evidently produced by the contraction of the | us for a tour of exploration over the mountains. lava as it cooled and dried. Whatever way it happened, the road thus formed is a great convenience to the traveling public. Several fine valleys, now used as hay and cattle ranches, lie between Aurora and Bodie. They are small, but rich in soil and well watered by the springs that course down from the neighboring ravines, and produce some fine grass. The ranch-men were at work hauling the hay to the Aurora market, where it brings from $40 to $60 a ton. Hay ranches are as good as silver mines almost any where on the eastern slope-better, in some respects, for they are certain to yield something for the labor expended upon them. A scrubby growth of pine relieves in some measure the sterile aspect of the surrounding mountains, which, as we advanced on our way, seemed to become more and more barren. Some eight or nine miles from Aurora we reached the base of a conical hill, surmounted by a range of reddishcolored cliffs, very rough, jagged, and picturesque; a capital looking place for a den of robbers or a gold mine. This was the famous Bodie Bluff. The entire hill, as well as the surrounding country, is destitute of vegetation, with the exception of sage - brush and bunch-grass-presenting even to the eye of a traveler who had just been surfeited with the I must here introduce the reader to the interior of a miner's cabin. The Judge had some ten or a dozen men employed, who lived in a frame shanty close by a fine spring of water, surrounded by the most luxuriant natural garden of sage-brush, weeds, wild flax, and other ornamental products of the earth which seemed to rejoice in the prolific soil of this region. These jolly miners were the happiest set of bachelors imaginable; had neither chick nor child, that I knew of, to trouble them; cooked their own food; did their own washing; mended their own clothes, made their own beds, and on Sundays cut their own hair, greased their own boots, and brushed their own coats; thus proving by the most direct positive evidence that woman is an unnecessary and expensive institution which ought to be abolished by law. I have always maintained, and do still contend, INTERIOR OF A MINER'S CABIN. BODIE BLUFF. that the constant interference, the despotic sway, the exactions and caprices of the female sex ought no longer to be tolerated; and it is with a glow of pride and triumph that I introduce this striking example of the ability of man to live in a state of perfect exemption from all these trials and tribulations. True, I must admit that the honest miners of Bodie spent a great deal of their leisure time in reading yellow-covered novels and writing love-letters; but that was probably only a clever device to fortify themselves against the insidious approaches of the enemy. I spent three days at Bodie, during which, owing to the kindness of the Judge, who was determined that I should see every thing, my time was very fully occupied. In fact, it is a little remarkable that I am now alive to tell the story of my adventures. I penetrated more shafts in the earth, was dragged through more dangerous pits and holes in wooden buckets, was forced to creep over more slippery ledges, rich in mineral deposits, and to climb up a greater number of rickety ladders than I would like to undertake again for less than a thousand shares in the "Empire Gold and Silver Mining Company." But as I design these papers rather for information than amusement, I will state the results of my observations in as matter-of-fact a way as it is possible for a man of my temperament to write. In the undeveloped condition of the mines, which are yet but partially opened, much is left to conjectbut from the direc ure; I descended several of these shafts rather to oblige my friend the Judge than to satisfy any curiosity I had on the subject myself. This thing of being dropped down two hundred feet into the bowels of the earth in wooden buckets, and hoisted out by blind horses attached to "whims," may be very amusing to read about, but I have enjoyed pleasanter modes of locomotion. There was one shaft in particular which left an indelible impression upon my mind-sc much so indeed that I am astonished every hair in my head is not quite gray. It was in the San Antonio, a mine in which the Judge held an interest in connection with a worthy Norwegian by the name of Jansen. As I had trav eled in Norway, Jansen was enthusiastic in his devotion to my enjoyment-declared he would go down with me himself and show me every thing worth seeing-even to the lower level just opened. While I was attempting to frame an excuse the honest Norwegian had lighted a couple of candles, given directions to one of the "boys" to look out for the old blind horse attached to the whim, and now stood ready at the mouth of the shaft to guide me into the subterranean regions. "Mr. Jansen," said I, looking with horror at the rickety wooden bucket and the flimsy little rope that was to hold us suspended between the surface of the earth and eternity, "is that rope strong?" "Well, I think it's strong enough to hold us," replied Jansen; "it carries a ton of ore. We don't weigh a ton, I guess." "But the bucket looks fearfully battered. And who can vouch that the old horse won't run away and let us down by the run?" runs. "Oh, Sir, he's used to it. That horse never You see he's fast asleep now. He sleeps all along on the down turn. It's the up turn that gets him." "Mr. Jansen," said I, "all that may be very true; but suppose the bucket should catch and drop us out ?" "Well, sometimes it catches; but nobody's been hurt bad yet: one man fell fifteen feet perpendicular. He lit on the top of his head." "Wasn't he killed?" "No: he was only stunned a little. There was a buzzin' about among his brains for a few days after; he's at work down below now as well as ever." "Mr. Jansen, upon the whole I think I'd rather go down by the ladder, if it's all the same to you." "Certainly, Sir, suit yourself; only the ladder's sort o' broke in spots, and you'll find it a tolerably hard climb down; hows'ever I'll go ahead and sing out when I come to the bad places." With this the Norwegian disappeared. I looked down after him. The shaft was about four feet square; rough, black, and dismal, with a small flickering light, apparently a thousand feet below, making the darkness visible. It was almost perpendicular; the ladders stood against the near side, perched on ledges or hanging together by means of chafed and ragged-looking ropes. I regretted that I had not taken Jansen's advice and committed myself to the bucket; but it was now too late. With a hurried glance at the bright world around me, a thought of home and the unhappy condition of widows and orphans, as a general thing, I seized the rungs of the ladder and took the irrevocable dive. Down I crept, rung after rung, ladder after ladder, in the black darkness, with the solid walls of rock pressing the air close around Sometimes I heard the incoherent mutterings of voices below, but could make nothing of them. Perhaps Jansen was warning me of me. breaks in the ladder; perhaps his voice was split up by the rocks and sounded like many voices; or it might be that there were gnomes whisking about in the dark depths below. Down and still down I crept; slower and slower, for I was getting tired, and I fancied there might be poisonous gases in the air. When I had reached to the depth of a thousand feet, as it seemed, but about a hundred and forty as it was in reality, the thought occurred to me that I was beginning to get alarmed. In truth I was shaking like a man with an ague. Suppose I should become nervous and lose my grip on the ladder? The very idea was enough to make me shaky. "There was an indefinite extent of shaft underneath; black, narrow, and scraggy, with a solid base of rock at the bottom. I did not wonder that it caused a buzzing of the brain to fall fifteen feet and light on the top of the head. My brain was buzzing already, and I had not fallen yet. But the prospect to that effect was getting better and better every moment, for I was now quite out of breath, and had to stop and cling around the ladder to avoid falling. The longer I stood this way the more certain it became that sooner or later I would lose my presence of mind and topple over. With a desperate effort I proceeded, step after step, clinging to the frail wood-work as the drowning man clings to a straw, gasping for breath; the cold sweat streaming down my face, and my jaws chattering audibly. The breaks in the ladders were getting fearfully common. Sometimes I found two rungs gone, sometimes six or seven; and then I had to slide down by the sides till my feet found a resting-place on another rung or some casual ledge of rock. To Jansen, or the miners who worked down in the shaft every day, all this of course was mere pastime. They knew every break and restingplace; and besides, familiarity with any particular kind of danger blunts the sense of it. I am confident I could make the same trip again without experiencing any unpleasant sensation. By good fortune I at length reached the bottom of the shaft, where I found my Norwegian friend and some three or four workmen quietly awaiting my arrival. A bucket of ore, containing some five or six hundred pounds, was ready to be hoisted up. It was very nice-looking ore, and very rich ore, as Jansen assured me; but what did I care about ore till I got the breath back again into my body? "Stand from under, Sir!" said Jansen, dodging into a hole in the rocks; "a chunk of ore might fall out, or the bucket might give way." Stand from under? Where in the name of sense was a man to stand in such a hole as this, not more than six or eight feet at the base, with a few dark chasms in the neighborhood through which it was quite possible to be precipitated into the infernal regions. However, I stood as close to the wall as it was possible without backing clean into it. The bucket of ore having gone up out of sight, I was now introduced to the ledge upon which the men were at work. It A beautiful sight down in this region was worth looking at, so I succumbed. Jansen lifted up the planks: told the men to cover us well up as soon as we had disappeared, in order to keep the ore from the upper shaft from tumbling on our heads; and then, diving down, politely requested me to follow. I had barely descended a few steps when the massive planks and rafters were thrown across overhead, and thus all exit to the outer world was cut off. There was an oppressive sensation in being so completely isclated-barred out, as it were, from the surface of the earth. Yet how many there are who spend half their lives in such places for a pittance of wages which they squander in dissipation! Surely it is worth four dollars a day to work in these dismal holes. Bracing my nerves with such thoughts as these, I scrambled down the rickety ladders till the last rung seemed to have disappeared. I probed about with a spare leg for a landingplace, but could touch neither top, bottom, nor sides. The ladder was apparently suspended in space like Mohammed's coffin. "Come on, Sir," cried the voice of Jansen far down below. "They're agoing to blast!" STAND FROM UNDER! In was about four feet thick, clearly defined, and apparently rich in the precious metals. some specimens which I took out myself gold was visible to the naked eye. The indications of silver were also well marked. This was at a depth of a hundred and seventy-five feet. At the bottom of this shaft there was a loose flooring of rafters and planks. "If you like, Sir," said Jansen, "we'll go down here and take a look at the lower drift. They've just struck the ledge about forty feet below." "Are the ladders as good as those above, Mr. Jansen?" I inquired. "Oh yes, Sir; they're all good, some of the lower ones may be busted a little with the blastin'; but there's two men down there. Guess they got down somehow." "To tell you the truth, Mr. Jansen, I'm not curious about the lower drift. You can show me some specimens of the ore-that will be perfectly satisfactory." "Yes, Sir, but I'd like yon to see the vein where the drift strikes it. It's really beautiful." "COME ON, SIR." "Mr. Jansen," said I, in a voice of unnatural calmness, while the big drops of agony stood on my brow, "there's no difficulty in saying 'Come on, Sir!' but to do it without an inch more of ladder or any thing else that I can see, requires both time and reflection. How far do you expect me to drop?" Pleasant, if not picturesque, to be hanging by massively bound with iron; and the space in two hands and one leg to a ladder, squirming the shaft was not sufficient to admit of its passabout in search of a foothold, while somebody ing without crushing me flat against the ladder. below was setting fire to a fuse with the design, But such a chase could not last long. I felt no doubt, of blowing up the entire premises! my strength give way at every lift. The distance out was too great to admit the hope of escape by climbing. My only chance was to seize the rope above the bucket and hang on to it. This I did. It was a lucky thought-one of those thoughts that sometimes flash upon the mind like inspiration in a moment of peril. A few more revolutions of the whim brought me so near the surface that I could see the bucket only a few yards below my feet. The noise of the rope over the block above reminded me that I had better slip down a little to save my hands, which I did in good style, and was presently landed on the upper crust of the earth, all safe and sound, though somewhat dazzled by the light and rattled by my subterranean experiences. "Oh, don't you let go, Sir! Just hang on to that rope at the bottom of the ladder, and let yourself down." I hung on as directed, and let myself down. It was plain sailing enough to one who knew the chart. The ladder, it seemed, had been broken by a blast of rocks; and now there was to be another blast. We retired into a convenient hole about ten or a dozen paces from the deposit of Hazard's powder. The blast went off with a dead reverberation, causing a concussion in the air that affected one like a shock of galvanism; and then there was a diabolical smell of brimstone. Jansen was charmed at the result. A mass of the ledge was burst clean open. He grasped up the blackened fragments of quartz, licked them with his tongue, held them to the candle, and constantly exclaimed: "There! Sir, there! Isn't it beautiful? Did you ever see any thing like it?-pure gold almost-here it is!-don't you see it?" After my pleasant little adventure in the "San Antonio" I took the down track over the western side of the bluff, with my pockets-so to speak-full of rocks, which I caused to be pounded up in a mortar and washed out at one of the springs in the valley. The "San Antonio" is on the same ledge with the "New Mexico," one of the Empire Company's mines. My specimens were obtained at a depth of 175 and 215 feet. I had some doubt as to their value until I saw the result of the washing process, which settled the matter satisfactorily. There was as I suppose I saw it; at all events I put some specimens in my pocket, and saw them afterward out in the pure sunlight, where the smoke was not so dense; and it is due to the great cause of truth to say the gold was there in glittering specks, as if shaken over it from a pep-nice a little deposit of pure gold in the bottom per-box. Having concluded my examination of the mine, I took the bucket as a medium of exit, being fully satisfied with the ladders. About half-way up the shaft the iron swing or handle to which the rope was attached caught in one of the ladders. The rope stretched. I felt it harden and grow thin in my hands. The bucket began to tip over. It was pitch dark all around. Jansen was far below, coming up the ladder. Something seemed to be creaking, cracking, or giving way. I felt the rough, heavy sides of the bucket press against my legs. A terrible apprehension seized me that the gear was tangled and would presently snap. In the pitchy darkness and the confusion of the moment I could not conjecture what was the matter. I darted out my hands, seized the ladder, and jerking myself high out of the bucket, clambered up with the agility of an acrobat. Relieved of my weight, the iron catch swung loose, and up came the bucket banging and thundering after me with a velocity that was perfectly frightful. Never was there such a subterranean chase, I verily believe, since the beginning of the world. To stop a single moment would be certain destruction; for the bucket was large, heavy, and of the horn as ever I saw taken at random from any mine in California, Washoe, or Arizona. The quartz at this depth is decomposed, and runs in thin layers, between which, adhering to the surface, the gold is found. Silver exists in the bluish veins which permeate the quartz, but is not found in such abundance as the gold. The bullion rates at about ten dollars to the ounce. There seems to be very little difference in the quality of the ores in any of the lodes extending through Bodie Bluff. I subsequently explored most of them, as far as they were excavated, and made several tests, which produced a similar show of gold. Judging by actual results derived from the working of some two or three hundred tons in the Aurora Mills, where the waste was evidently great, it would be safe to estimate the average yield at from thirty-five to forty-five dollars per ton; though I am informed that during the past fall and winter the yield was sixty dollars and upward. With increased care and a more perfect system of reduction it is not improbable a higher yield could be obtained. For speculative purposes this is low; but there is a satisfaction to stockholders in knowing exactly what they possess, and upon what |