The San Francisco call., 1896-03-13
RETURNED FROM GUIANA.
L. w. Adams Experience In a Land OF
Gold and of Raging Feyers.

Gold and of Raging Fevers.
L. w. Adams of San Jose, who for year
past has been general manager of the New
York and British Guiana Gold Mining
Company in Guiana, is at the Grand. He
has just returned from that wild country
bordering on Venezuela and tells a story
full of interest.
There is lots of gold down there" he
said. THAT was demonstrated to my sat
isfaction. The mines are on some of the
disputed territory, and don't wonder the
British hate to give it up.
II was mining in the Barima district, on
the Barima River, and went down there by
way of New York. / sailed from there to
Georgetown, the capital of British Guiana,
by steamer. Georgetown has 10000 peo-
pie, q quarter of whom are white and the
others negroes, Indians and Portuguese
There is strict British rule everywhere.
Even the negroes affect British ways. But
everything is slow.
From Georgetown l went by steamer
up the Barima River to Mount Everard,
which is day and a halfs travel. Thence
we took paddle-boats or batteaus propelled
by negroes. The river is large one, and is
navigable for steamers even above Mount
Eveiard. The negroes padded for us six
days and landed us at the mines.
"It is peculiar region. Judge the min
ing district is about 100 miles square, that
is It's area is that great, and the ground is
good all over it. The alluvial mines are
rich beyond any know Of. To get down
to the gold the miner has to go through
from eight to ten feet of clay, and the
bal ,frrr ,rvIx ;S n b,I
at is in the rounded stones and the
sand that the gold is found. It runs from
81 to SIC cubic yard. l saw lots of claims
that went 16 cents pan. OF course it is a
lot of work, however, to get off this clay
or adobe.
GAS for the quartz mines they are in the
mountains, as they are called. but the
are over $50 feet above the level of the sea.
These quartz properties are fine, too. They
average $50 to $40 ton.
Notwithstanding all this wouldn't ad-
wise Americans to go there. 1t is hot, fe-
verish and thoroughly unhealthy /
buried several of my friends while there.
There is lots of malaria and biliousness
and many different kinds of fever. Ne
groes do most of the work. They get from
81 to 81 % day and are very good miners.
''Wild animals. birds and reptiles
abound. There are tigers, leopards. noun
tain lions, Demonstrators and other
snakes and the most beautiful birds | ever
saw. There are birds of paradise, exoui-
sit,lv colored hum ming birds and YOU
might say all the beautiful birds of the
tropics.
concession to a German company for an
electric light works in the city, to be oper-
ated by the overflow from the lake in the
mountains. In return for this privilege the
company furnishes the city of Guatemala
with light free of charge.
The German company put up an excel
lent plant, all of which was i'm ported from
Berlin.
There is one good thing about the
Guatelnalan Government. They have no
Chinese question there. Cinnamon are
simply and positively refused landing.
Lots of them are brought down on the Pa.
cifc Mail steamers, but they never come
ashore This has raised the ire of the Pa
citic Mail people, and out OF revenge they
have raised the freight rates to Guatemala
fully 20 per cent in the last few months
Mr. Adams says his company, which
owns both placer and quartz mines, has
made money from both and good deal OF
it. The average California miner, how
ever, he thinks ought not to 60 down
there.