Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/463

 Now, the workmen are discovering old tools, skulls, and skeletons, and what is better,—silver. There are many of these abandoned mines, from which the Spaniards were driven during the revolution of 1821, that were yielding their millions. Becoming filled with water, and the Mexicans being unable to clear them out with their inadequate and primitive machinery, they have remained unworked to the present day. The reopening of these valuable deposits of silver has been the favorite project of Mexican miners for nearly half a century; but very little has been accomplished, owing to the amount of capital necessary for the purchase of improved pumping apparatus, material for the timbering of the shafts, and hoisting machinery.

Scattered over the brown hillside above Pachuca, gleaming white, like monuments in a country graveyard, are round pillars of stone, two feet in diameter and five in height. They are the landmarks, or corner-posts, that define the locations of the mines. In locating a mine in this country, the first thing, naturally, is to find a lode; then one person may take up two claims six hundred feet long by three hundred wide, each; two persons can take up double this amount, but no greater location than the latter can be made by one company on the same lode continuously. The width of the location may be amplified according to the dip of the lode. For example, if the dip of the lode be very shallow, the width may be doubled to four hundred metres. The petition for location of a new lode, duly filed in the mining archives, guarantees the prima facie right to final possession upon fulfilling certain conditions; namely, the sinking of a shaft of ten or more metres, or running the same distance in a tunnel on that which shall be declared a metal-bearing vein, no legal objections appearing. If objection is made by owners of adjacent mines, or other persons, the matter is heard and determined by the "board," or sent to the courts.

The mining laws of Mexico have been handed down, with few amendments, from the crown laws of Spain. The system is simple, and eminently practical. "Under the operation of this national code, mining boards are established in all localities where mines exist. The board is composed of three members,