Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/228

Rh In the district of Tegucigalpa in the state of Honduras, are to be found thirteen mines, among which that of Corpus has hitherto been the most celebrated; it is said to have produced at one time gold in such abundance, as to excite suspicions of the reality of the metal, and a treasury was appointed upon the spot to receive the king's fifths, but after this appointment the golden dream vanished, and no more was heard of this immense source of wealth. The appointment is merely said to have proved unsuccessful. The neighbourhood of Olancho is also famous for the quantity of fine gold, which is said to have been collected in the sands of the river Guyape in its course through this valley. In Costa Rica mines are to be met with in abundance, but of what quality they may be, it is impossible to say. No kind of record seems to have been kept of their true state, or of what they have at any time produced.

In order to form some conception on the subject, a statement was asked from the master of the mint, showing the number of marks of gold and silver coined for fifteen years previous, and fifteen years subsequent to 1810, with any information he was able to afford, on the productions of the mines. The following is an exact copy of the document. “Statement manifesting the number of marks of Gold and Silver, coined in thirty