MINERAL WEALTH AT THAT PERIOD. 



249 



Alamos, four thousand, eight hundred and thirty-two marks of 

 gold, the royal duties on which, of tithe and senorage, amounted to 

 seventy-two thousand, three hundred and forty-eight dollars. The 

 custom house of Mexico, according to the accounts of the consulado, 

 produced, in 1772, six hundred and eighty-seven thousand and 

 forty-one dollars, the duty on pulque alone, being two hundred and 

 forty-four thousand, five hundred and thirty. 



In 1776, Bucareli endeavored to liberate trade from many of the 

 odious restrictions which had been cast around it by old commer- 

 cial usages, and by the restrictive policy of Spain. The con- 

 sulado of Mexico complained to Bucareli of the suffering it en- 

 dured by the monopoly which had hitherto been enjoyed by the 

 merchants of Cadiz, and through the viceroy solicited the court to 

 be permitted to remit its funds to Spain, and to bring back the re- 

 turn freights in vessels on its own account. Bucareli supported 

 this demand with his influence, and may be said to have given the 

 first impulse to free -trade. Meanwhile, the mineral resources of 

 Mexico were not neglected. During the seven years of Bucareli's 

 reign, the yield of the mines had every year been greater than at 

 any period since the conquest. One hundred and twenty-seven 

 millions, three hundred and ninety-six thousand dollars, in gold 

 and silver, were coined during his viceroyalty. Laborde, in Zaca- 

 tecas, and Terreros in Pachuca, had undertaken extensive works at 

 the great and rich mine of Quebradilla and in the splendid vein of 

 Vizcayna. Other mines were most successfully wrought by their 

 proprietors. From 1770 to the end of 1778, Don Antonio Obregon 

 presented to the royal officers, in order to be taxed, four thousand 

 six hundred and ninety-nine bars of silver, the royal income from 

 which amounted to six hundred and forty-eight thousand nine hun- 

 dred and seventy-two dollars. The same individual had, more- 

 over, presented to the same personage, fifty-three thousand and 

 eighty-eight castellanos of gold, which paid thirteen thousand eight 

 hundred and seventy-one dollars in duties. In order to work his 

 metals, Obregon had been furnished, to that date, one thousand eight 

 hundred and thirty-nine quintals of quicksilver, for which he paid a 

 hundred and fifty-nine thousand two hundred and forty-one dollars. 



In June, 1778, the mineral deposits of Hostotipaquillo, in the 

 province of Guadalajara, now Jalisco, were discovered, and pro- 

 mised the most extraordinary returns of wealth. In the following 

 year, the valuable mines of Catorce, were accidentally found by a 

 soldier whilst searching for a lost horse. All these discoveries and 

 beneficial labors induced Bucareli to recommend the mineral inter- 



