APPENDIX. MEXICAN MINING TERMS.
Reading edition
Agua—Water.
Acciones—Shares in a mine.
Ahogar—To gouge out a mine by working narrow and only in rich places.
Ademada—Timbered.
Abonar—To pay a debt by instalments.
Azogue—Quicksilver.
Aire—Air.
Bonanza—A large and rich body of ore—prosperity.
Borrâsca—Barren rock—bad luck—adversity.adversity.
Bartolina—A chamber cut out in a mine in which to keep tools and stores.
Barranca—A precipice.
Barretero—A miner.
Barrena—A drill.
Batea—A wooden bowl used in washing auriferous earth.
Buena saca—Doing well.
Contro-pozo—An “upraise” to meet a winze.
Contra Mina—An underground connection.
Charqueo interior—To lead water to a drain.
Cavallo—A “horse”—a block of barren rock in the midst of a body of ore.
Cinta—A streak of ore.
Chorrerra—A cave—the caving in of a mine.
Cavassos—Borings—drillings.
Cavasal—A cross-piece—timber.
Calabrote—A large rope.
Cabreste—A hair rope—a line.
Canada—A deep ravine, gulch.
Cuarzo—Quartz.
Cascajo—Gravel.
De Cielo—The roof—working overhead.
De Pied or a Pique—Beneath the floor—sinking, or working down.
Derotada—Gutted, spoiled and abandoned.
Dispacho or Dispensa—An ore-house.
Destajo—A contract.
El Cordon—A ridge or spur of a mountain.
El Creston—A crest or outcropping.
El Rumbo—The course.
El Manto—(mantada)—A flat deposit.
Escabar—To strip a claim on the surface merely.merely.
El Tajo abierto—An open cut.
El Socabon—An adit.
El Tiro general—The main shaft.
El Crucero—A cross-cut.
El Fronton—An ore breast.
El Alto—The hanging wall.
El Abajo—The foot wall.
El Patio—The level space at the mouth of a mine or tunnel.
568Echardero—A platform for weighing, sorting, or packing ore on. A Patio of a mine.
En Frutos—In ore.
En Borra (Emborrescade, Borrasca)—Not in pay ore—“petered out”—applied to the barrenness of veins, not to dead work, as a tunnel run to reach a vein.
Fundido—Filled with water.
Fueros—Special privileges.
Guardas de Labor—Roof and walls of a mine in general.
Grantio—Granite.
Hilos—Threads of ore.
Hundido—A settling or sinking.
Las Sierras—Mountains or mountain ranges.
La Guia—A guide, or the float rock.
La Recuesta—The dip.
Las Medias—The boundary lines of a claim as marked by Las Escatas, stakes, or Estacada, staked off.
Las Guardas Rayas—Monuments of wood or stone.
La Demasia or Hueco—The unclaimed ground between two claims.
La Bocca-vieja—The mouth—the old mouth.
La Obra—The tunnel—the work.
La Lumbrera—The air shaft.
Las Canones—The drifts.
La Cata—A small pit—a “coyote hole.”
La Tabla—A stope.
La Patia—A narrow footpath in a mine.
Las Respaldas—The walls of a mine.
Los Caminos—The travelled roads in a mine of any kind.
Los Planes—The deepest workings or bottom of a mine.
Los Pilares—The pillars of a mine—place of timbers—to “dispilar” a mine is to dig down the pillars.
Las Desagues—The drains of a mine.
Las Escaleras—The notched stepping poles or ladders in a mine.
La Tronada—The rocks thrown down by a blast.blast.
Los Llavis—Beams, timbers.
Latones—Small poles.poles.
La Quebrada—A ravine.
Maderas—All kinds of wood used in a mine for any purpose.
Mecati—A small line.
Minero—A miner.
Nivel—A level.
Obsa muerta—Dead work.
Orcones—Forked poles.
Oro—Gold.
Oro en polvo—Gold dust.
Oro en pasta, bruto or virgen—Gold bullion.
Presa—A dam.
Pileta—A sump or tank.
Paradera—Sluice-gates.
Pico—A pick.
Pala—A shovel.
Polvora—Powder.
Plata—Silver.
Plata virgen or brulo—A rude mass of silver—native silver.
Pizarra—Slate rock.
Puertas—When a vein pinches—“cap rock.”
Pied direcho—A stud.
Pedregal—A stony place.A stony place.
Roca—A rock.rock.
Risco—A steep rock.
Reata—A rope for tying mules or horses.
Suffocante—Hot, bad air.
Terrero—A pile of waste rock.
Un Mineral—A mining district.
Una Veta—A lode or ledge—a true fissure vein.
Una Veta tapada—A “blind” ledge or lode—a lode that is covered with soil.
Una Vena—A vein—a narrow seam or streak.
569Una Pertinencia—A claim on a lode. (By the Mexican mining law it is 200 Varas ie Medin—200 yards running measure. A vara is 33 inches.inches.)
Un Pozo—A shaft, pit, or winze.
Un Labor—Any part of a mine from which ore is being extracted.extracted.
Un Claro—Any worked out portion of a mine.mine.
Un Tapextle—A landing or platform in a shaft—a gallery.
Un Quarton—A slip or “fault” which cuts off the ore.
Un Clavo—A chimney of ore.
Un Amparo—A permit from the Government to quit work on a mine for any time beyond the customary four months in each year.
Un Ojo—A “pocket.”
Una Bonanza—A big rich strike.
Una Caida—A fall—a slide.
Un Barreno—A drill-hole.
Un Cohete—A blast.
Un Tequio—A task—each cleaner’s pile of ore.
Una Adema—A set of timbers.
Un Malacate—A horse whim.
Una Manesuela, Argans, Hicho bueno—A windlass.windlass.
Una Soga—A native rope.
Un Negocio—An enterprise, transaction, or business.
Veta Cata—A new vein.
Vapor—Foul air.
Ventilacion—Ventilation.
Ventilar—To Ventilate.
Transcriber’s Note
The list of illustrations, though numbered consecutively, are somewhat disordered.
Illustration #43 (“Rhode Island Mill, Gold Hill”) at p. 222 is listed after #42 (“Wood and Water”) on p. 227.
Illustration #44 (“Resicence of Hon. J. P Jones”), also referring to p. 222 is simply missing.
Illustration #46 (“Lumbering on Lake Tahoe”) consists of two drawings with the first “Log Riding:” not appearing in the list.
Illustration #80 (“The Hottest Place”) appears at p. 449, not p. 459.
In the Table of Contents,
Chapter XXXV appears at p. 259, not p. 261.
Chapter LIII appers at p. 397, not p. 497.
By far the most common error was finding a comma or no punctuation at all at the end of a sentence: California[,/.] (69.5), understanding[.] (71.12), curiosity[.] (73.37), satisfactory[.] (78.35), runaways[,/.] (79.8), there[,/.] (83.12), out[,/.] (84.9), rascality[,/.] (84.13), here[,/.] (84.35), explanation[,/.] (94.31), white[.]) (112.1), neighborhood[,/.] (167.12), particles[./,] (173.31), shaft[./,] (193.36), towns[.] (232.11), “Often[.]” (263.37), walking[,/.] (290.2), side[.] (303.9), whoop[.] (327.17), charge[.] (328.18), venomous[.] (355.39), drink[.] (366.17), spirit[’/.] (373.13), dog[.] (374.23), effort[,/.] (383.3), blanket[.] (391.16), with it[.] (393.29), or two[,/.] (398.23), down[,/.] (399.4), Saratoga[,/.] (417.35), feet[,/.] (427.16), tunnel[,/.] (430.33), business[. ](407.26), were[.] (474.8), bank[,/.] (476.21), earnest[,/.] (490.36), bread[,/.] (494.21), up[.] (517.9), vein[,/.] (530.8), adversity[,/.] (567.14), merely[,/,] (567.26), extracted[,/.] (569.8), mine[,/.] (569.10), windlass[.] (569.11), blast[.] (568.4), poles[.] (568.6), inches[.] (569.5).
The (many) other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. Where the error occurs in a quoted document, it is merely noted.
viii.21 First Qua[r]tz Mine in Nevada Inserted.
viii.22 Qua[r]tz Mill—Amalgamating Room Inserted.
viii.26 “The Heathe[n] Chinee” Restored.
ix.23 THE DISCOVERY[ OF] SILVER. Inserted.
ix.34 An U[u/n]pleasant Joke Inverted.
x.30 Old Gus[./,] and his “Injun.” Replaced.
x.39 [w/W]aste of Gold and Silver Uppercase.
xi.26 Peril[l]ous Ways and Dark Places Removed.
xii.19 A little Pict[n/u]re Inverted.
xii.22 RA[I]LROAD LINES. Inserted.
xv.36 “Fighting Interests.[”] Added.
xvi.5 C[A/H]APTER LXIV. Replaced.
xvi.14 [G/C]HAPTER LXVI. Replaced.
xvi.41 Doubtf[n/u]l Dreams Inverted.
20.19 he said[./,] “Yonder lies Replaced.
35.6 “dead thing,[’/”] Restored.
38.36 formed of [lodestone] or magnetic iron ore. sic
46.15 yielded millions upon mil[l]ions in gold Inserted.
51.1 made by O[ /’]Riley and McLaughlin Replaced.
53.8 sold his interest in the Central No. 1[.] for $4,000 Removed.
56.22 “Old Pancake[”] was happy Added.
56.25 no sooner was it in his posses[s]ion Inserted.
59.31 ‘I baptize this ground Virginia.[’] Added.
60.2 living on the Trucke[r/e] Meadows Replaced.
63.9 including of[ of] its depths Removed.
72.8 he could no longer rest[r]ain himself Inserted.
72.17 and then tossed Ruspas[,/’ ]ear over to the jury Replaced.
72.38 this day,[’/ ]I have bargained and sold Replaced.
73.5 all my right[./,] title, and interest Replaced.
74.14 with the [appurtences] sic
88.15 the head with a pistol.[”] Added.
90.19 as I lay thar lookin’ up[’] at the sky Removed.
93.7 “[’]Well, to’ards night Removed.
94.12 watchin[,’/’], between mouthfuls, Transposed.
94.17 that dam fisher skin now![”/’] Replaced.
94.18 I could[’n/n’]t do full justice Transposed.
94.24 by all that’s stinkin’ and nasty![”/’] Replaced.
94.35 [“]Peter O’Riley, in the early days, Removed.
94.26 I need[’n/n’]t mention what follered. Transposed.
95.12 she expressed u[u/n]bounded love Inverted.
96.16 having been caref[n/u]lly studied Inverted.
100.3 Mrs[.] L. S. Bowers Added.
104.5 congenial hills[,] flats, and gulches Added.
107.23 all the new[ ]comers Removed.
112.20 be seen to as[s]ume a rich purple color Inserted.
131.27 stopping at Van Sickle[’s/s’] Station Transposed.
144.24 these accidental collis[i]ons Inserted.
156.37 all manner of w[ie/ei]rd imaginings Transposed.
160.19 a volcanic rock of[ of] much more recent Removed.
160.20 ([s/S]yenite is much the same as granite Uppercase.
163.1 the peculiar [s]tratification Added.
168.1 Mr[.] Frank thought it all over. Added.
173.33 of a corpse-like pal[l]or. Inserted.
177.5 with vertic[le/al] winzes Replaced.
177.12 They have not been[,] many, but they have been Removed.
181.23 lying in all kinds of d[i/e]spairing positions Replaced.
182.2 covered with planks[,] wet blankets, and earth. Added.
168.7 Mr[.] Frank also was quite cheerful Added.
209.8 The cage was prom[p]tly lowered again Inserted.
218.39 It is a well[ known]-known scientific fact Removed.
222.1 more substantial st[r]uctures Inserted.
249.22 another corner of the beleagu[e]red block Inserted.
251.34 from the vigilantes.[”] Removed.
267.18 What have you in your packs[!/?] Replaced.
272.12 took Captain Trucke[r/e] into his service Replaced.
273.16 She say, [‘]Juan you got-a some money?’ Added.
273.22 for your Spanish wife?[”] Added.
273.27 She no all time want [‘]money, money.’ Added.
273.32 [“]Why, John, you surprise me. Added.
273.33 How many shirts has she got—twenty?[”] Added.
291.8 a natural born philanthrop[h]ist Removed
291.9 he could amel[i]orate the condition Inserted.
292.4 continually to i[n/m]prove and benefit Replace.
300.8 villain on don[n]ing blue woollen pantaloons Inserted.
307.6 1[./,]500 feet below the surface Replaced.
313.25 s[t/l]oping out in the bonanza. Replaced.
347.34 into the dist[r]ibuting tanks Inserted.
351.35 their value in silver and gold[,/.] Replaced.
352.27 which was dis[s]olved Inserted.
323.21 3 o’clock P. M[.] Added.
372.38 become ver[’] moche interest Added.
373.30 [“]What was the use of William Tell Added.
375.4 and feelin[’] prouder’n Added.
376.24 I’ll manage it all for you.[”] Added.
376.28 I don[’]t know much about Inserted.
376.9 of such service.[”] Added.
376.13 “Of course it[’]s a considerable sum Inserted.
378.15 on the other the but[t] of a navy revolver Added.
385.6 were torn to p[ei/ie]ces Transposed.
385.8 in a room [a/o]ccupied by General Replaced.
385.36 [“]Now all people, everyone Added.
385.37 two yard-ee long, hap (half) yard-ee[ ]wide Inserted.
386.13 [“]One dead Chinaman Added.
386.20 [“]Chinaman no likee Added.
386.26 [“]One ’Melican man Added.
386.33 you bet.[’] Removed.
387.4 [“]Dead Chinaman all the same Added.
388.10 wire probes, and[ and] other smoking-apparatus. Removed.
392.32 The man with the elect[r]ical-machine Inserted.
400.22 Should there be a furth[u/e]r Replaced.
401.30 [“]Zee mine be one merveille Added.
401.42 [“]Capital Removed.
404.18 afore in the[”]— Inserted.
411.35 and the Hornbeck[’]s and Doolittles Removed.
415.20 one of the most bea[u]tiful little lakes Inserted.
415.27 also of a rather un[u]sual style Inserted.
416.3 “Yank’s[”] and all of the other stations Added.
424.16 they excited universal s[y]mpathy Inserted.
429.14 [“]One of the men Added.
430.2 the miner was punc[ut/tu]ally at hand Transposed.
437.7 she is older tha[t/n] the egg Added.
437.31 the bully Honest [m/M]iner Uppercase.
452.23 [“]Yes, some ozzaire time Added.
452.37 [“]how ver’ beautiful is zee cool air Added.
462.32 in any other business.[”] Added.
466.33 in the great fiss[s]ure Removed.
471.9 depth of three [a/o]r four hundred feet Replaced.
471.29 in[ in] fact. Removed.
487. fro[n/m] one hundred and fifty Replaced.
488.10 or $3[4/6],000,000 per year Replaced.
489.4 Sub[s]tracting this from the gross amounts Removed.
491.1 By refer[r]ing to the map Inserted.
499.12 southeasterly direction from Virgin[i]a City Inserted.
503.27 all uncon[s]cious of the presence Inserted.
503.36 Pharaoh’s serpents[.] Added.
504.37 eased by cutt[t]ng away behind them Removed.
505.38 were then produced [l/i]n order to Replaced.
506.4 Virginia and Trucke[r/e] Railroad Replaced.
518.35 owned by the f[l/i]rm Replaced.
525.14 reached California, in August, 18[3/5]0 Replaced.
538.15 flip a [f/s]lapjack into the air Replaced.
539.11 to throw a slap[-]jack up through Removed.
540.11 they christened the “Granite Polka.[”] Added.
546.31 Pike’s friend[s] were evidently amazed Added.
548.9 try to raise a stake.[’]” Inserted.
548.13 [“]It came from old Missouri Removed.
554.10 “Give us the dream![”] Let’s have Removed.
554.27 I mean I tho[n/]ught I heard ’em Inverted.
560.5 when the[r/s]e were fired Replaced.
560.36 Soon Piper[’]s Opera House Inserted.
560.38 while to the right [the/and] southward Probable.
564.18 California St[e/r]eet Replaced.
564.28 sold on California St[e/r]eet Replaced.
562.5 people for a time seemed stup[i/e]fied Replaced.
568.43 [a/A] stony place[.]’ Uppercase./Added.
568.44 A ro[e/c]k[.] Replaced./Added.