The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING; JANUARY 11, 1868.

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

From the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, Jan. 10.
The weather is at present fearfully severe in
Paris. The mails by sea and land are retarded, and
even the Seine, notwithstanding the force of its
current, has been frozen. The contrast between its
usual ever-changing, ever-moving panorama and

he present, is of the most striking description. The
.ittle omnibus steamers and other myriad small craft

flitting interminably upon its bosom are now moored
to the various quays, and covered with snow and

hoar frost, resembling rather a flotilla of gunboats
shut up in the Arctic regions. Hundreds of the

gamins or street boys of Paris disport themselves in
every direction upon the ice-bound river, or offer
for the low price of ten centimes (a penny) their

escort to the timid bourgeois or bourgeoise •whom
the novelty of walking across the Seine tempts to

essay the somewhat perilous feat, inasmuch as here
and there deep rifts or crevices in the ice show the
dark green water rushing on at a furious rate be-
low. In fact, the immersions became at last so
frequent that a strong force of police was sent out
in every direction to prevent persons from going
upon the ice, since which a perpetual guerilla war-
fare has been going on between the agents and the
gamins, a class of which to form anything like an
accurate idea it is necessary to read up Les Miser-
ables of Victor Hugo, who has so graphically por-
trayed it in the character of Gavroche. It is not,
however, the street boys who resent interference in
their amusements—the worthy Parisians themselves
are excemively inflammable, especially if attacked
in their amour propre. On Sunday night last a

patrol of the 24th Regiment of the Line was re-
turning under the command of a sergeant to the
Prince Eugene Barracks. They had to pass through
a crowd who were amusing themselves with sliding

upon the small piece of water in the vicinity of the
Chateau d'Eau, when they were insulted by the
crowd, through the midst of which they had pro-
bably passed with too little ceremony. The ser-
geant seized one of the aggressors, who was imme-
diately rescued, whereupon the sergeant drew up
Lis small force, and succeeded in arresting another
of the ringleaders. An officer coming up, this man
also was released, and the patrol entered their bar-
racks. King Mob was not, however, so easily satis-
fied, and a rigorous assault of stones, fragments of
ice, &c., was commenced upon thebarracks by about
1,500 to 1,600 persons. Everything prognosticated a
serious riot, for the captain-adjutant major was al-
ready taking measures for the repression of the
tumult, when the arrival of a strong detachment of
police changed the face of affairs, and after some
difficulty the crowd was dispersed, some thirty of
the ringleaders remaining in the hands of the offi-
cers, who were at once transferred to the poste to
answer for their share in the evening's amusement.
After such displays one ceases to wonder at the
history of barricades. On Saturday last the lake
situated in the midst of that aristocratic pro-
menade, the Bois de Boulogne, was the scene of
a most brilliantly picturesque fete, given by
the members of the Skating Club ; tickets of
admission fifty francs each. 'ln the midst
of the lake is a small island, upon which were sta-
tioned two military bands, playing alternately
during the fete. The illumination was carried
out in the most splendid manner, no less than
10,000 bougies, or wax lights, being fixed in
every possible direction, whilst 16 long poles were
en w reathed with garlands of gasjets, each supporting
at the same time an electric light. Notwithstand-
ing the severity of the weather and the lateness of
the hour appointed for the commencement of the
fete (nine o'clock), probably not less than 40,000
persons were assembled on the borders of the lake,
whilst some 2,000 carriages of every description
were drawn up in attendance, the interior presenting
a scene recalling to the imagination " The Thousand
and One Nights." The elegant and fanciful costumes
of the skaters, especially the ladies (for the attend-
ance at the fete comprised not only the most aristo-
cratic and noble names of France, but also the elite
of foreign visitors), the flitter of the lights, at-
tached—in the ease of the ladies to their waists, in
those of the cavaliers to their hats—the various
quadrilles and evolutions by the more accomplished
performers, were varied by the passage en masse of the
more timid beauties, who, holding on in a line to a
velvet-covered rod, sustained at each end by a gen-
tleman, felt their more cautious way across the ice.
Thegilded sledges, covered with tiger and other skins,
and impelled by hauds, combined with the perfect and
brilliant illumination which rendered the smallest
objects most clearly discernible to make up an en-
semble that can be better imagined than described.
The fete lasted until midnight, when the gay scene
appeared to pass away into the surrounding dark-
ness with the suddenness of a vision, leaving to the
bulk of the lookers-on the pleasing prospect of a
some five miles walk previous to their regaining their
domicile. Notwithstanding the prognostications of
the alarmists, one of whom lately compared the pre-
sent appearance with the salient points of political
danger to the frozen surface of the Seine, with
its crevasses, the foreign intelligence of the past
week tends materially to show an improvement
in the peace prospects of the present year. The
congratulations exchanged between the Emperor
and other Sovereigns have been of the must cordial
nature, amongst which I may especially mention
a letter received from Victor Emmanuel, and the
frank welcome accorded by the Emperor on the oc-
casion of the recent diplomatic reception to Count
von" der Goltz, Plenipotentiary of the King of
Prussia, in the character of Chief of the Confederate
States of Northern Germany; thus giving a substan-
tial confirmation of the sincerity of his Majesty
when declaring, at the opening of the Legislative
Assembly, the readiness of France to accept the
position of German affairs without interfering
therein. From telegraphic despatches, too, imme-
diately received, it appears that England, France,
and Austria have counselled the Sublime Porte
to extend throughout all its dominions the
privileges lately accorded in the case of Candia,
advice, which, it is said, has been listened to with
great complacency by Fuad Pasha, and anticipates
only the contemplated action of Turkey to that
effect. Italy will in all probability be sufficiently
occupied for the present in arranging her Govern-
ment and financial affairs, whilst his Holiness the
Pope appears to be doing better in Christmas pre-
sents than a good many ; cash and articles of value
appearing to flow into his Treasury in a continuous
stream. The latest dodge, which appears greatly to
have exasperated the extreme Radical section, is the
announcement lately made by a large proprietor in
vineyards in the department of the Gironde, who
has announced that 15 per cent. upon all purchases
mule of him will be devoted to the fund called St.
Peter's Pence. The theatres, concerts, &c., ap-
pear to be doing well notwithstanding the inclemency
of the season, the representation of " Gulliver" still
maintaining its especial attraction, whilst the oc-
currences constantly taking place at the masked
balls exhibit phases of society which it would be
difficult to equal in any other capital of the world.
On Saturday last a young and rich Brazilian en-
countered at the ball of the opera a brilliant black
domino, who, succeeding in first captivating his
attention by her brilliant wit, completed her con-
quest in unmasking and displaying to her admirer
a face of the most ravishing beauty. She informed
him that she was married, and had been foolish
enough to profit by the absence of her husband to
visit the masked ball. The enamoured swain
could only receive permission to escort her to her
domicile, Faubourg St. Germain, leaving her at
the entrance. As might naturally be expected our
hero wandered for several days like an unquiet
spirit around the house, when all at once he received
a letter inviting him to a rendezvous at 10 o'clock
in the morning of the following day, the Dame un-
dertaking to prove to him categorically the perfect
inutility of attempting to seek any further inter-
course with her. The Brazilian was punctual, but
hardly had he installed himself in the fair one's
drawing-room when he was surprised by the sud-
den entrance of a Monsieur, who cried with an ap-
pearance of exasperation, " Ah, I knew you were de-
ceiving me; behold your accomplice I" The astonished
lover attempted to stutter forth something in shape
of excuse, but he was cut short by the startling
ejaculation---" No reply ; hand over ten thousand
francs, or you are a dead man," and his interlocu-

tor drew a pistol from his pocket. It is not every
one who has, on all occasions, the sum of ten thou-
sand francs in his portmonnaie, and the enraged
husband made no diffizulty iu taking twelve hun-
dred on account. One may guess the denouement
as soon as he was at liberty. The plucked one laid
the matter before the Commissary of Police, and an
immediate search took place ; but, alas, in vain ; the
mysterious Domino and the jealous husband had
alike disappeared, and our disconcerted hero was
left sadly to ruminate upon the instability of love
affairs in general, as well as on the propriety of not
carrying too much money about him for the future
—especially in Paris.

NAPLES, Jan. 3.

The weather has been cold and rainy this week,
but the hotels are full of visitors waiting for
favourable opportunities to ascend Mount Vesuvius,
which continues most complaisantly in eruption.
The American squadron, or at least part of it,
is expected here soon, and also some of the Italian
Royal Family, so that we are likely to have a gay
month of January.

The news by the cable, not elsewhere noticed,
again largely relates to the shipment of specie for
Europe. On January 4 the steamers left with
$1,250,000 in specie ; on Jan. 8 with $1,500,000,
and on the following day with $500,000 in specie.
The Secretary of the Treasury has issued his usual
monthly statement of the public debt and the
cash in the Treasury of the United States. The
total amount of debt on the Ist of Jan. was

$2,642,000,000, against $2,639,000,000 on the Ist o'
December last, showing an increase of $3,000,000

The cash in the Treasury at the same date was

$131,000,000, against $138,000,000 at the corre.
sponding period last month, showing a decrease o

$4,000,000.
We learn from Washington, under date Jan. 8,
that the Senate has passed the bill exempting from
tax the cotton crop for 1869, and abolishing the
duty on foreign cotton grown during the year
ending April, 1869. The Ilouse of Representatives
has passed a resolution authorising the sale of 54
surplus iron-clads.
The news which yesterday reached London by
the c ►ble shows how strongly the Western St tte3
go in for Repudiation. The Democrats of Ohio,
Indiana, and Western Virginia have adopted it as a
plank of their platform, having in the State Con-
ventions passed resolutions in favour of nominating
Mr. Pendleton for the Presidency, and the redemp-
tion of the 5-20 United States Bonds in currency.

We suppoe that some such movement has aided
gold speculators in running up the premium as
rapidly as it lately fell. The quotation on the 9th
was 137 i, though our latest advices by letter antici-
pated a further fall rather than a rise.

Mr. Stanton is not a man to be snuffed out without
a struggle. He has taken up the President's Mes-
sage alleging reasons for that Minister's dismissal,
and is busily engaged in his defence. A telegram
of Jan. 8, from Washington, shows that he has not
worked without result, as the Military Committee of
the Senate has presented a report recommending that
the Senate should not concur in the removal of Mr.
Stanton from the Secretaryship of War. In case
the Senate adopt the report, Mr. Stanton would, we
believe, be compelled to appeal to the Supreme
Court, when the decision would be given of the con-
stitutionality of the Civil Tenure Act.
On Wednesday Mr. Thornton was presented to
the Queen by Lord Stanley, on appointment as
Minister to the United States. The Times lately
wrote an article, condemning the selection as one
unsuitable for a post calling for a nobleman both of
high rank and good reputation as a statesman.
Yesterday a letter appeared in the 'limes from an
"Ex-Diplomatist," writing from "Brooks's," contro-
verting the Thnnderer's opinions, and maintaining
the wisdom of Lord Stanley's choice. The writer as-
serts that diplomacy is next to useless at Washing-
ton in maintaining peace ; that a British Minister
has but little influence with the American Govern-
ment, and none with the public. He holds that Mr.
Thornton's experience among the semi-civil ised South
Americans will be of use in the United States, as was
Sir. F. Bruce's among the semi-civilised Chinese !
What he means, we confess, we do not understand.
On this letter the Times writes a leader, reiterating its
opinions, which the arguments of " Ex-Diploma-
tist" only tend to confirm. If Great Britain pos-
sessed many such Diplomatists, we venture to assert
they would soon all be Ex-Diplomatists, for many
such exhibitions of their uselessness would be fatal
to any service.
The Hamburg-American Company despatched
their steamship Germania, Captain H. F. Schwe-
Snioeunt'ympestteornd,ay (Friday), the 10th inst., from
Southampton, with the British mail, for New York.
This is the first departure of this line under the
new mail contract with her Majesty's Government.

The departures will continue every alternate Fr
day up to the end of February, after which the
steamers will leave every Friday.
General Gillem bears most important testimony
to the general destitution of the South. He pro-
ceeded to Washington on business, as the Freed-
men's Commissioner fir Mississippi, acting under
orders from General Ord, and therefore what he
states is official. Unless immediate measures of
relief are adopted, he apprehends famine with its
frightful train of evils. The crops will not realise
general expectation, and in Mississippi the yield of
cotton will be far less than anticipated. Negroes
have been engaged in political demonstrations, in
choosing delegates, and in organising Conventions,
and with their usual thriftlessness have neglected
to secure a sufficient supply of food. The planters
are unable to employ the freedmen, as in the pre-
sent state of utter prostration they have no means
of wages. Not only has the cotton crop
fallen short
i of an average, but all others are as de-
ficient. If to the causes which tend to set race
against race, hunger be added, General Gillem is
justified in opposing further reduction of the
United States army, as a strong military force may
be the only means of preventing the predicted war.
The utter recklessness of life, the bitter disap-
pointment to the African—liberty now in his mind
being associated with starvation—may bear evil
fruits. Murders are frequent ; thieving is general ;
live stock on the estates is recklessly appropriated
and sacrificed—mules are driven off to Texas and
sold. The ruined planter and disappointed black
are at once placed face to face in dangerous cir-
cumstances in a dangerous frame of mind, and it
is no wonder that even the New York Tribune
publishes private letters from the South, draw-
ing as alarming a picture of the state of affairs
there as can well be painted. The first necessity
s to supply the South with food.
A revolution broke out, 10th Dec., at Merida,
State of Yucatan, Mexico. The officers of the
military force assembled deposed Manuel Cepeda
Pereza, elected Marcellino Villafana Provisional
Governor, and marched on and captured Sisal.
Pereza fled, and on the 18th December Santa Anna,
was proclaimed Dictator of Mexico, and his speedy
arrival announced from Havannah with troops and
money, but this has been contradicted by Santa
Anna. Some of Maximilian's officers are said to
be associated with the movement, and a war
steamer had sailed from Vera Cruz to join two
gunboats now off Sisal in the attack of the port.
The Mexican Congress was opened by Juarez on
the 9th December with a speech, in which he al-
luded to the executions at gaeretiro as urged by
imperious exigency ; the application of the law
against the highest in rank permitting clemency
towards the rest; the Republics of America had
supportc I Mexico during the struggle for indepen-
dence against Monarchical Europe ; the uninter-
rupted sympathy of the people of the United States
deserved emphatically the friendship and esteem
of Mexico ; the intervention of the three Euro-
pean Powers, in which, though France alone
had persevered in the prosecution, yet the others
having recognised the so-called Government sus-
tained by France thus abandoned their neutrality
and severed their relations with Mexico; the Go-
vernment had taken care to give no cause of offence,
and it will raise no difficulties in the way of new
treaties under_more auspicious circumstances, espe-
cially relating to its mercantile interests ; the sub
jects of those nations in the Republic were now
under the protection of its laws. The murder of
Sauchez, who was president of the court which con-

demned Maximilian, has led to the execution of ten 1
persons. It is said that the concession granting to
English. capitalists the right of constructing the
Vera CTUZ Railway is to be withdrawn.
A strong easterly gale blew back the waters of
the Niagara River into the lake and produced ex-
traordinary phenomena at the great cataract. At
Buffalo Creek the vessels grounded, and the Nia-
gara Falls dwindled into a rivulet compared with the
ordinary volume. On the American side the stream
literally dried up, so that its rocky bed could be
traversed. The " Three Sisters" were accessible to
foot passengers, and many walked with impunity
and dry where no human foot had before been
known to tread. Below the cataract the water fell
20 feet, and produced a wonderful transformation.
The rock at Whitmer's mill, which barely projects
its head above the water, stood up above the sur-
face full 20 feet. When the gale ended the cataract
was itself again.
Some very forcible instances have lately been
given of the utter prostration of the Southern
States. Daily property falls in value. Money is
next to impossible to procure, credit has ceased,
and though estates of known value are offered for
sale, in the present political uncertainty and the
disorganisation of society there are no buyers. An
auction was lately held in Liberty County, Georgia,
on Court-day, when a large concourse was assem-
bled, yet a handsome residence at 'Walthourville
with 10 acres attached, outhouses, and all the ap-
pointments of a first-class planter's residence,
fetched only $6O, passing into the hands of the
agent of the Freedmen's Bureau. Mr. Fraser
bought the plantation, consisting of 450 acres of
prime land, for $l5O. Mr. W. D. Bacon gave $3
for 66 acres near Walthourville. These lamentable
facts convey an idea of what property in the South
has come to.

It was thought at Washington that General
Rousseau would be re-called from the Pacific coast
to take the command of one of the military districts.
The four companies of United States troops he had

left at Sitka are now said to be in such a state of
destitution as to be likely to perish before assistance
can reach them. They were ordered there expressly
by the President, and General Grant has no autho-
rity to move in their relief. Authority or no autho-
rity, General Rousseau will be blamed for station-
ing this detachment at Sitka, without making ample
provision to guard them against the known severity
of the climate. Official blunders, which involve

men's lives, cannot be excused or the responsibility
shifted from shoulder to shoulder so as to be lost in
the confusion.
It has been noticed that the most violent pro-
slavery men before and during the war have on be-
coming Radicals been even more violent and
unscrupulous in the opposite extreme. Parson
Brow ulow and Mr. Hunnicutt are the most prominent
instances. The career of the former is well known,
but that of the latter is so obscure that we give these
few facts. In a recent speech at Richmond, when
closely questioned, Hunnicutt acknowledged that
for years before 1861 he was noted as one of the
worst negro haters in Virginia. In that year he
voted for Secession. At Fredericksburgh, in 1834,
he edited the Christian Banner, and this is the lan-
guage he used in that journal, in opposition to an
attempt made to establish an African Church
" Wo are decidedly opposed to any and all Afi lean
churches south of Mason and Dixon's line. In the pre-
sent state of things, and at this particular crisis, we Clink
it exceedingly impolitic in the Southern people to allow
such organisations to exist in our midst. The time for
such unhallowed assemblies is not yet. Nor is Virg:Ma
the place of rendezvous for such dangerously misc'i'evous,
ungodly masses of crude mind and matter to congregate,
to concoct and execute their nefarious schemes of religious
villainies. They are ignorant and superstitious to a pro-
verb. Depravity, ignorance, and superstition form a
dangerous compound, and such a compound is the black
population of Virginia."
Col. Parker, the Indian officer of Gen. Grant's Staff,
who was the hero of the late wedding adventure in
Washington, in which the heroine was Miss Sackett,
has been married to that romantic and pretty young
lady. The ceremony took place on the evening of
the 23d December. The story told by the Chief of
the Six Nations is that a Seneca, acting for his tribe,
who opposed his marriage to a pale face, adminis-
tered a drug on the Saturday, from the effects of
which he did not recover till Wednesday morning,
when he was discovered in a hotel at Washington.
The story of the drug is no doubt true, and we sup-
pose some allowances are to be male on account of
the nationality of the gallant Indian, who even when
sober was perhaps unconscious of the light in which
such conduct would be regarded by his white
brethren.
The Fenians appear to be gathering strength in
the south of Ireland, where a " loyalist" writing to the
Cork Examiner states they have recommenced drilling.
Additional troops have been sent to Ireland. An arrest
was made in Dublin of a man named Lennon, who com-
manded the insurgents at Tullaght, and the Evening Mail
states he will be tried for high treason. The Freeinqn's
.lournal states that the main guard on the Royal Bar-
racks had all the cartridges in the pouches of the men,
with which they mounted abstracted during the night.
It is stated that the girl who was murdered in
Columbian County, New York, on whose life there was a
policy of $5,000, had been stolen from Dayton, Ohio.
Joseph and Josephine Brown remain in custody, charged
with the crime.

EAS FERN NEVADA.

No. 11.

Austin is situated in a Pass, by which runs the
great overland mail road through the Toiyabe
Range. To the east of these mountains is the
Smoky Valley ; to the west that of Reese River.
Numerous districts map out the mountain sides con-
tinuously along the Smoky Valley for 70 or 80
miles. The loftiest peaks are clad in eternal snow,
and through three canons flow brooks of clear cold
water, in some sufficiently large to prove valuable
for mill sites. Towards the centre of the valley is a
great saline deposit, covering an area of about 2,000
acres. This salt is remarkably pure, containing
only two per cent. of soda and sand. It rises as an
efflorescence about half an inch above the surface of
the ground, and is estimated to yield 1,000 tons.
Austin and the surrounding country, both for
domestic purposes and for the reduction of the ore,
draw salt from this spot, and the cost in the city is
$4O per ton. The brooks flowing into the valley
are swallowed up in the loose soil, which prevents
them from forming even a salt lake. Near its centre
is a remarkable spring of boiling water, which throws
out a large and constant stream, heated to the highest
degree. The basin is from 20 to 30 feet in diameter,
and the fountain of boiling water rises in a column
several feet above the surface. Cooking can be
conveniently carried on, and the water is excellent
for domestic purposes. Much of the soil of this
district is of exceeding fertility, and excellent
agricultural land is easily obtainable, which
in many places is of a most superior order. The
climate is pleasant and healthy without extremes
of heat or cold ; snow seldom falls, and frosts are
never severe, although they have sometimes oc-
curred as early as Septetnber. Slight elevations
divide the valley into different basins, and it thus
extends into the deserts on the Southern borders of
the State. At the southern extremity are the
isolated mountains of San Antonia and Silver Peak,
singular in formation, and appearing as if thrown
into their position by same extraordinary effort of
nature. The Smoky district contains certainly one
great vein, 50 feet thick, which has been traced on
the surface for miles. It is called the Smoky Valley
Ledge, and the Everett, Smoky, and Commercial
Companies have claims on it. The Smoky Com-
pany, at a depth of over 200 feet, developed the
full proportions of the vein of which 20 feet yield
ore giving from $6O to $l5O per too. There
are other large veins, and although they
show ore of low grade, an improved and cheap
mode of reduction will render them valuable
in a district possessing such good facilities for
communication, with a plentiful supply of wood
and water. The Reese River, in the valley on the
other side the Toyiabe, runs, as we before observed,
150 miles ere it sinks and is lost on its way to the
Humbolt. The valley through which it passes ave-
rages about five miles in width, and contains many
thousand acres of good agricultural land. The
ranges and the valleys running parallel with each
other are so similar that the description of one gives
a description of all. The mountains are geologi-
cally composed of the primitive rocks of which
granite or gueis and slate are the principal, with
j quartzite, limestone, porphyry, serpentine, and

others, as occasional rocks. In all are found veins
of quartz-bearing gold, silver, copper, lead, anti-
mony, and other metals. Having now given as good
an idea as we have the means of conveying of the
country, we will confine our remarks in a general
way to the laws of mining and to the mines. The
statutes and the customs of the State of Nevada
permit miners, upon the discovery of metal-bearing
lodes in an unoccupied locality, to organise a min-
ing district, designate its bounds, pass a code of
laws regulating the location and tenure of mining
property, and choose a recorder of locations. These
mining districts are usually from ten to twenty miles
square, though governed by the physical features
of the country, and the contiguity of other districts.
The object of the laws, sanctioned by an Act of
Congress, is to make the ground public and open to
all the world, where by finding a vein of gold,
silver, or other ores, any man can make it his own,
and is assured and protected in his title. The law
of Congress does not even make it compulsory to
procure the Government title, protecting the finder
against all persons other than the Government, if
he takes the most ordinary precautions for securing
his claim. On discovering a vein upon unoccupied
ground, he or they may possess it by posting a no-
tice, by recording it within 10 days, and by per-
forming one day's work on the ledge every month,
or by expending $l,OOO, when the ground belongs
in fee to the locators and their assignees, except
by an acknowledged abandonment, which consists
in leaving it unworked for one year. The finders
can claim 200 feet to each name and 200 feet extra
for the discovery, provided that in the aggregate
the location or claim does not exceed 3,000 feet.
Sufficient ground for the erection of buildings and
the storage of ores is also secured to the owners of
the mine, and their right to it can in no wise be in-
terfered with. The veins in the granite rock gene-
rally lie parallel to each other, with a strike north-
west and south-east, and a dip to the north-east,
varying in depth from one to five feet. A movement
of the rock has at spots taken place where the
ledges are broken or have " faults," and the angle of
their dip is not so great. The veins are usually ex-
plored by means of inclines commencing where the
ore appears at the surface, and following down with
the dip of the ledge. When, after thus 'sinking a
distance sufficient to render- certain the existence
and character of the vein, and it is desirable to
open it as a mine, a perpendicwar shaft i sunk at
a point some distance from the outcrop, calculating
as the ground permits to pierce the vein at a depth
several hundred feet beneath the surface. These
shafts are of different dimensions, the least being
15 feet in length by five in breadth, which may be
sunk and securely timbered at $65 per foot.
Through the district runs a belt of superior ore
from Marshall Canon, in the southern part, nor-
therly six miles into Amador district. 4, This
superior belt is about half a mile in width. In
it are a great number of parallel veins, simi-
lar in character and generally rich. The
different localities through the district are
designated, commencing at the south as San
Miguel Canon, Marshall's Canon, Union Hill, Cen-
tral Hill, Lander Hill, Emigrant Canon, Telegraph
Canon, Yankee Blade and New York Ravine, the
northern line of the district separating it from
Amador. Each of these localities is celebrated for
its certain mines in the more advanced stages of de-
velopment. Those of the district most systemati-
cally opened are the Great Eastern, Timoke, Ore-
gon, North Star, and Florida, situated on Lander
Hill in the city of Austin, and within an area of a
few hundred yards square. These are veins,
the gangue being quartz, of ten inches to
two feet in width, of highly concentrated ore
that is easily and cheaply mined. The gene-
ral character of the ore throughout the dis-
trict is the same, in the same relative positions.
At the surface, and to the depth of from fifty to
seventy feet, where water is found, the vein matter
is quite loose and friable, has a dirty or earth-
stained colour, and the silver is found in the form
of a chloride ore, presenting a purple or straw-
coloured appearance. When water is reached the
vein matter shows the white, clear quartz, and the
ore, then usually an antitnonial sulphuret, is quite
black, and contrasted with the white quartz pre
scuts a beautiful appearance, and its value is
readily ascertained by one experienced in observ-
ing it. The ore taken from below where the water
has always existed in the earth often contains
beautiful crystals of the many different varieties into
which silver ores crystalise. From these mines are
obtained a great number of beautiful specimens,
which adorn the cabinets of the mineralogists, the
lovers of the beautiful and unique, and the curio-
sity hunter. In the district are more than six
sand locations of mines, of rive hundred to two
thousand feet each, and probably one thousand of
these have been so far developed as to prove them
of value ; but of this great number only a few are, at
present, mined to any great extent. A description
of a few of the most noted on Lander Hill will give
an insight into the character of all, and an idea
of the great operations to be undertaken in the
uture."—Anglo-Americon Ti»zes.