of their offices. All hired servants also are prohibited, which will be seen, in the proper place, when we come to treat of the registering of mines by servants on the part of their masters.* SECTION I. The working of quicksilver mines was at first permitted in New Spain but was subsequently in several instances prohibited, it having been made unlawful to sell quicksilver in New Spain, except such as is remitted and distributed on the account of the crown. 38. The supreme right and authority in and over the mines, vested in and exercised by the crown, cannot be better illustrated than by giving an ac. count of the mines of quicksilver, and of the manner in which that metal is sold and distributed. By our new ordinances, and by orders of the 19th of June, 1568, and the 19th of January, 1609, upon which the corresponding laws of the Collection of the Indies are founded,t permission was given, not only to raise gold, silver and other metals, generally, but likewise quicksilver in particular, and all possible activity was recommended in promoting the discovery and working of the mines of that metal, the viceroys, the audiences and governors, being directed to extend to the discoverers, every advantage that might seem reasonable; provided, as is expressed in the above order of the 19th of June, 1568, that the interests of other parties should not be prejudiced, and that the duty of a fifth part should be paid in pure and clean quicksilver.‡ 39. We are not informed, nor have we with all our industry been able to ascertain, from any of the curious histories and accounts of the mining dis tricts of the Indies, or from any of the official reports or orders, whether any quicksilver mines were worked in New Spain during the period immedi ately subsequent to its discovery § but the probability is that none such were worked, and that even the existence of the metal was unknown. And this we infer from its great scarcity at that time, it being sometimes procured from the celebrated mines of Guancavelica in Peru, sometimes from those of * Chap. 15, numb. 1 and 2. + Laws 2 and 4, title 19, book 4, Collection of the Indies. This and other orders stated by us, are compiled entire by Montemayor, in his 5th book, title 5, concerning quicksilver and the collection of the duties thereon, to which we refer. § Don Joseph Villa-Senor, Theatr. Americ. tom. 1, cap. 48, relates, that the mining district of San Gregorio, in the jurisdiction of Acazuchitlan, or Tetela del rio, had been worked on his majesty's account for quicksilver and copper, and that it was in his time gone to decay. And that there were veins of quicksilver also in Halchicapa, but it does not appear when they were worked. el Almaden in Spain, sometimes from Germany, and sometimes from China, by way of Acapulco. But three instances have occurred, during the present century, of private persons having proposed to work mines of quicksilver, and of orders having thereupon been issued to close the mines, which orders, in two of the instances, were expressly approved by the king. 40. The first instance is recorded in the recital of an order, dated at San Lorenzo, the fifth of July, 1718, and countersigned by Don Andres de Corobarrutia y Zupide, and which runs as follows: "To my viceroy and president, and the judges of my audiency of the city of Mexico, in the province of New Spain. By a dispatch of even date herewith, I have been • pleased to give my commission and instructions to Don Juan Joseph de Veitia, to take certain measures for stopping up and preventing the working of the mines or veins of quicksilver discovered in the jurisdiction of the city of Quernavaca; in which matter, and in all that concerns the business of distributing the quicksilver for that kingdom, which I have entrusted to his care he is to proceed and act independently and exclusively of you my viceroy and you, the judges of my said audiency; and you are not under any pretext to interfere by taking cognizance of this matter, or any part thereof, of which I have thought proper to advise and instruct you, as I hereby do, for your government, and that you may not put any hindrance or impediment in his way, forewarning you, that any proceedings you may take in contravention of this order, will incur my displeasure, and will induce me to take the severest measures against you; and I desire you on the contrary, to shew him any favour or assistance that he may require of you, or that may be necessary for executing and carrying into full effect the matters aforesaid; and you shall give me an account of the receipt and execution of this order, through the office of my general superintendent of quicksilver, the first opportunity that may offer." 41. The second instance is recorded in another royal order, dated the 24th of November, 1730, from which it appears, that Don Pedro Manzano having discovered two quicksilver mines, in the jurisdiction of the Sierra de Pinos, in the district of the audiency of Guadalaxara; one of which was in the Cerro del Carro, and the other in the Cerro del Picacho, he reported the same to the judge, charged with the exclusive cognizance of all affairs relating to quicksilver, who ordered that the works should be stopped, as being prejudicial to the mines of el Almaden, and as likely to give occasion for fraud: the king, being advised of these proceedings, was pleased to approve the prohibition so issued. And this is related by Don Mathias de la Mota, in his history of New Galicia.† 42. The third instance occurred in the year 1745, whilst Colonel Don Fermin de Echevers was president of the royal audiency of Guadalaxara. * In our MS. of orders, tom. 2, fol. 162, back. Another quicksilver mine was this year discovered in the Cerro del Carro, information whereof being given to the Marquess de Altamira, superintendent of quicksilver, and judge of the royal audiency of Mexico, he ordered that the works should be stopped. The order is extant in the office of the superintendent of quicksilver, and at Guadalaxara. 43. These three instances demonstrate that the working of quicksilver mines in New Spain, has been prohibited by the crown, because the quicksilver from the mines of el Almaden is distributed on account of the revenue; but it appears, nevertheless, that there are such mines at Quernavaca, in the kingdom of New Spain, and in the Sierra de Pinos, in the kingdom of New Galicia; and some are of opinion that quicksilver is to be found at la Pimeria, and that the Indians used to describe a lake of this metal, which must be something like la Gran Quivira in New Spain, or el Dorado in Peru. 44. The grounds of this prohibition are stated in several orders. The first of these was issued by the Princess Regent, and is dated at Valladolid, the 4th of March, 1559, and directed to the royal officers, and runs thus :"To our officers of New Spain. Having considered what you, and our viceroy of that country have written to us, concerning the great necessity which exists for sending a quantity of quicksilver thither, for reducing the silver raised from the mines of New Spain aforesaid, and concerning the great advantages that would follow from our sending it thither to be sold by our officers; by which means, over and above the great benefit that would be conferred on the inhabitants of the country aforesaid, we ourselves should derive great advantage, and might make a profit on the said quicksilver, of twice what it cost here; we have provided, that all the quicksilver that is raised, and that may henceforth be raised, from the mines of el Almaden, shall be sent to you; as well as a further quantity, which our factor-general has now purchased by our command, in order that you may sell the same; and our officers of the Casa de Contratacion of Seville will therefore send you the quicksilver aforesaid, by virtue of the order that has been forwarded to them; and we have prohibited the sending any quicksilver to the parts aforesaid, unless in our name, and by our command. Wherefore, I command you, that you provide some person at the city of Vera Cruz to receive and forward to you, at the city of Mexico, all the quicksilver that our said officers of Seville shall so send to you, and that when and so often as you shall receive it, you shall sell it at the greatest possible profit, and make as much by it as you conveniently may, which we expect from our confidence in your fidelity and care; and our treasurer shall charge you with the money which you may thereby make, and you shall always render us an account of the quantity you receive, and of the price at which it is sold. And, forasmuch as the quicksilver costs here, from 55 to 58 ducats per quintal, you are to take an account thereof and of the freight and other expenses, of which the said officers of Seville will advise you, and to sell it at as much profit as possible. Dated at Valladolid, the 4th of March, 1559.-The Princess. -In the name and by the command of his majesty.-Ochoa de Luyando." 45. The second order is dated at the Pardo, the 22d of January, 1565,† and is directed to the viceroy and royal officers: It provides and charges, that great care be taken to sell the quicksilver at as much profit as possible, having regard to its influence on the working of the mines, and on the amount of the fifth, levied by the crown by way of duty. 46. The third order is dated the 3d of June, 1567, and is also directed to the royal officers, and after stating, that it had been ordained by divers laws and edicts, that no quicksilver should be sent to New Spain, except by licence and permission of the king, and that a great quantity had been carried over in the late convoys without such licence, and that a further quantity might probably be going over by that year's convoy; it directed them to investigate and ascertain the fact, either personally, or through some one of trust, and if they should find any, to set it apart, and to report from whom and to whom it was being conveyed, that proper measures might be taken accordingly, on account of the great loss to the revenue from such proceedings.‡ 47. Upon these and several other orders, is founded the law of the Collection of the Indies,§ which commands, that there shall be no trading in quicksilver, except on account of the revenue, and that all quicksilver shipped on any account shall be forfeited, together with double the value, onethird to go to the informer, and two-thirds to the exchequer; and the merchants and miners are forbidden to retail even what has been distributed to them on account of the revenue. 48. From all which it is to be inferred that the principal reasons for maintaining this prohibition are, first, that the taking it off would involve the crown and the revenue in great loss, whilst under the present system, the quicksilver department produces a considerable profit. 49. Second, that as great expense is incurred at the mines of el Almaden, in the slow and tedious process of reducing this mineral (as appears from the ordinances of those mines, dated the 31st of January, 1735), it is not to be endured that any person should trade in it, except under a licence from the crown. 50. Third, that it has the effect, not only of preventing the frauds that would attend the wholesale and retail trade in quicksilver, but also of circumscribing the opportunities of withholding the silver from being stamped; for if the miners had other means of procuring quicksilver, distinct from the *In our old MS. of orders, fol. 98, back of the first part. † Fol. 117 of said old orders, first part. Fol. 122, of said old orders, part 1st. Law 1, title 23, book 8. supply furnished by the crown, they might dispose of their silver clandestinely, to the great diminution of the tenths and other crown dues. 51. These considerations led to another royal order, dated at Aranjuez, the 8th of May, 1572, and countersigned by Antonio de Erasso, and which prohibited selling quicksilver to the merchants for the purpose of resale, even though it were in the first instance shipped by the king, and distributed on his account. This order was also one of those upon which was founded the law of the Indies, cited above, directing that the quicksilver should be forfeited, with double its value, and ordering further discretionary penalties to be regulated by the particular circumstances of the case. The reasons for this order appear upon the face of it, and it runs thus :-"To Don Martin Enriquez, our viceroy, governor and captain-general of New Spain, and president of our royal audiency thereof. Know, that both from what you and our officers of the country aforesaid have at divers times written to us, and from the relation, petition and earnest request of the miners of that country, and of the province of New Galicia, concerning the sale of the quicksilver shipped to the said country, on our account, and from the provinces of Peru, we are advised of the disadvantages that attend the system now followed in the sale thereof, as well as of the poverty of the miners, the low standard of the ores worked, the consequent diminution in the quantity of silver reduced, and the prejudicial effects that attach upon the miners themselves, upon the tenth duty, and upon the trade and commerce of that country in general, from the miners having to obtain the quicksilver at second-hand from the merchants; and we are also aware of the other inconveniences that you have reported and represented to us in regard to this subject. Upon consideration whereof, and of other representations made to us here, and seeing that we desire to promote the interests of the country aforesaid, and to lend every aid to the said miners, we have commanded that some remedy against these evils should be looked for and considered of; and that which at present appears to us the most practicable and proper is, that all the quicksilver that is conveyed to the country aforesaid, both from these kingdoms, on our own account, and from the provinces of Peru, should be deposited in our stores in the country aforesaid; that a list should be made of all the miners in your government of New Spain aforesaid, and in that of New Galicia, and that one moiety of such quicksilver should be distributed to them on credit, in such manner that the proceeds thereof may be returned to this kingdom by the same convoy by which it is carried out; and that the other moiety should also be disposed of in like manner, but so that the proceeds thereof may be returned by the next convey, good security being taken for the same; and that the price to be given for the quicksilver aforesaid should be fixed by you and our officers of the said country aforesaid, and should be such as may be most beneficial to our revenue. Wherefore, I command you to provide for the observance and fulfilment of the |