LOWER CALIFORNIA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXI, Issue 2364, 8 March 1876, Page 2

LOWER CALIFORNIA.

The New York Herald says : — 1 The reports of the survey of the Lower California peninsula recently ' made by the United States steamer Narragansett ' contain many interesting facts relative to that country. Assistant surgeon Thomas N. Streets, United States Navy, who had charge of the geological portion of the work, in his report says that he found on I gan Josef Island, in the Qulf qf Qalifornia, fossil marine shells imbedded in a kind of calcareous sand rock on the mountains at least 1000 feet above the present sea level. Tbe identity of these fossils with the species now existing in the surrounding water is very evident. He says : — If all this land, extending far up into Alta California, were sunk 1000 or 1500 feet below its present level it would no longer be a peninsula, but an archipelago of islands'. This was undoubtedly the exact position of things at the commencement of the post pliocene epoch. The high, mountanious land at the southern extremity of the peninsula formed one large island separate from the rest.

Referring to the mineral wealth of the peninsula he says :— " The silver bearing veins of Triunio are two in number, and they run in a converging "direction northerly and easterly. The present company produces bullion to the amount of 50, OOOdols per month. They have sufficient Qre in sight in the mines already opened to treble or quadruple $hat sum, The mines are particularly rich. In our own country all the Bilver bearing veins have been found on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada range. This fact has been adduced as a proof that this range of mountains h continuous with the mountains of Lower California. If this be the case we may look to see gold being found on the western slope as in Alta California. The copper mines of Purgatorio and Providentia are being very actively worked at present, and yielding large quanties of very rich ore. Another source of wealth is the gUano islands, and of these the principal is Jsla I^aga. A company commenced working here two year^ago aDd, up to the present time they have removed 10,000 tons of the fertiliser. It is computed that there is in all 60,000 tons upon the strand, whioh is. t^ree-qu^era of a mile long and half a mile wide. Assistant Surgeon Edward Evers, of the United States navy, also submits a

•lengthy report upon mineralogy, botany/ salt deposits, &c. He says—" The mineral wealth of Lower California is wonderful, and embraces rich deposits of silver, gold, iron, copper, antimony, alabaster, &c. Traces of silver are found almost everywhere, and though few of the mines are. worked, they are numerous and rich." ... He. refers to the_richnesßTof the mines at Triunio, and says •— (CThe "majority of the miners are Mexicans, though there is a goodly : proportion of -foreigners^;- All the officers of the company, the chemist, the assayer, the captains of the mines, and the foremen are" Americans or Europeans ; not one a Mexican." The ore is brought from the mines on pack mules, over distances of from six to twelve miles, to the stamping mills, which are constantly in operation, being stopped only for repairs. This silver bars are sent to La Paz by waggon, and thence shipped to San Francififco by schooner. . Other mines could be worked, with equal . but the liighduties and the arbitrary and tyrannical measures of the 'Mexican .Government prevent foreigners, the only persons who coulcTpossess the regusite capital, from. inyesting\,tibefe.^, i 'Kißxfc ; tio silver, copper ore, which is. perhaps more abundant than any other metal, has been worked most successfully. The best mines are at Purgatorio and lufierno, whence the ore itself is transported to the sea shore on pack mules, sometime* many leagues, to be shipped to San Francisco and Europe. ,V." ' ' "^ ;:..: y/ The want of security to capital and the consequent want of protection to labor is. the. great of that country. At; /Jra 1 Island of San Maxiosj above Mulegp Lft ■ richmine^of.alaibasterjjwiicJajJfJprjo^^B^ worked out, ought 7 : to yield an imnjelHo profit. 'The salt lagoon at Carmen Island is an interesting phenomenon in more than one respect. It iB so rich that the whole earth majr be supplied by it for agesf if indeed it Is not inexhaustible/ It is a mile and a half in length and half a mile wide,- while its daptti has not yet been ascertained. . This salt deposit; is.no doubt due .to ' the ' evaporation - '6% '^B°ea water, for it is connected 1 witk;th|^ooean, distant from it four hundred" "yards,"; r by three or four underground streams.' TEe salt itself is perfectly] pure; and beautifully crystallised. No doubt a thorough examination of the. interior T.w.ould^T^enricb. the science of botany by many & Valuable and interesting discovery.^ Nor~is? T the zoology of the , countiy jytilyftftli^pi study. ;Tse, sanae. appfiesr'rstul'^more^to is birds, butthe field of greatest^intergst is the sea in the immediate; vicinity "to "the coast, andi the Gulf: of California itself, with its whales, sharks swordfish, sawfish, skates, porpises, and countless multitudes of seals, while the number and ; variety 7of smaller fish.is .wonderful „• The lower organisation. . are" repr'erented by forms of rarest size' and beauty. Magnificient shells, too, are found' on the coast, and would well repay the research of the conchologist. Werfind the State of Lower California almost as unknown to us .as the •wilds of Africa, but full of ; in&irest to the botanist, tbe zoologist, and the chemist, alike full of promise 1 to the merchant and the farmer. rich in fisheries, in. pearls) in minerals,; and in native iproducts^it is very -, probable that at no distant future Lower CalforniavTwill become an integral po.rtion. of our Union. A thorough knowledge of its characteristics is,, therefore, desirable. " : .The,. study and research "to acquire it should be entrusted to a" special commission of men of acknowledged eminence in ' the department of botany, zoology^ "and mineralogy. The results of the labor would be of the utmost importance to science and of material benefit to the community at large. New roads of commerce and wealth would be< opened, and science would be enriched by important and interesting discoveries.-; ■:>