These useful institutions are in a great Population. measure preserved to this day. The height of Pascuaro is 7,217 feet. Tzintzontzan, or Huitzitzilla, (the old capital of the kingdom of Mechoacan,) of which we have already spoken. 6,000 2,500 The intendancy of Valladolid contains the mines of Zitaquaro, Angangueo, Tlapuxahua, the Real del Oro, and Ynguaran. Diputaciones de Mineria, or Districts. 34. Inguaran. 35. Zitaquaro. 36. Tlalpujahua. Reales, or places surrounded by Mines: Angangueo; El Oro; Tlapaxahua; San Augustin de Ozumatlan; Zitaquaro; Istapa; Los Santos Reyes; Santa Rito de Chirangangeo; El Zapote; Chachiltepec; Sanchiqueo; La Joya; Paquaro; Xerecuaro; Curucupaseo; Sinda; Inguaran; San Juan Guetamo; Ario; Santa Clara; Alvadeliste; San Nicolas Apupato; Rio del Oro; Axuchitlan; Santa Maria del Carmen del Sombrero; Favor; Chichindaro. CHAPTER XVII. Summary recapitulation.-physical aspect-climate-territorial extent-population-agriculture-mines-ma nufactures-commerce-revenue-military defence. Summary recapitulation. HAVING presented our readers with all the details which appeared relevant to the purpose of this work, we will now briefly recapitulate what has been said concerning the present state of Mexico. Physical aspect. In the centre of the country a long chain of mountains runs first from the south-east to the north-west, and afterwards beyond the parallel of 30° from south to north; vast tablelands stretch out on the ridge of these mountains, gradually declining towards the temperate zone; under the torrid zone their absolute height is from 7,550 to 7,870 feet. The ascent of the Cordilleras is covered with thick forests, while the central table-land is almost always arid and destitute of vegetation. The most elevated summits, many of which rise beyond the limits of perpetual snow, are crowned with oak and pine. In the equinoctial region the different climates rise as it were by strata one above another: between the 15° and 22° of latitude, the mean temperature of the shore, which is humid and unhealthy for individuals born in cold countries, is from 77° to 80° Fahr.; and that of the central table-land, which is celebrated on account of the great salubrity of the air, is from 60° to 62°. There is a want of rain in the interior, and the most populous part of the country is destitute of navigable rivers. Territorial extent. One million sixty-two thousand square miles, of which two thirds are under the temperate zone; the other third, lying under the torrid zone, from the great elevation of its table-lands, enjoys generally a temperature similar to that which is experienced in spring in Spain and the south of Italy. Population.-Five millions eight hundred and forty thousand inhabitants; whereof two millions and a half are copper-coloured Indians, one million Mexican Spaniards, seventy thousand European Spaniards; scarcely any Negro slaves. The population is concentrated on the central table-land. The clergy alone consists of fourteen thousand individuals. The population of the capital 135,000 souls. Agriculture.-The banana, the manioc, maize, cerealia, and potatoes, are the foundation of the nutriment of the people. The cerealia cul AGRICULTURE-MINES. 305 The tivated under the torrid zone, wherever the surface rises from 3,900 to 4,300 feet of elevation, produce twenty-four for one. The maguey (agave) may be considered as the Indian vine. The cultivation of sugar-cane has lately made a rapid progress; and Vera Cruz annually exports Mexican sugar to the value of 282,000. The finest cotton is produced on the western coast. The cultivation of cocoa and indigo is equally neglected. vanilla of the forests of Quilate produces annually 900 millares. Tobacco is carefully cultivated in the districts of Orizaba and Cordova; wax abounds in Yucatan; the cochineal harvest of Oaxaca amounts to 880,000 lbs. per annum. Horned cattle have greatly multiplied in the Provincias internas and on the eastern coast between Panuco and Huasacualco. The tithes of the clergy, the value of which points out the increase of territorial produce, have increased two-fifths within the last ten years. Mines.-Annual produce in gold, 4,289lbs. troy; in silver, 1,439,832lbs. ; in all, to the value of 5,000,000l. sterling, or nearly the half of the precious metals annually extracted from the mines of North and South America. The mint of Mexico has furnished, from 1690 to 1803, more than 293,150,0007.; and from the discovery of New Spain to the commencement of the nineteenth century, probably 878,800,000/., or nearly two-fifths of the entire quantity of gold and silver which in that interval of time has flowed from the New Continent into the Old. Three districts of mines, Guanaxuato, Zacatecas,and Catorce, which form a central group between the 21° and 24° of latitude, yield nearly the half of all the gold and silver extracted from the mines of New Spain. The vein of Guanaxuato alone, richer than the mineral depository of Potosi, furnishes at an average 286,000 lbs. troy of silver annually, or a sixth of all the silver which America annually throws into circulation. The single mine of Valenciana, in which the expense of working exceeds 180,000l. per annum, has for the last forty years never ceased to yield annually to the proprietors a net profit of more than 120,000l.: this profit has sometimes amounted to 240,000/.; and it amounted to 800,000l. in the space of a few months for the family of Fagoaga at Sombrerete. The produce of the mines of Mexico has tripled in fifty-two years, and sextupled in a hundred years; and it will admit of greater increase as the country shall become more populous and industry and information be more diffused. The working of the mines, far from being hostile to agriculture, has favoured cultivation in the most uninhabited regions. The wealth of the Mexican mines consists more in the abundance than in the intrinsic riches of the silver minerals, which amount at an average only to 0002 (or from 60 to 80 ounces per ton). The quantity of minerals extracted |