ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MEXICO. 



181 



The early explorers often speak of the beautiful chakhihidtcs, jadeites or 

 emeralds, with which the Mexican nobles adorned themselves and decorated their 

 idols. Amongst the resources of Mexico must also be included yellow amber, 

 common in Oaxaca and the neighbouring states, but of an unknown vegetable 

 origin. It is perfectly transparent, of a lovely golden hue, and, seen in the light, 

 shines with a fluorescent glow. In certain parts of the interior it is found in such 

 quantities that the natives use it even for kindling their fires. The specimens of 

 this substance sent to Europe come from the coast, where it occurs here and there 

 in the sands. In Mexico there are reckoned altogether about a hundred impor- 

 tant mineral districts, and in 1888 there were as many as 575 mines at work, to a 



Fig. 78. — Chief Mixeeal Regioxs of Mexico. 

 Scale 1 : 30,000,000. 



Silver. Gold. Platinum. Cimi bar Lead. Iron. Copper. Coal- Salt. 



__^_^_^_^^__— ^— — . 620 Miles. 



great extent owned by English capitalists. The total yield of all metals, earths, 

 stones, and combustibles is valued at nearly £10,000,000 yearly. 



To mining, which was already represented in all its branches, such as smelting 

 and minting, under the Spanish rule, have now been added some of the large 

 manufacturing industries. Cotton, one of the chief crops in the republic, is 

 entirely employed in the Mexican spinning and weaving mills, and manufacturers, 

 moreover, import large quantities of the American staple. Over 50,000 families are 

 supported by the cotton industry, and about a hundred factories produce a quantity 

 estimated at 30,000,000 pounds a year. The States of Puebla, Mexico, Queretaro, 

 Guanajuato, Jalisco and Coahuila are the chief producers of cotton textiles, which 

 take the form of manias, sarajyes, rebozos, and other articles forming part of the 



