The wonders of the world

by John Loraine Abbott

In the mint of Potosi, about six millions of dollars were annually coined; and the mines of the old viceroyalty of La Plata, taken collectively, are reckoned to have yielded about sixteen millions.

The mines of Mexico, or what was formerly called New Spain, have been more celebrated for their riches than those of La Plata, notwithstanding which they are remarkable for the poverty of the mineral they contain. A quintal, or sixteen hundred ounces of silver ore, affords, at a medium, not more than three or four ounces of pure silver, about one-third of what is yielded by the same quantity of mineral in Saxony. It is not, therefore, on account of the richness of the ore, but from its abundance and the facility of working it, that these mines have been so much superior to those of Europe.

The fact of the small number of persons employed in working them, is not less contrary to the commonly received opinion on this subject. The mines of Guanaxuato, infinitely richer than those of Potosi ever were, afforded from 1706 to 1803, nearly forty millions of dollars in gold and silver, or very nearly five millions of dollars annually, being somewhat less than one-fourth of the whole quantity of gold and silver from New Spain; notwithstanding which, these mines, productive as they were, did not employ more than five thousand workmen of every description. In Mexico, the labor of the mines was perfectly free, and better paid than any other kind of industry, a miner earning from five to five dollars and a half weekly, while the wages of the common laborer did not exceed a dollar and a half. The tenateros, or persons who carried the ore on their backs, from the spot where it was dug out of the mine, to that where it was collected in heaps, had a sum equal to a dollar and ten cents for a day’s work of six hours. Neither slaves, criminals, nor forced laborers, were employed in the Mexican mines.

In consequence of the clumsy, imperfect and expensive mode of clearing them from water, several of the richest of these mines have been overflowed and abandoned; while the lack of method in the arrangement of the galleries, and the absence of lateral communications, have added to the risk, and greatly increased the expense of working them. Labor has not been, as in the working of the European mines, abridged, nor the transportation of materials facilitated. When new works were undertaken, a due consideration was not bestowed on the preliminary arrangements; and they were always conducted on too large and expensive a scale.

More than three-fourths of the silver obtained from America is extricated from the ore by means of quicksilver, the loss of which, in the process of amalgamation, is immense. The quantity that used to be consumed annually in Mexico alone, was about sixteen thousand quintals; and in the whole of South America, about twenty-five thousand quintals were yearly expended, the cost of which there, has been estimated at more than a million dollars. The greater part of this quicksilver, in later years, was furnished by the mine of Almaden in Spain, and that of Istria in Carniola, the celebrated quicksilver mine of Huancavelica in Peru, having greatly fallen off in its produce since the sixteenth century, when it was highly flourishing. The prosperity of the silver mines, both in Mexico and Peru, therefore depended very much on the supplies of quicksilver from Spain, Germany and Italy; for such was the abundance of the ore in those provinces, that apparently the only limit to the amount of silver obtained there, was the want of mercury for amalgamation.

In taking a general view of the riches of the other portions of America, Humboldt, who has supplied these details, remarks that, in Peru, silver ore exists in as great abundance as in Mexico, the mines of Lauricocha being capable of yielding as great a produce as those of Guanaxuato; but that the art of mining, and the methods of separating the silver from its ore, are still more defective than in Mexico. Notwithstanding this imperfect system, the total amount of the precious metals annually furnished by America, was at one time estimated at upward of forty-two million dollars; the gold being in proportion to the silver as one to forty-six. From 1492 to 1803, the quantity of gold and silver extracted from the American mines, was equal in value to five billion, seven hundred and six million, seven hundred thousand dollars; of which immense sum, the portion carried to Europe, including the booty gathered by the conquerors of America, is estimated at five billion, four hundred and forty-five million dollars, averaging seventeen million and a half of dollars yearly. The annual importation up to 1803, being divided into six periods, appears to have constantly augmented, and in the following progressive ratio. From 1492 to 1500, it did not exceed two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. From 1500 to 1545, it amounted to three millions of dollars. From 1545 to 1600, to eleven millions. From 1600 to 1700, to sixteen millions. From 1700 to 1750, to twenty-two millions and a half. And, lastly, from 1750 to 1803, to the prodigious sum of thirty-five million, three hundred thousand dollars.

The first period was that of exchange with the natives, or of mere rapine. The second was distinguished by the conquest and plunder of Mexico, Peru and New Granada, and by the opening of the first mines. The third began with the discovery of the rich mines of Potosi; and in the course of it the conquest of Chili was completed, and various mines opened in Mexico. At the commencement of the fourth period, the mines of Potosi began to be exhausted; but those of Lauricocha were discovered, and the produce of Mexico rose from two millions to five millions of dollars annually. The fifth period began with the discovery of gold in Brazil; and the sixth was distinguished by the prodigious increase of the mines of Mexico, while those of every other part of America, with the exception of Brazil, were then constantly improving.

The gold mines of Brazil have been very productive. Those called general, were about seventy-five leagues from Rio Janeiro, the staple and principal outlet of the riches of the Brazilian territory. They formerly yielded to the king, annually, for his right of fifths, at least one hundred and twelve arobas (weighing twenty-five pounds each) of gold; so that their yearly produce might then have been estimated at upward of three and a half millions of dollars, and that of the more distant mines at about one-third the sum.

The gold drawn from them could not be carried to Rio Janeiro, without being first brought to the smelting-houses established in each district, where the right of the crown was received. What belonged to private persons was remitted in bars, with their weight, number, and an impression of the royal arms. The gold was then assayed, and its standard imprinted on each bar. When these bars were carried to the mint, their value was paid to the possessor in coin, commonly in half-doubloons, each worth eight Spanish dollars. Upon each of these half-doubloons the king gained a dollar, by the alloy and right of coinage. The mint of Rio Janeiro was one of the most beautiful in existence, and furnished with every convenience for working with the greatest celerity. As the gold came from the mines at the same time that the fleets came from Portugal, the operations of the mint and the coinage proceeded with surprising quickness.

In Africa, the kingdom of Mozambique abounds in gold, which is washed down by the rivers, and forms a chief part of the commerce of the country. The kingdoms of Monomotara and Sofala likewise furnish considerable quantities of gold; and the Portuguese residing in the latter territory, half a century ago, reported that it yielded annually two millions of metigals, equal to somewhat more than a million sterling. The merchants exported from Mecca, and other parts, about the same quantity of gold. The soldiers were paid in gold dust, in the state in which it was collected; and this was so pure, and of so fine a yellow, as not to be exceeded, when wrought, by any other gold beside that of Japan. Gold is likewise found on the island of Madagascar. The Gold Coast is so denominated from the abundance of gold found among the sands: it is not, however, so productive as has been generally supposed, owing to the intense heats, which, in a great measure, prevent the natives from prosecuting their researches.