The Elk Mountain pilot., 1881-04-14
THE DEVILS n.:LLRIU.s.

Tue OEVLS V..LIR/C.Z
The San Juan e. 1eehr says
/" We have received the following cor
.ribution from an, old corr respondent,
and publish the same for the benefit
of 'ur readers who may ,e Looking
southwark
Those who have travelled e.. .snsiyeiy
among the lofty peaks of the Sierra
Madra mountains in Old Mexico. have
doubtless heard the miners Of that re-
'gion tell of the Ell Casa del Diabol. o.
aousc of the Devil. The particular
point referred to is located amid the
jagged peaks at the very summit of the
Sierras. Many of the people residing
in those regions have singular super
stition that his Satanic Majesty will,
at times, cast his spell upon those who
shall dare to invade his realms, and
that the victim of his unamlable mood
falls into dreamy, insensible condi-
ton which they call the Devils
Delirium. l had no conception Of
the character of the maaAdy, and re-,
garded the whole matter Is the vaga-
ries of ignorance, until my late travels
among the Sierra Madras, when | ex.
perienced the full import of their
superstition.
In my mineralogical explorations
of Old Mexico Gin 1879, myself and
party reached the summit of the Sierra
Madra on the o2d day of May, the
altitude being aocut 5000 feet above
the sea level. w at once detected
the peculiar electrical. condition of the
atmosphere, as it soon began to effect
the entire party of five men to
greater or less extent. At f-st | was
affected by sharp singing ser lion,
Immediately followed by .du9.7Aie
numbing influence, which seemed 10
paralyze the senses. ! then lapsec
into disturbed slumber, in which it
appeared to me that | retained nv
consciousness entire, while visions
passed before Nc which no language
can convey, and no symbols of hap
piness or terror represent. At one
time l would seem to soar on the
pinions of an angel among the splen
dor of the highest heavens, beholding
at glance the beauties Of their un-
yelled mysteries, and listening to harps
and choral symphonies over which
time, sorrow and death have no power,
and then my presumption was checked.
My cleaving wings, like the waxen
plumes of Icarus, were melted away,
and / fell down, down till caught in
the bosom of thunder cloud, from
which / was sgain hurled, linked to
the fercest bolt upon the foaming
verge of cataract that carried me
down, frantic with terror, into the
lowest depths of its bowling chasm.
ANCIENT MINERS TOOLS.
The miners in the Silver Belt mine.
Wednesday, made remarkable dis
covery showing that the mine was
worked ages ago. The ten foot
bonanza recently uncovered, continu-
ing to widen at every stroke of the
pick, left an overhanging wall on one
side that appeared more like loan than
the ordinary wall or vein matter of
quartz ledge, and SO soft that it caved
in such a way as to ojstruct the work.
They went above the cave and de-
cided to run down on the ledge in a
new place, SO as to get under the cave, g.
in order to have solid ground to work
on, and on clearing away place to
start in they found lying on the ore,
on top Of the ledge, in the soft loan
three feet from the surface, five stone
hammers, such as are found in the
ancient ruins and abandoned mines OF
the Aztecs all over the country, show
ing clearly that the Silver Belt has
been worked in prehistoric times.
This is the first and only indication
that has been found that the Belt was
ever disturbed before the present own-
ers discovered it. Dan Thorne this
morning exhibited one of the ham
mers, which a miner had broken in
order to see the quality of the stone
of which it was made. The material
is dark, tough, slaty looking rock,