OF NEW ALMADEN. 65 
common ladder; and although very awkward at first, 
we soon got used to it. With one hand you take hold 
of the ladder, and with the other the torch. These lad- 
ders, although almost perpendicular, are seldom more 
than twelve or fifteen feet long, being separated by 
intervals, where the descent is more gradual, with 
steps cut in the rock. In this way we passed down 
through various shafts or veins to the bottom of the 
mine, two hundred feet below the entrance. Passa- 
ges following the veins of ore extend in every direc- 
tion, sometimes horizontal, then perpendicular, and 
again at every inclination. ‘Their whole extent now 
exceeds seven thousand feet. When a vein is struck, 
it is followed as far as if can be with safety, what- 
ever may be its course. The engineer, who keeps 
before him a map-of the mine, is obliged to have an 
eye to the support of the superincumbent mass. Some 
of the veins are five feet in diameter, others half that 
size. Some are also richer than others. 
dn each of the veins is a single miner; for not more 
than one can work to advantage in these narrow re- 
cesses. Picks, drills, and crowbars are the tools used. 
The miners are paid in different ways; some at a stipu- 
lated price for each foot of the rock excavated, and 
others at a certain rate per carga (three hundred 
pounds) of ore carried to the surface. On reaching 
the greatest depth, where the ore is very rich, I took 
a pick and knocked off some fine specimens. We now 
retraced our steps, and reached the open air in safety. 
lt is an evidence of the admirable system pursued 
here, and the watchful care exercised by the company 
over their employees, that no accident has yet happened 
— VOL. IL—5 
