Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/580

 544

MEXICO.

Before the Spanish conquest, great quantities of the precious metals had been extracted from the Mexican soil, and mining con- tinued actively before the introduction of mechanical appliances into the country, which may be said to have commenced with the present century. Silver was long the great staple of Mexican export trade ; and it is reported that from the year 1796 to the year 1810, about 22,000,000 dollars, or 4,400,0001. were annually shipped from the ports of the colony for Spain, commercial intercourse with any other than the mother-country being interdicted.

The Mineria, or School of Mines, a conspicuous building within the city of Mexico, and containing an extensive collection of minerals, has never ceased to enjoy the support of all succeeding governments, and a certain amount of protection even in the most anarchical times, necessary in a country of which the mineral resources are so enor- mous, and all but unrivalled.

A line of railway, called the ' National Mexican,' 300 miles long, from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, with branch to Puebla, was commenced, under State aid, in 1864, and is to be completed in 1869. A portion of the line, from the capital to San Angelo, was opened in September 1865.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures of Mexico and the British equivalents, are as follows : —

Monet. The Dollar, of 100 cents: approximate value, As.

Weights and Measures.

„,, ., f for wine. = 3i imperial gallons.

The Arroba \ Q \\ _ gl

„ Square Vara. . = T09 vara = 1 yard.

„ Fancga. . . = l£ imperial bushel.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Mexico.

1. Official Publications.

Anales del Minesterio de fomento, colonizacion, industria y comercio. 8. Mexico, 1865-69.

Comercio exterior de Mexico. Pol. Mexico. 1868.

Memoria del Secretario del despacho de hacienda. Fol. Mexico, 1865.

Report by Mr. It. T. C. Middleton, H. M.'s Secretary of Legation, on the Trade, Industry, Finances, and Population of the Mexican Empire, dated Aug. 12, 1865; in ' Reports of H. M.'s Secretaries of Embassy.' No. XL London, 1866.

Eeport by R. T. C. Middleton, on the Financial position of Mexico, dated February 25, 1867 ; in 'Reports by H. M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Lega- tion.' No. V. 1867. London, 1867.