Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/557

Rh as it may, the Pavellon was given up in 1696 or 1698, and the Veta Negra appears to have shared the same fate about the same time.

For nearly one hundred years Sombrerete was almost deserted; but in 1780 the mines were again taken up by the Făgŏāgă family, which was destined to derive from them, a few years later, such unexampled wealth. The story is curious, and ought to be known.

It appears that Don José Mariano Făgŏāgă, one of the brothers, who was at that time engaged in some mining speculations at Fresnillo, visited Sombrerete, accompanied by his secretary Tarve, who was induced, by the information which he acquired there respecting the Veta Negra, to persuade his master to risk 16,000 dollars upon an attempt to work this vein, of which he (Tarve) undertook the direction, with a promise of one-fourth of the profits as his recompense, in case of success.

Without any pretensions to science, Tarve possessed activity enough to make an excellent director, while the under-ground management was entrusted to Don Manuel Unzain, reputed to be one of the best miners of the day. Fortune smiled upon their exertions. The mines became productive almost immediately, and a bŏnānză ensued, of which Tarve's fourth amounted, in 1786, to 360,000 dollars. The whole bonanza therefore, taking the "partido" at the most moderate estimate, (one-eighth,) must have been 1,620,000 dollars.