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Show 450 Ex. Doc. No. 41. cc ticnda" or store, where they exchange their gold for bread and meal. We now reachrcl thr house of a Frrnchman, who sermccl to be m 0 s t ext l' n s i v <.' l y e n g a g r cl i n tn i n i n g ; he h ad t h r <' e m i ll ~ , an d on c was then at work. This mill, a specimen of all the othen;;, was of rather rude ro nstru etion; it con ·isH·d of a circular pit ten fl·ct in diameter, and Hbout eight in chl·S dt•ep; the sides and bottom lined with flat ~ labs of ston<'. ]n the n·ntre of this pit an axis was erected, from which thn·e b<'ams projPct<' ll horizontally. To the ]ong<•st arm a burro wns atttlciH•cl, to th<' two othrrs large blocks of stone w<.'re att;,dH'd with ('Ords, so that their flat surfaces were draggl'd ov<•r the bot tom of the pit. The ore th<lt is hne found in quartzose rock is broken into small l)icrros and thrown into the pit; water i also poured in, and donkey hold · his monotonous round; the mixture now attains the consisttncy of thin mud; a couple of ounces of quick silv<'r are t h r 0 w n 1 n ; this f o r m an a m a I g a m w i t h t 1_1 e go I d , an d w h <' n t h c pit is dcare<l from the wat<.·r, th<.' amalgam 1 collected from th<' crcv ices bet w ('(' n t h c s to n c s l a h s, i t i s t i <· d up in a pie c e of rag or burl<skin, thrown into a crucible and the mercury sublim<.'<l. Aroun<l this mill we found iron ore oi remarkable purity, which is dug out with the gold. The proprietor of this rninr very grnerously gave us as many sprcimcn of th ore as we wished. The gold exists in small pa.rticlrs, visible to the l'ye, R<'atterrclthrough a quartzo~e gangue. W c n ow a ~ <' <' n cl c d to t h e m i tH' s . II c r c w c f o u n d cl c l' p w c 11 f;; they are a seen d •d and <l ('SC<'n d <•d by t h c m cans of notched p inc trc<·s that cxt<•nd cli<1gona1ly across. I procured a pecimen from a vein that had bc<·n ju~t strudc These pice<· · had a smoky appearancr, as if produ<·<·cl by the flame of a candiP, hut the stain is intlcliblc. Thl' u.ountain ~ides wcrC' scattered with fragments of granite an<l rock contai11ing gold. W n now returnell to the house of our entertainer, who refu ' t•d to receive any remuneration for the trouble wr bad ,·aus<'cl him, and who gave us many specirnPns of the ore. HaYing taken our l<'ave, and inquired our route to the new min<·, or" Tu<·rto," as it is generally called, J suppose from the crookc1\ str<.'alll that run. ncar, we set out on a diflicult path across th<.' mountains. We passed up a steep ravine so ~te<:p that the rolling of stot)(.' · had worked a straight road thi~t looked as if timber had bt·cn dragged down the hillside. As our mules climbc(l u p , llH' 1 o o s ' s t on e s c a m e c l a tt c r i n g d o w n . We soon r t' ached t h c summit, C:lnd commt·nr<·d the dt•sc<.·nt. llcH' we saw much dark b 1 u e 1 i m t' ~ t OIH'; so m <', in fa e\ , a l most b 1 at k. 0 n t h c road w c m c t St>fWr Don Jo~6 Chaviz, of l>adil1~~; he was att(•ndcd by one of his peons, and was going to the same place whilh<'r we were b o u n d . W c so o n c n I t' r t' d l b e v a 11 <' y t h a i s c par at c s the t w o ran g C S of 1 n o u n t n i n R i n w h i <' h t h e go 1 d rn i n c s a r c· I o cat c < l. From t h i s p 1 a(' c we had a fin e v i e w of the m o u n t a in s, an d on r is strurk wi~h the arrangt:m.l·nt of the lint's, they being nearly str,tight, and runnt.ng up pyram~,ltrally,.e:howing the loose sandy nature of of the sod. After a nde of ~tght miles \ve reached the village of ,.. ... |
