Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/597

Rh strongly resembled the very large comfortable farms in some parts of England. He told us that his lands were so productive that he had reaped 240 fanegas of corn for one fanega sown. In the preceding year, he had expended 15,000 dollars in cutting a canal from the river, by which means he could irrigate so considerable a quantity of land, that he expected to realize that sum annually. At dinner the lady appeared, and took the head of the table, which was served on silver plate, with a profusion of excellent things. We had the best of wines; old Catalonian brandy, &c. after which coffee and choice liqueurs were presented to us. Every thing was of a piece in this comfortable establishment, for the beds with which they provided us were most luxurious. In the morning we took leave, and arrived at San Miguel de Horcasitas to breakfast, fourteen leagues from Petic, after passing through a fine country on a good road.

San Miguel was formerly a town of great consequence, and the residence of the principal families in the State. The Custom-house was kept there before the building of Petic; it was likewise the residence of the Captain-General of the Province, and the gayest town in the North. It is prettily situated on an eminence above the river Dolores, which overflows and fertilizes a fine valley to the north of the town, divided amongst a number of Indian families, who derive from it a comfortable subsistence. The families of note still remaining there are the Escobosas, Aguilars, Guiterrez, and Rodriguez. There are now two churches, and about two thousand five hundred souls. To the north of this town are immense ridges of mountains scarcely accessible, full of rich minerals of gold, silver, and copper. A friend of mine, Mr. Loisa, a merchant of Petic, has an estate about eight leagues from San Miguel, to the eastward, on which he has a mine of copper, which he works himself. The making it into bars costs four dollars per quintal, which sold for fourteen dollars when delivered in Guaymas; and as Mr. Loisa's own mules carried down the copper, and returned loaded with merchandize, the freight was of little importance. He made about twenty cwt. per week; the copper of Sonora contains much gold, for which reason the Chinese give a great price for it, being well acquainted with the art of separating the two metals.