Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 9.djvu/40

32 six tons were shipped to Hawaii about 1847. From this time until about the eighties the only record concerning the recovery of wax is a notation by J. J. Gilbert, of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, who made the survey of this part of the coast. He learned that early settlers had plowed the site of the old wreck and obtained 450 pounds of the wax, which was sold as beeswax. Dr. Diller's guide and informant, Mr. Edwards, is said to be no longer living, so that further testimony from him is not available. He is accredited, however, by all old residents of the Nehalem country, from whom it has been possible to get an opinion, with having taken out by far a greater amount of the wax than any other person. Mr. Edwards' own estimate of the amount of wax obtained by him, as he gave it to Dr. Diller, was "almost three tons." Mr. D. S. Boyakin, at present and for many years past a resident of Nehalem, and who as a merchant has kept in close touch with traffic affairs of all sorts in that locality, estimates that Edwards and other active wax gatherers known to him have secured in all not much over four tons. This, added to the six tons that may have been shipped to Hawaii in 1847, gives ten tons. Another ton or two for Indian traffic, etc., probably places a liberal estimate upon the whole amount recovered. It is almost impossible to find a piece of the wax upon the beach at the present time, and the consensus of opinion among those most expert in finding it is that the deposit is practically exhausted. The available facts, then, are not incompatible with the wreck hypothesis as far as the amount of wax to be considered is concerned.

Now as to the analyses reported to prove the substance ozokeri′e. A preliminary word of explanation should be given here, perhaps, in order that there may be in the minds of everyone a clear idea of the difficulties to be met in considering questions of this kind. Nature has curiously made a great many things in such a way that whereas they are fundamentally entirely different they may possess certain resemblances which are calculated to deceive even experi-