520     NOTES  ON  THE  NEW  ALMADEN  QUICKSILVER  MINES. 
masses.  These  are  found  to  dip  in  a  direction  toward  the 
north,  in  a  plain  parallel,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  pitch  of  the 
hill,  but-  at  a  somewhat  higher  angle.  An  intelligent  compre- 
hension of  this  general  mode  of  structure  has  always  served 
hitherto  in  guiding  the  mining  superintendent  in  the  discovery 
of  new  deposits  of  ore. 
Since  the  settlement  of  the  famous  law-suit,  which  has  so 
long  held  this  company  in  a  condition  of  doubt,  the  new  par- 
ties, into  whose  hands  the  property  has  now  passed,  have  com- 
menced a  series  of  energetic  and  well  directed  explorations  at 
various  points  upon  the  hill,  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of 
additional  deposits  of  ore.  At  one  of  these  new  openings,  dis- 
tant at  least  500  feet  from  the  limit  of  the  old  workings,  and  not 
more  than  200  feet  from  the  summit  of  the  hill,  a  deposit  of 
the  richest  description  of  the  softer  kind  of  cinnabar  has  been 
discovered,  which,  so  far  as  hitherto  explored,  has  a  linear  ex- 
tent of  at  least  70  or  80  feet,  and  in  point  of  richness  has 
never  been  surpassed  by  any  similar  discovery  in  the  past  his- 
tory of  the  mine.  A  charge  of  101,000  pounds,  of  which 
70,000  were  composed  of  this  rich  ore,  31,000  pounds  of 
"granza,"  or  ordinary  ore,  and  48,000  pounds  of  adobes, 
worth  4  per  cent,  making  a  total  charge  of  105,800  pounds, 
yielded  on  the  day  of  our  visit,  460  flasks  of  mercury  at  76 J 
pounds  to  the  flask.  This  yield  is  almost  without  parallel  in 
the  history  of  the  mine.  The  only  preparation  which  the  ores 
undergo,  preparatory  to  reduction,  consists  of  hand-breaking, 
or  "cobbing,"  for  the  removal  of  the  unproductive  rock. 
The  small  ores  and  dirt  hoisted  from  the  mine  are  made  into 
«  adobes,"  or  sun-dried  bricks,  sufficient  clay  for  the  purpose 
being  associated  with  the  ore.  The  object  of  these  "  adobes" 
is  to  build  up  the  mouths  of  the  furnaces  to  sustain  the  load  of 
richer  ores.  No  flux  is  employed,  there  being  sufficient  lime 
associated  with  the  ores  to  aid  the  decomposition  of  the  sul- 
phurets. 
The  furnaces  are  built  entirely  of  brick,  in  dimensions  capa- 
ble of  holding  from  60,000  to  110,000  pounds,  according  to 
the  character  of  the  ores  employed.  The  chambers  are  fired 
from  a  lateral  furnace,  fed  with  wood,  and  separated  from  the 
