C HAP. XVII.

IN AMERICA.

47

not come into operation till the expiration of theperiod. It was not till 1502 that Ovando de-spatched to Europe the first large quantity ofgold, the greater part of which was lost in thestorm, which wrecked most of the vessels, and thew hole of what was shipped did not exceed 2560marcs in weight, and may be valued at between70,0002. and 72,0002. sterling.

It seems necessary to guard against the ex-aggerated language of the early discoverers ofAmerica , who speak of enormous quantities ofgold, of immense wealth, of vast treasure; and tocorrect this language by figures whenever in theirrelations we meet with any. In this way, instead ofdeeming: Humboldt to have diminished the actual

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quantity of gold and silver found in America , weshall be disposed, if we venture to dissent from hisresults, to believe that he has rather under thanoverstated the quantities. According to the ac-counts of the various Spanish writers, the goldcollected by the successors of the first explorers,from the year 1500 to the invasion of Mexico byCortes in 1519 , may have equalled, but scarcelycould have exceeded, that which Humboldt esti-mates as the annual produce afforded by America between 1492 and 1500 , or about 52 , 0002 . ster-ling. If, then, in the twenty-seven years betweenthe first discovery by Columbus in 1492 to thelanding of Cortez in Mexico in 1519 5 the annualproduce of gold be estimated at 52 , 0002 . we shall