Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/579

Rh (Pueblo Ranchero), which, as late as 1783, contained only 8,000 inhabitants. The great streets, the Plaza Mayor, the theatre, and all the principal public edifices, were built by Zămbrānŏ, who is supposed to have drawn from his mines at San Dimas and Gūārĭsămĕy, upwards of thirty millions of dollars.

The towns of Villa del Nombre de Dios, San Juan del Rio, and Cinco Señores de Nāzăs, are almost the only cities in the State unconnected with mines. The two first are supported by an extensive trade in vino Mescal, (a sort of brandy, distilled from the Maguey, or American aloe;) the last, by the large cotton plantations, upon the banks of the river Nazas, from which the manufacturers of Saltillo, San Luis, and Zacatecas, draw their supplies. The cotton, according to the slovenly practice of the country, is not picked and cleaned upon the spot, but is brought, when gathered, to Durango, where it is separated from the seeds. It sells there, however, notwithstanding this addition to the freight, for one dollar the arroba, of 25lbs.

Durango has no manufactures. Its riches consist entirely in mines and agricultural produce, which last is so considerable, that the lands already brought into cultivation are supposed to be sufficient for the support of a population five times as large as that of the State now is. The Haciendas, however, are, at present, upon too extensive a scale to be well managed; an evil, for which the Congress, by abolishing entails, hopes to provide a remedy.