450 ' Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



" tienda " or store, where they exchange their gold for bread and 



meat. 



We now reached the house of a Frenchman, who seemed to he 

 most extensively engaged in mining; he had three mills, and one 

 was theii at work. This mill, a specimen of all the others, was of 

 rather rude construction; it consisted of a circular pit ten feet in di- 

 ameter, and about eight inches deep; the sides and bottom lined 

 with flat slabs of stone. In the centre of this pit an axis was 

 erected, from which three beams projected horizontally. To the 

 longest arm a burro was attached, to the two others large blocks 

 of stone were attached with cords, so that their flat surfaces were 

 dragged over the bottom of the pit. 



The ore that is here found in quartzose rock is broken into small 

 pieces and thrown into the pit; water is also poured in, and 

 donkey holds his monotonous round; tlie mixture now attains the 

 consistency of thin mud; a couple of ounces of quick silver are 

 thrown in; this forms an amalgam with the gold, and when the pit 

 is cleared from the water, the amalgam is collected from the cre- 

 vices 'between the stone slabs, it is tied up in a piece of rag or 

 buckskin, thrown into a crucible and the mercury sublimed. 



Around this mill we^found iron ore of remarkable purity, which 

 IS dug out with the gold. 



The proprietor of this mine very generously gave us as many 

 specimens of the ore as we wished. The gold exists in small par- 

 ticles, visible to the eye, scattered through a quartzose gangue. 



We now ascended to the mines. Here we found deep wells- 

 they are ascended and descended by the means of notched pine 

 trees that extend diagonally across. I procured a specimen from a 

 vein that had been just struck. These pieces had a smoky appear- 

 ance, as if produced by the flame of a candle, but the stain is in- 

 delible. The mountain sides were scattered with fragments of 

 granite and rock containing gold. We now returned to the house 

 of our entertainer, who refused to receive any remuneration for the 

 trouble we had caused him, and who gave us many specimens of 



the ore. 



new m 



I. Having taken our leave, and inquired o 

 ine, or " Tuerto," as it is generally called. 



our route to the 



, , , ^ V , I suppose from 



the crooked stream that runs near, we set out on a difiicult path 



across the mountains. We passed up a steep ravine, so steep that 

 the railing of stones had worked a straight road that looked as if 

 timber had been dragged down the hillside. As our mules climbed 

 up, the loose stones came clattering down. We soon reached the 

 , stimmit, and commenced the descent. Here we saw much dark 

 blue limestone; some, in fact almost black. On the road we met 

 benor Don Jose Chaviz, of PadUlas; he was attended by one of 

 his peons, and was going to the same place whither „ 

 bound. We soon entered the valley that separates the two i<t„^ 

 of mountains m which the gold mines are located ^ 



From this place we had a fine view of the mountains, and one. is 



we were 



raneres 



struck with the arrangement of the lines, they being nearly straight 

 and running up pyramidically, showing the loose sandy naturl o 



J 

 f 



of the soil. After a ride of eight miles we reached the village of 



