The only mining region of any note in Jalisco is that of Bolaños. The mines of Hostotipaquillo, near Tepic, are now abandoned; those of Guichichila, Santa Maria del Oro, Santa Martin and Ameca, in the district of Etzatlan, in the neighborhood of Cocula, are partially wrought. Among the unexplored sites of base and spurious metals in this State, we may mention those found in the vicinity of Compostella, those near the ranchos of Rosa Morada and Buena Vista, towards the coast, between the villages of Santiago and Acaponeta, and those near Guajicoria, north of the last named village.
The Islands of La Isabela, San Juanico and Marias, lie on the Pacific coast of Jalisco.
The aborigines of Jalisco, formerly warlike and devoted to a bloody religion, belong to the tribes of Cazçanes, Guachichiles and Guamanes. They are most generally tillers of the ground, adhering to the doctrines of the Catholic church, and they have particular fondness for settling a while in lonely and wild regions, and for changing their place of residence frequently. The manners and customs of the Guachichiles are in many respects peculiar. They still use the bow and arrow as weapons. Their quivers are made of deer and shark skins, and the points of their reed arrows are formed of a hard wood and rarely of copper. The garments of the men consist of a kind of short tunic, roughly made by themselves of blue or brown cotton material, with a girdle hanging down in front and behind, to which is generally added a pair of trousers of tanned goat or deer skin. Married persons, men as well as women, wear straw hats with broad rims and high crowns, ornamented with a narrow ribbon of bright colored wool and tassels. Their black bushy hair is worn very long, bound with bright colored ribbons and tassels, or plaited in queues. No unmarried person, male or female, dare wear a hat. The women are clothed with an under garment of rough wool or cotton and a mantle of the same material, which has an aperture on top through which they pass their heads. When sober they are peaceable and easily controlled, but when intoxicated violent and quarrelsome. At marriage the husband has the right of taking his wife on trial and of sending her back to her parents after some time if she should not please him, and this, even if she should be pregnant by him. This, however, does not prevent such a female marrying afterwards. If she gives satisfaction, the husband has the ceremony performed by a priest or monk, who for this purpose makes a yearly circuit, and often performs the marriage and a baptism at the same time!
Church and school matters, particularly the latter, are provided for in the State of Jalisco in an inferior manner to other parts of the Mexican Republic. A few years ago, there were in the entire State only 113 elementary schools attended by not more than 6,167 children. The instruction was limited almost exclusively to reading, for of this entire number, according to official accounts, there were not more than 2,092 learning to write. For instruction in the higher branches there were in the entire State only two indifferent institutions located in the capital—one the Seminario Conciliar for instruction of the clergy, with thirteen chairs and a species of academy, founded since the revolution, called El Instituto, with chairs for anatomy, modern languages, mineralogy, mathematics, &c. The seminary was attended by 120 boarders and 329 day scholars. The institution had one director, ten professors, two assistant teachers, a secretary, etc.; the available funds of the same consisted, independent of a fee paid by the wealthier scholars, of scarcely any thing but an addition of two thousand and seventy dollars granted by the State treasury. Jalisco felt deeply this sad condition of public instruction, and numerous propositions for its amelioration and thorough reformation were made, but money was wanting and fit men for the professorships, and discretion and tact on the part of the authorities, and it is scarcely to be expected that since that time public instruction has been essentially bettered. The "Instituto" since then has been made a university. The State forms a separate bishopric. It was erected in the year 1548, and embraced at that time in like manner the present States of Durango and New Leon. The bishop had his seat first at Compostela; in 1569 it was transferred to Guadalajara. In 1631 Durango was separated from Jalisco, and in 1777 both were made distinct bishoprics. The episcopal chapter of Jalisco consisted of three dignitaries, four canons and four prebendaries.
THE TERRITORY OF COLIMA.
This territory is bounded north by Jalisco, south by Mechoacan, east by both of these States, and west by the Pacific. It extends between the degrees of 18° 18´ and 19° 10´ of north latitude, and 102° 51´ and 104° 2´ west longitude from Greenwich. Its surface is generally level, broken by hills, from among which rises the mountain of Colima, the westernmost of Mexican volcanoes. It lies in the north-eastern corner of the Territory, and reaches a height of 9,200 feet above the level of the sea.
The climate of Colima is warm—on the coast it is hot—but the territory is generally considered healthy and fruitful in all portions. Its population is estimated at about 45,000. Cotton, sugar, tobacco and cacao are produced by its agriculturists, while on the coast large quantities of salt are made from the waters of the sea. Rich iron deposits have been recently found, and individuals have commenced developing this important source of national wealth.
The chief town of the Territory is Colima, about two leagues south of the volcano, containing between fifteen and twenty thousand inhabitants. The other towns and villages are Almoloyan, with 4,000 people, Xala, Ascatlan and Texupa. The haven of Manzanillo, or port of Colima, as it is sometimes called, is seventeen leagues west of the capital; and with but small expense to government might be made one of the best anchorages in the Republic.
