feet. It is highly probable that rich bodies of ore will be met with by sinking the shafts deeper.
There are several families of great wealth in Guanajuato, whose fortunes have been acquired in silver-mining, Humboldt states that the Count de Valenciana dug three pits in one mine at an expense of $1,700,000. The proprietors of these mines are unwilling to sell them except at a large profit, as this class of real estate is regarded as a good investment.
At present but two English companies own mineral property in this region. One of them has an agency for the examination and purchase of Mexican mines. Thus far the Americans have not bought mines in this vicinity. Their mineral lands are mostly in the northern States of the Republic.
The traveler will have no better chance of visiting a mine than in Guanajuato. Accordingly, he is advised to descend one of the many pits in the suburbs. The Rayas[1] and Nopal mines are both dry and well arranged. A carriage may be driven to the latter, and within a short walk of the former. Strangers are treated with great civility, and no card of admission is necessary.
The tourist will have an opportunity of seeing the celebrated peons at work, with their primitive tools and methods of mining. But he will be obliged to descend and ascend the massive stone steps to reach the vein, as no "elevators" have thus far come into use. A fee of twenty-five cents will be sufficient to give the boy who accompanies the traveler through the mine. (See p. 81.)
There are fifty mills for crushing and reducing silver-ores in Guanajuato. All of them are worked by horse-power, except the Pardo mill, which is operated by steam. This mill has six stamps and twenty-two arrastras. The
- ↑ The Rayas mine has three shafts, the deepest of which is 1,640 feet. In April, 1883, two thousand peons were employed.
