THE TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO.

A third much neglected branch of industry in New Mexico, is that of mining. Numerous deserted mining places in this region prove that it was pursued with much greater zeal in Spanish times than at present. This may be accounted for by the actual want of capital and knowledge of mining, but, especially, by the unsettled state of the country and the arbitrary conduct of its rulers. The mountainous parts of New Mexico are considered extremely rich in gold, copper, iron, and some silver. Gold seems to be found to a large extent in all the mountains near Santa Fé; south of it, at a distance of about one hundred miles as far as "Gran Quivara," and north for about one hundred and twenty miles up to the river Sangre de Christo. Throughout the whole of this region gold dust has been abundantly found by the poorer classes of Mexicans, who occupy themselves with washing it from the mountain streams. At present the Old and New Placeres, or places where gold is obtained near Santa Fé, have attracted most attention, and not only gold washes but gold mines, also, are worked there. Yet they are probably the only gold mines at present wrought in the territory. The wash gold when examined was found to contain:

while the total annual production of both placeres seems to have varied considerably;—in some years it was estimated at from thirty to forty thousand dollars, in others from sixty to eighty thousand, and in latter years, it is reputed to have ascended to even two hundred and fifty thousand.