Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/586

566. Most of the principal districts may consequently be regarded as virgin ground, and there are few in which the old shafts might not be again brought into activity with a comparatively small outlay. Nothing can exceed the anxiety felt, and expressed, by the Governor, and the members of the Legislature, as well as by all the principal inhabitants, that this experiment should be tried; and were it to be attempted by a Foreign Company of respectability, it would be sure of receiving the warmest support. In such an event, the iron-mines should not be neglected. If properly managed, they alone would be sufficient to ensure the prosperity of the association; for there is no article for which the demand is greater than iron, and none the supply of which from Europe is attended with such manifold disadvantages. Durango might, in two years, be rendered the depôt of iron for Sombrerete, Zacatecas, Catorce, Batopilas, and all the Mining Districts South of Chĭhūāhuă; nor would the success of the iron-mines already taken up by the Companies at the Encarnacion interfere with this prospect, as their market would be confined to the Central mining States, beyond which, from the difficulties of communication, their operations could hardly be extended.

Durango contains a mint; and the coinage is considerable, although the machinery is of the very worst kind, being the same that was erected at the commencement of the Revolution. In the Casa del