AND ITS VICINITY. A381 
Chihuahua is the capital of the State of the same 
name, and was settled towards the close of the 17th 
century by some adventurers, for the purpose of work- 
ing the rich silver mines discovered about that time in 
its vicinity. When these mines were in their most 
prosperous state, the city contained more than seven- 
teen thousand inhabitants. According to the census 
of 1833, it contained ten thousand six hundred and 
two; and at the present time, its population does not 
exceed twelve thousand. This diminution is owing 
chiefly to the unsettled state of the country for the 
last twenty-five years. With the general expulsion of 
the Spaniards which took place after the revolution, 
this city, in common with every other in Mexico, lost 
its most active, enterprising, and intelligent citizens. 
Much of its wealth, too, was then carried away. After 
this, the mines, which had yielded an amount of silver 
almost unparalleled, and had enriched thousands, were 
but imperfectly worked, and many were in course of 
time abandoned. The rural population being thus 
deprived of its chief dependence, the haciendas and 
ranchos which dotted the beautiful and luxuriant val- 
leys met the same fate. In this way Chihuahua has 
greatly decreased in wealth, in commerce, and in 
general prosperity. 
There is still another cause for the decline of 
Northern and Central Mexico which deserves to be 
noticed. I allude to the expulsion of the Jesuits. 
Whatever may have been the sins ascribed to this 
religious order, it is an undeniable fact that during 
their sway these States attained a higher degree of 
prosperity than at any other period; and with them 
