Across the Mexican Mountains 121 



of clear, beautiful water, tumbling in noisy, joyous 

 splashing from rock to basin, and carrying away 

 the rubbish from this half-civilized settlement of 

 miners as it passes through the town. 



July igth. Jesus Maria. Gold and silver are 

 both found here, and the rock which contains these 

 ores is soft and easily ground; the most common 

 way of grinding seems to be a flutter wheel fas- 

 tened to a shaft, which turns on another within the 

 inner circle; this inner one is water tight, and 

 two large stones are pulled round by ropes of raw- 

 hide fast to the wheel, which is about three feet 

 from the ground. These are trailed round and 

 smash the ore for two or three days; it is then 

 dried, pulverized and washed. Sometimes simple 

 washing, and sometimes with amalgam of quick- 

 silver, gives the result of eight to ten marks of 

 silver to the cargo, viz: — three hundred pounds. 

 Gold is much more variable in its profits. 



Everything used here is brought from the 

 Pacific side, quicksilver, irons, wines and liquors; 

 even flour is sometimes brought, but most of that 

 comes from Sonora which is ten days' travel to 

 the east. 



July 20th. There was no open space large 

 enough for us to picket our mules and pitch our 

 tents in this town (said to contain two thousand 

 inhabitants) and eventually we had to hire the 

 only corral in the place, full of fleas and dirt, for 



