Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/398

368 MEXICO. the greatest possible extent ; for it was necessary to procure, and embody, all the most authentic data now extant, with regard to the former produce of the Mines, and the propor- tion borne by that produce to the exports of precious metals from the diiferent ports of New Spain, before I could feel myself warranted in hazarding an opinion, at all, upon a sub- ject so vast and so important in its bearings. The future produce of the country, again, depended, in a great measure, upon the issue of the present attempt to work the Mines by the aid of Foreign Capital ; while the probability of bringing each of the several undertakings, in which this capital is invested, to a more or less favourable conclusion, could only be ascertained by putting myself into communica- tion with the Directors of the different Companies, and by visiting, in person, such of the principal Districts as were not so very far removed from the Capital, as to render it impossi- ble to reach them, without a sacrifice of time, of which my other occupations would not admit. In the course of these enquiries, I have collected a consi- derable mass of information ; and although, from my total ignorance of mineralogy, I have derived less benefit from my personal observations than I might have done, had I been better prepared for the task, yet, in one respect, this very deficiency may have proved an advantage, since it compelled me to confine my investigations to subjects, of which I was better able to judge than of the quality of the ores ; viz. the mode in which the general proceedings of the Companies have been conducted ; the feelings of the natives with regard to them ; the local advantages which they possess ; the difficul- ties which they have had to surmount ; the extent of the outlay of each ; the progress already made in their respective works; and the expectations which that progress seems to warrant, with regard to the future. Upon all these points, the opinion of an impartial observer will not (I hope) be unacceptable to those engaged in Trans-