Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/461

Rh months. Long before this period arrives many valuable levels will be opened, which will prevent the prosecution of the enterprise from being, as it has hitherto proved, a drain upon the Association; for it is not so much in the deepest levels, (which are supposed to have exceeded the limits within which the Veta Madre of Guanajuato has proved hitherto most productive,) as in the extension of the lateral workings, that the value of the Valenciana as a mine is thought to consist. The outlay in September 1826 was 672,264 dollars, including the alimentos to the proprietors, which amount to 24,000 dollars annually.

We entered the Valenciana by the Boca de Sān Căyĕtānŏ, at which the old Count Valenciana began his operations; a flight of steps, which even ladies can descend without difficulty, leads to the Capilla, about sixty varas from the surface, where passages branch off to different workings in the interior of the mine. Here a prayer is usually recited by the chief miner before a large picture of the Virgin, and after this the more fatiguing part of the excursion commences. We passed nearly five hours in exploring the different workings, the extent of which exceeds all that a person acquainted only with ordinary mines can imagine. I found the ventilation in general good, except in some "labores" where no communication with the shafts had been yet established. In these the thermometer rose to 90° and 94° of Farenheit; and the heat was very