[XXXII-43] They were several times plundered by buccaneers. Harris in 1684 took away 120 lbs. of gold. Dampier speaks glowingly of them in that year; 'the richest gold mines ever yet found in America.' New Voy. round the World, i. 158-9. Another exped. in 1702 carried off 50 lbs.
[XXXII-44] An extensive and able report by the governor, many years after, gives much information on the whole Darien region, especially on its mineral wealth, making particular mention of the Cuque gold mine, and of a silver one in the country of the Curias Indians, who allowed no whites to visit it. Ariza, Comentos de la rica y fertilísima Prov. del Darien, Apr. 5, 1774, MS., 2, 12, 19-21, 32-7; Id., in Anales Instruc. Púb. Colombia, May 1883, 369, 380, 687-9, 397-401.
[XXXII-45] Gisborne's Isth. Darien, 173; Pan., Boletin Ofic., July 4, Aug. 1, 1867.
[XXXII-46] Restrepo, Minas de Oro y Plata de Colombia, in Anales Instruc. Púb. Colombia, Mar. 1884, 230-45. Many rivers are represented to contain abundance of gold, namely, Marea and Balsas in Darien, Coclé, Belen, Indios, and their tributaries. Their are mines in Las Tablas, etc. Gold has also been taken from Indian graves. Seemann's Narr., i. 242-3; Pan., Crón. Ofic., March 6, 1853; Id., Gaceta del Est., Dec. 15, 1855; June 14, 1856; June 22, 1857; Sept. 23, Oct. 22, 1859; May 4, 1860; Id., Gac., Sept. 6, 1873; Feb. 20, 1876, to May 8, 1881, passim; U. S. Govt Doc., 54, 169-72, vol. ix., Cong. 40, Sess. 3.
[XXXII-47] Six hundred and four millions in gold and auriferous silver, and 26 millions in silver. Restrepo, Vicente, Industria Minera, in Pan. Star and Herald, Jan. 2, 1884.
[XXXII-48] Bogotá, Gaceta Ofic., Feb. 6, 1848; Pan., Gac. Estado, Aug. 4, 1855; Jan. 5, 1856; May 10, 1862; Id., Gac., Aug. 22, 1874; Feb. 27, 1875; Jan. 12, 1876; Nov. 7, 1880; Id., Boletin Ofic., Dec. 7, 1867; Id., Star and Herald, Feb. 28, 1876; Wheelright's Isth. Pan., 8; Pan. Rept on Coal Bocas del Toro, in Costa R. Bound, 3-19; Selfridge's Explor., 177-80; U. S. Gov. Doc., H. Ex. Doc., 41, 45-53, vol. vi. Cong. 36, Sess. 2; S. F. Bulletin, July 26, 1873.
[XXXII-49] They were known, however, from the earliest times, and the needs of the inhabitants in cotton and woollen goods, pottery, etc., were mostly supplied at home. The decline of cotton manufactures began in 1773, after the destruction of old Guat. city, and was completed when permission was given a little previous to 1799, for the importation of foreign manufactured goods. Diario, Méx., March 29, 1806; Juarros, Guat., i. 16-82, passim; Saravia, Bosq. Polít. Est., 12; Guat., Apuntam., 12, 138-9.
[XXXII-50] Exempting from taxation, establishing schools of mechanic arts, introducing skilful mechanics, granting subsidies, etc. Montúfar, Resúmen Hist., i. 321; Guat., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1880-4; Batres, Sketch, 53, 60.
[XXXII-51] Guat. has been creditably represented at several international exhibitions; she has also entered into conventions with several foreign powers to secure patents for inventions. Costa R., Mem. Sec. Rel., 1884, annex 8; El Guatemalteco, Sept. 24, Oct. 12, Nov. 1, 1884; Voz de Méj., Sept. 14, 1878; Guat., Mem. Sec. Fomento, 1885, 36-8.
[XXXII-52] A cotton rebozo may be had for $4 or $5, and a silk one for $12, the finest selling at from $16 to $20. Laferrière, De Paris à Guatém., 209-10.