Dairying.-Dairying is carried on only to a very limited extent, for the purpose of supplying local demands. It is most difficult to obtain milk in any part of the country, as the calves take the greater proportion and crude cheese making the remainder. No effort has been made to increase or develop dairying. Both butter and cheese are imported in cans and retail at a high price, in spite of the fact that according to a late report of the Minister of Public Works, more than 500,000 cows are said to be in the Republic.

Following is the Law or Regulation governing the exportation of cattle from Honduras:

REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE EXPORTATION OF CATTLE.

ARTICLE 1. Exportation of cattle may take place from one Department into another and from this State into another State or States. The officials in charge shall be the Collector of Revenue, the Governors of the Departments, the municipal authorities of each locality, and the inspectors and guards.

ART. 2. Any party interested in exportation (of cattle) should present a petition in writing with the due prayer, to the Collector of the Department from which the cattle are to be removed, containing the name of the chief conductor of the cattle, the number of head of cattle, their class, and the name of the place to which they are destined. ART. 3. The Collector of Revenue, on finding the petition in due form, and having satisfied himself of the proprietary rights in the cattle, shall indorse at the foot of it a permit, and immediately complete the resolution by notifying the party interested and receiving from him the export duties payable.

ART. 4. The permits shall run for transportation from one Department to another within Honduras, and for exportation when the transportation is contemplated to another State.

ART. 5. The Collector of Revenue shall levy, in accordance with the laws of April 8, 1896, the following export duties: For each steer, $4 ($1.60 in United States currency); for each cow, $16 ($6.40 in United States currency); for each horse, mule, ass, $4 ($1.60 in United States currency).

ART. 6. From the total amount of the duties levied on exportation the e shall be given a rebate to the exporter, to compensate him for losses suffered by the cattle while in transit, 1 per cent for every

Department through which the herd is driven until its arrival on the frontier. Exportation to the maritime ports shall be given no rebate To charge the duties of exportation, the Collector shall inscribe them in the respective records, with the itemized explanation of the amounts and rebates.

ART. 7. Payment may be made, likewise, into the office of the General Collector of Revenue, on direction from the Executive Authority. In such cases also, when the Executive determines a date for payment of the duties by the exporters, they shall sign a promissory note to the order of the General Collector of Revenue, together with the signature of a surety acceptable to the Collector.

ART. 8. The permits of cattle proceeding from neighboring States shall be registered in the office of the Collector of the Department in which they shall first enter.

ART. 9. The Collector shall carry a book of records of permits, in which should be inscribed, by order of date, such permits which may be extended by virtue of the petitions received, noting the number of the permit, the names of the cattle owner, his chief foreman, the number of head, their class, destination, amount of duties, with the amount discounted and paid, specifying the form of payment as entered upon the books of permits for exportation. The book of transportation shall contain only the number of the permit, the names of the cattle owner and chief herder, the number of cattle, their class, and destination.

ART. 10. Even when a permit for transit is requested and no fee or duty paid, the cattle owner is obliged to present his custom-house return permit within a reasonable time fixed by the Collector, and is obliged to give a note duly guaranteeing a sum equivalent to that which he should have paid if the exportation had been beyond the confines of the State. When, upon maturity of the period in which the return permit should have been presented, the cattle owner does not comply in that respect, the Collector shall proceed without loss of time to collect on the note; but if it should be presented, it (the note) shall be returned to him, with the indorsement thereon that the return permit was duly received. When the permits for transit have been issued to a frontier district the note shall be returned within three months after the receipt of the return permit, upon new advice that the cattle have not been exported secretly, said advice to be given by the inspectors or the authorities of the place of destination, the party interested being obliged to give an account of his stock upon request by them, within the said period. The return day may be extended a reasonable time when the stock is destined for pasturage in a frontier district.

ART. 11. The Governors of Departments shall visé all permits which the Collectors of Revenue have passed; by registering them in a proper book, entering those for transit separately from those for exportation,

and recording therein the names of the exporter, his chief foreman, the number of head of cattle, place of destination, and duties levied on exportation. These officials shall, quarterly, furnish an abstract of such registry, which shall be remitted to the Minister of the Treasury, in the months of February, May, August, and November.

ART. 12. Exporters of cattle who do not get their permits viséed by the respective Governors shall have imposed upon them a fine of 50 centavos for each and every head of cattle enumerated in the permit.

As soon as the Governor shall be informed he shall issue summary process against the delinquent, and the deed being clear, he shall impose on him the fine which shall be forwarded for entry in the proper office of the Collector of Revenue; he should also remit to the Minister of the Treasury a certification of the imposition of fines in compliance with the preceding provision.

ART. 13. The mayor of every municipality shall take note of the number of head of cattle which are removed from his limits, giving due observation to the Police Regulations, and receiving the municipal taxes. He shall also report to the Governor an account of the exportations, and inform him therein of the destination of the cattle, as well as of all herds which pass through his jurisdiction, and whether the permits governing the transportation are in proper form.

ART. 14. In the absence of inspectors of police and customs, there shall be appointed special guards during the period of driving, and these shall be invested with the same qualifications and attributes as the inspectors.

ART. 15. The inspectors of police and customs and the guards shall be obliged to take an account of the cattle of each herd in transit, noting at the foot of the permit the difference in the number of cattle as given originally and of that representing the herd. Should the difference prove excessive the herd shall be detained and the cattle owner as well as the chief herder subjected to the penalties established by the Law of Contraband and Customs Frauds, except in'the case provided for at the end of the following article.

ART. 16. When a part of one herd exceeding in number 5 per cent is diverted by a sudden dispersion, and the progress of the rest can not be delayed, the chief herdsman may have recourse to the nearest municipal authority, that they may on his verbal information certify to the occurrence, expressing in the certificate the number of head diverted, in order that the number may be reincorporated in the original herd or in another one. In the latter case the same authority shall certify at the foot of the other permit the incorporation of that part of the herd recovered.

ART. 17. The inspectors and guards shall forward, every fifteen days, an account of the transactions to the Collectors, and there shall

be retransmitted at the end of each month to the superior officers of customs an abstract of permits issued and cattle in their jurisdiction. ART. 18. The inspectors and guards on the frontier districts shall collect the permits for exportation, noting at the foot of them the number of head of cattle that have passed, and issuing in exchange therefor a recognizance of the said number of cattle. The collected permits shall be transmitted to the Collector of the respective Department, who in turn shall remit them to the Director-General of Revenue, in whose office they shall be audited.

ART. 19. When cattle are withdrawn from one Department to complete a herd in a contiguous one, a permit shall be issued for the number of head which are to be removed into the neighboring Department, the cattle having been examined previously by an inspector or guard, who shall certify to the number. It is not allowed to issue permits of transit for cattle which are to be united with other herds in Departments that are not contiguous to that from which they proceed. The return permit of such small herds in transit should be given by the Collector of the Department to which the cattle are destined when the regular permit for the said cattle has been issued.

ART. 20. When a permit is issued for the exportation of cattle which come from another Department, going to another State, the number of head proceeding from such foreign jurisdiction shall be set forth therein, with the name of such locality.

ART. 21. The Executive Authority may permit the herds en route to continue their journey, if they are detained in transit by reason of the noncompliance of the owners or their representatives with the law, provided these give proper guaranties to respond for any violations of the law.

ART. 22. Any doubts arising in the application of these regulations shall be adjusted by the Executive Authority.

CHAPTER VII.

MINING DATA, MINERALOGY, MINING LAWS.

Mineral regions.-The whole area of the Republic of Honduras, except that of the alluvial districts, may be said to contain mineral deposits of various natures. The mountainous Departments of Tegucigalpa, Olancho, Comayagua, Valle, Gracias, and Copan are especially rich in these mineral deposits.

First mining operations.-That some of the aboriginal tribes of Central America understood the process of separating gold from its matrix by grinding and sluicing, as well as the use of fire in the reduction of certain silver and copper ores, is known and established. In Central America, and especially in Honduras, are found old workings among gold-bearing formations which clearly demonstrate that they were not made by the Spaniards, who at that time already were comparatively well advanced in the art of mining. The shafts and tunnels which the latter left show a similar character in construction to those driven in Spain and Europe at the time. Whether, therefore, the simultaneous discovery of the continent of America and that of the gold-bearing section of Honduras was accidental, the important fact made known at that time to the world of having discovered a new land that contained precious metals in great abundance was enough to enhance the importance of the discovery of Columbus and to draw endless bands of gold seekers from all corners of enterprising and venturous Europe.

Spanish epoch.-We know positively that Spain up to the year 1821 derived a large portion of its income from the King's tithe laid upon the mines worked in Honduras, as well as in other parts of the New World. Documents illustrating this fact are deposited in the archives of Tegucigalpa, Guatemala, and Mexico. It is an interesting fact and quite worthy of notice that the Spaniards were excellent prospectors, who knew where to find precious ore deposits and how to mine and extract, although in a primitive way, the riches of the earth. In the early colonial days gold and silver were of greater value than to-day, and the labor of mining was carried on by slaves, whose maintenance was scarcely an expense item. But duly considering these important circumstances, it is nevertheless evident that the miners of two hundred years ago obtained better results than do those of the present day. It is of importance for the modern exploitation of the mines of Honduras to understand that the old Spaniards were frequently com