NEVADA. 



Kevada is seven degrees in length from north to south^ 

 and six in width from east to west. A small slice on the 

 south belongs to the basin of the Columbia river, and another 

 small slice on the south to the basin of the Colorado, leaving 

 more than nine tenths of the area of the State in the basin of 

 Utah ; which, taken as a whole, has a dry climate, a poor soil, 

 an average elevation of more than 4,000 feet above the sea, a 

 rugged surface and scanty vegetation. There are districts, 

 however, in which the soil is fertile, and the growth of timber 

 abundant. The chief wealth of the State is in its silver mines, 

 which are very abundant, making it rank next to Mexico 

 &,mong the silver-j^roducing States of the world. 



Most of the silver produced hitherto, has come from the 

 Comstock Lode, the discovery of which, in 1859, caused a 

 great excitement in California. The extreme richness of the 

 ores obtained from the Mexican and Ophir mines near the 

 surface, yielding $5,000 per ton, the abundance of the mineral 

 that would yield $50 per ton, the long distance for which the 

 vein could be traced, its great width, and the facility with 

 which the ore could be amalgamated, at once satisfied all the 

 experienced silver miners who examined it, that it would yield 

 hundreds of millions of dollars, and take rank with the most 

 famous argentiferous deposits of Spanish America. With the 

 advice of experts, the capitalists of San Francisco bought up 

 all that they could get of the valuable lodes, and as soon as 

 possible erected mills and commenced the redaction of ore. 

 The expenses were high, but the profits in the best mines were 



