URIQUE AND ITS MINES. 309 
gold mine in the world or not. It 
is the property of the Becerra brothers, 
and when I visited it Don Jose Maria 
Becerra was at the mine and spared 
no pains to make my stay pleasant. 
He was then engaged in placing the 
most improved machinery and con¬ 
structing enormous works for water 
power, etc. He brought out and laid 
on a chair four great lumps of gold, 
of about the value of seventy thou¬ 
sand dollars, that had just been run 
out by the Mexican arastra, for they 
were still using the ancient method of 
mining, awaiting the arrival of the new 
machinery. Our host was preparing 
to start for London and Paris on business 
connected with his mine, and when we 
again heard of him it was the sad news 
of his death in London. This was not 
