MINING DISTRICTS AND EXTENT IN MEXICO. 



79 



The mines of Mexico may be classed in eight groups, nearly all 

 of which are placed on the top or on the western slope of the great 

 Cordillera. 



The first of these groups has been the most productive, and 

 embraces the districts contiguous to Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, 

 Charcas, Catorce, Zacatecas, Asientos de Ybarra, Fresnillo and 

 Sombrerete. 



The second comprises the mines situated west of the city of Du- 

 rango as well as those in Sinaloa, for the labors of engineers have 

 brought them so close to each other by their works that they 

 may be united in the same geological division. 



The third group is the northernmost in Mexico, and is that 

 which embraces the mines of Chihuahua and Cosiguiriachi. It 

 extends from the 27th° to the 29th° of north latitude. 



The fourth and fifth clusters are found north-east of Mexico, 

 and are formed by the mines of Real del Monte or Pachuca, and 

 Zimapan, or, El Doctor. 



Bolanos, in Guadalajara, and Tasco in Oajaca, are the central 

 points of the sixth, seventh and eighth. 1 



The reader who will cast his eye over the map of Mexico, will 

 at once perceive that the geographical space covered by this me- 

 talliferous region, is small when compared with the great extent of 

 the whole country. The eight groups into which the mining dis- 

 tricts are divided occupy a space of twelve thousand square leagues, 

 or one tenth only of the whole extent of the Mexican republic as it 

 existed previous to the treaty of 1848 and before the mineral wealth 

 of California and probably of New Mexico was known to the world. 

 But as that treaty confirmed and ceded to the United States more 

 than one half of the ancient territory of Mexico, we may estimate 

 the mining region as covering fully one fifth of the remainder. 



Before the discovery and conquest of the West Indies and the 

 American continent, Europe had looked to the east for her chief 

 supplies of treasure. America was discovered by Columbus, not 

 as was so long imagined, because he foresaw the existence of 

 another continent, but because he sought a shorter route to the 

 rich and golden Zipangou, and to the spice regions of eastern Asia. 

 Columbus and Vespuccius both died believing that they had 

 reached eastern Asia, and thus a geographical mistake led to the 

 greatest discovery that has ever been made. In proof of these as- 

 sertions we may state that Columbus designed delivering at Cuba, 

 the missives of the Spanish king to the great Kahn of the Mongols, 



1 Humboldt, Essai Politique, Book iv., chap. ii. - Paris, 1811. 



