Juan Bandini imagined, in 1846, that the hills
around San Diego were impregnated with metal; in-
deed a metal of some unknown description had already
been discovered. Writing in his Historia de la Alta
California he says: ^'Empero, de lo que yo creo que
son abundantes estas pequenas sierras es de metales,
pues todas las piedras de la superficie asi lo indican, y
aiin se ha sacado para fundicion un metal cuya calidad
no se ha conocido, atribuyendo esto d, la escasez de
hombres de conocimientos mineralogicos."
"During 1847," Picket says, "and particularly in the fall of that year, there was quite an excitement in San Francisco and San Jose on the subject of mineral discoveries. But this was mostly in reference to quicksilver and silver mines, which were reported to be rich and numerous in the hills and mountains bounding both sides of the valley of San Jose. To- ward winter this excitement subsided, all the silver mines having proved to be humbugs."
One George M. Evans, of Oregon, aspires to the distinction of having been among the first to find gold in California; or at least he attempts to throw Mar- shall into the background. If what he claims for himself has no better basis of truth than what he claims for others, he may take the palm for unblush- ing impudence and mendacity. Meanwhile let him be satisfied with the notoriety to which he has already attained ; for its odor will not be improved by further agitation. So far as I am able to ascertain, it was he who started the story of Cabello, before mentioned, and most bungling work he made of it. Will Mr Evans tell us to what lingo belong 'the words placeros, and Recordado en Historia el California Alta, and how he obtained information that the mission of San Jose was built on the bay of San Francisco in 1672, a hun- dred years before ever a Franciscan was on the ground ?
I do not say that all which he affirms is false, for I have no means of knowing. I only say that the statements which I know to be false cause me to distrust all his
