1 882.] The Ancient Man of Calaveras. 847 



ridge, standing like a wall above all which adjoined it. But be- 

 neath the basalt lay the stones and gravel and sand and clay 

 which made the bed of the ancient torrent, as they do of the 

 modern streams. And like the modern streams, their predeces- 

 sor, in age but not in locality, was rich in gold, and thanks to this 

 gold, we know something of the Ancient Man of Calaveras and 

 Tuolumne. We know him because he has left his mark among 

 the stones and gravel. 



In what are called the " early days " in '49 and '50, the south- 

 ern mines were specially noted and productive. Don Pedro's bar 

 and Hawkin's bar on the Tuolumne were crowded with miners, 

 and all the region about Sonora, and Columbia, and Shaw's flat, 

 was swarming like a hive. The gold which was 'obtained had 

 been brought down in company with the gravel from the moun- 

 tain heights far above, by the rush of water, ages before. Wher- 

 ever an old channel could be found in which the flow of water had 

 been confined to narrow limits and to whirling eddies, there the 

 gold had been deposited more abundantly, and rich strikes were 

 made. While exploring these surface deposits, an old river-bed 

 was struck at Shaw's flat, in 1854, which showed features quite 

 distinct from the "diggings " adjacent, and in following out this 

 discovery it became manifest that Table mountain, as already 

 stated, was simply a mass of lava filling an ancient torrent canon, 

 and that the gravel thus buried was in various places most won- 

 derfully rich. This was the beginning of Table mountain 

 mining. 



The whole matter had very much the character of a lottery, 

 for the expense of running a tunnel under the mountain was very 

 great, and the result entirely uncertain, commonly rich to even a 

 fabulous degree, or on the contrary a total failure. The failures 

 were many and the losses destructive to the fortunes of the men 

 interested, but the wild excitement of golden possibilities lured 

 multitudes along, and for years and years in succession Table 

 mountain was bored and tunneled most completely. It is not for 

 u s now to speak of the triumph or the heart-ache which went 

 with the work ; we know well that 



and nowhere, even in that land of enchantment, was the wild and 

 fatal fascination of the search more fully felt than at Table moun- 



