Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/359

Rh called El Piñal, the summit of which is elevated above the highest peaks of the surrounding Cordillera; immediately beneath it, on a natural platform, stands the village of El Dŏctōr, apparently not two hundred yards from the summit of the Piñal, but in fact nearly half a league distant, as the descent is effected by a zig-zag path, a great part of which is supported by terraces of masonry; whilst beyond the village, and many hundred yards beneath it, there are a number of lesser mountains, mostly conical, and covered with timber, the valleys between them being inhabited by Indians, and sown with maize.

The Mina Grande of El Dŏctōr extends almost beneath the village, and has two "Pertinencias" on the line of the vein, which runs nearly East and West, with an inclination of about sixty degrees: it varies from one to three varas in breath, and yielded, when worked regularly, three hundred cargas of ore weekly. The buildings connected with the mine have been destroyed during the Revolution, and the village itself has gone to decay. It still contains, however, a large church, with ten or twelve good-sized houses, and a few Indian huts.

The mouth of the mine is 4,875 feet above the level of the river Tula, which, at the foot of the mountain of the Doctor is itself 4,519 feet above that of the Gulf of Mexico: the village stands therefore at an elevation of 9,394 feet; and the Ĕspŏlōn, or summit of the mountain above it, attains