12 by 12 in. to the washer. The beach at this place is littered with logs and driftwood, and the sand taken out from among them is shoveled into wheelbarrows and dumped on the washing machine, which consists of a table 3 ft. wide and 11 ft. long. From there the mixture flows onto another table 6 by 8 ft., which tends to more evenly distribute it over the whole surface. The lower end of this table consists of a screen of sheet-iron, with in. punched holes, where the gravel, driftwood, etc., are retained. The clean sand then flows over corrugated plates 6 ft. long, set at an angle of 14°, and thence onto a table covered with coarse blanket, and having a square well 4 in. deep at its upper and lower ends to catch escaping quicksilver. There are three men employed to wheel sand and one man keeps the screens clear and tends to the machine. It is said that about $5 is taken out to the man employed. A. L. Yates, of Crescent City, owner.

EL DORADO COUNTY.

This county is as well supplied with gold-bearing veins as any part of the mineral belt, and is equally well furnished with facilities for water power, and better than some as regards timber. The formations do not show the same regularity which is found along the "Mother Lode" in the counties south; the slates have in part been greatly crushed and altered, and the granitic rocks come lower down the ridges. It is in this county that the so-called seam diggings have found their greatest development, furnishing a large proportion of the gold output of the county with comparatively small outlay for permanent plants, making it possible for men of small means to engage profitably in the mining business. There is considerable of this kind of ground still awaiting the miner's advent. Unfortunately, agricultural patents covering these, in a measure put a barrier in the way of the prospector, and lose to the community the possibility of an increased output of gold from this direction.

During the writer's stay in Georgetown, parties plowing a field below town turned up quartz from a seam that yielded $400 in gold, showing that in many parts the wealth below is more valuable than the product of the surface.

For years the county has not received the attention that its mineral wealth merits, but the success attending the deeper explorations in the Taylor, Springfield, Church, Big Cañon, Gentle Annie, and other mines should be an encouragement to other operators to delve deeper in their now idle mines.

Adam's Gulch Mine (Quartz).-It is 2 miles N. of Nashville, and is 1,500 by 600 ft. It shows a 2 ft. vein of quartz with a N. and S. course, on which two shafts have been sunk about 100 ft. deep. J. C. Heald, of Nashville, owner.

Alpine Mine (Quartz).-See our VIIIth Report, p. 167.
Argonaut Mine (Quartz).-See our Xth Report, p. 176.

Armstrong & Roberts Mine (Drift).—It is 3 miles S. of Grizzly Flat, and contains 30 acres of ground. A channel 60 ft. wide runs through the ground in a N.E. and S.W. course, and is tapped by a tunnel 600 ft. in length. The channel is lava-capped. Pay gravel 5 ft. thick. The bedrock and most of the bowlders are granitic. One man works the

claim, washing the extracted gravel two or three times a year. Armstrong and Roberts, of Grizzly Flat, owners.

W. T.

Aultman Mine (Quartz).-It is situated 2 miles E. of Greenwood, and is supposed to be on the same vein as the Idlewild Mine. It is 1,500 by 600 ft. of patented ground. The vein courses nearly N. and S., with slate and diabase walls, pitching slightly to the E. The walls contain considerable lime; small stalactites having formed in the drifts. The croppings have been exploited by an open cut over 30 ft. deep; a crosscut tunnel driven at an expense of $35 per foot has penetrated 500 ft., cutting the ledge 250 ft. below the croppings; at this point a shaft was sunk 35 ft. deep and drifts turned both N. and S. about 25 ft. The vein is 103 ft. wide between walls. The quartz is milk white and carries some iron sulphurets. The 2-stamp mill and office buildings have been destroyed by fire. Water power is available. Timber is plentiful. John Smith, of Greenwood, owner.

Bald Eagle Mine (Quartz).-See Crown Point Mine.

Baldwin Mine (Quartz).—It is 2 miles E. of Nashville, in T. 8 N., R. 10 E., and is 3,000 by 300 ft. The vein, 7 ft. wide, runs a little W. of N., and lies E. of the main "Mother Lode"; it dips toward the E. at an angle of about 60°; the walls are slate and porphyry. The vein carries 0.5 per cent sulphurets. Two shafts, supplied with steam hoisting works, have been sunk 175 ft. and 60 ft. deep, respectively, and drifts turned from the former. One foot of gouge accompanies the vein. They usually employ 7 men. E. J. Baldwin, of San Francisco, owner.

Barnes Mine (Quartz).—It is 24 miles N.E. of Shingle Springs. The vein lies on the contact of serpentine and hornblende porphyry. Considerable work has been done on the surface along this contact, as shown by the numerous shallow openings, although but little quartz appears. The main workings consist of several shafts. This and other mines on this belt produce much telluride of gold. H. L. Robinson, of Placerville, owner.

Base Bonanza Mine (Quartz).-Located in Sec. 32, T. 12 N., R. 10 E. Well defined ledge; east wall diorite and west wall serpentine.

Beattie & Parsons Consolidated Mine (Seam Digging).-See our XIth Report, p. 203. It is situated at Georgia Slide, 14 miles N. of Georgetown, in Secs. 3 and 34, Tps. 12 and 13 N., R. 10 E., and contains 60 acres on the south bank of Cañon Creek, on the porphyry seam belt. It is worked as a placer, the pit being about 150 ft. deep. The formation is traversed by slates and schists, and intercepted by numerous goldbearing quartz seams, varying in width from almost nothing to several inches. The mass containing these seams is loosened by blasting and washed through 1,500 ft. of sluices, set on a grade of from 14 to 18 in. per box of 16 ft.; these being lined with 8 in. wooden blocks. If any gold is seen in the quartz, it is laid to one side and crushed in the hand mortar, but necessarily many such pieces escape and are washed into Cañon Creek. The upper boxes are cleaned up once or twice a week, and the remainder three or four times a season. Many of the slates in this belt carry from $2 to $3 per ton, mostly in coarse gold, which sells for $18 50 per ounce. Beattie & Parsons Consolidated Placer Mining Company, owners; C. Beattie, Superintendent.

Benfeldt Mine (Drift).-See our VIIIth and Xth Reports, pp. 187

and 197.

Berry Mine (Quartz).-See True Consolidated.