Polytechnic Association. 601 



sin-face dotted with the sage plant. The slope is scarred with prospect 

 holes or excavations made in search of ore. These are indicated by 

 the heaps of earth thrown up at their mouths ; most of them are only 

 a few feet in depth, but some appear to extend inward from fifty to 

 one hundred yards. Looking down upon the settlement, its farther 

 limit is seen in an irregular line of large buildings erected over the 

 shafts sunk in the lode. The streets run nearly parallel with the 

 direction of the latter, but are at different elevations, forming, as it 

 were, a rude system of terraces. The dwellings are small. All the 

 structures are of wood, and this, coupled with the want of water in 

 any considerable quantity, renders conflagration so frequent that 

 insurance companies no longer take risks in the place. "While clambering 

 up the steep I beheld a scene that to me was possessed of a strange 

 and peculiar beauty. The rising sun had been hidden behind the 

 mountain to the east, so that I climbed in shadow, until, stepping a few 

 few feet higher, it came suddenly into view as if it had shot up into 

 the sky in an instant. The dry atmosphere of this arid region made 

 the sun look broad and red, as we see it sometimes at its setting, and 

 the sight of its marvelous splendor, as it flamed above the bare and 

 desolate peaks, was worth tenfold the whole discomfort of the trip. 

 Descending to the hotel I found refreshment, in breakfast and in two 

 hours of sleep, and then set out on foot for Gold Hill. 



Just as I started I had a view of one of the " wagon trains," on 

 which much of the freight conveyed over the ordinary road is brought. 

 Three wagons, very large and strong, were connected one behind 

 another, and to the foremost were attached four mule teams, with a 

 pair of horses ahead for leaders. These last had bells attached by 

 wooden bows above their harness collars. The mules are taught to 

 start simultaneously at the tinkling of the bells at the first movement 

 of the horses, which causes the entire strength of the animals to be 

 applied all at once to their work. The advantage of using several 

 wagons arranged as just described, instead of placing the whole load 

 upon one, is, that in starting the foremost wagon is first moved, then 

 the second, and after that the third, so that,, the entire draught power 

 being applied to separately overcome the inertia of each wagon, 

 much heavier loads can be started from a state of rest than could be 

 done if the entire weight had to be started at one and the same 

 moment, or if the same number of draught animals were divided up 

 among the wagons and the latter run singly. These trains carry 

 immense loads, as much as twenty tons being sometimes transported 

 upon one of them. 



