Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/353

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MEXICO IN 1827
337

of about twenty-horse power; and to this the dearth of fuel in the immediate vicinity of Zimapan would present a serious obstacle. It is a pity that a mine of such importance should have been destroyed by being worked in so desultory a manner; but as there was neither method nor restraint amongst the Buscones, you find, at a very little distance from the surface, proofs of their having consulted nothing but the interest of the moment; as the workings consist of huge excavations, unsupported, and in many places already in ruins; while the galleries by which they are connected, are so narrow that it is often nearly impossible to force a passage through them.

There is one other mine, similar to that of Lomo del Toro, at Zĭmăpān, but of an inferior quality. The Germans have a third, at El Cărdŏnāl, from which they are supplied with a flux for their smelting establishment at Chico.

The Mines belonging to the Anglo-Mexican Company at Zĭmăpān, having been subsequently given up, it is only necessary to state that, under the injudicious superintendence of a Cornish miner, the buildings erected by the Company were situated upon the edge of a mountain torrent, and were swept away by the impetuosity of its waters at the commencement of the first rainy season; an event, the probability of which the natives had in vain pointed out.

None of the mines were drained while they re-