he had annually drawn from 2 to 300,000* marcs of silver. The archbishop having given him permission to sell a golden sun enriched with diamonds, with which he had adorned the tabernacle of the church of Tasco, he withdrew to Zacatecas with the produce of this sale, which amounted to 100,000 piastrest. The district of mines of Zacatecas was then in such a state of abandonment, that it scarcely furnished fifty thousand marcs‡ of silver annually to the mint at Mexico. Laborde undertook to clear out the famous mine of Quebradilla, in which undertaking he lost all his property, without attaining his object. With the small capital which remained to him, he began to work on the veta grande, and sunk the pit of La Esperanza, when a second time he acquired immense wealth. The silver produce of the mine of Zacatecas rose then to 500,000 marcs§ per annum; and though the abundance of metals did not long continue the same, he left at his death, a fortune of nearly three millions of livres Tournois. He compelled his daughter to enter into a convent, that he might leave his whole fortune to an only son, who afterwards voluntarily embraced the * From 131,263 to 196,894lb. troy. Trans. 32,815lb. troy. Trans. 328,153lb. troy. || £125,010 sterling. Trans. VOL. III. ecclesiastical office. In Mexico, and every where else in the Spanish provinces, it is extremely rare to see children following the profession of their fathers; and we do not find there, as in Sweden, Germany, and Scotland, families, in which the business of miner is hereditary. The veins of Tasco, and the Real de Tehuilotepec, traverse arid mountains, furrowed by very deep ravins. The oldest rock which appears at the surface in this district of mines, is the primitive slate (thonschiefer,) which passes into the micaceous slate. Its direction is hor. 3-4; and its inclination 40° to the north-west, as I observed in the Cerro de San Ignacio, and to the west of Tehuilotepec, in the Cerro de la Compaña, where Cortez began his gallery of investigation. The micaceous slate probably reposes on the granite of Zumpango, and on that of the valley of Papagallo ; and it appears covered near Achichintla, and Acamiscla, with a porphyritic formation, which contains both common and vitreous felspar, and beds of blackish brown pitch stone (pechstein.) In the environs of Tasco, Tehuilotepec, and Limon, primitive slate serves for base to the bluish-grey, and frequently porous compact limestone belonging to the alpine formation. This limestone contains many subordinate beds, some of lamellar gyps, and others of slate-clay, In as (schieferthon) charged with carbon. cending from the banks of the lake of Tuspa to the Subida de Tasco el Viejo, we found petrifactions of trochites, and other univalve shells contained in this limestone. The stratification was very marked, but its banks follow by groups different directions and inclinations. A grey stone with a calcareous cement reposes on this limestone of Tasco, the same with that which covers the plains of Sopilote, and the fertile table land of Chilpansingo. The district of mines of Tasco, and of the Real de Tehuilotepec contains a great number of veins, which with the exception of the Cerro de la Compaña, are all directed fvom the north-west to the south-east, hor. 7 -9. These veins, like those of Catorce, traverse both the limestone and the micaceous slate which serves for its base; and they exhibit the same metals in both rocks. These metals have been much more abundant in the limestone. The mines have become extremely poor since they were compelled to work the veins in the micaceous slate. A very intelligent and a very active miner, Don Vicente de Anza, wrought the mines of Tehuilotepec to the depth of 224 metres*; and he cut two excellent levels for a length of *734 feet. Trans. 1200 metres*; but unfortunately he found that the same veins which had furnished considerable riches at the surface of the earth, were at great depths as poor in red silver minerals, as abundant in galena, pyrites, and yellow blende. An extraordinary event which happened on the 16th February, 1802, completed the ruin of the miners of this district. The mines of Tehuilotepec like those of Guautla, have at all times wanted the necessary water to put in motion the bocards and other machines, which prepare the minerals for the process of amalgamation. The most abundant stream used in the works, issued from a cavern in the lime rock, called the Cueva de San Felipe. This rivulet was lost in the night between the 16th and 17th of February, and five days afterwards, a new spring was found at five leagues distance from the cavern, near the village of Platanillo. It has been proved by researches of the greatest interest for geology, of which I shall speak in another place, that there exists in this country, between the villages of Chamacasapa, Platanillo, and Tehuilotepec, in the bosom of calcareous mountains, a series of caverns and natural galleries, and that subterraneous rivers, like those of the * 3936 feet. Trans. county of Derby in England, traverse those galleries, which communicate with one another. The veins of Tehuilotepec are in general western (spatgänge); they are from two to three metres in extent*, and being separated from the rock by a strip of clayey slime, they form several lateral branches, which enrich the principal vein where they accompany (se trainent) it. Their structure has this particularity, that the metallick mineral is rarely disseminated throughout all the gangue, but collected in a single band, which is sometimes near the roof, and sometimes near the wall of the vein. In general, the mineral depositories of Tasco and Tehuilotepec are extremely inconstant in their produce. As to the nature of the mass of which they are constituted, I perceived four very different formations of veins, viz. 1. Oxide of brown, red, and yellow iron, in which native and sulfuretted silver are disseminated in impalpable parcels; mine of brown cellular iron, speculary iron, a little galena, and magnetic iron, and blue carbonated copper. This formation, analogous to that of the pacos of Fuentestiana, and Pasco in Peru, is designated at Tehuilotepec, by the name of tepostel. It is found at small depths from the * From 6 to 9 feet. Trans. |