Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/101

Rh (where the process of reduction is carried on;) to make roads, in order to facilitate the communication between them; to wall in the Patios, or courts, in which amalgamation is at last effected; and to construct water-wheels wherever water power could be applied; nor is there one of these expences, that is not in so far indispensable, that, without them, the drainage of the mines themselves could lead to no sort of advantage.

It is, therefore, by works of this nature that the Companies have commenced their operations, and in them the largest portion of their outlay has consisted. Authorised by their contracts to look forward to a long term of possession, (generally from twenty to thirty years,) and entitled, by the former goodness of the mines, to expect an abundant produce, their preparatory works have been constructed in such a manner as to combine durability with convenience, and, in most instances, will require but few additions. Of the scale upon which things have necessarily been done, I shall beg leave to adduce a few examples.

The possessions of the Real del Monte Company, on the two great Veins of the Santa Brigida, and La Biscaina, (which are usually regarded in England as one mine,) cover a space of 11,800 yards, and are intersected, at intervals, by thirty-three shafts, varying in depth from 200 to 270 yards, but all sunk with a magnificence unparalleled in Europe. The whole of these shafts, together with the great