The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1901-11-10

called out warning, ana just As lookcu
up the bowlder, with a whiz and a crash,
dashed down not three inches above my
head, striking the ground at the feet o.
the two men and then disappearing into
the canyon below.
At another time, while ! was directing
three men, standing but a few feet apart
and not more than a hundred feet ahead.
what brush to cut, a bowlder four feet In
diameter came dashing down the steep
slope, breaking trees ten inches In dam
eter as IL they were brush, sending rocks
flying in all directions and raising great
clouds of dust. That the men. or at least
one. must be hit seemed inevitable; they
had not a moments warning and no
chance of escape, and the bowlder was
going right for them. 1t was a moment
of great suspense, and only relieved when
with a great bang the bowlder struck the
bottom of the canyon and was shatterea
to pieces The dust cleared and 1t was
seen that by some miracle no one was
even scratched. The bowider passed so
near one of the men he could have
touched it with his hand, and small rocks
all but grazed them. But happenings OF
this kind were of almost daily occur
renee. and if the rocks did not slide we
reversed the programme and slid on the
rocks ourselves.
The farther down the canyon We went
the wilder and more inaccessible Ii be-
came and there is no doubt that We
were pioneers of much of the way sud
denly one day we came upon place
where a large Dowlder had been recently
removed by human hands. but what for
and by whom was the perplexing ques-
ton, and only solved after long search
revealed in an almost inaccessible place
an oId-fas hioned Mexican arastra for
crushing quartz. A little farther on was
found a recently and evidently hastily de-
serted camp. with provisions and crude
mining tools lying around. Search, as we
did most thoroughly every possible loca-
ton, we could find no trace of either the
mine or any tran such as one would ex-
pect to find leading from mine to an
arastra-onIy single tracks, and they
seemed to lead in all directions. so II be-
gan to look as though the mine location
would remain a mystery. But the last
day of our stay in that vicinity. and when
we were moving camp. one OF the men
while out hunting accidentally found IN a
dense brush thicket signs Of the long
looked for trail. but so well was its en-
trance hidden that only an accident would
have revealed IT.
A call brought all OF the party at once
to the thicket and il took sharp eyes to
follow the winding trail, now through
brush, now over rocks. up a deep ravine.
At last, however, We were rewarded by
finding the entrance to the tunnel, and
from the large size OF the dump at its
mouth IL was surely a long one.
We were soon in IL. following its cir
cuitous way till at last we came upon the
ledge itself. There was no doubt OF that.
as its glistening face stood out In the dim
light. but Just where the ledge commenced
a barrier had been placed recently In the
form of a large pile Of rock, which pre-
vented our further progress. but through
a small opening at the top we could see
by the aid Of matches the ledge greatly
increasing in width as It disappeared In
the depths beyond; but the pack train was
already far up the mountain. 50 We had to
reluctantly give up further exploration
for some time In the future. This has I'M
doubtedly furnished a clew to the mys-
terry of.a party living in the foothills. who
would disappear very frequently and then
reappear with plenty Of dust" and who
always was seen going up the mountains
in this direction. He was undoubtedly at
the mine when we were first In that vi
cinity, but had disappeared, hoping we
would not discover his identity or the
mine.
AS an account of a trip such as this
would hardly be complete without some
reference to rattlesnakes, from the bites
of which we almost daily had some very
narrow escapes, win mention the fol-
lowing: One OF the men. always In for a
joke, thought he would enliven camp a
little. so he very adroitly coiled piece
of large rope in the blankets OF his next
camp mate, attaching to the rope a small
one. which he covered with leaves, and
brought the end to his own cot. That
evening after all had retired and the vic
tim was in deep. slumber the rope was
quietly drawn. Suddenly the victim
awakened, and the next instant. realizing
there must be a-snake IN his bed, jumped
up as II blast had been let on below
and called out In no uncertain voice. The
victim received much sympathy, but was
advised to kin the RATHER at once. and
armed to the teeth bravely attacked his
blanket with clubs and rocks. After as
surfing himself that the snake must be
dead he threw OF the blanket. only to
find he had been the victim Of q practical
joke.
At the end Of six weeks We reached our
starting point. Bells ranch. sorry look
ing party. Our clothes at the beginning
had been new or nearly so. but were now
literally torn or our backs by the brush
we had had to fight our way through
nearly the entire time. Still. a. usual, all
returned much better In health for the
hardships endured.
q. Fl WAKEFIELD.