470 



Cosiquiriachi (lat. 16J°— 29°) the sole lands of 

 produce or alluvial, that contain disseminated 

 gold, extend still some degrees more towards 

 the north *. It is a very striking phenomenon, 

 that the gold-washing of Cinaloa and Sonora, 

 like that of Barbacoas and Choco, on the south 

 and north of the isthmus of Panama, is uni- 

 formly placed on the west of the central chain, 

 on the descent opposite the Pacific Ocean. 

 The traces of a still burning volcanic fire, 

 which was no longer seen, on a length of 200 

 leagues, from Pasto and Popayan to the gulph 

 of Nicoya (lat. H° — 91°), become very frequent 

 on the western coast ofGuatimala (lat.9|° — 16°) ; 

 these traces of fire again cease in the mountains 

 of gneis-graniteofOaxaca,and reappear, perhaps 

 for the last time, towards the north, in the cen- 

 tral Cordillera of Anahuac, between the 184° 

 and I9h° of latitude, where the volcanoes of 

 Taxtla, Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Toluca, Jorullo, 

 and Colima, appear to be placed on a crevice 



* According to the division of the mines of Mexico in 

 eight groupes {See my Polit. Essay, Vol. iii, p. 123), the 

 mines of Cosiquiriachi, Batopilas, and Parral, belong to the 

 groupe of Chihuahua, in the intendance of Durango or New 

 Biscay. 



f On this zone of volcanoes is the parallel of the greatest 

 heights of New Spain. (See Polit. Essay, Vol. i, p. 61.) If 

 the survey of Captain Basil Hall (Extracts from a Jour- 

 nal written on the coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico, 1824, 



