Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/409

Rh $164,744, since which its issue has sensibly decreased. The best copper mines at present known, are those of Santa Rita, near the union of the Rio Florida with the Rio Conchas. Veins of iron, cinnabar, lead, sulphur, coal, and nitre have been found and explored; but owing to the disturbed and insecure condition of the State, are altogether abandoned.

The chief mining districts and mineral deposits are at Allende or San Bartolomé; Santa Barbara; Chihuahua; Cosihuiriachi; Santa Eulalia; Jesus Maria; Loreto; Moris; Mulatos; Minas Nuevas; Parral; San Pedro; El Refugio; Santa Rita; Sierra Rica; Batopilas; Urique y Ximenes, or as it is at present called, Guajuquilla. A considerable portion of the product of these mines may have been extracted from the Mexican Republic, before they were coined, by the inland trade with the United States, which has been carried on extensively for many years. The gold dust, especially, both of Chihuahua and New Mexico, has formed the principal return for American merchandize; and thus the diminution of the Chihuahuan coinage may be partially accounted for. Nevertheless we are informed by the best authorities, as well as by the statistics of the mint, that the mines of this State have been negligently wrought for some years past by the unsettled inhabitants of the frontier.

The chief towns in the State are the capital, Chihuahua, situated 4,640 feet above the level of the sea, in 28° 38' north latitude and 106° 30' west longitude from Greenwich, containing a population of from 12,000 to 15,000. It lies in a beautiful valley opening towards the north, and hemmed in, on the other sides, by the arms of the Sierra Madre. The city is regularly built, on wide, clean streets, with many handsome and convenient houses, plentifully supplied with water, which is brought to the town by an aqueduct extending 6,533 varas. The plaza, or public square, is quite imposing. Its spacious area is adorned with a fountain and walks, with benches and pillars of white porphyry. Three sides of this square are occupied with public edifices and stores, while on the fourth is the cathedral.

The other towns are San Pedro de Batopilas, a mining post on the western slope of the Cordillera, in a deep dell;—San Jose del Parral, at the eastern foot of the Sierra Madre on the southern limit of Chihuahua, about eighty leagues east of Batopilas, containing about 5,000 inhabitants; Valle de San Bartolomé, on the road from Chihuahua to Durango; Allende, with 11,000 inhabitants; Santa Rosa de Cosihuiriachi, with 3,000; and various other villages and Presidios of lesser note.