DISCOVERY OF QUICKSILVER MINES. 209 
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quicksilver is briefly told. Long ere gold was 
discovered in California, the padres and early 
settlers knew of a cavern in the hillside, about 
a mile and a half from the present village. 
Deeming it merely a natural fissure or cleft in 
the rock, explorations only were made by the 
more adventurous as to its extent, which proved 
to be in length one hundred feet, running into 
the mountain horizontally. No one ever thought 
it was an artificial excavation of great antiquity. 
When the vaqueros and old dons of the neigh- 
bourhood were questioned by a new-comer about 
the cave, a shrug of the shoulders, and the usual 
reply, ‘Quien sabe? son cosas muy antiguas,’ was 
the sole information obtained. 
A gold-seeker, assaying some of the rock, sali- 
vated himself, and thus discovered it was rich in 
quicksilver. A grant, with the land adjoining, 
was procured, and the original opening widened ; 
in clearing away the rubble and dirt at the end ~ 
of the cave, several skeletons were discovered, 
together with rude mining-tools and other curious 
relics, clearly proving it an old excavation made 
by the natives for the purpose of procuring ver- 
milion, so much used by all savages to paint 
themselves. ‘The position of the skeletons in the 
rubbish covering them left no doubt that, having 
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