NOTES  ON  THE  NEW  ALMADEN  QUICKSILVER  MINES.  517 
be  not  older  than  Cretaceous.  But  few  fragments  of  fossils, 
and  these  very  obscure,  have  yet  been  found  in  these  metamor- 
phic  rocks.  At  a  point  just  above  the  dumps,  behind  the  re- 
duction works  at  the  hacienda  (or  village),  there  is  an  expo- 
sure, in  which  may  be  clearly  seen  in  projecting  lines  the 
waving  edges  of  contorted  beds  of  steatite  and  serpentine,  in- 
terspersed with  ochery  or  ferruginous  layers,  more  easily  de- 
composed ;  and  the  partial  removal  of  the  latter  has  left  the 
steatitic  beds  very  prominent. 
The  mine  is  open  at  various  points  upon  this  subordinate 
range  over  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles,  in  a  northeast  di- 
rection. The  principal  and  the  earliest  workings  of  the  mine 
were  in  a  right  line,  but  little  more  than  a  mile  distant  from 
the  hacienda.  The  workings  are  approached,  however,  by  a 
well-graded  wagon-road,  skirting  the  edges  of  the  hills,  which 
is  2^  miles  in  length. 
It  appears,  partly  from  tradition,  and  partly  from  the  memo- 
ry of  persons  now  living,  that  the  existence  of  cinnabar  upon 
the  hill  was  known  for  a  long  time  prior  to  the  discovery  that 
it  possessed  any  economic  value.  In  fact,  upon  the  very  lofti- 
est summit  of  this  subordinate  range,  cinnabar  came  to  the 
surface,  and  could  be  obtained  by  a  slight  excavation,  or  even 
by  breaking  the  rocks  lying  upon  the  surface.  In  looking 
about  for  physical  evidences  such  as  would  aid  the  eyes  of  an 
experienced  observer  in  detecting  here  the  probable  presence 
of  valuable  metallic  deposits,  one  observes  on  the  summit  of 
the  hill,  at  various  points  along  the  line  of  its  axis  for  two  or 
three  miles,  and  also  beyond,  toward  the  place  called  Bull  Bun, 
occasional  loose  boulders  of  drusy  quartz,  with  more  or  less  well 
characterized  geodes  and  combs ;  accompanying  which  is  an 
ochraceous  or  ferruginous  deposit,  such  as  frequently  forms  the 
outcrop  of  metallic  veins.  There  is,  however,  no  such  thing  as 
a  well  characterized  vein,  the  quartz  and  its  associated  metals 
occurring  rather  in  isolated  masses  or  bunches  segregated  out 
of  the  general  mass  of  the  metamorphic  rocks,  and  connected 
with  each  other,  if  at  all,  somewhat  obscurely  by  thread  veins 
of  the  same  mineral. 
The  main  entrance  to  the  mine  at  present  is  by  a  level  about 
800  feet  long,  and  large  enough  to  accommodate  a  full-sized 
