MINING. 299 
quaxtz ieads until they become very thin, but by tracing them 
on further, or downwards, they again swell out to their origi- 
nal size, and sometimes bulge out beyond it. In such places, 
and at the intersection of small veins, very rich deposits of 
gold are frequently found, which, from their narrowness and 
the depth to which they extend, the Spaniards call clavos or 
nails. The principal portion of the rock about Angel’s is of a 
greenish and gray color, and contains large quantities of the 
sulphuret of iron. Mixed with this are streaks and veins of 
white quartz or limestone. The sulphurets are found, either in 
irregular bright crystalline masses, or small threads and veins. 
Some of these veins are as much as eight inches in thickness. 
In other portions of the green rock, the sulphurets are scat- 
tered all through it, as separate and minute square crystals. 
The whole formation will probably become one solid vein when 
any considerable depth is reached; but near the surface it is 
cut up into separate veins by streaks and wedges of slate, 
which do not appear to contain any gold. These streaks of 
slate are from a few inches to several feet in thickness. The 
poorer portions of the rock contain from twelve to sixteen per 
cent. of the sulphurets, while the richest are nearly pure 
crystals, among which the gold is seen shining in small par- 
ticles and scales.” 
In the southeastern corner of Calaveras county, thirty-five 
miles from Stockton, are mines of carbonate and sulphuret of 
copper. During the first three months of 1861, four hundred 
tons of ore, containing about thirty-three per cent. of metal, 
were taken out, and one-half the amount was shipped to the 
Eastern states. The cost of getting the ore out and hauling 
it to Stockton has been eight dollars per ton. 
Tuolumne adjoins Calaveras county, and is bounded by the 
Stanislaus River on the north, and the divide between the 
Tuolumne and Merced Rivers on the south, the former stream 
being within the limits of the county. The principal mining 
towns are Sonora, Columbia, Springfield, Shaw’s Flat, James- 
town, Chinese Camp, Big Oak Flat, Garrote, Don Pedro’s 
