The extent of the quartz region, in which gold exists, in California, has been estimated by one of the latest and most intelligent explorers, Professor Blake, as of vast extent. His words are these:

"There can be no doubt but that the quartz veins of California are capable of furnishing a supply of gold, which it will probably take centuries to exhaust; and the amount of which is far beyond the limits of calculation, a t least with our present data. Scattered over a belt of land ten miles broad and running the whole length of the country, north and south, these veins are evidently the deposits of immense riches. Setting aside the extraordinary yields, where some hundreds of thousands of dollars have been obtained from holes of a few feet square, we still have hundreds of miles of veins from which ore can be obtained yielding from two to six cents to the pound, and from which a powerful machine can extract from one to two thousand dollars a day. When these veins are exhausted, there will remain many others which will be profitably worked when labor shall become cheaper. There can be no doubt but that quartz mining is destined to be the most permanent source of gold in this country; and it will not be many years before it will attract that attention, which as an investment of capital it evidently deserves."

Professor Spickur, another scientific explorer, who has extensively examined those regions, has published some account of them, from which we make the following extract :-

"The California gold-mining region proper, that is to say, where active operations are being carried on, extends at present from the Mariposa River on the south to the Klamath River, the boundary line of Oregon on the north, running in a south-east and north-west course a distance of nearly five hundred miles, and consists of the spurs and foot range of mountains of the Sierra Nevada."

The number of veins has never been estimated. In the locality of Carson Creek some of the richest has been found, and the yield of gold to individuals working with hand mortars only, has been large. This is within the Sonora District.

In Grass Valley as extensive mining operations have been carried on as in any other locality. The rock in this district is very uniform in its richness, and the yield has been very uniform and extremely profitable. The mills in this district have been invariably successful.

At Quartzburg and its vicinity, extending to the Mariposa in the south, the veins are unusually rich. The same is true of Bounville and its vicinity,

in the north.

These are only a few of the numerous rich localities.

The title to real estate in California, especially mining tracts, is of such a kind as the circumstances alone have created, but its validity in consequence of a general Act of the State Legislature, is as good as in any State of the Union against all persons or powers, except the government of the United States. Nor could the United States, after having suffered their rights to remain dormant for such a length of time, now set up any claim to the mining lands, or attempt to enforce it, which would easily be acquiesced in.

The right to dig in any spot is called a claim; but by a regulation among the miners themselves, no person can set up an original claim to more than one hur dred feet in length of a quartz vein. If therefore any person discovers a quartz vein, and commences working it, the miners who hear of the discovery immediately come on the ground and stake out, each man for

himself, a hundred feet, and begin work. The original discoverer is allowed an extra hundred feet, in consideration of his discovery. After the several claims are staked out, one of the number of persons is elected a recorder; and a record is made of the claims as of the deeds in a county clerk's office. To this record an Act of the Legislature has given the same validity as that which is possessed by the records in the other States. A paper, which is a copy of the record, is also affixed to some tree on the spot.

After these steps have been taken, any individual can sell his claim to any purchaser, and the sale passes a title which is good against all the worldthe United States only excepted.

Such is the title derived from occupation and settlement. It obtains entire confidence; for the opinion prevails in all parts of the State, as we are informed, that the government of the United States will manifest the same liberality, and extend the same protection to the pioneers and settlers in California, as to the emigrants to other new States. There is also a class of titles derived from Mexican grants, each embracing tracts of several leagues. There are only a few of these, and but little respect has hitherto been paid to them by miners.

Claims, such as we have been speaking of, are often sold for many thousand dollars. The price of a vein is governed by the richness of the ore, and the facility with which wood and water can be obtained. These are indispensable requisites for mining in the rock. Richer veins without wood and water at hand, command a much lower price from this scarcity.

In Grass Valley the veins have uniformly commanded a high price, in consequence of their richness and the abundant supply of wood and water. By the most recent estimates, there are, at this moment, about fifty companies in actual operation in quartz mining. Very few of them are supplied with the most suitable machinery for successful work. The entire number of companies, embracing those forming as well as already formed, for this branch of mining, is estimated at two hundred. They are almost entirely private companies, and are settled in all parts of the rock regions. Many of them have valuable claims, but are not able to obtain the machinery necessary to work them with, and therefore use only the Mexican Raster. A few of them are stock companies, and in some instances their stock can be purchased.

But this branch of mining has been entered upon with much spirit and enterprise. The latest reports represent the foundries of San Francisco, of Sacramento, and of Stockton, to the number of six, as working night and day to cast the machinery for these mills, at prices ranging from four een to twenty cents per pound. This is in addition to all the machinery sent out from the Atlantic States, during the last six months. Those who are most active in these operations, and who are investing large amounts of capital in the mills and mines, are citizens of California, who have had the best opportunities to explore the mineral resources of the State, and are most familiar with the system of mining which is practicable.

There are two important points in the labor of gold mining, wherever it is carried on. The first, is to crush the rock in which the gold is found; and the second, is to extract all the gold from the powder after it is crushed.

To be successful in obtaining the gold, the rock should first be crushed or ground as fine as flour; for the smallest grits may contain particles of the metal. The best machinery in existence for this purpose, when the rock mining was commenced in California, was the Chilian mill; so called from its

extensive use in parts of South America. In July, 1851, the first mill of this kind was erected on the big Mariposa vein. This was the first machinery used in gold mining in California, unless we except the iron pestle and mortar used by hand. It crushed about five hundred pounds of rock in twelve hours, and yielded from two to four hundred dollars in three or four days. The expense of running this kind of mill is considerable, and they are therefore unprofitable in consequence of their inefficiency. To be successful in California, where wages are so high, a large amount of work must be done in a short time.

Georgia stamps were next introduced. But these were made to weigh only about one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. These would crush from a ton and a half to five tons in twelve hours. But they did not crush the rock as fine as the Chilian mill, and therefore, pound for pound, would not produce so much gold as the latter.

This light and imperfect machinery was set up under the anticipation that the rock would yield from two to three dollars of gold per pound. The standard yield at present established, and below which mining is not attempted, is two cents of gold to the pound of rock, or forty dollars to the

ton.

The next step in the progress of crushing the rock, was to introduce heavy machinery. For it was proved that machinery which would work to a profit under the low wages in the Southern States, would bring ruin upon its proprietors in California. The mill belonging to the Grass Valley Quartz Mining Company was the first to introduce heavy stamps. These weighed seven hundred pounds and upwards, and worked with such success as to obtain at once for the mill the designation of the "Model Mill." It is estimated as crushing from thirty to forty tons of rock per day, none of which yields less than two cents, although the average is much higher. It has thus been a source of immense profit to its owners.

But even with this mill, the rock is not crushed sufficiently fine, to render it practicable to obtain any more than half the gold it contains, with the present amalgamators for separating the gold. It is a trait of American character never to be satisfied with imperfectly doing a thing, where gold is at stake. Several machines have therefore been invented, which, judging by the success of experiments with models, promise to crush to a fine powder at least fifty tons of rock daily. These have been constructed in New York and taken out to California at great expense, by men who belong there, and who have been engaged in rock mining for some years past, and who are the only class who are actually acquainted with the mining resources of California.

The amalgamation process, which consists in intermingling the crushed rock with quicksilver, is very imperfectly performed, chiefly in consequence of the coarseness of the crushed rock. It is estimated that at least onehalf of the gold is lost in the present mining operations.

The expense of working a mine has been variously estimated at different periods, according to the rate of wages. The following estimate is furnished by an experienced miner, and it is based, as he informs us upon the actual operations of a mining company:

"Suppose an establishment working an engine of forty-horse power, and driving thirty stampers, will cost $70,000, an exaggerated value. Suppose the thirty stampers crushed, in twenty-four hours, twelve tons, an amount much underrated.

The number of hands necessary for the above work is twenty, at $5 per day.. $100

One engineer at..

One assistant engineer.

10

8

5

5

24

16

10

$178

Suppose the ore yields only two cents to the pound, or $40 per ton, fifteen tons will give $600. At this rate, the product per month (twenty-six working days) would give....

Expenses for labor per month (thirty days)...

Balance in favor of the mine......

.$15,000

5,340

.$10,250

Being abundantly sufficient to allow for wear and tear, particularly when we consider, that an engine properly managed, may last six years, and the stampers six months.

"Now let us see the figures when the mine yields five cents to the pound -a yield, which can be, with justice, considered an average product of the California mines.

"Without changing the amount of expenses above presented, we will have as a result of the same mining operations, at the rate of $100 per ton or five cents per pound, per diem, $1,560; or, per month, $30,000. The original monthly expenses as above shown, $5,340, leave us a net balance of $33,660."

Some idea of the results of mining may be obtained from the work of some of the mills. In Grass Valley, where the gold in the rock is very uniform, the mills have probably been more successful than in any other section. The amount of gold obtained, notwithstanding the imperfect machinery for crushing the rock and defective amalgamators, averages from fifty to one hundred dollars per ton; and occasionally, the rich portion of a vein is struck, and the yield for the time is immense. In some instances, as in the case of the mill of the Grass Valley Quartz Mining Company, $3,800 has been obtained in a day. Many other instances might be enumerated.

As the improvement in machinery and the capacity for work has increased, the success has steadily improved. Still more perfect machinery in skillful hands may quadruple it.

The first great embarassment which has happened to mining in California, arose from the high wages of labor, and consequently the enormous expense attending the employment of numerous laborers. No enterprises demanding a large outlay of human force, can be undertaken, unless there are most lucrative returns. Hence it has been unprofitable and ruinous to work many of the mines, previous to the present reduction in the price of labor.

But the imperfection of the machinery greatly augmented this embarassment. Machines which would work to such advantage as to yield rich returns in the gold mines of the Southern States, where labor can be obtained for the lowest wages, were comparatively worthless amid the high wages of California. The process of amalgamation is necessarily performed, in California, on a most extensive scale; and to an equal degree it is imperfectly done. That is, nearly one-half the gold is lost. Thus it has been

necessary to remodel the entire system of work adopted in other countries, to obtain success in California.

There are many other embarassments, such as miners meet everywhere. These it is unnecessary to enumerate.

The business has also to a great extent been commenced by men without experience, and often with a limited capital. In the largest number of such instances, a speedy failure has been the consequence.

The Legislature of California has exercised a degree of intelligence and liberality somewhat unusual in new States. The most favorable laws have been enacted for the organization of companies, to engage either in mining, manufacturing, or other purposes. And while they are liberal on the one hand, on the other, they are sufficiently stringent to protect the rights of every stockholder, and preserve him from unlimited liabilities.

Art. VII. PIERS AND DOCKS IN THE NORTH RIVER, NEW YORK.

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THE necessity of doing something for the accommodation of the rapidly increasing Commerce of the port of New York, becomes every day more urgent. It is allowed, on all hands, that the present piers are altogether insufficient, and that they cannot be extended or improved in the ratio of our wants to come.

The proposition brought forward by Mayor Clark, in 1835, to build a pier and basins in the North River, similar to the Liverpool and London docks, is the only plan ever suggested which seems to meet the demand. It is simple and feasible. Nor has any reasonable objection ever been made to it. As to economy, it can be demonstrated that the lots created by it would be worth considerably more than the cost of the whole work, besides affording a handsome income to the city, not only by well-founded estimates, but by the experience of other similar undertakings, such as Central Wharf in Boston. The North River is deep and wide. It has not so strong a tidal current as the East River, and has a more direct access to and from sea. But, as a harbor, it is not so safe or comfortable, especially in winter. It is therefore in the North River that we have the demand for improvement, as well as ample field to carry it out.

London from the Tower to Blackwall, a distance of four miles, is nearly all docks. St. Katherine's, London, East, and West India, on the north side of the Thames, without reckoning minor ones, occupy an extent of four hundred and fifty acres, can accommodate twelve hundred ships, and have warehouse room for 600,000 tons of goods. The Surrey, Commercial, East County, and other docks on the south side cover nearly as much ground. St. Katherine's is one of the smallest, containing twenty-three acres, but taking advantage of the experience of others, all of its arrangements are of the most perfect kind. "It was undertaken by leading merchants in London, to meet the necessity of giving additional accommodation to the great increase of business in the port; to secure a reduction in the rates and charges, which were considered exorbitant at the London docks; no others conveniently situated affording the means of competition; and to bring the port of London more on a level, in point of expense, with the other ports of the