from my total ignorance of mineralogy, I have derived less benefit from my personal observations than I might have done, had I been better prepared for the task, yet, in one respect, this very deficiency may have proved an advantage, since it compelled me to confine my investigations to subjects, of which I was better able to judge than of the quality of the ores; viz. the mode in which the general proceedings of the Companies have been conducted; the feelings of the Natives with regard to them; the local advantages which they possess; the difficulties which they have had to surmount; the extent of the outlay of each; the progress already made in their respective works; and the expectations which that progress seems to warrant, with regard to the future.
Upon all these points, the opinion of an impartial observer will not (I hope) be unacceptable to those engaged in Transatlantic Mining adventures; while, to others, it may be interesting to learn in how far those denunciations of fraudulent schemes, and Stock Exchange speculations, with which the Press has abounded during the last two years, and to which property to such an extent has been sacrificed, are, or are not founded, in as far as regards New Spain.
It will be necessary, in order at once to satisfy curiosity, and to remove all reasonable causes of doubt, to enter into this subject at considerable length. I shall therefore divide what I have to
