228 MULE- HUNTING EXPEDITION. 



water washes it, as it comes from the stamp-heads. 

 Some of the most productive gold deposits in 

 California were discovered in and about this 

 quaint little place. I descend a shaft 240 feet 

 deep. The gold is distributed through the mud 

 and silt of what was clearly an ancient river- 

 bed. 



March 28/a. Ride on horseback to Nevada 

 and Hunt's Hill. Nevada is a clean pretty city, 

 with gay shops, brightly-painted houses, and 

 planked streets. Near it are the famed hydraulic 

 washings. The gold is disseminated through 

 terraces of shingle conglomerates, often three 

 hundred feet in thickness. These terraces are 

 actually washed entirely off the face of the 

 country, by propelling jets of water against 

 them, forced under great pressure through a 

 nozzle. To accomplish this, the water is brought 

 in canals, tunnels, and wooden aqueducts, often 

 forty miles away from the drift. This supply 

 of water the miners rent. 



As we near the washing- spot, in every direction 

 immense hose, made of galvanized iron, and canvas 

 tubes six feet round, coil in all directions over 

 the ground, like gigantic serpents, converging 

 towards a gap, where they disappear. On reach- 

 ing this gap, I look down into a basin, or dry 



