70 DOTTINGS ON THE BO AD SIDE. [Chap. Y.— B. S. 
silver mines in the neighbourhood had been given 
up, and at the time of our visit only one was being 
worked. This was called Santa Ana, and was sepa¬ 
rated from Depilto by a ridge of high and steep moun¬ 
tains, across which all the ore had to be carried on 
the backs of mules to be reduced at the dressing-works 
of the village. Don Chico Pacuaga, one of the owners 
of these mines and reduction works, was good enough 
to show us over them, and also allow us to inspect his 
books, an examination of which convinced us that 
the last of the Depilto Mines was carried on at a 
loss, and that it was undesirable to purchase it. 
It has since been altogether abandoned, I believe. 
We gradually arrived at the conclusion, that in the 
Ocotal district no good silver mines had as yet been 
discovered; that there are innumerable small veins, 
rich at the surface but entirely dying out lower 
down, and that this explains why all the mining 
operations have been suspended, and why those spe¬ 
culators who based their calculations on specimens 
found at the top, and the hopes that the lodes and 
veins would improve lower down, have met with dis¬ 
appointment.* 
* “ The principal one of the Depilto mines is called Santa Ana, 
situated about fifteen miles north-north-west of Ocotal, on the south side 
of a high mountain. The lode runs east and west, and is from one foot 
to a foot and a half in width. A great deal of work has been done in 
this mine, chiefly by driving cross-cuts north, cutting the lode at right 
angles, and then breaking the lode from the back of these cross¬ 
cuts. From the workings it appears that the back of these lodes is 
generally rich in silver, but as the lodes go down they become pool, 
and very often die out altogether. In this mine they have stopped 
working on the lode at the bottom level, and have commenced taking 
