PRODUCE OF GOLD. 



343 



by the different parts of the country may be deter- 

 mined. The following is an account of the receipts 

 of eleven of these boards from the year 1785 to 

 1789:— 



Marks of Silver. 



Guanaxuato 2,469,000 



San Luis Potosi 1,515,000 



Zacatecas 1,205,000 



Mexico 1,055,000 



Durango 922,000 



Rosario 668,000 



Guadalaxara 509,000 



Pachuca 455,000 



Bolanos 364,000 



Sombrerete 320,000 



Zuriapan 248,000 



Sum for five years. . .9,730,000=5,997,633 troy pounds, 



The mean produce of the mines of New-Spain, 

 including the northern part of New-Biscay and those 

 of Oaxaca, is estimated at above 1,541,015 troy 

 pounds of silver, — a quantity equal to two-thirds of 

 what is annually extracted from the whole globe, 

 and ten times as much as is furnished by all the 

 mines of Europe. 



On the other hand, the produce of the Mexican 

 mines in gold is not much greater than those of 

 Hungary and Transylvania ; amounting in ordinary 

 years only to 4315 troy pounds. In the former it is 

 chiefly extracted from river-deposites by washing. 

 Auriferous alluvia are common in the province of 

 Sonora, and a great deal of gold has been collected 

 among the sands with which the bottom of the, val- 

 ley of the Rio Hiaqui, to the east of the missions 

 of Tarahumara, is covered. Farther to the north, 

 in Pimeria Alta, masses of native gold weighing five 

 or six pounds have been found. Part of it is also 

 extracted from veins intersecting the primitive 

 mountains. Veins of this metal are most frequent 

 in the province of Oaxaca, in gneiss and mica-slate. 

 The last rock is particularly rich in the mines of 

 Rio San Antonio. Gold is also found pure, or 



