ing to the estimates of Baron Humboldt and Mr. Ward, yielded for a series of years, during a period of high prosperity, an average of fiftytwo dollars to the ton. It is the certainty and abundance of the precious metals, and the facility with which the ore is obtained, that constitute the true criterion of excellence and give permanent value to the mine. MINING AT LODIE. Now it is a well demonstrated fact that the best paying mines are not those which yield the richest specimens of ores. The silver lodes on Reese River have yielded higher results, in exceptional cases, than those of Washoe, yet there is nothing there that can bear comparison with the Comstock. The Allison Ranch, in California, I have been informed, has made its largest annual profits on ores varying from eight to twelve dollars to the ton; and it has been estimated that if the principal mines in Mariposa could be depended upon for a sufficiency of ores worth ten dollars a ton to keep the mills in active operation the results would be satisfactory. Specimen ores that assay from fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars per ton can be obtained from almost any quartz ledge in Nevada. No reliable calculation can be based upon these exceptional proofs of value. Every thing depends upon the extent and definite character of the veins and the equable diffusion of the precious metals. The difficulty in most cases where these rich pockets exist is, that they are isolated, or only to be found at remote intervals. It usually costs more to get at them than they are worth. The history of some of the Washoe mines, which have yielded extraordinary results under a heavy pressure of expense and labor, and which are now suffering a depression resulting from exhaustion of the upper strata, presents the most striking examples of this fact. Had the inferior ores been properly economized, and the mines worked with a view to the future, stockholders in these mines would now have no cause to regret their investments. I do not wish to be understood as advancing the idea that the Comstock ledge is exhausted or likely to be; for I have always regarded it, and do still, as the richest silver lode yet discovered in our mineral territories. But I think the world can present no such example as we find in the history of that ledge, of mismanagement, extravagance, and fraud. It would almost seem, indeed, as if the American people, owing to some inherent characteristic-an impatient, speculative, prodi- In justice to the Bodie mines, it must be adgal spirit, perhaps were incapable of conduct-mitted that they are at least free from this obing the business of mining upon any principle of jection. None of the ores are especially rich, reason, honesty, or common sense. Why is it, but the precious metals are diffused throughout otherwise, that, with the richest mines in the the veins with great regularity. I made a calworld-with untiring enterprise, inventive gen- culation of the results that ought to be obtained ius of the highest order, a larger average of in- from one thousand tons of ore taken from one telligence than any other people possess, we have of these lodes, assuming the usual cubic measnever yet made mining a permanently profitable urement, and found that it tallied exactly with business to all concerned? The truth is, we the yield as subsequently obtained. are too impatient and too exacting, and expect to make fortunes as we live-by telegraphic speed. We must tear out the entrails of the earth by novel and expeditious applications of steam, and turn our capital by galvanic speculations, or give it up in disgust. There are several companies engaged in working the principal veins that extend through Bodie Bluff. Among these the largest interests are held by the "Empire Gold and Silver Mining Company of New York," whose possessions commence at the face of the Bluff and run a thou INTERIOR OF THE BODIE BUNKER. sand feet along each ledge. The limits are strictly defined, and no litigation has yet taken place, or is likely to occur, inasmuch as the claims of each Company are duly surveyed and recorded, the boundaries accurately laid down, and every precaution taken to prevent those contentions which have proved the ruin of so many rich mineral districts in Nevada. The "Bodie Bunker and High Peak Tunnel and Mining Company" hold the principal mines adjoining those of the Empire. The character of the veins and quality of the ores owned by this Company are essentially the same as those already described, showing a direct continuation of the ledges from the first point at which they crop out. I made a subterranean tour through the Bodie Bunker and Consolidated Mines belonging to this Company, and was very favorably impressed by the general indications of permanency and mineral wealth. Three thousand tons of the ores from the Bunker, taken out on contract by a Mr. Luffkin, yielded an average of $42 to the ton, and paid him a handsome profit upon his contract. In all the mines which I visited within the limits of Bodie Bluff I found the veins of nearly uniform thickness-that is to say, varying from two to five feet in gold and silver bearing quartz, with clear and well-defined walls and casings. The work done upon them is of a very rude and imperfect character, the main object having been apparently to get as much out of them with as little expense as possible, and without regard to the permanent development of the mines. I was especially impressed with the fact that there appeared to be none of those subterranean "horses," which miners find so stubborn to move and so difficult to get over or under. Each vein retains its distinctive character all the way as far as the excavations extend. The best ores have been taken out at a depth of a hundred and seventy-five feet and upward. If the undiminished width and value of the ledges at that depth can be regarded as an indication of permanency I think there can be no question on that point. Still I should be very sorry to make any statement which might mislead the public or fail to be borne out in the future. The experience of Nevada and California, so far, has shown that no human foresight can penetrate the earth and tell with certainty what lies within its hidden recesses. Geological science has been so often at fault that mere reasoning from such data as an unlearned tourist like myself can pick up in the course of his travels can scarcely be entitled to greater weight. The fact, however, that most of the leading mines in Virginia City, after a period of doubt and depression, are now striking good ores at a depth of four hundred feet and upward would seem to augur favorably in regard to all other mineral lodes in the Territory. Up to the period of my visit (in September) the ores taken from this district were subject to an expense of eight dollars per ton for hauling, and twenty dollars a ton for working at the Aurora Mills. Yet with these heavy deductions, and the additional cost of labor in the mines, private parties made handsome profits by working the mines under contract and having the ores reduced on their own account. In addition to the quartz ledges there are placer diggings in the Bodie range, which have yielded during ordinary seasons of rain as high as sixteen to twenty dollars a day to the hand. In fact, the "color of gold," as the miners say, can be obtained from the surface dirt taken at random from any part of the hill. These diggings, so far as known, extend over an area of several miles, and can not fail to assume a permanent value as soon as sufficient capital is introduced to supply water from the adjacent valley of Cottonwood Creek. In respect to the article of provisions, the proximity of the Big Meadows, Mono Lake, and Walker's Valley, where vegetable products of all kinds are now abundantly raised, is a great advantage to this district. Until within a year or two miners suffered much from the want of vegetables; scurvy was a common disease; but during the past summer the supply has been quite equal to the demand. Farms are being located and cultivated in all the adjacent valleys, where the altitude is not too great for agricultural purposes; and it is found that the land, though apparently barren, is extraordinarily rich, owing to deposits of fertilizing matter from the surrounding mountains. Of course every thing which has a tendency to reduce the cost of living must reduce the cost of mining in this country-a very important consideration. No mines, however rich, can be profitably worked for any great length of time where the wages for ordinary labor are four dollars a day. Ores worth fifteen to twenty dollars a ton are necessarily cast aside, and only such as yield over thirty or forty dollars can be made to pay. There is always more poor ore in every mining district than rich; hence the preponderance of wealth is lost where the inferior ores can not be made available. The period is not very distant when the ores | There are now some fifteen or twenty small frame now discarded will be the source of permanent and adobe houses erected for the use of the workwealth in Nevada. It is to a general reduction men; a boarding-house is already established; of expenses, and not to the discovery of richer lots and streets are laid out by means of stakes; leads, that we must look for that high state of new houses are springing up in every direction, prosperity which I think, despite all the losses and speculation in real estate is quite the fashion. and drawbacks which have attended the invest- It was amusing to witness the enthusiasm with ment of capital in Nevada, is the ultimate des- which the citizens went into the business of tiny of that region. trading in lots. Groups of speculators were constantly engaged in examining choice locations, and descanting upon the brilliant future of the embryo city. A pair of boots, I suppose, would have secured the right to a tolerably good lot; but having only one pair, and that pretty well worn, I did not venture upon an investment. Some of the city dignitaries, however, duly impressed with the importance of having a view of their town appear in the illuminated pages of Harper, paid me the compliment to attach my name to the principal street; and thus, in future ages, I confidently expect my memory will be rescued from oblivion. Here is the promised view of the town. Whether or not the Bodie mines will be worked profitably on a large scale depends very much upon the system of operations introduced by the owners. As a general rule, large companies are less successful in the working of mines than small parties and private individuals. The cause of this may be found in the fact that mining, like any other business, re. quires judicious and economical management, and strict personal attention, to be permanently profitable. Indeed the risks are so much greater than in any other business, that those maxims of economy and accountability which apply to the ordinary transactions of life possess still greater force as applied to the business of mining. Unnecessarily expensive mills, a loose system of disbursement, incompetent managers, and inefficient experts, have effected the ruin of many mines and many stockholders in the Territory of Nevada. The same causes would produce similar results in any other business. Exorbitant and unreasonable demands for high dividends have been a fruitful source of failure. Capitalists are not satisfied unless they receive from two to five per cent. a month upon their investments; and superintendents work under à heavy pressure, and assume great hazards to produce that result. Now I am very confident that no ten mines in Virginia City have ever yet yielded an average of one per cent. a month over and above expenses, and I venture to assert that no mines in South America, Mexico, or Nevada have continued to pay such high dividends for any great length of time. Permanency and extraordinary dividends are incompatible. Where the yield is evidently reliable, a reasonable per-centage, regularly paid, is better than a larger amount which must necessarily involve greater risk and increased expendi ture. At the head of the Bodie Valley, where I spent a day very pleasantly among the miners, is a beautiful natural location for a town, sheltered by surrounding hills from the chilling winds that sweep down from the snow-capped peaks of the Sierras. Although the altitude is greater than that of any inhabited spot within the limits of the United States, and only surpassed by those of Potosi, which is 13,330 feet, and Quito, 9540 feet, the climate is exceedingly healthy; never too warm in summer, and rarely rigorous in winter. This, at an elevation of nearly 9000 feet, is remarkable. Water is abundantly supplied from a fine spring distant a few hundred yards from the centre of the town; wood, for mining purposes and for the use of the inhabitants, can be obtained from a pine-forest situated on the side of a hill about four miles from the camp. The supply of this latter article, however, is limited, and can not be depended upon for more than a few years; but the ravines in the main range of the Sierra Nevada, bordering on Mono Lake, are clothed with inexhaustible forests, suitable for lumber as well as fuel. A good road is now open to the shores of Mono, the nearest part of which lies about fourteen BROWNE STREET, BODIE miles from Bodie. A view of the lake from the eastern side of the bluff presents one of the finest specimens of scenic grandeur to be found in the whole range of the Sierra Nevadas. Mountain after mountain rolls off in the distance, like the waves of an angry sea. Perpetual snow covers the highest peaks of the Sierras. Dark forests of pine stand in bold outline on the inferior ranges, and vast chasms and rocky cañons open out upon the shores of the lake, which lies dead and still apparently within a stone's throw of the beholder. Circling deposits of alkali and drifts of wood mark the barren plains that lie on the eastern shore of the lake, showing that in by-gone centuries it covered a vast extent of country from which it has now receded. A direct communication from the valley of the San Joaquin, via Sonora, has recently been opened by the citizens of Mono and Esmerelda; thus saving in transportation, from the head of navigation at Stockton, at least four or five days of wagon travel over the usual time required by the old route from Sacramento via Carson Valley. This will greatly reduce the cost of transporting supplies of machinery and provisions from San Francisco. THE RESPECTABLE MARRIED WITNESS. IN THE WITNESS-BOX. I HAVE a theory that a man's fate lies in his natural disposition; not the disposition which he has control over, but a certain secret and unsuspected bent of his mind, which leads him, right or wrong, against his will or against his knowledge. In pursuing this theory I am disposed to believe that there is a certain kind of men and women whose bias is always rolling them into the witness-box; whose bias first of all rolls them into situations where they see and hear things bearing upon matters which will become the subject of litigation or criminal process. Look at the people sketched in illustration of these remarks. There they are, born witnesses; types which we see in the box repeated over and over again, with all the fatuity which leads them into the position of witnesses, and all the attributes which so peculiarly fit Mark the Dull Witness. Have you not seen him times out of number? At the police-court, in a case of assault and battery-he happened to be in the way at the time, of course: at the inquest-he was passing just at the moment the deceased threw himself from the first-floor window. In the Marine Court, on a case of collision, where the defendant is sued for damages on the score of having taken the wrong side of the road. Of course he gets into the dock instead of the witness-box; of course he stumbles up the steps, and equally of course stumbles down them again. He takes the book in the wrong hand, and when he is told to take it in the other, that hand is sure to be gloved; the court is kept waiting while he divests himself of this article of apparel; and the consciousness of the witness that all eyes are upon him, concentrated in a focal glare of reproof and impatience, only tends to increase and intensify his stupidity. He drops the book; he kisses his thumb-not evasively, for he is incapable of any design whatever; he looks at the judge when he ought to be looking at the counsel, and at the counsel when he ought to be looking at the judge. There is such an utter want of method in the stupidity of this witness that counsel can make nothing of him. He perjures himself a dozen times, and with regard to that collision case, gets into such a fog about the rule of the road, that at last he doesn't know his right hand from his left. It is useless for counsel to point with triumph to the inconsistencies of this witness's evidence; for it is obvious to every body that he is quite incapable of throwing any light on the subject whatever, and that what he says one way or another is of no importance. The examining counsel is only too glad to get rid of such a witness, and very soon tells him to stand down-a command which he obeys by tumbling down and staggering into the THE CONFIDENT WITNESS. He is prepared for the slips; he is ready at all points for the greasy New Testament. He looks the counsel steadily in the face, as much as to say-"You will not shake my evidence, I can tell you." The counsel meets this look with a glance of anticipated triumph. There is a defined position here whose assumption of strength is its greatest weakness. The Confident Witness has resolved to answer yes and no, and not to be tempted into any amplifications which will give the cross-examining counsel an opportunity of badgering him. The counsel can make nothing of him for a while; but at last he goads him into an expression of anger; when, seeing that he is losing his temper, he smiles a galling smile, and says "No doubt, Sir, you think yourself a very clever fellow: don't you now? Answer me, Sir." The Confident Witness falling into this trap, and thinking "Answer me, Sir," has reference to the question about his cleverness, snaps the counsel up with a retort about being as clever as he is; and immediately the badgering commences. "How dare you interrupt me, Sir? Prevarication won't do here, Sir. Remember you are on your oath, Sir!" And the indignation of the witness being thus aroused-by, it must be confessed, a most unwarrantable and ungentlemanly course of proceeding-away goes the main-sheet of his confidence, and he is left floundering about without rudder or compass in the raging sea of his anger. It is now the worthy object of the learned counsel to make him contradict himself, and to exhibit him in the eyes of the jury as a person utterly unworthy of belief. There is a nervous variety of this witness, who is occasionally frightened into doubting his Own handwriting. He is positive at first; has no doubt on the point whatever. It is, or it is THE WITNESS WHO DOUBTS HIS OWN HANDWRITING. "Do you ever omit the dot ?" "Never.". "Then be good enough to look at this signature" (counsel gives him a letter, folded up so as to conceal every thing but the signature). "You perceive there is no dot over the i there. Is that your signature?" "I should say not." "You should say not-why? Because there is no dot over the i?" "Yes; because there is no dot over the i." "Now, Sir, look at the whole of that letter. Did you write such a letter?" it "Certainly; I did write such a letter." "Remember, Sir, you are on your oath. Is like your handwriting?" "It is." "Is it like your signature?" "It is." "Is it your signature ?" "It might be." "Gentlemen of the jury; after most positively denying that this was his signature, the witness at length admits that it might be. What reliance then can be placed upon the doubts which he expresses with regard to the document upon which this action is based?" This witness has really no doubts about his handwriting at all, until he is artfully induced to commit himself with regard to the dotting of i's and the crossing of t's. The Deaf Witness is not a hopeful subject for counsel to deal with; and when, on entering the box, he settles himself into a leaning posture, with his hand to his ear, the gentlemen in the horse-hair wigs will be seen to exchange glances which imply mutual pity for each other. Those glances say plainly enough, "Here is a |