tion at evening and morning; he has fine natural taste, and has made the peculiar architecture best fitted for this country and climate, a thorough study; and whenever he sees a man about to build a house of any pretension, he at once offers to superintend its entire construction, free of charge.
Above the city, not far from the reservoirs, is a peculiar, high mountain, crowned with a curious perpendicular rock, which, from its fancied resemblance to the outlines of a giant buffalo, has been christened "El Buffa." From this mountain is procured, in unlimited quantities, a species of lined, and beautifully variegated sandstone, of all the colors of the rainbow—blue, pale green, and chocolate predominating. The sandstone cuts readily, has a fine grain, and is the best material for private residences and public buildings imaginable. With this, and in this way, Señor Rocha has lined the sides of the cañon all the way up to the reservoirs, with residences of the most beautiful style. Graceful pillars in long colonnades, arched portals, and corridors and patos decorated with all the flowers of this prolific climate, are seen by the delighted traveler on every side. Surely, this fine, old, Mexican gentleman is a public benefactor in the largest sense of the term.
For three centuries, Guanajuato furnished the world with an almost uninterrupted stream of silver, and in spite of wars and dissensions, crude and primitive systems of mining and reduction, oppressive taxes and general mismanagement, her mines of incredible wealth still pour out millions annually.
Early in the present century, Humboldt visited this city, and described the mines of the district more fully and scientifically than I am capable of doing; his de-
