one in Tuolumne, and another in Tulare county, with, perhaps, others not yet discovered in the adjacent but less explored portions of the Sierra Nevada.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY.

As we proceed south along the great mineral belt, the counties further north, mostly of limited area, begin, after passing Calaveras, to increase in size-Tuolumne having an average length of sixty with a width of thirty-five miles. It lies between Calaveras and Alpine on the north, and Mariposa on the south, and between Mono on the east and Stanislaus and Calaveras on the west. In its topography and productions it is so nearly assimilated to the mining counties further north, already gone over, as to require little more to be said on these points.

The Stanislaus river separates this county from Calaveras on the northwest, the south and middle forks of that stream and the Tuolumne with its branches running across the county in a southwesterly course, cutting it with numerous deep cañons. Both these rivers, as well as many of their confluents, carry heavy bodies of water at all seasons of the year; and, heading high up in the Sierra Nevada, become, when swollen by sudden rains or the melting of the summer snows, large and rapid streams, rising often in the mountain gorges to an immense height above crdinary stages, and overflowing their banks after they have descended into the plains.

This county has been pronounced by the State Geological Survey one of the richest fields for scientific study to be found in the State; more of the remains of the mastodon, elephant, and other large animals being found in the district northwest of Columbia than in any other locality in California, with the exception of Kincaid Flat. At Texas Flat there is a vast accumulation of calcareous tufa formed over the auriferous gravel, in an ancient gulch emptying into the Stanislaus, when that river was at a much higher level than at present. This same formation occurs on the bank of the Stanislaus, where it rises in picturesque cavernous cliffs resembling coral reefs. In this tufa are found the bones and teeth not only of the above gigantic animals, but also of the horse and other mammalia, together with land and fresh water shells.

One of the most striking features in the topography and geology of this county is the "Table Mountain," masses of basaltic lava with perpendicular sides and flat on the top, which extend for a distance of nearly thirty miles with their windings. The top of this mountain is elevated about two thousand feet above the Stanislaus river, near which

it runs a good part of the distance, this stream frequently breaking through it. It varies in width from twelve hundred to eighteen hundred feet; the basaltic mass forming the Table Mountain proper being about one hundred and fifty feet thick. This portion, which has perpendicular sides, stands on a deep bed of detrital matter that slopes from its base down to the river or the country adjacent.

The space occupied by this wall-like mountain was once the channel of an ancient river having precipitous banks. At a point on the latter where this formation begins, a stream of lava ejected from a neighboring volcano entered it, and flowing steadily down filled it full. The country along the banks of this stream, consisting doubtless at that period of high mountain ranges, has since been eroded by the action. of the elements and all washed away, leaving this mountain, composed of more solid matter, standing in the condition we now find it. What strengthens the presumption that these singular formations occupy the beds of former rivers, is the fact that the bed rock beneath them is water worn, after the marner of fluvial action, and contains rich deposits of washed gold; many of the best paying mines in the county, consisting of these old channels, are now regularly worked by an elaborate system of shafts and tunnels.

Although the leading pursuit of this county is mining, it contains many small, well tilled farms, together with fruitful gardens, orchards and vineyards-Tuolumne being distinguished for the excellence and abundance of its fruits and grapes.

The amount of land enclosed was estimated in 1867 at thirty-five thousand acres, of which about twelve thousand were under cultivation-all the cereals usually raised in California being planted. Much stock is also kept in this county, the dairy products being ample for every home demand.

Lumbering is also extensively carried on, large quantities of sawed timber and shingles, after the local consumption is met, being annually sent to Stockton for a market. There are sixteen saw mills in the county, seven of which are driven by water and nine by steam. Their cost has varied from two thousand to twenty thousand dollars each, several having capacity to cut eight thousand feet of lumber daily.

A number of costly roads have been built in Tuolumne, towards the construction of which the county has in some instances lent its corporate assistance. One of these roads extends across the Sierra to Mono county, and being the shortest wagon route between tide water and the Esmeralda mining region, is likely to command considerable travel hereafter. Already it has served as a convenient channel

for transporting the fruits and surplus farming products of Tuolumne to the mining towns and camps east of the mountains, where they always command a ready sale at remunerative prices.

Tuolumne contains a population of about fifteen thousand, of whom a considerable portion are Chinamen. Sonora, the county seat, numbers about two thousand five hundred inhabitants. The place was first settled in the summer of 1848 by a company of miners from Sonora, Mexico-hence the name. So rapidly did it grow in consequence of the extremely rich placers found around it, that in a little more than one year it contained nearly five thousand inhabitants. Sonora has suffered its full share from conflagrations, the greater portion of it having been several times destroyed by fire. For many years past the mines in the vicinity have been considerably depleted, yet it still continues to be the base of supply for a large circle of mining country about it.

The town of Columbia, four miles north of Sonora, and containing a little more than half the population of the latter, is surrounded by a similar character of mines, and has a history not very unlike that of its neighbor, though not settled for nearly a year and a half later.

Shaw's Flat and Springfield are small towns between Sonora and Columbia, having an aggregate population of three or four hundred. Jamestown, a hamlet of several hundred inhabitants, five miles south of the county seat, was early settled, and for several years was the center of an exceedingly prolific placer district. In the neighborhood extensive tunnels have been driven under Table Mountain, overlooking it from the north.

Montezuma, Chinese Camp, Jacksonville, Tuttletown, Gold Spring, Poverty Hill, Big Oak Flat, and Garote, have all been in their day mining towns of note, containing from five hundred to one thousand inhabitants, and some of them for a short time many more. They have nearly all, however, declined, as the diggings about them grew poorer, until some have not now half their former population. With the discovery of quartz they are generally beginning to revive, and it is not improbable that many will, in the course of a few years, contain even a greater number of inhabitants and become more prosperous than before.

Connected with the early history of these towns, as well also as with that of various smaller places in the county, are many strange and tragic events, the original population of this region having been largely made up of rough and desperate characters collected from all parts of the world. Hither flocked the people of Spanish origin,

adventurers who had spent their lives on the southern and western frontiers, and hither swarmed the gamblers and men of desperate fortunes from every land under the sun; the very character of the diggings, rich beyond example, but less certain than elsewhere, naturally serving to attract these classes to this quarter. A record of the rich strikes, the popular tumults, the deadly affrays, the executions without law, and the murders without punishment, that occurred during these early times, would fill a large volume. All those excitements -those exhibitions of private vengeance and popular passion—those scenes of ferocity, violence and crime, that have given California such unenviable notoriety, found here their most frequent and forcible illustration. Yet, notwithstanding these scenes of turbulence and crime, and the many unhappy events connected with the primitive history of this country, the present inhabitants of Tuolumne are not, perhaps, in the matter of social and moral standing, behind any other community in the State.

Placer mining, except as performed by hydraulic washing, or through shafts and tunnels reaching into the ancient river channels and gravel beds, is not now extensively practiced in this county. By the above. means, however, as well as by a considerable amount of surface washing performed in certain localities during the winter, large quantities of gold are annually taken out; and as the bank diggings are in many places very deep, and the auriferous gravel of great probable extent, this branch of mining seems likely to be pursued here for an indefinite period, and with at least moderately good results.

Among the quartz lodes that have from time to time been signalized by unwonted success, is the Soulsby claim, near Sonora, which, several years ago was conspicuous in this respect. A multitude of ledges are now being worked along the auriferous belt that crosses the county, generally with fair, and often with munificent returns. There are now forty-eight quartz mills in operation, carrying five hundred and forty stamps-the whole erected at an aggregate cost of about $550,000.

Situated on the mother lode, striking across the westerly end of this county, are a number of quartz claims, that, tested by a successful experience of several years, may justly claim to rank among the leading mines of the county if not also of the State. In this catagory stands the Rawhide Ranch claim, lying on the west side of Table Mountain, a few miles west of Sonora. The lode, having an average width of twelve feet, has been explored to a depth of about three hundred feet by a main shaft, from the bottom of which drifts have been run nearly one hundred feet, disclosing in this level a heavy compact mass of

vein matter. A well appointed twenty-stamp mill has been running on the ores, which, during the past three years, have varied in their yield from seven to forty-four dollars per ton. Connected with the mine is a tract of five hundred acres of partially timbered land.

One mile south of Jamestown, also situated on the great crowning vein of the county, and covering what seems to be one of its more. enriched portions, is the Dutch mine, so called from the nationality of the former owners, and by whom it was sold to M. B. Silver, the present proprietor. On the surface it is composed of four parallel veins, all of which, from their proximity and angle of pitch, it is thought will finally unite in one masterly lode. The mine, though not extensively developed, has been sufficiently prospected to establish its permanency and great probable value; the uniform yield of the ore, of which the quantity is very large, having been fifteen dollars to the ton, the gold being free and easily saved by the most simple and inexpensive methods. The ores have been worked for five years past with a ten-stamp mill; a much larger establishment being required to render even a tithe of the productive capacities of this mine available.

The App mine, adjoining that last described on the south, and differing but little from it in its main features, has been worked for the past nine years with uniformly good results. During this time nine thousand tons of ore were crushed, yielding $140,000, or an average of $15 50 per ton-the cost of mining and milling having been about $67,000.

From the Golden Rule mine, lying a few miles south of the App claim, there were raised during the year 1866, three thousand tons of ore, which yielded $32,654, having been at the rate of $10 75 per ton. The quantity of ore taken out and reduced the following year, at the company's mill, was three thousand two hundred and forty-four tons, which yielded $38,868-nearly $12 per ton-the cost of mining and milling having been less than $7 per ton. Five dividends were made during 1867, of $1,450 each, the company having, in January, 1868, a surplus in bank of $11,000, to be applied to construction account.

Tuolumne has within its limits six main trunk water ditches, varying in length from seven to one hundred miles. Several of these are works of magnitude, and required the expenditure of large sums of money in their construction. The Big Oak Flat canal, forty miles long, cost over $600,000; the ditch of the Tuolumne County Water company, but thirty-five miles long, having cost $550,000. The distributing branches of these canals have an aggregate length far exceeding that