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Show t 1 ( 1 t r t t Ex. Doc. No. 41. 451. Tucrto, and inquired o_nr way to_ the house of Mr. Richard Campbe II ' w her c w c w c r c k I n d I y n• c c I \' (.' d ' a~ d m 0 t h 0 sri tau I y t r (1 at c d. He showed us some fwc specimens of native gold that had been I o u n_ d i n t h c . n c i g Ia b o r tn g Y a II e y R, a n t ~ we r e s c ~l t t <.> r c d t h rough the d e 1 n t u fl th at 1 s f o r m t> d b .Y t h e e r u m b It n g d o w n of t h e au r i fe 1 o u ~- rocks of tlu• mountain. One sp •eimcn \\.as worth $1G . In the evl·ning we visited a tow 1 at the ba. e of the prineipaJ mountain; ht•rc, mingled with the hou~t>H, were hugr mounds of earth, thrown out from the w<·l Is, so t11at the village looked like a village of f.(igantie pra irie dogs. Nearly all the people the re were at their we lls , aud we re drawmg up bags of loose sand by m<•ans of windlasses. Around littl • pools, men, women, and dtildren were grou pcd, in tt·n t I y poring OYe r th e~e bags of loose sand, washing the earth in wooden pbtters or goat horns. One cannot but fee l pity for tht·se rni erable wretches, and congratu lat<' himself that he docs not possess a gold mine. }J;ven the life of the poor pastort's is much p ref('rablt• to that of these digg •rs of gold . Tucrto contains about 250 inhabitants. It is situated on a ra-vine, that just furnishc•s sufTit~ i t' nt water for this place and the town :at the base of the mou ntains, which is]~ mi les distant. Som · of the people own la rge Hocks of s ht•cp, which they keep in the valley of the Pecos. In the rvrning w<' saw the" villano "milking their goat~. This business requ ires considrrablt• dext<'rity, and is not one of the lea ·t amusin~ seencs in cw Mexico. October 1.-Wc now ~da r ted to exami11e the mines of thf' new plact•r. Mr. Campbell kindly furnish<'tl 11s mules, in o rtl rr that ours mi ght l1ave an op portu nity to rest a ncl to graze. We first visittd a lead min e, situatc(l ncar the road t hat runs to St. Antonio; it is in a dire ction nea rly south, si tu ated at the foot of the mouut:tins, and ove rlaying a bed of fossi liferous limestone. W e collected s pccimt·ns of the lead orr, and Lhc limestone; then, proceeding eastwardly, commenced as('<•nding- the mountain. Our course now chan ged towards the no rt h. Ncar the summit of the mountain wr vis•tcd a large copper mine. Mr. Campbell proceeded to <·nter with great ca ut ion, and told us that he fea red least some evil disposer! Mexicans ~hould be lurking in these eaverns, f0r there wrrc many di sco ntPntcd spirits abo ut the country, trying to re_volntionize 1 he pcopl<', and some were said to dweJJ in t he ·e nunr" and <'avcrns. Wr found b(•auti ful specimens of ore of coppe r of various kinds. :Mr. Campbell ground up ~ om e with the aid of a couple of stonc·s, and aftpr a little washing showed us a g-rc<ll many particl t>s of gold and silver; ind c(·cl, th<' ore was q ui te ric-h with these metals. This vein went through a compact limestone that is worn as if a wntcr course on e(• ran through the pla<'e uow oC'cupied by the ore. The projt·cting pi eces of roc:k arc rounded, and the sides of the pass:1gc worn into dt>t.'p round ed fi ·~un•s that our ho t call · poekct-.; an<l h e t c II s u s t h a t i n t h c m t h e r i c h <' s t o r P s a r c f o u n d . A r o u n cl t h e !DOuth of the mine we saw pi<·cl'S of carb onate of lime Sl'attcrcd; lt had been dug out with the copper ore. |