98 A BihliograpJty of the Geology, etc., of California. 



Mines and Mining in El Dorado County. The mineral belt, 

 its slates and ores; deep mining, principal mines, etc. 

 San Francisco, 1882. 14 pp. 



MoFRAS, DuFLOT De. Exploration des Territoire de I'Oregon, 

 des Californies et de la Mer Vermeillo, executee pendant 

 les annees 1840, 1841, et 1842. 2 vol. 8", avec un Atlas 

 in folio. Paris, 1844. Published by order of the King, 

 under the auspices of the President of the Council and 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs. Vol. I, 521 pp., 4 plates; 

 Vol. II, 387 pp., 4 plates. Atlas of 26 sheets, maps, and 

 plans. 



This author states (Vol. 1, p. 489) that a vein of gold-bearing quartz 

 was worked near the Mission of San Fernando by M. Baric in 1843. 



According to De Mofras, the gold of the San Francisquito Rancho 

 was first explored by M. Charles Baric. He gives its distance in the 

 mountains as six leagues to the northward of the Mission of San 

 Fernando, and fifteen leagues from Los Angeles. He further states : 

 "This vein has an extent of six leagues, following the direction of the 

 ravine where it is situated. The gold is found near the surface of the 

 soil, and some pieces weighed two or three drachms." This descrip- 

 tion would lead one to the opinion that the deposit was a placer one 

 and not a vein, although he uses the word jiloii. 



According to De Mofras, silver ores occur about two leagues north- 

 west of Cahuenga Rancho, and were not worked for want of mercury. 

 He further observes that the Indians often bring in from the moun- 

 tains, grains of copper, fragments of opal, and pieces of galena. 

 Mines of gold and silver are also said to have been found about 

 fourteen leagues from San Diego. They were once worked by a man 

 from Guanajuata. 



There is a notice of the bitumen near Los Angeles on p. 337, vol. 2. 

 The author states: "Two leagues to the southeast of Los Angeles 

 there are four great sources of asphaltum, situated on a level with 

 the earth in a vast prairie. These springs open in the middle of 

 little pools of cold water, while the bitumen possesses a higher tem- 

 perature. This water has a mineral taste, which, however, does not 

 prevent animals from drinking it. At sunrise the orifices of these 

 springs are covered by enormous bubbles of asphaltum, often being 

 more than a yard high, and looking like soap bubbles," 



MoLiTOR, A. P. Essay on California gold, San Francisco, 

 1860. 



This work is said to be a very valuable essay on this subject. 



MowRY, Sylvester. The mines of the West. New York, 1864. 



MuiR, J. Living glaciers of California. In Harper's Mag., Vol. 

 51, 1875, pp. 769-777. 



