Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/449

Rh exhausted, when the Directors in England were fortunately induced to abandon the system, and to employ natives in all the operative parts of their principal undertakings. The management alone is now European, and the persons entrusted with it having shown a proper disposition to conciliate the natives by acquiring their language, and only varying their mode of working in cases where some positive and evident advantage accrued from the change, the Mine-owners and the Company proceed towards the attainment of the common object with a mutual good understanding, and, consequently, with an increased probability of success.

There is a small steam-engine erected at San Ăgŭstīn, which is intended to be used both for sawing timber, and for braying ores: it puts in motion twenty-four stampers of three hundred weight each, and has likewise been applied with very good effect to the Freiberg revolving barrels. It consumes one carga (300lbs.) of wood in the hour, which, at three reals (of eight to the dollar) per carga, makes a total expence of nine dollars in the twenty-four hours. Another engine of fourteen horse power had been applied to the little mine of La Purisima, at Santa Rosa; but as it was not at work during my visit to Guanajuato, I did not think it necessary to ride