# Mexico in 1827/Volume 2/Chapter 11

BOOK VI.
SECTION I.
On the morning of the 3d of November, 1826, having taken leave of all our Mexican friends, most of whom predicted that we should not extend our journey North beyond Guanajuato, we bade adieu to San Cosme, and proceeded by the great Tierra Adentro road to Huĕhuĕtōcă, where we slept. It was long since the inn there had opened its gates to such a cavalcade as ours; but, bad as the accommodations were, we determined always to stop at the Ventas, in lieu of private houses, except in places where we intended to pass some days, on account of ​the inconvenience with which the reception of so numerous a party must have been attended anywhere else. The inns mostly contain four or five small rooms opening into the Patio; but in the Haciendas, where the accommodations consist of one large sala, which is the only spare room, it is impossible to attempt a subdivision of apartments; and although we had provided for desperate cases, by carrying with us a large canvass curtain, so contrived as to be easily suspended across a room, and thus, in fact, to make it two, still the number of females rendered it desirable to have recourse to this expedient as seldom as possible.
Mrs. Ward was accompanied by two Mexican maids, who, with the children, occupied a large coach, drawn by eight mules, which I purchased for the purpose, of a gentleman recently arrived from Durango. As we shut up house altogether in the Capital, our whole Mexican establishment attended us, although with some changes of character, in order the better to suit them to our purposes upon the road. For instance, one of the footmen acted as postilion, and, with the coachman, took entire charge of the coach; while a lad who had been employed for some time in the kitchen in Mexico, appeared in the double capacity of mule-driver, and cook; in the first of which occupations he displayed such activity, and flew about so rapidly in pursuit of the scattered animals entrusted to his charge, that he soon acquired from his fellow ​servants the name of El Cŏhētĕ, (the Rocket,) by which he was ever afterwards distinguished.
In addition to these, we had three other servants for house work upon the road; two Arrieros, with the baggage-mules, and two stable-men to take charge of the horses; and although the number may appear large, yet such were the complicated wants of the party, the various beds to put up, and unmake, and the difficulty in obtaining provisions, that it was all that our united efforts could accomplish to get into marching order at seven o'clock in the morning, before which time we seldom found it possible to set out. One man was generally sent in advance to secure rooms, and to act as purveyor: this duty devolved upon a fine athletic fellow called Hilario, who had served as an artilleryman during the war of Independence, and who retained enough of his old military habits to make a most invaluable avant-courier. Mounted on an excellent horse, he scoured the country in every direction, and if milk, meat, or vegetables, were to be found, we always had them for our evening meal. The first was of the greatest importance to us, as both the children were too young to live upon anything else; the eldest being only a year and a half old, and the second, whom her mother was still suckling, hardly five months. As to ourselves, a large box of preserved meats, and our guns, ensured us against starvation; nor did a day pass, I believe, without our having hares, quail, or water-fowl of some kind, to add ​to the mutton cutlets, and broth, which the principal towns afforded us.
The party consisted of Mrs. Ward, Mr. Martin, the French Consul General in Mexico, with whom I had been long on terms of intimacy, and whose agreeable society it was delightful to secure, Dr. Wilson, Mr. Carrington, and myself. We were afterwards joined by the messenger to the Mission, Don Rafael Beraza, and formed, with our servants, a squadron of sixteen men, well mounted and armed, with eight baggage-mules, and as many loose horses, which composed the advanced-guard, driven by the Cohete and the muleteers. The great Mexican coach followed, of which, when loaded for the road, the annexed drawing will give a tolerable idea.
The servants rode next, with their sabres, guns, and Lassos, all dressed in the leather Rănchērŏ costume; which, in addition to its convenience in other respects, had the recommendation of being the cheapest ​possible travelling-dress; and we ourselves brought up the rear, to pick up stragglers, and to keep the party together. In very bad ground, the order of march was reversed, and we took the lead ourselves, in order to examine the Barrancas, (ravines,) and to ascertain the spot where the carriage could cross with least damage. In this too Hilario was of the greatest use, for he had the eye of a hawk, and having been accustomed to travel with artillery, he had some idea of the powers of wood and iron, and knew that there were some things which it was absolutely impossible for them to bear. His countrymen in general drive over, or through every thing, and look excessively surprised when an unfortunate wheel gives way, (as it usually does,) with a crash, after surviving trials which it would make an English coachmaker's hair stand on end to look at. I could not imagine, at first, to what the toughness of Mexican wheels was due, for they are clumsily put together, and the iron part is composed of separate pieces, instead of forming one compact circle. But then the whole is so bound up with strips of raw hide, which contract in the sun, that it will rather bend than break, and can hardly fall to pieces under any circumstances. It sometimes indeed assumes rather an oval than a circular form, but this fault corrects itself: the projecting parts are ​worn down by the rough and rocky roads; and as to any little additional motion during the process, it so seldom falls to the lot of a Mexican traveller to glide over the country with the sort of even movement to which Mr. Mac Adam's labours have accustomed people in England, that a few jolts more or less are really not perceptible.
After this description, my readers will not be surprised to hear that none of our party ever entered the coach as long as they were able to sit a horse; and that Mrs. Ward, far from finding it a relief, endeavoured, from the first, to extend her daily rides until she was enabled to perform nearly the whole distance on horseback: which she so far accomplished that she must, I think, have ridden fourteen hundred miles out of the two thousand, to which the aggregate of our journey may have amounted. Between a passo horse and a carriage, on such roads, it is impossible to hesitate, except when the sun is so powerful as to render the protection of a roof desirable, and this, in the winter months, on the Table-land, is not often the case. The dust, which is at times exceedingly distressing when riding, cannot be avoided: it had the effect of making us extend our line of march considerably; and, on a windy day, there was often a space of nearly half a mile between the head and rear of the column: the necessity for this increased as our live-stock augmented, which it did prodigiously upon the road; for when we got into the breeding countries, where ​horses and mules were cheap, we made new purchases in order to relieve our tired animals, and entered Mexico on our return with fifty-six beasts of different kinds. We often amused ourselves with fancying the sensation which the appearance of our caravan would have excited in Hyde Park, or Longchamps; where the wild horses and mules, and the servants driving them at a gallop with the lassos whirling round their heads,—the guns, and pistols, canteens, and camp-beds, carga-mules, and coach, in size like a Noah's ark, perambulating, by some accident, the land, instead of the waters, with festoons of Tasajo, (dried strips of beef sold by the yard,) and handkerchiefs full of onions and tortillas attached to different parts of it by the servants,—would have formed a curious contrast to the neat chariot and four, with patent lamps and liveried attendants, in which the preparations for a journey in Europe usually consist. Nor would the night-scenes have appeared less singular, with the pack saddles and horse-accoutrements arranged in rows under the corridor; the arms of the servants suspended near them; the horses picketed around, and the muleteers stretched on the ground by the side of a large fire, cooking their mess for the night in a common kettle, or preparing their beds under the coach, which served as a general place of rendezvous. Chăpītă, the Indian nurse, used to superintend the culinary operations of this group; and often have I seen her, before daylight, bending over the fire, ​and concocting a kettle of Atolli, or Champorada, with the child slung to her back in the Indian fashion, and exposed to the bracing cold of the morning air, which is not dispelled until the sun gets well above the horizon, at nine or ten o'clock. The little creature seemed to thrive upon this system, and as all was confusion within at that hour, the servants being busy in making up the loads, and her mother occupied with the care of her less healthy sister, we generally let her take her chance.
At nine or ten o'clock, according to the distance, we stopped at some Rancho to breakfast, or sate down wherever there was shade, and pulque, or a little water, to eat the provisions which we had brought with us. Milk we often obtained at this hour, when we laid in the provision for the day, which kept admirably, notwithstanding the sun and the motion of the coach, in bottles filled till they overflowed, and then corked up. I did not find this to be the case with the milk and cream which I had brought with me from England; for the cases not being quite full, we generally found, on opening them, that their contents had been converted, by the trot of the mules, into butter; in which state, however, they furnished, occasionally, a very agreeable addition to our fare. After breakfast, which lasted but a short time, we proceeded, without farther ​interruption, to our resting-place, wherever that might be. The mules and horses were then relieved from their loads, and driven to water, and to bathe, where there was any river near, after which they enjoyed their rest and food during the remainder of the day. At four in the morning, the lassoing and saddling began; for as the beasts were all loose in the patio, or in some immense stable, (where stabling was to be procured,) there was no other mode of securing them. This operation, in which my young companion Carrington, (who became very expert in the use of his lasso,) generally distinguished himself, occupied a couple of hours, after which the cargas were assigned to the different mules, the rest of the luggage affixed to the coach, and the whole party gradually put into motion. We lost a great deal of time during the first two or three days, from the want of a systematic mode of proceeding, the servants being new to their work; but as soon as they learned how to distribute it most conveniently, each took his own line; and, as we all assisted in making up the packages, it was curious to see the rapidity with which the rooms reassumed their desolate appearance after being enlivened for a time with a few symptoms of European civilization. I have seen a bed dismounted, rolled up, and transferred to a mule's back in less than five minutes, so that all our little comforts, in fact, created no material delay. There are few ladies, however, who would have had strength and resolution enough to give so good an example in ​this respect as Mrs. Ward; for it was dreary work getting up, day after day, two hours before sunrise, and sitting for one hour at least in a cold room, wrapped up in a manga or a buffalo-skin, with a poor little sick child to take care of, while all the complicated arrangements of packing and loading were going on. In December we had a hard frost almost every night; and as there was no possibility of getting a fire of any kind within doors, there was little warmth or comfort to be obtained before the sun rose; and though we knew that we should be scorched afterwards, we have often hailed its appearance as a real relief. From the scarcity of rooms, Mrs. Ward, the two children, and the maids, were usually quartered together; Mr. Martin and I slept in another apartment; the rest of the party in a third; while if a fourth could be procured, which was not often the case, it served to hold the canteen and supper apparatus, after which the servants crowded into it for the night, with a saddle and a Sĕrāpĕ each for a bed. The muleteers and Chance, (the terrier, of whom honourable mention has been already made,) were most luxuriously provided for amongst the packsaddles: the coach was confided to the guardianship of a large bull-dog, with whose ferocious looks the natives were much alarmed; while in the interior of the rooms, a white terrier of my own, who accompanied me in all my travels, ​supplied the place of the fastenings, with which no Mexican door is ever provided. We generally found, when Hilario had been successful in his catering, a large mess of meat stewing down upon our arrival. To this we added the game collected upon the road, which was usually sufficient to furnish not only ourselves, but the servants with an ample meal. At six or seven o'clock we sate down, where seats could be procured or manufactured, to our homely repast, and at eight we were glad to take refuge from the cold in bed.
After this general outline of our proceedings, I shall give an account of our route, with some of our little difficulties and distresses, the nature of which may be more clearly understood by a reference to the Map of Routes annexed to this volume, in which the whole journey is laid down in red, with the mountains and other obstacles by which our progress through some parts of the country was impeded. It contains, likewise, the States through which we passed; and although it does not include the towns in those States that we did not actually visit, still it conveys an idea of their relative position and extent, (the boundaries being correctly traced,) and will therefore form a necessary addition to any statistical information that it may be in my power to communicate.
On the 4th of November, we proceeded over ten leagues of desert and barren country to Tula, a small town, in the vicinity of which there is a bridge ​over the river Tula, or Moctezuma, and some fine fields of maize. The Church is curious, having been constructed at the time of the Conquest as a military position, with lofty walls, unbroken by windows, and surmounted by little turrets, which give it more the appearance of an old castle, than of a building consecrated to Divine worship. There is another church of a similar appearance at Jalapa, and Mr. Martin thought that they both resembled some of the old churches built by the order of the Templars, in France.
Nov. 5.—We reached Ărrōyŏ Sārcŏ after travelling ten hours over a road covered with lava, and rocks of volcanic origin: parts of it were so bad as to make the progress of the coach exceedingly slow, and we did not reach the Meson till after dusk in the evening. We found it so very small and bad, that we were compelled to seek a night's lodging in a neighbouring Hacienda belonging to Revilla, the proprietor of the German mines at Chico. His steward received us with much civility, and made over to us the two only disposable rooms. One of them was nearly full of maize, but Mr. Martin and I found a vacant spot to erect our beds, while our companions spread their mattresses upon the Indian corn, which they assured us, in the morning, formed a most comfortable couch, as it accommodated itself to the shape of the body. The lands belonging to the Hacienda are nine leagues in extent, and are very valuable, from their vicinity to the ​Capital. The crops had fallen off considerably in consequence of the destruction of the Presas, (reservoirs of water,) during the Revolution; but the proprietor having been enabled by his contract with the German Company to repair them, it is expected that the returns from the estate will again be very large.
Nov. 6.—The road to Săn Jūān dĕl Riŏ is one continued descent from Ărrōyŏ Sārcŏ, for about three leagues, when you reach the Llano del Căzădērŏ, so called from a great hunting-party given there by one of the Viceroys, (Don Antonio de Mĕndōză,) in which hundreds of deer, hares, and rabbits were killed. Our coachmen descended the hill, as Mexicans always do, at full gallop, and drove on at the same pace across the plain, until they were stopped by discovering that one of the fore-wheels had been on fire so long that the whole nave was gone, and the wheel itself rendered utterly useless. We were five leagues from Ărrōyŏ Sārcŏ when this happened, and seven leagues from Săn Jūān: the sun was excessively powerful, and there was neither Hacienda nor Rancho within a reasonable distance at which we could hope either to deposit the children, or to get our damages repaired. We were, therefore forced to leave them with the coach in the middle of the plain, and to ride on to Săn Jūān, from whence we despatched a mule with a new wheel, which we succeeded with some difficulty in procuring. We reached the town, where we ​fortunately found an excellent Venta, about four o'clock, and waited with great anxiety for the appearance of the coach, which was expected to arrive before ten. Midnight came, but nothing was heard of it; and at three in the morning Mrs. Ward became so uneasy for want of her child, which was still at the breast, that I resolved to go myself in search of it on horseback. I accordingly set off with one servant, well armed, (for our host had been alarming us with stories of robbers,) and after a gallop of twenty miles I found our unfortunate coach just where we had left it on the preceding morning. The wheel sent from San Juan did not fit the axle, and they had been forced to carry the old wheel to a Hacienda about five leagues off, where there was a carpenter's shop, in order to get it repaired. As there was little hope that this would be speedily effected, I took the youngest child from its nurse, and making a sort of scarf with a Tapalo, or long Indian shawl that she lent me, I deposited in it my little charge, and having secured it still farther with a silk sash, I put my horse into a gentle canter, and took once more the road to the town. The child was a good deal astonished at first with the novelty of its situation, but the motion put it to sleep, and, with an occasional squall or two, we reached Săn Juan in perfect safety about nine o'clock, after a ride rather longer than it often falls to the lot of a little creature of five months old to undertake. The carriage did not come in till two in the afternoon, the poor mules being quite ​exhausted after passing thirty hours without food or water. The servants fortunately had provisions with them, and procured some milk from a man who was conveying an ass-load of it to a neighbouring Rancho.
We did not leave San Juan till the morning of the 8th. The vicinity of the town abounds in gardens and fruit-trees, which gave a cheerful air to the scene when viewed from the top of a steep descent on the Mexico side, called La Băjādă de Săn Jūān: it consists of about two leagues of abominable road, covered with loose rocks and stones, and sufficiently dangerous, even on horseback, to make me feel uneasy when coming down it in the morning with the child in my arms. After crossing a river, which runs to the North of the town, (from whence the name, Del Rio,) although not laid down in any map, we breakfasted at the Hacienda de Sāūs, three and a half leagues from San Juan, where all the abundance of the Baxio seemed to commence. We found, in a poor little Rancho, provisions of all kinds; milk and eggs, excellent bread, tortillas of course, with chile for those who liked it, and large plates of frijoles, a sort of black bean, of which the Mexicans make an extremely palatable dish. In an enclosure opposite the Hacienda I found hares in abundance: they got up two at a time in every direction under my feet, and I might have shot fifty, had I wanted them, with as much ease as I did five. ​From Saus the character of the country improved at every step; cultivation increased rapidly: we saw vast plains of maize and little groups of Indian huts at each turn in the road. After passing the Hacienda del Căzădērŏ, a valuable estate belonging to Don Pedro Ăcĕvēdŏ, we crossed a Pĕdrĕgăl, or stony tract, of about two leagues in extent, and afterwards pursued our course through a succession of immense Pŏtrērŏs, until we came in sight of Qŭerētărŏ, of which there is a beautiful view from an opening between two hills. The first appearance of the aqueduct, by which the town is supplied with water from a spring in the mountains, at a distance of nearly three leagues, is very picturesque. Its arches are lofty, light, and bold, and its vast extent gives it an air of great magnificence as it stretches across the plain.
Qŭerētărŏ is the capital of the State of that name, the territories of which were formerly comprehended in the neighbouring "Intendancies" of Mēxĭcŏ, La Pūēblă, and Guănăjūātŏ. They are now divided into the six "Părtĭdŏs," or districts, of Ămĕālcŏ, Cădĕrēită, Săn Jūān dĕl Riŏ, Săn Pĕdrŏ Tŏlĭmān, Qŭerētărŏ, and Xālpăn, which contain in all a population of about 200,000 souls. The Constitution of the State is a copy in miniature of that of the Federation, from which it has taken all ​the mechanism of government, and all the religious intolerance. The inhabitants, with the exception of those of the capital, are mostly employed in agriculture. The district of Cădĕrēită, however, contains the mines of El Dŏctōr, Măcŏnī, and San Crĭstōvăl; and the Government entertains so high an opinion of their future importance, that a contract has been concluded with the Anglo-Mexican Company for the establishment of a Mint, on very favourable terms. The State abounds in Haciendas, both of cattle and sheep, (Gănādŏ Măyōr, y Mĕnōr,) and of wheat, (trigo,) maize, (maiz,) and beans, (frĭjōlĕs.) The population of the Capital, by the last census, appears to be 32,000; but the town is supposed to contain at least 40,000 inhabitants. During the Revolution, 90,000 souls were often assembled in it, the proprietors of the neighbouring Haciendas being frequently compelled to take refuge there with their families, and farming servants, while their property was laid waste by the contending parties.
Qŭerētărŏ is divided into five parishes, or Cŭrātŏs, four in the body of the town, and one, (San Sebastian,) in the suburbs, being separated from the rest by a little dirty stream, which is dignified with the title of El Rio, the river. Some of the Churches are fine, particularly that of Guădălūpĕ; as are the Convents of San Frăncīscŏ, and Săntă Clāră, the last of which contains a population of two hundred and fifty females, composed of seventy nuns ​and as many young ladies sent there for their education, with lay-sisters and attendants. It is an immense building, and is said to resemble a little town in the interior, with streets and Plazas regularly laid out; but this we had no opportunity of observing ourselves, as not even Mexicans are allowed to enter the walls.
We were much struck with the busy look of Qŭerētărŏ, which has quite the air of a manufacturing district. More than half the houses contain shops, and the whole population is engaged either in small trades, or in the wool manufactories, which are still very numerous. They are divided into two classes, Obrāgĕs, and Trăpīchēs. The first comprise all the establishments that can employ from ten to thirty looms; the last, those in which only one or two are in activity. In both, coarse cloths, Tāpălŏs and Māngăs of different patterns and sizes are manufactured, part of which are retailed upon the spot in the great Plaza, where a market is held every evening by torchlight, and part sent to the Capital, or other great towns of the Federation, The demand for these manufactures has decreased very much since the ports were opened to European imports; indeed the woollen trade is now principally kept up by a Government contract for supplying the army with clothing; which has afforded a temporary relief to one part of the population by imposing a general tax upon the remainder. The price paid for scarlet, green, and yellow cloths ​of the very coarsest texture, varies from twenty-four reals (twelve shillings) to eighteen reals (nine shillings), and fifteen reals (seven and sixpence) per vara, according to the colour; and there is no doubt that they might be obtained of a better quality at a much lower price from abroad. The wool used is brought principally from Tierra Adentro (the Northern States), Săn Luis Pŏtŏsī, and Zăcătēcăs: its price varies from sixteen to twenty-four reals the Arroba (of twenty-five pounds), including carriage, (about five pence three farthings, or three pence three farthings English money per pound;) but the wool most esteemed is the produce of the State itself (called Lana de Chĭnchŏrrŏ). It acquires its value not from any superiority in the breed of the Qŭerētărŏ sheep, but from the circumstance of the flocks being so much smaller than those of the North that they can be better attended to, fed in richer pastures, and kept more clear from Ăbrōjŏs, and other thorns, which deteriorate the fleece. This wool sells for three dollars and a half per Arroba (thirty reals), and is expected to rise in value. In 1824 the wool of San Luis was only worth fourteen reals.
I was promised by the Governor of the State, Don San José Mărīnă, who is himself proprietor of the large Hacienda of Mĭrāndă, a return of the amount of wool consumed in all the Obrages of Queretaro during a period of five years before and after the Revolution; but this document never reached me, and I am consequently unable to state ​the extent of the change which the new system has undoubtedly produced. Agriculture, at the period of my visit, was only beginning to recover from the effects of the Civil War: the crop of maize had been lost in consequence of the extreme dryness of the season, and the price had risen from two to five dollars per carga (of 300 lbs.) In abundant years it is seldom worth more than twelve reals per fanega. There were, however, no apprehensions of a scarcity, as 300,000 fanegas were known to be on hand within the territories of the State.
We passed the whole of the 9th of November at Qŭerētărŏ, in order to visit the Governor and some of the principal merchants, for whom we had letters. In the evening we went to the Căñadă, or great ravine, about two leagues from the town, which, like the Bărrānca of Rēglă, sinks suddenly below the level of the Table-land, and assumes, in the course of a few hundred yards, all the appearances of Tierra Caliente. It is inhabited by a race of Indians who have resided there since the Conquest; and abounds in gardens and magnificent trees, with some hot baths, which are said to possess great medicinal virtues.
We left Qŭerētărŏ on the 10th of November, and breakfasted at a Rancho, called El Păsēō, about six leagues from the gates. From thence to Zĕlāyă it is four leagues. At a little distance from the town we crossed a magnificent bridge over the river Laxa, which, in the rainy season, forms an impetuous ​stream. When we saw it, its waters were very low; it joins the great river of Lerma, or Santiago, near Sălămāncă, in conjunction with which it pursues its course towards the Pacific.
Zĕlāyă, by the census of 1825, contains only 9,571 inhabitants; the streets are drawn, as usual, at right angles, and the houses in the centre of the town are well built; the suburbs are poor and miserable; but the great Plaza, one side of which is occupied by the church of El Carmen, and the other by the convent of San Francisco, is really fine, and does credit to the taste of the architect (a native Mexican) by whom it was designed.
The Băxīŏ, so celebrated in Mexico, both as the seat of the great agricultural riches of the country, and the scene of the most cruel ravages of the Civil War, commences between Qŭerētărŏ, and Zĕlāyă. I saw it under great disadvantages, for the country was parched up by long continued drought, and it is probably owing to this that it was so far from answering my expectations. I had pictured to myself a succession of Haciendas, abundantly supplied with water for irrigation, and consequently smiling with verdure; and I was not a little disappointed at finding that the masses of cultivation, however considerable in their aggregate, were still lost in the immensity of the surrounding space; and that the country wore the same dull livery of dust which gives so monotonous a character to the scenery throughout the Table-land. Between ​each Hacienda there was a large tract of ground covered with Mimosas, and abounding in hares, but without any symptoms of the labour of the agriculturist having been ever employed upon it. I was assured, however, that a great part of this land had only been thrown out of cultivation since the Revolution, when the failure of the mines at Guănăjūātŏ deprived the farmers of their market.
11th. From Zĕlāyă to Ĭrăpŭătŏ, the distance is fourteen leagues. We breakfasted at El Rancho de los Hūāgĕs, about six leagues from Zĕlāyă, and reached Sălămāncă at three in the afternoon. The town, like most of the smaller towns in the Băxīŏ, is half in ruins, but the situation is pretty, and the ground about it rich. A violent storm came on shortly after we had quitted Salamanca, and converted, in a moment, the fine loam over which we were passing, into a mass of mud, through which we ploughed our way with great difficulty. We did not reach Ĭrăpŭătŏ till half-past eight o'clock, although the distance from Salamanca does not exceed five leagues. Our beds had fortunately been kept tolerably dry by their oil-skin covers, but we were glad to take refuge in them immediately, as the Meson afforded no facilities for drying, or even changing our wet clothes, the rooms being entirely lumbered up with the saddles, and other packages which we were forced to shelter there from the rain.
The town of Ĭrăpŭătŏ contains, according to the census of 1825, 16,054 inhabitants; by that of ​1823, the number appeared to be 21,030. Some of the public buildings are fine, particularly the convent of Nuns, called de la Enseñanza. There are a few cotton-spinners and weavers, but the bulk of the population consists of "Lăbrădōrĕs," (agriculturists,) who reside in the town, and have estates near. Of these there are 971 "Vecinos," (heads of families.)
Salamanca contains 485 "Lăbrădōrĕs," and 1,091 "Artesanos," on a population of 15,053 souls. In the district of Ĭrăpŭătŏ there are thirty Haciendas de Campo and sixteen Ranchos; in that of Salamanca, twenty-nine Haciendas and sixty-nine Ranchos; many of which, however, are very small. From Zĕlāyă there are no similar returns.
12th Nov. From Ĭrăpŭătŏ to Guănăjūātŏ eleven leagues.
We commenced our journey late, having been assured that the distance did not exceed seven leagues. After breakfasting at the Rancho of La Călēră, we reached Būrrăs, a village belonging to the Marquis of Rāyăs, seven leagues from Irapuato, and found, to our great surprise, that we had still four leagues to go. The situation of Būrrăs is extremely picturesque. In the middle of a country almost desert, you come suddenly upon the borders of a Bărrāncă, the whole of which is a mass of verdure. Vegetation follows the course of a small stream that runs down the centre of the ravine, and extends for some distance on either side. The effect ​reminded me of some of the drawings in Denham's African travels, where a little spot, with something like water and freshness, is represented in the midst of a scene of desolation.
The country between Būrrăs and Guănăjūātŏ is uninteresting, and of the town itself nothing is seen until you reach the Gate of Mărfil, where you enter the suburb of that name. The houses follow for nearly a league the direction of a Cañada, or ravine, on each side of which there is a long line of Haciendas de Plata, (amalgamation works,) intermixed with houses, varying in height and shape according to the nature of the ground. On one side there is a raised trottoir for foot passengers; but coaches, and animals of all kinds, proceed up the bed of the river, down which, in the rainy season, a torrent occasionally flows with dangerous impetuosity.
Few years pass without some accident occurring; yet no part of the immense mineral wealth that Guanajuato has produced, was ever devoted to the improvement of the present entrance to the town, and you cross the torrent thirty times between the gate and the principal street.
We were met at some distance from Marfil by Mr. Williamson and Mr. Jones, the Directors of the works of the Anglo-Mexican Mining Association, who kindly undertook to lodge our whole party in a house belonging to the Company, where we were happy to find ourselves restored to the luxuries of space and cleanliness, after having been so long ​reduced to the confined and dirty rooms of the Ventas upon the road.
As it is not the object of this work to give a geological description of the Mining Districts, I shall beg to refer my readers to the Baron Humboldt s scientific researches for any information that they desire upon this point; and merely state here a few facts, without a knowledge of which, any account of the operations of the Companies established in Guănăjūātŏ must prove unintelligible.
The Veta Madre, or great Mother Vein of Guanajuato, has produced, since the year 1766, (before which time I have no returns,) 225,935,736 dollars. It is composed of several parallel veins, running in the direction of N. W. and S. E., and varying in width, where they combine into one mass, from five to eighty varas. The miners distinguish the three principal branches of the Vein by designating them as El Cuerpo Alto, El Medio, and El Baxo; and it is observed, that the points where the three Cuerpos have been found to approach each other most nearly, and to be richest in silver, correspond with the valleys that intersect the direction of the Vein, in which the rich mines of Sĕrēnă, Rāyăs, and Cātă, are situated. The town has been entirely created by the mines, and is very irregularly built; the houses and streets being distributed rather according to the vacancies left by the surrounding ​mountains, than by any rules of art. This is particularly the case with the amalgamation works, one of which sometimes occupies a whole ravine, the spaces above, on either side, being crowded with miners' huts. The streets are full of ascents and descents, many of which are so steep as to render the use of four mules in the carriages of the more wealthy inhabitants almost universal. The churches, and some of the houses, are fine, and the Ălhōndĭgă, a large square building used as a public granary, forms a remarkable object, and is visible from every side.
The mines are scattered in different directions round the town; and in the vicinity of some of them, little "Pueblos" have been formed, which may be considered as the suburbs of Guănăjūātŏ. This is the case with Vălĕnciānă, (where the population formerly amounted to 7,000 souls,) and Rāyăs; and, in a less degree, with Sĕrēnă, and Vĭllălpāndŏ. The Haciendas are mostly close to Guănăjūātŏ, and though now in ruins, their number and extent attest both the former importance of the mines, and the opulence of the Rescatadores, (amalgamators,) by whom these expensive buildings were raised. Few or none of them possessed a sufficiency of water to work their machinery, for which purpose mules were employed; and fourteen thousand of these animals were in daily use before the Revolution. The Rescatadores purchased their ores at the mouth of the shaft, relying entirely upon their own powers of ​estimating by the eye the value of the montones exposed for sale, in such a manner as not to make a disadvantageous bargain. In this science they attained great perfection; for more fortunes were made in Guănăjūātŏ by Amalgamation works, than by the miners themselves; while the extent to which the system was carried afforded to the successful adventurer the means of realizing instantly to almost any amount. During the great Bonanza of the Valenciana mine, sales were effected to the amount of eighty thousand dollars in one day; and it is to this facility in obtaining supplies, that the rapid progress of the works in that mine, after its first discovery, may be ascribed. Had it been necessary to erect private amalgamation works, in order to turn his new-born riches to account, many years must have elapsed before the first Count Valenciana could have derived any advantage from his labours; for when fortune began to smile upon them, the man, who was destined in a few years to rank as one of the richest individuals in the world, did not possess a single dollar.
The system of "Rescatadores" still exists at Guănăjūātŏ, but upon a very small scale; most of the capitals formerly employed in this way having been lost, or withdrawn, during the Revolution. The sales at the mines, in 1826, seldom exceeded 1,500, or 2,000 dollars in the week. The Foreign Companies wish to unite the profits of the amalgamator with those of the miner, and have consequently ​fitted up extensive Haciendas of their own. The Anglo-Mexican Company possesses eight of these Amalgamation works; the United Mexican four; and this new plan, should it be found to answer, will undoubtedly tend to discourage, for some time, the re-establishment of the independent Haciendas.
On the morning of the 13th of November, we visited the mine of Vĭllălpāndŏ, situated in the mountains to the East of Guănăjūātŏ, about four leagues from the town, upon a separate vein, totally unconnected with the Veta Madre. A number of small mines are united in the "Negotiation" of Villalpando, but the depth of the deepest levels does not exceed two hundred varas: the ores are rich in gold, and in appearance resemble those of the Rancho del Oro: picked stones have been found to contain as much as two ounces of Silver, to one pound of ore; and the Ley de Oro, or proportion of gold found combined with this Silver sometimes amounts to five hundred and fifty Grains in the marc; the value of which at the Mint is raised, in these cases, from eight and a half to thirty and thirty-five dollars. The principal proprietors of the mine are the Conde Vălĕnciānă, the Countess Rūhl, and the Conde de Pĕrĕz Gālvĕz. The Anglo-Mexican Company, to which it belongs, was in possession of eight Barras, or one-third of the mine; but the whole outlay was to be repaid out of the first produce, and a fund of reserve of 150,000 dollars for future contingencies, to be set aside, before any division of ​profits could take place. The drainage was conducted by four mălăcātĕs, (three English and one Mexican,) and had been effected, in three months, to within twenty yards of the bottom of the shaft, at an expence of 84,000 dollars. The buildings connected with the mine had been all brought into a state of complete repair, and as the weekly produce already amounted to three hundred Cargas of ore, the prospects of the Adventurers were thought to be highly favourable. The mine was worked principally by Bŭscōnĕs, (Searchers,) whom the hope of a rich prize, (from the value of the gold in some of the ores,) attracted in great numbers. Each man received in payment one-half of the ores which he had raised; and at the weekly sales it was curious to observe the eagerness with which all strove to attract the attention of the buyers, by putting their best stones in the most advantageous light, and sprinkling them with water, in order to show the metallic particles. The sale is conducted by the "Administrador," or principal Overseer of the mine; and as he moves from heap to heap, the "Rescatadores" make their offer in a whisper, and the name of the highest bidder, with the price paid, is inserted on the list. The ores are immediately taken possession of by the Cārgădōrĕs, (Porters,) by whom each Rēscătădōr is accompanied; and sent down to the Hacienda in the town, where the Buscones receive their money on the following day.
Nothing can be worse than the road to ​Villalpando: from the moment that you quit Guanajuato, all traces of its vicinity are lost, and you traverse ravines as wild as those of Zĭmăpān or Zitācŭarŏ, with as little to remind you of the neighbourhood of man. There is not a tree to be seen in the whole four leagues, and many of the ascents are so steep that we were glad to be provided with animals accustomed to face them, instead of trusting to our own. Mrs. Ward was mounted on a magnificent mule, and I was provided with a horse, which Mr. Williamson had the kindness to make over to me afterwards, and which I found at once the most useful and the most dangerous creature that I almost ever possessed. I never saw it tired, but even when ridden with the utmost gentleness, it was difficult to keep it quiet, and if once put out of temper, there was no remedy but giving it up altogether for twenty-four hours.
Tuesday, Nov. 14.—We visited the mine of Sĭrēnă, in which the Anglo-Mexican Company holds ten Barras in perpetuity, and had acquired four more for twelve years, by an additional advance of 100,000 dollars. The mine had been nearly drained by Mălăcātĕs in six months, and from the levels already above water at the time of my visit, ores were raised in sufficient quantities to cover the expences, and to leave a surplus of from 1,000 to 1,400 dollars weekly. Sirena lies about a league from Guănăjūātŏ: the road out, which has been repaired by the Company, is good; and the mine ​itself, being situated in one of those hollows in which, as I have already observed, Nature seems to have deposited the great mineral riches of the district, and not having been worked hitherto to any thing like the same extent as the other mines upon the Vĕtă Mădrĕ, is considered by the natives as one of great promise. The outlay upon it, (including the purchase money of ten Barras,) was, in September 1826, 255,201 dollars.
From Sirena we proceeded to the Hacienda of Păstītă, an amalgamation work entirely fitted up by the Company, with twenty-eight arrastres, and a water-wheel for the stampers, which is expected to work six months in the twelve: 42,860 dollars have been expended upon this Hacienda by the Company, but it is now held at a nominal rent of five hundred dollars per annum, until the whole outlay be repaid, so that they have, in fact, the use of it for eighty years rent free.
The Hacienda of San Agŭstīn, which we next visited, is the property of the Association, and has cost altogether 116,365 dollars. The purchase money was trifling, but a great additional outlay was occasioned by the preparations for the introduction of the Cornish system of washing and reducing ores,—the new smelting establishment, which proved so complete a failure under the superintendence of Mr. Lucas, and the Freiberg revolving-barrels, which it has not yet been found possible to apply to the immense mass of ores that are subjected to the ​process of amalgamation in New Spain. Săn Agŭstīn was the residence of all the Cornish miners, and for the credit of England it must be hoped that those who sought their fortune in Mexico are not to be regarded as a fair specimen of the population of that part of the British dominions. There were some good and useful men amongst them, who have continued in the service of the Association, and are now amongst its most efficient agents; but the generality of the Cornish have left behind them a character for ignorance, low debauchery, insubordination, and insolence, which has very materially diminished the respect which the Mexicans were inclined to entertain for the supposed superiority in intellectual acquirements of the inhabitants of the Old World. Nothing could exceed the indulgence shown by the authorities of Guănăjūātŏ towards these men, six or seven of whom were often picked up in the streets drunk, and conveyed to the Hacienda of San Agustin by the very watchmen, who, if they had been natives, would have been lodged in jail; but their patience, as well as that of the mine owners, who were compelled to pay enormous salaries, and to see their work badly done, was nearly ​exhausted, when the Directors in England were fortunately induced to abandon the system, and to employ natives in all the operative parts of their principal undertakings. The management alone is now European, and the persons entrusted with it having shown a proper disposition to conciliate the natives by acquiring their language, and only varying their mode of working in cases where some positive and evident advantage accrued from the change, the Mine-owners and the Company proceed towards the attainment of the common object with a mutual good understanding, and, consequently, with an increased probability of success.
There is a small steam-engine erected at San Ăgŭstīn, which is intended to be used both for sawing timber, and for braying ores: it puts in motion twenty-four stampers of three hundred weight each, and has likewise been applied with very good effect to the Freiberg revolving barrels. It consumes one carga (300lbs.) of wood in the hour, which, at three reals (of eight to the dollar) per carga, makes a total expence of nine dollars in the twenty-four hours. Another engine of fourteen horse power had been applied to the little mine of La Purisima, at Santa Rosa; but as it was not at work during my visit to Guanajuato, I did not think it necessary to ride ​three leagues across the mountains in order to see it.
After returning from San Ăgŭstīn, I passed the whole of the afternoon at the Hacienda of Sălgādŏ, in which the ores of the Valenciana Mine are reduced. The Hacienda contains forty-two arrastres, or crushing-mills, and thirty-six stampers, and the works are under the direction of a young Mexican, Don Pedro Bĕlāūzărān, celebrated for his skill as an amalgamator, which he appears to have inherited from his father, who was one of the most distinguished miners and "Rescatadores" of Guanajuato, before the Revolution. Under his tuition I endeavoured to acquire an idea of this complicated process, which I shall proceed to lay before my readers, never having myself found in any work a description calculated to convey all the information which I wished to obtain respecting it.
Arastre or Crushing mill.
​and "Apolvillado bueno" when very rich. Sulphuret of silver, where it occurs but little intermixed with other substances, is designated as "Polvillos;" (probably because when reduced to "polvo," (dust,) this dust is found to be richly impregnated with silver,) and "Molonques," or "Petanques," are the names given to the masses or crystallizations of pure silver, which are not unfrequently met with. The three last are too rich to be submitted to the ordinary process of amalgamation; but the "Azogues" and "Apolvillados" are transmitted in costales, (miner's sack,) weighing 150lbs. each, to the Hacienda, where they are delivered to the Administrador, (overseer,) who gives a receipt for the amount. They are then submitted to the action of the Morteros, (stamps,) one of which of eight stampers, (Mazos,) is capable of reducing to powder ten cargas of ore, (each of 350lbs.) in twenty-four hours. This powder not being thought sufficiently fine for the quicksilver to act upon it with proper effect, it is transferred from the Morteros to the arrastres, (crushing-mills,) in which water is used. Each of these reduces to a fine, impalpable, metalliferous mud, six quintals of powder in twenty-four hours. At Guănăjūātŏ, where water-power cannot be obtained, the arrastres are worked by mules, which are kept constantly in motion at a slow pace, and are changed every six hours. The grinding-stones, as well as the sides and bottom of the mill itself, ​are composed of granite, four blocks of which revolve in each arrastre, attached to cross-bars of wood. This part of the operation is thought of great importance, for it is upon the perfection of the Molienda, (literally, the grinding,) that the loss of quicksilver is supposed in a great measure to depend. It is performed usually in a covered shed, or "Galera," which, in a large Hacienda like Salgado, from the number of arrastres at work at the same time, is necessarily of considerable extent. From the arrastres the ore is again removed to the Patio, (amalgamation court,) where it is disposed in Tortas, the size of which varies according to the dimensions of the Patio, or the fancy of the Administrador, (overseer.) The number of Montones, (heaps,) contained in each Torta, is consequently uncertain; but the Monton of Guanajuato consists of nine Cargas, and two arrobas, or thirty-two quintals of ore; each carga containing fourteen arrobas of 25 lbs.
The Monton requires three arrobas of salt, (from Colima,) at one dollar, or nine reals the arroba. This is added to the mass three days before any other ingredient.
One arroba of ordinary Magistral, (from Tĕpĕsălār, near Āgŭas Călĭeñtĕs,) or 7lbs. of the very best quality, (Pepena.)
Quicksilver, in the proportion of 3lbs. for every marc of silver that the ores of the Monton are supposed by the amalgamator to contain, and varying, ​consequently, according to the quality of the Monton, which is determined by the eye.
In the amalgamation of a large Torta, the same proportions are always observed; and the mass is repeatedly worked up by men and mules, (repasadores,) in order to promote the incorporation of the silver with the mercury, which it requires six weeks in winter, and one month in summer, to effect. When the amalgamator supposes the Torta to have "rendido," i.e. to have yielded all the silver that it contains, it is washed in large vats, (Tinas,) until all the earthy particles are got rid of, when the amalgam, which remains at the bottom of the vat, is strained in leather bags until no more quicksilver can be separated from the silver by pressure. The remainder is cut into wedges, which are conveyed to the Quĕmădĕrŏ, (burning-house,) and arranged in a circular pile round a copper-plate called the Vaso, with a hole in the centre, and a receptacle for water beneath, care being taken to make the hollow left in the centre of the pile of amalgam correspond exactly with the hole in the Vaso below. The whole is then covered by a large iron bell, called Capella, or Capellina, which is strongly luted down; a wall of mud bricks is raised round it, and the intervening space filled with charcoal. The fire is kept up for twelve hours, in which time the quicksilver is sublimed, and afterwards condensed in the water, where it is subsequently collected. The pure silver (Plata quemada) is then cut again into wedges, or ​melted down into bars, (containing 135 marcs each,) in either of which shapes it may be transmitted to the mints.
The loss of quicksilver at Salgado in the whole process, in the year 1825, amounted to nine ounces on each marc of silver; but this was thought to be an instance of very successful management on the part of Mr. Bĕlāūzărān, as the proportion is, in other Haciendas, from ten to eleven ounces. He attributed the difference to the excellence of the "Molienda," which he always caused to be continued until there was nothing harsh, or gritty, in the mass upon which the mercury was to act. He added, that the residue of the Torta, when washed, might contain some small portion of silver, but it had not been found that the quantity was sufficient to repay the cost of any farther process, as at Chico; (Vide Section IV. of preceding Book,) and it was consequently thrown away.
The best of the "mŏntōnĕs" which I saw at Sălgādŏ, were expected to produce fourteen marcs of silver; and those of an inferior quality, eight marcs. Two marcs and a half pay the costs of reduction, which amount to twenty dollars on the mŏntōn. Allowing as much more for raising the ore, and the share in the general expences, there would remain a profit of three marcs, or twenty-five and a half dollars, on each monton of the poor "Azogue" ores; while on the richer "montones" it would amount to seventy-six and a half dollars, ​including the loss of quicksilver, which, in 1826, was worth six reals per pound.
Nov. 15. We devoted the whole of this day to the Valenciana mine, it being impossible to form an idea, in less time, of the extent and importance of this vast undertaking. The history of the Valenciana, like that of the Biscaina Vein, was first made known to us by Humboldt, and is now almost forgotten; it may be advisable therefore to state that the mine is situated to the North of the town of Guănăjūātŏ, upon a part of the Vĕtă Mădrĕ, which, after being slightly worked towards the end of the sixteenth century, had been neglected as unpromising until the year 1760, when Mr. Ŏbrĕgōn, a young Spaniard of very small fortune, resolved to explore the vein upon one of those points where it was believed to be emborrascada, or destitute of mineral riches. For six whole years he continued to work upon this spot, with a perseverance which nothing but a presentiment that he was to make his fortune there can account for; and in 1767, having exhausted his own means, as well as the patience of those from whom he had occasionally obtained supplies, (Avios,) he entered into partnership with a shopkeeper of Rāyăs, called Ŏtērŏ, wielding with his own hands, it is said, the tools of the miner, until the year 1768, when the works having attained the depth of eighty metres, the vein suddenly began to produce enormous masses of rich ore; which continued to increase in value and extent to such a degree, that the profits ​of the proprietors amounted, in several successive years, to one million and a half of dollars. From 1788 to 1810, the produce averaged 1,383,195 dollars, and the profits 527,701 dollars, as may be seen by a reference to the Tables annexed to the Third Section of the Fourth Book. A town of 7,000 inhabitants was formed in the vicinity of the mine, in which 3,100 individuals found daily employment, under the immediate inspection of an Administrador, to whom the proprietors paid a salary of 12,000 dollars, (2,500l.) conceiving, very properly, that the value of the situation was the best security for the good conduct of him by whom it was held.
A number of different "Pertinencias" are united at Vălĕnciānă, the works in the interior occupying nearly half an English mile in extent. In order to give access to the different levels, various shafts have been sunk, the first of which, called the Tiro Viejo de San Antonio, is said to have cost 396,000 dollars. Through this the first "Bonanza" was raised. The Tiro de Burgos, and the Boca de San Ramon, were next purchased and incorporated with the great mine, (they cost 82,000 dollars;) and the Hexagon shaft of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe was afterwards sunk at an expence of 700,000 dollars. All these being deemed insufficient, the great Octagon shaft, called El Tiro General, was begun in 1801, and carried on until the commencement of the Revolution, when it had cost nearly one million of dollars, and attained the depth of six hundred and ​thirty-five Mexican varas. When the Company took possession of the mine, the whole of the interior was filled with water to within one hundred and eighty-five varas of the mouth of the great shaft: there were consequently four hundred and fifty varas to drain, and this not merely in perpendicular depth, but disseminated throughout the whole of the workings, most of which had been so long under water that the communications were destroyed, the timbering falling to pieces, and many of the lower levels filled up with masses of rock, or Tĕpĕtātĕ, detached by the action of the water from those above. Had this volume of water proceeded from internal springs, the attempt to carry it off by any power of machinery would have been hopeless; but up to a very late period, the mine of Valenciana was distinguished by its extreme dryness, which was such that the workmen were at times much incommoded by the dust. The water was first admitted by an injudicious communication with the neighbouring mine of Tĕpĕyāc, and it was allowed to accumulate during the whole of the Revolution, the machinery having been much injured by Hidalgo's troops in 1810, and subsequently destroyed by Mina's followers, after his unsuccessful attempt upon Guanajuato in 1818. The effect of such an accumulation in a country where a river is often formed in an hour by the Tropical rains, can hardly be conceived by those who are not acquainted with their violence. It was such that no individual could have undertaken the ​task of repairing the ruin, which this long season of abandonment had occasioned. Even for a Company it may be regarded as one of the boldest mining speculations ever yet attempted.
The drainage commenced on the 1st of February 1825. Steam-engines were not employed upon it, on account of the scarcity of fuel; but eight Malacates (horse-whims) of the largest kind were erected round the Tiro General, and kept at work day and night without intermission for twenty-one months, in which time they lowered the water 185 varas. As it descended, the levels which became accessible were repaired, and ores raised wherever veins of any promise appeared; and such was the vigour and activity with which these operations were carried on, that, (as I have already stated) a "Barra," or share in the Valenciana, which, in 1824, would not have sold for 20,000 dollars, was thought by the natives to be worth 100,000 dollars at the time of my visit. It is indeed true, that the difficulties of the drainage increase in proportion to the depth from which the water must be raised; but then they diminish in other respects, because the mine contracts below the level of La Soledad, towards which the water was gradually descending, and the volume of water to be raised consequently decreases. Upon the whole, I saw no reason to question the probability of a favourable result, and the natives were very sanguine in their anticipations of it, fixing for the completion of the drainage the term of eighteen ​months. Long before this period arrives many valuable levels will be opened, which will prevent the prosecution of the enterprise from being, as it has hitherto proved, a drain upon the Association; for it is not so much in the deepest levels, (which are supposed to have exceeded the limits within which the Veta Madre of Guanajuato has proved hitherto most productive,) as in the extension of the lateral workings, that the value of the Valenciana as a mine is thought to consist. The outlay in September 1826 was 672,264 dollars, including the alimentos to the proprietors, which amount to 24,000 dollars annually.
We entered the Valenciana by the Boca de Sān Căyĕtānŏ, at which the old Count Valenciana began his operations; a flight of steps, which even ladies can descend without difficulty, leads to the Capilla, about sixty varas from the surface, where passages branch off to different workings in the interior of the mine. Here a prayer is usually recited by the chief miner before a large picture of the Virgin, and after this the more fatiguing part of the excursion commences. We passed nearly five hours in exploring the different workings, the extent of which exceeds all that a person acquainted only with ordinary mines can imagine. I found the ventilation in general good, except in some "labores" where no communication with the shafts had been yet established. In these the thermometer rose to 90° and 94° of Farenheit; and the heat was very ​oppressive; but even close to the water's edge there was nothing like foul air. The operation of retimbering, and, in many parts, of digging out the communications anew, was proceeding rapidly, and from some levels ores were raised which produced at times silver enough very nearly to cover the weekly expences of the mine. These amounted to six thousand dollars, including both the mining operations and the malacate horses employed for the drainage, which were upwards of three hundred in number; each malacate requiring thirty horses in the twenty-four hours.
On re-ascending from the lower levels, we visited the Tiro General, which is both a wonderful and an imposing sight. Its dimensions are unnecessarily large, but it is sunk with a magnificence unparalleled in the annals of European mining, the diameter being eleven Varas. The whole of the Tiro is sunk in solid masonry, and the sixteen cueros, or leather buckets, by which the water is raised, though composed each of two bullock's hides, are lost in the immense dimensions of the shaft.
The greatest praise is due to Mr. Williamson, the principal commissioner of the Anglo-Mexican Association, for the constancy that he has displayed in carrying on the drainage of the Valenciana with the means within his reach. Public opinion was unfavourable to the undertaking, until he demonstrated its practicability; and although in the deeper levels the application of steam may be necessary, ​yet in a contract limited with regard to time, there can be no doubt that he has rendered the most essential service to the adventurers, by turning to all possible account the powers of the native machinery, which have been much underrated in Europe. What he has been enabled to effect by a proper application of them both at Valenciana, and in the mines of Sirena and Villalpando, may serve as an encouragement to those who are engaged in speculations in districts, where, either from the scarcity of fuel, or the difficulty of access, European machinery never can be introduced. The absurdity of the indiscriminate use of it, contemplated in 1824, has been already demonstrated. Many mines may be made to produce a reasonable profit for a given time by the use of the Malacate, that would never repay the costs of a steam-engine, doubled, as they always must be, by the expence of conveying it from the coast. There is a point indeed beyond which the Malacates cease to act; yet even then, with so many obstacles to be overcome, it is only on mines the richness of which is well ascertained, (as at Real del Monte, or Bolaños,) that it would be prudent or advisable to hazard the substitution of European machinery, with all its attendant train of workmen and artificers.
Besides the mines already enumerated, the Anglo-Mexican Company possesses that of Mĕllādŏ, belonging to the family of Rūhl. The contract and Alimentos are the same as those of Villalpando. The ​mine was almost paying its own expences in 1826, the weekly sales being about seven hundred dollars; but the drainage was proceeding very slowly in consequence of the difficulty of coming to an arrangement with the proprietors of the neighbouring mines. The works in Tĕpĕyāc were likewise suspended, the contract with the proprietor. Colonel Chico, being considered disadvantageous; it was thought, however, that more favourable terms would be obtained. In 1826 the Alimentos were 16,000 dollars; making a yearly disbursement of 88,000 dollars in all on the part of the Company, the periodical recurrence of which, in conjunction with the very large investment required by some of the mines, has proved a burthen heavier than many of the shareholders were inclined to bear.
That they might have commenced their operations on more favourable terms, had they possessed the knowledge of the country which they have since acquired, there can be little doubt; but even now, deducting from their future profits all their unnecessary expenditure in salaries, and machinery, and confining their works entirely to their principal mines, it is the opinion of their agents, that their whole outlay may be repaid in three years, and that their profits will amount subsequently to twenty-six and a half per cent, upon their nominal Capital.
I do not vouch for the correctness of this calculation, but I give it as the opinion of a gentleman extremely temperate in all his views, much ​looked up to and respected by the natives, and indefatigable in his efforts to promote the interests of those, by whom he has been entrusted with the conduct of an enterprise of greater magnitude than any in which British Capital has been employed hitherto beyond the limits of the British dominions.
Both Mr. Williamson and Mr. Jones do justice to the liberality and good faith displayed by the Mexican proprietors in all their transactions with the Company. The accounts of each mine are balanced and finally wound up at the end of every year; and nothing has yet occurred to interrupt this good understanding, by which the interests of both parties are so effectually promoted.
17th and 18th of November. I passed both these days in visiting the mines worked by the United Mexican Company at Guanajuato, the most important of which are Rāyăs, Sĕchō, and Cātă.
The first of these "San Juan de Rāyăs," (so called from its original proprietor,) is one of the most valuable mines upon the Veta Madre; and the most ancient document in the archives of Guanajuato is the certificate of its denunciation. It is situated in one of those Cañadas, or ravines, in which the great riches of the vein have been usually found concentrated, immediately below the mines of Santa Anita, and San Vicente, both of which are prevented from pushing their works downward by levels extending from the mine of Rayas below the whole of their "Pertinencias," as marked out upon the surface. ​The right of thus intercepting the workings of another mine is conceded by the Mining Code, according to which the "Pertinencia" only extends two hundred varas in perpendicular depth. Below this the ground is free, and the desire to secure it in the richer portions of the vein often occasions a trial of activity between the proprietors of two neighbouring shafts. The one who succeeds is said to "encampanar" his rival; and as the evil cannot be remedied, he enjoys afterwards undisturbed possession of the vein, from immediately below the pertinencia of his adversary, down to any depth to which he may find it convenient to work.
The extraordinary richness of the ores of Santa Anita, some of which were sold during the great Bonanza of that mine in 1740 for their weight in silver, in consequence of the large proportion of gold contained in them, first induced the grandfather of the present Marquis of Rayas, (Don José Sardanēta,) who had acquired ten bars in the mine as "Aviador," to endeavour to "encampanar" the "pertinencias" on the upper part of the ravine, by carrying his own works below them. After several years spent in the attempt, which was prosecuted slowly from the want of funds, he died without having attained his object, bequeathing his projects to his son, and assuring him with his last breath that although he ended his life in poverty himself, a little perseverance in his plans would ensure opulence to his descendants.
This prophecy was fulfilled. The vein of Santa ​Ana was found to increase in richness as it increased in depth, and Rāyăs having obtained exclusive possession of it, the shaft of Santa Rosa was sunk, through which the first great Bonanza was obtained.
This rich mass of ores (clavo rico) being exhausted, new workings were tried in a S.E. direction, and the shaft of San Miguel was sunk by the father of the present proprietor, at an expence of 700,000 dollars: through this the family of Sardaneta obtained a second Bonanza, which lasted several years, and produced a net profit of eleven millions of dollars, clear of all expences.
From 1760 till 1780 the Mine continued to be worked with considerable profit; but in that year an accident occurred, which very nearly caused it to be entirely given up. A torrent, formed suddenly in the mountains, took its course down the Cañada of Rayas, and entered the mouth of the mine, which had no protection against so unforeseen a danger, filling in a moment the lower levels, and destroying almost all the workmen employed at the time. So great was the volume of water admitted, that nineteen years were consumed in the drainage, which was not completed till 1799, when the mine was again rendered productive, and yielded, in each of the four succeeding years, a clear profit of 400,000 dollars. Since then, the greatest part of the produce has been absorbed by the construction of the new Tiro General, commenced by the ​present Marquis in 1805. It is a stupendous undertaking, the shaft being an octagon, like that of the Valenciana, but exceeding it in diameter by two varas and a half. The depth, however, is only 450 varas in lieu of 635.
When the Civil War broke out, 318 varas of this shaft had been sunk, but the Marquis was too much impoverished by the Revolution to carry on so Herculean a labour out of his own resources, after the declaration of Independence in 1821; and was consequently compelled to apply for assistance to the British United Company, of which his cousin, Don Lucas Alaman, is the principal director. The Company, finding it impossible to attempt the drainage of the mine by the shaft of Santa Rosa, or by that of San Mĭgūĕl, which has now fallen, entirely in, agreed to undertake the continuation of the Tiro General, which, when concluded, will lay open the rich levels called La Sangre de Cristo, and render accessible a large portion of the vein that has never hitherto been explored.
In November, 1826, forty-nine varas had been added by the Company to the 318 sunk by the Marquis: eighty varas still remained; but the work was proceeding at the rate of one vara and a half weekly, and it was expected that as soon as the number of malacates, which it was intended to apply, could be increased from six to eight, half a vara more might be accomplished. It is in the erection of these malacates that the principal ​expence of the enterprise has consisted; for the mouth of the great shaft of Rayas being situated upon a steep slope, it has been found necessary to excavate the mountain on one side, and to raise a platform upon the other, in order to command a sufficient space for the action of the machinery. One of the Mălăcātĕs of Rayas is the largest ever built in America, the cylinder, or drum, being eight and a half varas in diameter, and the palanca, or beam, by which it is moved, twenty-four varas in length; it is worked by eight horses, which are changed every three hours, and occupies the whole of an enormous "Galera," built in the vicinity of the shaft.
When the Company commenced its operations, the Tiro General was inaccessible from the quantity of water, that it contained. This was supposed to proceed from some internal communication with the; mine, and it consequently became requisite to carry on the drainage of the two simultaneously; for which purpose three Malacates were erected at the shaft of Santa Rosa. By their operation, the water was gradually lowered eighty-one varas and three-quarters, and the bottom of the new shaft laid open; but it was not until October 1825, that it was rendered sufficiently accessible for the great work of deepening it to recommence. Even then it was only with difficulty that workmen were found willing to undertake the task, for of all mining labours there are none so dangerous as those which are ​carried on in an open shaft of such enormous depth, that the smallest stone detached from above, might prove fatal in its descent to some one of those engaged beneath. In addition to this, the water oozes continually from the sides of the shaft, loosening the earth, and keeping the miners below constantly wet; and as there is no "Partido," or share in the ore raised, to compensate these disadvantages, it is only by giving great additional wages that a supply of hands can be procured.
I know few sights more interesting than the operation of blasting in the shafts of Rayas. After each "barretero" has undermined the portion of rock allotted to him, he is drawn up to the surface; the ropes belonging to the different malacates are coiled up, so as to leave every thing clear below, and a man called the "Pĕgădōr" descends, whose business it is to fire the slow matches communicating with the mines below.
As his chance of escaping the effects of the explosion consists in being drawn up with such rapidity as to be placed beyond the reach of the fragments of rock that are projected into the air, the lightest malacate is prepared for his use, and two horses are attached to it, selected for their swiftness and courage, and called Caballos del Pegador, from being reserved for this particular purpose. The man is let down slowly, carrying with him a light, and a small rope, one end of which is held by one of ​the overseers who is stationed at the mouth of the shaft. A breathless silence is observed until the signal is given from below by pulling the cord of communication, when the two men by whom the horses are previously held, release their heads, and they dash off at full speed until they are stopped, either by the noise of the first explosion, or by seeing from the quantity of cord wound round the cylinder of the malacate, that the Pegador is already raised to a height of sixty or seventy varas, and is consequently beyond the reach of danger.
It often happens that the matches do not ignite, in which case the Pegador is lowered down again, and the whole operation repeated, until all the mines have exploded. But in spite of every precaution, accidents will frequently occur, and there are more Pegadores maimed, or destroyed, than any other kind of mining servants. They acquire, however, great presence of mind in the course of their arduous business, for the Marquis of Rayas told me that a few weeks before my visit, the man whom I saw descend, after lighting all the matches, found himself abandoned at the bottom of the mine from the over anxiety of those above, who, mistaking a mere vibration of the cord for the signal, ordered the horses to start, and drew up the malacate rope far beyond his reach, before either he or they became aware of the mistake. Instead of losing courage, or wasting time in fruitless efforts to make himself heard above, ​the Pegador instantly tore out the matches, and was fortunate enough to extinguish them all (seven in number) in time to prevent an explosion.
After dining at the Tiro General, where we were most magnificently entertained by the Marquis of Rayas, we proceeded to visit the mine itself, in company with Don Domingo Lazo de la Vega, the managing agent of the United Company in the district of Guanajuato. The descent into the mine of Rayas, is by a flight of steps, down which ladies may be carried by Indians in a chair with poles attached to it; Mrs. Ward adopted this mode of conveyance, and found it by no means disagreeable. There was, however, but little to be seen of any interest, except the huge excavations from which the "Clavos ricos" of the first Bonanza are said to have been extracted, all the best levels being still under water. From those which have been drained, ores to the amount of 75,000 dollars had been raised in November 1826, at which time the total outlay of the Association upon the mine amounted to 412,000 dollars. Of its repayment, and of the probability of very large ultimate profits, no reasonable doubt can be entertained; for Rayas is regarded as one of the richest mines in the world; its ores being, in the deeper levels, both abundant, and of such quality, from the Ley de Oro which they contain, that a very few cargas are equivalent to a much more copious extraction from any other mine. The proportion of gold has been found to amount, in some of the ​richest stones, to 2,100 grains in the marc; and in the ores called "Guija de Oro," native gold is found disseminated in considerable quantities in the Quartz. I had an opportunity of observing in this mine, as well as in the Valenciana, the weight of the loads of ore brought up to the mouth of the shaft by the Tenateros, (carriers;) I saw myself loads of thirteen, fifteen, and one of sixteen and a half Arrobas, (325, 375, and 412½ English pounds,) delivered at the despacho, or receiving-rooms, by Indians, not distinguished by any appearance of extraordinary muscular strength, but inured from their infancy to this species of exertion, by which the muscles of the neck and back acquire a strength much beyond that possessed by any other member of the body.
Since its first discovery in 1556, Rayas appears, by the books of the proprietors, to have paid to the Provincial Treasury, as the King's fifth, the sum of 17,363,000 dollars. It has not yet nearly approached the depth at which the produce of the Veta Madre is supposed by Humboldt to become less valuable; and as a large tract of virgin ground will be laid open by the Tiro General, it may be considered almost as a new mine, with all the security for its future productiveness that an experience of three centuries can give. In the course of the present year, the works may be expected to be completed, and the company may then look for immediate and valuable returns.
The mine of Sĕchō was worked formerly without ​profit, and subsequently abandoned. The adventurers who denounced it anew, and from whom the United Company has obtained a share as "Aviador," discovered almost at the surface a "clavo rico," or rich mass of ores, which had been overlooked by the former proprietors, but which proved sufficient to repay, at once, a great part of the advances made by the Company; as the best ores (Polvillos) sold for one hundred and eighty dollars the Quintal, or six hundred dollars the Carga of fourteen arrobas. This little Bonanza was interrupted by what is termed a Cavallo de Bronze, or mass of rock, of almost incredible hardness; which it required much time to cut through. This being effected, the vein was again found to produce excellent ores, and when I saw it, about two hundred Cargas were raised weekly from different "labores" which were bought up eagerly by the "Rescatadores," at thirty-five and thirty-seven dollars the carga, for the Azogues, or ordinary Ores, and forty-five dollars the quintal, for the Polvillos.
From all appearances, there is reason to expect that Sĕchō may prove a most valuable mine, for it is situated upon a part of the Veta Madre which, in every direction around, has produced immense wealth; but there is no certainty, in the opinion of the old miners, until the workings reach one hundred varas in depth, that being the line at which the great riches of the vein have been hitherto found to commence. In the mean time, the speculation ​is attended with no risk, as the mine pays its own expences; and should it turn out well, the net profits will consequently be in the same proportion as the additional produce.
The third mine habilitated by the United Company in Guanajūato, is one of the oldest in the district, Cata. It did not attain any great celebrity until the commencement of the last century, when it was worked, in conjunction with Mellado, by Don Francisco Matias de Būstŏ, afterwards created Marquis of San Clĕmēntĕ, and celebrated as the richest man of his age. Cātă occupies the whole of the valley of that name; its extreme depth is three hundred and sixty varas; yet the mine has been drained, and put into complete repair, by the application of Mexican machinery, in fourteen months, with an outlay not exceeding 255,000 dollars. As to the future produce, very different opinions are entertained. Mr. Alaman, and the managing agent, Mr. Lazo de la Vega, are sanguine in their expectations of success, but the public in general regard the mine as exhausted, and think the attempt to work it anew injudicious. From this, however, no conclusion can be drawn, a similar sentence having been pronounced against many other celebrated mines at the close of their first great Bonanzas, which, when taken up anew after a lapse of several years, were found amply to repay their new proprietors. Such was the case with the mine of La Quebradīlla at Zacatecas, when its management was undertaken by ​La Borde; with the Păvĕllōn at Sombrerete, when denounced by the Făgŏāgă. family; and with the famous mine of Bărrāncŏ at Bŏlāñŏs, which, after being given up by its first proprietor, (Barranco,) gave immense wealth and his title to the second, (the Marquis of Vibanco,) and afterwards yielded an enormous mass of silver when worked by a Company formed for the purpose, although with little profit to the adventurers, on account of the expences of the drainage.
It is to be hoped that the name of Cata may be added to this list, although, in 1826, the amount of silver raised did not exceed 19,000 dollars.
The United Company possesses four Haciendas de beneficio, containing in all seventy-two arrastres. That of San Matias, which I visited, belongs to the Marquis of Rāyas, and is rented by the Association. It was exceedingly well fitted up in all its parts, but the process of amalgamation being nearly the same there as at Sălgādŏ, any-farther description of it would be superfluous.
The necessity of fitting up these Haciendas, and of bringing all the larger timber employed in them from the Sierra of Maravatio, (in the vicinity of Tlălpŭjāhuă,) a distance of nearly forty-eight leagues, has been one of the great drains upon the Companies; this has now ceased, and, the works having been well executed, they will require but few repairs during the remainder of the term for which the contracts are held. ​The town of Guănăjūātŏ, in the immediate vicinity of which all the mines mentioned in this sketch are situated, contains many splendid memorials of the former wealth of its inhabitants. The houses of the families of Ŏtērŏ, Vălĕnciānă, Rūhl, and Pĕrĕz Gālvĕz, are all magnificent, as are the Church, formerly belonging to the Jesuits, built by the Marquis of Rayas, the rich ornaments presented by the family of San Clemente to the Parroquia, the road to the Valenciana, and the numerous chapels, and religious edifices, constructed in different directions, in the surrounding district. Many of these are still in an unfinished state, for the piety of the miners usually commenced with a Bonanza, and this did not always last long enough to enable them to complete the works, which it prompted them to undertake.
A great part of the landed property both in Guanajuato and in the neighbouring States, likewise belongs to mining families. The Countess Ruhl has large possessions near Aguas Calientes. The estates of the Pĕrĕz Gālvĕz family occupy no inconsiderable portion of San Luis Pŏtŏsī; and the Ŏbrĕgōnĕs, (descendants of the first Conde de Valenciana,) possess some beautiful Haciendas near Leon, with many others of less importance, which it is needless to enumerate.
From the Governor of the State, Don Carlos Montesdeoca, a man of liberal and enlightened views, the Foreign Companies have received every ​encouragement and protection; and it is principally in consequence of his exertions that they have been enabled so soon to overcome those national prejudices against strangers, with which all our Companies had to contend upon their first establishment. In November 1826, not a trace of this feeling seemed to remain. The Marquis of Rayas, indeed, whose family is celebrated for its piety, was still intractable enough to object to the employment of heretics in his mine, but he proved by his courtesy towards all my party that he did not consider a friendly intercourse with us as at all objectionable. In this respect the clergy of Guanajuato have shown an admirable example, many of them having advocated from the pulpit the cause of foreigners, and endeavoured to convince their countrymen of the advantages to be derived from an unreserved communication with them.
The State of Guănăjūātŏ contains, according to the census of 1825, a registered population of 382,829 souls, or 450,000, if something more than one-sixth be added to cover the deficiencies in the official returns. These are supposed to have been unusually incorrect, in consequence of an attempt to enforce the payment of a sort of Income tax, at the very time when the census was forming.
The revenue consists, as has been stated generally in the Fourth Section of the Third Book, in the Tobacco monopoly, the Alcavalas, the Mint dues, and Municipal duties payable on various articles of ​domestic produce and manufacture, with three per cent, upon the foreign goods consumed in the territories of the State. The whole yielded, in the year ending January 1826, 247,810 dollars, while the expences of the Government, (contingent included,) amounted to 264,010 dollars. The Governor attributed the deficit (16,199 dollars) to the failure of the Income tax, or Contribucion directa, which, though calculated upon the supposed value of the labour of each individual for three days in the year, only produced 5,042 dollars in all.
The Tobacco fabrica yielded 54,704 dollars; and this, after deducting 22,266 dollars due to the Federation for Tobacco in leaf, left a balance of 32,438 dollars in favour of the State. Great improvements may however be expected in the receipts of this department; the annual profits of the Cigar manufactories of Guanajuato before the year 1810, in the eight "Administraciones" established in the principal towns, having averaged one hundred and fifty-seven thousand dollars.
One hundred and thirty thousand, eight hundred and nineteen dollars were the produce of the Alcavalas, and 30,085 dollars of the Municipal duties. The receipts at the mint did not exceed 27,127 dollars, the quantity of silver raised in 1825 being very small; but this, as well as most of the other branches of the revenue, were likely to increase, and it was expected that the receipts of 1826 would fully cover the expenditure. ​Guanajūato may be called either a Mining or an Agricultural State, for the prosperity of the two branches is so closely connected that one can hardly flourish without the other. The importance of the great Haciendas of the Băxīŏ ceased at the same moment with that of the mines, and is reviving at present in proportion as the capitals invested in them create anew a demand for agricultural produce; while the increased produce, on the other hand, facilitates all those complicated operations, by which alone the mines can be brought into full activity.
Manufactures of wool and cotton abounded formerly in the towns of Lĕōn, Ĭrăpŭătŏ, Sĭlāŏ, Săn Migūel, and Sălămāncă, (usually designated as "Las Villas;") but the " Mantas," "Rebozos," "Pañetes," and "Gergetillas," for which they were famous, have already been replaced by similar articles from Europe and the United States. Their decadence has fortunately been gradual during the last fifteen years, so that it will require no very violent transition to give employment to the hands thus occupied, in some other pursuit, where no competition is to be apprehended.
The State Constitution of Guanajuato was sworn in April 1825. Since the fall of Iturbide, public tranquillity has not been in any way disturbed there, and at the period of my visit nothing but a continuance of it seemed requisite in order to develope ​the internal resources of the State, and to restore its inhabitants to that prosperity which they enjoyed, in an almost unexampled degree, before the Revolution. This seemed to be the general feeling of all those with whom I held any intercourse. Peace at home and abroad was the common object, the universal wish; and however discouraging an appearance affairs may since have assumed, the existence of such sentiments throughout the country affords ground to hope that any disturbances that may arise will never again be sufficiently generalized to affect the mass of the population, or to lead to a renewal of the disastrous scenes of the Civil War of 1810. One good effect the Revolution has already produced in the attention now shown to the education of the rising generation. In 1824, Guanajuato did not possess a single school; in 1826, the sons of respectable parents could obtain a decent education even at Valenciana and Rayas, where schools upon the Lancasterian principle had been established by the Miners themselves for the improvement of their families.
* ↑ I paid ten or twelve dollars each for these leather dresses: a cloth coat, or jacket alone would have cost twenty.
* ↑ A composition prepared with chocolate, maize, and water.
* ↑ It is made up in little tin cases hermetically sealed, and is very useful on a voyage.
* ↑ The Serape is the woollen blanket (of home manufacture) worn by the lower orders as a "manga" for riding.
* ↑ A Pŏtrērŏ means strictly an enclosure for "Potros" (young horses,) but is applied generally to enclosures for any kind of cattle.
* ↑ This is the amount given by Humboldt's Tables of Produce, in conjunction with the returns from 1804 to the present day.
* ↑ It must always be borne in mind, that although the outlay is made in the first instance by the Company, it is carried by them as a debt to the account of the Mine, and it is to be paid out of the first proceeds. It therefore becomes the interest of the owners to see that the work is properly performed; and to refuse to pass accounts whenever unnecessary expences are incurred by those entrusted with the management. For instance, machinery sent out and not used, or mining works badly executed by foreigners, who are paid for executing them better than the natives, cannot, in reason or justice, be charged against a mine.
* ↑ By these names the coarse cloths and wrappers most in use amongst the lower orders are distinguished.