642 



Buttock's Six Months' Hesidence in MexicOt 



arid evenings experience llie reverse, 

 and, at this lici>;l)t, a few ruiics only 

 make a great tliflerence, accordingly 

 as you rise or descend. Lut at Mexico 

 itself the clitnate throughout the year 

 equals the best part of our mouth of 

 May, the mean degree of heat on the 

 Table-land belween sixty-five or seventy 

 of Fahrenheit. Higii winds are so 

 litUe known here, that I never ex- 

 perienced any thing like a storm during 

 my residence. 



SILVER MINE. 



Tliemascaifepec contains about one 

 thousand inliabitanls. It is now in a 

 state of decay ; most of the haciendas 

 lor prepaiing tiie silver ore are in ruins, 

 and the expensive watercourses, which 

 formerly turned the poudcrons machi- 

 nery for pounding the ore, are now 

 iieglecfed, and concealed by the thick 

 vegetation with which they are over- 

 grown. 



The appearance of so many strangers 

 in this retired little town excited some 

 surprise among its iiihai;ilanls. I was 

 the first Englishman that ever visited it. 

 We were hospitably received at the 

 Iiousc of Don Jose ]>ciiitas, where Mr. 

 VViiciix was met by Mr. Goulde, his 

 American engineer, and many of the 

 people whom he had brought from the 

 United Slates for the ijinposcof erecting 

 the steam-engine tlieu |inlling np at his 

 mine, distant witliiii a mile of the town. 



The situation of Tliemascaltciiec is 

 the most delightful Ihatcan be iniagined : 

 its temperature is ratiier warm than that 

 of the cajiital, bni I never found it un- 

 pleasant, and Iheie is scarcely a vege- 

 table production that might not be cul- 

 tivated here in ])erfection. 



The following day our party rode to 

 an amalgamation lionse, the only one 

 of consequence now in operation, about 

 two miles up tlie river, on tlie bank of 

 vxhich it is silualcd. The su|)crin- 

 tendent showed hs the whole process of 

 extracting the silver from the ore, whicli 

 gives employment to a great number of 

 people, principally Indians. The ore, 

 which was btought from a mine at some 

 miles' distance, by mules, is of a 

 yellowish clay ciilonr, and not very 

 rich : it is of that kind distinjruishcd 

 here by the name of Colorado. Jt is first 

 p(>uuded by large heavy stampers, woik- 

 cd by water, and silted throngh hides 

 pierced with small holes, to answer 

 the purpose of sieves; the powdered ore 

 is next carried into a large llagged 

 apartment, and piled in heaps of a ton 

 VX more iu each, and thtn mixed with 



salt, sulphate of iron, lime, vegelnble 

 ashes, &c. A quantity of mercury in 

 proportion to the calculated quantity of 

 the silver, is added, and sufl'ered to 

 remain some time, the whole being 

 turned or worked together by Indians 

 treading it with their feet. When they 

 suppose the mercury has entirely united 

 "itii the ore, it is put into vats, over 

 which a stream of water passes : the 

 amalgamated ore is then stirred up, and 

 the earthy part then carried ofl" by the 

 stream, and the mercury, incorporated 

 with the silver, remains at the bottom. 

 The silver is afterwards separated from 

 the quicksilver by means of fire, with 

 a considerable loss. It has been proved 

 by experiments made lately in Corn- 

 wall on ore sent from Mexico for the 

 purpose, that the same or nearly the 

 same process used in smelting tin may, 

 with considerable advantage, be applied 

 to the more valuable metal. 



Having obtained specimens of the 

 ore, iu its different stages of preparation, 

 and the various processes used being 

 explained, we rode through a very rich 

 valley to Upper Themasealfrprc, a 

 small town of iiot very inviting ap- 

 pearatice, aljont four miles from the 

 lower town, and returned by another 

 route to Mr. Wilcox's mine. The ride 

 was altogether through a fertile country, 

 and the farms and cottages presented ati 

 appearance of comfort not always seen. 



TEZCVCO. 



Afte»-a pleasant ride over a country 

 not very fertile, we reached lite gates 

 of Tezcuco. For some time before 

 jou approach the immediate vicinity 

 of this city, joti are apprised that you 

 arc near a place of great antiquity. 

 You pass by t!ie large aqueduct for 

 lh(! supply of tlie town, still in use, 

 and the ruins of several stone buildings 

 of great strength. On entering tlie 

 gates, to the right are seen those arti- 

 ficial tumuli, the teoralli of unbnrnt 

 brick so common in most Indian towns, 

 supposed to be tempUs. tombs, or 

 places of defence, or peihaps serving 

 for all these purposes. 'I'lie foimdations 

 and ruins of temples, fortresses, palaces, 

 anil other extensive buildings, are alone 

 sufficient to attest its former conse. 

 qnen<;e and splendour; but it is like- 

 Wise well known to have been in old 

 times the scat of Mexican literature 

 and arts. It was the Athens of 

 America, and the residence of his- 

 torians, orators, poets, artists, and the 

 great men of every department of the 

 sciences who existed iu those dav^i. 



" After 



