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496 comparison with a second, situated about sixty feet lower, and full of the same metalliferous dust, with which the Costales (miners' sacks) were actually filled with the horn Cucharas (spoons) used in making the "Tentadura," (essaying the richness of the ore.) The Bonanza commenced in 1781, and lasted till the middle of 1783, during which period the Padre Flores received for his share of the profits three millions and a half of dollars; and this, (be it recollected,) at a time when, in order to obtain a sufficient number of workmen, the "Partido," or share of the ore raised assigned to the miners, often amounted at Catorce to one-half of the produce, and was hardly ever less than one-third. The profits of the Rescatadores, too, are supposed to have been very large, as, notwithstanding the price paid for the carga, (300 dollars,) at the mouth of the shaft, they came even from Leon and Guanajuato to purchase the ores, and afterwards carried them a distance of sixty and eighty leagues to their Haciendas. The total amount of the silver raised during the three years, may therefore be estimated at from six to seven millions of dollars; it being upon record, that sales to the amount of 64,000 dollars were sometimes effected in a day.

The celebrity of the Mine of Zăvālă drew adventurers from all quarters to the spot, and the ground about the Pertinencia of the Padre Flores is poached in every direction by shafts sunk in the hope of discovering such another "Bolsa de Dios Padre,"