Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/573



and gold! Silver and gold! The image and measure of wealth; the shadow, superior to substance, before which throughout the ages all men bow; what magic spells these metals cast upon the destinies of mankind! Without referring to the earlier-mining fields of history, the Ophir of the Jews, the Pactolian placers of the Greeks, and the gold-producing colonies of the Romans, there is enough to command present attention in our Pacific States territory, throughout the length and breadth of which nature strewed liberally the precious metals. In the present volume I shall speak only of the deposits of Central America and Mexico; accounts of those of the northern regions will appear in the subsequent divisions of this historical series. As there is pleasing fiction in their value, so there is fascinating romance in their story.

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