﻿54 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



78 



blende in its lodes ; and Cuchillo Parade, a lead deposit on the 

 Conchos River. 



About 50 miles south of Chihuahua is the camp of Naica, known 

 to mineralogists for its two crystal caves, the larger being in the 

 Alaravilla Mine. Here are several chambers connected by passage 



Fig. 57. — A peon carrying lead ore up a " cliicken ladder." 

 Encantata Mine, at Esmeralda, Coahuila. (Photograph hy 

 Foshag.) 



ways, one chamber containing well- formed groups of long, radiating 

 crystals of clear gypsum growing from the floor of the cave. Many 

 of these crystals exceed three feet and some reach six feet in length. 

 Another chamber, reached through a narrow opening studded with 

 crystals, is completely lined with thousands of blade-like crystals 

 one to three feet in length. 



Sierra Mojada, the next district visited, owes its discovery to a 

 band of smugglers attempting to elude pursuit. The ore bodies 

 extend for a distance of six kilometers along the foot of a limestone 



