VARIETIES. 
457 
a  fatiguing  journey  we  reached  the  entrance  to  the  mine,  and  handing  our 
order  for  admission  to  the  manager,  who  appeared  to  be  a  very  gentlemanly 
man,  we  were  furnished  with  a  guide.  We  entered  a  car  which  was  pushed 
by  our  guide  into  the  tunnel,  which  is  a  most  substantial  and  masterly  piece 
of  workmanship,  being  arched  over  in  a  most  thorough  manner  ;  it  is  about 
900  feet  in  length,  10  feet  wide,  and  10  feet  high,  with  a  railroad  extending 
the  entire  length.  The  tunnel  is  some  300  feet  below  the  former  outlet  near 
the  top  of  the  mountain.  We  were  now  each  furnished  with  a  torch  with 
which  each  must  enlighten  his  own  way.  We  were  now  in  the  bowels  of 
the  mountain,  with  350  feet  of  earth  over  our  heads.  The  mouth  of  the 
tunnel  did  not  appear  as  large  as  a  man's  head. 
We  soon  commenced  our  exploration  from  chamber  to  chamber,  which 
appeared  to  extend  in  a  most  intricate  manner  in  almost  every  direction. 
Sometimes  we  descended  a  pole  almost  perpendicular  for  fifty  feet,  with 
merely  little  notches  cut  for  the  toes,  and  at  other  times  ascended  them. 
We  finally  came  where  the  miners  were  at  work  ;  we  heard  the  ringing  of 
the  drills  and  the  strokes  of  the  hammer,  and  on  approaching  nearer  we 
could  hear  the  measured  groan  or  grunt  with  which  they  accompany  each 
stroke  that  they  make,  and  when  I  was  convinced  that  it  did  not  indicate 
pain,  as  its  doleful  sound  led  me  to  think,  it  became  so  ludicrous  that  I 
burst  out  into  a  hearty  laugh.  The  miners  are  all  Mexicans,  and  have  been 
brought  up  to  it  from  their  infancy.  Here  was  the  richest  lead  they  had  in 
the  mine  ;  I  obtained  a  number  of  specimens  from  it.  They  estimate  that 
the  chambers  or  avenues  in  a  continuous  line  would  extend  a  mile  and  a 
quarter ;  several  have  been  abandoned  on  account  of  the  danger  of  working 
in  them. 
We  finally  ascended  to  the  upper  outlet,  or  that  which  was  first  executed  by 
the  Indians,  who  must  have  begun  at  a  very  early  date,  as  they  had  pene- 
trated the  mountain  more  than  sixty  feet,  which  must  have  been  a  most  ar- 
duous task  with  the  rude  stone  implements  they  worked  with.  They  sought 
the  vermillion  to  paint  themselves  with.  They  must  at  times  have  met 
with  terrible  catastrophes  ;  one  chamber  was  pointed  out  which  contained 
a  large  amount  of  human  bones  buried  beneath  the  rock  which  had  evi- 
dently caved  in  upon  them  where  they  had  made  their  excavations  too  wide. 
Having  got  out  into  daylight  once  more,  we  found  ourselves  near  the  top  of 
the  mountain,  the  view  from  which  repaid  us  richly  for  our  laborious  as- 
cent. There  was  spread  out  before  us  a  vast  extent  of  country,  including 
the  whole  range  of  the  valley  of  San  Jose,  and  the  bay  with  the  land  bor- 
dering it  on  either  side;as  far  up  as  San  Francisco  on  the  west,  and  a  point 
opposite  to  it  on  the  east.  Twelve  miles  from  us  on  the  plain  was  the 
town  of  San  Jose,  a  lfttle  to  the  left  the  town  of  Santa  Clara,  and  still  fur- 
ther on  the  village  of  Alviso,  and  the  Mission  of  San  Jose  on  the  table  land 
in  the  distance.  This  country  is  so  rich  and  fertile  that  when  its  agricul- 
tural merits  are  fully  developed  and  brought  to  bear,  it  will  feed  and  main- 
tain all  the  population  of  California.— Silliman's  Journal,  July,  1853  . 
