TERTIARY—GRANTTE — SULPHUR!T OF ANTIMONY. 
43 
well timbered. A fine section of sandstone strata was soon brought to view, the creek, or 
valley, being at right angles to the trend of the strata. They were much uplifted, and a very 
great thickness was exposed. It being nearly dark, we pressed on towards the camping place. 
We soon arrived at a fine spring, in the midst of a thick clump of tall reeds or canes, and en¬ 
camped. The barometer, being set up, indicated an elevation of nearly 1,800 feet above the 
Tejon camp, or 3,200 feet above the sea. 
September 21.—Left camp soon after sunrise, being detained by the absence of Jose, who had 
gone off in pursuit of mountain sheep. He soon returned, excited, but not successful. We trav¬ 
elled towards the high and heavily timbered ridges, and passed among a considerable quantity 
of sage-bush of vigorous growth. Granitic rocks were soon observed ; the first outcrop was 
gneissose, and dips at an angle of about forty degrees northerly. This was succeeded by com¬ 
pact rocks retaining lines of structure, and beyond by gneissoidal rocks dipping to the southeast. 
About four miles from camp we reached a spring, and near it found the ruins of a log-house. 
This, according to our guide, was the “ Gampo de los Americanos ’ being the place where some 
adventurers had lived and attempted to smelt the ore. The ruins of the cabin were charred by 
fire; and at a short distance we found the walls or adobes of a forge or furnace, in the bed or 
hearth of which a mass of slag remained. 
I could not find any great quantity of slag or cinder about this furnace, and concluded that 
it had not been used long when it was abandoned. There were no evidences of mining in the 
vicinity, nor any heaps of ore. Jose seemed to think that his duty was accomplished, and 
was disinclined to go further. In answer to inquiries about the ore, and where it was obtained, 
he only pointed to the forge and ruins, saying : “ Me sabe no mas.” He, however, went to¬ 
wards the confusedly mingled debris and rounded fragments of rock at tbe end of a long ravine, 
and soon found a mass of the ore about as large as one’s fist, and much rounded by attrition. 
On breaking this open, it was found to consist of nearly pure sulphuret of antimony, the freshly 
broken surfaces being brilliant, and like those of the ore from the East Indies. The ascent of 
the ravine was immediately commenced with the intention to find the vein from which the 
masses of ore were transported. 
The view up the ravine was beautiful. The mountains rose with steep slopes to a great 
height on each side, and on the north, a precipitous bluff of white granite was seen above the 
tops of the tall firs which covered all the slopes, and grew to an enormous size in the bottom of 
the ravine. Some of these trees were over six feet in diameter, and probably two hundred feet 
high. Their foliage resembled that of the fir balsam, but the bark was not smooth nor the 
trunks round. Enormous festoons of gray and bright-yellow moss hung down from all the 
branches, and added greatly to the antiquated appearance of these noble trees. 
In ascending the ravine, masses of ore were constantly found among the rocks. The great 
accumulation of rocks in the bottom of the ravine, piled up in long lines and thrown together 
in great heaps on all sides, showed that enormous floods of water descend here at certain 
seasons. This great accumulation of debris was at length traced to the base of an almost ver¬ 
tical ascent or channel on the side of a high ridge. This channel was bounded on each side by 
bluff walls of a light-colored granitic rock, which appeared to be exceedingly friable, and 
cleaved readily in various directions, as if it was completely shattered or divided by fissures. 
The debris of the long ravine below consisted in great part of the fragments of this rock, and 
the foot of the ridge was covered with it. 
We commenced clambering up over this mass of broken rock, and were encouraged at every 
