93 
Chap. VI.—B. S.] GOLD AND SILVER DISTRICTS. 
plored wilds, it may be mentioned that wben a piquet 
was cut, defining the boundaries of only ten caballerias 
of land surrounding the Javali Mine, some splendid 
ground was discovered, and a plantel or water-power, 
surpassing that of the Javali itself. The gold-bear¬ 
ing lodes in the Chontales district, as at present 
known, have not been laid bare beyond a breadth of a 
mile and a half; the yield, on an average, is one ounce 
of gold and several ounces of silver to the ton. The 
lodes seem to be only two in number, parallel to each 
other, and striking E.N.E. and W.S.W. Near the 
surface the quartz is friable, but it produces more 
visible gold with increased depth. These lodes thus 
present exceptions to the general mode of occurrence 
of gold in veins. 
In order to take advantage of what had thus been 
brought to public notice by Captain Pirn and his ex¬ 
ploring party (as detailed in this long digression), it 
was necessary for Captain Holman and myself to act 
at once, as the rainy season was about to set in, and 
there was no time to be lost. We rode hard to get 
to our journey’s end, and kept up through the day. 
The heat was so excessive that I arrived at Leon with 
a slight sunstroke, and was laid up for more than a 
week; but, to save time, I dispatched Captain Holman 
to Chontales, with instructions to inspect whatever 
mines might be offered for sale. 
Just when he was about to start, our servant and 
guide, Cleto, was not to be found. The mystery of 
his disappearance was soon cleared up by a messenger 
arriving to inform us that he had been seized by the 
