Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/247

Rh be a very inaccessible portion of the earth, indeed, where their unctuous and exacting voices are not to be heard.

Singular stories are related by the inhabitants of mining neighbourhoods in Mexico, of the manner in which discoveries of gold and silver have been made. There is one pious legend, most likely of priestly origin, about a traveller who lost his way while on a mountain journey; and who, at the point of perishing in the agonies of thirst, knelt down and supplicated the assistance of the Virgin in his extremity. She appeared to him forthwith, and sweetly directed his attention to a spring which leaped from an adjacent rock, quite spontaneously and especially for the occasion. The traveller satisfied his craving, and with much gratitude and renewed vigour, addressed himself once more to his journey; but just as he was casting a last thankful look upon the beneficent spot, he thought he could perceive some projecting spars of bright white metal, exactly on the place where the burden of the water fell. He eagerly wrenched a portion of it from the rock, and discovered, to his great joy, that it was silver ore. Setting a mark upon the spot, he returned with proper assistance; and,