The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-18 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

• MEXICO IN 1927.—8 y H. G. WARD, Erq.
2 Vole. LoNnox, l $2B.
As -a work of reference, information—and
Perhaps we may add, notwithstanding its bulk—
etitertainment, this work possesses very supe-
tior claims to.attention. It is the production of a
tentleman. well acquainted with the subject, who
Las himself resided for some time at Mexico in
an important official capacity, and has been an
'Ye-witness of almost all that he attempts to de-
kribe; His account of the country is compre-
hensive and impartial ; he sums up tke advan-
tages and disadvantages of its climate and situa-
4tion with the accuracy of an experienced cal-
ttilator, and finds a balance in its favour. The
following is a running account respecting
Mexico in general, and its fitness for purposes
of commerce and agriculture ;
1.'1.1 do not, therefore, conceive that the exportations of
'eatco in corn will ever be very considerable ; but in
t,,L
t_rase articles, which we term Colonial produce, for which
is a constant demand in Europe, and which a large
portion of her territory is so admirably qualified to produce,
Qat has a source of wealth as inexhaustible as her mines
I,llentselves. The whole Eastern coast of Mexico, extend-
ro
If% frontier, and, in length, from the River Guasacualco to the Northern
in breadth, from the ocean, to that point
I.lPun the slope of the Cordillera, at which Tropical fruits
etrse to thrive, is susceptible of the very highest cultiva-
; nor can any part of the now exhausted islands
'taila a competition with the fertility of its virgin soil.
" The state of Vera Cruz alone is capable of supplying all
rope with sugar. Humboldt estimates the produce of
.richest mould at 2,800 kilogrammes per hectare,
"tide that of Cuba does not exceed 1,400 kilogrammes ;
ko that the balance is as two to one in favour of Vera
Cruz.

" Coffee is produced in a ratio almost equally extra-
-Minot" Indio and tobacco succeed as well, while, a
little toY. the
North, the state of Texas, which enjoys nearly
theZ same climate as Louisiana, or South Carolina, is equally
adapted to the growth of cotton, the great staple of
e United States. Mexico can never want a market for
,athese more precious articles, to whirls the attention of the
tiwners is now much turned. Immense coffee pplanta-
inhave been made, during the last four yeats, in the
ticinity of Cordova and Orizava ; cotton has been planted,
o
a considerable extent, by the American colonists in
Texas ; and the re-establishment of crushing-mills for the
cpelet Which now grows almost spontaneously throughout
otera Cruz, will be one of the first effects of the recovery
tope country from that state of absolute stagnation, into
, 'eh
everyev thing has been thrown, during the last fifteen
/ears, e civil war."
`` Mexico cannot, during the present century, be a ma-
nufacturing country, and, probably, will net attempt it.
n, mines, and her agriculture, will enably her, with only
1,4,,r°m0n industry, to enjoy all the advantages of Transat-
_tie arts, and to bring to her own door the luxuries of
the highest civilization. With the necessaries of life she is
abundantly provided within herself, as will be seen by the
°Wing sections, which will contain a general account of
Lei Population and productions.
" A great maritime power she likewise cannot be, for
her
Ports, on the Atlantic side, are barely sufficient for the
purposes
of commerce, and were, certainly, never intended
bY oature for naval depots. Most of them are insecure,
and some mere road-steads. The entrance to her princi-
pal rivers
is obstructed by sand bars; and though art may,
In some measure, correct these deficiencies, yet it cannot
give what nature has denied, a harbour of sufficient mag-
nitude to become a fit station for any considerable maritime
force. Fortunately, this is not in any way essential to the
Prosperity of the country, as the vicinity of the United
Prosperity
and the multitude of European vessels which seek
the ports of Mexico with the manufactures of their respec-
tive countries, will afford sufficient facilities for the expor-
tation of her raw produce, to whatever extent it may be
carried.
" On the western coast, the case is different. From
Acapulco to Guaymas, (in the Gulph of California), there
a series of magnificent ports, many of which no vessel
nott ever yet entered. Acapulco itself (the finest harbour,
Perhaps, in the world), is but little frequented; its im-
Portance ceased with the trade of the galleons, nor is it
likely ever to recover its former fame. The China and
Italia trade has taken a different line, most of theships en-
gaged in it discharging their cargoes at the ports of San
Islas, Mazatlan, and Guaymas; the demand for China goods
Laing found to be greater on the Northern and Western
Pert of the Table-land, which is not yet sufficiently supplied
With European manufactures, than in the capital, where
the Market is absolutely glutted. Many years, however,
raust. elapse before the commerce of the Western coast of
Mexico can acquire any thing like the importance of that
atilied on upon the Eastern side ; for, as there is but little
`merenee between the agricultural produce of the countries
With which she can hold intercourse through the medium
of the Pacific, (Guayaquil, Peru and Chile, China and C4l-
- and her own, all remittances must be made in specie ;
;tth the exception of the bides, tallow, and wheat of C
"urniol in which an extensive trade is already carried on.
"I have now traced most of the leading features which
characterize Mexico as a country, with the exception of her
mineral wealth. Silver may be called one of the staple
ennamoditiea of New Spain ; but I shall have occasion to
enter into this subject, so fully, in the fourth book of this
;64'14 which is devoted to an account of the mines, that
t Would be superfluous to state ally thing here but the fact,
that the average annual amount of the silver raised before
revolution was twenty-four millions of dollars."
The mines of Mexico form of course an im-
portant feature in the present volumes. Mr.
Ward is full of information on the subject ; he
Seenis to think that the prospects of the different
Companies are at present somewhat doubtful,
more especially as in order to ensure a satisfac-
tory return of profit, it is requisite that Mexico
for years should be in a state of uninterrupted
tranquillity. This of course cannot be calcula-
ted on, and yet, says Mr. Ward, the Companies
have all along proceeded upon this probability,
if it were more than probable—as if in fact
It were almost certain. Nothstanding, however,
the occasional drawbacks which have been and
must for some time be experienced, it is
Mr. Ward's opinion that the mines even-
tually, and that at no distant period,
Will yield a most flattering return to those
Ivho continue to work them with dili-

Bence and perseverance. Some few, it seems,
4iready pay their own expenses, and one is on
the eve of yielding a handsome profit. The
IollOwhig is Mr. Ward's account of the German
Mines, which, for the most part, are unknown
14 England. It is highly encouraging :
The Report with which the Directors of the German
411)auy were so obliging as to furnish me, contains many in.
resting facts so of which tend not a little to confirm
gie ,
opinion which I have expressed in the preceding .Sec-
un, that, had the attention of the British public not been
tkelusively directed to the mines which came recommended
iy %von Humboldt's authority, capital might have been,
ly many instances, invested more profitably, in mines of
1:44 celebrity, but easier of access, than some of those-which
4Vt been selected by the English Companies.
f " Not one of the German mines is known in England ;
°rA.revalo, the most important one amongst them (at
'l',o) was discovered after Humboldt's visit to Mexico;
Yet the Germans, by a judicious selection, made upon the
113,44' by miners of great experience and activity, have done
.
more (in proportion) in less tune, and with a smaller ca-
PNlte,wl, than any of the Foreign Companies established in
By the statement of the Directors, it appears that
they commenced their operations in the Autumn of 1825 ;
and that, at the end of December 1896, they had drawn
from ti.e very small proportion of mines, which they had
Wen able, at that time, to bring into work, a sum nearly
equal to one-fourth of the capital employed.
t " The whole outlay of the Company, including the
414011 of the Directors and Officers from Germany,
amounted to 637,760 dollars, while the produce was
147,153 dollars; a result sufficiently favourable to render
50Y farther calculations as to the ultimate success of the
Compassl.,_ unnecessary. That success, however, will not
ho rapid as might be expected, unless the capital of the
azulstoetatioa (originally 500,000 dollars) be increased, so
enable its agents to bring the mines taken up by
112 M at once into activity, instead of adopting tLe slow

process of applying the profits of the one to the wants of
the rest.

" With regard to former produce, the mine of Arevalo,
at Chico, is stated to have paid the King's tenth upon five
millions of dollars, from 1304 to 1824 ; or to have ave-
faged 250,000 dollars per annum.
" The mines at Real de Arriba, in the district of
Temascaltepec, produced, weekly, ,twelve bars, or 13,000
dollars (yearly, about 600,000 dollars). Sta Rita (at
Zimapan), upon the years 1791, 1792, and 1793, left a
profit of 100,000 dollars : and the richness of the gold
mines at San Jose del Oro, led, in former times, to the
appointment of a Receiver-General for the King's fifth in
that district alone. The present state of the mines there,
however, does not appear to warrant any immediate ex-
pectations of success.
" On the whole, should the undertakings of the Com-
pany be prosecuted with vigour, the annual produce, at
the'lowest possible estimate, may be taken at 600,000 dol-
lars in the year 1830; with a probability of its consider-
ably exceeding that sum; as Arevalo alone, in the opinion
of all the miners whom 1 have consulted, (both natives
and foreigners), is capable, at the present moment, of pro-
ducing seven bars weekly, or 365,000 dollars per annum,
could a sufficient number of workmen be procured for the
extraction of the ore."

The most interesting portion of Mr. Ward's
volumes is decidedly his details of his own per-
sonal visit to Mexico in 1823, undertaken by
order of the British Government, for the pur-
pose of ascertaining the exact condition of that
country. He landed with the rest of the Com-
mission at Vera Cruz, and was received by
General Victoria, Governor of the Province, with
a magnificence that reminds us forcibly of the
interview between the Dutch Envoys, in Knicker-
bocker's diverting History of New York. On
quitting the General's presence, Mr. IN and and
the rest of the Connpissioners proceeded to their
ship, that lay at anchor in the offing. On
their road thither they were, of course,
received with the usual salute ; but unfortunately
the cannons intended to compliment them were,
in the hurry of the moment, loaded with heavy
shot, and, had it not been for the blundering
skill of the marksmen, the Envoys would most
assuredly have gone to that place where (ac-
cording to Horace) Numa and Ancus have gone
before them. "As it was, (says Mr. Ward),
we found ourselves for some time exposed to two
fires,"—a mode of salute uncom►nonly flattering,
and worthy, it must be confessed, of Ireland...—
The remainder of our author's personal narrative,
to which we can do nothing more than barely
allude, is penned in an easy pleasant gentlemanly
vein ; it is by far the most amusing partofthe work;
and had it been enlarged, and the other portions
abridged, the volumes, we conceive, would have
been materially improved. By the way, we
must not omit to notice the maps and engravings
with which Mr. Ward has adorned his work ; they
are executed in a very superior style, as regards
both accuracy and embellishment.

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