ANCIENT MINES OF THE AZTECS. 35 



Fortunately for the seeker after early statistics, we have an account of the ancient 

 sources of wealth of the Aztecs in the letters of the conqueror himself; for Cortes 

 wrote an explicit account of them to his sovereign. After getting Montezuma into 

 his power, in the vear 1520, he obtained from the Aztec ruler a list of all his mines. 

 The account cannot be better rendered than in his own words : " When I discovered 

 that Montezuma was fully devoted to your Highness, I requested him that, in 

 order to enable me to render a complete account to your Majesty of the produc- 

 tions of the countr}', he would point out to me the mines from which gold was 

 obtained, to which he consented with the greatest readiness. He immediately sent 

 for several of his public servants, and assigned them to four provinces, two to 

 each, in which he said the gold was obtained, and he asked me to allow some of 

 the Spaniards to go with them that they might observe the manner in which gold 

 was procured, and I accordingly deputed two Spaniards for the same number of his 

 own men. One party of them v.ent to a province called Cuzula, eighty leagues 

 from the great city of Temixtitlan (Mexico), whose inhabitants are vassals of 

 Montezuma, where they were shown three rivers, from all of which they brought 

 me specimens of gold of a good quality, though procured with little trouble, and 

 without any other instruments than those used by the Indians. . . . Another 

 party of our envoys went to a province called Malinaltebeque, which is seventy 

 leagues from the great city, but more towards the seacoast. They brought me . 

 specimens of gold from a great river that passes through it. The other party 

 visited a region beyond this river, inhabited by a people speaking a different 

 language from those of Culua (Mexico), and whose territory is situated on a lofty 

 and rough mountainous range, with a jiopulation inured to war, who fight with 

 spears of twenty-five to thirty palms' length ; he is independent of Montezuma. 

 . . . . He would not admit the subjects of Montezuma, but allowed the Span- 

 iards to enter, and showed them seven or eight mines, from which they said gold 

 was procured ; and in their presence some of the Indians got out a quantity of the 



precious metal, of which specimens were brought to me The other 



party of envoys visited a province called Tuchitebeque, on the same route, towards 

 the sea, twelve leagues from the province of Malinaltebeque, where, I have already 

 said, gold was found, and where they were shown two other streams, from which 

 they obtained gold." 



The first silver sent from the mines of New Spain was obtained from those 

 of Tasco, discovered in the year 1522. These mines, with those of Pachuca, are 

 considered the oldest in Mexico, some of them having been long worked by the 

 Indians at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. The amount of gold and 

 silver obtained from Montezuma and sent to Spain is estimated at $7,000,000. This 

 includes the household treasures of Axayacatl, his royal father, the accumulation, 

 probably, of many years. 



"The working of the mines of Zacatecas," says Humboldt, "followed closely 

 after; one, the vein of San Barnabe, was begun in 1540, but twenty-eight years 

 after the death of Montezuma. The principal vei n of Guanajuato (/« Veta Madre) 

 was_Jliaepvered somewhat later, in April, 1558. 'ihe dates of discovery^f the 

 most important Mexican veins, are as follows: Parral, in 1600; Cieneguilla, 1608; 

 Guazapares, 162S; Urique, 1630; Batopilas, 1632; Cusihuiriachic, 1666; Chi- 

 huahuilla, 1671 ; Santa Eulalia, 1704; Topago, 1750; San Joaquin, 1774; Umapa, 

 177S; El Refugio, 1810; Jesus Maria, 1821 ; Palmares, 1824; Morelos, 1S26; 



