GOLD UPON THE COAST—CRYSTALLINE GOLD. 
299 
these ridges, indicates its existence in others ; and large quantities of the metal have probably 
been ground out by denudation and mingled with the debris; thus forming placers which may 
possibly equal in richness those of the Sierra Nevada. The scarcity of water in those desert 
wastes is a great bar to exploration, and to the practical testing of the richness of the drift. 
If, however, gold should be found to exist in considerable quantities in the lower strata of drift, 
it is probable that water from distant streams could be brought to bear upon it. 
Colorado River .—Gold is reported to exist in the mountain ranges north of the Desert, and 
bordering the Colorado. When at Fort Yuma, a party of prospectors returned from a short 
trip among these ranges, and also from the mountains on the east side of the stream. They 
report gold as existing in the ravines and canons ; but it is far from water, and they were 
obliged to transport the earth that they tested several miles before washing it out. I visited 
the extreme point of the range north of Pilot Knob, and found numerous quartz veins traversing 
the granite and metamorphic rocks ; but there was nothing in their appearance that indicated 
the presence of gold. In some of the arroyos, leading from the mountain, a large amount of 
brilliant, black sand was found, mingled with small, but perfectly formed, garnets. It is 
mingled with the debris of granite ; and no evidences of the presence of the magnesian gold- 
bearing rocks were seen. 
Coast Mountains .—Gold is reported to have been found at various places in the Coast Moun¬ 
tains ; in the Santa Cruz range, nearly west of New Almaden ; and in the counties of Monterey, 
Santa Clara, San Luis Obispo, and San Diego. 
Port Orford .—The gold of Port Orford, on the coast, is exceedingly interesting for the 
quantity of Platinum, Iridium, and Osmium with which it is associated. It is in very fine, 
round scales, and is found upon the beach mixed with great quantities of heavy, black sand, 
from which it is separated with great difficulty. The quantity of platinum, or mixed metals, is 
variable, ranging from five to twenty per cent., or more. As these metals cannot be separated 
from the gold by washing, the value of the product is much lessened, and it is often difficult to 
make a sale of the mixed metals in San Francisco. An analysis of the metals is given beyond. 
Crystalline Gold .—Among the heaps of placer gold in grains, scales, and lumps which accu¬ 
mulate in the banking and assay offices of the chief mining towns, and in San Francisco, bruised 
and water-worn crystals are sometimes found. 
In comparison with the great bulk of the gold, their number or weight is very slight. Even 
the bruised specimens are comparatively rare. This arises, in part, from the habit among the 
miners of retaining curiously-formed specimens for their own use and gratification; but it is 
certain that the great bulk of the gold product is so much worn by attrition that, if crystals 
formerly existed, their angles are now lost. In some sections of the gold region crystalline 
masses of great beauty are found even in the drift. 
At Forest Hill, Placer county, I obtained several well-formed octahedrons, about three-eighths 
of an inch across the base. Most of these crystals are but little water-worn, but are generally 
distorted or flattened parallel to a face of the octahedron, so that they become mere triangular 
plates. Some of the octahedrons have the hollow or depressed faces. An imperfect octahedral 
crystal, of great size, was once taken from the drift of this claim. The planes were only par¬ 
tially developed for a short distance above and below the basal ridges, so that a hollow or 
cavernous crystal was produced. A succession of planes had commenced to form one inside of 
the other, and were separated by about the thickness of a card, while the sheets of gold forming 
the planes were, in some instances, not thicker than paper. The crystal was slightly elongated 
