ith a doubtful title. The last I heard of
this agent was, that he was traveling with his wife upon the
Rhine. Whether he was in search of machinery or not, I did not
stop to inquire.

Instead of the above being an extraordinary case, I understand
that it is about a fair average of the California gold schemes
that have been brought upon the stock-market of New York. If the
papers are only drawn up in the proper form, the most prudent men
in Wall Street are sometimes found to embark their capital before
the question has ever been settled whether gold can be
successfully obtained from quartz in California.

CHAPTER XXXII.

A Visit to the Refining-mills.--The Falls and basaltic Columns of
Regla.--How a Title is acquired to Silver Mines.--The Story of Peter
Terreros, Count of Regla.--The most successful of Miners.--Silver
obtained by fusing the Ore.--Silver "benefited" upon the Patio.--The
Tester of the Patio.--The chemical Processes employed.--The Heirs of
the Count of Regla.--The Ruin caused by Civil War.--The History of the
English Company.

We rode along the stone road across the plain, passing now a number of
English-made wagons laden with stamped ore for Regla, and then a drove
of cargo-donkeys trudging along under the weight of bags filled with
the rich ore of Hakal. Now and then, too, we encountered American
army-wagons converted to peaceful employment, and adding to the
material wealth of Mexico. But our ride was not a long one before we
reached Regla, the utmost limit of our journeyings, a distance of
twelve miles from the "Real." Here the first salutation from the
English gentleman at the head of the establishment was that breakfast
was waiting, as it was now eleven o'clock, and we must not visit the
works upon an empty stomach. My surprise at this unlooked-for
hospitality was a little diminished when I learned that all these
entertainments of strangers are at the company's expense.

THE FALLS OF REGLA.

The _patio_, or open yard of Regla, on which the principal portion of
the ores of the Real del Monte company are "benefited," or, as we
should say, extracted, is situated deep down in a _barranca_, where
both water-power and intense heat can be obtained to facilitate the
process of separation. The immense amount of mason-work here expended
in the erection of massive walls would make an imposing appearance if
they had been built up in the