ncountered
flowing through the gravel. To get rid of this water has been a problem
of expense and annoyance to the miner.

To measure the time that has passed since this buried river rolled over
golden sands staggers the intellect. It is estimated that from one
hundred and fifty thousand to four hundred thousand years must have
elapsed.

This curiously formed mountain has been likened to a monolithian
serpent. Where the Stanislaus River breaks abruptly through the mountain
the eye gazes in wonder from the crest down two thousand feet to a
seemingly tiny crowded stream below, rushing madly on its way to the
sea.

Many interesting remains of animals have been found in the gravels under
this mountain. In running a tunnel under Table Mountain some years ago,
the miners came across a large mass of tallow weighing about one hundred
and fifty pounds, and in proximity were the bones and tusks of a huge
animal. Many bones and tusks of the mammoth and mastodon, not to mention
the remains of other animals, have been found in the ancient river-bed.
Probably some of these elephantine animals were sporting in the water
and dashing it over themselves when the stream of lava, sweeping down,
overwhelmed them, trying out the tallow and preserving their skeletons
for the wonderment of civilized man.

At one place in the mountain the deep roar of a waterfall is heard. At
another, where there is a deep break, is a series of passageways and
caves where the outlaw Murietta had his hiding-place. In several places
on the top of the mountain, by striking the foot down hard, a hollow,
reverberating sound is heard. We give in his own words the account of an
explorer's visit to the so-called Boston tunnel which runs beneath Table
Mountain:

"Hearing of a celebrated petrified tree in the Boston tunnel, which runs
under Table Mountain, I determined if possible to see it and procure
some specimens. After considerable inquiry I found a miner who said he
knew where the tree was; that the tunnel in which it was located had
been abandoned many years ago; that no persons had entered it for years;
that rocks were constantly falling, making it exceedingly dangerous to
enter, and that very likely it was so clogged up with rocks that no one
could get to the tree. When I had expressed my great desire to see this
tree, and coaxed him, at length he promised to take me to the tunnel to
see its condition, but said he would not promise to guide me into it.