Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/25

Rh (some of whom worked mines of considerable importance,) no account was ever given. And,

4thly. Because the gold contained in the silver, (a great abundance of which is found in the ores of some mines,) was never properly separated from it, after the communication between the Interior and the Capital was closed. None of the Departments possessed a Casa del Apartado, (in which the chemical process of separating the two metals, when combined, is performed;) and, although some portion of the gold may have been obtained by the use of quicksilver in the Ărāstrĕs, (crushing mills,) whatever remained incorporated with the silver was sacrificed; and, as the amount of gold, produced annually, before the Revolution, averaged 1,100,000 dollars, (a great part of which passed through the Casa del Apartado,) this loss, in fifteen years, must have amounted to a very considerable sum.

These observations sufficiently prove the unavoidable inaccuracy of any estimate that can now be formed, respecting the amount of the precious metals raised from the Mines of Mexico, during the fifteen years immediately subsequent to the Revolution: but having pointed out the difficulties that