without the aid of quicksilver, the metals must have been very rich and abundant.
Ten leagues to the west and south-west of Nacosari, and six to the north of San Juan, are the mines of Toubarachi and San Pedro Vigilia, with ores of from six to eight marcs per carga.
To the west of Arispe are the mines of Santa Teresa, of gold and silver, completely virgin, and the Cerro, or mountain of San Pedro, which contains innumerable mines and veins untouched.
In all the districts above described, the roads are only passable for horses and mules, the country being very mountainous, but not of very great elevation. None of these mines are more than six or seven leagues from rapid streams of water, sufficiently considerable to work almost any machinery.
The mines of La Agame, near Horcasitas, are famous for the abundance and richness of their gold ores. Those of Lampazos and Palos Blancos, five leagues to the south-west of Tepache, are likewise excellent veins and rich ores.
I have here mentioned the most considerable mining districts, but in Sonora almost every mountain and hill contains silver and gold. Even in the plains, beds of native gold have been found in grains, varying in size from one to sixty ounces, as in Cieneguilla, San Francisco, San Antonio de la Huerta, Mulatos, Baucachi, and various others. Silver has been found in immense balls in Arizona.
Besides the towns already named, those of most note in the northern part of the State are Dolores, Cucurpe, Tuape, and Opodepe on the river Dolores; Banamita, Cinaguessci, and Sonora, on the river Sonora; Bacuachi and Barispe, to the north of Arispe; there are likewise some good settlements on the Ascension river, and in the Pimeria Alta.
The valleys through which the rivers Sonora and Dolores flow, are much more fertile and abundant than the valley of Oposura, particularly in grain; they are also considerably larger.
Of the Indian tribes to the North of Arispe and Fronteras, little is known, except by the natives of the country. No dependance can be placed on the accounts given by the Spaniards, who were cruel colonizers, and have always provoked that barbarity of which they so much complain. I have seen much of
