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MONTE CRISTO AND CRAYCROFT'S. 



465 



The position of this channel, being, as it is, directly under a comparatively low sag in the vol- 

 canic capping, suggests some interesting inquiries. Just above and to the north or northeast of 

 the mines there is a steep and abrupt bluff of solid and compact rock, which Mr. Wads worth's 

 microscopic examination has shown to be an andesite. The altitude of the crest of the sag, above 

 the channel, I made to be 5,492 feet, not quite 500 feet above the bed-rock in the mines. The 

 volcanic material at the sag is much broken up, and the common surface boulders have more the 

 appearance of an altered rock or a tufa than of a compact andesite. At first sight it seems as if 

 it might be possible that the excavation of the channel was posterior to the lava-flow ; but the 

 absence of pebbles of volcanic rock from the deep gravel furnishes a very strong argument against 

 this supposition. Whatever may be the explanation, it is certainly a very striking fact that many 

 of the gravel deposits, like those at Hepsidam, Potosi, Bunker Hill, Eureka, Monte Cristo, and 

 the Bald Mountain' channel between Forest City and City of Six, either lie uncovered between 

 high points of rock of volcanic origin, or, covered only with a loose tufaceous material, can be 

 traced beneath some low sag in the ridge, where frequently there are bluffs of hard and compact 



lava on either side. 



The gold at Monte Cristo is usually coarse in the lower strata and fine in the upper. There 

 are also two grades of fineness : the gold of the "old mine" used to bring from $17.80 to $18.00 

 per ounce, while that of the so-called "back channel" is worth only $16.75. 



About a mile below Monte Cristo some prospecting has been done at Mount Holly, at the head 

 of Sailor Canon, the richness of the canon having led to the belief that there was a lower channel 

 to be found somewhere in the vicinity. The mines at Fir Cap, about two miles up the ridge from 

 Monte Cristo, are said to have been extremely rich. The stories told of them sound like fable. 

 One report put the yield at 120 ounces to the car-load. No work has been done in them since 

 1874. Between Monte Cristo and Fir Cap there has been no successful mining on the west slope 

 of the ridge. Wood's mine is on the eastern slope, nearly north from Excelsior and below Fir 

 Cap. I saw the bank only from Craycroft's, on the opposite side of the canon ; I did not have 



time to visit it. 



Upon the hill known as Craycroft's there are two deposits of gravel which appear to be distinct 

 from each other. Their relative positions are shown in the diagram (Plate V, Fig. 3), which rep- 

 re 



sents a longitudinal, or north and south, section of the ridge, with a vertical projection of the 

 lower gravel upon the plane of the section. The upper gravel lies directly upon the crest of the 

 ridge, which is here between three and four hundred feet in width. The gravel covers in all an 

 area of not over five acres. It seems to lie in a basin-like depression, towards whose centre the 

 bed-rock pitches from all directions. The bank exposed to view was about eighty feet in height. 

 With the exception of some pebbles of a bluish color, the gravel was composed of clean, well- 

 washed, bright, white quartz, resembling very closely the gravel of La Porte. There was nothing, 

 however, to resemble the " bogus " gravel of La Porte. 



The lower deposit, owned by Messrs. Eggleston and Mowry, is ninety rods from the upper gravel, 

 and is seventy-five feet lower in altitude. It lies upon the northwestern slope of the ridge, some- 

 thing more than 200 feet below the crest. The highest point of the Downieville (rail, where 

 it crosses the ridge from the southeastern side, has an altitude of 5,370 feet, The .altitude 

 of the mouth of the tunnel I made to be 5,137 feet. The bed-rock is an easily worked slate, 

 whose strike is nearly north and south, and whose dip makes a, high angle to the east. At the 

 principal opening the deep channel in the bed-rock is irregular and narrow, not exceeding one 

 hundred feet in width, and has a course of S. 25° W. (magnetic). The greatest thickness of 

 gravel seen was fifty feet. There is said to be a thickness of nearly ninety feet in a shaft near the 

 southwestern extremity of the deposit. The gravel is reddish in color, and contains, besides some 

 large boulders, considerable angular quartz, some pieces of float bed-rock, some lava pebbles, and a. 

 very little clay, thus differing in almost every particular from the upper gravel. It contains neither 

 fossilized wood nor impressions of leaves. The deposit can be traced along the ridge towards the 

 southwest for more than half a mile. The surface gravel at the lower extremity of the deposit is 



