THE QUICKSILVER MINES, ETO. 53 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
THE QUICKSILVER MINES OF NEW ALMADEN. 
Leave San Francisco—San José Valley—Fertility of the soil—Mission of 
Santa Clara—San José—New Almaden—Quicksilver mine—Mode of 
extracting the ore—Large tanks of quicksilyer—Account of the quick- 
silver mines of Spain—Production of this metal in all parts of the 
world—Situation of the New Almaden mine—Descent into it—How 
worked—Laborers—Extent of the mine—Effect of the mercury on 
laborers—History of the mine—Return to San Francisco—Captain Sut- 
ter—His history. 
I ReMarNED in San Francisco until the 2d of April, to 
close up my business there before returning to San 
Diego. To make the most of my time while in Cali- 
fornia, I determined to undertake the journey to Mon- 
terey by land, first sending forward our outfit and 
Supplies. _ 
No event of interest happened while here except a 
trip which, in company with a small party, we at- 
tempted to make in the steamer Active, Capt. Alden, — 
altached to the U. S. Coast Survey, to the Faralones. — 
These are some small rocky islands, which lie twenty- 
five or thirty miles off the entrance to the Bay of San 
Francisco. The party, however, were so late in 
assembling, that after getting outside the entrance or 
Golden Gate, it was found we could not reach the 
