400 SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTION OF PRECIOUS STONES 



occurs in trachyte in the Cow Springs district of this region, and there is yet another 

 occurrence at Hachita in the same county. 



Another recently discovered locality for turquoise is situated in the Jarilla Mountains 

 (Dona Anna County, New Mexico), 150 miles east of the Burro Mountains and 200 miles 

 south of Los Cerillos. Here, again, ancient surface-workings reaching down to the solid 

 rock are met with; these, judging from the character of the vessels and tools found there, 

 must he centuries old. The turquoise is found in thin almost vertical cracks and crevices in 

 trachyte, and is sometimes accompanied by copper-pyrites; the mode of occurrence is,, 

 therefore, the same as elsewhere in this region. In the Shoo-ar-me mine in the Jarilias, 

 which has a shaft 70 feet deep, turquoise has been found in abundance. It occurs usually 

 in hemispherical or kidney-shaped masses, but also in irregular masses, completely filling up 

 the cavities in the rock : a slab of turquoise was once found here which was 3 square feet, 

 in area and | inch thick. Stones found at some depth are usually blue in colour ; those 

 which lie nearer the surface are frequently green, probably owing to weathering. Stones 

 which when first taken from the ground are of a fine blue colour, sometimes almost indigo- 

 blue, on drying or exposure! to air lose their colour and will then adhere to the tongue. 

 Nevertheless good specimens of permanent colour are frequently found, more than 50 

 kilograms of good marketable turquoise having been obtained in six months from one of 

 the newly reopened mines. 



Turquoise has been discovered at many other places in New Mexico. Many of these 

 deposits were worked by the ancient Mexicans until the solid rock was reached, when, owing 

 to the inadequacy of their primitive methods, the work had to be abandoned. 



Other places in the United States have also yielded turquoise, and these will be briefly 

 mentioned. 



A large amount of turquoise was obtained by the ancients from a deposit about twenty 

 miles from Tombstone in Cochise County, Arizona ; it is situated in a spur of the Dragoon 

 Mountains, not far from the former Apachan capital, Cochise, and south-east of the present 

 capital, Tucson. The mountain is now known as Turquois Mountain, and as silver ores also' 

 occur in the neighbourhood there has sprung up quite a mining industry, the district in which 

 it is carried on being known as the Turquois District. Several large excavations have been 

 made in the mountain, but for some time now the work has everywhere been given up. 

 The deposit is not as rich as in Mount Chalchihuitl, nor are the ancient workings as 

 extensive. The colour of the precious stone is for the most part some shade of green. 



In Mohave County, also in Arizona, is situated the turquoise locality known as Mineral' 

 Park. Here finely coloured turquoise has been found in three veins, 1 to 4 inches in 

 thickness and about 100 yards apart; these have been followed up for almost half a mile. 

 Large quantities of turquoise were obtained from this deposit first by the ancient Mexicans- 

 and subsequently by the Spaniards. 



In the Columbus district of southern Nevada, about five miles north of Columbus^ 

 and half a mile south of the Northern Bell mine, turquoise occurs in a brown sandstone in 

 the form of veins and small grains. The single stones found here, though small, are finer 

 in quality than any occurring elsewhere in North America, some few being of unsurpassed, 

 beauty and great value. Most of the turquoises found here are sent to San Francisco ; 

 besides these isolated stones the sandstone containing small pieces of turquoise embedded 

 in it is also mined and affords an efl^ectively coloured ornamental stone. 



There are two other American localities of which mention must be made, namely,. 

 Holy Cross Mountain in Colorado, and Taylor''s Ranch, Chowchillas river, Fresno County, 

 California. Though neither are important commercially, yet the latter has a C3rtain 



