Page:Memoir of a tour to northern Mexico.djvu/52

[ 26 ] General Wool's march towards Chihuahua. But, instead of that, ill-fortune wanted us to stay there six long months, which I consider the most tedious of my whole life.

The day after my arrival I presented myself, with my passport received in Chihuahua, to the prefect of Cosihuiriachi, a respectable old man, who treated us throughout very kind, and executed the strict orders which from time to time arrived from Chihuahua for our better control; with all the humanity that his official station allowed. Though we were not permitted to leave Cosihuiriachi for another residence, we considered ourselves at liberty to make excursions in the neighborhood. Most of us were experienced hunters; and as the surrounding mountains contained a great many deer, we roamed almost daily over our hunting ground, to kill time as well as to provide our table with venison. On such excursions I paid constant attention to the botany of the country, and made in the first month a rich collection of mountain plants, most of them undescribed as yet. But with the approach of winter the flowers disappeared; the geology of the country was most uniform. To extend our excursions further was forbidden by a new order from the Governor of Chihuahua, which limited them to two leagues at the utmost; nearly all my books and instruments I had left behind; society was confined to ourselves; communications from Chihuahua were but seldom received, and, according to all accounts, there was no more prospect of General Wool's march towards Chihuahua. So we spent the winter in a state of constant expectation and weariness, interrupted sometimes only by a small patriotic excitement from a part of the Mexicans, most of whom hated us as foreigners, but did not dare to attack us. But instead of expatiating upon these trifles, which can afford no interest to the reader, I will rather insert here the few statistical accounts which I was able to collect in relation to Cosihuiriachi.

The town of Cosihuiriachi, or, with its full name, Santa Rosa de Cosihuiriachi, (also written Cosiguiriachi and Cusihuiriachic,) was established in the beginning of the latter century, in consequence of the accidental discovery of silver mines. The mines must have been very productive, because the population of the town, in Spanish times was estimated at 10,700 souls; while at present, with the surrounding settlements, it hardly exceeds 3,000. The mountain chain on which it is situated is called Sierra de Metates, and forms a part of the Sierra Madre, which occupies the whole western portion of the State of Chihuahua. The mines are all in the mountain chain, west of town. Renowned among them were the mines of San Antonio, Santa Rosa, la Bufa, etc.; the first of them had been worked to a depth of near 300 varas. The mines are all found in porphyritic rocks, the prevailing formation in this part of the country. Silver occurs as sulphuret, in combination with sulphuret of iron and of lead. At present very little mining is done, more from want of capital than from exhaustion of the mines. Some of the mines have been abandoned on account of the water in them. The few wealthy families that live here, and attend to mining on a small scale, are unwilling to risk anything by expensive machinery, and foreign capitalists and miners have in the last 20 years been more attracted by the rich mines of Jesus Maria, further west. The ores of the few mines that are worked yet, contain, on an average, from three to four ounces of silver in the carga, (300 pounds.) The silver is extracted by fire. With the decline of the mines, the town also decayed, and the greatest part of the population looks at present wretchedly poor. Besides