XII 
CONTENTS. 
Sonora.—White limestone.—Gold.—Irregular surface of limestone.—Abbey’s ferry.—Cave.—Murphy’s.—Teeth of Elephas 
and Mastodon—Mammoth trees.—Sequoia gigantea.—Cave city.—Limestone and cave.—Talcose slates and gold.—Moke- 
lumne hill.—Cosumnes river.—Sacramento.—Alluvium.—Granite.—Clay slate.—Basalt.—Auburn.—Yankee Jim's.— 
Auriferous alluvia.—Forest hill.—Placer mine —Crystalline gold.—Drift at Sarahville.—Fossil wood.—Michigan city.— 
Auriferous drift of quartz boulders and gravel.—Hydraulic method of mining.—Sluicing.—El Dorado aqueduct.—Ser-' 
pentine.—Canon of the north fork.—Nevada and Grass valley.—Quartz veins and mines.—Grass valley to Coloma.— 
Granite and slates.—Sutter’s mill.—Slates and trap dikes at Irish creek.—Crystals of gold.—Georgetown.—Mamaluke 
hill.—Slates and auriferous drift.—Method of mining.—Washington Tunnel Company.-—Rich vein of auriferous quartz.— 
Deposits at Cement hill.—Bed of an ancient river.—Collecting the gold from a sluice.—Minerals.—Telluret of silver.— 
Serpentine.—Yolcanoville.—Rich specimens.—Mormon island.—Granite.—Concluding observations on the geology of the 
gold region.—Talcose and clay slates.—Erupted rocks.—Belt of granite.—Belt of metamorphosed limestone, possibly 
carboniferous.—Horizontal strata, tertiary.—Overflows of basaltic lava.—Table mountains.—Auriferous drift.—Coarse 
drift.—River drift.—Alluvial deposits.—Lacustrine deposits. 
CHAPTER XIX. 
Building materials. — Coal. — Lignite. — Bitumen. 
Distribution of building materials.—Granite.—At the mouth of the Gila.—Bernardino Pass.—Warner’s Pass.—Cajon Pass.— 
Tejon Pass and Canada de las Uvas —Tejon to Fort Miller.—Fort Miller.—Fort Miller to Livermore’s Pass.—Granite at 
San Francisco.—Quarries at Monterey and Punta de los Reyes.—Mormon island.—Sandstone of San Francisco and its 
vicinity.—Adaptation as a building material.—Sandstone of Benicia, Fort Ross, and Mokelumne hill.—Limestone.— 
limestone in the vicinity of San Francisco.—At the Tejon and Canada de las Uvas.—Cajon and San Bernardino.— 
Bitumen.—Tar springs of Los Angeles.—Bituminous shales —Uses of the bitumen.—Coal.—Absence of coal of carbon¬ 
iferous age.—Bellingham bay coal.—Extent of the beds and quality of the coal.—Section.—Synchronism of the strata 
with those of San Francisco.—Coal from Vancouver’s island.—Use of the coal on the steamer Active.—Cowlitz coal.— 
Lignite near San Francisco. 
CHAPTER XX. 
Metals, ores, and minerals. 
Ores of iron.—Magnetite at the Canada de las Uvas and Williamson’s Pass.—Limonite.—Copper and its ores.—Copper 
pyrites.—Vein in the Great basin.—Vitreous copper.—Native copper and red oxide of copper.—Sulphuret of antimony.— 
Description of the vein and its association.—Metallurgy of the ores of antimony.—Furnaces.—Location of the vein.— 
Lead.—Sulphuret of mercury, cinnabar.—Description of the ore and mine.—Furnaces for the extraction of the metal.— 
Gold.—Indications of gold along the route.—Quartz veins.—Placers near the San Francisquito rancho.—Auriferous vein 
at Armagosa.—Colorado river.—Gold at Port Orford.—Crystalline gold.—Platinum and iridosmine.—Analysis.—Sil ver.— 
Telluret of silver, hessite.—Native arsenic.—Chromic iron.—Emerald nickel.—Ilmenite.—Tourmaline.—Andalusite, or 
made.—Feldspar.—Bronzite, or diallage.—Chrysotile.—Gypsum.—Carbonate of lime.—Carbonate of magnesia.—Salt.— 
Carbonate of soda. 
