CENTEAL AND EASTEEN NEVADA. 395 



found no fossils ; they are probably of the same age with the Toyabe lime- 

 stone. 



To the east of Belmont, and beyond a hill of granite which rises imme- 

 diately above it, is Highbridge Hill, in which are the principal veins of the 

 district. This hill is composed of quartzites and slates, and in the ravine which 

 separates it from the main granite ridge south is the line of contact between 

 the quartzite and granite. In this hill are two series of veins, the one in the 

 quartzites, the other in the slates, both generally conformable in dip and strike 

 with the formation; having a strike north 15° west and a dip of about 45° 

 to the north and east. The former includes the El Dorado, Atlanta, Galvin, 

 Arizona, and other ledges, which extend from the southwest extremity of the 

 hill up over its main crest. The second series includes the famous Highbridge 

 and Transylvania veins, which occur low down on the northeast slope of the 

 hill. These two are probably part of the same ledge, though the connection 

 between them has not yet been traced, and the existence of a fault would prob- 

 ably be necessary to explain the relatively lower position of the latter. This belt 

 of slates and quartzites seems to contain the most of the veins of the district, 

 though none have been developed to any extent outside of Highbridge Hill. 

 In the limestone a few miles northwest of Belmont is the Silver Champion, 

 which has produced some rich ore, and various other undeveloped ledges. 

 Along the northern slope of the granite ridge south of Highbridge are some 

 small veins, on the contact line with the granite. This body of granite seems 

 to be cut off by a break in the ridge some five miles southwest of Belmont, 

 while the slates extend further on in the ridge which connects with the Moni- 

 tor Range. The vein southwest from here extends over a wide extent of coun- 

 try, whose hills are mostly low, table-shaped, volcanic ridges, which give it a 

 very desolate and forbidding aspect. 



The large mill of the Combination Company is situated just east from 

 Belmont and north from Highbridge Hill. Near this the white quartzite crops 

 out very distinctly, and beyond it are the limestones ; out of these rise, just 

 north of the mill, on the very edge of the valley plain, three peculiar-looking 

 hills, composed of a grayish volcanic pearlite, very much decomposed, which 

 are probably of rhyolitic origin, as this is the only volcanic rock found in this 

 range. It occurs in the eastern foot-hills of the Smoky Valley Mountains, about 



