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Rh that had taken place afterwards, would only be temporary, and that the ores would resume their original quality below.

This work Izmendi executed, by driving the Crucero (cross cut) of San Rafael, which led to the second great bonanza of the Pavellon, and rendered the Marquis of Apartado and his brothers the wealthiest individuals of their day in Mexico, or perhaps in the world. It is a curious fact, and one that serves to illustrate the vicissitudes inseparable from mining adventures, that had this crucero been executed with the same precision as the rest of Izmendi's works; that is, had it preserved its original level, and struck the vein of the Pavellon one single yard lower than it did, it would have cut the vein in "borrasca," that is, in a part where it presented no indications of rich ores; in which case, the enterprise would have been instantly abandoned, Izmendi, and his patron Don José Mariano Fagoaga, denounced as rash and imprudent adventurers, and the district itself forsaken, as one from which nothing more was to be hoped. As it happened, the level of San Rafael, by rising one vara higher than it ought to have done, according to the measurements, struck almost the lowest stone of a "clavo," or natural deposit of rich ores, which, although it did not extend above sixty varas in depth, or thirty-five in length upon the course of the vein, produced a bonanza of eleven millions and a half of dollars, adding one-eighth as partido to the value of the