156 Rev. G. S. Lyman on the 
The black, ferruginous sand, which everywhere accom- 
panies the gold, and which, from its great specific gravity, 
remains with it in the bowl or machine after the other earthy 
materials have been removed, varies in fineness with the size 
of the accompanying gold, —that obtained in connection with 
the fine river gold being of the fineness of writing sand ; while 
that associated with the coarse gold of the ravines is often as 
large as wheat-kernels, or peas, and sometimes of the size 
of hazelnuts or walnuts. These coarser pieces are fragments 
of crystals very hard and heavy. I found no specimens with 
the faces complete, and have not the means of knowing to 
what species they belong, but suppose them to be magnetic 
iron. That the fine sand is composed of fragments of the 
same crystals greatly comminuted, I infer from the regular 
gradation of the one into the other. 
I am not aware that gold has vet been discovered in place, 
or imbedded in its native matrix. The slates, however, of the 
gold region, as I have before observed, are often traversed 
by dykes or beds of quartz rock ; and I have examined these 
in many places for indications of the presence of the metal, 
but could detect no traces of it. Individuals have asserted 
that they have found veins of it in the rocks, but they have 
refused to divulge the place where, inasmuch as they intended 
to work the veins themselves as soon as the season would 
permit. Though these statements are, of course, not impos- 
sible, nor indeed improbable, I do not consider the fact as 
established by testimony, since the witnesses are men in 
whom I place but little confidence. 
The amount of gold taken from these mines it is impos- 
sible to estimate; but it has been immense, and the coming 
season it will doubtless be greater. New and rich deposits 
are developing every day. Accounts from various points in 
the mining district, represent the gold as very abundant, 
more so, if possible, than last year,—individuals, even that 
early in the season, obtaining often from three to ten or even 
twenty ounces a-day. The diggings on the several forks of the 
Rio de los Americanos, the Stanislaus, the Tuwalumnes, the 
Merced, the Mariposa, King’s River (Lake Fork, on Fre- 
