MINERAL WEALTH. 193 
Colton, who had joined him from San Diego, found his way, 
as best he could, by horse, wagon, stage and rail, to San 
Francisco. 
It is useless to praise the agricultural resources of Cali- 
fornia, for they are well known, or to speculate upon the 
most probable route for the railway through its midst ; for it 
matters little whether it runs to the east or west of the Great 
Tulare Lake, whether it continues all the way in the San 
Joaquin valley, or crosses the coast range into the fertile 
plains of the Salinas. Whatever be its course it will develop 
vast areas of land unsurpassed in productiveness by any on 
the globe. 
__ As regards mineral wealth, the southern half of the Great 
Basin is quite as rich in silver as the northern; and although 
“unexplored” covers this barren tract in our atlases, it is 
in reality divided into countries and mining districts, which 
li tter are fast multiplying every year. 
Most of the gold mining in California is carried on along 
the western foot of the Sierra Nevada, and although it does 
not yield the same amount as formerly, it has developed into 
a steady thriving industry, with no more excitement about it 
than any other regular occupation. 
_ The ingenuity displayed by the Californian miners in 
rying to obtain the gold from the soil is extraordinary. 
The first arrivals used only the pan, a flat iron saucer about 
ighteen inches in diameter, for extracting the gold. Soon 
he rocker was introduced. It is shaped like a cradle with a 
iddle above at one end, upon which the pay dirt is placed, 
md transverse grooves along the bottom to catch the gold, 
vhile the miner rocks the cradle with one hand, and washes 
e pay dirt through the riddle with the other. For the first 
four years, although the pan and the rocker were alone 
; VOL, 1. 0 
