of the country unregistered, during the Revolution, by the ports of Măzătlān, and Gūāymăs. But it is upon record, at Durango, that Zămbrānŏ, who was the proprietor of all the principal mines of Guārĭsămĕy and Săn Dīmăs, paid, as the King's fifth, upon the Silver raised from the mines, between the period of their discovery, (in 1783,) and 1807, when he died, Eleven millions of dollars. These immense riches were derived principally from five great mines. La Candelaria, (at San Dimas,) San Juan Nepomuceno, Cinco Señores, La Abra, and Tapia; of one of which, (La Candelaria,) I possess the regular returns for five years, which prove the annual profits never to have been less than 124,000 dollars, while in some years they amounted to 223,082[8]. The ores of the mine, during the whole of this period, appear to have produced from five to six marcs per carga, (of 300 lbs.) and often to have yielded twenty, and even thirty marcs. Indeed, nothing of a quality inferior to the first could have covered the expence of extraction; as, when the Candelaria had attained its greatest depth, (300 Varas,) the water was still brought up from the bottom of the mine in leathern buckets upon men's shoulders. The Ley de Oro (or proportions of gold) in the ores of Guārĭsămĕy, is very great, amounting sometimes to 2,100 grains to the marc. But, notwithstanding all these advantages, the mines are now going fast to ruin, the works having been suspended during the Revolution, and the possibility of re-opening them, at present, to any extent, being impeded by a lawsuit between the heirs and executors of the former proprietor.
Without entering into similar details, respecting each of the other districts mentioned in the Table of the Northern Mines, (No IV.) it will be sufficient to state that, with some few exceptions,[9] they all possess, in a greater or less degree, the same advantages; (richness of ores, and veins productive almost at the surface;) that few have been worked to any extent; and, consequently, that the risk of making the necessary experiments there is trifling, in comparison with the immense outlay required by the old mines of the Southern districts, which have, in general, attained an enormous depth. The money which has been invested in the Valenciana, or in Rayas, or in the Biscaina vein, would be sufficient to make a trial of half the Mining districts of the North at once; for no expensive works need be commenced there, until the character of the veins, which it might be in contemplation to work, was sufficiently ascertained. The undertaking would, indeed, require an adventurous spirit, and a determination to submit to every privation, at first, in order to ensure success: but if these qualities were combined with a sufficient knowledge of the country, and some personal influence, I am inclined to think that, with a very small capital, success would be undoubted.
In the present state of discouragement with regard to all Transatlantic speculations, it is not probable that any experiment of this kind will be attempted upon a large scale, for some time; but I am convinced that, when once it is fairly made, an enormous addition to the mineral wealth of Mexico will be the result. To what extent this may ultimately be carried, it would be useless now to inquire; for, without the assistance of Foreign Capitalists, years will probably elapse before the gradual spread of population facilitates discoveries in those rich districts, where the want of inhabitants now presents a serious obstacle to commercial enterprise.
Population, however, in Mexico, has always followed the course and progress of the mines; and that too with astonishing rapidity. The Mexican miners are proverbially inconstant in their tastes, and roam from one district to another, whenever there is a new discovery, or Bonanza, to attract them.
Of this, Catorce furnished a memorable instance, in the year 1773. It is impossible to conceive a more bleak and desolate spot than that upon which these famous mines are situated,—the very summit of a mountain ridge, inaccessible, even at the present day, to any thing but mules, without provisions, or water, or resources of any kind; yet, in three years after the discovery, it had a population of five thousand souls, and the town now contains sixteen thousand inhabitants. The fame of its riches brought crowds of settlers from Guănăjūātŏ, Zăcătēcăs, and Sŏmbrĕrētĕ; and, notwithstanding all the local disadvantages which I have enumerated, these settlers have remained. But the mines of Catorce possessed all the properties which characterise those of the North: they all began to be productive almost at the surface, and all yielded ores of a quality unknown in the neighbouring districts of Zacatecas and Guanajuato.
The metalliferous dust of the famous mine of "Zăvālă," which produced Four millions of dollars in two years, was eagerly bought up, at the mouth of the mine, by Rescatadores, (proprietors of Amalgamation works,) who came from Pinos, and even from Guanajuato, (distances of fifty and eighty leagues,) for the purpose, at the price of one dollar for the pound of ore, (three hundred dollars per carga.)
The owner of the mines of Santa Ana and San Geronimo, (Captain Zūnĭgă,) after living upon their produce during his whole life, bequeathed, by his will, (of which I have an authentic copy,) Four millions of dollars, the greatest proportion of which was left to pious institutions. The mine of La Luz, which was denounced in 1804, and is still in full work, has given to its present proprietor, the Licenciado Gordoa, the estate of Mal Passo, near Zacatecas, (for which he paid 700,000 dollars,) and a million of dollars Capital: the best ores, during this time, have sold, according to the Registers of the mine, at 340 and 380 dollars per carga, (of 300 lbs.)
The ores of a particular level of the mine of La Purisima, which belongs to the family of the Obregons, (el ojo del cielo) sold for 600, 400, and 380 dollars per carga; at which price they were bought as late as 1817.[10]
With such attractions as these, natural difficulties are easily overcome; and I have little doubt that, as soon as their existence in a particular part of this country is generally known, the tide of population will set in that direction; and that establishments will be formed there, which, in the course of a few years, will become of immense importance. Every day is adding to our knowledge of regions, which were formerly considered as positively inaccessible. The Sierra Madre has been traversed seven times, between Ŏăxācă and Chĭhūāhuă, by one very spirited and intelligent English traveller, Mr. Glennie, whose opinion of its riches confirms all that had been surmised in earlier days; and his conviction of the advantages to be derived from mining speculations in that direction, has induced the directors of the United Mexican Company to entrust him with the formation of an establishment at Jesus Maria, (one hundred leagues West of Chihuahua, upon the slope of the Sierra Madre,) which I consider as a first step towards that revolution in the mining affairs of Mexico, the probability of which, in the course of twenty or thirty years, I cannot but look forward to.
Some Americans have endeavoured to establish a Company for Bătŏpīlăs, but have not, I believe, as yet, succeeded in raising a sufficient capital.
A Mexican Company for working some of the mines of Sŏnōră was likewise proposed in the capital very lately, but failed; I believe, in consequence of a want of confidence in the persons who wished to promote its formation. A similar enterprise will shortly be attempted in England, by an English gentleman, (Colonel Bourne,) who has been long a resident in Mexico, in conjunction with Mr. Escalante, the representative of the state of Sŏnōră in the Senate.
They have taken up contracts for the mines of Ărīzpĕ, (about 36° north latitude,) in a situation possessing great local advantages, a fertile country, the vicinity of two large rivers, and a communication by water with the Pacific. The mines themselves were formerly celebrated for their riches, and the capital required to bring them again into activity is very small.
The specimens which I have seen of the ores extracted from them, almost induce one to adopt the theory, that the proportion of silver contained in the ores increases as you advance towards the North; a theory which is very generally believed, at present, in Mexico, and which is certainly confirmed by the superiority of all the Northern ores to those of the richest districts in the South.
The idea probably originated in the discovery of the famous Bolas de Plata, (Balls of Silver,) of Arizona, in the beginning of the last century, which was, and probably still is, believed in Europe to be one of those fables, with which mining countries always abound.
But the attention of the present Government of Mexico having been drawn to the subject, a search was made in the Vice-regal Archives, by order of the President, for the correspondence, which was known to have taken place respecting it in the year 1736.
This correspondence I have seen, and I have in my possession a certified copy of a Decree of Philip the Fifth, dated Aranjuez, 28th May, 1741, the object of which was to terminate a prosecution, instituted by the Royal Fiscal, against the discoverers of Ărĭzōnă, for having defrauded the Treasury of the duties payable upon the masses of pure silver found there.
The Decree states the weight of the Balls, Sheets, and other pieces of silver discovered, (bolas, planchas, y otras piezas de plata,) to have amounted to 165 arrobas, 8lbs., in all, (4033lbs.): and mentions particularly one mass of pure silver, which weighed 108 arrobas, (2700lbs.,); and another of eleven arrobas, upon which duties had been actually paid by a Don Domingo Asmendi, and which, as a great natural curiosity, (como cosa especial) the King states ought to have been sent to Madrid.
The Decree ends by declaring the district of Arizona to be Royal property, as a "Criadero de Plata;" (a place in which, by some natural process, silver was created;) an idea, to which the flexibility of the metal, when first extracted, seemed, in those times, to give some colour of probability; and by directing it to be worked upon the Royal account. This put a stop to the enterprises of individuals;—the district was deserted; an attempt to send a sort of colony there failed; and, in a few years, the very name of Arizona was forgotten.
I am far from supposing that the whole of the facts recorded in this Decree can be taken as correct, although the authenticity of the Decree itself is unquestionable. But what one cannot adopt without confirmation, ought not to be rejected without inquiry; and I see enough, at least, in these Records of Arizona, to warrant the supposition, (confirmed as it is by the facts and appearances which I have mentioned in the preceding pages,) that the hitherto unexplored regions in the North of Mexico, contain mineral treasures which, as discoveries proceed, are likely to make the future produce of the country infinitely exceed the amount that has been, hitherto, drawn from the (comparatively) poorer districts of the South.
In how far these discoveries must be influenced by the progress of population, and in what degree the discoveries themselves may be expected to influence that progress, remains as a subject of inquiry for the fourth and last Section of this Book; in which I shall endeavour to point out the connexion between the Mines, and the Agriculture, and Commerce of Mexico, as the best mode of illustrating the effect likely to be produced by their prosperity upon a population, the general interests of which they so effectually promote. TABLE No. I.
| Produce of Bolaños from 1752 to 1780. | ||||
| Years. | Marcs. | Dollars. | Reals. | |
| 1752 | 261,681 | 2 | 2,158,870 | ¼ |
| 1753 | 211,808 | 5 | 1,747,421 | |
| 1754 | 210,039 | 6 | 1,732,827 | ¾ |
| 1755 | 238,927 | 2 | 1,971,149 | ¾ |
| 1756 | 284,158 | 2,344,303 | ½ | |
| 1757 | 251,633 | 2 | 2,075,974 | ¼ |
| 1758 | 223,678 | 7 | 1,845,350 | ½ |
| 1759 | 166,106 | 7 | 1,370,381 | ½ |
| 1760 | 165,787 | 7 | 1,367,749 | ¾ |
| 1761 | 127,199 | 2 | 1,049,393 | ¾ |
| 1762 | 73,998 | 2 | 603,060 | ½ |
| 1763 | 68,337 | 6 | 563,786 | ¼ |
| 1764 | 79,336 | 3 | 654,525 | |
| 1765 | 69,825 | 7 | 576,063 | ¼ |
| 1766 | 79,977 | 2 | 659,812 | ¼ |
| 1767 | 55,150 | 4 | 454,991 | ½ |
| 1768 | 55,152 | 2 | 455,006 | |
| 1769 | 64,374 | 5 | 531,090 | ½ |
| 1770 | 59,197 | 4 | 488,379 | ¼ |
| 1771 | 49,753 | 410,462 | ¼ | |
| 1772 | 49,302 | 6 | 406,747 | ½ |
| 1773 | 53,852 | 4 | 444,283 | |
| 1774 | 69,075 | 1 | 569,869 | ¾ |
| 1775 | 69,390 | 7 | 572,474 | ½ |
| 1776 | 110,688 | 7 | 913,183 | |
| 1777 | 128,540 | 6 | 1,060,461 | |
| 1778 | 133,244 | 6 | 1,099,269 | |
| 1779 | 145,894 | 1,203,625 | ½ | |
| 1780 | 147,055 | 5 | 1,213,208 | ¾ |
| Total | 3,702,269 | 5 | 30,543,720 | ¾ |
| From 1646 to 1752, Gamboa states the average annual produce to have varied from three and a half, to four millions of dollars. | ||||
TABLE No. II.
| Produce and Expenditure in the Mine of Valenciana from 1788 to 1810, and from 1811 to 1825. | ||||||
| FIRST PERIOD. | ||||||
| Years. | Total Produce. | Expences. | Profit. | |||
| Dollars. | Reals. | Dollars. | Reals. | Dollars. | Reals. | |
| 1788 | 1,571,216 | 2½ | 429,159 | 2½ | 1,142,057 | 0 |
| 1789 | 1,633,459 | 0½ | 448,133 | 1 | 1,185,325 | 7½ |
| 1790 | 1,499,939 | 1½ | 454,523 | 5 | 1,045,415 | 4½ |
| 1791 | 1,639,085 | 4 | 733,321 | 0 | 905,764 | 4 |
| 1792 | 1,049,753 | 0 | 757,173 | 4 | 292,579 | 4 |
| 1793 | 1,042,876 | 0½ | 738,354 | 2 | 304,521 | 6½ |
| 1794 | 1,282,042 | 0½ | 799,328 | 2 | 482,713 | 6½ |
| 1795 | 1,696,640 | 3½ | 815,817 | 6½ | 880,822 | 5 |
| 1796 | 1,315,424 | 1½ | 832,347 | 0 | 483,077 | 1½ |
| 1797 | 2,128,439 | 2½ | 878,789 | 2 | 1,249,650 | 0½ |
| 1798 | 1,724,437 | 4 | 890,735 | 5 | 833,701 | 7 |
| 1799 | 1,584,393 | 1½ | 915,438 | 5½ | 668,954 | 4 |
| 1800 | 1,480,933 | 7 | 977,314 | 5 | 503,619 | 2 |
| 1801 | 1,393,438 | 0 | 991,981 | 7 | 401,456 | 5½ |
| 1802 | 1,229,631 | 1 | 944,309 | 1½ | 285,321 | 7½ |
| 1803 | 1,232,045 | 0 | 937,931 | 6½ | 294,113 | 1½ |
| 1804 | 1,185,265 | 5 | 941,121 | 1 | 244,144 | 4 |
| 1805 | 1,113,756 | 4 | 946,346 | 6 | 167,409 | 6 |
| 1806 | 1,040,632 | 7 | 914,662 | 7 | 125,970 | 0 |
| 1807 | 1,191,582 | 2 | 1,019,781 | 3½ | 171,800 | 6½ |
| 1808 | 1,523,815 | 6 | 1,205,924 | 1 | 317,891 | 5 |
| 1809 | 1,385,611 | 1½ | 1,204,333 | 1 | 181,278 | 0½ |
| 1810 | 869,068 | 3 | 899,521 | 1½ | ||
| 31,813,486 | 3½ | 19,676,349 | 4½ | 12,167,589 | 5½ | |
| Deduct loss in year 1810 | 30,452 | 6½ | ||||
| Clear Profit | 12,137,136 | 7 | ||||
TABLE, No. III.
| Produce and Expenditure in the Mine of Valenciana from 1788 to 1810, and from 1811 to 1825. | ||||||
| SECOND PERIOD. | ||||||
| Years. | Total Produce. | Expences. | Profit. | |||
| Dollars. | Reals. | Dollars. | Reals. | Dollars. | Reals. | |
| 1811 | 323,762 | 2½ | 122,687 | 6½ | 201,074 | 4 |
| 1813 | 279,599 | 7 | 144,002 | 7½ | 135,596 | 7½ |
| 1813 | 258,920 | 3½ | 238,443 | 1½ | 20,477 | 2 |
| 1814 | 305,638 | 6½ | 215,257 | 3 | 90,381 | 3½ |
| 1815 | 279,346 | 0 | 235,519 | 6½ | 73,826 | 1½ |
| 1816 | 178,512 | 7 | 149,030 | 5½ | 29,482 | 1½ |
| 1817 | 165,986 | 5½ | 136,429 | 1 | 29,557 | 4½ |
| 1818 | 174,971 | 1½ | 142,317 | 2½ | 32,653 | 7 |
| 1819 | 202,414 | 5½ | 180,743 | 1 | 21,671 | 4½ |
| 1820 | 80,183 | 6 | 63,351 | 3 | 16,832 | 3 |
| 1821 | 101,138 | 6½ | 72,809 | 5½ | 28,329 | 1 |
| 1822 | 70,450 | 4½ | 60,575 | 2 | 9,875 | 2½ |
| 1823 | 36,199 | 1 | 32,045 | 3½ | 4,153 | 5½ |
| 1824 | 117,143 | 5½ | 87,341 | 3 | 29,802 | 2½ |
| 1825 | 31,413 | 4 | 11,588 | 7 | 19,824 | 5 |
| 2,605,682 | 2½ | 1,862,143 | 3 | 743,538 | 7½ | |
TABLE, No. IV.
| MINING DISTRICTS OF THE NORTH. |
| STATE OF DURANGO. |
| In the Sierra Madre—Guārĭsămĕy, San Dīmăs, Găvĭlānĕs, Tăyŏltītă, Cănēlăs, Sĭanŏri, Bacis, Tămăsulă, Ventanas, San Andres. |
| East of the Sierra Madre—Cuēncămē, (near the River Nazas,) Yĕrvă Būēnă, Măpĭmī, Indēĕ, EI Orŏ, Guănăsĕvī. |
| STATE OF CHIHUAHUA. |
| El Părral, Santa Eulalia, Batopilas, Jesus Maria, Los Pilares, Capirichie, Santa Rosa de Cosiquiriachic, El Pilar, Batopilillas, Rosario, El Potrero, Milpillas. |
| STATE OF SONORA AND SINALOA. |
| Mŭlātŏs, Cŏsălā, Alămŏs, Arispe, El Rosario. |
TABLE, No. V.
| LA CANDELARIA. | ||||||
| Dollars. | Reals. | |||||
| 1795. | Produce | 258,936 | ||||
| Expences | 128,384 | |||||
| ———— | ||||||
| Profits | 130,552 | |||||
| ———— | ||||||
| 1796. | Produce | 359,361 | ||||
| Expences | 136,279 | |||||
| ———— | ||||||
| Profits | 223,082 | |||||
| ———— | ||||||
| 1803. | Produce | 225,778 | 6½ | |||
| Expences | 101,416 | 1¾ | ||||
| ———— | —— | |||||
| Profits | 124,362 | 4¾ | ||||
| ———— | —— | |||||
| 1804. | Produce | 260,555 | 258 | |||
| Expences | 117,240 | 0¾ | ||||
| ———— | —— | |||||
| Profits | 143,315 | 178 | ||||
- ↑ Average 530,000 dollars per annum.
- ↑ Vide Table of Produce. No. 1, at the end of this Section.
- ↑ Vide Table, No. 7, annexed to preceding Section.
- ↑ I have no returns of the former produce of any of the mines worked by the Anglo-Mexican Association, with the exception of the Valenciana, which will be found in Tables Nos. 2 and 3.
- ↑ It often happens that mines which are producing silver to a very considerable amount, yield no profit at all to the proprietors, the whole produce being absorbed by the expences. This was the case at Bolaños in 1795, when five thousand mules were employed in the drainage; and more recently, in the mines of Veta Grande at Zacatecas, which, when taken by the Bolaños Company, though producing ten thousand dollars weekly, barely covered the expences of working.
- ↑ Vide Reports of Tribunal de Mineria.
- ↑ In this they are probably misled by their attachment to a place, which, during so long a period, was the source of the prosperity of the State; for with so many virgin districts in every direction around them, it can never be advisable for Foreign Capitalists to attempt the regeneration of Santa Eulalia.
- ↑ Vide Table, No. V.
- ↑ The ores of El Parral, Măpĭmī, and Cuēncămē, are amongst these exceptions, being poor, and abundant. But it is worthy of remark, that none of these districts are included within the range of the Sierra Madre. They all lie in the flat country to the East of it, and partake more of the character of the Central and Southern districts.
- ↑ The necessity of a class of middlemen, or Rescatadores, so often mentioned in this Book, was nowhere more strongly exemplified than at Catorce; where almost all the first discoverers were mere adventurers, and consequently unable to establish the necessary works for reducing the ores of their mines. This was done by small capitalists, most of whose establishments are still kept up by the descendants of the families, although the speculation is not now by any means what it was. Hence, the only standard of the value of the ores at Catorce, is the price which they fetch at the weekly sales, which take place at the mouth of the mine. A similar system is pursued occasionally at Guanajuato, where, from the immense mass of ores raised, it was difficult for any individual to raise works sufficiently extensive to reduce them all. The Foreign Companies wish to adopt a different system, and to unite the profits of the Amalgamater with those of the Miner; but in some mines and districts, sales are still resorted to, from the difficulty of abolishing so old a custom.