timbered mountains only six or eight miles west from the point of intersection of the two roads. The suggestions made with reference to the propriety of preventing a monopoly of the salt-fields by private individuals might perhaps be extended also to the wood-lands, more especially in the interior mining districts, where these lands are limited in extent, and where, although the requirements for fuel will probably be great, large tracts have already been secured in the manner alluded to by private parties or companies.

MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEVADA.

Various minerals.-Not only the precious, but also many of the useful metals, as well as a large variety of mineral substances, are met with in the State of Nevada, nearly all of them widely diffused and some of the latter in such abundance as cannot fail to render them commodities of economic value when greater facilities shall exist for transporting them to the points of manufacture or consumption. Besides the saliniferous basins already described, ores of copper and iron rich in these respective metals; beds of sulphur, from some of which this mineral can be obtained quite pure, though generally mixed with calcareous or other foreign matter; deposits of lignite and possibly true coal, though, so far as explored, Nevada is not a strongly marked carboniferous region; cinnabar, gypsum, manganese, plumbago, kaoline and other clays useful for making pottery and fire-brick; mineral pigments of many kinds, together with many of the more important salts and varieties of alkaline earths; soda in all its combinations, nitre, alum, magnesia, &c., being encountered in nearly all parts of the State and frequently in great abundance. Platinum and tin have been found in small quantities, the latter as yet only in stream-works and never in place, galena, zinc, antimony, nickel, cobalt, arsenic, &c., frequently occurring in combination with silver and other metals. Limestone, granite, marble, and many other kinds of stone suitable for building purposes, with slate adapted for roofing, are common and in some instances easily obtained, the work of quarrying them being carried on above ground. The most useful material of this class consists of a species of sandstone and a volcanic rock, the former of a light gray and the latter of a reddish drab color, both of which occur in masses quite upon the surface, and when fresh from the quarry are so soft as to be easily wrought, though afterwards becoming so hard as to resist not only the influence of the atmosphere, but also a high degree of heat, some of this igneous rock being employed for smelting and roasting works, and even the manufacture of crucibles, with success. That iron could be manufactured to advantage in the interior of the State where the freights are high and the consumption of this article so considerable, is the opinion of those most conversant with the subject, and there is a strong probability that works of this kind upon a limited scale, at least, will be established there within a short time. One of the heaviest beds of iron ore yet discovered in the State is situated in the western part of Nye county, and though not far distant from an extensive body of piñon from which an excellent article of charcoal could readily be made, there is but little water and no good land or important mines in the immediate neighborhood; wherefore, although the ore is abundant, rich, and of supposed good quality, it is much to be questioned whether iron even of the more common kind, such as is used for dies, shoes, castings, &c., could be made here with profit, and consequently whether this ferruginous bed is at present of any practical importance. Upon some of the alkaline flats, as well as about certain springs and other localities, the carbonate of soda exists so pure and in such profusion that it, like common salt and other similar substances, must yet become one of the staple exports of the country. At present but a very limited use is made of this article, it being employed only by the laundrymen and soap-makers. There is now a small establishment at Carson City engaged in manufacturing sulphuric acid, the raw

material being procured from the sulphur bed near the Big Bend of the Humboldt river, about the centre of Humboldt county. That other salts and mineral substances, such as nitre, borax, alum, &c., will yet be found in this State in such quantities as will make them of practical value, seems probable, though not enough is yet known as to the extent of these deposits to warrant the expression of a positive opinion on this point. Nevada is rich in organic remains both animal and vegetable, some of the latter being of extraordinary size and beauty. Huge fragments of fossiliferous wood and even the entire trunks of large trees have been discovered lying upon the surface of the ground often in a state of high preservation. There are springs in different places, the waters of which being highly charged with silicious or ferruginous properties, are constantly carrying on this fossilizing process upon animal and vegetable matter immersed in or otherwise sufficiently exposed to their operation. No diamonds or other precious stones have, so far as is known, yet been discovered in Nevada, though opals and agates, the latter remarkable for variety and beauty, have been found at many places. Neither petroleum nor other mineral oil has thus far been met with in the country, nor do the indications, so far as observed, favor the supposition that they will ever be discovered in quantities hereafter, the bituminous, like the carboniferous signs throughout the State, being scanty and unsatisfactory.

Characteristic features of the Comstock ledge.-Taken as a whole, this ledge, discovered as already related, is not only by far the most valuable silverbearing lode yet found in the State of Nevada, but equals, perhaps, any deposit of the precious metals ever encountered in the history of mining enterprise, its productive capacity, as now being developed, surpassing, if the mass of its ores do not in richness equal, those of the most famous mines of Mexico and Peru. Being then so important in itself, and holding such prominence among the mines of this State, a somewhat detailed description of its location, character, exploitation, and future prospects may not be out of place. This lode is situate in Story county, about twenty-five miles from the western border of the State. It is found cropping out along the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a lofty eminence in the Washoe range of mountains, which form a lower spur of the main sierra, with which it runs parallel, being separated thereform by Washoe and Steamboat valleys. Mount Davidson, like most of the range of which it forms a part, is extremely dry and barren, containing but little water or grass, and at present no timber at all, the few scrubby pines that once grew upon its sides. having long since disappeared. Its bulk, like that of the Sierra Nevada and most of the mountain ranges in this State, is composed of granite, though largely made up of serpentine, quartz, gneiss, sienite, talcose, calcareous and other primary rocks. Breccia, porphyry, trap, trachyte, argillaceous, and silicious, with nearly every kind of igneous and sedimentary rock, are common in the mountains of this State, some rich argentiferous lodes having been found in many of these formations. The summit of Mount Davidson is 7,827 feet above tide water, 1,600 feet above Virginia City and the Comstock lode, and more than 3,000 feet above the plain of Carson river at its base. The direction and comparative size of this lode, the length and relative position of the various claims upon it, and its situation with reference to Virginia City and Gold Hill, the principal towns in the neighborhood, will be more readily understood by consulting the accompanying diagram, illustrating these and other points of interest connected therewith. The strike of the principal or mother vein, the only one exhibited on this plat, is, as will be seen, about fifteen degrees west of south, the northerly and southerly extremities thereof bearing nearly due north and south. In width or thickness it varies on top from twenty to two hundred feet, the most of it ranging between thirty and seventy feet, with a uniform tendency to expansion as penetrated downwards. The ledge, at some points along its course, as in the grounds of the Savage and the Gould & Curry companies, and again at Gold Hill, spreads out beyond its average width, it reaching at the latter place its

greatest thickness, something over one hundred and fifty feet. In a vertical direction it undergoes a simlar contraction and expansion, pinching at points to a few yards, or even feet, and again extending to its usual size. Though in spots appearing in high rocky projections, it does not show itself above ground throughout its entire length, there being considerable stretches where no outcrop is visible. That it preserves its continuity, however, below, seems probable, it having been found wherever searched after to any great depth. Nor has it proven prolific in ores throughout all its parts, there being a number of barren spaces along it, as in the ground extending from the Central to the Gould & Curry claim, some 1,400 feet, and at other points further south, in none of which have any considerable bodies of valuable ores been found, though explored to depths varying from three to five hundred feet. It is the opinion of geologists that within these hitherto unproductive spaces paying ores will yet be reached, though not, perhaps, until much greater depths have been attained.

In this as in most large and fruitful silver-bearing lodes the valuable ores, though generally diffused throughout the mass of the gange or vein-stone, are still found to be more abundant in certain portions thereof called bonanzas or chimneys, which latter, as they usually have a pitch lengthwise the lode, must, according to their position, often run out of the ground of one company into that of another adjoining, leaving the one comparatively poor and enriching the other. Under this arrangement it might happen that one of these barren spots, by a bonanza striking into it at a greater depth, should be rendered productive, it being, moreover, liable to become so without reference to this system of distribution of ores, not by any means a feature of all mines. In its upper portions the Comstock lode dipped to the west at an angle of about sixty degrees, this angle in places being much larger, and at some points approximating ninety degrees. At greater depths, varying from one to three hundred feet, the ledge after gradually assuming a perpendicular position is now, at the depth of seven hundred feet, found pitching to the east at an angle of about fifty degrees, the inclination varying somewhat at different points along its line. In the development of this lode, which is now conceded by all competent judges who have examined it to be a regular fissure vein of the largest size, the usual contractions, faults, and displacements common in this class of veins have been encountered, and though causing much hindrance and extra labor, and at times giving rise to no little doubt and discouragement, they have in no case destroyed the continuity of the vein or caused it to be wholly lost sight of. Dykes of trap and other indurated rock have interposed at many points to check the work of exploration, while elsewhere imbedded within the mass of the lode have been found immense fragments of wall rock or other foreign matter barren of ore, causing much trouble and tending to depreciate for the time being the value of the mines. But in nearly every instance such obstacles have been overcome, these rocky barriers being penetrated, and these bodies of worthless material dissappearing before the persistent efforts of well-applied labor.

The Comstock ledge has now been clearly traced and identified for a space, measured in a straight line, of a little more than one mile and a half, throughout which it has been found continuous and sufficiently rich in the precious metals to render the entire body of the ore-bearing portions of the vein remunerative, with the exceptions already pointed out. This space extends from the larger section of the Ophir company's claim, on the north, to that of the Belcher, and possibly of the Uncle Sam, on the south, some of the rich silver sulphurates characteristic of the mother lode having been found in the Fatter, though not at the depth yet reached, in large quantities. As stated, the rich ores have been found in some cases, as in the Ophir and Mexican grounds, and at Gold Hill, quite upon the surface, while in others it has only been reached at depths varying from fifty to five hundred feet. In the Gould & Curry claim very fair, though not what was then considered pay-rock, was met with in the outcroppings of the

ledge, the millable ores not being obtained until a depth of nearly one hundred feet was reached.

In the ground of the Savage company, adjoining on the south, they were not reached until a much greater depth had been attained, while in that of the Hale and Norcross company, lying next, nothing worth putting through the batteries was met with until their shaft had, at great expense, been sunk to a vertical depth of more than 500 feet. In the Alpha, Yellow Jacket, and Crown Point claims, no heavy masses of millable ores were met with until they had been penetrated downward from one to three hunded feet, while, as before intimated, in the space between the claim of the Gould & Curry and that of the Central company, as also throughout a stretch of some hundred feet adjoining the ground of the Chollar-Potosi company on the south, and perhaps, also, in a like space similarly situated with reference to the Belcher ground, no metalliferous deposits of magnitude or value have thus far been developed. Much labor and money have been expended in efforts to trace the prolongation of the Comstock ledge, both to the north and south, of what are considered, in a productive sense at least, its present termini; but only with the results heretofore indicated, nothing of permanent value having been struck along the supposed line of its course, or adjacent thereto, beyond these points. Quartzose ledges exist in abundance, both to the north and south within the belt the Comstock is presumed to occupy, if it have an existence outside its present known limits; but none of these, nor yet any of the numerous lateral ledges in close proximity to the developed section of the mother vein, and by some considered a portion of it, have yielded more than a very insignificant percentage of the precious metals, nor are the present prospects of these properties such as to command for them other than mere nominal prices in the mining share market, many, that a few years ago sold readily at high prices, being no longer salable at all. Most of the ledges running parallel with the productive portion of the Comstock, and within one or two hundred feet of the latter, have been the cause of much expensive litigation, the owners of the main lode claiming them as belonging to it under the theory that they would all unite at some point, probably at no great depth beneath the surface; a view that the courts have been inclined to sustain and that experience tends to sauction.

The greatest vertical depth to which the Comstock ledge has been developed is a little more than seven hundred feet, there being several shafts along it from four hundred to seven hundred feet deep, with many others varying in depth from two hundred to five hundred feet, while some tunnels now under way, and soon most likely to be completed, will strike it at a still greater depth. The Sutro tunnel already projected, with a good prospect of being finished in the course of four or five years, will strike it at an estimated depth of eighteen hundred feet below the croppings of the Gould & Curry company, the highest point upon it. This work, according to the plan proposed, is to be twelve feet wide and ten feet high, so as to admit of a double train-way. It will be nineteen thousand feet long, cost between four and five millions of dollars, and when finished will enable this lode to be worked with probable profit to a depth of three thousand feet or more. The proprietor of this tunnel, which it is believed will soon become an urgent necessity, proposes to tax the different companies upon the Comstock ledge at the rate of two dollars for every ton of ore raised after the work is completed, and they are actually enjoying the benefits of having their mines drained thereby. The work, though formidable, is greatly inferior, both in cost and magnitude, to several others of a similar kind already completed, or under way, for securing deep drainage to various mines in Europe. In the year 1850 surveys were made for a tunnel in the Harz mines, Brunswick, to be nearly fourteen miles in length, and which it was estimated it would require twenty-two years to finish. Work was commenced upon this tunnel in July, 1851, and completed in June, 1864, the time required for its construction being less than thirteen years. The product of these mines is only about half a

million dollars in gold and silver, per annum, and the additional drainage secured by this work was but three hundred feet, items quite insignificant compared with the annual yield of the Comstock lode, and the depth of drainage to accrue from the construction of the Sutro tunnel. A tunnel some fifteen miles in length, designed to drain the principal mines at Freiberg, Saxony, has been in progress of excavation for several years, forty more being expected to insure its completion; nor does this work deepen the present drainage upon those mines to anything like the extent attained by the Sutro tunnel. Already a number of extensive tunnels have been commenced, designed to intersect the Comstock lode at depths varying from five hundred to one thousand feet beneath the surface. Some of these, after being partially completed, have been abandoned; upon others work has been suspended at different stages in their progress; while upon a few operations are still being vigorously prosecuted, with the prospect of an early consummation. Some of the shafts now being sunk it is proposed to carry to a depth of twelve or fourteen hundred feet, powerful pumping and hoisting works being provided for the purpose.

Character, quantity, value, and distribution of ores in the Comstock ledge.— The great body of valuable ores contained in the Comstock ledge consists of the black and gray sulphurets of silver, several other varieties having been met with in small quantities, more especially near the surface. Native silver is found diffused throughout all parts of the vein; and while no large masses have been obtained, many handsome specimens have been gathered from the various claims, the aggregate value of all the virgin metal taken out being quite large. Combined with this ore is a small amount of the baser metals, such as the sulphurets of antimony, lead, iron, copper, &c. These are present, however, only in limited quantities, this ore being remarkable for its freedom from these and similar substances; hence one of the elements of its comparatively cheap reduction. Associated with the silver is a notable percentage of gold, the bullion extracted during the earlier working of the mines containing a larger portion of it than at a later period when, through improved machinery and processes and a more careful manipulation of the ores, the silver was more closely saved. At Gold Hill the bullion extracted at first was worth from six to eight dollars per ounce; now it is reduced to between two and three dollars, that from most other points along the Comstock lode being worth still less, owing to the heavy alloy of silver it contains. The deeper the mines at Gold Hill are worked the more the metal tends to silver. By simply crushing and amalgamating, from seventy to ninety, on an average more than eighty, per cent. of all the precious metals contained in the great mass of the Comstock ores can be extracted, thereby dispensing with the troublesome and expensive process of roasting or smelting, to which only a small quantity of the extremely rich or more obdurate ores are subjected. The mass of rocky matter enclosed between the walls of this ledge is not found to be ore-bearing throughout all its parts. In spots it is quite barren, the ores being collected in streaks or bunches, leaving the balance so entirely destitute of metal, or only so slightly impregnated therewith, as to render it not worth raising. In other places the metalliferous ores are generally diffused throughout the vein-stone, being here usually of a lower grade than where occurring in a more concentrated form. This lode, having been found remarkably rich at two or three spots quite upon the surface, and these happening to be the points where practical operations were first initiated, led at the outset to very exaggerated notions of its probable wealth, and a consequent overrating of its prospective value; a circumstance to which much of the wild speculation, as well as many of the misapprehensions and mistakes, that subsequently characterized the management of these mines, as well as the financial operations connected therewith, may be justly attributed. Under the excitement of the moment, and through the general ignorance prevailing in regard to the nature of silver mines, it was inferred that these bonanzas would not only be of frequent occurrence and extend indefinitely downwards, but that the entire body of the lode would