Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/45



the streams,  and  in  the  ravines  which  they  had traversed. But so  common  were  these  reports,  so familiar  were  the  conquerors  with  the  presence  of precious  metals  everywhere  within  the  subjugated domain, that  a  sprinkling  more  or  less,  here  or  there, was little  regarded. Nevertheless, it  is  reported  that later they  built  furnaces,  and  brought  sand  from  the seashore to  be  used  in  smelting  antimonial  silver  lead. A map  was  made  of  southern  California  in  1775 by a  priest  showing  the  explorations  of  the  Jesuits  on the  Colorado  river  for  several  hundred  miles,  and thence to  the  Tulare  valley. J. H.  Carson  is  the author of  a  little  book,  printed  in  Stockton  in  1852, entitled Early  Recollections  of  the  Mines,  and  a  Descrip- tion of the  Great  Tulare  Valley,  and  worth  fifty  times its weight  m  gold. This writer  was  informed  that  in the  Mexican  archives  was  a  letter  from  a  priest,  dated at one  of  the  Jesuit  missions  in  1776,  notifying  the government that  while  searching  the  mountains  for mission sites  he  and  his  confreres  had  met  with  pure silver in  masses  weighing  several  tons,  and  that  they had forbidden  all  mention  of  the  matter  under  pain of excommunication  and  death,  lest  a  sudden  influx of population  should  destroy  their  schemes  for  con- version. Upon the  strength  of  this  assertion  Wright and his  associates  fitted  out  an  expedition  under  a Mr  Hoyt,  who  proceeding  to  California  from  Mexico, in due  time  sent  back  a  letter  with  rich  spechnens  of silver  ore,  almost  solid,  as  Mr  Wright  declared. Neither Hoyt  or  any  of  the  party  returned,  nor  were they ever  heard  from;  and  it  was  supposed  that  they were murdered  by  the  natives. Exploring at  a  much later period  in  the  vicinity  of  Moore  creek,  Carson encountered a  shaft  sunk  apparently  twelve  or  twenty years before. Part of  the  windlass  was  still  standing, though in  a  state  of  decay,  and  the  place  agreed  with the description  given  by  Hoyt. When Carson  ques- tioned the natives  about  it,  he  was  told  that  the  shaft had been  sunk  by  Mexicans  who  had  been  in  that