STRUCTURE OF VEINS.

285

contain more than 80 ounces of silver per

ton.

2. Calcareous spar, a little galena, and transparent lamellar gypsum, containing drops of water with air, and filiform native silver.

3. Light-red silver, brittle vitreous silver (sprödglaserz), much yellow blende, galena, very little of iron pyrites, calcareous spar, and milk-quartz. This formation, which is the richest of all, displays the remarkable phenomenon, that the minerals the most abundant in silver, form spheroidal balls, from 3.93 to 4.71 inches in diameter, in which red silver, mixed with brittle vitreous silver, and native silver alternate with bands of quartz. These balls, which have seldom been found but at a depth of from 50 to 200 feet, are nidulated in a course of calcareous and brown spar.

4. Much argentiferous galena, which is richer in silver in proportion as the detached pieces are of smaller grain; much yellow blende; little pyrites, quartz and calcareous spar, in the mines of Socabon del Re and de la Marquesa.

All these veins run through a table-land of from 5,550 to 5,910 feet elevation above the level of the sea, which enjoys a temperate climate very favourable to the cultivation of the grains of the old continent.

CHAPTER XV.

Intendancy of Guadalaxara-extent-climate-agricultural produce-principal towns-mines.

THIS province, part of the kingdom of Nueva Galicia, has almost twice the extent of Portugal, with a population five times smaller. It is bounded on the north by the intendancies of Sonora and Durango, on the east by those of Zacatecas and Guanaxuato, on the south by the province of Valladolid, and on the west, for a length of coast of 370 miles, by the Pacific Ocean. Its greatest breadth is 300 miles, from the port of San Blas to the town of Lagos; and its greatest length is from south to

ASPECT-CLIMATE-VOLCANO.

287

north, from the Volcan de Colima to San Andres Teal, 354 miles.

The intendancy of Guadalaxara is crossed from east to west by the Rio de Santiago, a considerable river which communicates with the lake of Chapala, and which will one day (in an advanced state of civilization) become interesting for internal navigation from Salamanca and Zelaya to the port of San Blas.

All the eastern part of this province is the tableland and western declivity of the Cordilleras of Anahuac. The maritime regions, especially those which stretch towards the great bay of Bayonne, are covered with forests, and abound with the finest wood for ship-building. The inhabitants of these districts are exposed to an unhealthy and excessively heated air. The interior of the country enjoys a temperate climate, favourable to health.

The Volcan de Colima, of which the position has never yet been determined by astronomical observations, is the most western of the volcanoes of New Spain which are placed on the same line in the direction of one parallel. It frequently throws up ashes and smoke. This insulated mountain appears only of a moderate height when its summit is compared with the ground of Zapotilti and Zapotlan, two villages of 5,503 feet elevation above the level of the coast. It is from the small town of Colima that the volcano appears in all its grandeur. It is never covered with snow, but when it

falls in the chain of the neighbouring mountains from the effects of the north wind.

According to a manuscript memoir communicated to the tribunal of the Consulado of Vera Cruz by the intendant of Guadalaxara, the value of the agricultural produce of this intendancy amounted, in 1802, to 569,000l. sterling; in which there were computed 1,657,000 bushels of maize, 43,000 loads of wheat, 17,000 tercios of cotton, and 20,000 pounds of cochineal of Autlan. The value of the manufacturing industry was estimated at 722,350%. sterling.

The province of Guadalaxara contains 2 ciudades, 6 villas, and 322 villages. The most celebrated mines are those of Bolaños, Asientos de Ibarra, Hostiotipaquillo, Copala, and Guichichila near Tepic.

The most remarkable towns are:

Guadalaxara, on the left bank of the Rio de Santiago, the residence of the intendant, of the bishop, and the high court of Justice (Audicenia).-Population

19,500

San Blas, a port, the residence of the Departimiento de Marina, at the mouth of the Rio de Santiago. The official people (officiales reales) remain at Tepic, a small town, of which the climate is not so hot and is more salubrious. Within these ten years the question has been discussed, if it would be useful to transfer the dock-yards, ma

gazines, and the whole marine department from San Blas to Acapulco. This last port wants wood for ship-building. The air there is also equally unhealthy as at San Blas ; but the projected change, by favouring the concentration of the naval force, would give the Government a greater facility in knowing the wants of the marine and the means of supplying them.

par

Compostella, to the south of Tepic. To the north-west of Compostella, as well as in the tidos of Autlan, Ahuxcatlan, and Acaponeta, a tobacco of a superior quality was formerly cultivated.

Aguas Calientes, a small well-peopled town to the south of the mines de los Asientos de Ibarra. Villa de la Purificacion, to the north-west of the port of Guatlan, formerly called Santiago de Buena Esperanza, celebrated from the voyage of discovery made in 1532 by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza.

Lagos, to the north of the town of Leon, on a plain fertile in wheat on the frontiers of the intendancy of Guanaxuato.

Colima, two leagues south from the Volcan de Colima.

Diputaciones de Mineria, or Districts.

18. Bolaños.

19. Asientos de Ibarra.

20. Hostotipaquillo.

Reales, or places surrounded by Mines:Bolaños; Xalpa; San Joseph de Guichichila; Santa Maria de Guadalupe, or de la Yesca; Asi