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Show lU J\ PPENDIX TO PAlrf lll. t'ast, ancl -100 miles in width from cast to went, taking it at its greate st extent. :fir and Climrrtc.-Thc atr is dry anll the heat very gt·eat at that season or the year, whi ch precedes the rainy season, which commences in June and contin11es unti l September by light showct ·s. During the other pnrt of' the yca1· there is not the least rain o1· -;now to moi5tcn the earth. The atmosphere had therefore herome so clcctrifiC'd, that when we halted at ni ~ ht, in takinfr oil' out· l>lankrts the e lectric Ouid WOUld al lllO'>t cover them with sparks, and in C11ihuahua we prepared a bottle with gold-leaf, as a receiver, and colkrted su!Ticicnt of the electric Ouid from a hear-skin to gi,·e a consiclt't ablc shock to a numbc1· of person<>. This phenomenon "'·'" more conspicuoug in the vicinity or Chihuahua than in any other p art that \\ e passr<l O\'Cr. .ilfinc8 and Jlfintrals.-This province abounds in silver and gold mines, whirh yield an im mensc quantity of those metals, but not so great a rev enue to the king as those which arc nearer the mint, and con ~ qucntly present a greater fucili~y to coinugc. I am not acquainted with the proportion of the metals whi ch the mineral yi c· lds in any instance, cxc('pt in one of the silver mines at Chilllla· hua, which belon g-ed to a friend of mine, who informed me that his mi11e yielded him 13 1 -~ clollars per cwt. I one day, with Hobinson, wc:nt throngh Jnany of these furnaces and noticed the manner which they pursued in analysing the mineral and extracting the mctab, hut, as I had previously askccl several Spanish ofliccrs to ac· cotnp<my me, who had always declinccl or defcred it to a future pe· riod, I concei ved it probable it wa<; too delicate a st:bjcct to make a rninutc inqniry into. 1, howcvet·, so fur observed the process as to learn that the mineral was brouRht from the mines in bags, on mules, to the furnace : it was then ground or pounded into small lump'>, not mot·e than the size of a nut, and preci pitated into water, in a ievc '"hich p(:'rmitted the smaller particles to escape into a tub, through '>event! prog ressive operations. From the small pal'ticles whi ch remained at the bottom of the tubs, after it bad been pul'ificd of the earthy qualities, there was a proportion of metal extracted by a ni cc t· pt·occss; but the largc1' parts were put into a furnace si· milar to out· irou fttl'lluces, nn<i when it was in a state of fusion, it wa' let ont into a bed of sand prepared for it which formed it in to ban; about the ~ize of' out· cornmon pig iron, ave1·aged in value at <~bont 2.!>00 dollars. The gold wa!-i cast into a mould similar to a howl :tnd stam ped, as was each bar of si lve r, by the king's essayer of metals, with its value. They were worth from 8 to 10,000 dol· APPENDIX '1'0 PART 1lf. l~1·s. These m_asscs of silver and g-old arc then received ill to t h<.! k~ng's treasu1·y 111 payment, and in fact ha\'C a cmrcncy throug-h the ktngdom; but thc1·e arc vast speculations made on tl 1c co in <~ge, as people who have not larn-e caj)itnls j)l'dct· sc!I1' 11 , ,. tl · 1 11· · • • '"> t> ICU' Jll ton 1 111 the mtcrnal . provmces. , at •a considerable d1'scount 1 to 1l e·m g 01) 11· g·c( 1 to transport It to Mcxtco, m order to have it co11vc1·tc c1 l·l 1 t o spect· c. The pres~nt C---, I was informed, was engag-ed in this trar-fic, on wh1ch, fl'Om the {)rovincc of Senot"l lte somet'1 1 2 '' • lltCS llHH e 5 ~cr CCI~t. N_umbcrs of the proprietors who have 110 immediate U!,e lor theu· bulhon put it into thci1· cellars wlJc1·c 1't 1. . ' ·e· mat· ns P'· r cc 1 up for theu· postcrlly, of no service to themselves 01. tl le · COl ltnUIHt)'. There arc at Chihuahua and its vicinity fifteen mines, thirteen si l-ver, one gold, and one copper, the fumaccs of all of which arc situated round the town and suburbs, and })resent cxceJ)l on s 1 . . ' · , tl lll ays, volumes of smoke ansmg to the eye in every direction which CJn be s~~n from _a _distan~e long before. the spires of the' city strike the \~ew.' I_t IS mcred1ble the quantlly of cinders which SUI't'Ottnd the city m piles ten or fifteen feet high: next the creek they have ~ormed a bank of it to check the encroachments of the stream and It p!·escnts an effectual banicr. ' I a~ told that an E.uro1~ean employed some hands and w1·oug·J 1t at the cmders and that It yiClded one <.Iollar and twenty-five cents for each pet· day; but that this not answering- his ex1Jcctations 1 d } . . ' lC c.ease 1.1s procccchngs. At Mausseme there is one gold a11u seven sliver nunes. A.t Dumngo there arc many and rich mines, but the number to me 1s unknown. There arc also gol~ mines in the Sicl't'a Madre, ncar J\ lomas, and ~nany others of winch I have no knowledge. There is in the ~~~·o~mcc, abot~t one hundred miles south of Chihuahua, a mountain v htll.~f ~oadstonc. '~ alker, who had been on the ground and surt: ycd It, .111fonncd me It appeared to be solid strata, as regular as boat of hmeston~, or any other of the species. Uc had bt·oug·llt me a square ptcce of near· a foot and a half, was preparing ~omc ~0 be sent to Spain, and likewise fot·ming magnets to accompany it ln order that their comparative strength mig·ht be ascertained witl: magnets formed in Europe. . Rive1·s.-Rio Conchos i's the largest in the province. It takes lts so~rce in the Sierra Madre, ne.1r Hatopilis in 28° N. lntitudc and dts c h arges l· lsel f I· nto the lh·o del Norte in the 31° after a' ~co· urse of •a bo u t "C)O 'I 1· · ' .l mt es. tIS the largest wcstcm branch of the 10 del Norte, and receives in its course the Rio Florido from tl1c |