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368 N E V N E V northern valleys are to be found, in the winter, herds of antelope, and occasionally a few deer and elk. In the Sierra, except where driven away by the encroachments of civilization, large game, consisting of elk, deer, and black and grizzly bears, are still to be found in greater or less abundance. The flora is also scanty, and is characterized by Artemisia, so that Nevada is often nicknamed the " Sage-brush " State. In the southern valleys even this fails, and the sterility is relieved by little save Yucca and various species of Cactus. In the northern valleys, and particularly upon the lower mountains and hills, the bunch grasses replace Artemisia to a considerable extent, although not sufficiently to give the interest of meat-production great prominence in the State. Geology. Nevada offers an attractive field of study for the geologist, not only on account of its great wealth of precious metals, but because of the great complexity of geological phenomena there presented. The valleys are everywhere covered to a great depth with most recent deposits, out of which rise the ranges, as long, narrow islands from the sea. These ranges bring to the surface rocks of all the geologic ages, even to the Azoic, while here and there are intrusions of volcanic rock. In the north-western part of the State the great lava field of southern Oregon has overflowed the State boundary, and extends over a considerable area. Minerals. The State is rich in mineral productions of all kinds. Silver is, however, the leading mineral product, and the mines of the Comstock at Virginia City and Gold Hill have been among the richest in the world. Since the discovery in 1859 these mines have yielded over $200, 000, 000 in silver and gold, and the product of the whole State hitherto has been about $300,000,000. Two mines alone on the Comstock, the California and the Consolidated Virginia (known as the bonanza mines), have yielded over 130,000,000 in silver and gold, the bullion of the Comstock being about one-third gold and two-thirds silver. The rich deposits of the vein, known as "bonanzas," have, however, now been ex hausted as far as discovered, and since 1880 the yield from the Comstock lode has been light. Explorations, however, are actively continued. In the Yellow Jack and Belcher mines the workings have reached a depth of 3000 feet, and in the Ophir and Mexican mines they are drifting at a point 3100 feet below the surface, the greatest depth to which mining operations have been carried any where on the American continent. At these great depths the lode is found to diminish neither in width nor strength of formation. The heat of the rock is intense in these levels, and it is possible for men to work only for very short periods, requiring frequent shifts. The Sutro tunnel, over 20, 000 feet in length, drains all the leading mines of the lode to a depth of 1600 feet, thus saving much pump ing. There are millions of tons of low-grade ore in the many mines of the Comstock which will be mined at no distant day, but which cannot be profitably worked at the present high rates of wages (miners get $4 per day) and great cost of transportation and reduction. In the eastern part of the State, at Eureka and several other points, are mines which produce smelting ores con taining too much lead to be worked by mill process, as are the free chloride and sulphuret ores of the Comstock. Many of these "base metal veins," as they are called by the miners, are very rich in silver, have been profitably worked for several years, and are still yielding well. The mineral production of Nevada for the year 1882 was reported by Wells, Fargo, & Co. to be : gold dust and bullion, $752,506; silver bullion, 6,588,023; ores and base bullion, 3,022,847 making a total of $10,363,376. All the interior ranges of mountains in the State contain veins producing gold, silver, copper, lead, and antimony in paying quantities, but as yet little mining has been done except for gold and silver. The many rich mines of copper have scarcely been touched. Besides the metals mentioned, there are found within the borders of Nevada iron, platinum, zinc, nickel, cobalt, quicksilver, lignite, gypsum, kaolin, beds of pure sulphur, and in the plains and marshes deposits of pure salt, carbonate of soda, borax, nitrate of potash, and other minerals of a similar nature. A<*ricul- While Nevada is not a country to attract the farmer, there is ture. still a considerable amount of arable land within its borders. At present there are under cultivation only about 344,423 acres. Wherever water for irrigation can be procured good crops of most kinds of grain, hay, and vegetables may be grown. It has been estimated that by a full utilization of the streams for irrigation possibly 3 per cent, of the area of the State can be brought into cultivation ; of this (some 2,000,000 acres) only about one-sixth has as yet been reduced to the service of man. It is not probable, however, that Nevada will ever attain to a high rank as an agricul tural State. The principal products during the census year 1880 were barley, 513,470 bushels; oats, 186,860 bushels; wheat, 69,298 bushels ; wool, 655,012 1T>; hay, 95,853 tons; and potatoes, 302,143 bushels. The grazing interest is not, and probably never will be, a very extensive one. The following figures give the amount of live stock in the State : horses, 32,087 ; cattle, 172,212 ; sheep, 133,695. The manufacturing interests of Nevada are not extensive, and Manu- are confined mainly to the smelting and reduction of ores. facture. There are several railroads. The Central Pacific crosses the Kail- whole State, and has within its limits a length of 452 miles ; the ways. Virginia and Truckee runs from Keno, on the Central Pacific, through Carson to Virginia City, and is 52 miles long ; the Carson and Colorado leaves the Virginia and Truckee near Virginia City, and running southward through the State taps a rich and extensive mineral and agricultural region. This road is now completed to Benton, California, 193 miles, and will eventually connect with the Southern Pacific at Mojave, California. The Nevada Central, 93 miles in length, connects the towns of Austin and Battle Mountain ; and the Eureka and Palisade, 20 miles long, connects the places named. There are several shorter lines completed, and a considerable number projected. There are in the State 185 common schools, 12 high schools, and Educa- a State university at the town of Elko. In all the large towns are tion. churches of the leading religious denominations, and many of the Churches, church edifices are fine and costly structures. Thirty-seven news- News papers are published, the majority being dailies. papers. The returns of the tenth census place the assessed valuation of Property, the real estate of Nevada at 17,941,030, and the personal property at 11,350,429, a total of 29,291,459. The true valuation is estimated at 69,000,000 in 1880. The State government is similar to that of the majority of the Govern- western States. Nevada has two representatives in the United ment. States senate and one in the house of representatives. The first settlement in Nevada was made at Genoa, at the foot History, of the Sierra Nevada, in 1850, though as early as 1848 the Mormons, travelling between Salt Lake and California, had established a temporary camp at that place. The Mormons made two or three small settlements in the valleys along the base of the Sierra, and until 1859, when the silver mines of the Comstock were discovered, they were the principal white inhabitants. The discovery of silver caused great crowds of miners of all nationalities to pour over the Sierra Nevada from California, and in that year and 1860 several towns were laid out and rapidly built up. In a few years new mineral belts were discovered to the eastward, and soon there were founded many interior towns and camps. In 1870 the population was 42,491. In 1880 it had increased to Popula- 62,266 (1 to If square miles), again of 46 5 per cent. In 1883 tion. it had not greatly increased over the number in 1880. The population shows a great disproportion of males, as is every where the case on the frontier, especially in a mining region. Of the total number 42,019 were males and 20,247 females. There was also a disproportionately large number of the foreign bom, 36,613 being natives and 25,653 foreigners. With the Pacific coast States, Nevada has received a comparatively large accession of Chinese, these numbering 5416, or more than one-eighth of the whole population of the State. The main body of the population is con gregated in the extreme western portion of the State, in Storey and the adjacent counties. A second but much smaller body of popu lation is about Eureka. The balance is dispersed very sparsely. The population of the principal towns in 1880 was as follows: Carson City, the capital of the State, 4229 ; Eureka, 4207 ; Virginia City, 10,917; Gold Hill, 4531; Reno, 1302. The population is now (1883) about the same for all these towns except Reno, which has probably 3000 inhabitants. There are several other towns and camps containing from 300 to 1000 inhabitants. There are com paratively few Indians in the State, and these, known as Pah Utes or Diggers and Shoshones, are theoretically upon reservations in the western part. Their nunYber is estimated by the Indian office at 3377. They are, as a class, both mentally and physically below the average of the North American tribes. (W. WR.) NEVERS, a city of France, chief town of the depart ment of Nievre, and formerly capital of the countship of Nevers or Nivernais, is picturesquely situated at a height of 656 feet above the sea, on a hill commanding the right bank of the Loire at the confluence of the Nievre, 158 miles south-south-east of Paris by the railway to Nimes. It is the see of a bishop, and has a fine cathedral, which, dating from the 12th and 14th centuries, but at present (1883) undergoing a complete restoration, is mainly not able for the fact that there is an apse above the crypt and another at the opposite end of the building. To the north of the nave rises a massive but highly-decorated tower. Of higher architectural interest as a remarkable specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne is the church of St Etienne, consecrated at the close of the llth