68 
CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS. 
any piece of slag taken from the piles. 
By cutting a little almost pure lead and 
silver were revealed, probably in the 
same proportions as they existed in the 
vein. These piles of slag would repre¬ 
sent a fortune, with new and improved 
machinery like that employed in the 
United States, to resmelt them, and with 
a railway running near. This place, 
moreover, is only one of the many where 
fortunes are lying dormant in the differ¬ 
ent slag piles of the old mines of north¬ 
western Chihuahua alone. 
It is difficult to get information from 
the natives regarding the mineral wealth 
of the country. If they have a good mine 
they are exceedingly shy about saying so, 
and they are very jealous lest foreigners 
should obtain valuable mining property. 
They dislike to see it pass from under 
