QUICKSILVER ON THE GOLD BELT. 383 



Other traces ot cinnabar. — Tho oLHUirreuce of truces of ([uicksilvev has been re- 

 ported a number of times near Lake Elizabeth, in Los Angeles County, and 

 the report is credited by persons whose opinion is entitled to respect. Cin- 

 nabar also occurred near San Bernardino. A small deposit is said to have 

 worked out long since, and new discoveries were announced in 1873.^ 



According to Mr. Schmitz, a mine superintendent, gold amalgam was 

 found at many points on the gold belt in early days. He found oiu; occur- 

 rence in stringers in ''greenstone" five feet below the surface, which was 

 anal3'zed by Sonnenschein'- and gave the formula AuHgl The exact locality 

 is not given. 



Three extremely interesting occurrences on the gold belt of California 

 are described by Professor Whitney. One of these is in Mariposa County, 

 on the north bank of the Merced River, near Horseshoe Bend. Here an 

 auriferous quartz vein six inches wide and resembling other such veins in 

 most respects carried on its foot-wall a thin seam of quartz containing cin- 

 nabar in crystalline plates and bunches. The seam was about an inch wide 

 and appeared to be continuous.^ 



Mr. C. L. Mast is now the owner of a ledge on the hillside east of the 

 Merced River, near the mouth of Maxwell Cryek, not far from Coulterville, 

 which is probably the same vein referred to by Professor Whitne}-. The 

 country rock is of the kind called by Professor Whitney greenstone and 

 by Professor Wadsworth diabase tufa The cinnabar occurs in crystals of 

 unusually large size embedded in quartz and accompanied by very little 

 pyrite. This ore was sold to the Chinese between 1850 and 18()0. Mr. 

 J. W. C. Maxwell informs me that many years ago extraordinarily well 

 crystallized cinnabar in a quartz gangue used to be brought from the country 

 back of the town of Merced and sold to the Chinese as vermilion at a high 

 price per ounce. This cinnabar may have come from the vein just described 

 or possibly from some similar locality now unknown. In Calaveras County, 

 near ]\^urph^''s, a quartz vein assaying well for gold also carried cinnabar in 

 small quantities, according to Professor Whitne}', with traces of vitreous 

 copper ore and copper carbonates. The same geologist has also seen speci- 



' Miuiug aurt Scientific Press, vol. 27, 187;!, p. 166. 

 -Zoitsclir. Deiitsch. geol. Gesell., vol. 6, 1S54, p. 'J13. 

 ^Geol. Survey California, Greology, vol. 1, x>. 2.!0. 



