Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 1.djvu/253

Rh complicated. The amalgam is placed in stone vats, or tubs, into which a stream of water constantly flows; it is from time to time agitated with poles, that the water may have due power; and as the silver and mercury sink to the bottom, the water charged with the impure particles is turned off. The metal, thus separated from its native earth and rock, is then placed in the smelting-furnace, over which is a cover resembling a bell; here the mercury is sublimated; and the pure silver, together with any particles of gold adhering thereto, is left behind. The silver is generally cast in the form of massive pieces termed barras, often weighing fifty or sixty pounds individually, and worth from one thousand to fifteen hundred pesos, or dollars, each. These barras are considered to be a much safer kind of property than coin; for, being marked, they may be easily identified, and cannot quite so readily be carried away.

Notwithstanding the encouragement given to mining speculations by the Mexican government, the subjects of possession, discovery, and payment, afford never ending opportunities of quarrel between rival companies and operators. Lawyers are consequently in great