Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/616

596 mines of silver, gold, and copper. A vein of the last is worked by Mr. Loisa, a merchant of Petic, who raises the ore at an expence of four dollars the quintal, and sells it, when conveyed to Guaymas by his own mules, for fourteen dollars; at which price it is bought up for the China market, where the copper of Sonora bears a high price, in consequence of the large proportion of gold contained in it.

From San Miguel to Ūrĕs, on the Southern bank of the river Sonora, the distance is twelve leagues. The plain to the South of this town is one of the most fertile districts in the State; but to the North, the road runs along the banks of the river Sonora, confined in its course by two of the precipitous ridges which branch out from the great Cordillera and intersect the level country at regular intervals. These ridges preserve generally the same direction, (from North to South,) and run parallel with each other towards the Pacific, separated by the rivers Dolores, Sonora, Ōpŏsūră, and Bărispĕ, which fertilize the intervening spaces. In all these streams gold has been found, but in none so constantly as in the river Sonora, the mountains on either side being nearly perpendicular, and full of mineral veins.

After passing through the cañada above Ures, the town of Băbĭăcōră is found upon a Table-land, a little elevated above the bed of the river; it extends twelve leagues in a Northerly direction, and contains the towns of Conche and Sonora, with a number of