I got in among the tools, and down I
went. It was warm above, but on the way down the shaft, which was thirty
feet deep, it became cooler and damper. I stood on one side with a small
pick to cut out nuggets, while the men drilled a hole about two inches in
diameter and one foot deep, which they afterward filled with dynamite.
After sending the tools up, the other man and I went up, while the man we
left in the shaft lit the fuse. We all pulled at the windlass, and he was
soon at the top. After taking off the bucket we ran up the hill about a
hundred yards to watch the result.
With an awful explosion and a tremendous shower of rocks the dynamite blew
a big hole in the side of the shaft. After driving out the smoke by
dropping large cedar bushes in the shaft, we went down again.
We filled the bucket with rocks, which were drawn up. We soon emptied the
shaft in this way. Then we went to the top and assorted the ore. I filled
a large box with the richest rocks I could find, and they were shipped the
next day.
Besides blasting for the ore, I panned a little, that is, I had a shallow
pan with a little of the dust from the shaft and some water. I washed the
dust until I had very little dust left; then I took a quill toothpick and
picked the small nuggets from the pan and put them into a small gold vial
full of water.
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