384 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



JRcata (ray ah' ta), a rawliide rope, used for lassoing. 



Rubric^ a flourish, which Mexicans and native Cahforni.ins 

 api^end to their signatures, and which, in fact, they consider 

 as an important part of their signatures, and the most difficult 

 to imitate or counterfeit. They often use their " rubrics" alone 

 as signatures. To rubricate^ to sign with a rubric. 



Sluice^ a wooden trough about fourteen inches wide, and 

 ten deep, and not less than thirty feet long, used for washing 

 pay-dirt. 



Ground- Sluice^ a trough cut in the ground for washing pay- 

 dirt. 



Tail-Sluice^ a sluice put m below a number of other sluices, 

 and depending on them for its supply of dirt and water. 



Sluice-Fork., a fork similar to a manure fork, but with blunt 

 prongs, as wide at the point as at the heel. The fork is used 

 for throwing stones out of the sluices. 



Sluice-Head., the quantity of water used in a sluice ; a 

 constant stream of water running through an aperture, usually 

 two inches high, and from five to fifteen mches long, under a 

 pressure of seven inches. 



Slum., slimy mud. 



To stri2)i to throw off" worthless dirt from the top of pay- 

 dirt. 



Sierra (see er' ra), originally a saw, a chain of mountains. 



Square Meal., a good meal at a table, as distinguished from 

 such meals as men make when they are short of provisions, a 

 condition not uncommon among men who make adventurous 

 trips into the mountains. 



Tailings, the waste of a sluice, tom, rocker, or quartz-mill. 



Tom, a wooden trough, from ten to fifteen feet long, for 

 washing pay-dirt. 



Tom-Stream., or Tom-Head., the amount of water used in a 

 tom. 



MocJcer, or Cradle., a machine resembling a domestic cradle, 

 for washing pay-dirt. 



Wing-Dam^ a dam in a creek or river, running partly across 



