Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/179

Rh When peace is once more restored within her borders, it is probable that Mexico will become one of the greatest oil-producing countries in the world. The ancient Aztecs may have used petroleum in religious rites, and on the Gulf of Mexico oil-wells have certainly been used by the natives from time immemorial. Strangely enough, however, their financial value was unguessed until quite recently, when a very extensive well was tapped near Tampico, 1,800 ft. down. Most unfortunately, it caught fire shortly after it was tapped, and millions of gallons were destroyed.

This first misfortune, however, only served to show what exceedingly rich deposits of this mineral lay beneath the soil of Mexico; and very soon prospectors "struck" valuable reservoirs in San Luis Potosi, Tabasco, and Vera Cruz. British capital luckily took a hand in the new enterprise, and, if the whole venture is naturally somewhat under a cloud at the present time, there is no reason to doubt that with better internal government that cloud will pass away and that the investors will duly reap their reward. The principal company in the new industry is the Mexican Eagle Oil Company, which has large holdings in the Northern part of the State of Vera Cruz, where it has erected a large refinery. Even as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, this same British company has ranged in search of petroleum, and has succeeded in discovering such a gratifying supply, that it has had to build a second refinery with a large daily capacity for turning out petroleum both as an illuminant and a lubricant.

Oil is frequently discovered in the most out-of-the-way parts of the country, and the prospecting geologist frequently encounters it when he is not looking for it. It is often found in connection with extensive saline deposits; indeed, some salt-beds in Mexico have been estimated after experimental borings at over 1,000ft. in thickness, which would seem as if the districts where they are found had once formed