104 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



pointed allusions to a stranger who had ar- 

 rived at Themascaltepec from the other side 

 of the world, to feast on humming birds, 

 beetles, butterflies, and lizards. 



The following day our party rode to an 

 amalgamation house, the only one of conse- 

 quence now in operation, about two miles up 

 the river, on the bank of which it is situated. 

 The superintendent showed us the whole 

 process of extracting the silver from the ore, 

 an operation which gives employment to a 

 great number of people, principally Indians. 

 The ore, which was brought by mules from a 

 mine at some miles' distance, is of a yellowish 

 clay colour, and not very rich : it is of that 

 kind distinguished here by the name of Co- 

 lorado. It is first pounded by large heavy 

 stampers, worked by water, and sifted through 

 hides pierced with small holes, to answer the 

 purpose of sieves ; the powdered ore is next 

 carried into a large flagged apartment, and 



