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148 Mining establishments were necessarily formed. We have seen that the Three millions of marcs of silver, to which the average annual produce of the country amounted, were extracted from Ten millions of Quintals of Ore; and I have endeavoured to give, in the second Section, some idea of the process, by which the separation of the Silver from this mass of extraneous substances was effected. The number of men and animals employed in it was immense, and in every place where they were thus congregated, a demand was created for Agricultural produce, which rose, as the importance of the mines increased, and called gradually into existence a cultivation, of which no trace was to be found before. Such has been the progress of civilization, and of Agricultural industry, throughout New Spain. With the exception of the Capital, which, as the seat of Government, derived its importance from other sources, and the towns of La Pūēblă, Guădălajāră, Văllădŏlīd, and Ŏăxācă, which were selected as the seats of the great Episcopal establishments of the country, there is hardly a single town in Mexico, that does not derive its origin, directly or indirectly, from the Mines; while, in like manner, cultivation will be found to extend in a long line from South to North, with occasional inclinations to the East and West, (following always, in its direction, that of Mining discoveries,) the course of which may be easily traced upon the map.

The most fertile portions of the Table-land are,