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PROBABLE Effects of iMPROVED MINING. 185

Cordilleras, and the immense number of mineral depositories which have never yet been attempted*, it is very possible that New Spain, under a better administration, and inhabited by an industrious people, may alone one day yield, in gold and silver, the 15,600,000/., at present furnished by the whole of America. In the space of a hundred years, the annual produce of the Mexican mines rose from one to four millions sterling. If Peru does not exhibit an equal augmentation of wealth, it is because this unfortunate country has not increased its population, and because, being worse governed than Mexico, industry found more difficulties to overcome. Besides, nature has deposited the precious metals in that country at enormous elevations, in situations where, on account of the very high price of provisions, the working becomes extremely expensive. The abundance of silver is in general such in the chain of the Andes, that when we reflect on the number of mineral depositories which remain untouched, or which have been very superficially wrought, we are tempted to believe, that the Europeans have as yet scarcely begun to enjoy the inexhaustible fund of wealth contained in the New World. When we cast our eyes over the mining district of Guanaxuato, which, on the small space of a few thousand square yards, supplies annually the seventh or eighth part of all the American sil

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* Especially from Bolaños to the Presidio de Fronteras.

186 PROBABLE EFFECTS OF IMPROVED MINING.

ver, we shall see that the 340,000lbs. troy, which are annually extracted from the famous veta madre, are the produce of only two mines, the Valenciana and that of the Marquis de Rayas, and that more than four-fifths of this vein have never yet been attempted. It is very probable, however, that in uniting the two mines of Fraustros and Mellado, and clearing them out, a mine would be found of equal wealth with that of Valenciana. The opinion that New Spain produces only perhaps the third part of the precious metals which it could supply under happier political circumstances, has been long entertained by all the intelligent persons who inhabit the principal districts of mines of that country, and is formally announced in a Memoir presented by the deputies of the body of miners to the King in 1774, a production drawn up with great wisdom and knowledge of local circumstances. Europe would be inundated with precious metals, if they were to work at the same time, and with all the means afforded by the improvements in the art of mining, the mineral depositories of Bolaños, Batopilas, Sombrerete, Rosario, Pachuca, Moran, Zultepec, Chihuahua, and so many others which have been long and justly celebrated. I am aware, that in thus expressing myself, I am in direct contradiction with the authors of a great number of works of Political Economy, in which it is affirmed that the mines of America are partly exhausted, and partly too deep to be worked any longer with advantage. It is true,

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no doubt, that the expenses of the mine of Valenciana have doubled in the space of ten years, but the profits of the proprietors have still remained the same; and this increase of expense is much more to be attributed to the injudicious direction of the operations than to the depth of the shafts.

When we take a general view of the mining operations of New Spain, and compare them with those of the mines of Europe, we are surprised at still finding in its infancy an art which has been practised in America for three centuries, and on which, according to the vulgar prejudice, the prosperity of these ultramarine establishments depends.

Since the brilliant period of the reign of Charles the Fifth, Spanish America has been separated from Europe, with respect to the communication of discoveries useful to society. The imperfect knowledge which was possessed in the 16th century relative to mining and smelting, in Germany, Biscay, and the Belgic provinces, rapidly passed into Mexico and Peru, on the first colonizaion of these countries; but since that period, to the reign of Charles the Third, the American miners have learned hardly any thing from the Europeans, but the blasting with powder* those rocks which resist the effect of tools.

German miners have since been sent, at the expense of the Court, to Mexico, Peru, and the king

* This art was only introduced into the mines of Europe towards the year 1613. (Daubuisson, t. i. p. 95.)

dom of New Granada; but their knowledge has been of no utility, because the mines of Mexico are considered as the property of the individuals, who direct the operations, without the Government being allowed to exercise the smallest influence.

We shall not here undertake to detail the defects which we believe we have observed in the administration of the mines of New Spain, but shall confine ourselves to general considerations, remarking whatever appears to us worthy of fixing the attention of the European traveller. In the greatest number of the Mexican mines the operations with the pointrole, a sort of wedge somewhat resembling that called by Cornish miners the gad, which requires the greatest address on the part of the workman, are very well executed. The mallet might indeed be somewhat less heavy; it is the same tool which the German miners used in the time of Charles the Fifth. Small moveable forges are placed in the interior of the mines, to re-forge the point of the pointroles when they are unfit for working. I reckoned 16 of these forges in the mine of Valenciana; and in the district of Guanaxuato the smallest mines have at least one or two. This arrangement is very useful, particularly in mines which employ as many as 1500 workmen, and in which there is consequently an immense consumption of steel. I cannot say much in praise of the method of blasting with powder. The holes for the reception of cartridges are generally too deep, and the

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miners are not sufficiently careful in diminishing the mass of rock intended to yield to the explosion. A great waste of powder is consequently occasioned by these defects. The mine of Valenciana consumed*, from 1794 to 1802, powder to the amount of 150,000, and the mines of New Spain annually require from 12 to 14,000 cwt. It is probable that two-thirds of this quantity is uselessly employed.

The timber-work is very carelessly performed, though it ought the more to engage the consideration of the proprietors, as wood is every year becoming more scarce on the table-land of Mexico. The masonry employed in the shafts and levels †, and especially the walling with lime, deserves great praise. The arches are formed with great care, and in this respect the mines of Guanaxuato may stand a comparison with whatever is most perfect at Freiberg and Schemnitz. The shafts, and still more the galleries or levels, have generally the defect of being dug of too great dimensions, and of occasioning, by that means, exorbitant expenses. We find levels at

* In 1799, 13,7317. sterling; in 1800, 14,8407. sterling; in 1801, 16,9531. sterling; in 1802, 17,3121. sterling. The miner is paid at Guanaxuato, for a hole of 4 feet 11 inches in depth, ten shillings; for a hole of 6 feet 3 inches in depth, 7s. 6d. ; without including powder and tools, which are furnished to him. In the mine of Valenciana, nearly 600 holes by two men each are made every 24 hours.

† Especially in the mines of Valenciana, Guanaxuato, and the Real del Monte.

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