WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 187 



convent. The mines are situated in a plain, and have been, and still 

 are, very rich, so much so that from every quintal of ore have been 

 taken up to i6 and even 20 silver marks, and they would be among 

 the richest in the world if they were up on some mountain range 

 or hill, and not down on the plain with water leaking in. They have 

 20 furnaces for smelting the ore and refining the silver. [The 

 Province of Chiametlan is on the Pacific coast and rich in silver 

 mines.] 



527. From the mines of Los Ramos it is 12 leagues to the mines 

 and the city of Zacatecas ; here there are very rich mines, which 

 were discovered in the year 1549, 4 years after those of Potosi in 

 Peru, and the settlement started then ; now it is one of the largest 

 cities and centers in New Spain, after Mexico City and Puebla de 

 Los Angeles. It has over 1,000 Spanish residents, very wealthy 

 mining people, among the finest in New Spain. The city is built 

 in a gorge or notch between two mountain ranges and occupies the 

 whole length of it, so that its principal street will be over a league 

 long, running up the notch. On this main street stand all the churches 

 and convents, as in Alcala de Henares. Starting up it, the first build- 

 ing is the excellent Dominican convent with many friars ; then follows 

 the hospital of San Juan de Dios, with brethren of that order, in 

 which they nurse the indigent sick with great charity and attentive- 

 ness. Then come in order the Augustinian convent ; next, the parish 

 church, built at the foot of a high hill or bluff called La Bufa, which 

 backs it up and acts as a buttress. On top of this steep hill there is 

 a delicious spring of refreshing cool water, which is also called La 

 Bufa. This hill is very rich in silver ore, and from its summit, 

 where this spring is, a very rich vein of silver runs down (mostly 

 virgin silver, they say) and passes under the city at the center of 

 the plaza, to reappear in another very high hill which rises on the 

 other side of the city ; all these hills are paved with veins and ore 

 deposits of silver. Next the parish church comes the Company of 

 Jesus with a splendid church and a house with many learned and 

 sainted brethren. There are two other excellent hospitals where they 

 care for the indigent sick. Next in order comes the convent of the 

 Seraphic Father St. Francis, admirable in every respect. 



528. There are other churches and shrines in this wealthy city. 

 It lies 40 leagues N. of Guadalajara. It is a busy trading center, for 

 its wealth and the important people who live there, attract from every 

 quarter merchants and businessmen with their goods and commodities ; 

 and as a result it is well supplied with all necessities and luxuries. 

 There are in the city over 30 mills for the grinding and smelting of 



