3 2 4 
CAVE AND CLIFF DWELLERS. 
their hands. They operated with great 
success in the face of many difficulties 
until the year 1879, when the property 
again changed hands, and was acquired 
by a stock company, which has held 
and worked it to the present day. The 
American companies in this, the richest 
mining district in the world, are : The 
Batopilas Mining Company, the Todos 
Santos Silver Mining Company, and the 
Santo Domingo Silver Mining Company. 
The Mexican mining companies are quite 
numerous, as may be supposed, but I 
shall not detail them, as it would require 
too much space. Many of them are very 
important, as the Urique and Cerro Col¬ 
orado companies. Altogether there are 
over a hundred in a greater or less de¬ 
gree of active operation in this rich dis¬ 
trict, all contained within a radius of four 
