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Show 88 A TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS. fourteen dollars per ounce~ while that from other "diggins'' is worth from sixteen to sixteen and a half. This metal is geneJ'ally sought for and obtained in the mountainous parts of the country, in the bars along the streams, or the gulches or ravines along the mountain sides-The fornter constitutes the ''wet" the latter the "dry" diggins. The "wet" are wol'ked during the latter 1nonths of summer after the wat<tr has fallen enough to expose the bars. The Hdry" during the rainy season when the ravines have water in them. Smull quantities of fine gold mny be carried down the riv6rs ncar their mouths, but in quantities too inconsidernl>le to make it an object to wash it out. During the summer of 1850 the majority of miners were engaged in '~darning" the streams, supposing that vu.luubi P- d c po~ its would be found in their be d~, but these generally failed, scarcely one in ton paying expenses.Many who were in po~session of several thousand dollars in the spring, found themselves when the dams were completed, without any thing, and deeply in debt. . In order to obtain .the "dust," the soil, ~and, and shingle ls dug out from among the rocks. placed in a pan or washer, and wa hed off, the g(Jld from its gt·eat specific weight being precipitated to the bottom. If the gold be fine. mercury is 'mixed with the duRt, their affinity causing them to untte at once. ,.fhe amalgam is then placed in a retort and the mercu 1·y disti lied off. l\1achin P.s are being erected in many places to crush quat·tz rock, many specimens of which yield from twentyfive to fifty cents per pound. This in the course of a few years will be the principal business carried on by gold ht~ntcrs. as the bar and ravine washings, are as a general thmg, pretty well worked out. . The gold mines of the fat· west, occupy quite an exten· stve region-Gold is obtained from many of the rivers of Orc~?n-·from the Snlt Lake country ,-the eastern slope of the ::)1err·a Nevada, and from nearly all the streams in Up· per California. The vast amount of this metal in the possession of the Mont:zumas, nt the time Mexico was conquered by the S~anJard$, had been obtained, most pl'obably, in the mounttllns on the Gila River. 'fhe Indian tribes in this part of the country, seem to have some knowledge on this point, • AND LIFE IN CALIFORNIA. 39 and make every effort to prevent the whites f1·onm explo1· .. i5g the country. - They are also in possession of certain traditions, which say these n1ines were once extensively worked, and yielded large quantities of Gold. The roughness of the country a.n0 hostility of the Indians have as yet prevented many from exploring it. It should not be undertaken by less than a company of thirty men, armed with revolvers, with good mules and plenty of provisions. Even then, it would be a trip atten· dod with extretne danger and privation. ClltlPTER XII . t..:limnte of Cnlifornia,--its Cause-,8oii,-Procluct.iou•,-A.uimals, &~. The climate of California is considerably milder than at the same latitude on the Atlantic coast. The whole Pacific coast of North America follows the same law ; the diffcr~ nce in temperature being equal to ten or fifteen degrees of latitude. 'I'he following theory will, probably, explain satisfactori.ly the cause of this diffe1·ence. Large tracts of high land, in ot· neat· the polar regions, serve as vast 1nag .. azines of cold, which exert a chilly influence on ·countries at considerable distances frorn them. The large tracts of land north and north-east of Bt·ittsh Ame1·ica, no doubt, exert thi~ effect upon the Atlantic coa~t, and U. States pro· pet·; while the country on ot· near the Pacific coast, is not f)Ubject to such an influence. Water especially, when in a large body, exerts an equalizing effect on the climate of a. country-moderating the cold of winter and heat of summer; preventing what al'e called "excessive climates. 17- 'I'he North Pacific, probably, exerts an effect of this· ki11d\ Thet·e are, propet·ly, but two seasons in California-th~ "wet" and "dry." It generally be ginA to rain between the fi t'st of N ovember and lattet· part of December, aQd continues until about the middle of April. There are f1·equent intermissions, dut·ing wh,ich the weather is as mild as during our ApriLGrass, and vegetation genet·ally, begins to grow at the com-mencement of this season. . FA·om the middle of April unta the ensuing "winter," |
