MixixG. 299 



quartz leads until they become very thin, but by tracing them 

 on further, or downwards, they again swell out to their origi- 

 nal size, and sometimes bulge out beyond it. In such places, 

 and at the intersection of small veins, very rich deposits of 

 gold are frequently found, wdiich, from their narrowness and 

 the depth to which they extend, the Spaniards call clavos or 

 nails. The principal portion of the rock about Angel's is of a 

 greenish and gray color, and contains large quantities of the 

 sulphuret of iron. Mixed with this are streaks and veins of 

 white quartz or limestone. The sulphurets are found, either in 

 irresrular bright crystalline masses, or small threads and veins. 

 Some of these veins are as much as eight inches in thickness. 

 In other portions of the green rock, the sulphurets are scat- 

 tered all through it, as separate and minute square crystals. 

 The whole formation v»'ill probably become one solid vein when 

 any considerable depth is reached ; but near the surface it is 

 cut up into separate veins by streaks and wedges of slate, 

 which do not appear to contain any gold. These streaks of 

 slate are from a fev\^ inches to several feet in thickness. The 

 poorer portions of the rock contain from twelve to sixteen per 

 cent, of the sulphurets, while the richest are nearly pure 

 crystals, among which the gold is seen shining in small par- 

 ticles and scales." 



In the southeastern corner of Calaveras county, thirty-five 

 miles from Stockton, are mines of carbonate and sulphuret of 

 copper. During the first three months of 1861, four hundred 

 tons of ore, containing about thirty-three per cent, of metal, 

 were taken out, and one-half the amount was shipped to the 

 Eastern states. The cost of getting the ore out and hauling 

 it to Stockton has been eight dollars per ton. 



Tuolumne adjoins Calaveras county, and is bounded by the 

 Stanislaus River on the north, and the divide between the 

 Tuolumne and Merced Rivers on the south, the former stream 

 being within the limits of the county. The principal mining 

 towns are Sonora, Columbia, Springfield, Shaw's Flat, James- 

 town, Chinese Camp, Big Oak Flat, Garrote, Don Pedro's 



