66 



appears to have washed out of two canons in the mountain which 

 are near together, and appear to drain but a very small part of 

 the surface. Veins or beds, in the rocks, containing gold, out- 

 crop higher up in the ravines of the mountain. It is remarkable 

 that in one place, at least, gold occurs in strata of quartzose sand- 

 stone, probably of the age of the carboniferous, and in great fer- 

 ruginous beds, rather than in veins. The sandstone appears to 

 have been charged with auriferous pyrites by the decomposition 

 of which gold has been liberated. At other points regular quartz 

 veins bearing gold and pyrites are found, and some of them have 

 been worked at different times for over twenty years. The 

 Ortiz Mine has been worked to a depth of one hundred and 

 thirty-five feet, and levels driven for nearly two hundred yards 

 on the course of the vein which is represented to be about six 

 feet thick. The Biggs' Mine, which adjoins it, has been worked 

 to nearly the same depth. In the mountains known as Los Ceril- 

 los, about eight miles from New Placer, there is a deserted mine, 

 known among the old Mexicans as La Mina del Oro, the true 

 character of which could not be well determined. It certainly is 

 very ancient, and there is no record or tradition concerning it, 

 except that the work was done before the Insurrection, which 

 took place in 1680. The principal shaft is over two hundred 

 feet deep, and is cut vertically, with great precision, through solid 

 rock. The sides are very smooth, and it is evidently the work 

 of experienced miners. A stone, allowed to drop vertically, does 

 not reach the bottom for several seconds, and then gives a dull 

 sound as if striking earth, showing that there is no water in the 

 mine even at that depth. There are two other shafts, and they 

 all communicate by galleries in miners' style. In 1834, there 

 was an attempt made to clean out the mine and work it, by a party 

 of Mexican residents of Santa Fe, but without any success, there 

 being no water at the mine or machinery for raising and reduc- 

 ing the ore. 



At the placers, large lumps, pepites or nuggets, of gold have 

 been frequently found ; the largest, of which I could get reliable 

 information, was worth about $2000, another was valued at 

 $1800, and there have been many worth from fifty to eighty. 

 At Old Placer, none larger than about eighty pennyweights had 

 been found. The gold from New Placer is remarkably black 



