placed there perchance by some devout one who had escaped
from danger. In some cases these churches were built by fortunate men
who had become fabulously rich by the discovery of some great
_bonanza_, and in token of their gratitude to their patron saint who
had guided them to so fortunate a destiny they raised the temple which
bore his name.

The fine cathedral of Chihuahua, which cost more than half a million
dollars, was built from a tax levied upon every pound of silver from
the rich Santa Eulalia mine--discovered in 1704--of that region; and in
the State of Guerrero, at Taxco, a splendid church was built which
cost, it is stated, one and a half million dollars to construct,
yielded by the famous mine there. A huge gallery, or tunnel, which was
begun by Cortes, forms part of the extensive workings. Another example
embodying this strange medley of silver and piety is that of the
celebrated shrine, or church, of Guadalupe, near the capital, whose
sacred vessels, altar rails, candelabra, and other accessories of a
like nature, are formed of silver contributed by the pilgrims who,
since the time of the vision which made the place famous, journeyed
thither. The weight of the silver contained in these articles is
calculated at fifty tons. In the plateau-city of Durango stands a fine
cathedral, and this was built from the taxes imposed upon the great
Avino mine, and stands as a lasting monument to the great natural
wealth of silver which gave it being and which for 350 years has
enriched the inhabitants of that favoured spot. In some of the rich
mines it is recorded that the miners were permitted to carry out each
day a large piece of rich ore, which they presented as an offering to
the priest, who devoted the total to the building of a temple. At
Catorce a splendid church was so constructed, at a cost of nearly two
million dollars.

The great Valenciana mine at Guanajuato, of which mention has been made
as the scene of ruthless oppression practised upon the natives by the
Spaniards, which terminated in bloody vengeance, left a monument to the
fabulous wealth extracted from it. This was built by a miner, one
Obregon, who, the chronicles of the city state, became the "richest man
in the world." With that almost fanatic and inexhaustible credence and
energy which has often characterised the Spanish miner, he drove his
adit year after year into the bowels of the great "mother lode";
penniless, ruined at last, without credi