What I saw on the west coast of South and North America, and at the Hawaiian Islands.: By H. Willis Baxley, M.D.

GRASS VALLEY QUARTZ IINING.
rocky, continued miry from heavy rains, and Grass Valley was
not reached until 4 P. P.
The town of Grass V-alley is the second in importance in
Nevada County, and has a population of five thousand. The
stores are substantially built, and contain an abundant supply
of goods; and the dwellings, many of them pleasantly located
on the gently-swelling hills bordering the valley, are tasteful
and surrounded with fine gardens. Among the latter may be
seen the cottage built and occupied for a short time by Lola
Montes, the erratic, cast-off mistress of Bavarian majesty, who
appears to have girdled the earth almost with coquetries and
liaisons, and at her final hour to have been canonized as a saint
by New York piety. Placer gold mining was for a time suecessfully conducted in this vicinity, but the accidental discovery of gold-bearing quartz in 1S50, soon led to the erection of
mills, first driven by water power, and subsequently, as the extensive gold quartz deposits were developed, steam power was
found necessary to meet the great demand for those agents in
the separation of the precious metal. Within the space of five
miles square as many as sixteen quartz-crushlin mills have already been erected, doing custom as wiell as private work, and
thirty-five steam pumps are also engaged in freeing the mines
from water, and in raising rock. As quartz mining is one of the
two improved methods in use for the procurement of gold in
California-the hydraulic having already been spoken of-a
brief description of this may be given.
At certain distances beneath the surface of the earth in the
gold region, a layer of rock is found. After the first hap-hazard period of surface scramblings, scratchings, and scrapings,
the fact was stumbled on by the early adventurers, that the gold,
from its superior specific gravity, gradually precipitated itself
down to the rock, and was often found occupying its crevices
and depressions in such great quantities as to lead to a system
of " coyoting "-in California miner's phrase-or subterranean
burrowing after the rich deposits; and when the bed-rock was
at a great depth a more extensive and scientific system of tunnelling and barrowing, and sometimes even railroad lorse-car
conveyance, was introduced for the purpose of securing the treas
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