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GOLD: ' 
 
 ITS OCCURRENCE AND EXTRACTION. 
 
 ^ 
 
 '•V, 
 
 J 
 
 EMBRACINC. 
 
 THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL DISTRIDaXION AND 
 
 THE MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERL> OF 
 
 GOLD-BEARING ROCKS ; 
 
 THi;. PECULIAR FEATURES AND MODES OF WORKING 
 SHALLOW PLACERS, RIVERS, AND DEEP LEADS; 
 
 HYDRAULICING; 
 
 THE REDUCTION AND SEPARATION OF 
 AURIFEROUS QUARTZ; 
 
 THE TREATMENT OF COMPLEX AURIFEROUS ORES CONTAINING 
 
 OTHER METALS; 
 
 A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SUBJECT ; 
 
 ^ AND 
 
 A GLOSSARY OF ENGLISH AND FOREIGN TECHNICAL TERMS. 
 
 nv 
 
 ALFRED G. LOCK, F.R.G.S. 
 
 WITHSfX DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS, AND 185 ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 K. & R N. SPON, 16, CHARING CROSS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 44, MURRAY STREET. 
 
 1882. 
 

 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ?^ 
 
 The possession of gold has been the aim of all races, in all ages, and 
 of all chusses of society. The quest of gold has led men to the ends of 
 the earth, and has been the primary inducement in colonizing hitherto 
 
 N-B.— The section on Russia is entirely from the pen 
 of E. DELMAR MORGAN, P.R.G.S., the weU-known 
 explorer of Central Asia. 
 
 cuuuiLious unuer wnicn gom occurs, so tnat new neias may De opened up 
 to supply the places of those which have been worked out ; and they 
 make it the duty of every intelligent miner to avail himself of the 
 experience of others, in endeavouring to reduce the cost of extracting the 
 gold, and especially the loss of metal in conducting his operations, to the 
 lowest possible figures. Recent geological explorations have shown that 
 gold IS abundantly present in formations which it was authoritatively 
 stated could never prove to be auriferous, and in the light of our present 
 knowledge it would not be safe to exclude any geological series from the 
 possibility of being gold-bearing. Gold reveals its presence in the earth's 
 crust far less readily than other useful minerals, and many a gold-field 
 has been passed over by generations of men before its riches were dis- 
 covered. Hence the necessity for intelligent search. 
 
 It seemed to the author of this volume that a great step towards 
 aiding the advance of the gold industry would be to bring together in a 
 concentrated form all available existing information on the subject. The 
 

 i! i 
 
 K 
 
 Ijf 
 
 i 
 
 
,14'St 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 f ^ 
 
 L 
 
 The possession of gold has been the aim of all races, in all ages, and 
 of all classes of society. The quest of gold has led men to the ends of 
 the earth, and has been the primary inducement in colonizing hitherto 
 unknown districts. Without the great gold discoveries of the last 30 
 years, our commerce could not have attained its present vast proportions. 
 The importance of the metal especially to all English-speaking peoples 
 cannot be exaggerated, and every year adds to this importance. On the 
 other hand, the supply shows a waning tendency. The enormous, easily- 
 worked, alluvial deposits of Australia, California, and Siberia, have been 
 exhausted over large area.s, though many similar deposits must yet remain 
 undiscovered. In the more difificult operations of extracting gold from 
 mineral veins and complex ores, reliable evidence from all parts of the 
 world shows that most of the processes at present in use, or the methods 
 of carrying them out, are far from satisfactory, as they entail the loss, 
 on the average, of one-quarter to one-third of the gold present in the 
 material operated upon. 
 
 These facts point unmistakably to the necessity for studying the 
 conditions under which gold occurs, so that new fields may be opened up 
 to supply the places of those which have been worked out ; and they 
 make it the duty of every intelligent miner to avail himself of the 
 experience of others, in endeavouring to reduce the cost of extracting the 
 gold, and especially the loss of metal in conducting his operations, to the 
 lowest possible figures. Recent geological explorations have shown that 
 gold is abundantly present in formations which it was authoritatively 
 stated could never prove to be auriferous, and in the light of our present 
 knowledge it would not be safe to exclude any geological series from the 
 possibility of being gold-bearing. Gold reveals its presence in the earth's 
 crust far less readily than other useful minerals, and many a gold-field 
 has been passed over by generations of men before its riches were dis- 
 covered. Hence the necessity for intelligent search. 
 
 It seemed to the author of this volume that a great step tovv^ards 
 aiding the advance of the gold industry would be to bring together in a 
 concentrated form all available existing information on the subject. The 
 
 b 2 
 
 i&:535 
 
Nit / 
 
 vl 
 
 1NTU(J1)ICTIC)N. 
 
 f 5 
 f 
 
 handsome work written some years ago by John Arthur Phillips, F.R.S., 
 the well-known metallurgist, has long been out of print and very scarce, 
 and many new discoveries and inventions have since been made. Gold- 
 mining too has taken a great start of late, many millions of fresh capital 
 having found employment in this sphere. Hence there would appear to be 
 ample room for aii exhaustive book on the subject. How far the present 
 work may fulfil the required conditions must be left to the reader's judg- 
 ment. The cordial assistance received by the author from all who had 
 knowledge to impart will be evident from a perusal of the following 
 pages. 
 
 It remains to pay a tribute of hearty thanks to the many kind con- 
 tributors mentioned in the following list, from whose labours the book 
 derives whatever val-.r. it may have. 
 
 A. B. Ainsworth, C.E., Alexandra, Victoria, for geological and other 
 information relating to his district. 
 
 J. Allen, Warden in Marlborough district. New Zealand, for numerous 
 photographs illustrating the operations adopted in his district 
 (Fig. 46 and Frontispiece, pp. 884-7), and for much detailed informa- 
 tion. 
 
 Appleby Brothers, Engineers, London, for drawings of machinery. 
 
 George Ashcroft, Railway Manager, Wellington, New Zealand, for 
 account of his patent gold-saving machine. 
 
 Melville Atwood, M.E., F.G.S., San Francisco, California, for various 
 
 papers by him. 
 Bailey, Wilson, & Co., London, for information about certain American 
 
 appliances for gold. 
 H. H. Barton, Mabel Pyrites Works, Ravenswood, for details of his 
 
 process, and general information and drawings. 
 
 Rivett Henry Bland, F.G.S., Manager of the Port Phillip and Colonial 
 G. M. Co.'s works at Clunes, for most diffuse information concerning 
 the methods adopted under his management, the success of which 
 places his works second to none in the world. 
 
 S. A. Brunning, Agent-General's Department for Victoria, London, for 
 loan of various books, papers, and reports relative to that colony. 
 
 Thomas Buckland, Charters Towers, Queensland, for information con- 
 cerning his district, and for drawings forwarded by the Langlands 
 Foundry Co., Melbourne. 
 
 The Hon. Horatio C. Burchard, Director-General of the United States 
 Mint, Washington, for the annual Reports of his Bureau. 
 
 E. H. Carew, Warden in the Otago district, New Zealand, for account of 
 machinery used in his district. 
 
 i 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vn 
 
 C. W. Chapman, United Pyrites Co., Sandhurst, Victoria, for an account 
 with drawing's of their method of working IMattncr's chlorination 
 process, and other information. 
 
 John Coles, F.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., Map Curator Royal Gcofrraphical Society, 
 withi. ,t whose cheerfully rendered assistance in all matters of exact 
 geography it would have been impossible to compile the maps 
 illustrating this volume. 
 
 The Directors of Columbia College, New York, for the ' School of Mines 
 Quarterly.' 
 
 Thomas Couchman, Secretary for Mines and Water Supply, Melbournr, 
 
 Victoria, for official map of Victoria, Reports of Progress, and 
 
 numerous valuable Reports. 
 W. G. Dallas, F.L.S., Assistant-Secretary of the Geological Society, for 
 
 the kind and hearty assistance he always so willingly rendered. 
 Chevalier Dalla Vidova, Secretary-General ' Societa Geografica Italiana,' 
 
 Rome, Italy, for informal ir . regarding, and map of, the gold-mines of 
 
 that country. 
 
 Phillip Davies, 135, Pitt St., S>dney, N.S.W., for description of curious 
 quartz veins, and sketches by De Lacy Richards, R.N. (Fig. 99, 
 p. 945). 
 
 G. F. Deetken, Auburn, Placer Co., California, for references to works. 
 
 Charles S. Dicken, Secretary Queensland Government Office, London, 
 formerly Gold-Fields Warden and P. M. at Ravenswood, &c., for loan 
 of papers, and introductions to several persons in the colony. 
 
 F. Elwyn, Deputy Provincial Secretary of British Columbia, Victoria B.C., 
 for map of that colony showing gold-fields, and reports on them. 
 
 Martin Ferreiro, General Secretary ' Sociedad Geografica,' Madrid, Spain, 
 for very valuable books on, and map showing, the gold deposits of 
 that country. 
 
 Edwin Field, Manager Costerfield Gold Mining Co., Victoria, for answers 
 to circrular questions and for sketch of special apparatus. 
 
 George J. Firmin, The Wildemesse, Norristown, Pennsylvania, for 
 information relating to the United States. 
 
 Montague J. M. Flint, F.R.G.S., Gunncrsbury, for map showing gold 
 deposits of Dutch Guiana, 
 
 Joseph Flude, Superintendent of Laboratories, School of Mines, Ballarat, 
 Victoria, for account of pyrites-furnace (p. iii 3). 
 
 Dr. Clement Le Neve Foster, B.A., F.G.S., H.M. Inspector of Mines in 
 N. Wales, for cordial assistance and advice, most materially con- 
 tributing to the value of the work. 
 
 The Hon. Malcolm Fraser, Surveyor-General Western Australia, for map 
 of that colony, and account of the gold discovered. 
 
ill 
 
 vni 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 *ll 
 
 il 
 11 I 
 
 u 
 
 Thomas Gibb, F.C.S., A.R.S.M., of the Grange Metal Extracting Works, 
 
 J arrow-on Tyne, for information relating to separating methods used 
 
 on the Tyne. 
 Kdwin Gilpin, Jun., A.M., F.G.S., Inspector of Mines, Halifax, Nova 
 
 Sccua, for important information respecting the geology, and re- 
 duction processes, of his State, and for drawing of contorted vein 
 
 (Fig. 1 19, p. 997). 
 Golden State and Miners' Iron Works, 237 to 251, First St., San Francisco, 
 
 for a sheet of drawings of machinery. 
 Francisco Vidal y Gormaz, State Hydrographer, Santiago, Chili, for the 
 
 trouble taken by him in procuring official maps and information 
 
 respecting Chili. 
 Grafton & Avigdor, Great George St., for papers relative to gold-mines 
 
 in Canada. 
 Frank Guinness, Warden and P. M., CollingAvood gold-fields. Nelson, N.Z., 
 
 for geological and other information relating to his district. 
 J. D. Hague, of the United States Geological Survey, for information 
 
 respecting the gold industry of the U. S. 
 E. Hahn, Hamburg, Germany, for the loan of papers relative to the 
 
 El Callao mine (p. 267). 
 Prof. Henry G. Hanks, F.R.M.S,, State Mineralogist, San Francisco, 
 
 California, for papers on occurrence of gold in California. 
 Edward Harrison, Warden of Grant district, Victoria, for information 
 
 about his district. 
 Dr. F. V. Hayden, Hon. Cor. F.R.G.S., United States Geological Survey, 
 
 Washington. 
 Dr. James Hector, C.M.G. F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey, 
 
 Wellington, New Zealand, for his liberal and valuable present of 
 
 books and reports which were otherwise unprocurable. 
 Henry F. Holt, Secretary Royal Asiatic Society, for article about gold in 
 
 China. 
 Major Jed. Hotchkiss, Staunton, Virginia, U. S. America, for information 
 
 regarding his State. 
 A. W. Howitt, F.G.S., Warden and P. M. Sale gold-field, Gippsland, 
 
 Victoria, for reports and papers respecting his district. 
 James Irvine, F.R.G.S., Liverpool, for information on the West Coast of 
 
 Africa. 
 Robert L. Jack, F.R.G.S., F.G.S., Director of the Geological Survey, 
 
 Brisbane, Queensland, for map of the colony showing the gold-fields, 
 
 and for various reports concerning its geology, &c. 
 James Jackson, F.R.G.S., Archivistc-Bibliothecaire de la Societe de 
 
 Geographie, Paris, for French literature on the subject of gold in 
 
 France. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IX 
 
 J. Jewell, M.E., M.M.S., Manager of the Aruba Island gold-mines, for 
 
 descriptions of long-torn and torpedo used in Dutch Guiana. 
 W. Rupert Jones, Librarian Geological Society, for assistance when 
 
 referring to books in his library. 
 Prof. Judd, F.R.S., F.G.S., School of Mines, for his pamphlet on the 
 
 Schemnitz district. 
 The Kapanga (New Zealand) Gold Mining Company, Limited, for answers 
 
 to circular of questions. 
 Walter Kennaway, Secretary to Agent-General's Department for New 
 
 Zealand, for loan of vrrious reports and papers on that colony. 
 Knight & Co., Sutter Creek, for drawings of machinery. 
 
 New Koh-i-Noor Quartz Mining Company,Ballarat, Victoria, for descrip- 
 tion and drawings of their reduction works, in answer to circular 
 of questions. 
 
 H. Thomas Lock, Photographer, New Zealand, for some very fine photo- 
 graphs of gold mining, and gold-saving appliances used in that 
 colony. 
 
 John Lynch, Mining Surveyor, Smythesdale, Victoria, for information 
 respecting his district. 
 
 Malter, Lind, & Co., 189, Broadway, New York, and 419, California St., 
 San Francisco, for descriptions and illustrations of gold-milling 
 appliances. 
 
 William Martineau, M.I.C.E., for drawing of stamp suited to mule 
 power. 
 
 Clements R. Markham, C.B., F.R.S., Secretary R. Geogr. Soc.,for informa- 
 tion about gold in Peru. 
 
 Farnham Maxwell-Lyte, F.C.S., F.I.C., for his pamphlet on metallurgical 
 
 processes. 
 C. W. Minchin, for information respecting Bolivia, and for map showing 
 
 its gold deposits. 
 Morey and Sperry, 145, Broadway, New York, for descriptions, drawings, 
 
 and electrotypes of machinery. 
 Alexander Murray, Surveyor-General of Newfoundland, for his paper 
 
 on that colony. 
 
 Reginald A. F. Murray, F.G.S., Geological Survey, Melbourne, Victoria, 
 for information regarding the geology of that colony. 
 
 Thomas W. Newton, F. R. Hist. Soc, Librarian School of Mines, for 
 assistance when referring to books at his library. 
 
 E. O'Malley, Clarence Cottage, Grey Street East, Melbourne, Victoria, 
 for details concerning his process. 
 
 Sir Archibald Michie, late Agent-General for Victoria, for information 
 regarding gold in that colony. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i 
 
 l< :. 
 
 John Patterson, 9, Inverness Terrace, Kensington Gardens, for information 
 
 concerning his pneumatic stamps (p. 1023), and many other useful 
 
 statements. 
 Mariano Felipe Paz Soldan, Hon- Cor. F.R.G.S., Lima, Peru, for 
 
 exhaustive information respecting that country. 
 John R. Perry, M. A., Exeter College, Oxford, for drawing of his hydraulic 
 
 gravel-elevator (p. 990). 
 Captain Bedford C. T. Pirn, R.N., F.R.G.S., for information respecting 
 
 Central America. 
 The Chairman, Secretary and Manager of the Placerville Gold Quartz Co., 
 
 for drawings of their apparatus, and replies to questions. 
 E. H. Plant, Charters Towers, Queensland, for full information regarding 
 
 the geology of, and the appliances in use in, his district. 
 Pleasant Creek Cross Reef Quartz Mining Company (Stawell, Victoria), 
 
 for answers to circular of questions. 
 Dr. Thomas Pollard, State Commissioner of Agriculture, Richmond, 
 
 Virginia, U. S. America, for information regarding that State. 
 
 , \ Old Broad St., City, for loan of valuable reports and 
 
 r- r\ -n I papers respecting gold in the U. S. of Colombia. 
 
 Ed. Probert, Director in Nevada of the Richmond Mining Company, for 
 information respecting the process adopted by that Company. 
 
 Queen's Birthday Company, Dunolly, Victoria, for answers to circular of 
 questions. 
 
 Henry H. E. Ralfe, Receiver of Gold Revenue, New Zealand, for descrip- 
 tion and sketch of sluicing box used in sea-beach claims (p. 893). 
 
 William Rasche, 55, Elizabeth St., Melbourne, for details of his direct- 
 acting battery. 
 
 Prof Rossiter W. Raymond, United States Commissioner of Mining 
 Statistics, for replies to numerous questions relating to the American 
 gold-industry. 
 
 W. H. Revcll, Warden in Marlborough district. New Zealand, for 
 drawings and description of method of working sea-beach 
 claims in New Zealand, and of the gold-saving tables in creeks 
 (p. 904). 
 
 H. W. Robinson, Warden in Otago district. New Zealand, for drawings 
 and description of covered tail-races (p. 879). 
 
 Henry Rosales, F.G.S., long Manager of the late Walhalla G. M. Co., 
 Victoria, for an account of his process for pyrites (pp. 11 19-25), and 
 for many suggestions and facts. 
 
 George Rouch, M.E., for translations of Spanish documents, and notes on 
 Spanish gold weights. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XI 
 
 F. W. Rudler, F.G.S., M.A.I., School of Mines, for his readiness to give 
 
 information and assistance whenever applied to. 
 Edward Caldwell Rye, F.Z.S., M.E.S., Hon. F. Neth. Geog. Soc, 
 Librarian Royal Geographical Society, whose extensive knowledge 
 of books of travel was at all times placed at the author's service, and 
 conspicuously aided him in dealing with the geographical distribution 
 of gold, 
 Howard Saunders, F.R.G.S., for information about gold in Peru. 
 Adolph Schmitt-Manuerbach, Biebrich-am-Rhein, for particulars of his 
 
 spiral sieve. 
 The Hon. the Chief Secretary of South Australia, Adelaide, for map 
 
 showing gold-fields in that colony and reports respecting them. 
 The Hon. the Chief Secretary, Sydney, New South Wales, for map of 
 
 that colony showing the gold. 
 Alfre':' R. C. Selwyn, F.G.S., Director-General Geological Survey of 
 Canada, Montreal, for numerous reports and pamphlets concerning 
 that colony. 
 F. A. A. Simons, for information about Africa. 
 
 William Skey, Analyst to the Geological Survey of New Zealand, for 
 copies of his very valuable papers read before scientific Societies in 
 New Zealand, and his remarks on them. 
 Walter A. Skidmore, U. S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor and Assayer, San 
 Francisco, Califo/nia, for information regarding certain processes in 
 the United States. 
 W. H. J. Slee, Inspector of Mines, New South Wales, for names of books 
 
 and papers to consult relative to that colony. 
 Joseph V. Smedley, M.A., F.R.G.S., Chairman of the Aruba Gold Mining 
 
 Co., for information regjarding Aruba, W. Indies. 
 W. B. Smith, Paramaribo, Surinam, for map of French Guiana showing 
 
 the position of its gold-fields. 
 Ben. B. Spargo, Jun., Warden of Gibbo subdivision, for an account of 
 
 operations in his district. 
 Thos. Lett Stahlschmidt, Agent-General for British Columbia, for 
 
 information respecting that colony. 
 George W. Stuart, Montagu, Nova Scotia, for information on that colony. 
 Frank Taylor, Sandycroft Foundry Co., Hawardcn, Chester, for drawings 
 
 and descriptions of machinery. 
 Prof. G. H. F. Ulrich, F.G.S., Consulting Mining Geologist and F.ngineer, 
 late Senior Field-Geologist to the Geological Survey of Victoria, for 
 papers, letters, and other valuable contributions too numerous to 
 detail. 
 Robert B. White, Manager Frontino and Bolivia Gold Mining Co., 
 Limited, for pamphlet on gold in U. S. of Colombia. 
 
xii 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 J. D. Whitney, Hon. Cor, F.R.G.S., State Geologist U. S. of America, 
 
 for valuable information respecting the geology of gold in that 
 
 country. 
 C. S. Wilkinson, F.G.S., Geological Surveyor in charge, Sydney, New 
 
 South Wales, for various papers and pamphlets giving information 
 
 regarding his colony. 
 John Widdccombe, Director Aruba Agency Company, Limited, for loan 
 
 of books and papers. 
 J. Brooks Wright, Glasgow, for the loan of papers respecting gold in 
 
 India. 
 Samuel Yardley, Secretary New South Wales Government Agency, for 
 
 Harcus' ' South Australia,' and the loan of numerous Government 
 
 Reports and papers on the Colonies of Australia. 
 Lt.- General E. Wray, Woolwich, for reports of African Gold Coast 
 
 Company, Limited. 
 J. M. Ziegler, Hon. Cor. F.R.G.S., Bdle, Switzerland, for information 
 
 respecting that country. 
 
 Where all have been so liberal with help, it may seem somewhat 
 invidious to particularize, but special acknowledgment is due to E. Delmar 
 Morgan, F.R.G.S., Dr. Foster, Prof. Ulrich, Dr. Hector, and Messrs. Allen, 
 Bland, Coles, Couchman, Gilpin, Rosales, Rye, and Selwyn. Finally, the 
 tedious labour of editing the work and seeing it through the press 
 devolved upon my son, Charles G. Warnford Lock, who came to the 
 task fresh from editing Messrs. Spon's new Encyclopaedia of Manufactures 
 and Raw Materials, and whose knowledge of languages, and experience 
 of mining in Hungary, Turkey, and Iceland, were of great assistance. 
 
 ALFRED G. LOCK. 
 
 Merton Lodge, Cowley Road, Brixton. 
 November 9, 1882. 
 
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Geographical Distribution, pp. i to 745. 
 
 In this chapter the world is divided into 6 sections, each illustrated by a map, and 
 the sections are again separated into countries, as indicated on pp. 1-2. In describing, 
 in turn, every country which produces or has produced gold, or is known to possess 
 gold-bearing rocks, attention is given to the exact localities where the metal or rocks 
 exist, to the general geological features of each field, to the characters of the ores, to 
 the native methods employed for extracting the gold, to ancient and modern statistics 
 of the yield, to the laws and regulations affecting the industry, to the cost of necessaries 
 and rate of wages, to the labour question and the climate, to traditions indicating 
 past or hidden sources of wealth, and, in short, to every point which seems to throw 
 any light upon the subject. 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Geological Occurrence and Mineralogical Association, pp. 746 to 845. 
 
 This chapter embraces three separate subjects : — (i) A summary of the theories 
 advanced during the last 20 years to account for the origin and formation of gold in 
 veins and alluvial deposits, and for the occurrence of nuggets ; (2) a systematic epitome 
 of the geological formations in which gold has been found, showing its very wide dis- 
 tribution in strata of almost all ages ; (3) a catalogue of the metallic and other minerals 
 associated with gold and auriferous rocks, with remarks upon the manner in which the 
 ores are affected by them. 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Shallow Placers and Live Rivers, pp. 846 to 907. 
 
 Definition, importance, formation, decline, characters, sections of strata, favourable 
 and unfavourable conditions, influence of bed-rock, object in placer-mining ; principle 
 of gold-washing, pans and r-^nning, removing iron-sand, batea, horn spoon, cradle or 
 rocker, Burke rocker, toms, „,uiccs, box-sluices, false bottoms and riffles ; block and 
 zigzag riffles, Howland's riffle ; amalgamation, copper plates ; cleaning up, multiple 
 
XIV 
 
 SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 sluices, under-current sluice, Evans and Frey's sluice, ground-sluice ; working results ; 
 puddling-niachines ; whips and whims ; draining the workings, Californian pump, 
 Chinese pump, syphons ; modes of working alluvial deposits : stripping, working by 
 shafts and drives, paddocks and paddocking, working reef-washes, sluicing, covered 
 tail-races ; dry washing ; river-mining : lifting rivers, dredging ; beach-mining ; flume 
 for transporting timber ; cost of alluvial mining ; cement, its occurrence, stamping, 
 Drake's cement-mill. Cox's pan. yields ; saving fine, flour- and float-gold, — water, 
 copper plates, McDougall's plan, Sublett's plan, flycatching; yields of shallow 
 placers. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 i! 
 
 Deep Leads or Dead Rivers, pp. 908 to 949. 
 
 Definition ; formation ; sections of strata, showing leads of Miocene, Upper 
 Pliocene, Middle Pliocene, and Lower Pliocene ages, some covered by one or more 
 streams of basaltic lava : modes of working, ventilation, apparatus ; yields. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Hydraulicing, pp. 950 to 996. 
 
 Origin, advantages, essential conditions, water-supply ; miners' " inch," securing 
 water-supply, dams and reservoirs, ditches, flumes, pipes, n^rzles ; tunnels and shafts ; 
 sluices, water consumed, erecting sluice, paving, under-currents, drops, grizzlies, general 
 arrangement ; tail-sluices ; blasting ; conduct of operations ; working results ; losses ; 
 seam diggings ; crushing process ; hydraulic elevators ; booming ; utilizing river- 
 currents for sluicing ; drawbacks to hydraulicing, — destruction of agricultural land, and 
 silting up of rivers and bays. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Auriferous Veinstuff, pp. 997 to iioi. 
 
 Sections of veins. Treatment of the veinstuff : crushing; stamping, — foundations, 
 frames, mortars or coffers, screens or gratings, dies or false bottoms, stamps, weight of 
 stamps, height of drop, speed, order of drop, character of blow, tappets or collars, guides, 
 cams or wipers, cam-shaft, props or studs, feeding, automatic feeders, water, tables of 
 dimensions and duty of stamps, special forms of stamp (Dunham's, Fisher's, 
 Patterson's, ShoU's) ; pulverizers(Howland's, Jordan's, Lucop's, Thompson's). Arresting 
 the metal : general principles, ways of using mercury, amalgamated plates ; amalga- 
 mating pans, — general details, Berdan's pan, Britten's pan, Chilian mill, Denny & 
 Roberts' pan, Dickson's amalgamator, Hepburn & Peterson's pan, Horn's pan, 
 Hungarian bowl or Tyrolese mill. Hunter's rubber, Jordan's pan, McConc's pan, 
 Pattoii's pan, Peek's amalgamator, Rcadwin's amalgamator, Wheeler's pan, Wheeler 
 & Randall's pan ; blanket-tables ; roasting quartz. Treatment of blanket-sand : 
 
SYNOPSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 barrel-amalgamation. Treatment of tailings : definition and general piinciples : 
 settlers; suers.-sieves, labyrinths, pyramidal boxes, triangular double troughs ; con- 
 centration,-percussion-tables, rotating tables, buddies, Bradford's jig, Denny's 
 concentrator. Dodge's concentrator, Frue vanner, Hendy's conccmrator, Imlay con- 
 centrator. Complete mills : Kite Mining Co.'s, Placerville Co.'s, Port Phillip Co.'s. 
 Rio Grande. ^ 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Auriferous Ores, pp. 1102 to 1151. 
 
 Definition. Composition of ores: series of assays. Association of the gold 
 Treatment of complex ores. Antimonial ores : their characters ; Herrenschmidt's 
 furnace, Cosmo Newbery's process for recovering the antimony, Designolle's process. 
 Arsenical ores : their characters ; Chapman's process, Flude's furnace, Port Phillip 
 Co.'s furnace, revolving furnaces, Rosales' process. Bismuth. Cobalt and Nickel 
 Copper ores : characters ; Claudet's process, Henderson's process, Hollway's process, 
 Hunt & Douglas' process, Mears' process, Monnicr's process, Paul's process, 
 Plattners process, Washoe process. Iron-ores: characters; Denny's drop-furnace. 
 Lead ores : characters ; Austrian process, Richmond process. Silver : separation 
 from gold alloy. Tellurium ores : treatment. Zinc ores. Retorting amalgam. 
 
 Appendix to Chapter I., pp. 1143 to 1152. 
 Additional notes on Chili and on Peru. 
 
 Bibliography, pp. 1153 to 1185. 
 Glossary, pp. n86 to 1192. 
 Geographical Index, pp. 1193 tc 1217. 
 General Index, pp. 12 18 to 1229. 
 
tyi 
 
LIST 
 
 OF 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT. 
 
 Fig 
 I. 
 
 2. 
 
 3- 
 4. 
 S- 
 6. 
 
 7- 
 8. 
 
 9- 
 
 lO. 
 
 II. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
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 IS- 
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 17- 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 
 23- 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 
 27. 
 28. 
 
 29. 
 
 Subject. 
 
 Ground-sluicing at Reefton, New Zedand 
 
 Arab method of utilizing water 
 
 Sketch-map of Zambesi-Lydcnburg gold-field 
 
 Gold-panning in West Africa 
 
 Sketch-map of British Columbian gold-fields .. 
 
 Sketch-map of Nova Scotian gold-fields 
 
 Mode of sluicing in S. America 
 
 Sketch-map of Indian gold-fields 
 
 Gold-washing at Heera Khoond 
 
 Gold-washers of Singhbhum 
 
 Dish and scraper used in Singhbhum 
 
 Sketch-map of Yeniseisk gold-fields 
 
 Sketch-map of Amur gold-fields 
 
 Sketch-map of Ural gold-fields 
 
 Russian gold-washing apparatus .. 
 
 Agtd's gold-washing apparatus 
 
 Ural gold-washing apparatus 
 
 Russian gold-washing apparatus 
 
 Sketch-map of Turkestan gold-fields ,. .. [[ 
 Sketch-map of New South Wales gold-fields 
 Sketch-map of New Zealand gold-fields (Middle Island) 
 Sketch-map of Queensland gold-fields 
 Sketch-map of Victorian gold-fields 
 Hungarian gipsies washing for gold 
 
 Rhine gold-washing dish 
 
 " » " table .. 
 " » >) P<in 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 „ gold-deposits 
 » » » 
 Sketch-map of Italian gold-fields 
 
 Page 
 
 9 
 II 
 
 28 
 
 39 
 86 
 
 253 
 
 316 
 
 321 
 
 330 
 
 330 
 
 398 
 
 414 
 
 426 
 
 443 
 
 444 
 
 445 
 
 447 
 
 470 
 
 480 
 
 518 
 
 575 
 632 
 704 
 712 
 
 717 
 
XVlll 
 
 I.TST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 30. 
 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 
 33- 
 
 34- 
 
 35- 
 
 36. 
 
 37. 
 
 38. 
 
 39- 
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 47- 
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 SI- 
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 S9- 
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 6i. 
 62. 
 
 63. 
 64. 
 65. 
 66. 
 67. 
 68. 
 69. 
 70. 
 
 71- 
 
 72. 
 
 73- 
 74. 
 
 Subject. 
 Sections showing shallow placers .. 
 
 Gold-washing pan 
 Gold-washing cradle 
 Gold- washing torn .. 
 Box-sluice, showing false bottom .. 
 
 Zigzag riflfles .. 
 
 Multiple sluices 
 
 Under-current sluice 
 
 Horse- power puddling-machine 
 
 Combined cradle and puddling-machine . . 
 
 Horse-whim .. 
 
 Califomian pump 
 
 Sluicing through covered tail-races 
 
 Draining a river claim by Califomian pump 
 
 Bazin's dredge 
 
 Nozzles for vacuum-dredges 
 
 Steam-vacuum dredge 
 
 New Zealand beach-box 
 
 Shetlanders working beach-diggings in New Zealand 
 
 " Flycatching " tables 
 
 Lifting the blankets from " flycatching " tables 
 
 Section showing reef- wash 
 
 Sections showing erosive action of rivers 
 
 Deeply-silted gutters far from present stream 
 
 Gutter hidden by alluvial hill 
 
 Gutter completely capped by basalt 
 
 Gutter beneath eroded basalt hill . . 
 
 Section showing change of river-bed 
 
 Miocene leads at Tea-tree Creek .. 
 
 Plan of Murray River leads 
 
 Section of Murray „ ,, 
 
 Deep leads in the Daylesford district 
 
 Basaltic pipe cutting lead - 
 Leads on Fryer's Creek 
 Lead on Upper Dargo river 
 River-bed filled by basalt . 
 Sections at Stony Creek 
 )) » )» 
 
 >t » ■ >» 
 
 Pack 
 850 
 
 856 
 8S8 
 861 
 864 
 
 »♦ 
 
 867 
 868 
 870 
 871 
 873 
 874 
 880 
 884 
 888 
 889 
 890 
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 89s 
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 9>3 
 
 914 
 
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 » 
 919 
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 923 
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 »> 
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 926 
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 928 
 
 >» 
 
 >f 
 
Flo. 
 
 75. 
 76. 
 
 77- 
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 79. 
 8o. 
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 82. 
 
 83. 
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 87. 
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 91. 
 
 92. 
 
 93. 
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 99. 
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 lOI. 
 
 102. 
 
 103. 
 
 104. 
 
 105. 
 
 106. 
 
 107. 
 108. 
 109. 
 no. 
 III. 
 
 112. 
 
 "3. 
 
 114. 
 
 115. 
 
 116. 
 117. 
 118. 
 
 '.I.ST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Subject. 
 ■^^■•ctions at Glcuiiagg.e Creek 
 
 Upper Pliocene leads 
 Successive lava-streaias 
 Clay drift between lava-streams '■ 
 Middle Pliocene leads 
 
 Relations of Newer and Older Middle Pliocene" 
 
 " >. 
 
 Sketch-section of Wallaby diggings 
 Upper Pliocene drift-banks 
 Lead hidden by ddbris 
 
 Three pay channels at different elevations' ' 
 
 Tangil lead .... ' ' 
 
 Table Mountain 
 
 Lava-streams at Hawkins' lead 
 
 Durham lead under Mount Merce; plains' '" ' 
 
 J5ketch.section of strata at Ballarat 
 
 Section across Golden Point gutter and Woolsh^d lead 
 
 Blocking-out deep leads .. "'^-nea lead 
 
 II 
 II 
 
 
 Sinking and driving on deep le.nds 
 Miners' " inch " 
 
 Dam for hydraulic reservoir 
 Waste dam .. 
 
 Ditches and flumes 
 
 " » 
 
 Scandinavian water-race. New Zealand 
 Head-box 
 
 Hydraulic hose nozzles 
 
 Paving for sluices 
 
 " ' • • • 
 
 Hydraulic under-current 
 
 General arrangement of sluice drnns cr« i- 
 B.an.e..,ab,. a, e„a of h,.::LnZ 'roe "' '^ ""■"- 
 Cranston's hydraulic elevator 
 Perry's hydraulic elevator at work 
 
 -currents 
 
 XIX 
 
 Pag* 
 
 928 
 
 >i 
 
 II 
 
 929 
 
 930 
 93' 
 
 >> 
 933 
 934 
 » 
 » 
 935 
 » 
 938 
 939 
 >» 
 940 
 943 
 
 945 
 954 
 958 
 
 959 
 960 
 
 963 
 965 
 968 
 
 >i 
 
 >i 
 
 II 
 974 
 
 975 
 977 
 981 
 988 
 991 
 
 I 
 
XX 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 li 
 
 
 Fig. 
 119. 
 120. 
 121. 
 122. 
 123. 
 124. 
 125. 
 126. 
 127. 
 128. 
 129. 
 130. 
 131- 
 132. 
 «33- 
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 145- 
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 153- 
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 155- 
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 157. 
 158. 
 159. 
 160. 
 i6i. 
 162. 
 
 Subject. 
 Contorted veins in the Caribou district 
 
 »i »» »i )» » 
 
 Elvan dykes merging into quartz veins 
 Quartz veins in dioritcs and granites 
 
 Sections of veins at Clunes 
 
 Saddle reefs 
 
 Construction of battery 
 
 Details of foundations and frames 
 
 Mortars or coffers of various forms 
 
 Screens or gratings (actual size) 
 
 Die 
 
 Stamp-head .. 
 Shoe-fastening 
 Tappet or collar 
 Stamp-guides 
 Cam or wiper 
 Stanford's ore-feeder 
 Tulloch's ore-feeder 
 Hendy's ore-feeder .. 
 Dunham's recoil stamp 
 Fisher's rotating-bed stamp 
 Patterson's elephant stamp 
 Sholl's pneumatic stamp 
 Howland pulverizer 
 Jordan's pulverizer 
 Port Phillip mercury-troughs 
 Fixing amalgamated plates 
 
 » » •> •• 
 
 Hepburn and Peterson's pan 
 Horn's pan 
 
 Hungarian bowl or Tyrolese mill 
 McCone's pan 
 Patton's pan 
 Readwin's amalgamator 
 Wheeler's pan 
 
 » )) 
 Wheeler and Randall's pan 
 Wilkinson's' quartz furnace 
 
 997 
 
 II 
 
 998 
 
 »> 
 •» 
 II 
 
 999 
 
 lOOI 
 
 )i 
 1003 
 1005 
 
 1007, 1008 
 
 lOIO 
 II 
 •• 'I 
 
 IOI3 
 
 II 
 
 IOI5 
 1017 
 
 IOI8 
 1020 
 1022 
 1023 
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 1027 
 
 I03I 
 1032 
 
 •• II 
 
 I04I 
 
 II 
 
 1042 
 
 1047 
 
 II 
 
 1049 
 
 II 
 
 I05I 
 
 •• >l 
 
 .. loss 
 
LIST OK ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Fio. 
 163. 
 164. 
 i6s. 
 166. 
 167. 
 168. 
 169. 
 170. 
 
 171. 
 172. 
 
 173. 
 174. 
 175. 
 176. 
 
 178. 
 
 179- 
 180. 
 181. 
 182. 
 183. 
 184. 
 185. 
 
 SUUJKCT. 
 
 Settler for tailings 
 
 German pyramidal boxes or Spitzkjistcn .. 
 
 Triangular double troughs or Spitzluttcn .. 
 
 Rittingcr's percussion-table 
 
 Rittinger's rotating table 
 
 Munday's round buddlc 
 
 Dodge's concentrator 
 
 Frue vanner .. 
 Hendy's concentrator 
 
 Imlay concentrator .. 
 
 Hite Mining Co.'s mill 
 
 Placerville Gold Quartz Mining Co.'s mill 
 
 Port Phillip battery .. 
 
 Rio Grande do Sul Co.'s mill 
 
 Herrenschmidt's revolving furnace 
 
 Fume condenser 
 
 Serjeant & Flude's furnace 
 
 Port Phillip Co.'s furnace 
 Hocking & Oxland's reverberatory furnace 
 Rosales' mechanical process 
 Chlorination as conducted at Sandhurst 
 
 " » „ 
 
 Denny's drop-furnace 
 
 Page 
 
 1063 
 
 1065 
 
 1068 
 
 107 1 
 
 1076 
 
 1081 
 
 io,S3 
 
 1084 
 
 1088 
 
 1090 
 
 1091 
 
 1093 
 
 1096 
 
 IIOO 
 
 1 108 
 
 1 109 
 
 HI5 
 
 III6 
 
 III8 
 
 1 120 
 
 »I3S 
 1136 
 
 "37 
 
 LIST OF DOUBLE-PAGE MAPS. 
 
 Africa 
 
 America, North 
 n South 
 
 Asia 
 
 Australasia 
 Europe 
 
 to face p. 3 
 
 37 
 196 
 269 
 
 477 
 698 
 
GOLD: 
 
 ITS OCCURRENCE AND EXTRACTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 An account of the localities where gold or gold-bearing rocks are now 
 known to exist, or where their presence has been alluded to in past 
 history or tradition— in other words, the geographical distribution of 
 gold— will form the first chapter of this volume. 
 
 The countries yielding gold in workable quantities can no longer be 
 counted upon the fingers, hence the necessity for arranging them in 
 systematic order. For convenience in proportioning the maps accom- 
 panying this chapter, the world is arbitrarily divided into six portions, 
 which will be taken in alphabetical order. Their scope may be readily 
 seen from the following table : — 
 
 Africa (Map i):— 
 
 Northe , 
 Southern 
 
 America [North] (Map 2) : — 
 Alaska 
 
 British America 
 Costa Rica 
 Guatemala 
 Honduras 
 
 America [South] (Map 3) :— 
 
 Argentine Republic 
 
 Bolivia 
 
 Brazil 
 
 Chili 
 
 Colombia (United States of) 
 
 Ecuador 
 
 Guiana (British) 
 
 Western 
 
 Mexico 
 Nicaragua 
 United States 
 West Indies 
 
 Guiana (Dutch) 
 „ (French) 
 Paraguay 
 Patagonia 
 Peru 
 Uruguay 
 Venezuela 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Asia (Map 4) :— 
 
 Afghanistan 
 
 Anam, Cambodia, Cochin 
 
 China, and Siam 
 Arabia 
 Assam 
 Banca 
 Borneo 
 Burma 
 Celebes 
 Ceylon 
 China 
 Corea 
 India 
 
 Australasia (Map 5): — 
 
 New Caledonia 
 New Guinea 
 New South Wales 
 New Zealand 
 Queensland 
 
 Europe (Map 6) • — 
 
 Austro-Hungary 
 
 France 
 
 Germany 
 
 Greece 
 
 Iceland 
 
 Italy 
 
 Roumania 
 
 Japan 
 
 Kashmir 
 
 Ladak 
 
 Malay Peninsula 
 
 Persia 
 
 Philippines 
 
 Russia in Asia 
 
 Sumatra 
 
 Thibet 
 
 Trans-Caucasus 
 
 Turkestan 
 
 Turkey in Asia 
 
 South Australia 
 Tasmania 
 Timor 
 Victoria 
 Western Australia 
 
 Russia in Europe 
 
 Servia 
 
 Spain and Portugal 
 
 Sweden and Norway 
 
 Switzerland 
 
 Turkey in Europe 
 
 United Kingdom 
 
 AFRICA. 
 
 African geography is in such an unsatisfactory state, and so few 
 African countries possess well-defined limits, that it is impossible to 
 treat it in the same mr^nner as the other great divisions. To facilitate 
 reference, however, it will be discussed in detail under three sections, as 
 follows : — " Northern," including the territory lying north of 20° N. lat, 
 and west of 20° E. long., and, on the eastern side of 20° E. long., all 
 north of the equator ; "Southern," embracing all soutl. f the equator; 
 and " Western," the portion bounded on the north by the 20th parallel, 
 on the east by 20° E. long., and on the south by the equator. 
 
 The gold production of the African continent probably possessed a 
 
AFRICA, NORTHERN. 3 
 
 greater importance in the 15th century than it has ever attained since, by 
 reason of the more extensive finds of the precious metal in other coun- 
 tries offering less inconvenience to the miner. But it is exceedingly 
 difficult to arrive at any reliable statistics of the total output of gold in 
 Africa, either in ancient or modern times. Figures relating specially to 
 the several colonies or districts will be found under their respective heads, 
 leaving for notice here the opinions of the various authorities regarding 
 African gold as a whole. 
 
 A writer in the Money Market Reviexv estimates the gold yield of 
 Africa between the years 1859 and 1865 ^^ no less than 1,450,000/. 
 sterling in value per annum, equivalent to about 23,100 lb. (say 10 tons) 
 of fine gold. 
 
 Chevalier gives as approximate figures, 4400 lb. in 1800, 8800 lb. in 
 1847, and 22,000 lb. in 1864. 
 
 A third authority places the yearly production at 600 lb. Troy about 
 the year 1800, and 4000 lb. Troy annually since 1850. Dusgate gives 
 the total annual figure at 3744 lb., and Birkmyre at 4000 lb. Professor 
 Suess is of opinion that the present yearly gold-yield of all Africa barely 
 exceeds 4 to 6 million francs in value, or 2554 to 3832 lb. in weight. 
 
 Dr. Soetbeer gives the following tabular statement of the approximate 
 export of gold from all Africa in the years 1493- 187 5 : — 
 
 Periods. 
 
 1493-1520 
 1521-1544 
 I 545- I 600 
 1601-1700 
 170I-1740 
 1741-1800 
 1801-1850 
 1851-1870 
 1871-1875 
 
 I493-1850 
 1851-1875 
 
 1493-1875 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total lb. 
 
 Annual Average. 
 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 £. 
 
 28 
 
 184,800 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,50c 
 
 i 24 
 
 132,000 
 
 S.SOO 
 
 348.750 
 
 56 
 
 290,400 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 100 
 
 440,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 40 
 
 176,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 60 
 
 198,000 
 
 3.300 
 
 209,250 
 
 SO 
 
 165,000 
 
 3,300 
 
 209,250 
 
 20 
 
 66,000 
 
 3.300 
 
 209,250 i 
 
 5 
 
 33,000 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,500 1 
 
 L Produc 
 
 noN. 
 
 
 Total Valub. 
 
 3S8 
 
 1,586,200 
 
 
 100,579,500 
 
 25 
 
 383 
 
 99.000 
 
 
 6,277,500 
 106,857,000 
 
 1,685,200 
 
 Northern Africa. Morocco, — Morocco figures largely as an exporter 
 of gold, but the bulk of it would seem to be derived from the Soudan 
 (see p. 35). Nevertheless, Morocco is not devoid of gold-mines. Thus 
 Jacob repeats the reports that gold- and silver-mines were formerly 
 worked by the Portuguese in the province of Susa, near to Mesa. More 
 recently, Rohlfs alludes apparently to the same spot, when stating that, 
 according to the natives, the mines in the neighbourhood of Tarudant (at 
 
 B 2 
 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the foot of the southern slopes of the Atlas, 4 or 5 miles from the 
 river Sus, on its right bank, and 2 days' march from the sea), produce 
 gold and other metals in great abundance. Leared also speaks of several 
 mines of copper, combined with gold, in the same ridge of the Atlas. 
 
 Tripoli. — Tripoli is officially reported to have exported gold-dust to 
 the value of 1500/. in 1878, 3000/. in 1879, and 5000/. in 1880. Part of 
 this, undoubtedly, is brought by caravans from the Soudan, and there is 
 no evidence to show that any of it is produced in Tripoli itself. 
 
 Egypt. — As to the existence of gold-mines in Ancient Egypt, there is 
 abundant testimony. Strabo (book xvii., c. 2, § 2 : Bohn's edition, iii. 
 270) alludes to the mines of gold in the so-called " island " of Mero6. 
 
 Herodotus (Thalia, iii. 17, 23 : Laurent's translation, i. 206, 208) 
 says " the Macrobian Indians, dwelling on the southern coast of Libya 
 . . . took them to a prison for men, where all were confined in golden 
 shackles ; brass, with these Ethiopians, being the scarcest and most 
 esteemed of the metals." Rawlinson, referring to this same passage, 
 states that it is very uncertain where the Macrobian Ethiopians dwelt, 
 and points to the Somali country. He adds that gold abounded in 
 Ethiopia ; it is found on the frontiers of Abyssinia, and even in the 
 Bisharee desert, which is called Edreesee and Aboolfeda, "the land of 
 Bega," a name the Bisharee Arabs still give themselves. There will be 
 occasion to revert to these mines, and to describe them at some length 
 (see pp. 5-10). 
 
 According to Prof F. E. Engelhardt, Egypt below the Cataracts con- 
 tained no gold-mines ; but on the eastern side of the Nile, in the primitive 
 districts lying between the Cataracts and the Red Sea, were gold-mines 
 which were worked in the times of the Ptolomies, and were probably 
 known also to the Pharaohs. Belzoni discovered very ancient mines in 
 the Zahara Mountains (which are only 6 hours' journey from the Red 
 Sea, in lat. 24° 30' N.). Cosmi' who visited Ethiopia about 535 A.D., 
 mentions the country of Sasu, bordering on Abyssinia, as being very rich 
 in gold-mines. 
 
 The Souakim merchants deal in gold which is brought from the 
 Fazooglu country, and where it must exist in considerable abundance. 
 The Fazooglu country is a large district above Sennar, in the Egyptian 
 province of Khartum, which pays an annual tribute of 650 (others say 
 1200) oz. of gold. Burton records of this district that as late as 
 Mohammed Ali Pasha's day, an Egyptian expedition, sent up through 
 Fazooglu in search of the precious metal brought down by the eastern 
 tributaries of the Nile, failed because the ignorant Turks expected to pick 
 up ounces where they found only grains. 
 
 Pinkerton speaks of the gold at Sheibon, which is the same as the 
 modern Seizaban, on the western bank of the White Nile, in Takale or 
 
AFRICA, NORTHERN. 
 
 Takia, in Kordofan (12° N., 32° E.). "Near this place, in a deep 
 glen or valley, much gold is found, both dust and in small pieces. The 
 natives collect the dust in quills of the ostrich and vulture, and in that 
 condition sell it to the merchants. Luca is another place famous for its 
 gold, which, as at Sheib6n, is the only medium of exchange." 
 
 Abyssinia. — From Abyssinia, gold is one of the principal exports, 
 but it comes from the interior of the continent, forming an article of the 
 transit trade through Adowa. According to Pliny (book vii., c. 57 : 
 Bohn's edition, ii. 225, note), Pangaius is generally described as a 
 mountain on the confines of Macedonia and Thrace ; but Marcus says 
 that it is a mountain of Abyssinia, near the source of the Nile, and he 
 adduces various passages from the ancients to prove that the Egyptians 
 had an extensive traffic there in gold at a very early period (Ajasson, 
 vi. 191-2). 
 
 Somali-Land. — Of Adel or the Somali country, it is said that gold- 
 dust is exported from Zeila and Berbera. 
 
 The Bishdree Mines. — Having dealt generally with the known sources 
 of gold in Northern Africa, it remains to enter into fuller details con- 
 cerning the mines (mentioned on p. 4) of Bishdree (known also as 
 Edreesee, Aboolfeda, Bega, Ollagee, and Etbaye), which seem to have 
 been by far the most important. 
 
 Some interesting allusions to these mines are made by Dr. Brugsch 
 Bey. The tributes and taxes, which under the third Thutmes were 
 yearly contributed in rich abundance to the Pharaoh by the conquered 
 nations and his own subjects, seem, from the reign of Seti, to have 
 flowed in less freely, while the wants of the kings were the same, and the 
 erection of costly buildings required a great expenditure. New sources 
 had therefore to be opened up for the requisite means. So they began 
 to devote special care to the regular working of the existing gold-mines 
 in Egypt and Nubia, and, what was of the first importance, to give the 
 needful attention to the formation of wells in the midst of the arid 
 mountain regions, whence the gold was to be won. 
 
 One of these regions was the expanse of desert on the eastern side 
 of the Nile, opposite Edfou, which at this day bears the name of 
 Redesteh, and contains the remains of an old Egyptian rock-temple. 
 It marks the site of one of the resting-places on the great road of 
 commerce, which in ancient days led straight through the desert from 
 the town of Coptos, on the Nile, to the harbour of Berenice on the 
 Red Sea. The inscriptions on the temple date from the time of Seti. 
 They not only establish the existence of gold ore in the interior of the 
 mountain, but also the position of a well {liydreunia, as the Greeks called 
 it), made at the command of the king. They relate how, in the 9th 
 year of King Seti, in the month Epiphi, on the 20th day, the Pharaoh 
 

 6 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 undertook a journey to the solitary mountain region, as it was his wish 
 to see for himself the gold-mines which existed there. After he had 
 climbed many miles, he made a halt, to take counsel with himself, and 
 to come to a conclusion upon the information he had received, that the 
 want of water made the road almost impassable, and that travellers by it 
 died of thirst in the hot season of the year. At a proper place, a well 
 was bored deep in the rocky ground, and a small rock-temple was made 
 there " to the name of King Seti," by the express order of the Pharaoh. 
 Thereupon everything was done to carry on the gold-washing to success. 
 The people who followed this laborious occupation were placed under the 
 supervision of a hir-pit or " overseer of the foreign peoples," and all 
 other measures were taken to ensure for all future time the keeping up 
 of the temple. 
 
 But whether, after all, the gold-mines yielded rich produce, whether 
 the gold-washers delivered to the " reckoner of silver and gold of the land 
 of the country of Upper and Lower Egypt, Hi-shera," the shining grains 
 obtained by their laborious employment in satisfactory quantity — on 
 these points, the lay of the poet on the monuments is silent. 
 
 Later on, in order to increase his revenues and fill the treasury of the 
 State, Ramses, following the example of his father Seti, turned his par- 
 ticular attention to the gold-districts which had been discovered, and 
 especially to the Nubian gold-mines of what is now the Wady Alaki 
 (Al-aki), anciently called Aki-ta. But water was wanting in the dreary 
 sterile valleys of this mountainous country, and men and beasts died on 
 the roads to the gold-districts. 
 
 By a curious accident, the old Egfyptian map has been preserved (at 
 Turin) which enables us to recognize the situation of the mountain tracks, 
 the roads, the places where the gold was found, the wells, and all the other 
 appurtenances and buildings. Here, according to the annexed inscriptions, 
 are " the mountains out of which the gold was extracted ; they are marked 
 with a red colour ;" there " the roads which have been abandoned, leading 
 to the sea ;" here " the houses .... of the gold-washing ;" the " well," 
 and the " memorial-stone of King Mineptah L Seti L ;" there " the temple 
 of Amon in the holy mountain." Nothing is forgotten which would seem 
 calculated to give the spectator an idea of the state of the region, even 
 to the stones and the scattered trees along the roads. 
 
 Seti L (Sethos), the gold-seeker, had first worked the gold-mines, but 
 without any remarkable success, as will be shown further on. He made 
 the well named in the inscriptions, and erected near it the meuiOY-ial- 
 stone of which the inscription on the map speaks. The shaft of the well 
 had a depth of more than 63 yd. (120 Egyptian cubits), but the water 
 soon became exhausted, and the mine was abandoned. 
 
 It was not till the third year of the reign of King Ramses that the 
 
AFRICA, NORTHERN. 
 
 :r 
 
 works were opened, which are mentioned with such detail in the inscrip- 
 tion which covers a stone that was found at the village of Kouban, 
 opposite Dakkeh, on the eastern bank of the Nubian territory. Here 
 was situated in ancient times a fortified place, provided with walls, 
 trenches, and towers, destined by the Pharaohs for a bulwark against the 
 irruptions of the Nubian tribes. This place seems at the same time to 
 have been the point of departure for the communication with the gold- 
 mines, in which the prisoners of war and malefactors were forced to carry 
 on their laborious work under the burning rays of a tropical sun. Even 
 to the time of the Greeks, retnembrance was preserved of the cruel treat- 
 ment and dreadful condition of those condemned to the gold-workings. 
 
 The Bishdree mines are mentioned by Agathe..cides of Cnidus (about 
 170 to 180 B.C.). He places them "near the mountain Altahi, not far 
 from the ancient Berenice Panchrysos, in lat. 22° N. They were worked 
 by a numerous body of people, including men, women, and children, to 
 each of whom a portion of labour was assigned, corresponding to their 
 strength and skill. The discovery of them was made by the kings of 
 the ancient race. The operations in the mines of Nubia were interrupted 
 by the invasion of the Ethiopians, who took possession of them (700- 
 800 B.C.), and afterwards by the Medes and Persians. In the passages 
 of the mines were found many tools of brass, iron being then unknown, 
 and vast masses of human bones, of people who had been buried in the 
 ruins. The extent of the subterraneous galleries is so great that they 
 must almost have reached to the sea." 
 
 These same mines are pointed to by later writers as being situated at 
 Ollagee, and lying about 17 or 18 days' journey to the S.-E. of Derow, a 
 village somewhat above Kom Ombo. Wilkinson alludes to them when 
 he says, " Another source of wealth was derived from the gold-mines in 
 the desert of the upper country. Their position, still known to the 
 Arabs, is about S.-E. from Bahayreh, a village opposite the town of Edfou 
 (24° 58' N.) or ApoUinopolis Magna, and at a distance of nearly 10 days' 
 journey from that place, in the mountains of the Bishdree." 
 
 The Arab writers Edrisi, Ebu-Said, and Aboolfidda place the mines 
 at Gebel Ollagee, a mountain situated in the " land of Bega." The gold 
 lies in veins of quartz in the rocks bordering an inhospitable valley and 
 its adjacent ravines ; but the small quantity the mines are capable of 
 producing by immense labour, added to the difficulty of procuring water, 
 and other local impediments, would, in Wilkinson's opinion, render the 
 re-opening of them at the present day an unprofitable speculation ; and 
 indeed, in the time of Aboolfidda (or Omad-ddeen-Aboolfeda, Ismail- 
 ben-Nasser, who was king of Hamah in Syria, and lived about the year 
 730 of the Hegira, A.D. 1334), they only just covered expenses, and have 
 never been worked since they were abandoned by the Arab caliphs. 
 
8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL L. RIBUTION. 
 
 According to Agatharcides' account, the toil of extracting the gold 
 was immense: it was separated fron> the pounded stone by frequent 
 washings, and this- process appears to be represented in the paintings of 
 tombs executed during the reign of Osirtasen and other ancient Pharaohs. 
 There is no positive notice of the first discovery of the mines, but it is 
 reasonable to suppose that they were worked at the earliest periods of 
 the Egyptian monarchy ; and the total of their annual produce is stated 
 by Hecataeus (Diodorus i. 49, on his authority) to have been recorded by 
 a monarch of the 1 8th dynasty. 
 
 The Bishdree mines were made the object of very careful exploration 
 (in 1868) by Linant de Bellefonds Bey, who published an exhaustive 
 account of them, accompanied by an elaborate atlas of plans and views. 
 This work, quoted in the bibliography at the end of the present volume, 
 and a copy of which is preserved in the library of the Royal Geographical 
 Society of London, is the source whence the following remarks have been 
 mainly derived. 
 
 In traversing the Wady Ollakee from its embouchure into the Nile 
 (about 23° N.) the explorer found much quartz debris in the bed, 
 and grains of native gold in the quartz. In the hill bordering the Wady 
 Mourrat, veins of quartz were seen coursing through talcose schists, and 
 showing rare signs of native gold. The scarcity of water in this region 
 had necessitated the adoption of an ingenious method of utilizing it for 
 washing purposes, which is illustrated in Fig. i. At d; is a sump or water 
 pit ; ^ is an inclined plane on which the mineral is washed, and whence 
 the water escapes into the tank c; dis a. conduit for conveying the water 
 back to a, to be used over again ; e is the ordinary Egyptian chadous or 
 lever-pump for raising water. 
 
 The method adopted for treating the auriferous ore seems to have 
 been as follows. First it was broken into small fragments about \ in. 
 cube, by placing it in natural hollows in the surface of the rocks, and 
 pounding it with rounded blocks of porphyry ; this broken mineral was 
 then reduced to very fine powder in hand-mills, and v/ashed on an 
 inclined plane as shown in Fig. i. The labour incurred was enormous. 
 
 At Ceiga (22° 30' N., 33° 50' E.), were found very extensive traces 
 of former workings, which appeared, however, to have been deserted 
 only by reason of the ore being exhausted, as all the hand-mills and 
 other implements remaining were worn out and useless, and no trace 
 could be found of existing auriferous mineral. 
 
 The mines of Derehib (21° 40' N., 35° E.) seem to have possessed 
 the greatest importance. The excavations are immense, and have been 
 prosecuted wherever an auriferous quartz vein showed itself in the schist. 
 Yet no traces of tools, mills, or washing-places were discernible. The 
 explorer quotes (pp. 74-76) at length from Diodorus (book iii., c. 6), 
 
AFRICA, NORTHERN. 9 
 
 and from the Arab writer surnamed Macrizi, who lived in 1385 A.D., or 
 1430 years after Diodorus ; the identity of the mines described by these 
 writers with the ruins discovered by Linant dc Bellefonds seems clear. 
 
 Somewhat to the west of Derehib, and on the southern side of the 
 same range, are the deserted mines of Chawanib, where abundant evi- 
 dence was found, not only of the working of the quartz veins which 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 -rrn- 
 
 a 
 
 xj: 
 
 I I I I I— r' I I I l-r— T- 
 
 c 
 
 -1 — r-^ 
 
 I I I I I I I I I I I -T^r-i I I I 
 
 I I I I i~r 
 
 TTT TTT 
 
 Arab Method of utilizing Water. 
 
 traverse the primitive (schistose) rocks, but also of the washing of auri- 
 ferous sands brought down by the rains from the higher portions of the 
 range. The workings do not appear to have been exhausted by the 
 miners, but abandoned from some other cause. 
 
 The places indicated on Linant de Bellefonds' map, as possessing 
 deserted gold-mines, are as follows : — 
 
 Oum Guereyatte 
 
 Ceiga 
 
 Gebel Offene 
 
 GebelAbdulla 
 
 Gebel Matchouchelennaye 
 Gebel om Cabrille . . 
 
 Tamille 
 
 Gebel Essewed 
 
 Gebel Tellatabd ., .. 
 
 Situate in the country of the Cawatil Arabs, 
 I between about 21° 30' and 22° 40' N., and 
 32° so' and 34° 20' E. 
 
 4 
 
la 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Oum Teyour . . 
 Wady Sohone .. 
 Wady Hagatte 
 Wady Affawc .. 
 Wady Daguena 
 Wady Camolit 
 Derehib 
 
 Wady Chawanib 
 Raft .. ., 
 
 Kc\\6 .. .. 
 Absab . , 
 
 In the country of the Mansour Melecab Arabs, lying 
 east of the foregoing and west of 35° 20' £. 
 
 In the country of the Foukara Arabs, between 
 20° and 21° N., and about 32° 30' E. 
 
 The veins in nearly all cases have a N.-W. and S.-E. direction. Whe- 
 ther it would be profitable to re-open the workings, and apply modern 
 machinery and methods to the extraction of the gold from the quartz, 
 could only be decided by an expert. But the absence of food, water, 
 and fuel in the neighbourhood constitutes a most serious drawback. 
 
 Southern Africa. — T/ie Zambesi-Lydenburg gold-field. — The auri- 
 ferous region lying between the rivers Zambesi and Limpopo, partly in 
 Sofala and partly in or on the borders of the Transvaal, does not admit 
 of piecemeal description, as it really forms one vast gold-field. As 
 such it will therefore be treated. See sketch-map. Fig. 2. 
 
 In Hartmann's Latin translation from tiie Arabic of Edrisi, he says, 
 "Omnium praestantissimum aurum in universa Sofala regione ibi re- 
 periri." 
 
 Capt. Burton considers that the great gold-fields north of and 
 near the Zambesi, and north-west of Natal, beyond the Transvaal, a 
 country consisting of metamorphic rocks and auriferous quartz, will pro- 
 bably be found extending high up in Eastern Africa, throughout the 
 rocks lying inland of the maritime and sub-maritime coralline ranges. 
 The same author narrates that about the middle of the i6th century, the 
 Portuguese determined to seek for the gold in Eastern Africa, of which 
 they had heard, and King Dom Sebastian sent an expedition under the 
 command of Francesco Baretto to Sofala ; he penetrated into Macoronga 
 and Manica, and discovered and made himself master of the gold-mines. 
 
 Dr. Livingstone says that gold is washed ibr in the beds of rivers, 
 within a couple of days of Tete,* on the Zambesi, 16° S., 33° 50' E. 
 The natives are fully aware of its value, but seldom search for it, and 
 never dig deeper than 4 or 5 ft. Only common wooden basins had 
 hitherto been used. Beyond Senga lies a range of mountains called 
 Mashinga (13° S., 32° E.), to which the Portuguese in former times 
 went to wash for gold. In the neighbourhood of Tete (Zambesi), 
 they call gold in the native language dalama. 
 
 The Doctor adds that if we consider Tete as occupying a some- 
 
 ♦ The reader must not confound the Tete Zambesi, or Northern] system, in 16° S., 34° E., 
 with the Tati [Thati, Tatin, Victoria, or Southern] system, in 21° S., 28° E. 
 
 3 ^1 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 II 
 
 what central position in the [Zambesi] coal-field, and extend the leg 
 of the compasses about 3^°, the line which may then be described from 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Vf l£f to' 3t 31' 33' J»' 31' J«" 
 
 Sketch-map of Zambesi-Lydenburg Gold-field. 
 
 N.-E. round by W. to S.-E. nearly touches or includes all the district as 
 yet (1857) known to yield the precious metal. We have 5 well-known 
 gold-washings from north-east to north-west. There is Abutuu, not now 
 known ; but it must have been in the west or south-west, probably on the 
 flank of the eastern ridge. Then the country of the Bazizulu, or Mashona, 
 
] 
 
 12 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL IJISTRIBIJTION. 
 
 !^ 
 
 
 on the south, and Manica on the south-cast. The rivers Mazoe, Luia, 
 and Luenya in the south, and several rivulets in the north, bring gold 
 into the coal-field with their sands ; but, from much trituration, it is 
 generally in such minute scales as would render amalgamation with mer- 
 cury necessary to give it weight in the sand, and render the washing 
 profitable. The metal in some parts in the north is found in red clay- 
 shale, which is soft enough to allow the women to pound it in wooden 
 mortars previous to washing. At Mashinga,* it occurs in white quartz. 
 Some of the specimens of gold which he saw from Manica, and the 
 country of Bazizulu (Mosusurus ?), were as large as grains of wheat, and 
 those from rivers nearer Tete were extremely minute dust only. He 
 was thus led to conclude that the latter was affected by transport, and 
 the former showed the true gold-field as indicated by the semicircle. 
 Was the eastern ridge the source of the gold, seeing it is now found not 
 far from its eastern flank ? 
 
 There is thus at present a coal-field surrounded by gold, with abun- 
 dance of wood, water, and provisions. In former times, the Portuguese 
 traders went to the washings accompanied by great numbers of slaves, 
 and remained there until their goods were expended in purchasing food 
 for the washers. The chief in whose lands they laboured expected a small 
 present — i/. worth of cloth perhaps — for the privilege. But the goods spent 
 in purchasing food from the tribe was also considered advantageous for 
 the general good, and all were eager for these visits. It is so now in 
 some quarters, but the slave trade led to the withdrawal of industry from 
 gold-washing ; and from 130 or 1401b. weight annually, the produce has 
 dwindled down to 8 or 10 lb., which is obtained by independent natives, 
 who wash at their own convenience, and for their own profit. From 
 superstition and from fear of the earth falling on him, no native will dig 
 deeper than his chin ; and on finding a piece of gold, he buries it again, 
 governed by an idea that without this " seed " the washing would ever 
 afterwards prove unproductive. 
 
 According to James Macqueen, the place for the celebrated fair of 
 Manica is situated between two small rivers, the Revue and the Mucoru- 
 maze, which are tributaries to the Mungora, and joined by the river 
 Mazavios. Descending from the south-west from the mountains of Fura, 
 their united streams are joined b<-lrw by the Rucuto, and soon afterwards 
 by the combined waters of the Revue and Mucorumaze. The country 
 around is hilly. In early times, the quantity of gold annually found here 
 was large. When Galvao da Silva was there (in 1788), the supply was very 
 much reduced, owing to the insecurity that reigned in the district, and 
 from the sluggish and careless manner in which the natives performed 
 their work, carrying it on chiefly near the surface of the earth. They dig 
 * Not to be confounded with Machanga in 5° N. 
 
^ 
 
 AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 13 
 
 openings about 6 ft. in depth, and about 12 ft. in diameter, and by the 
 rudest process separate the ore from the earth. The gold thus obtained 
 is aftenvards carried chiefly to Sena and Tetc, and thence to Mozam- 
 bique. In the mountains of Fura, the precious metal is very abundant ; 
 and in a state called Manica it is found in white quartz, and is called by 
 the natives white gold. 
 
 Again, he says that the Arroango divides the lands of Tetc from the 
 territory of Sena, and the part of Manica where the fair is separated from 
 Barue. This province (Tete) is rich in gold. Tete carries on much 
 trade with the country of the Maraves, an industrious people inhabiting 
 a fertile and healthy district to the north of the Zambesi, abounding in 
 many places with gold, especially about Java and the river Bua (the 
 river Bua runs into Lake Nyassa). In 1808, Mozambique trade included : 
 gold, 100,000 cnisadocs (l criizado — 400 reis = \s. oh'^-)- 
 
 In a paper read (1875) before the Geographical Society, St. Vincent 
 Erskine expressed an opinion that it was extremely desirable that the 
 country between the Limpopo and the Sabia should be explored, as a 
 part of it is described in old geography books as Sophala [Sofala], or 
 Sophira, or Sophir, and Monomotapa (which last signifies in Zulu " the 
 children of the mines "), and is stated to be very rich in gold, several 
 millions sterling annually having been exported thence by the Portu- 
 guese. Nothing (in Major Erskine's opinion) can more convincingly 
 prove the existence of large gold-mines than the fact that it is death for 
 a native to speak of them or of the ancient ruins. All the chiefs show 
 the greatest jealousy about these mines, and it is therefore extremely 
 difficult to ascertain their whereabouts. Gold can even now be bought 
 in the country from the natives. His own opinion is that it is the 
 ancient Ophir. The Queen of Sheba's real name was Sabia, a name 
 which is even now given to a river there. In some maps, Sofala is called 
 Sophir. The " S " is merely a prefix, and it is therefore reasonable to 
 suppose that the original name was Ophir. In a geography book, 80 
 years old, in his possession, it is stated that the Portuguese exported 
 annually 3,000,000/. worth of gold. 
 
 Umzila aims at keeping the gold produce of Manica to himself. He 
 refused (1878) St. Vincent Erskine permission to visit the fields, and told 
 him that when his ivory was done, he intended to work them for his 
 own benefit. The Matabele [Amandabelej country is one of the richest 
 gold-producing regions in the world, if reports be true. Lobenluga, 
 the chief, promised him (1878) not to allow anyone to prospect in it who 
 is not recommended by the British Government, though the Portuguese 
 had made several attempts to get concessions. 
 
 Sir John Swinburne, Bart., lecturing in 1870 at Newcastle, stated 
 that the " southern " or Tati gold-field, so far as the actual metal 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 IT 
 
! 
 
 14 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 had been found, extended from N.W. to S.E., a distance of 40 miles 
 by 14 broad. The Tati settlement is in 21° 27' S. and 27° 40' E. 
 There are 5 different mines within a mile of the settlement, two at 
 3 miles to the S.E., one at 13 miles to the N., two at 12 and one 
 at 35 miles up the river to the N.W., making 11 mi les from which 
 gold had been extracted. Several shafts were 50 f'.. deep ; one about 
 100 ft. All these mines are on ancient workings ; no tools have been 
 discovered, but stone mortars, evidently used for crushing the ore, have 
 been found on the banks of one of the mines. They have been worked 
 after the style of quarries, 'eaving great holes or pits 70 ft. deep ; trees 
 are now growing in thc- i workings, which must have taken 1 50 to 200 
 years to reach their present sir.e. ' The reefs consist of quartz between 
 walls of chloritic schist ; the strike is from N.W. to S.E., the dip about 
 50° to the S.W., and varying from 6 in. to 6 ft. in width. There are two 
 descriptions of quartz, one red and one honey-combed, and containing 
 much oxide, peroxide and some white sulphides of iron ; while traces 
 of sulphuret and carbonates of copper were also found. The gold, which 
 is very fine, is mostly found in the oxide and peroxide of iron, and is 
 only ..ow and then seen in the white quartz without iron. The other 
 kind of quartz is of a bluish-grey appearance, without any iron, and of a 
 finer texture ; but it is only found 3 miles to the E. of the Tati settle- 
 ment, in a vein 6 ft. wide, and the gold therein is coarser and more evenly 
 disseminated than in the red ore. Two shafts have been sunk upon this 
 vein to the depth of 60 ft, without meeting with sulphides or oxides of 
 iron. The Limpopo Co.'s mill was (1870) crushing quartz from one of 
 these mines which produced i^ oz. per ton. 
 
 With regard to the " northern " gold-fields, it appears that they lie 
 to the N.N.E. of the Tati, a distance of about 327 miles. T'.ie whole of 
 the country between the Inyati and the Ramakoban has quartz reefs and 
 schistose rocks interspersed through it, more particularly in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Kumalo liver, but there is (1870) no evidence of gold 
 having been found in those reefs. About 100 miles east of Inyati is the 
 Bembees, the southern boundary of the northern gold-field, and in this 
 neighbourhood there are numerous quartz reefs in which gold has been 
 found. Some 3 or 4 miles west of the ford at Umfulinoer, a couple of 
 shafts have been sunk to a depth of 35 to 40 ft. upon one of the reefs, that 
 has produced gold in small quantities ; but they have had to be abandoned, 
 as all whites were compelled to leave by the Matabele. The reef was 
 2j ft. thick, the quartz very similar to the red quartz containing iron 
 found at the Tati. There are numerous ancient workings all around. 
 The locality is in 18° 11' S. and 30° 34' E. Tati is 205 miles, and 
 Zumbo on the Zambesi due north, 160 m'les distant. 
 
 According to Macleod (says Burton), the district is called Matouca 
 
 4 
 
 '„(-■ 
 
*^ 
 
 AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 i5 
 
 
 ■-> 
 
 J 
 
 :a 
 
 [or Manica] — the Matuka of Dr. Livingstone's map, and the gold- y 
 washing tribes, Botongos. The spots containing the metal are known by f 
 the bare and barren surface. The natives dig in any small crevice made Z' 
 by the rains of the preceding winter, and there find gold-dust. These > 
 pot-holes are rarely deeper than 2 or 3 ft. ; at 5 or 6 ft. they strike the y' 
 bed-rock. In the still portions of the rivers, when they are low, the ^-^ 
 natives dive for nuggets that have been washed down from the hills. V, 
 Sometimes, joining together in hundreds, they deflect the stream, and 
 find extensive deposits. 
 
 The richest gold-fields discovered in i 'i67 by Karl Mauch are said to 
 be in the Manica district, only a lit:;le further to the west, down the 
 Swaiswa and Fole. They reach to within 50 miles of the Zambesi. 
 
 From a letter of Dr. Exton's, it appears that the gold-field pointed 
 out by Hartley, and from which Mauch and Hartley took specimens, lies 
 on the north bank of the river Tati, a tributary of the Shashi, itself 
 running into the Limpopo. The countiy-rock is green talcose slate, 
 through which the 3 principal veins of quartz run in a south-easterly 
 direction, that being the strike of the strata. These veins are between 
 18 in. and 2 ft. wide, and in two only has gold been found. The 
 dip of the strata is 75°. Granite is the prevailing formation, passing, as 
 the Thati is approached, into a schistose sandstone. The auriferous 
 quartz veins are limited to the narrow reefs in t.ie slate north of the 
 Thati. Where the two formations are in contact, there is a fine friable 
 detritus, yielding some gold on washing, the rest of the precious metal 
 being distributed in minute particles through the quartz. 
 
 It is stated by Dr. Holub that the discovery that only quartz-gold 
 and not alluvial was to be obtained on the Tati field, damped the ardour 
 of the miners. As a general rule, not more than 7 oz. of gold were found 
 in a ton of quartz, though he was told that exceptional cases had been 
 known where one ton of quartz had yielded 24 oz. of gold. Difficulties 
 encountered were the want of pumping machinery, and the great cost of 
 transport from the coast. 
 
 The following additional localities where gold exists in this region 
 have been copied, by .ae kind permission of Fred. A. A. Simons, Esq., 
 from his manuscript notes of a journey made there about 4 years ago ; 
 they are : — The territories and streams of Macequece, Missale, Cabura- 
 manga, and Macanga, all on the left bank of the Zambesi ; and, on the 
 right bank, some mines at Muzozuros, about 6 days from Tete. Also at 
 Masingua, 10 days from Tete; at Vumba; at Orobezes, Buiroe, and Macha- 
 nacha, in the territory of Changamire, formerly called Monomotapa ; 
 and at Boxa, Nhamucauga, Guenge, Duma, and Pendico, all near Tete. 
 
 Salt, the Abyssinian traveller, disparages the production of the Sofala 
 region, remarking that the only way by which gold is now (1809) 
 
i6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 I! 
 
 li 
 
 procured is by washing the sands of the rivers ; " in this manner a consi- 
 derable quantity is still annually accumulated, though it seems to be 
 rapidly decreasing ; for in 1 593 the Governor of Mozambique, George 
 Menzes, collected for himself and the Viceroy of India 1,000,000 crusades, 
 and I do not believe that one third of this amount is now altogether 
 annually prod t'ced." Jacob adds that the crusade was probably ^V oz. of 
 gold, value abo it 2s. 6d. 
 
 By far the most elaborate and extensive account of the Zambesi- 
 Lydenberg gold-fielO is given by the painstaking traveller Thomas 
 Baines, from whose vo ume the following lengthy notes are taken. 
 
 The country of Mcnomotapa, a name which in itself signifies a place 
 whence something valuable is derived, lies S. of the Zambesi, which 
 was discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1498. It may be roughly stated 
 as lying between 16° and 20° S. and 30° and 35° E. The country, 
 according to the early historian, abounded in gold, which in great quan- 
 tities was extracted from veins in many of the provinces, especially in 
 the kingdom of Torva. In 1650, an expedition under Francesco Baretto 
 was sent to explore these fields, but from sickness, &c., never reached 
 them. The Portuguese subsequently settled on the Zambesj, ind 
 in an ancient work accessible in Natal, it is stated that the cij nt: < f 
 gold sent from their possessions amounted to 2,000,000 ifieti^ ,:-, ^od- 
 mated at 1,001,354/. sterling. In later times, 130 lb. per annum have been 
 sent home ; but in the palmy days of the slave trade, the annual expe- 
 ditions to the Luenya and other rivers in quest of alluvial gold were 
 discontinued. Gold is still brought down by the natives in small quan- 
 tities to the Portuguese settlements along the coast. 
 
 The Zambesi gold-fields are situated N. of the watershed line, between 
 the Zambesi and Limpopo rivers ; the Tati gold-fields S. of same. 
 
 On the Tati or Victoria gold-fields, Matabele-Land, H. Hartley, 
 whilst hunting in 1865, observed groups of ancient diggings, and con- 
 necting these with the rumours amongst the Dutch emigrants of gold 
 beyond the Zoutpansberg, invited Karl Mauch to accompany him, who 
 ill 1866 announced the discovery of a gold-field 80 miles long by 2 or 
 3 miles broad. In the next 3 or 4 years, several joint-stock com- 
 panies and private associations were formed to test its richness, but 
 although the yield per ton seems to have been good, no one appears to 
 have made a success. The London and Limpopo Mining Co., headed by 
 Sir John Swinburne, Bart., took with them an expensive equipment, 
 including a traction engine, which, however, was left, and subsequently 
 sold in Natal, there being no road on which it could travel. 
 
 Some samples sent to London, and assayed by Johnson, Matthey & 
 Co., gave as follows : — New Zealand reef, gold, 4-900 oz. per ton of 20 
 cwt., silver, traces ; New Zealand reef, gold 10 oz., silver 0900 oz. ; 
 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 17 
 
 Alliance reef, gold 65-250 oz., silver, 3 oz. ; Burrell's reef, gold 0-500 oz., 
 silver, traces ; Pioneer reef, gold 39-725 oz., silver, 3-250 oz. ; Blue Jacket 
 reef, gold 4700 oz., silver, traces ; 5 pieces of quartz, gold 202 50 oz., 
 silver, 1-250 oz.; i piece of quartz, gold 52-250 oz. ; silver, 3 oz. 
 Another specimen, tested by Claudct, gave 26-8 oz. gold, and 31^ oz. 
 silver. 
 
 Early in 1876, Capt. Levert, of the London and Limpopo Mining Co., 
 erected crushing-macninery at Tati, with the following result, as certified 
 by B. N. Acutt:-- 
 
 Name of Reef. 
 
 Blue J.acket 
 Australian reef A 
 
 Quartz 
 crushed. 
 
 Yield of 
 Gold. 
 
 yield per 
 ton. 
 
 tons 
 
 cwt. 
 
 07.. dwt. 
 
 oz. 
 
 dwt. gr 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 42 
 
 2 
 
 3 I 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 16 10 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 Capt. Levert also certified that 125 07. had been produced from the 
 reefs at or near the Tati during the same year. 
 
 A party of 34 Australians, who were equipped in Natal in 1869, and 
 sent to the gold-fields, sank 80 ft. on the vein, but did not find it widen 
 out as they had hoped; they, however, obtained 25 oz. 3 dwt. 12 g'-. 
 from 2 ton, 10 cwt. 2 qr. 24 lb. of quartz. One of the party wrote in 1871 
 that they had crushed 5 tons of quartz at the end of 1870, and received as 
 proceeds 43 oz. of retorted gold, or over 8 oz. of gold per ton of stone, 
 and that they expected the 40 or 50 tons of stone raised since would 
 yield the same average. 
 
 Greite, who was left by Sir John Swinburne tc work the Blue Jacket 
 reef, went down 70 ft. on it, and reached water ; he raised about 300/. 
 worth of gold, and had 150 tons of quartz lying on the surface in assorted 
 heaps, of which the most promising he thought would yield 10 oz. of gold 
 per ton. He showed Baines several picked specimens of quartz of great 
 richness, one estimated at 1500 oz. per to.:. 
 
 Baines was told on good authority that out of 74 tons of quartz raised 
 by the Australians at Todd's Creek, 226 oz. of gold were obtained, 170 
 of which were from the first 40 tons. Towards the close of 1872, he was 
 informed by Acutt that between 1500 and 2000 oz. of gold had been sent 
 home from Tati. 
 
 The northern gold-fields of Matebele-Land were discovered in 1866-67, 
 only a few weeks after those of Tati, from which they are distant 350 miles 
 to the N.E. 
 
 In the vicinity of Emampanjene or Umbanjin (18" 42' 30" S., 
 29° 44' 30" E., height 3900 ft.). Nelson found several large quartz 
 reefs, one, 5 miles N.N.E., 100 ft. wide, striking N. 35^^ W., with a S.W. 
 
 C 
 
i8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 \ 
 
 dip of 70° or 80° ; and, about 4 miles S.W., two large and several small 
 reefs. The first did not look very favourable ; but the others appeared 
 better, and contained much oxide and sulphuret of iron, as well as brown 
 hematite or peroxide of iron. Want of time and means prevented 
 Nelson from breaking up much of this quartz to examine it for gold ; his 
 opinion, however, was that some of the reefs were auriferous. He washed 
 gravel and sand in the Changani and M'Nyami rivers, and readily found 
 several specks of gold in every part. He tried the river (which ?) 35 
 miles down with the same result, and found gold also in red ferruginous 
 gravel about 500 ft. from the river. From these indications. Nelson 
 thought that payable alluvial gold might be found in the Lhangani or its 
 various feeders. A band of talcose, chloritic, and hornblende schist, with 
 numerous quartz ledges, in which Nelson obtained a fair prospect of gold, 
 lies 8 or 10 miles S.W. of the village. Where the main road touches 
 the Quaequae river, they found extensive slate and schistous rocks, 
 striking N. by W. and S. by E., with numerous quartz reefs, some of 
 which wc'-e proved to be gold-bearing. About 8 or 10 miles north 
 of the ju ;' '- of the Bembesi river and the Sebaque (Sebaque, 
 18° 15' 7" c 24' E., height 3420 ft.), many apparently rich quartz 
 
 reefs exist. l\clson tried the river, and found a trace of gold. 
 Hitherto the chief features of the country had been granite ; but to the 
 north-west of their course, greenstone schist was found, and beyond that 
 a dark slate formation, striking N. and S., and upright enough to enclose 
 the stream between high bluffs. Nelson found alluvial gold in two 
 places in the river ; but it was very fine, and not enough to warrant him 
 in "calling it payable. At the drift of the Ur.zwezwie, he found gold 
 among the stones, and in the sand of the broad bed which only the 
 flooded river could fill ; also subsequently a little gold in the Sarua 
 river, whence they proceeded N.N.W., crossing the Inzinghazi river, 
 forming camp on a large river called the Ganyana (17° 44' 56" S., 
 30° 41' 20" E., height 3953 ft., 1195 miles distant from Pietermaritzburg)- 
 Here Nelson found several quartz reefs to the west of the road ; one 
 striking N. to W. was 1 50 ft. wide, forming several hills in line, which 
 were visible from afar. He does not think this gold-bearing, but 
 considers it, nevertheless, well worthy of examination. 
 
 At 35 miles to the north-west of this camp is Maghunda village 
 (S. lat. 17" 33' 30" ; E. long. 30° 17' 40", 1230 miles from Maritzburg), 
 where are pits whence the precious metal was, in olden times, extracted. 
 The reef, bordered by clay-slate and other rocks, traverses a valley shut 
 in by rounded hills ; and the pits are in groups of 6 or 8 together, 3 or 4 
 ft. wide, and some of them 10 ft. deep. As Baines returned, he saw 
 several other quartz reefs and groups of diggings, in all of whicn gold- 
 bearing stone had evidently been found. 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 19 
 
 At the junction of the Simbo rivulet with the Umvuh', are extensive 
 old diggings. The reefs seemed to be the greater part of a mile in 
 length, but were so covered with refuse thrown from the old surface 
 workings, that their exact limit could noi easily be determined ; the 
 holes were 3 or 4 ft. wide, and sometimes 10 or 12 ft. deep. Here and 
 there a group of holes had been worked into one, forming a large pit, 
 and in many of these, mimosa and other trees, 3 to 10 in. thick, 
 were growing, proving that many years must have elapsed since they 
 were worked, but not establishing for them a high antiquit)'. A native 
 remembers that a house stood some distance north, and in his father's 
 time it was inhabited, and gold-dust was sold there. Perhaps, it might 
 have been the residence of some one combining the operation of trading 
 with the office of catechist or teacher from the now deserted Jesuit 
 mission, at Zumbo, on the Zambesi. The party marked off these 
 reefs as their first claim. The following is Nelson's official report on 
 them : — 
 
 •' Profitable quartz mining depends largely on the facilities for 
 working and crushing ; here these are very good, an unlimited supply on 
 the ground, and a fine stream, the Simbo, within a few hundred yards, 
 with constant water, which can probably be used as a motive power. 
 
 " The rock strata enclosing these veins are gneiss, and a mixture of 
 talcose and chloritic schists, striking N.E. and S.W., or thereabouts ; and 
 these dip westward at an angle of 70° or 80°, judging by the dip and 
 strike of the rocks lying close on both sides of the hill. 
 
 " Just where the reefs are, the underlying formation is so covered with 
 soil that it cannot be seen. Everywhere in the northern mining district 
 the stratified rocks are so hardened and metamorphosed, that their 
 geological age cannot be ascertained. I believe they belong to the lower 
 palaeozoic epoch. 
 
 " On the N.E. boundary of the chain are several kopjies, or small 
 hills of igneous rocks — Hartley Hills (S. lat. 18° 31' 39", E. long. 
 30° 49' 20"; height, 3079 ft, from Pietermaritzburg, 1157 miles)— 
 v.xiich have burst through the rocks containing the quartz veins, and 
 pressed them aside; hence, though by the line of old workings, the 
 reef No. I appears to have a N. and S. strike, its real course is 
 N.E. and S.W. 
 
 " I cannot tell the breadth of these veins, as they are hidden by refuse 
 quartz from the old workings ; but I believe it to be considerable. I 
 brought samples of quartz from these mines, and have assayed them ; 
 some gave low results, some high. From one piece of quartz taken from 
 vein No. i, the result was at the rate of 60 J oz. of gold, and 1 7-1 oz. of 
 silver, to the ton ; but this was taken from a very choice piece. Since 
 my arrival in London, Johnson, Matthey & Co. have made six different 
 
 C 2 
 
30 
 
 i i 
 
 'if 
 
 I 
 
 !'' I 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 assays of quartz, taken at various places from the old workings, with the 
 following results : — 
 
 Sample «. o* 225 oz. of gold per ton. 
 ., A 1-450 
 
 ^- 3"i2S ,. „ 
 
 Sample ci. 3 ' 1 50 oz. of gold per ton. 
 „ e. 3-500 „ „ 
 
 » / 0-975 
 
 " The samples a and d were taken from vein No. 2 ; c, d, e, /, were 
 from vein No. i. These assays do not afford sufficient ground for 
 estimating the value of the mine ; but they prove, beyond a doubt, there 
 is rich quartz in them." 
 
 Nearly a mile to the south of these reefs, Sir John Swinburne had 
 two shafts sunk, at 25 ft. deep, from which he obtained some very 
 rich and visibly auriferous quartz, — some white and crystalline, some 
 coloured red or yellow with oxide of iron. 
 
 [The fever appears to be terrible throughout the country, as at 
 pp. 39-40, Baines gives an account of seven persons dying out of a 
 little party of hunters, and says that this was a trifle as compared with 
 the deaths in other places.] 
 
 About 25 miles from Hartley Hills, down the Umvuli river, are 
 several reefs, formerly worked by the Mashonas ; and 21 miles to the 
 N.W. by N. (S. lat. 18°, E. long. 30° 36') are several groups of very 
 extensive abandoned gold-workings. 
 
 About 6 miles east of Maghunda village, is a country extensively *^ 
 quartzose, with old workings all round. Some of these the natives *" 
 — Mashonas — had within the last twelve months re-opened. They make t^^ 
 a heap of the quartz mixed with wood, and burn it. They then crush it k 
 between stones, similar to a printer's slab and muUer. These workings * 
 are 60 miles from Hartley Hills (17° 31' 30" S. ; 30° 32' 6" K). The » 
 country arounu bore such evident marks of inundation by the summer ^ 
 torrents, that it seemed absolutely certain that a rich alluvial field K"*^ 
 must exist at the first plain where the speed of the rivers could abate. **^ 
 
 The gold-fields of the Transvaal Republic (Maraba-stadt, Eersteling, 
 Lydenburg, Mac-Mac, and Pilgrims' Rest) are next described. Button, 
 proceeding north from Lydenburg, found a little gold in two streams 
 which he crossed before reaching Tricgardt's farm, 25 or 30 miles from 
 Lydenburg. He also found fine gold in the crevices of the bed-rock of 
 the river Olifants or Lipalula. His path lay for three days under the 
 Quathlamba or Drakensberg ; he then turned N.E., and in two more 
 days reached the Salati river, on the bed-rock of which he found gold, as 
 well as in a gully half a day beyond the river. A little further west is a 
 reef running S.W. by W. to N.E. by E,, and 6 ft. or more wide. A body 
 of Kafirs were at work breaking out quartz, in which the free gold was 
 easily visible. 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 21 
 
 On his second journey, Button started from Lydenburg, and came to 
 a range, shortly after crossing the Salati river, which he named the 
 Murchison Hills. They consist of two ranges about 600 ft. high, run- 
 ning parallel, from W.S.W. to E.N.E., with a valley 6 miles wide 
 between them. The S.E. range is of chloritic talcosc slate, in a highly 
 crystalline state ; the N.W. is argillaceous— of a deep red colour — from 
 the amount of iron in it. In the main valley are smaller hills with large 
 quartz veins running through them. Auriferous quartz was found in 3 
 distinct veins, by crushing it between two stones and washing it out with 
 a digger's dish. One reef was about 10 ft. across, another 3 ft., and the 
 third a few inches, but parallel to one 40 ft. wide, capped with cellular 
 quartz full of a red oxide. The months of March, April, and May, are 
 unhealthy, and it would not be safe to enter until the dry season had set 
 in, when water is scarce ; but there would be no difficulty, if dams were 
 made in the beginning of October, in securing a supply during the first 
 rains. Button had on his farm at Eersteling, in the Zoutpansberg dis- 
 trict (approximately S. lat. 24° 6' 51", height about 3800 ft.) an auriferous 
 quartz reef, which he named Natalia, and to continue working which he 
 succeeded in forming a company in England, called The Transvaal Gold 
 Mining Co., Limited, with a capital of 50,000/. The reef is in close 
 proximity to clay-slate, and appears to be cased with talcose schist and 
 decomposed sandstone and slate ; its direction is about S.W. by W. to 
 N.E. by N., true bearing, with a dip to the N.W. ; it appears to extend 
 the best part of a mile, and is about 3 ft. wide, in some places 4 ft. ; free 
 gold is visible to the naked eye, — in some cases a regular net-work of 
 gold standing out in high relief all over the stone. Two samples assayed 
 by Johnson and Sons, of London, gave 73 oz. 6 dwt. 2i gr., and 59 oz. 
 10 dwt. 2 gr. per ton of 20 cwt. 
 
 There are alluvial diggings below this reef, extending 3 miles or 
 more down the Eersteling rivulet ; at the upper part, the deposit is rather 
 thin, and as neither the gold nor stones are water-worn, they are 
 evidently derived from this reef But, lower down, the nature of the soil 
 changes : at Venters, gold was found in the latest alluvial deposit at 2 ft. 
 deep ; at Dupree's farm, sinkings of about 20 ft. were made, the soil 
 being dark clay sandstone, mica-schist, and alluvial water-worn gravel ; 
 on the bed-rocks of hard sandstone or granite, gold in small quantities 
 was found at every prospect. 
 
 Karl Mauch, in 1 871, discovered the long-sought ruins of Zimbaoe, 
 Zimoabye, or Mazimbaoe, in S. lat. 20° 15' 34", E. long. 31° 37' 45", and 
 4200 ft. above the level of the sea. Here he found that the natives had 
 been long accustomed to work for alluvial gold. He reported the gold- 
 field as only half-an-hour north from Pikes Kraal. 
 
 On the Tugela river, in Natal, gold-bearing veins have been dis- 
 covered and worked. 
 
V 
 li i' 
 
 I 
 
 ! 
 
 i! 
 
 i 
 
 * ! 
 
 23 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ^ The Lydenburg gold-fields are supposed to extend about 60 miles 
 north and south along the sources of the Blyde river, the Umsaabi, the 
 Crocodile, and the Umkomatic, and eastward perhaps 50 or 60 miles into 
 the " fly and fever country " in the direction of Lebomba. 
 
 The Pilgrims' Rest diggings were discovered in September, 1873, by 
 William Trafford ; they extend about 5 miles along Pilgrims' Creek, a 
 tributary of the Blydc river, which runs north to the Olifants or Lipa- 
 lula river, which last in turn empties itself into the Limpopo. Gold 
 was found in the higher lands in the vicinity, as well as in the banks and 
 terraces of the creeks. 
 
 Writing in 1878, Fynney says that the Lydenburg gold-fields have 
 been opened for about 4 years ; but the feeble government under 
 which they have hitherto existed has precluded all chance of their 
 development, and for the last 18 months they have almost been closed, 
 owing to the war with Secocoeni. Still, with all these drawbacks, they 
 have continued to be worked to some extent. 
 
 The Government returns for the year ending December, 1875, show 
 that the Natal Bank exported in that year over 36,000/. worth of gold, 
 and the Cape Commercial Bank's exports for the same period exceeded 
 70,000/. It is estimated also that at least 100,000/. worth more reached 
 England through private hands. 
 
 On the authority of Jeppe, the first traces of gold within the limits of 
 the Transvaal were found by Mauch in July, 1868, on the north side of 
 the Olifants river, near the Murchison range, visited two years later by 
 Button. On the 31st August, 1871, E. Button discovered auriferous 
 quartz and alluvial deposits at Eersteling, between Makapans Poort and 
 Maraba-stadt, where mining operations were carried on for some time. 
 On the 6th February, 1873, the first alluvial gold was discovered near 
 the Blyde river, in the district of Lydenburg, by Parsons, McLauchlin, and 
 Valentine ; and on the 14th of May following, the locality was oflficially 
 proclaimed as a payable gold-field by the Transvaal Government. Since 
 then, auriferous quartz-reefs have been discovered in different parts of 
 the country, viz. in the District of Waterberg, on the farm Buffelspoort, 
 not far from Nylstroom ; at Blauwbank (Witwaters Rand) ; j.i the 
 Crocodile river, south of Lydenburg ; in the Amaswazi country, not 
 far from the line of the projected railway which is (1877) to connect 
 Dchigoa Bay with New Scotland ; at the sources of the Schoen Spruit, 
 district of Potchcfstroom ; in the Dwars Berge, district of Marico ; and, in 
 July, 187s, alluvial gold was found on the town commonage of Pretoria. 
 
 An alluvial field, distant about 40 miles from Lydenberg, was (1874) 
 giving good prospect of paying, according to Percy Hope. Yankee Dan, 
 an experienced Australian miner, working a claim on wages at 4/. lOs. a 
 week, found 8 oz. in one week, 7 oz. in another, and 17^ oz. during the 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 23 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 four days that Hope was on the fields. Many parties' finds averaged 
 I oz. per diem. 
 
 AccorHing to Sir Bartle Frere, great expectations were, at one time, 
 formed of the richness of the Transvaal gold-fields, and a considerable 
 amount of gold is even now extracted from the gold-fields in and beyond 
 the Lydenburg district, about Pilgrims' Rest and Mac-MuC. Much more 
 would probably be worked if the country were settled, but here and in 
 other parts where gold has been worked, as, for instance, in the mountains 
 between Pretoria and Potchcfstroom, the gold hitherto found has been, 
 for the most part, in quartz, and cannot be extracted without more 
 machinery and cheaper fuel than the miners have as yet been able to 
 command. 
 
 The Transvaal gold-fields were alluded to by the Rev. George Blen- 
 cowe, at a meeting ( 1 880) of the Society of Arts, in the following terms : — 
 
 " Pilgrims' Rest, the most important gold-field as yet discovered in the 
 colony, is a valley running up 4 miles, from the Blyde river in an easterly 
 direction, to an elevation of about 2000 ft. at the upper end. The 
 average depth from a mile east of the Blyde is about 1000 ft. 
 The present surface is covered with soil, from which grass and an 
 abundant and various herbage grow. But down below the present 
 surface, in some cases at the depth of 30 ft, there is the site of an old 
 stream, strewn over with fragments of lava, measuring i to 20 ft. square, 
 which have been triturated and ground by the force of the current, 
 till all the smaller ones are rounded and the larger are deprived 
 of their angles. It is here on the upper edges of the larger stones that 
 the gold of the original stream is found. The gold is not confined to the 
 original stream, but has been discovered on the shoulders of the minor 
 ridges and on their tops, where it has not been subject to trituration or 
 any abrading power. On boi^h sides of the Blyde, gold has been found 
 in paying quantities, over a;i extent of not less than 8 miles square. 
 There has been no registration of the gold found, so that it is impossible 
 to say how much ha.s been obtained. But in January, ICS74, the Gold 
 Commissioner, who had been in California, Australia, New Zealand, and 
 other fields, told Blencowe that then more gold had been taken from 
 Pilgrims' Rest than from any "creek" in New Zealand. Similar state- 
 ments were made to him by men who had been gold-digging in various 
 parts of the world during more than 30 years. Immediately over the 
 eastern ridge of Pilgrims' Rest, Mac-Mac, another field is reached, in 
 which there is no trace of the same kind of violent volcanic or aqueous 
 action. The gold is neither molten nor rusty, but bright and angular, as 
 if it had just fallen from its quartz matrix. Many of the claims at Mac- 
 Mac have yielded well, but the extent of rich ground has not been equal 
 to that in Pilgrims' Rest. About 20 miles further on, in the same 
 
^y 
 
 In 
 
 \ ' 
 
 I t| 
 
 24 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 direction, is Spitz Kop, a solitary hill, around whose foot some good finds 
 have taken place ; but full occupation has been prevented by the 
 unsettled state of the country since a few months after digging was fairly 
 commenced. To the north and north-east of these fields, a wide tract of 
 territory extends, which is supposed to contain large quantities of gold, 
 but which has not been examined because of the hostility of the native 
 occupants. More than 100 miles to the north-west, at Eersteling, a ich 
 reef was discovered by Button 8 years since, and alluvial gold was 
 obtained as far south as the Komati. So that there is an expanse of 200 
 miles east and west, and the same distance north and south, in which 
 gold has been discovered by the imperfect mode of search which has thus 
 far been practised. This part of the Transvaal may, therefore, be 
 regarded as presenting great auriferous promise, which, if fulfilled, will 
 probably make it the most prosperous district in the country." 
 
 It was recently stated in The Colonies and India, that the Grantiilly 
 Castle took home over 10,000/. worth of Transvaal gold, and that in the 
 last 6 years over 200,000/. worth had been sent through the Cape 
 Commercial Bank alone. 
 
 When describing the auriferous rocks of South-east Africa, Dr. 
 Sutherland states that in the Insizwa Mountains, in the basin of the 
 St. John's river along the line of contact of Baines' Dicynodon strata 
 (which there seems to resemble diorite) with the Secondary strata, the 
 former contains various ores of copper, which have been found to yield 
 about 4 dwt. of gold to the ton of ore. The primitive rocks in the 
 valleys where the gold has been found have been very much eroded by the 
 rivers. It would appear to Dr. Sutherland a reasonable assumption that 
 no part of the gold contained in the rocks, that have been eroded and 
 removed in the form of mud and fine sand, has been washed away, but 
 that it remains in the alluvions now traversed by the same rivers. It is 
 obvious that though it may be imperceptibly small in the parent rock, it 
 may be much more abundant in the debris, which constitutes in fact the 
 result of natural stamping operations continued for many centuries. 
 
 In the early part of 1 874, says R. N. Rubidge, gold was discovered 
 near Smithfield, a newly established town, in the Orange River 
 Sovereignty. This author's account of the geological structure of the 
 auriferous trap dykes in the Dicynodon strata will be referred to in the 
 next chapter. 
 
 Keith Johnston says that the Transvaal has gold, discovered in the 
 north of the state by Karl Mauch and Edward Baines, but also existing 
 much farther north, beyond the Limpopo river. Some of those gold-fields, 
 however, have proved very disappointing ; while great expectations are 
 (1878) entertained of others discovered in 1872 and 1873 at Maraba Town 
 and Lydenberg, at which gold-digging has been carried on with various 
 
AFRICA, SOUTHERN. 
 
 25 
 
 success, and where there appears to be sufficient qua»'.i.I'i^ of the precious 
 metal to warrant continuous effort. The gold is here, he says, of excellent 
 quality, commanding as much as 3/. li^s. per oz. It is mostly alluvial, 
 but nuggets of 4 to 7 lb. weight are sometimes picked up. The most 
 experienced Australian miners are of opinion that extremely ricii deposits 
 must yet be brought to light. About 6 leagues distant from Zumbo, at 
 the confluence of the Loangwa with the Zambesi, west of Tetc, are the 
 celebrated gold-mines of Parda Pcmba, from which much gold was 
 formerly obtained. These are now abandoned, and the village of 
 Zumbo was deserted by the Portuguese for several years, but rcoccupied 
 in 1862. 
 
 C/ma. — According to Keith Johnston, silver and gold are known in 
 Urua, a country on the west of Lake Tanganyika. 
 
 Katanga. — Gold is also present in Katanga, west of Lake Mocro and 
 south of Tanganyika, in Sekeletu's Dominion. Livingstone heard that the 
 Katanga people are afraid to mi' die gold, because Ngolu (which the 
 Arabs translate Satan) has hidden it there. Cameron states that gold 
 is found at Katanga ; also in the copper there. He was shown a calabash 
 (holding about a quart) full of nuggets, varying in size from a hazel-nut 
 to swan-shot, obtained in clearing out a water-hole. The natives do not 
 value gold, as it is too soft. When at Benguela, he was told that gold 
 had been found in such a large proportion in the copper brought there 
 from Katanga, that a company was buying all the copper in order to 
 extract the gold from it. 
 
 Zanguebar. — The natives of the country of Machanga, on the east 
 coast, south of Zanzibar, brought (1881) rich specimens of gold and 
 copper to Capt. T. L. Phipson-Wybrants, And in 1823, the Arabs 
 informed Capt. Boteler that in some rivers in the vicinity of Mombas, 
 gold in small quantities was at times procured. 
 
 Kalahari Desert. — The Kalahari Desert is said to be rich in minerals ; 
 Anderson discovered (1879) gold in two mountain ranges. 
 
 Madagascar. — Copper and silver are known to exist in Madagascar, 
 and gold, long suspected in some of the ravines of the gra-iitic highlands, 
 has also been discovered. But search for the precious metal is absolutely 
 prohibited by the native laws, lest the inhabitants should be overrun by 
 an influx of foreign diggers. Hence nothing has been done towards 
 developing the mineral resources in this direction. 
 
 Ophir. — It would be somewhat out of place to occupy space in this 
 volume with the various and voluminous arguments concerning the 
 claims of certain localities to be considered the site of the Ophir of 
 Scripture. But as it is a subject which may interest some readers, the 
 following list is submitted of the chief publications which deal with it, in 
 addition to the few words on p. 13 : — 
 
I I 
 
 36 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 Ill 
 
 S''r Roderick Murchison's address to the Royal Geographical Society, 
 in their Journal, vol. xxxviii. p. clxxxii. (1868). 
 
 Sir R. Murchison in Proceedings, Royal Geographical Society, vol. 
 xiii. p. 300 (1868-9). 
 
 Livingstone's ' Zambesi,' pp. 2-3. 
 
 Smith's ' Bible Dictionary,' a» t. Opliir. 
 
 Balfour's '■ Cyclopaedia of India,' vol. ii. pp. 346-7. 
 
 Burton's ' Gold-mines of Midian,' pp. 259-63. 
 
 Robinson's ' Theological Dictionary.' 
 
 Bickmore's ' Indian Archipelago,' pp. 404-6. 
 
 Jacob's ' Precious Metals,' vol. i. p. 2. 
 
 Salt's 'Voyage to Abyssinia,' pp. 99-101. 
 
 McLeod's ' Travels in East Africa,' vol. i. pp. 211-16, vol. ii. pp. 32 1-47. 
 
 ' Notes and Queries,' vols, vii., viii., ix. 
 
 Pamphlet entitled ' Ophir : or the Indian Gold-mines,' published by 
 W. J. Johnson, 121 Fleet Street, London, 1880. 
 
 Article by Eastwick in the ' Gentleman's Magazine' (July, 1880). 
 
 Peacock's pamphlet on the Guinea or Gold Coast of Africa, published 
 by W. Pollard, North Street, Exeter. 
 
 Angola. — According to Monteiro, gold-dust had been (1875) dis- 
 covered in a part of the country called Lombigc [The river Lombige is 
 a small tributary of the Zcnza, as the Bengo is called inland.] And at a 
 place called Mayengo, he found two white men with a party of blacks 
 exploring for gold, of which they had already obtained a few r es of 
 dust from the sand of the river (Lombige). Some 10 miles ft on 
 
 the river is another place where a little gold-dust was procured, but not 
 more than 2 lb. were got after many months' working. The formation of 
 the country from Golungo Alto to the auriferous ground of the Lombige 
 is a hard clay-slate, in which are observed only a few small quartz veins. 
 
 Western Africa. — With regard to Western Africa generally, the 
 French claim to have imported gold from El Mina (Elmina) as early as 
 1382. In 1442, Gonzales Baldeza returned from his second voyage to 
 the regions about Bojador, bringing with him the first gold. In 1471, 
 Joao de Santarem and Pedro Escobar reached a place on the Gold Coast, 
 to which, from the abundance of gold found there, they gave the name of 
 Oro de la Mu.a, the present Elmina. Leo Africanus says that the King 
 of Ghana had a gold nugget, weighing 30 lb., which was bored through 
 and fitted for a seat. Similarly, in later times, the king of " Buncatoo " 
 had a solid gold stool, which caused his destruction by the Ashantis. 
 
 Bosman (letter vi.) says gold is found in three sites. The first and 
 best was " in or between particular hills ;" the negroes sank pits there 
 and separated the soil adhering to it. The second " is in, at, and about 
 some rivers." The third is on the sea-shore, near the mouths of rivulets. 
 
AFRICA, WESTERN. 
 
 27 
 
 and the favourite time for washing is after violent night rains. Bosnian 
 estimates the annual export at 7000 Jiiarks per annum. At the conclu- 
 sion of his 6th letter, he says, "I would refer to any intelligent 
 metallist, whether a vast deal of ore must not of necessity be lost here, 
 from which a great deal of gold might be separated, from want of skill 
 in the metallic art ; and not only so, but I firmly believe that large quan- 
 tities of pure gold are left behind, for the negroes only ignorantly dig at 
 random, without the least knowledge of the veins of the mines." 
 
 Some authorities fix the Seecom river as the easternmost boundary 
 where gold is found. This is so far incorrect that Burton panned it 
 from the sands under James Fort. Besides which, it is notorious that on 
 the banks of the upper Volta, about the latitude of the Krobo [Croboc] 
 country, there are extensive deposits, regarded by the people as sacred. 
 The Slave Coast is a low alluvial tract, and appears to be wholly desti- 
 tute of gold. According to the Rev. Bowen, however, a small quantity 
 has been found in the quartz of Yoruba, north of Abeokuta. The Niger, 
 which flows, according to Burton, from the true auriferous centre, has 
 at times been found to roll down stream-gold. The soil of Fanti and 
 the seaboard is, as has been seen, but slightly auriferous. 
 
 J dging from analogy. Burton expects to find the precious metal 
 in tl declivities inland and northwards from Cape Palmas, and in that 
 sister formation of the East African ghauts, the " Sierra del Crystal." 
 The late Capt. Lawlin, an American trader, settled on an island at the 
 mouth of the Fernan Vaz, carried to his own country, about the year 
 1843-4, ^ quantity of granular gold, which had been brought to him by 
 some country people. He took back all the necessary tools and imple- 
 ments to the Gaboon river, but the natives became alarmed, and he 
 failed to find the spot. Finally, according to the tradition of native tra- 
 vellers, the unexplored region called Riimd (which may be the " Runga" 
 of our maps, with whose position Ri'imd corresponds), and conjecturally 
 placed south of the inhospitable Waday, is a land of goldsmiths, the ore 
 being found in mountainous and well-watered districts. 
 
 Mungo Park supplies the amplest notices of gold in the regions visited 
 by him north of the Kong Mountains. The principal places are the head 
 of the Senegal river, and its various influents ; Dindiko, where the shafts 
 are most deep, and notched, like a ladder ; Shrouda, which gives 2 gr. 
 from every lb. of alluvial matter ; Bambouk, and Bambarra. In Kong- 
 kadu, the " mountain land," where the hills are of coarse, ruddy granite, 
 composed of red felspar, white quartz, and black shale, containing orbi- 
 cular concretions, granular gold is found in the quartz, which is broken 
 with hammers ; the grains, however, are flat. They vary from a 
 pin's head to the size of a pea, and are remarkably pure. This is called 
 Sana manko or gold-powder, in contradistinction to sana birro or gold- 
 
28 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 stones, nuggets occasionally weighing 5 drachms. In Decembc;-, after 
 the harvest home, when the gold-bearing fiumaras from the hills have 
 shrunk, the Mansa or Shaykh appoints a day to begin sana-ku (gold- 
 washing). The error made by these people is digging and washing for 
 years in the same spot, which proves comparatively unfruitful unless the 
 torrent shifts its course. They never follow the lead to the hills, but 
 content themselves with exploring the heads of the water-courses. The 
 richest yield is from pits sunk in the height of the dry season, near some 
 hill in which gold has been found. The most hopeful formation is held 
 to be a bed of reddish sand, with small dark specks, dcs:ribed as " black 
 matter, resembling gunpowder, called by the natives sana inira " or gold- 
 rust ; it is possibly emery. The style of panning described by Mungo 
 Park in no way differs from that now practised on the Gold Coast and 
 Kaffir lands. It is illustrated in Fig. 3, and is conducted -^ follows. 
 A woman puts about J to 2 lb. of gravel and sand into the calabash 
 shown, covers it i in. deep with water, and crumbles it to pieces and 
 thoroughly mixes it by pulling her hands towards licr. She then throws 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 Gold-panning in West Africa. 
 
 P s 
 
 out all large pebbles, taking care not to reject nuggets at the same time ; 
 which done, she gives the sand and water a rotatory motion, so as to 
 make a portion fly over the brim of t!:c calabash. While doing iliis with 
 her right hand, with her left she throws out of the centre of the vortex a 
 portion of sand and water at every revolution. She then adds a little 
 fresh water, and as the quantity of sand has by this time much diminished, 
 holds the calabash oblic[ucly, and makes the sand move slowly round on 
 the line A B, while .she constantly agitates it with a quick motion in the 
 direction C D. The whole operation is completed in about 2 minutes. 
 
 According to Burton, the great centre of West African gold, the 
 source which supplies Manding to the north and Ashanti to the south, 
 is the equatorial range, called the Kong. What the mineral wealth 
 must be there it is impossible to estimate, when nearly 3,500,000/. 
 sterling hu^c annually been drawn from a small parallelogram between its 
 southern slopes and the ocean, whilst the other three-fourths of the land 
 (without alluding to the equally rich declivities of the northern versant), 
 
AFRICA, WESTERN. 
 
 29 
 
 have remained as yet unexplored. Even in Northern Liberia gold is 
 found in the streams. 
 
 Guinea. — One of the earliest modern travellers to visit the Gold 
 Coast was J. L. Wilson. He describes the gold of Ashanti as being 
 procured both by washing and digging. The soil everywhere in Ashanti 
 seems to be impregnated with gold, and large quantities are obtained 
 from the sand even of the streets of Kumasi [Coomassic]. There are 
 besides ve'y rich mines, and especially in Gaman, where the gold is 
 gathered in large lumps. The mines arc very imperfectly worked, and 
 some of the richest arc sacred to the native fetishes, and so untouched. 
 
 In several parts of the country, as Akim, Dinkira, Tueful, and 
 Wassaw, according to Dr. R. Clarke, guld-digging is (iS'^n) the occupa- 
 tion of large numbers of people, who resort thither from all parts of the 
 settlements. 
 
 Apintoc and Essaham arc the principal gold-fields in Western 
 Wassaw. At the diggings, marketable goods are sold at greatly 
 cnl .:ccd prices, from the difficulty of their transport, in exchange for 
 gold-dust. The yield varies greatly. The mct.il i.-s procured at some of 
 the " holes " from the auriferous soil, and at others from the crushed 
 quartz. In other districts, it is obtained by washing in the beds of rivers 
 and watercourses after the rains have run off, especially at the base of 
 the hills. At Cape Coast, and along the sc 'board, women may be 
 observed washing the sand on the beach, especially after heavy rains. 
 The earnings of these poor Vv-omen average about \od. sterling daily, but 
 occasionally 2s. 6ci. worth of granular gold rewards their severe toil. To 
 the granules collected on the beach, a fine, black, and apparently 
 metallic sand is often found adhering. The bulk of the gold exported 
 from this part of the coast comes from Ashanti, and the quantity annually 
 sent to England is estimated at 100,000 oz. 
 
 After leaving Odoomassie and Akropong, going up to Ahabante, three 
 ranges of mountains are crossed. Capt. Sir John Glover's party (1873) 
 found their great difficulty was to prevent themscl\-es from falling down 
 the gold-pits dug on each side of the road. The natives there have oi^.ly 
 an idea of sinking a shaft ; they have no notion of worki, ; a gallery 
 underneath, so that, 'v the space of a large hall, some 40 shafts would 
 be sunk ; they only Uicn remove the soil at the bottom of the shaft, 
 which is capable of simply ;:, owing the body ol a man to pass down. 
 Me is of opinio!) that, wit' the appliances of science, there must be 
 a groat deal of gold there yet to be produced. The mountains are 
 entirely composed of quartz and granite. The rivers over which the party 
 passed are all dammed up for the purpose of washing gold ; and from 
 Akropong to the river Amoom, the entire line of march is over a country 
 marked by the gold-shafts described. 
 
 The Berem '■ivcr is said to be very rich in gold. After the floods 
 
% 
 
 30 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 large boulders are washed down, which break when brought into contact 
 with one another ; and when the river is low, the natives go down and 
 secure a very large quantity of gold from the boulders which have thus 
 been split open by the force of the current. Coming to Odoomassie, and 
 indeed, from the line of the Prah river to Odoomassie, the gold-pits 
 increase in number, and instead of the shafts being sunk i8 and 28 ft. 
 deep, gold-pits are found like common gravel-pits in England. The 
 steamers from Liverpool reach Accra in 22 days ; thence a march of 
 10 miles across a plain, lands the traveller at an altitude of 1600 ft. 
 Europeans have lived at Akropong for 30, and even 35 years, and Sir 
 John Glover saw children going home for the first time to Europe, 6 and 
 8 years old, born in these mountains. He therefore finds no drawback 
 to the gold being worked by Europeans. Sir Garnet Wolseley, on the 
 other hand, " would noL like to search for gold, the climate being too 
 horrid. Few survive." 
 
 Capt. Thompson, who has travelled among the Wassaws, is of 
 opinion that there must be patches of no inconsiderable extent upon the 
 Gold Coast, which exceed in mineral wealth anything that we have known 
 anywhere else in the world. Capt. Butler expresses his belief that if the 
 gold-miners of other and civilized regions had the faintest conception of 
 the nature of the veins of gold which permeate Ashanti, not all the 'ears 
 of African climate, or of native treachery or cruelty, would prevent an 
 immigration which must ere long completely change the face of these 
 regions, whatever terrible loss of life occurred during the earlier period 
 of settlement. Every little ornament in Coomassie is almost recklessly 
 mended and patched with gold. Common pieces of crockery, which might 
 be perhaps repaired in England by the not very elegant process of 
 sewing in brass wire, are found quite as roughly, or even more roughly, 
 repaired in Coomassie, but with gold i.istead of brass. Prof Church 
 analysed some clean fragments of Ashanti gold cut from different 
 nuggets. The sp. gr. was 17" 55, and analysis gave : — 
 
 Gold 90*055 per cem. 
 
 Copper faint trace. 
 
 Iron trace. 
 
 Silver 9'9So 
 
 99 '945 (?) 
 
 i 
 
 The entire country of Akim (between 6° and 7° N. lat., and about 1° 
 W. long.), according to Capt. J. S. Hay, is auriferous in a high degree ; 
 the natives, however, are too ignorant and too lazy to work the gold 
 properly, and content themselves with digging circular holes from 16 to 
 20 ft. deep to obtain it, in the shape of small nuggets and dust, the 
 latter being also found in the rivers and watercourses, where he has seen 
 them washing it. The country is honeycombed in some parts with these 
 
AFRICA, WESTERN. 
 
 31 
 
 gold-holes, which make walking a diflfiicult and sometimes dangerous 
 operation. The soil is a heavy, tenacious red clay, quartz strata and red 
 sandstone cropping up in every direction. 
 
 The most detailed ac ount of the VVassaw diggings is given by J. A. 
 Skertchley, who, early in March of 1877, arrived at Cape Coast Castle in 
 command of an expedition whose object was to " inspect the gold-mines 
 of Wassaw (between 5° 10' and 5° 40' N. lat, and between 1° 25' and 
 2° 20' W. long.), one of the late subjugated districts of Ashanti." 
 
 Several English and foreign expeditions had previously been fitted 
 out for a similar purpose, in the hope of establishing a gold-mining 
 company, in order to reap a portion of that rich auriferous harvest a few 
 ears of which were bein j culled by the native miners. From one cause 
 or another, all these expeditions failed, a principal reason being the 
 attempt to form a mining company upon a plan similar to that on which 
 companies are based in Australia, California, and other civilized portions 
 of the globe. In Africa, however, are difficulties to contend with which 
 are not encountered elsewhere. A climate enervating in the extreme, and 
 which speedily finds out the weak spots in a European constitution ; 
 want of means of transport ; a lack of fc od suitable to Europeans ; and 
 lastly, the innate and universal laziness of the natives — all these difficulties 
 have to be met and overcome, rendering the task by no means easy. 
 Still Skertchley determined to ascertain the practicability of Europeans 
 working the mines of the Gold Coast, not by their own personal labour, 
 as was attempted by the French and Dutch, but under their supervision. 
 On the Western Coast of Africa, however energ' ic a man may naturally 
 be, the enervating character of ^ne climate is such as to take all the " go " 
 out of the greatest enthusiast in a few months, while it would be 
 impossible for any white man to work day by day in a similar manner to 
 our navvies and miners. 
 
 At the time of the arn..;l of the expedition at Tacqiiah there were 
 upwards of 6000 men and women engaged in working the gold. The 
 auriferous mineral is found in a seric . t parallel reefs, descending at about 
 the angle of 45°, encased by walls of han' quartz an. pseudo-quartz of a 
 ruddy, greasy look. Thc^e reefs have been worked from \ < ly early times, 
 the country for miles around being honeycombed with holes and washing- 
 pits. Of geology and mineralogy, the natives ha\ e not the slightest idea, 
 since the party continually came across shafts put down in the most 
 absurd positions. Indeed, it required a very sharp eye to detect the 
 deserted shafts in many places, for they were sunk- . se alongside the 
 path, or, indeed, in the old pathway itself, so that had to travel by a 
 
 series of zigzags between the pits. These shafts are quite curiosities in 
 themselves, being in some cases as much as 80 ft. deep, and about 2 ft. 
 in diameter, sunk as straight as if they had been bored with a huge auger ; 
 and in not one of them was there a single stick of timbering. The 
 
32 
 
 GEOGUAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 I ■'' 
 
 'ill 
 
 M.I' 
 
 M ' 
 
 
 ;l^'*^ 
 
 
 II t' 
 
 ¥f 
 
 ','1 
 
 mouths of the old shafts were in many cases covered loosely with fallen 
 branches or leaves, 30 that the unwary traveller stepping upon them 
 would suddenly find himself precipitated to the bottom, or, as was 
 generally the case, into the accumulated water, which, in some cases, rose 
 to within a few feet of the surface. 
 
 The shafts are dug by means of a small hoe, shaped somewhat like an 
 Indian bassoolali, the iron being about 2 in. broad and 4 or 6 in. long. 
 The workman squats on his hams, and scrapes the sandy earth into 
 a small calabash, which, when filled, is drawn up to tl surface by his 
 companions. The shaft is just large enough to allow tiie miner to turn 
 round in, and means of ascent and descent are afforded by holes cut in 
 the sides, into which the miner inserts his toes, after the fashion of the 
 old chimney-sweepers' boys when ascending a chimney. Having no 
 pumps, and baling, except on a very small scale, being impossible, opera- 
 tions have to be suspended as soon as water is reached ; and indeed but 
 little can be done at all during and shortly after the rainy season. In 
 alluvial ground, the gold is found in and beneath a stratum of blue clay, 
 resting upon a substratum of hard rock, or in a layer of gravel. In some 
 districts, all the sandy gravel below the surface soil is auriferous. 
 
 Where reefs are worked, they have cither been struck by sheer luck 
 when sinking a shaft, or are outcropping reefs worked downwards from 
 the surface to water-level. The latter is the case at Tacquah, where the 
 strike of the reefs runs along the side of a hill, dipping towards the west 
 ^at an angle of about 45°, The head- and foot-walls are composed of 
 syenite, as hard as flint, through which the natives are unable to penetrate, 
 so that, unless the reef itself is wide enough to allow a man to work in it 
 with elbow-room on each side, they can do nothing with it. The shafts 
 run down with the reef at an angle of 45", and at Tacquah are about 
 40 ft. deep. The tools employed are hn-^'"-:-:,, generally of European 
 manufacture, about 2 lb. in weight, and chisels made by native black- 
 smiths from the commonest bar-iron, tempered hap-hazard by being 
 plunged into cold water. Others use chisels fixed into wooden handles 
 like gouges. With these rude implements, aided by the light of a palm- 
 oil lamp, with a piece of rag for wick, they work in gangs of two or three 
 day and night. At Tacquah, there are rude ladders constructed of 
 bamboo as means of accc-s, and the mouths of the shafts arc cov<_red 
 with a shed. 
 
 By working all da} , two men can cut out about a cubic foot of the reef 
 The quartz is placed in a calabash, which is tied in a handkerchief, and 
 sent up to the workman at the surface. These convey it to their homes, 
 and set about the process of pounding it with hammers until it is reduced 
 to powder. This, again, is placed on a slab of syenite or granite about 
 2 ft. square, resting at an angle sloping from the operator en a crutch 
 of three sticks, held together by what sailors ould term a " grommct " 
 
AFRICA, WESTERN. 
 
 33 
 
 of rope. A handful of the pounded stone is placed upon the slab, and 
 rubbed fine with a stone shaped liked a baker's roll, to which a slight 
 rotatory motion is communicated as it is worked backwards and forwards 
 on the slab. The ground quartz is caught in a calabash placed at the 
 lower edge of the large slab, and, as a rule, it takes the whole night to 
 grind down a cubic foot of stone, it being the custom for the miners 
 performing this branch of labour to work ill night, enlivening the time 
 with songs and frequent potations of trade gin. The accumulated dust 
 is swept together, and the floor is carefully gone over, so that every 
 particle of the auriferous quartz is gathered up ; and each 3 months or so, 
 the floor of the grinding-shed is hoed-up and washed or " panned " off". 
 
 The ground quartz is handed over to the wives of the operators, who 
 invariably perform the operation of washing, and not unfrequently that 
 of grinding too ; and during the whole of his stay in Wassaw, Skertchley 
 never saw a male washing the dust, although female children of 6 or 
 7 years of age not unfrequently engage in the work. The implements 
 consist of a large wooden bowl about 3 ft. in diameter, cut out of 
 the solid ; one or two similar but smaller bowls ; a few feathers, a few 
 calabashes, and a shell or two of the large edible snail. 
 
 Taking their stand knee-deep in the creek or one of the numerous 
 water-holes on its banks, the women place a handful or two of the dust 
 in one of the smaller bowls, dip it under water, and pick out any large 
 pieces which appear to contain gold, and which have escaped grinding. 
 The residue is then washed, with exactly the same oscillatory motion as 
 the Australian miners apply to their prospecting dishes, ^be bowl being 
 held above the larger one, which floats on the stream beneath, and is 
 prevented from drifting away by the knees of the operator. As the 
 bowl is rocked from side to side, the lighter particles separate from the 
 heavier, and are, after being carefully inspected, thrown on one side. 
 This process continues until nothing is left in the large bowl except 
 a mass of black sand, amongst which a few grains of gold sparkle in the 
 sunlight. This washed sand is then placed in one of the calabashes and 
 subjected to a very careful washing, the calabash being rocked over a 
 larger one, and this again over the largest, so as to catch every particle 
 which might run over the edge. Gradually the amount is reduced until 
 a thin line of auriferous particles is seen glittering along the upper end 
 of the sand ; this is picked out with the feather, and washed in a still 
 smaller calabash, until the dust is cleared of every particle of black sand. 
 The gold is then carefully brushed into the snail-shell with the feather, 
 and thus the operation continues until the whole mass of rock is washed 
 over. Each woman, as a rule, takes her stand in a particular hole ; and 
 when the washing has continued for some weeks, the water is bowled out 
 of the hole, and the mud at the bottom is panned off". 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 n 
 
 Ji! 
 
 i t 
 
 The results vary considerably. The gold is so exceedingly fine, that 
 in spite of all their care, and the expenditure of unlimited time and 
 patience, the washers lose a very large percentage. Taking a fair average, 
 it may be said that cutting out will occupy one day, crushing a second, 
 and washing two more — four days in all ; the return may be 3 dwt, to be 
 divided amongst 4 miners and 4 washers. 
 
 The reefs belong to the king or to chiefs, who receive or are supposed 
 to receive one-half of the stone cut out ; but in most cases, when any 
 stone is given as royalty, the miner takes particular care to pay the land- 
 lord in stone either utterly barren or from the least auriferous portion of 
 the reef. The discovery of a pocket is the signal for a general debauch 
 among the lucky finders and their friends ; so that, as a rule, they are 
 poorer after their rejoicing than before, for gin costs 4s. 6d. a bottle at 
 Tacquah, and he is a very poor miner who cannot put away a bottle on 
 his own account before total insensibility deprives him of the power of 
 swallowing. All large nuggets are the perquisites of the king ; but these 
 are seldom found, or, if found, are broken up so as to avoid the claim. 
 
 The miners come in the dry season to Wassaw from all parts of the 
 Gold Coast, and even as far as Monrovia and Lagos ; while many arrive 
 from the interior. What becomes of the gold-dust is more than 
 Skertchley is able to say ; but it is certain that the quantity which makes 
 its way down to the European factories is no criterion of the quantity 
 raised. A large percentage is buried in the floors of the huts of the 
 miners, who like to accumulate the precious dust in this manner, 
 though its acquisition is of no more real use to them than are the hoards 
 of the miser. It is true the natives have but few wants to supply — gin, 
 cloth, tobacco, and powder being their principal articles of purchase ; 
 but it is strange that after the severe toil of the mines, they should be 
 content to bury the gold in jars in the floor of the huts during their life- 
 time, while at the death of the owner the precious metal is interred with 
 him. A " resurrectionist " would be a lucrative profession in West 
 Africa, for there are millions of pounds' worth of gold buried in the 
 graves of the chiefs and principal men, who had lived from hand to 
 mouth in apparent penury. 
 
 The gold is worth, as it comes from the mines, about 3/. 17s. 6d. per 
 oz. ; but it must not be supposed that it would pay anyone to go there 
 to purchase it, for the "simple" natives are as well up in the art of 
 sophistication as their lighter-hued brethren. 
 
 Most of the hill ranges in Wassaw are quartzose, more so towards 
 the north, those to the south being basaltic. All transport has to be 
 effected on the heads of men and women, and ro„ds are conspicuously 
 absent. The rainfall is very heavy at certain seasons, and altogether 
 wanting at others ; thus an extensive system of reservoirs and conduits 
 would be necessary to allow of any but irregular work. The country is 
 
 ri f\ 
 
AFRICA, WESTERN. 
 
 35 
 
 peopled by a race whose laziness is only equalled by their mendacity, 
 and who, despite their richness in gold, are miserably poor both as 
 regards clothes and food. They are so superstitious as to believe that 
 gold will run away from a man who has boots on ; that if a man works 
 on the king's birthdays (a weekly institution), he will obtain no gold ; 
 that if his lamp goes out, he must do no more work on that day ; and 
 that gold moves about under the ground, and can only be found by a 
 select few. The problem for Anglo-Guinea gold-mining companies to 
 solve, is how to replace the useless native by an efficient labourer who 
 can stand the climate and food. 
 
 The exports of gold in men-of-war from Guinea, according to the 
 books of the English-African Company, were in : — 
 
 1808-1814 
 1815-1818 
 
 51,569 oz., value 205,344/, 
 
 30,336 ,, 125,380/. 
 
 Total 
 
 81,905 
 
 330.724/- 
 
 The declared exports from British Possessions on the West Coast of 
 Africa have been approximately as follows : — 
 
 1858-1860 
 1861-1865 
 1866-1870 
 1871-1875 
 
 100,000/. in value, or about 1584 lb. fine gold. 
 2C,400 „ „ 328 „ 
 
 27>3oo „ „ 449 „ 
 
 38,700 „ „ 622} „ 
 
 The total exports from the West Coast, as given approximately in 
 British commercial returns, are : — • 
 
 I 858- I 860 
 1861-1865 
 1866-1870 
 1871-1875 
 
 99,600/. in value, or about 1610J lb. fine gold. 
 
 91,000 „ „ 1467J „ 
 
 120,000 „ „ 1936 „ 
 
 "S.Soo II II i8S2i I, 
 
 Since the preceding remarks were in type, and too late for incor- 
 poration in them, have appeared papers on the subject of their recent 
 journeys to the Gold Coast by Capt. Cameron and Capt. Burton, 
 published in the 'Society of Arts Journal,' vol. xxx., No. 1541, pp. -jy-j- 
 794, and the ' Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society,' vol. iv. 
 
 Soudan. — Portions of Senegambia, as the Kong Mountains (in Man- 
 ding) and Bambouk, are historically renowned for their gold-diggings. 
 
 In Bambouk province, gold is said to be so common and accessible that 
 the rudest methods of collection are deemed sufficient. The most remark- 
 able deposit is at Natakoo, where a considerable hill seems to be wholly 
 composed of auriferous strata. There is also a good mine at Kenieba. 
 
 According to Mungo Park, the gold of Manding is never found in the 
 matrix or vein, but always in small grains, scattered through sand or 
 clay. When the streams have subsided, a day is appointed by the chief, 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 111' il 
 
 i ,'^ 
 
 ;■ ; 
 
 
 ! ill, I 
 
 and the people dig in the streams. But the most profitable mode of 
 washing is in the dry season, by digging a deep pit, near some hill which 
 has been previously discovered to contain gold. In general, when they 
 come to a stratum of fine reddish sand, with small black specks, they 
 find gold in some proportion or other. The gold is sometimes met with 
 in a brown-coloured clay. During his stay at Kamalia, the gold col- 
 lected by the traders, for salt alone, was nearly 198/. sterling, and as 
 Kamalia is a little town, this quantity must bear but a very small pro- 
 portion to the quantity collected in the district. 
 
 Between Senegal and the Niger, the following localities are mentioned 
 by various authorities as producing gold : — Sego (about 12° 25' N. lat, 
 and 7° W. long.) ; Buria (Bour6 or Bure), in the Mandingo Country, 
 Upper Niger (9° W., 11° 30' N.), where, out of a population of 6000, 
 about one-.«ixth are engaged in gold-washing for some months in the 
 year ; Kuma-Khana (between Buria and Bofoulaba, at the junction of 
 the Bafing and Bakhoy, E. Bambouk), where are a large number of 
 diggings ; Sangara (at the sources of the Niger) ; and Serankules. 
 
 In 1867, R. A. Parrish, of Philadelphia, U.S., petitioned (Amer. Jl. 
 Min., ii. 337) the House of Representatives, asking its intervention in a 
 case of alleged spoliation by the French Government, amounting to 
 IS millions of francs. The claim rests upon the personal parole of 
 the Emperor given to the petitioner at an extraordinary audience ap- 
 pointed for the purpose, and was to have been embodied in a treaty, of 
 which, together with all his other interests, he says he has been fraudu- 
 lently deprived. The sum above named was promised for the claimant's 
 demonstration of auriferous territory similar to that o^ California, since 
 conquered and annexed to France, situated on the Kung Mountains of 
 Africa, on the western coast, " and from which the Government of France 
 has already derived great mineral wealth, her gold coinage for rriany 
 years since then having attained the unprecedented sum of more chan 
 100 millions of dollars annually." 
 
 Writing in 1881, Mitchinson says that the district of Senegambia is 
 rich in minerals, especially gold, and to work the latter, attempts have 
 been made for more than a century by the French to obtain a profitable 
 share in working the mines ; but factories formerly existing at Sansanding, 
 and other places, met with but little success. These failures are, how- 
 ever, fully accounted for by the misconduct and mistakes of the managers 
 and agents, or by wars and accidental misfortunes, rather than risks in- 
 separable from the business. The manager of the first gold company, a 
 rapacious, cruel, and unjust administrator, lost his life at St. Joseph, a 
 victim to the vengeance of the long oppressed natives. The greatest 
 obstacle to success was the instability of life of the agents, who frequently 
 had destroyed both character and constitution in Europe, and accepted 
 their positions in the distant African Colony as a species of honourable 
 
 m 
 

 
 «3SEf«riia«r«SS SmSv 
 
 
 ItHE B5r9«IIN6 SICKU 
 
mlii 
 
 iiiii 
 
 hill 
 
 i; - 
 
 ! 
 
 

 
 "? ^^^J-J ^"^-^/^ ^'^=^-,<^l^ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 f- 
 
'■ M 
 
 ■III 
 
AMERICA, N. : ALASKA. 
 
 37 
 
 exile. In spite of such failures, there is every reason to believe that, with 
 modern machinery and science, splendid results mi^^ht be anticipated. 
 
 The Venetian traveller Cadamosto, who visited Western Africa about 
 1454, alludes to the gold-field of Timbuctoo (spelt Tombutto,Tambucutu, 
 Tumbutum, Timbuktu, &c.), and declares f.Kit the gold coinage of Portu- 
 gal, Spain, and Italy, in the 14th and iSth centuries, was entirely sup- 
 ported by supplies from this region. Most of the gold then exported 
 from the Soucia.i would seem to have found its way by the slave and 
 ivory caravans to the Mediterranean ports of Tunis, Fez, and Morocco. 
 The large unwallcd town of Gyni, in the kingdom of Melli, is specified as 
 a headquarters for die exchange of gold and salt. 
 
 AMERICA, NORTH. 
 
 Alaska. — Gold and silver occur, says Dall (1870), in limited quan- 
 tities in Alaska. Talcose and chloritic slate, with veins of quartz, abound 
 in the island of Kadidk. An analysis of specimens of these rocks, by 
 Dr. Newberry, shows only about $1 (4^. 2^/.) per ton of value in gold and 
 silver. He says in regard to them, however, "These specimens come 
 from a system which at other points is probably much richer. The 
 mineralogical character of the specimens is precisely that of the most 
 productive gold-bearing veins known, although silver will not be found 
 in quantity in such an as.sociation of minerals." 
 
 It is not impossible that the gold-bearing alluvium of Cook's Inlet, 
 first examined by Dor6shin, was originally derived from similar rocks, 
 especially as the island of Kadiak is apparently a prolongation of the 
 peninsula of Kendi, on which the gold-bearing alluvium was found. 
 Another analysis of this quartz, by Dr. John Hewston, jun., afforded 
 $4 1 5c. in silver per 2000 lb., with a trace of gold. These specimens were 
 associated with sulpliurets of lead and iron. 
 
 The gold-deposits of the Stickeen [Stikine] River are all situated in 
 British territory. They are only worked in the placers, but gold is said 
 to exist in quartz veins in the vicinity. The head-waters of the Tdhco 
 River have afforded coarse gold to the few enterprising miners who have 
 penetrated there. Fine scaly gold, like iron filings, in very small quan- 
 tities, is found in the sands at the mouth of the Porcupine or Rat River, 
 the branch which runs into the Yukon from the north near Fort Yukon ; 
 but there is scarcely a " colour " to the pan, and the country is accessible 
 only for 3 months in the year. The alluvium of the Kaknu River is a 
 yellowish clay, and has not yet been worked by any practical miner. Gold 
 has been found in the bay on which the Taku villages are situated, and 
 in the streams of the vicinity. It averages 5 c. {2\d.) to the pan, in 
 scales or small nuggets. The richest deposit was on the main stream, 
 4 or 5 miles from the bay, at the foot of a waterfall, said to be icx) ft. 
 
 % 
 
Ill 
 lli 'ill 
 
 r; 
 
 1^ 
 
 '■i;l 
 
 ""v- 
 
 -If 
 
 fl 
 
 i 
 
 38 
 
 GFOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 high. More recently, quartz prospecting has been vigorously carried 
 on ^cre, and quantities of samples of the auriferous mineral have been 
 taken to San FruP'"'3co for examination. 
 
 British America. — The British territory in North America is now 
 included under Canada and Newfoundland, the latter being the only 
 province which refused to join the confederacy ; but, for the purposes of 
 reference, it will be more convenient to recognise certain subdivisions, as 
 follows : — British Columbia, Canadr proper, Manitoba and the North- 
 West Territory (formerly Hudson's Bay Territory), New Brunswick, 
 Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia. 
 
 British Columbia. — To use the words of George M. Dawson, whose 
 several invaluable reports form the principal source of information on 
 this head, and will be liberally drawn upon, " it may be said, without 
 exaggeration, that there is scarcely a stream of any importance in the 
 province of British Columbia in which the ' colour ' of gold cannot be 
 found." The gold discoveries, made known in 1858, led to a great influx 
 of miners in that ar J the following yea*- ; and gold, the first cause in 
 attracting attention to the country, h^ f ver since been the chief factor 
 in its prosperity. See sketch map. Fig. 4. 
 
 The annevied table shows the actually known and estimated yield of 
 gold, the number uf miners enr ployed, and their average earnings per 
 man, per year, from 1858 to 1880 : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 1858 \ 
 (6 months)/ 
 1859 
 i860 
 1861 
 
 1863 1 
 
 1864 
 
 1 5c 5 
 
 1866 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 1869 
 
 1870 
 
 1871 
 
 1872 
 
 1873 
 iC74 
 1H75 
 '876 
 • y-" 
 187S 
 1879 
 18^ 
 
 Amount actually Add one-third more, 
 known to have j estimate of gold 
 been exported by , carried away in private 
 Banks, he, hands 
 
 s 
 390,265 
 
 1,211,304 
 1,671,410 
 
 i.999.SS>9 
 3,184,700 
 
 2,801,888 
 2,618.404 
 1,996,580 
 1,860,651 
 1.779.729 
 1,331.234 
 1,002,717 
 
 1,349.580 
 
 T, 208, 229 
 
 979,312 
 1,383,464 
 I, 856. -.7° 
 
 :, 339, 986 
 1,206,136 
 1,062.670 
 1,075,049 
 844.856 
 
 130,088 
 403,768 
 
 557,^33 
 666,529 
 
 1,061,566 
 
 933,962 
 872,801 
 665,526 
 620,217 
 593,243 
 443,744 
 334.2-;') 
 449,8t)0 
 402,743 
 
 3-'o,437 
 461,154 
 618,726 
 44(; , 362 
 402,046 
 one-fifth 212,534 
 215,009 
 ,, 168,971 
 
 Total. 
 
 520,353 
 
 1,615,072 
 2,228,543 
 2,666,118 
 
 4,246, 266 
 
 3,735,850 
 3,491,205 
 2,662, 106 
 2,480,868 
 2,372,972 
 1,774.978 
 1,336,956 
 1,799,440 
 1,610,972 
 
 I, 305, '49 
 J, 844, 618 
 2,474,904 
 1,786,648 
 1,608,182 
 1,275.204 
 1,290,058 
 1,013,827 
 
 45,140,889 
 
 Number of 
 
 Average 
 yearly 
 
 employed. 
 
 earnings 
 per man. 
 
 
 s 
 
 3,000 
 
 173 
 
 4,000 
 
 403 
 
 4,400 
 
 S06 
 
 4,200 
 
 634 
 
 4,100 
 
 5J7 
 
 \ 4,400 
 
 482 
 
 4,400 
 
 849 
 
 4.294 
 
 813 
 
 2, 982 
 
 893 
 
 3,044 
 
 814 
 
 2,390 
 
 092 
 
 2,3('9 
 
 749 
 
 2,348 
 
 569 
 
 2.450 
 
 734 
 
 2,400 
 
 671 
 
 -,300 
 
 567 
 
 2,868 
 
 643 
 
 2,024 
 
 1,222 
 
 2,282 
 
 783 
 
 1,960 
 
 820 
 
 1,883 
 
 677 
 
 2,124 
 
 607 
 
 '.955 
 
 5.8 
 
M 
 
 AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 39 
 
 The dollar is equivalent to about /\s. 2d., thus the total value of the 
 gold- xport ^"'^rn this colony has amounted to something like 9,028,178/. 
 
 The gold-yield shows a fluctuation from year to year, which is due 
 not only to the uncertainty of the deposits worked, and number of 
 miners employed, but depends also on climatic conditions. Thus the 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 Sketch-map of British Columbian Gold-fields. 
 
 decrease of 1876, as compared with 1875, may be attributed in the 
 Cariboo district to the great quantity of snow falling on the mountains 
 during the preceding winter, and more than average rainfall of the 
 summer, circumstances which prevented the clearing of the deep claims 
 from water till late in the season. In Cassiar, the unfavourable spring 
 
i Ml 
 
 III; 
 
 11 '< 
 
 
 'M^ih'-. 
 
 M 
 
 ; m 
 
 I mm 
 
 J • « 
 
 i .-i I "I 
 
 i! 
 
 I ! \i 
 
 40 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ill; 
 
 prevented the miners from reaching their claims till late, and heavy 
 floods impeded their operations during the summer. 
 
 T ; very general distribution of alluvial gold over the province may 
 indicate that several different rock formations produce it in greater or 
 less quantity ; though it is only where " coarse " or " heavy " gold occurs 
 that the original auriferous veins must be supposed to exist in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the deposit. " Colours," as the finer particles of gold are 
 called, travel far along the beds of the rapid rivers before they are reduced 
 by attrition to invisible shreds ; and the northern and other systems of 
 distribution of drift material have, no doubt, also assisted in spreading 
 the fine gold. The gold formation proper, however, consists of a series 
 of talcose and chloritic, blackish or greenish-grey slates or schists, which 
 occasionally become micaceous, and generally show evidence of greater 
 metamorphism than the gold-bearing slates of California. Their precise 
 geological horizon is not yet determined, no geological survey to that end 
 having been made ; but Dawson is inclined to believe that they will be 
 found to occupy a position intermediate between the more distinctive 
 members of the Lower Cache Creek group of Selwyn's first provisional 
 classification of the rocks of British Columbia (Rep. Prog. Geol. Survey, 
 1871-72, p. 61), and the base of the overlying Mesozoic rocks, called in 
 Dawson's report for 1875 the Porphyrite series. If this be so, they are 
 not improbably the geological equivalents of some of the richest 
 auriferous rocks of California. By the denudation of the auriferous 
 veins traversing these rocks, the gold has been concentrated in the 
 placers. 
 
 The greatest areas of these rocks appear in connection with the dis- 
 turbed region lying west of the Rocky Mountain Range, known in 
 various parts of its length as the Purcell, Selkirk, Columbia, Cariboo, and 
 Omineca Ranges. Other considerable belts of auriferous rocks, however, 
 probably belonging to the same age, occur beyond this region, as in the 
 vicinity of Anderson River and Boston Bar, on the Fraser ; at Leech 
 River, Vancouver Island, and elsewhere. 
 
 The Cariboo district, discovered in i860, has been the most perma- 
 nent and productive. The 53rd parallel of latitude passes through 
 the centre of the district, which has been described as a mountainous 
 region, but is rather to be regarded as the remnant of a great high-level 
 plateau, with an average elevation of 5000 to 5500 ft., dissect^ -^ by 
 innumerable streams, which flow from it in every direction, bui ' 
 eventually reach branches of the Fraser River. These streams, falling 
 rapidly about their sources over rocky beds, -.lescend into great V-shaped 
 valleys ; and, with the lessening slope, the rock becomes concealed by 
 gravel deposits, which increase in thickness and extent till the valleys 
 become (J -shaped or flat-bottomed, and little swampy glades are formed. 
 
 
by 
 
 
 
 AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 41 
 
 throujh which the stream flows tortuously and with gentle current. The 
 steep sloping banks of the valleys are densely covered with coniferous 
 forest, of which comparatively little has been destroyed by fire, owing to 
 the dampness of the climate at this great altitude. The surface of the 
 broken plateau above is often diversified by open tracts, affording good 
 pasture in summer ; and the whole country is more or less thickly 
 covered by drift or detrital matter, concealing the greater part of the 
 surface of the rocky substratum. 
 
 As in all new gold-mining districts, the shallower placer deposits, 
 and gravels in the present stream-courses, first attracted attention ; but, 
 with the experience of California and Australia, it was not long before 
 the "deep diggings" were found to be by far the most profitable. 
 Williams' and Lightning Creeks have, so far, yielded the greater part of 
 the gold of Cariboo. They were known from the first to be rich, but 
 have been found specially suited for deep work, in having a hard deposit 
 of boulder clay beneath the beds of the present water-courses, which 
 prevents the access of much of the superficial water to the workings 
 below. By regular mining operations, the rocky bottom of the valley is 
 followed beneath 50 to 150 ft. of overlying clays and gravels, the 
 course of the ancient stream being traceable by the polished rocks of its 
 bed, and the coarse gravel and boulders which have filled its channel. 
 In the hollow of the rocky channel, the richest " lead " of gold is usually 
 found ; but In following the rock surface laterally, side-ground, rich 
 enough to pay well, is generally discovered for a greater or less width. 
 The old stream-courses of the Cariboo district are found to have pursued 
 very much the same directions as their present representatives follow, 
 crossing often from side to side of the valley with different flexures, 
 and occasionally running through below a point of drift material pro- 
 jecting into the modern channel, but never actually leaving the old 
 valley, or running across the modern drainage system, as is so often the 
 case in the deep placers of California and Australia. 
 
 As an example of the methods employed, and extent of mining 
 operations required to reach the buried channels, the Van Winkle Mine 
 on Lightning Creek, which is the most successful now in operation, may 
 be taken. This claim covers about 2050 ft. in length of the valley, the 
 deepest part of the old channel of which had been cleared out to a length 
 of 1600 to 1700 ft., in October of 1 876. Much side-ground, however, yet 
 remains ; and the workings sometimes attain a width of 200 to 300 ft., 
 in following this up as far as it can be made to pay. The claim 
 yielded the first dividend in December, 1873, $40,000 (8000/.) having 
 been expended !:■ ">re gold was found in the channel. It has since con- 
 tinued to pcty handsomely, having produced in one week gold worth 
 $15,700 (3140/.), and on other occasions at the weekly "clean up," sums 
 
 ?^ 
 
'■i 
 
 42 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 pi 
 
 r\ 
 
 I"! 
 
 1 1 
 
 ' .'i 
 
 'ii;i 
 
 ii ;i!! 
 
 n 
 
 !1! 
 
 of $14,000 (2800/.), $12,000 (2400/.), &c. At the date above mentioned, 
 the total product of gold had amounted to $500,964 (100,193/.). 
 
 In reaching the buried channel, a shaft is usually sunk at the lower 
 or down-stream end of the claim, on the sloping side of the valley, where, 
 after having gone through a moderate depth of clay or gravel, the slaty 
 rock of the district is reached. The shaft is then continued through this 
 till a depth supposed to be sufficient is attained, when a drift is started 
 at right-angles to the course of the valley ; and if the right depth has been 
 chosen, either by rough estimation or calculation based on that required 
 in other neighbouring workings, the old channel is struck in such a way 
 as to enable the subterranean water, collecting in it from the whole upper 
 part of the claim, to be pumped to the surface by the shaft. On cutting 
 out of the slate rock, however, into the gravel, so much water is frequently 
 met with that the pumps are mastered, rendering necessary a cessation 
 of work till the dryest part of the season, or the application of more 
 powerful machinery. When the drift is not found to be at a sufficient 
 depth to cut the bottom of the old channel, it is generally necessary to 
 close it, and after continuing the shaft to a greater depth, to drive out 
 again. The old channel, once- reached and cleared of water, is followed 
 up its slope by the workings, to the upper part of the claim, and where 
 paying side-ground occurs it is also opened. 
 
 In the Van Winkle mine, the average depth of the workings is only 
 about 70 ft, the lowest shaft being placed 300 ft. from the creek, on the 
 opposite side of which the rock is seen to rise to the surface, forming 
 steep cliffs. The water is raised to within 40 ft. of the surface, when it is 
 discharged into an adit 3000 ft. long, which is also used by other claims. 
 There are two pumps, 10 in. diameter, with wooden pipes, making about 
 1 2 4-foot strokes a minute, the power being supplied by an 1 8-foot breast- 
 wheel. This does not adequately represent the volume of water pumped, 
 however, as the ground of this claim is partly drained by others lower in 
 the series, in which work cannot be carried on till later in the season. 
 The richest pay is obtained in the rock channel of the old stream, but 
 where this is much contracted, the force of the water has swept the 
 gold away to those places where its width is increased. The harder 
 rocks still preserve their polished water-worn forms, but most of the 
 slates are rotten and crumbling to a considerable depth, and in cleaning 
 up in the bottom, a thickness of i to 2 ft. is taken out with a pick and 
 shovel, and sent up to the surface with the overlying gravel, for treat- 
 ment. In the side-work, as in the central channel, the greater part of the 
 gold is found lying directly on the " bed-rock," and only occasionally are 
 paying streaks seen in the gravel a few feet above it. The side ground 
 is worked up from the channel in successive breasts parallel to it. The 
 average yield of the part being worked at the time of Dawson's visit 
 
 I 
 
 r 
 
AMERICA, N, : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 43 
 
 may be stated at 2^ or 3 oz. to each set of timber, the set uncovering 
 about 35 sq. ft. of bed-rock, with a height of 6 ft. 
 
 The lowest layers of gravel contain many larger boulders of quartz, 
 and slaty fragments, not much water-worn, which must have come down 
 from the hill-sides ; the appearance is that of deposit by torrential waters 
 to a depth of 4 to 6 ft. in the channel, above which the gravel is generally 
 better rounded, and more evenly spread though still mixed with clay. 
 
 In consequence of the unconsolidated nature of the gravel, the pres- 
 sure on the supports of the workings is excessive. The sets of timber 
 are in some places only a few inches apart, and the whole of the workings 
 are lined with complete lagging. The timber used is very massive, being 
 I to 2 ft. in average thickness, and consisting of the spruce of the country, 
 simply barked and sawn into lengths. It costs, delivered at the mine, 
 8 c. {^d.) per running foot, all suitable sizes being taken at the same rate. 
 The lagging, which is merely split out, 4 ft. long, 5 in. wide, and 2 in. 
 thick, costs ,^7 {2gs.) per 100 pieces. With every precaution, the timbers 
 are frequently crushed by the pressure, or the uprights even forced down- 
 ward into the slate. Where large boulders are removed from the sides, 
 or " slum " is found, spruce brush requires to be extensively used behind 
 the lagging, and in many parts of the mine the water streams from the 
 roof like a heavy shower of rai n. 
 
 The auriferous gravel is raised to the surface by bucket and rope, 
 with friction-gearing and water-power. The whole of the deep workings 
 are annually filled with water at the time of the spring floods, and it is 
 sometimes late in the summer or autumn before the pumps again acquire 
 the mastery. In October of 1876, the quantity of water being raised 
 amounted to about 13,870 gal. a minute, or 19,972,800 per diem. 
 
 On Lightning Creek, about [6,000 ft. of the valley may be said 
 (1876) to be worked out, in so far as the deep channel is concerned ; and 
 though some bench claims and tributary creeks have paid well, the 
 material on the sides of the valley is not rich enough to pay for hy- 
 draulic work at present. In endeavouring to " bottom " the old channel 
 further down the valley, very great difficulties are encountered, owing to 
 the large quantity of water rrot with, and the increased depth of the 
 sinking required. There is no reason to believe, however, that the 
 lowest part of the channel holding good pay has been reached. 
 
 The following table, supplied by James Evans to the Minister of 
 Mines of Briti.sh Columbia, gives as correct a statement as he has been 
 able to compile of the amount of money taken from some of the more 
 prominent claims on Lightning Creek, up to November ist, 1875 :— 
 
 Dutch and oiegel (now Perse/eraijce} .. .. $i30,ocx5 (26,000/.) 
 
 ^-•""bar 30,000(6,000/.) 
 
 Discovery and Butcher 120,000(24,000/.) 
 
' I 
 
 1 1 
 
 I IlilH 
 
 |:!1 
 
 I 
 
 !,!l 
 
 Ill 
 
 
 44 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Campbell and Whitehall $200,000(40,000/.) 
 
 South Wales «4i.S3i (28,306/.) 
 
 Lightning 153.962(30,792/.) 
 
 Point 136,625 (27,325/.) 
 
 Spruce 99.908 (19,981/.) 
 
 Costello 20,476(4,095/.) 
 
 Vulcan 56,955 (ii,39i''-) 
 
 Vancouver 274,190(54,838/.) 
 
 Victoria 451,642 (90,328/.) 
 
 Van Winkle 363,983(72,796/.) 
 
 On Williams' Creek, on which the towns of Barkerville and Rich- 
 field are situated, the chief workings have been in a space of about 
 2| miles in length. In this, the deep channel has been worked through ; 
 also as much of the side ground as would pay at the time at which 
 the mining took place. Many of the lateral creeks and gullies here 
 have paid remarkably well ; and the hill sides, in some places, to a 
 height of 100 ft. or more, have proved to be sufficiently rich for the 
 hydraulic method of working, which is now extensively practised. Wil- 
 liams' Creek, however, will not compare with Lightning Creek in rich- 
 ness, its yield in 1875 being, according to Bowren's estimate, only 
 $68,000 (13,61' :o/.). Barkerville, however, has a certain importance in 
 being the centre of a number of outlying mining districts. 
 
 The canon between Barkerville and Richfield divides the creek into 
 two parts. For about i mile above it, the ground was shallow, and 
 has been worked open to the bed-rock. Further up, deep drifting was 
 practised in former years ; hydraulic work is now carried on. Below 
 the canon, all the work has been deep, in the old channel. Though 
 streaks of " pay " were sometimes found after getting down about 20 ft., 
 these were usually disregarded in early days. In the Cameron claim, 
 however, J mile below Barkerville, the dirt paid nearly to the surface, 
 and was worked in stages from below after the old channel had been 
 cleared out. The workings were abrut 60 ft. deep at Barkerville, only 
 35 ft. at the former site of Cameronton, and at the Ballarat claim, — 
 f mile below Barkerville, — 80 ft. This is the lowest claim in which the 
 old channel has been bottomed, and most of the gold obtained was 
 light and scaly. The valley is here wide, the present stream turning 
 abruptly to the west ; while a wide, low hollow, known as Fleasant Valley, 
 runs off in the opposite direction, to Antler Creek. It is supposed by 
 many that the main channel of the ancient watercourse- turns in this 
 direction ; but owing to the great quantity of water, and loose character 
 of the ground, neither this nor the present valley of Williams' Creek, 
 below the Ballarat, has yet (1876) been proved, though much money 
 has been expended in the attempt. The Lane and Kurtz Company 
 imported expensive machinery and erected some ver). complete works 
 some years ago, but have not su^^ceeded in proving their ground, and 
 
 ill 
 
 
 il !■ 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 45 
 
 have, for the present, abandoned the attempt. As some of the tributary 
 streams have paid well, there is reason to believe that a portion, if 
 not the whole, of the deep channel of the lower part of Williams' Creek 
 must be rich, notwithstanding the generally fine character of the gold 
 in the Ballarat mine. 
 
 As already stated, Lightning and Williams' Creeks have been specially 
 favourable ones for deep working, but even in these it has often been 
 barely possible, with the appliances which can at present be obtained, to 
 bottom many parts of their upper reaches, while the more difficult lower 
 portions of the channels have not been proved in either case. 
 
 Owing to the isolation of the district, and length and character of the 
 road by which it is reached, the price of food — the whole of which is 
 imported — and of labour is excessively high. The average rate of 
 'wight from Yale — the head of navigation on the Fraser — to Barkerville, 
 
 •ording to Bowren, is 7^c. to 8c. (z^d. to 4^.) per lb. in spring, and 
 i. oout I2ic. (6ld.) in autumn ; or it may be said to average 9c. (4^^.) a 
 lb., or 42s. a cwt, — a heavy tax on weighty articles. 
 
 The prices current of staple articles in Cariboo arc as follows : — 
 
 Flour, per lb 8c. {^d.) 
 
 Beans „ i^c. {7iJ.) 
 
 Bacon „ 3S<:. {is. si-/.) 
 
 Grain, for horse feed, per lb 7^- (3 J'/-) 
 
 Hay „ „ Sf. (2K) 
 
 Ordina'-y labourers receive $5 (i/.) per day; mechanics, |5 to $7 
 (20-28S.); Chinamen and Indians, $3 (12s.). These prices, though a 
 great reduction on those ruling before the construction of the waggon- 
 road, preclude the working of any but the richest deposits, which neces- 
 sarily bear but a small proportion to those with a moderate or small 
 amount of gold ; and in working over the deep ground in early days, 
 much was left that would even now pay handsomely, bu*- cannot be 
 found or reached on account of the treacherous nature of the moved 
 ground, filled with old timbering and water. Dawson does not think it 
 would be an extravagant statement to say that the quantity of gold still 
 remaining in the part of Williams' Creek which has been worked over, 
 is about as great as that which has already been obtained. With regard 
 to Lightning Creek, this statement would scarcely hold, though there 
 must be a great quantity of gold in ground of medium richness even 
 here. To render this gold available, and prove successfully the lower 
 and more difficult p^irts of the valleys, greater and more exact engineering 
 knowledge, better and larger machinery, and, above all, cheaper labour 
 and supplies (dependent on greater facilities of transport) are required. 
 
 As an illustration of what might be done in this way, it may be men- 
 tioned that it is already suggested that by cutting a flume to another 
 
 •A, 
 3 
 

 I 
 
 I'.i 
 
 ii!! 
 
 ^>iillil 
 
 46 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 creek — part of which would require to be a tunnel — free drainage of the 
 whole upper half of Williams' Creek would be obtained, thus enabling 
 the valley from its sources to flume level, with all its old workings, and 
 the great depth of tailings (holding more or less gold) which have accu- 
 mulated, to be completely stripped by extensive hydraulic works. 
 
 So far, mention has been made of Williams' and Lightning Creeks 
 only, but there are many other localities in the Cariboo district which 
 have yielded much gold in surface-work or shallow diggings, which it is 
 believed by those best able to form an opinion, would prove rich in their 
 deep ground, if properly explored. Owing, however, to the great cost of 
 prospecting, and of suitable machinery, this has not yet been done. 
 Antler, Cunningham, Jack of Clubs, and Willow River, are supposed to 
 be especially promising ; and attempts are now being made to bottom 
 some of them. Bowren states, however, that the Nason Company have 
 already spent ,$30,000 (6000/.) on their claim on the first-named stream, 
 without having been able to test their ground. 
 
 In most gold-bearing countries, the placer mines, though often 
 rich, have eventually led to the mining and treatment of the auriferous 
 quartz from which the alluvial gold has been derived. In British 
 Columbia, the alluvial deposits have thus far absorbed the mining 
 energy of the country ; but in view of the already diminished yield of the 
 best-known placers, and the inevitable more or less complete exhaustion 
 of deposits of this kind, within, at least, a moderate term of years, atten- 
 tion cannot too soon or too carefully be turned to the more per- 
 manent quartz-mining. Though much of the gold accumulated in the 
 beds of the old streams of Cariboo may have been derived from veins 
 too small to work individually, it seems scarcely to admit of doubt, that 
 in a region where so large a quantity of gold has been obtained within 
 so small an area, rich lodes will be discovered and worked. Indeed, 
 notwithstanding the want of attention to these deposits, and the very 
 difficult nature of the country to prospect, several are already known, 
 which, in other parts of the world, might justify extensive mining 
 operations. Some of these have been traced with considerable and well- 
 maintained width for several miles. Specimens collected from several of 
 the outcrops in October, 1876, proved, on analysis, the average content of 
 gold and silver to be low, — probably too low to repay work at present 
 Cariboo prices. By selecting for crushing, however, only the r'cher 
 portions of the ore, it is possible that the percentage might be raised to 
 a remunerative figure. A praiseworthy effort is now being made, under 
 the auspices of the local Government, to test the better-known lodes on 
 a practical scale, and it is to be hoped that this, coupled with the 
 energetic prospecting of the many more or less important veins in the 
 surrounding country, will be persisted in, till that eventual success which. 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 47 
 
 in this district, may almost be regarded as assured, shall be achieved. 
 The remarks made in connection with the placer mines, as to the cost of 
 labour and provisions, apply in this connection with even greater force. 
 Vein-mining, once initiated, will, Dawson believes, rapidly develop, 
 giving to the district a permanent character which it does not now 
 possess, and indirectly tending to cheapen labour by affording employ- 
 ment in summer and winter. The gold occurs, as is usual, in association 
 with iron pyrites, but also with considerable quantities of galena, through 
 crystalline masses of which the precious metal is sometimes strung. 
 
 The districts of Kootenay, Omineca, and the new Cassiar region, 
 situated on the same belt of auriferous rocks, in the main features of their 
 deposits resemble those of Cariboo. There are also several other 
 localities on the line of the main development of the auriferous rocks, 
 which have from time to time attracted attention, and yielded more or 
 less gold ; but from their inaccessible position, limited character, poor pay, 
 or depth of cover, they have been abandoned or allowed to fall into the 
 hands of Chinamen. The greater part of the Gold Range, especially 
 towards the north, is very densely timbered, and covered with moss, 
 peaty swamp, and tangled vegetation, rendering its examination very 
 difficult, and the discovery of the rich spots a matter requiring time and 
 labour ; in this respect, it differs altogether from the bare slopes of Cali- 
 fornia. It is to be remarked, however, that the recognised areas of all 
 the gold-fields will be very much extended when altered conditions 
 render deposits of the lower grades remunerative, and that many of 
 those now fallen out of notice will again spring into importance. 
 
 The yield from Kootenay, for 1875, is stated by the Minister of 
 Mines to have been about $41,000 (8200/.), 40 white and 50 Chinese 
 miners being employed; the yield for 1876, according to the same 
 authority, was only about $25,000(5000/.). Much labour and money are 
 being expended to bring in water at a sufficient height to work the hills 
 and benches of Wild Horse Creek. 
 
 The Omineca district has certainly not proved so rich as it was at 
 one time supposed to be, and has in great part been abandoned for the 
 new field of Cassiar. In 1875, the total population was 68, the estimated 
 gold product $32,000 (6400/.). The number of miners in 1876 was still 
 smaller. The transport of supplies from Yale costs 18 c. {gd.) a lb., 
 causing provisions of all sorts to be so dear that a miner cannot afford 
 to stay unless he has a rich claim. Extensive prospecting is quite out of the 
 question as a private enterprise, and, in consequence, great areas remain 
 yet untried. Page, late Government agent in the district, believes the 
 Findlay Branch to be specially worthy of examination. 
 
 A sample of quartz, with some galena, obtained on a stream running 
 into Mansion Creek, 30 miles from Dunkeld, which was transmitted 
 
48 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ! ? 
 
 ■!! ■■ 
 
 by Gavin Hamilton, of Stuart's Lake, proved, on examination by 
 Hoffmann in the laboratory of the Survey, to contain 8 '971 oz. of silver 
 to the ton, with traces of gold. Other veins reported in this district have 
 not been examined. 
 
 The Cassiar district is the latest and most northern discovery on the 
 auriferous belt of British Columbia, being situated about N. lat. 59°, and 
 separated from Omineca by over 300 miles of rough countiy, unknown 
 geographically, and scarcely, if at all, prospected. Gold has long been 
 known on the lower part of the river Stickeen, by which Cassiar is ap- 
 proached from the coast ; but it occurs there in light scaly particles, like 
 those obtained on many of the bars of the Fraser. The rich deposits 
 lately discovered lie on the sources of the River Dease, and about Dease 
 Lake, the upper end of the latter being separated by only a few miles of 
 low country from a part of the Stickeen. The Dease empties into the 
 Mackenzie, and thus passes to the Arctic Sea. The discovery of this 
 district is due to Thibert and a companion, who reached it from the east, 
 in 1872, after 3 years spent in trapping and prospecting. Good 
 states that the area of the Cassiar gold-field, as at present developed, 
 comprises a tract of country of at least 300 square miles. The number of 
 miners employed during the summer of 1875 was over 800, and the gold 
 obtained is estimated at a little less than i million dollars (200,000/.). In 
 1876, the estimated gold yield was $^ '^,474 (i 1 1,295/.), and 1500 miners 
 and others visited the mines. The yi A for 1877 is estimated by Vowell, 
 Gold Commissioner, at $499,837 (99,967/). The number of men at the 
 mines, exclusive of Indians, is said at no time to have exceeded 1200, of 
 whom 300 or 400 were Chinese. Dease and McDame Creeks, the two 
 most important in the district, are about 100 miles apart ; while dis- 
 coveries have been pushed northward and eastward on river systems 
 connected with the Dease to a distance estimated at 370 miles, in a 
 region which probably lies beyond the Province of British Columbia, in 
 the North West Territory. A promising quartz vein, containing gold, 
 silver, and copper, has been discovered on McDame Creek. 
 
 The Cassiar mines are worked under enormous disadvantages, — 
 situated in an almost Arctic climate, where the soil is permanently frozen 
 at a small depth below the surface on the shady sides of the valleys ; with 
 a short season, during which the watercourses are liable to floods, disas- 
 trous to the mines ; reached after a sea voyage from Victoria, by the River 
 Stickeen, only a part of which is navigable even under the most favour- 
 able circumstances ; and with supplies of all sorts at famine prices — 
 only the highly auriferous character of some parts of the district continues 
 to render it attractive. It is scarcely likely that any improv*^ment in the 
 means of communication in the more settled portions of British Columbia 
 will materially affect Cassiar, but the existence of its rich deposits is im- 
 
 lii-ii 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 49 
 
 portant, as showing the continuity of the auriferous belt of the country ; 
 and if rich metalliferous veins can be proved to exist, on which more 
 permanent mining may be carried on, Cassiar will yet rise on its own 
 merits to be an important mining district, drawing its supplies by im- 
 proved trails, or by a road, from the central portions of the province. 
 Beef cattle are now driven overland from the Lower Fraser to Cassiar. 
 
 It will be unnecessary to refer at any length to the Fraser River gold- 
 deposits, the first to attract notice, but rich in only a small portion of 
 their extent. It is estimated by Good, that about $50,000 (10,000/.) worth 
 of gold was produced on the Fraser during 1875, the mining being chiefly 
 in the hands of Chinamen and Indians. For 1876, a partial return gives 
 a yield of about $42,000 (8400/.). The gold occurs along the whole 
 course of the Fraser, irrespective of the formation over which the river 
 may pass. Heavy gold has been chiefly found from a few miles below 
 Boston Bar to Siska Flat, near Lytton, and on the Thompson, near 
 Nicommcn. It is no doubt derived from the rocks of the neighbourhood. 
 The richest deposits are supposed to be worked out, though it is quite 
 probable that many of the benches would pay for hydraulic working, if 
 properly appointed. 
 
 In Vancouver Island, the Leech River District, situated about 20 
 miles from Victoria, attracted much notice at one time, and yielded a 
 considerable quantity of gold in a small area. The total product has 
 been estimated at $100,000 (20,000/.). It is interesting as having been 
 discovered by a Government prospecting expedition fitted out for the 
 purpose. The rocks are believed to be of the same age as those of the 
 other gold-regions, and if this be so, it proves the persistent auriferous 
 character of this horizon over a great area, embracing, it may be said, the 
 whole of British Columbia. Gold in small quantities has also been found 
 in other parts of Vancouver Island, but, owing to the impenetrable cha- 
 racter of the forests, comparatively little is known of its interior. 
 
 Gold has seldom been found /;/ situ in the southern portion of British 
 Columbia, but occurs in remunerative quantities in placer deposits in a 
 number of localities. These are generally found to lie on or in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of certain black slaty rocks, from quartz veins traversing 
 which the alluvial gold appears to be derived. In the search for gold 
 placers, the extent and distribution of these slaty areas consequently be- 
 comes important, and though only a portion of the streams flowing over 
 the slaty regions hold gold in paying quantity, a knowledge of their 
 position may serve to deter too great expenditure of time in prospecting 
 places probably barren, and turn attention to regions which promise 
 better. These slaty rocks are those which have frequently been referred 
 to by Dawson as included under the Anderson River and Boston Bar 
 series of the preliminary classification. Rocks undistinguishable in litho- 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIDUTION. 
 
 ,$ 
 
 ml i 
 
 !. I 
 
 '.I 
 
 logical character from those of the typical region, may, it is true, occur 
 on other geological horizons in the district under review, but no clear 
 evidence of this has yet been obtained. The rocks are generally black, 
 or very dark, slaty or schistose, often more or less markedly calcareous, 
 and not infre(|uently micaceous or graphitifcrous, more rarely chiastolitic. 
 It is probably to the presence of a small quantity of organic matter in 
 the sediments from which these rocks have been made, that their metal- 
 liferous character is due. Their fissile structure has subsequently rendered 
 them easily permeable by waters, which have concentrated the minerals 
 of economic value, with quartz and other crystalline materials of secondary 
 origin, in the veins. The rocks, in their more typical localities, appear to 
 h'e between those of the Cache Creek groups (Carboniferous) and the 
 upper Mcsozoic rocks described as similar in age to the Shasta group of 
 California. They seem to rest conformably on the former .series, and 
 even to blend with it, while the latter is built up on their upturned edges. 
 They differ in appearance from the recognised Jurassic rocks of the 
 Iltasyonco (Rep. Prog. 1876-77, p. 59), and have yielded no fossihs, with 
 the exception of obscure impression.s. While a portion of these rocks 
 may represent Jurassic beds, differing from tho.se of the Iltasyonco region 
 by reason of the want of volcanic materials, part at least would seem not 
 improbably to represent the Triassic period, or even to pass downward 
 into the Upper Palaeozoic. They arc not very markedly different from 
 the slaty rocks of the continuation of the same mountainous belt in Cali- 
 fornia, which are highly auriferous, and supposed to be Triassic. 
 
 On the lower part of the Fraser River, embraced in the district under 
 discussion, no important gold-yielding bars or benches can now be men- 
 tioned ; though this was the first region to attract the gold-miner to 
 British Columbia, and yielded largely in the earlier days of gold excite- 
 ment. Here it would appear, as the result of inquiry, that the richest 
 bars, and tho.se yielding the heaviest gold, were found precisely in that 
 reach of the river which is occupied by the slaty rocks above mentioned. 
 The rapid character of the river has, however, led to the distribution of 
 the finer particles of gold throughout its entire course. No deposit of 
 any great extent, as rich as those at first worked on the Fraser, is again 
 likely to be found, as its valley is generally quite narrow, and the upper 
 benches, as well as the bars near the level of the streani, have been well 
 prospected. A considerable quantity of gold is, however, still obtained 
 from the Fraser, when the water is at a low stage, for the most part by 
 Chinamen and Indian.s. It is also probable that many of the benches 
 will eventually pay for working by the hydraulic method. 
 
 From the Thompson, near Nicommen, the first gold known to have 
 been found in British Columbia was brought (in 1857), and this locality 
 has continued to yield a considerable quantity of gold at the lowest 
 
AMERICA, N. : URITISII COLU.>ii:'A. 
 
 5» 
 
 stapes of the water. The gold is in large particles, and is obtained by 
 the Indians in crevices among and beneath the stones in the river. No 
 rocks of the slaty series are known near this place, or for .some distance 
 above it, and it is not improbable that the gold may here be derived from 
 some of the igneous rocks of the Tertiary formation. The occurrence of 
 gold in rocks of igneous origin, in such quantities as to produce paying 
 placer deposit.s, has lately been distinctly proved in .several cases, in other 
 parts of the world, and should be borne in mind (see next chapter). 
 
 On the Nicola River, gold in thin scales has been found for about 1 8 
 miles above its confluence with the Thompson. This district is also 
 based entirely on volcanic rocks, and the remarks made in connection 
 with Nicommen may apply to it likewise. It is possible, however, that 
 fine gold may in some instances have been carried far by the agency of 
 ice and currents, to which the distribution of m.atcrial in the later portion 
 of the glacial period is due. 
 
 Tranquille River flows into Kamloops Lake, was worked before 1862, 
 and has afforded occupation to a varying number of miners every year 
 since. Of late it has fallen almost entirely into the hands of Chinamen, 
 of whom an average number of 20 to 30 are usually at work. The placers 
 on this stream at one time yielded largely, and the Chinamen are sup- 
 po.sed to make over $50 (10/.) a month on it still, though it is impossible 
 to ascertain this with any certainty. The gravels worked are those 
 forming the banks or bed of the stream, or flats immediately adjacent to 
 it. The flats are in a few places pretty extensive, but shallow. The bed- 
 rock is of the Tertiary volcanic scries ; but it is probable that the gold has 
 originally come from older rocks, which may be exposed further up the 
 stream, as it is in larger particles in the upper reaches. It has been found 
 for a distance of 8 miles in all from the mouth. Most of the gold is 
 scaly, and mixed with it are particles of platinum, similar in shape and 
 size to those of gold. Besides the gravels near the level of the present 
 jtream, an older series is exposed in banks about lOO ft. high on its east 
 side, and interstratified towards the summit with the wiiite silt deposit. 
 The gravels are bedded, and the stones are well rounded, reaching in 
 some cases a diameter of 6 or 8 in. The deposit is evidently a romnant 
 of a rough delta formed by the Tranquille when the water of the lake was 
 at a higher level, in times immediately succeeding the glacial period. It 
 should contain gold, but Dawson could not learn that it had been found 
 to do so in paying quantities. 
 
 At Louis Creek, on the lower part of the North Thompson, gold in 
 remunerative amount has been discovered, and was at one time worked. 
 Some gold has also been obtained in a small stream near the saw-mill on 
 the west bank. 
 
 The rocks of the North Thompson hold blackish schistose or slaty 
 
 E 2 
 
"-'% 
 
 . 
 
 m < ' i 
 
 w 
 
 
 !| II 
 
 '11 
 
 ■i : 
 
 I i*ni 
 
 0i 
 
 ' I 
 
 f • ' -1 
 
 f -,1 
 
 
 ( 
 
 i ■ ' 
 
 i \ 
 
 I 
 
 ii;i ! 
 
 (S 'i! i!' 
 
 PI 
 
 'Sm;!! 
 
 52 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 layers, though probably older than those of Boston Bir. The slaty rocks 
 of Boston Bar continue southward on the Coquihalla. Notwithstanding 
 the similarity of the formation, however, little gold has been found on 
 this river. Good prospects have been obtained on Ladner's Creek, and 
 on Pierre River, which is the next tributary below it. There is little 
 gravel in these valleys, and the streams are rapid and full of boulders. 
 
 About 2)i miles above Vermilion Forks, on the South Similkameen, 
 gold-mining has been carried on for several years, though never employ- 
 ing a large number of men. A few Chinamen were working here at the 
 time of Dawson's visit in 1877. The gold is obtained in the gravel of the 
 lowest terrace flat, which never rises more than about 20 ft. above the 
 river. This rer>ts en the worn surface of the Tertiary clays and shales 
 which form the bed-rock, and have been reached in many places, but 
 only when the river is at its lowest stage, thus restricting the season of 
 profitable min-ng. The gold is generally found in coarse scales, and is 
 mixed with a considerable proportion of platinum in similar sized 
 particles. The gravels hold many coarse pebbles, large stones, and even 
 boulders. These are chiefly of greenish rocks, like those of Whipsaw 
 Creek, but also include Tertiary igneous rocks, and granite. 
 
 The source of the stones of the gravel should be Ihat of the gold, and 
 the evidence favours the belief that it is derived from the green series 
 above referred to, or from the slaty rocks associated with these. It is 
 remarkable, however, in this case that no paying deposits of gold have 
 been found on Whipsaw Creek itself. 
 
 The Tulamecn or North Fork of the Similkameen, though yielding 
 abundant " prospects," has never afforded remunerative employment to a 
 large number of miners. 
 
 Further down the Similkameen, gold has been found in a few places, 
 notably in the vicinity of the Twenty-mile Creek, where it was worked 
 for some years. 
 
 In the cafion near the 49th parallel, a considerable quantity of gold 
 was got in 1858-59-60. This region, soon abandoned by the whites, was 
 worked for years by Chinamen. Rock Creek contirues to afford profit- 
 able employment to a few men. About a mile from its mouth, it paid 
 well, in some instances yielding as much as $100 (20/) a day, but gener- 
 ally I to 2 oz. Some of the benches also paid, in one case yielding J oz. 
 a day to the hand during the season's work. The best paying ground 
 was where the creek crossed a belt of soft slate rock. In following it up, 
 the cover was found very soft and deep. 
 
 Gold in small quantities has been found in several streams flowing 
 into the Okanagan Valley, but the only one of thjse which has proved of 
 importance is Mission Creek. The locality worked is situated about 
 7 miles fnun the mouth of the stream, where it is found issuing from a 
 
 I 
 

 AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMRIA. 
 
 53 
 
 narrow ' "oky gorge ir.*'o a wider valley. Some years ago, mining was 
 carried on in the bed of the creek, and very good pay was got for a time 
 in a reach of about ^ m'le below the gorge above mentioned ; 2 or 3 
 oz. of gold were obtained per diem to the hand in some instances. No 
 remunerative ground was found above the gorge or canon. The mining 
 now in progress is on the lowest bench or river-flat, the " pay-dirt " in the 
 McDougall's claim (which was the best at the time of Dawson's visit in 
 1877) being a cement or gravel, consolidated by cr'carcous matter, which 
 is probably local in origin. This rests upon a bed-'ock which the miners 
 call a rotten slate, but it is really a dark-coloured bed of the Tertiary 
 formation, that here overlaps the older rocks. The gravel of the flat 
 rests on the Tertiary beds, which, a little farther from the canon, become 
 yellowish and paler in tint, but are all fine-grained clays or shales. 
 Nodules of iron-stone derived from the Tertiary arc abundant in the 
 gravels, but not obs.^-.od in place. The pay-dirt in the McDougall's 
 claim is about 3 ft. tliick, and has to be stripped of 8 ft. of useless 
 gravel. It was wheeled in barrows to the river (about 20 yd.), and 
 washed in two lengths of boxes, though, as all the gold is coarse, it is 
 stopped for the most part at the first riffle. 
 
 The rocks seen in the canon are gneissic, of the character of those so 
 extensively developed east of the soiith end of Okanagan Lake. About 
 ^ mile from the lower end of the cation, they are very regularly arranged, 
 but lower down are cut by faults and trd.vf rsed by quartz veins. At the 
 lower end of the canon, the Tertiary deposits overlap these rocks, as 
 above noted. Gold has been found in gravels resting on the surface of 
 the old rocks, but in irregular pockets formed by the uneven hollows into 
 which they are worn. It is not until these gravels arc found spreading 
 more widely and in thicker masses over the Tertiary beds, that the richer 
 gold deposits occur. The rocks underlying the Tertiary ar^ superfirially 
 dec^iuposcd and shattered, and pass up^vard into a clayey brcccir., which 
 is i oon followed by clays and shales. Were the lower bed of Tertiary a 
 water-formed conglomerate, instead of having the character above de- 
 scribed, it would probably form a rich gold-bearing horizon. Such water- 
 worn materials, marking the courses of streams of pre-Tcrtiary age, must 
 occur in many plai s throughout the gold-bearing districts ; and, though 
 now difficult to find, lay probably if discovered yield rich returns. 
 
 The best deposits of Mission Creek have doubtless been already 
 worked ; but it is not impo.ssible that some of them would pay for working 
 again at present prices, or ihat some of the higher benches might yield 
 profitable rc»;urns by the hydraulic method. 
 
 Cherry Creek, a tributary of the Shuswap River, has afforded a con- 
 siderable quantity of gold, and still [;ives employment to a few white 
 miners and a number of Chinamen. The portion of the Creek which has 
 
fi 
 
 m 
 
 54 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 J.' f 
 
 11, 
 
 ik 
 
 =11?; 
 
 proved remunerative is that part of the South Fork extending for about 
 3i miles above its junction with the North Fork. The actual valley of 
 the stream is here a narrow depression about 225 ft. in depth, which 
 scores the bottom of a broadly rounded valley, beyond which the moun- 
 tains rise. This valley must have existed and carried a stream similar to 
 the present in prc-glacial times, and it appears highly probable that the 
 pre-glacial stream occupied, at least in part, the actual river course now 
 pursued by its successor. When the glacier-ice, which doubtless extended 
 thus far from the axis of the Gold Range, retreated, leaving the valley 
 blocked with moraine material and boulder clay due to its action, at this 
 time, or in that immediately following it, the stream again began taking 
 its way down the valley, and excavating its bed. The soft materials 
 were rapidly removed, the stream at first changing its bed frequently, 
 but at last subsiding into the deep narrow valley in which it now flows. 
 In some places this would appear to be identical with the original valley, 
 whi'e in others it is probable that a new course has been cut out in the 
 rocky floor of the wide valley, leaving the old channel yet buried with 
 drift on one side of the present. The canons with steep rocky sides may 
 represent such places in which the stream has abandoned the pre-glacial 
 channel, and cut for itself a more direct course. 
 
 Such is a theoretical account of the Cherry Creek Valley, which 
 Dawson believes to be borne out by the facts ; and if so, it becomes 
 available as a valuable clue in tracing out the gold-deposits. Gold was 
 originally worked in the bed of the stream by " wing damming," and this 
 mode is still followed ; but at the time of Dawson's visit. in 1877, the best 
 paying claim was situated on a little bench about 30 ft. above the 
 stream. The outer edge of this bench, and the slope between it and the 
 cree'k, is composed of rock, in following the surface of which under t'"^ 
 bank, it is found to be covered with 5 to 8 ft. of rough bouldery grave,, 
 which constitutes the pay-dirt. The rocky surface is also found to be 
 smoothly water-worn, and to slope away beneath the bank ; and it is soon 
 burird under a great th ckness of the stony clays. It would appear that 
 the course of the pre-giacial stream was here to one side of the present, 
 an idea confirmed by the fact that the bed-rock is found to slope away 
 under the bank, in the same ma-incr as in two other places at an extreme 
 distance of about y/Cj yd. It is by no means improbable that this 
 channel may leave the present, and, running round to the left of the little 
 hill at the canon which separates the upper from the lower workings, may 
 again join the present valley. If such a fact can be proved, for this or any 
 other similarly circumstanced part of the stream, a considerable area of 
 " deep diggings " would at once be defined. The claim above mentioned 
 was )-ielding about $10 (2/.) a hand for each working day. The bank 
 overlying the pay-dirt was being removed by the hydraulic method. 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 55 
 
 IM 
 
 During the autumn of 1877, a nugget worth $130 (26/.), besides two 
 others worth $90(18/.) and $40 (8/.) respectively were obtained in this 
 claim. 
 
 The prevalent rocks in this part of Cherry Creek are blackish slates 
 and shales, which are travcrs.d by many quartz veins. The gold 
 obtained here is worth $15 60c. to $16 (3/. 2s. 6d. to 3/. Sj.) an oz., 
 containing a considerable percentage of silver. 
 
 Scotch Creek, flowing into Shuswap Lai'e from the north, has 
 yielded some heavy gold, but no mining is now going on there. About 
 1 5 miles from Clinton, near the stream which flows from Kelley's Lake, 
 F. A'V. Foster has discovered a quartz vein, a sample of which has yielded 
 on analysis, in San Francisco, gold i "Si oz., silver 2*43 oz. to the ton, 
 with I per cent, of copper. Specimens of pyritous quartz from the 
 veins of the vicinity of Cinnemousim Narrows hold little of value. 
 
 It has been supposed that the gneisses, mica-schists, and similar rocks 
 of the Gold Ranges bounding the Interior Plateau north-eastward, have 
 an origin similar to a part at least of the Coast Ranges. But they have 
 a somewhat different aspect fr(,m these, with an appearance of greater 
 antiquity ; and it is by no means improbable that the Cache Creek rocks 
 may be found to rest unconformably upon them, though this has not yet 
 (1877-8) been demonstrated. If so, they may form a portion of the 
 oldest land of this part of the Cordillera system, represc. ing the 
 " Archaean " described by the U.S. geologists in Colorado and Utah. 
 The rocks, as shown on the Shuswap Lakes, present, indeed, a striking 
 resemblance to the Upper Archaean group, as defined by Clarence King. 
 The precise relations of these, and of the gold-bearing rocks of Cariboo 
 and elsewhere to them, constitute one of the more interesting and 
 important problems to be worked out in this field. 
 
 In the Queen Charlotte Islands, no alluvial gold seems to have been 
 found, but auriferous quartz exists in some quantities. As far back as 
 1849-50, the Haidas or Skidegate Indians brought rough gold to Fort 
 Simpson, on the mainland opposite ; their mode of obtaining it was to 
 light fires over the vein, and dash cold water on the heated rock, which 
 was thus disintegrated, and made to expose the metal. The Hudson's 
 Bay Company sent a party in 1852 to explore the diggings at Una Point 
 or Mitchell Harbour, an anchorage of Gold Harbour or Port Kuper, 
 where a vein was found 7 in. wide, and traced for 80 ft., yielding 25 per 
 cent, of go'd in many places. The heaviest pieces extracted weighed 
 14 to 16 oz. The Indians gave very great trouble, but a considerable 
 quantity was secured, and the "pocket" was apparently worked out, 
 as "-he vein has not been traceable since, despite many searches. 
 
 The following is a summarized list of the localities in British Columbia 
 known to yield gold, with notes of their present condition, so far as can 
 be j;athercd up to date : — 
 
 
56 
 
 I ,1 
 
 1 ■"' 
 
 ,i 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Cariboo District. 
 
 \ »' 
 
 Williams' Creek. — Its tributaries, in order down stream, are : — 
 
 McCallum's Gulch. — Joins from E. ; nearly worked out ; no deep 
 grjund. 
 
 Mink Gulch. — Joins from W. ; prospects not considered very en- 
 couraging by owners, who are waiting for the bed-rock flume, with 
 intention of hydraulic work. 
 
 Walker's Gulch. — Joins from W. at Richfield Court House ; deep 
 work ; good prospects at different times, and some quantity of gold taken 
 out about its mouth, but has not held out. Not yet thoroughly prospected. 
 
 Grub, or Black Jack Gulch. — Joins from W., a mere ravine of no great 
 length, being all embraced in one claim ; good pay for hydraulic method, 
 and still worked. 
 
 Stout's Gulch. — Joins from W., below the canon ; very rich, but 
 worked out for drifting ; hydraulic method now employed ; ground 
 enough for many years. 
 
 Conklin Gulch. — Joins from E., opposite Barkcrville ; very rich ; 
 still v/orked by drifting ; ground very deep for so small a valley, being 
 90 ft. in lower part, and 20 in highest; drifting claim \\ miles up, 
 probably rich for hydraulic working. 
 
 McArthur's Creek. — Two miles below Barkerville, and one mile 
 above Lane and Kurtz shaft-house ; joins from S.W. ; paid well in 
 drifting deep ground, but now worked out for this method ; no hydraulic 
 work in progress. 
 
 Lowtree Creek. — Runs N., nearly parallel to Williams' Creek, and 
 empties into Jack of Clubs Lake, which also receives Jack of Clubs 
 Creek, and is the source of the Willow River ; good pay found in both 
 shallow and deep diggings, and some good ground still being worked ; 
 gold, especially near source of creek, very coarse and rough, often 
 including fragments of quartz ; found difficult to obtain water for 
 hydraulic work here. 
 
 Jack of Clubs Creek. — All deep work on this creek, gravel being 
 150 ft. in depth near the mouth, where a few claims paid well; this 
 creek is a favourite among those which are considered yet unproved, the 
 impression being that an old channel exists which has not yet been 
 found. 
 
 Creeks entering Willow River : — 
 
 Mosquito Creek and Red Gulch. — Enter from S. ; the former has 
 been very rich, and was 50 ft. deep at mouth ; now worked out for 
 drifting ; hydraulic work paying well. 
 
 Whipsaw Creek. — Three miles below Mosquito Creek, on the same 
 side ; in former years, $10 to $12 (40J. to 50.$-.; per day per hand taken 
 
 ■ f 
 
 If I 
 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 57 
 
 and 
 ubs 
 
 30th 
 
 :ed ; 
 iften 
 for 
 
 this 
 
 the 
 
 been 
 
 has 
 for 
 
 lame 
 ikcn 
 
 out, and more or less work carried on ever since by ground-sluicing 
 and drifting. 
 
 Several creeks below Whipsaw Creek, on the S.W. side of Willow 
 River, have afforded no pay ; fair prospects have been obtained in 
 several creeks on N.E. side, but no paying ground found. 
 
 Sugar Creek. — Twelve miles below Mosquito Creek, joining from N. 
 Some good prospects, but never much pay. 
 
 Creeks lower down Willow River are known to hold some gold, but 
 have not yielded it in paying quantity. 
 
 Grouse Creek. — Six miles E. of Barkervillc, heading with Antler 
 Creek. The deep ground was very rich, and extended for about a mile 
 near the upper part of the creek, giving out farther down. Deep ground 
 worked out. 
 
 Antler Creek. — Heads in Bald Mountain, opposite Williams' Creek, 
 and was one of the first creeks worked in this part of the country. 
 Shallow gro md for 2 miles, paid well, and has been worked out. The 
 deep ground has not yet been much tested, owing to the absence of clay, 
 and consequent large quantity of water met with in sinking. All the 
 gulches joining Antler Creek, from the source down, have paid (Wolf, 
 California, Stevens', and Begg's Gulches). The creek has never been 
 bottomed where these side-valleys fall in. Chinamen are at work, and 
 getting pay, on benches lOO ft. above the stream, a long way down. 
 
 Pleasant Valley. — A transverse depression, 4 miles in length, uniting 
 the valleys of W^illiams' and Antler Creeks, and joining the former about 
 4 miles below Barkerville. Has never been bottomed or much prospected, 
 but might be embraced in a scheme for draining Williams' Creek. 
 
 Bear Creek, and country about Bear Lake. — Gold has not been 
 found here in paying quantity. 
 
 Swamp River. — Has attracted attention, but no good pay found. 
 
 Cunningham Creek. — In early days, a crevice containing 600 oz. of 
 gold was found on this creek, about 12 miles from its mouth. Several 
 hydraulic claims working. Since 1864 attempts to reach the deep ground 
 have been made, but have not yet succeeded ; a third effort is now being 
 made by the Victoria Company. It has always been supposed that the 
 deep ground in this creek would turn out rich, and if once proved to be 
 so, a large amount of work would immediately be undertaken. 
 
 Harvey's Creek. — The first gold in paying quantity in the Cariboo 
 Di.strict was found here :n i860. One claim — the Minnehaha — has been 
 exceedingly rich. Another, at the junction with Swamp River, has paid 
 well. The Cummings Company bottomed it at one place, vij drifted up 
 in a small canon (unsuccessfully), but found pay on entering wide ground. 
 The upper part is deep, and has not yet been thoroughly proved. 
 
 Creeks on ihc North side of Cariboo Lake. — In 
 
 Nigger, Pine, and 
 
58 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i 
 
 I "Si I! 
 
 p ji 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 .,!' 
 
 
 1 , 
 
 1"' 4 
 
 
 
 . -'41 
 
 
 -i 
 
 '•'] P^' 
 
 
 » 
 
 
 Goose Creeks, small quantities of gold have b* ^n found ; on the last- 
 named, much money was spent in putting in a flume, with small result. 
 
 Keithly Creek. — The main creek has only moderately deep ground, 
 (20 to 23 ft), much of which is yet unworked, it being expensive to 
 open on account of the great quantity of water. About 30 white men did 
 well here during the summer of 1876 ; while a number of Chinamen, at 
 work about the mouth, also got good pay. Benches 100 ft. above the 
 stream have paid for open work, and some of them for drifting also. 
 Hydraulic method not yet in use here. 
 
 Snow-shoe Creek. — The E. branch is considered to be one of the most 
 promising creeks of which the deep ground is yet unprospected ; gold 
 obtained from shallow workings; estimated yields, $9000 (1800/.) in 
 1878, $25,000 (5000/.) in 1879, $44,000 (8800/.) in 1880. 
 
 Duck Creek. — Chinamen have been working here, but not much 
 known as to results. 
 
 Black Bear Creek. — Much prospecting has been done here, but rich 
 pay never found ; not yet considered fairly tested, the ground being hard. 
 
 Cedar Creek. — One pretty rich claim was worked here, the Aurora. 
 The creek is now tenanted by Chinamen. 
 
 Hazeltine's Creek. — Some encourag'ng "prospects" obtained. 
 
 Moorhead Creek. — Some work done here, but without good result. 
 
 Kangaroo Creek. — Joins North Fork of Quesnelle, about 2 miles above 
 its junction with the South Fork. Paid well at one time. Chinamen now 
 at work. 
 
 Quesnelle River. — Most of the work done on bars of river, though 
 many workings, on benches 100 to 1 50 ft. above the water, pay well. The 
 gold is all light. This region is altogether in the hands of Chinamen, 
 who resort chiefly to the Forks and south branch. About 300 Chinamen 
 work in this district during the summer, and winter at the Forks. Com- 
 paratively rich ground was discovered on the upper benches in 1880. 
 
 Swift River. — Rather inaccessible, and hard to work, being a rapid 
 stream with many heavy boulders. Considerable quantities of gold have 
 been taken from it, from time to time, and Chinamen still at work, though 
 the stream, as a whole, may be considered unprospected. 
 
 French Creek and Canadian Creek. — Joining Pleasant Valley from 
 the south ; have both yielded some gold, which, though run through where 
 the working was carried on, is probably not exhausted. 
 
 Cafion Creek. — A stream running into Willow River far down its 
 course, and reached by a trail 20 miles long from Beaver Pass House. A 
 company engaged in attempting to bottom it, with good prospects. 
 
 Cafi(jn Creek. — A second stream of the same name, joins the Fraser 
 from the east above Quesnelle. A considerable quantity of gold obtained 
 here formerly, some of it very heavy, and mixed with quartz ; one nugget 
 
 
 ? tli^ 
 
 «^ 
 
AMERICA, N. : BRITISH COLUMBIA. 
 
 59 
 
 worth $700 (140/.) found by Chinamen on its branch— Hickson Creek. 
 An auriferous quartz vein is known. 
 
 Lightning Creek. — Its chief tributaries arc as follows : — 
 
 Amador Creek.— No good pay yet found. 
 
 Van Winkle Creek. — About 2000 ft. of the lower end paid well. 
 
 Chisholm Creek.— Good pay in shallow workings. Deep ground 
 unproved, though great efforts have been made to test it. 
 
 Last Chance Creek.- Estimated that $250,000 (50,000/.) worth of gold 
 taken out of this creek in the distance of half-a-mile. Rich ground now 
 probably worked out. 
 
 Davis Creek. — Good pay in shallow ground. 
 
 Anderson Creek. — Good pay in shallow ground. 
 
 Jawbone Creek. — No good pay found. 
 
 Quartz Veins in the Cariboo District.— Many are known, some very 
 persistent and of large size. So little has yet been done towards the 
 examination of these, that it is scarcely worth while attempting to 
 enumerate them. That known as the Big Bonaza, between Lowtree 
 Creek and Stout's Gulch ; the Stedman, at Richfield ; and an irregular 
 mass of quartz, at Mosquito Creek, have so far attracted most notice. 
 
 Cassiar District. 
 
 Stickeen River.— 54° to 56° N. lat, discovered in 1867. Highest 
 average yield per day, $4 to $5 {\6s. to 20.y.) ; bar and bench diggings. 
 A few claims being worked, but nearly exhausted. 
 
 Dease Creek. — Lat. 58° 42' 50" N. ; altitude 2750 ft. Discovered in 
 1873. Highest average yield per day, $8 to $50 (i/. I2.$'. to 10/.) ; gold 
 worth f 16 (3/. 6s. ?>d.) an oz. The richest claims are worked out, but mining 
 will be carried on for a good many years to come. Dease Creek has 
 probably yielded about $700,000 (140,000/.) in 3 seasons. Estimated yield 
 in 1877 season, about $125,888 (25,178/.) ; in 1880, $133,850 (26,770/.). 
 
 Thibert's Creek.— Lat. 58" 50' N. ; altitude 2750 ft. Highest average 
 per day, $8 to $50 (1/ \2s. to 10/.); gold worth $16 40c. (3/ Ss. ^d.) 
 an oz. Bar, bench, and creek diggings. A portion of the creek worked 
 out, but still paying well. Bench diggings recently discovered very rich 
 Yield up to 1 877 season estimated at $300,000 (60,000/). 
 
 Beady Creek. — Lat. about 58° 53' N. Discovered, 1874. I^ar diggings. 
 Prospects found, but no extensive mining ever done. 
 
 Eagle River. — Lat. 59° 6' 14" N. Discovered, 1874. Bar diggings, 
 undeveloped. 
 
 McDame's Creek.— Lat. 59° 15' 54" N. ; altitude of mouth 2550 ft. 
 Discovered, 1874. Highest average yield per day, $6 to $100 (24^-. to 
 20/) ; gold worth $17 75c. (74^.) an oz. Bar, bench, and creek diggings. 
 
6o 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 liii'ii- 
 
 i ^' 1 1 
 
 1^ ) 
 
 This is the most important creek in the Cassiar region, the yield 
 continuing about the same each year. It is being worked in places 
 for a distance of 15 miles, and will yield largely for several years. 
 Estimated yield for 2 seasons, $425,000 (85,000/.) ; for 1877 ."reason, pro- 
 bably $250,000 (50,000/.) This includes the yield for several of the 
 small creeks and tributaries of McDame : Somcrs Creek, Snow Creek, 
 Quartz Creek, Rosella Creek, Davies' Creek, and Gold Creek. 
 
 Snow Creek. — Altitude, 3400 ft. Discovered, 1875. Highest average 
 per day, $5 to $20 (1/ to 4/.); gold worth $18 (75^.) an oz. Bench 
 diggings, still mined extensively ; the richest claim in Cassiar, near 
 the mouth of this creek, has paid for a week as high as 300 oz. for 
 6 or 8 men ; 72 oz. washed out of one pan of dirt during 1876 .season. 
 
 Quartz Creek. — Altitude, 3550 ft. Discovered, 1875. Highest average 
 per day, $5 to $20 (1/ to 4/) ; gold worth $18 (75.?.) an oz. Bench 
 and creek diggings ; best claims worked out. 
 
 Rosella Creek. — Altitude, 3550 ft. Discovered, 1876. Highest average 
 per day, $5 to $15 (t/ to 3/) ; gold worth $18 25c. {76s.) an oz. Bench 
 and creek diggings ; best claims worked out. 
 
 Dennis Creek. — Altitude, 3500 ft. Discovered, 1877. Highest 
 average per day, $5 to $20 (i/. to 4/) ; gold worth $18 25c. {76s.) an oz. 
 Bench and creek diggings. Many miners here. 
 
 Patterson Creek. — Altitude, 4380 ft. Discovered, 1877. Highest 
 average per day, $5 to $20 (i/. to 4/), the gold being worth $18 (75J.) an 
 oz. A icw companies at work. 
 
 Gold Creek. — Altitude, 4300 ft. Discovered, 1877. Highest average 
 per day, $5 to $50 (1/ to 10/) ; gold worth $18 (75^.) an oz. Bench and 
 creek diggings, a few companies at work. 
 
 Slate Creek. — Altitude, 4320 ft. Discovered, 1877. Highest average 
 per day, $10 (2/) ; gold worth $18 (75.S-.) an oz. Bar diggings, one 
 company at work. 
 
 Somer's Creek, or Finst North Fork of McDame. — Altitude, 3000 ft. 
 Discovered, 1876. Highest average per day, $10 to $100(2/ to 20/) ; 
 gold worth $18 (75 J.) an oz. A large number of tunnels being worked, 
 with good prospects. 
 
 Third North Fork of McDame. — Altitude, 3200 ft. Discovered, 
 1877. Creek and hill diggings ; good prospects obtained, and several 
 companies testing. 
 
 Sayyeas Creek. — Lat. about 62° N. Discovered, 1875. Highest 
 average per day, $8 to $10 (32J. to 2/) ; gold worth $18 25c. {76s.) ; 
 abandoned, 1876. 
 
 Spring Creek. — Altitude, 3800 ft. Discovered, 1 877. Highest average 
 yield, $10 to $20 (2/, to 4/); gold worth $18 25c. {76s.) Hill diggings; only 
 one company working, but a very rich bench ; no prospecting yet in creek. 
 
 
 
;'*. 
 ■^ 
 
 AMERICA, N. : liKITISII COLUMBIA. 
 
 6i 
 
 fhcst 
 tOs.) ; 
 
 De Liard River. — Lat. 60" to 62" N. Highest average per day, $6 to 
 $8 (24s. to 3JJ-.) ; gold worth $18 (75^.)- ^^^ diggings, but little mining 
 done ; some tributaries being prospected. 
 
 Rapid River. — Lat. 60'' N. ; prospects obtained. 
 
 Omincca District. 
 
 Gcrmansen Creek. — Good pay in part of course ; some creek claims, 
 and part of work by hydraulic method on the benches. 
 
 Hansen River. — Only two companies at work in 1875, and making 
 less than wages. 
 
 Slate Creek. — Mii^ers stated to be making expenses in 1875. 
 
 Elmore Gulch. — Poor pay in 1875, two companies at work. 
 
 Lost Creek. — Little work in 1875. 
 
 Details of other localities wanting. 
 
 Kootenay District. 
 
 Wild Horse Creek. — Discovered in 1863 ; in 1864, ordinary claims 
 paid $20 to $30 (4/, to 6/.) a day per man ; work still in progress. 
 
 Perry Creek. — Discovered, 1867. Some good claims, and some work 
 still in progress. 
 
 Findlay Creek. — Good prospects ; but, owing to freshets, never 
 successfully mined. 
 
 Great Bend Country. 
 (Now almost abandoned.) 
 
 Games' Creek. — Joins Columbia River from E. Heavy gold, some 
 pieces worth as much as $14; mining on bars ; the bed-rock not being 
 reached on account of water. For a time, below the canon, the average 
 earnings were $15 (3/.) 
 
 French Creek. — Empties into Downie River about 20 miles from its 
 mouth. This was the richest in the district, and was worked both on 
 bars and to the rock. Average earnings as much as $100 (20/.) to the 
 hand for some time on the Half Breed claim. Worked out. 
 
 McCuller's Creek. — Joins Downie River 4 miles from French Creek ; 
 working on bars ; the bed-rock not reached on account of water. Pro- 
 bably as high as $100 (20/.) a day per man taken out in places, but 
 deposit irregular. Fragments of quartz containing gold were found 4 
 miles up the creek. 
 
 Other Districts. 
 
 Parsnip River. — Below its junction with the Nation River, draining 
 the Omineca country. This stream carries fine gold, which has proved 
 highly remunerative in some localities. 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
, I 
 
 i ; 
 
 4 1 
 
 
 hi 
 
 P. 
 
 'I il 
 
 .■if: 
 
 62 
 
 GEOGRAPIIICAL DlSTRinUTION. 
 
 Findlay River. — Fine gold found on all the bars, but the head waters 
 (where richer deposits may occur) have not been prospected. 
 
 Peace River, 1*^. of the Rocky Mountains. — Fine gold is found in some 
 abundance in places. Sclwyn thinks it may be derived from the 
 Laurentian axis to the N.E. 
 
 Fraser River. — I'^ine gold from its sources to the sea. Heavy gold 
 docs not extend far below Boston Bar, but is found in many places from 
 here to Lytton, also in spots from Lytton to the mouth of the Chilicotin. 
 Much gold is still obtained by Chinamen and Indians on the Fraser, and 
 it is probable that eventually, many of even the higher flats and benches 
 will pay for hydraulic work. Already much new ground was taken up 
 here in 1880. The heaviest gold pretty nearly coincides in its distribu- 
 tion with that of the slaty rocks of the Anderson River and Boston Bar 
 series. The largest nugget found above Lytton was obtained 10 miles 
 below Lillooet, and was worth $22 (gis. 8(f.) 
 
 McLennan's Creek. — (Thirteen miles from T6te Jaune Cache, 
 running into Cranberry Lake and thence to the Fraser). Gold found 
 in 1876. Giving wages of $4 to $5 (i6s. to 20s.) a day, but owing to 
 heavy boulders in stream, and expenses of all supplies, will not pay to 
 work. 
 
 Nechacco River. — Colours obtained near Fort Fraser, and abundant 
 near its junction with the Fraser River. 
 
 Chilacco River. — In certain banks near its mouth, 8 or 9 colours to 
 the pan may be obtained. A small quantity of heavy gold found in a 
 lateral creek by one of the men connected with the Canadian Pacific 
 Railway survey in 1876. 
 
 Chilicotin River. — Gold in some quantity is said to have been found 
 near the mouth of this stream. 
 
 Bridge River. — Gold found in heavy pieces, sometimes weighing i or 
 2 oz., and affording excellent mining on this stream for 10 miles up from 
 its mouth. One nugget is said to have been worth $300 (60/.) River 
 prospected to its source in early days, and though gold found in several 
 streams, not enough to justify work at that date. 
 
 Lillooet River. — Flowing into Harrison Lake. Some gold found here, 
 and at various points on the portages towards Lillooet. 
 
 South Thompson River. — Colours, it is said, can be obtained in all 
 the streams joining this river. 
 
 North Thompson River. — Colours found along its whole course, and 
 at Louis Creek, 30 miles from its mouth, on the E. side, gold has been 
 found in paying quantities. 
 
 Tranquille River. — Joining Kamloops Lake from the N. Heavy and 
 light gold obtained here ; about 60 Chinamen at work in 1876 summer, 
 getting good pay ; it is said to have given i oz. per diem at the mouth. 
 
 u 
 
AMF.RICA, N. : imiTISH COLUMniA. 
 
 63 
 
 Scotch Crock. — Joininfj Shuswap Lake from the N. Coarse gold 
 mined here a few years aj^o. 
 
 Main River Thompson. — Heavy gokl found on this river up to 
 Nicommen, where, it is bcHcved, the first gold in paying quantity in 
 British Columbia was found. This region chiefly workctl by the Indians 
 of the country, who have obtained many thousand dollars in .specially 
 favourable years. 
 
 Anderson River. — Some hea 'y gold at one time found 10 miles 
 above mouth, but not enough to i:ay. 
 
 Coquihalla River. — More or less heavy gold along whole course. 
 
 Nicola River — "Scale r^oid " for about 18 miles up from mouth. 
 
 Buonaparte River — A little mining done on a tributary east of 
 Clinton, but without encouraging result. 
 
 Hat Creek. — Small quantities of gold have been found here. 
 
 Horse-fly River — Good "prospects" here, and in 1876 a considerable 
 influx of miners, but without good returns. 
 
 Skagit River — Colour found in several places in 1858, but no 
 favourable indications. 
 
 Similkameen River — Gold found in .sharp and unwashed particles at 
 mouth in 1853 by Captain McLennan's party. In the canon near the 
 49th parallel, considerable quantity of gold got in 1858-59-60, the 
 largest piece weighing $22 50c. (4/. 13.?. gd.). This region, soon 
 abandoned by the whites, was worked for years by Chinamen. 
 
 Okanagan River — Scattered diggings formed in 1859-60, but .soon 
 abandoned, perhaps as much from want of water as anything else. 
 Miners say colours are found in every stream running into this valley. 
 
 Mission Creek. — Joining Okanagan Lake from E., yielded at a spot 
 3^ miles from its mouth, fine and coarse gold, assaying |i8 50c. {jjs.) ; 
 paid at one time from 2 or 3 oz. to $2 or $3 a day. Colours occur for 
 8 or 10 miles above this. 
 
 Rock Creek. — Rising east of Osoyoos Lake, and falling into the 
 Kettle River ; about a mile from its mouth, paid well, in some instances 
 yielding as much as $100 (20/.) a day, but generally I to 2 oz. Some of 
 the benches also paid, in one case yielding \ oz. a day to the hand during 
 the season's work. The best paying ground was where the creek crossed 
 a belt of soft slate rock ; in following it up, the cover was soft and deep. 
 
 Boundary Creek. — Joins Kettle River from E. Some very heavy 
 gold found here, and a good deal of prospecting done, but too much 
 " spotted " to be profitable. 
 
 Kettle or Nehoialpitkwa River — Colours and small quantities of gold 
 found in several localities on the main stream and on tributaries. 
 
 Seymour Creek, Burrard Inlet. — Some gold got here at one time, but 
 w( ck abandoned on account of water and quicksand. 
 

 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 Hiotographic 
 
 Sciences 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WiST »4AiN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.V. K^V 
 
 (716) •72-4503 
 
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64 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Prospect Creek. — E. branch Homathco River, above Tatlayoco Lake. 
 Some fine gold found here in 1875. 
 
 Lower Homathco River. — Colours obtained in various places. 
 
 Other Streams flowing from Cascade Range. — Details are wanting for 
 most, but it is probable that colours, at least, can be found in all. 
 
 Kelly's Lake Creek. — Specimens of quartz found near Clinton, assayed 
 $25 I2C. (5/. 4s. Sd) in gold, and $3 14c. (13J.) in silver, per ton. 
 
 Vancouver Island. 
 
 Leech River. — This stream has proved auriferous for 4 miles of its 
 length, where it runs along the strike of a belt of slates. Estimated that 
 $ioo,(X)0 (20,000/.) taken out, but no work now going on. The rich ground 
 was found in the modern river bed, and is supposed to be exhausted, or, 
 what may remain, too much spotted to pay. Banks of drift and cement 
 might possibly pay for working by hydraulic method. 
 
 Sooke River. — Below its junction with Leech River. Only fine 
 gold found here, and probably derived from Leech River slates. 
 
 Coldstream Brook. — Runs on strike of Leech River slates, farther E. ; 
 colours, but no pay, found here. 
 
 Jordan River. — Small quantities of gold have been found here. 
 
 Nanaimo River. — Attracted some notice in 1877, but does not appear 
 to have paid prospectors. 
 
 Other localities on Vancouver Island. — Good colours fou"H by the 
 Vancouver Island exploring expeditions on a stream entering Cowichen 
 Lake, on rivers falling into Barclay Sound, on the south side, and on 
 streams tributary to Puntledge Lake, near Comox. 
 
 Queen Charlotte Islands. — Gold-bearing quarti- found at Mitchell's 
 Harbour, lat. 52° 25' N. Some work done in 1853, but lode appears 
 to have run out. 
 
 The annexed table (pp. 66-7) shows the condition of the auriferous 
 industry of British Columbia in 1880.' It will be noted that no quartz 
 mining is being carried on. 
 
 Canada. — The gold-bearing region of Lower Canada was made the 
 subject of an elaborate report, from personal exploration, by A. Michel, 
 in 1866. It may be summarized under two heads, alluvions and veins. 
 
 Alluvions. — The auriferous alluvions of Lower Canada cover an 
 extended region ; in 1852, the Geological Commission had already shown 
 their occurrence over more than 10,000 square miles. The gravels, 
 through which the gold is very irregularly distributed, are generally 
 covered by a layer of vegetable earth, and often by a bed of clay. They 
 repose in part upon metamorphic Lower Silurian rocks, consisting of 
 schists, generally talcosc, micaceous, or chloritic, associated with diorites 
 and serpentines. But to the .southward, these Lower Silurian strata are 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 65 
 
 unconformably overlaid by others of Upper Silurian age, which arc also 
 covered by gold-bearing alluvions. These upper rocks consist of 
 argillaceous schists, with sandstones and limestones, all more or less 
 altered. The rocks of these two formations, but especially of the Upper 
 Silurian, are traversed by numerous veins of quartz, running in the 
 direction of the stratification, or between N.E. and E. 
 
 Many of the gold-seekers in the Chaudi^re Valley imagine an 
 analogy between the auriferous alluvions of Lower Canada and those of 
 California and Australia ; Michel would compare them with those of 
 Siberia, where, in the Ural and Altai Mountains, the auriferous sands are 
 rarely found reposing on granitic or syenitic rocks, as in South America, 
 but almost always on schistose rocks in the vicinity of diorites and 
 serpentines, which has led Russian mining engineers to consider the 
 gold as having "its principal source in the ferruginous quartz of the 
 metamorphic schists, and in the vicinity of the serpentines and diorites." 
 
 Alluvial gold has been profitably sought for in the Chaudi^re River 
 itself, at its junction with several rapid tributary streams. But it is at the 
 Devil's Rapids, where the Chaudi^re makes a sharp turn and runs west- 
 south-west, that gold has been most abundantly found in the cavities, 
 fissures and cracks of the clay-slates, which often form the bed, both of 
 this river and its tributaries, and are here seen running in the direction 
 just mentioned, forming parallel ridges which are uncovered in low water ; 
 at which times the country people are enabled to break up and search 
 these slaty rocks to the depth of several feet. The fissures of these rocks 
 are filled with a clayey gravel in which the gold is met with, and metal 
 to the value of several dollars has been extracted from between the layers 
 of the slate. In one of these bands of slate, which the country people 
 call veins, the gold is tarnished by a black earthy coating of oxide of 
 manganese. This deposit of alluvial gold occupies a distance of about a 
 mile of the river's bed, and is situated below the gold-bearing quartz vein 
 (described in Report for 1853-6, p. 370), and which is known in the 
 locality as the O'Farrell vein ; it has now been broken away down to the 
 level of the slates. Alluvial gold is found in greater abundance and in 
 larger pieces in its vicinity. 
 
 At the Devil's Rapids, an excavation on the right bank, and about 
 20 ft. distant from and below the Kennebec road, was opened, having the 
 slate rock for its floor, and continued for about 200 ft. in a hard alluvial 
 conglomerate cemented by clay. The whole amount of gold obtained 
 in this working was only about $150. Gold has also been found in 
 many places in the bed of the Chaudi^re at low water, and no doubt 
 companies willing to incur the necessary expenses mighC work with 
 profit certain portions of this river between the rapids just named and its 
 junction with the Du Loup. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ■Ill 
 
 i,k' * 
 
 Name of Bar, Gulch, Creek, or River. 
 
 Com- 
 panies 
 working. 
 
 Cariboo. 
 Barkerville Division : 
 
 Williams' Creek 
 
 Conklin's Gulch 
 
 Grouse Creek 
 
 Antler „ 
 
 Cunningham Creek 
 
 Lowtree ,, 
 
 Mosquito „ 
 
 Canadian „ 
 
 Hardscrabble ,, 
 
 Jack of Clubs , 
 
 Stout's Gulch 
 
 Sundry other Claims 
 
 Lightning Creek Division : 
 
 Coulter's Creek 
 
 Peter's „ 
 
 New „ 
 
 Barry „ 
 
 Burns 
 
 Chisholm ,., 
 
 Fountain ,, 
 
 Anderson ,, 
 
 Perkin's Gulch 
 
 Davis Creek 
 
 Swift Rivr r 
 
 Slough Cri k 
 
 Montgomery Creek 
 
 Nelson Creek 
 
 Cottonwood River 
 
 Last Chance Creek 
 
 Basford ,, 
 
 Dead Wood , 
 
 Ruchon „ 
 
 Lightning „ 
 
 Kcithley Creek Division: 
 
 Snowshoe Creek 
 
 Keithley 
 
 North Fork, Quesnelle River 
 
 South „ ,, 
 
 Quesnelle River, upper 
 
 Various Gulches and Bars 
 
 QuesnellemouOh Division : 
 
 Quesnelle River, lower 
 
 Fraser River, Quesnelle to Soda Creek . . . ■ 
 
 Eraser River, abive Quesnelle 
 
 Hickon Creek an I Tributaries 
 
 Desultory mining 
 
 Cassiar. 
 I<akcton Division : 
 
 Dease Creek • 
 
 Thibert „ 
 
 Defot , 
 
 McDame Creek Division : 
 
 McDame and adjacent Creeks 
 
 LiLLOOET. 
 
 Fraser and Bridge Rivers 
 
 McGilvery Creek, Anderson Lake 
 
 Indian and Chinese mining (no records) . . . . 
 
 KOOTENAV. 
 
 Wild Horse Creek 
 
 Perry „ 
 
 Weaver ,, 
 
 Palmer's Bar 
 
 Kami.oops. 
 
 Tranquille River 
 
 Yalb and Hope. 
 Fraser River and Tributaries, Hope to 34-mile Bar 
 
 Ominbca. 
 
 Manson Creek 
 
 Black Jack Creek 
 
 Germansen ,, 
 
 Vital „ 
 
 Various Creeks and Gulches 
 
 as 
 3 
 
 4 
 15 
 
 4 
 4 
 5 
 
 I 
 I 
 4 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 3 
 I 
 4 
 3 
 
 3 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 3 
 I 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 35 
 
 ag 
 
 13 
 61 
 
 as 
 
 >3 
 
 II 
 
 4 
 7 
 I 
 
 4 
 373 
 
 Com- 
 panies 
 getting 
 gold. 
 
 ao 
 3 
 3 
 
 »3 
 
 4 
 4 
 5 
 I 
 
 3 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 5 
 5 
 
 Com- 
 panies 
 pros- 
 pecting. 
 
 35 
 29 
 
 13 
 
 a3 
 
 II 
 4 
 7 
 I 
 
 4 
 371 
 
 Average numV it 
 
 of men employed 
 
 during season. 
 
 Whites. Chinese 
 
 70 
 16 
 >3 
 87 
 
 4 
 
 30 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 39 
 
 30 
 »4 
 
 68 
 35 
 
 >45 
 
 aS 
 
 39 
 
 's 
 
 8 
 30 
 16 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 3 
 6 
 
 >S 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 6 
 6 
 
 3 
 16 
 
 40 
 
 44 
 38 
 30 
 40 
 
 130 
 31 
 
 75 
 50 
 
 113 
 
 7a 
 
 5 
 
 Rate of Wages. 
 
 Whites. 
 
 Chinese. 
 
 747 
 
 59 
 6 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 30 
 
 .. 
 
 13 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 »4 
 
 6 
 
 X4 
 
 3 
 
 « c. 
 
 4 00 
 
 4 ■» 
 
 4 00 
 
 1,313 
 
 3 SO 
 
 5 00 
 *, 
 
 6 00 
 
 6 00 
 
 3 00 
 11 
 
 4 00 
 4 00 
 
 S c. 
 
 350 
 
 6 00 
 
 a so 
 3 00 
 
 a 50 
 3 00 
 
 a so 
 3 00 
 
 a so 
 
 3 00 
 
 3 so 
 
 3 50 
 
 3 00 
 
 H 
 
 4 00 
 4 00 
 
 I SO 
 
 3 00 
 ** 
 
 3 00 
 I 00 
 
 3 00 
 
 I 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 67 
 
 
 Nature of Claims. 
 
 How worked. 
 
 Value of 
 Gold per 
 ounce. 
 
 Estimated 
 value of 
 yield for 
 the year. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hy- 
 draulic. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bar. 
 
 Creek. 
 
 Bench. 
 
 Hill. 
 
 Rocker. 
 
 Sluices. 
 
 Shaft. 
 
 Tunnel 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S c. 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 IS 
 
 
 a 
 
 «S 
 
 S 
 
 3 
 
 16 00 
 
 79iOoo 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 . ■ 
 
 
 • ■ 
 
 • • 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 f» 
 
 34,700 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 •5 75 
 
 9,800 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 9 
 
 • • 
 
 
 14 
 
 .. 
 
 1 
 
 .. 
 
 ■ 6 50 
 
 16,500 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 • • 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 16 00 
 
 6|300 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 • • 
 
 17 00 
 
 31,300 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 . . 
 
 • ■ 
 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 . • 
 
 • • 
 
 17 35 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 • • 
 
 
 • • 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 16 00 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 >• 
 
 
 • • 
 
 I 
 
 ■ • 
 
 .• 
 
 17 00 
 
 3,500 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 
 • • 
 
 • . 
 
 4 
 
 .. 
 
 16 35 
 
 16,100 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 • • 
 
 " • 
 
 
 •• 
 
 t 
 
 a 
 
 • ' 
 
 17 00 
 
 8,400 
 34,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2I91OOO 
 
 
 
 *• 
 
 ■ ■ 
 
 I 
 
 
 • • 
 
 *• 
 
 • • 
 
 I 
 
 17 SO 
 
 aoo 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 
 a 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •■ 
 
 17 00 
 
 900 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 17 00 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 ' * 
 
 
 a 
 
 '• 
 
 3 
 
 , , 
 
 17 35 
 
 17 00 
 
 3.700 
 1,800 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 
 a 
 
 :: 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 " 
 
 5.700 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 
 a 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 17 00 
 
 1,800 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 • • 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 •■ 
 
 .. 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 5. 500 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 * ' 
 
 • • 
 
 16 75 
 
 17 »5 
 
 3.300 
 400 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 • • 
 
 •• 
 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 17 00 
 
 700 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 
 • • 
 
 . • 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 n 
 
 ao,745 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 t 
 
 
 5 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 ., 
 
 '• 
 
 It 
 
 4.74° 
 945 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 '• 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 . . 
 
 a 
 
 , , 
 
 ,, 
 
 I 
 
 17 60 
 
 I|IOO 
 
 
 
 
 a 
 
 I 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 a 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 *t 
 
 3i300 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 a 
 
 6 
 
 •• 
 
 a 
 
 •• 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 17 00 
 
 35,400 
 
 79iSJ- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 '• 
 
 '• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 17 00 
 
 44,100 
 
 
 
 
 " ■ 
 
 , , 
 
 :: 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 * • 
 
 • • 
 
 , , 
 
 17 40 
 
 16 SO 
 
 19,300 
 8,300 
 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 n 
 
 10,400 
 
 11,000 
 
 SiOOO 
 
 981O00 
 
 
 
 
 
 • ■ 
 
 • . 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 .. 
 
 16 50 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 »o 
 
 ,, 
 
 «4 
 
 • • 
 
 ;; 
 
 ;; 
 
 • • 
 
 16 00 
 
 iS to 17 so 
 
 • • 
 
 7.700 
 181OOO 
 
 iSiOoo 
 Siooo 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 75 1700 
 
 
 ., 
 
 30 
 
 , , 
 
 5 
 
 .. 
 
 34 
 a6 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 S 
 
 ij 40 
 
 60,900 
 
 
 
 • * 
 
 •5 
 
 
 «4 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 • • 
 
 3 
 
 i6 00 
 
 57.900 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 II 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 ■' 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 • • 
 
 •' 
 
 17 00 
 
 15.000 
 
 1331800 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 41 
 
 •• 
 
 «9 
 
 •• 
 
 60 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 17 00 
 
 130,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I20|000 
 
 
 '• 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 • • 
 
 • • 
 
 3 
 
 •. 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 16 00 
 
 9.100 
 
 
 
 
 ' * 
 
 ' ' 
 
 •' 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 16 50 
 
 700 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 * * 
 
 * * 
 
 • ' 
 
 • • 
 
 '• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 7»i7oo 
 
 82,500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 S 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 .. 
 
 .• 
 
 18 00 
 
 16,000 
 
 
 
 " * 
 
 ' ' 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 • ■ 
 
 .• 
 
 • « 
 
 N 
 
 3iOOO 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 •• 
 
 .. 
 
 It 
 H 
 
 IiOOO 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IQiSOO 
 
 
 ■■ 
 
 4 
 
 • • 
 
 •• 
 
 •" 
 
 4 
 
 •• 
 
 •■ 
 
 •• 
 
 16 00 
 
 3,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 a, 000 
 
 
 
 
 
 * ' 
 
 * • 
 
 • • 
 
 •• 
 
 '• 
 
 •• 
 
 15 00 
 
 10,800 
 
 10,800 
 
 
 
 
 ' • 
 
 • ' 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 .. 
 
 16 00 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 
 •• 
 
 .. 
 
 . • 
 
 ., 
 
 . , 
 
 , , 
 
 •• 
 
 • • 
 
 •• 
 
 It 
 n 
 
 6,500 
 15,000 
 13,700 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 178 
 
 50 
 
 8i 
 
 31 
 
 305 
 
 4« 
 
 '5 
 
 31 
 
 
 5,600 
 
 45.800 
 
 
 
 886,630 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 . :l! 
 
 f; :^ 
 
 The Guillaume or Des Plantes River is bounded from the upper to the 
 lower fall by high banks, and from its junction with the Chaudi^re to 
 the greater fall, more than a mile from the high road, its course is succes- 
 sively over serpentine, diorite and crystalline schists. The bed of this 
 rapid stream, which is filled with boulders and pebbles of various dimen- 
 sions, has been advantageously wrought for gold by the country people, 
 and Dr. James Douglas also undertook some years since a regular 
 working above and near the little fall. This was, however, abandoned 
 after having yielded $2500 to $3000 in gold. The washing of pans of 
 gravel from the bed of this stream generally yielded grains of gold, with 
 the black sand which ordinarily accompanies it in this region. A com- 
 pany of five, labouring for 20 days at a point a little above the working 
 of Dr. Douglas, obtained between 8 and 9 oz. of gold from the gravel 
 accumulated in the re-entering angles and cracks of the diorite. At 
 the same time, another company working somewhat higher up got 
 little or nothing. At this latter place the auriferous gravel was found 
 resting not on the bed-rock but on the bluish clay ; and, so far as has 
 been observed in Lower Canada, the alluvions overlying the clay 
 are generally poor. The gravels between the lower fall and the 
 Chaudi^re have not been examined, on account of a mill to which the 
 working would be prejudicial. 
 
 Up to 1866, the Gilbert or Touffe-des-Pins River had been the scene 
 of the most important workings, and had yielded the largest amount 
 of gold. In ascending this stream, which is a torrent at certain seasons, 
 but easily examined during the dry summer, are found the remains of 
 workings undertaken, 16 years before, by Dr. Douglas, which then 
 furnished considerable quantities of gold, and would not have been aban- 
 doned but for the want of skilful management. A company of miners 
 took up this old working in 1 866, but their explorations were not long 
 continued, notwithstanding certain satisfactory results, among which may 
 be mentioned a nugget of 6 oz. weight. 
 
 On the concession De Lery is a rich deposit of alluvial gold which 
 has been recently (1866) wrought. An excavation made by Michel 
 to determine the limits of this deposit was rectangular in form, 8 by 
 1 2 ft., and was carried to the bed-rock, a depth of 7 ft. Three distinct 
 layers were met with : first, I ft. of sandy vegetable soil ; second, a 
 yellowish sand with pebbles ; third, a clayey gravel containing gold, the 
 latter layers having each a thickness of 3 ft. The washing — by means of 
 a rocker — of 100 cub. ft. of this gravel, gave only 17 gr. weight of gold, 
 the greater part of which was extracted from the fissures of the 
 sandstone which formed the bed. About 40 fathoms further up 
 the stream, a company undertook explorations, which employed 6 
 workmen, cost $3(X), and gave but 2 oz. of gold ; yet 4 miners 
 
 '*' 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 69 
 
 extracted 3 oz. of gold in a week, from an excavation not 25 ft. to the 
 right of this spot 
 
 The rich alluvions of the Gilbert, which were wrought in 1863 and 
 1864 with considerable success (although the results were exaggerated 
 by the spirit of speculation), are now ( 1 866) considered to be exhausted. 
 They were found on the lots 16 to 20 of the concession De Lery. To 
 form a notion of this area, the deposit may be regarded as enclosed in a 
 rectangle, having for its length the breadth of the lots just mentioned, 
 and for its breadth a measure of 180 ft, including the width of the river 
 and a distance of 80 ft on either side. This area is divided like a chess- 
 board, into squares, each of which is occupied by a working. Many of 
 these squares have been wrought with profit, and some have given results 
 of exceptional richness, while the yield in the adjacent squares has been 
 much less, many not having paid the expenses of excavation ; thus 
 showing both the irregularity of the working and the irregular distribu- 
 tion of the gold over the area. 
 
 In 1863 there were 100 to 120 gold-miners on the Gilbert, divided 
 into companies of 4 to 10. Their workings consisted of a series of open 
 excavations 10 to 15 ft deep, and of dimensions varying according to the 
 number of workers. These open pits wt .e sunk side by side, without 
 method or regularity. While large quantities of gold were extracted from 
 these excavations, a great quantity was lost and left behind. The walls, 
 often of considerable thickness, which separate the different pits, consti- 
 tuted in themselves a considerable volume of untouched alluvion ; and to 
 this must be added the gold which was lost by imperfect washings. In 
 1865, a wooden flume, 1800 ft long, 4 ft wide, and 3 ft. deep, was con- 
 structed to carry away from a higher point the waters of the stream, thus 
 leaving its channel dry, and, at the same time, to afford water for washing 
 the alluvions. After an expenditure of about $15,000 (3000/.), the owners 
 made an open cutting in the dried-up bed of the stream from lot 16 to 
 lot 18, and extracted thence about $2500 (500/.) in gold. 
 
 A fact which is not without importance for the future of gold- 
 mining in Lower Canada, is the subterranean working of the alluvions 
 during the winter season. This was attempted in the winter of 1 864-65 
 by about 30 miners, divided into companies of 4 to 6. By the aid of pits 
 and galleries, they were able to carry on their search for gold throughout 
 the winter, and to extract and wash a large quantity of gravel, in which 
 the gold was so abundant as to richly repay their energy and perseve- 
 rance. Amongst others was a mass of gold weighing a little over i lb. 
 The pits on the Gilbert, 15 in number, and all on lot 18, were opened on 
 the left bank, at distances of 50 to 100 ft from the stream, and sunk to 
 the bed-rock, a depth of 20 to 25 ft. They were connected by galleries-, 
 one of which, draining the whole of the works, carried the water into a 
 
70 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I . 
 
 pit, whence it was pumped into the river. The auriferous materials were 
 washed in rockers, generally at the bottom of each pit. Some gold was 
 found in the gravel which covered the slates and sandstones, but the 
 greater part was extracted from the fissures in these rocks. The same 
 was true in most of the rich workings on this river, and particularly on 
 lots 19 and 20, where, of two layers of gravel, separated by a stratum of 
 bluish or yellowish clay, only the lower one w is auriferous. The bed- 
 rock, formed of interstratified clay-slates and sandstones, is sometimes 
 broken up to the depth of 5 or 6 ft. ; in its joints and between its laminae, 
 where the gravel has penetrated, and often become indurated, gold has 
 been found in the greatest abundance, and in the largest masses. 
 
 It seems to be established that the rich deposit of the Gilbert River 
 has for its upper or northern limit lot 21 of the concession De Lery 
 beyond which point, so far as examined, the alluvions, although gene- 
 rally more or less auriferous, are not workable. The irregularity in the 
 distribution of gold in the gravel is noticeable throughout the region, but 
 appears more marked on the Gilbert than elsewhere. 
 
 Although the greater portion of the gold which has been found here 
 is in small grains and scales, masses have been found from i oz. up to 
 5 oz., and even i lb. in weight. It appears, from the smooth, rounded and 
 worn condition of its surface, that the original source of this gold must 
 be somewhat remote. Michel remarked that where the layer of gravel is 
 found resting on che bluish clay with boulders, it is poor, but becomes 
 richer when reposing directly upon the bed-rock ; while in the case of 
 two layers of gravel separated by a stratum of this clay, the upper layer 
 is generally without gold, while the lower is more or less auriferous. The 
 constant absence of gold from these clays, which are associated with the 
 auriferous gravels, was certified to him by numerous miners, and con- 
 firmed by the washing of no less than 100 cub. ft. of the clays taken from 
 his exploring pits at different levels, and even from the surface of the 
 bed-rock itself These clays, however, contain, besides numerous pebbles 
 and boulders, notable quantities of cubic pyrites, black ferruginous sand, 
 and grains of garnet. 
 
 Alluvial gold has also been found in the greater part of the streams 
 falling into the left ba;.k of the Chaudi^re, and among other places 
 in the townships of Tring, Shenley, and Dorset, and in the river Bras. 
 
 The district drained by the waters of the Famine and Du Loup, as 
 far as the frontier of Maine, has been the subject of numerous explora- 
 tions. The richness of the alluvions of the Du Loup was shown by the 
 workings at its confluence with the Chaudi^re in the years 1850-51-52. 
 All the tributaries of the Du Loup hold the precious metal in their 
 sands ; and it has also been found in many of the tributary streams of 
 the Chaudi^re in the townships of Jersey and Marlow. 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 7> 
 
 The existence of gold has been reported on the River Magog above 
 Sherbrooke, also along the St. Francis valley, from the vicinity of 
 Melbourne to Sherbrooke, and in the townships of Westbury, Wccdon, 
 and Dudswell, as well as on Lake St. Francis. 
 
 It would appear from the results of Michel's examinations, as well as 
 from the information received from the country people who have sought 
 for gold in this vicinity, that although the alluvions of the Magog may be 
 said to be auriferous, the precious metal in them is in too small quantity 
 to warrant working. Exceptionally rich deposits, which are found in all 
 alluvial gold regions, and of which that of the Gilbert is a striking example, 
 may however of course be met with. 
 
 The rule which appears to govern the distribution of alluvial gold in 
 all other regions where it has been wrought, holds good in Lower Canada. 
 Here, as elsewhere, the layers of alluvion which contain the precious 
 metal are not continuous, but occur in sheets or belts of greater or less 
 extent, and of variable thickness. The proportion of gold in these sheets 
 or belts is also far from uniform and regular, the richer portions being 
 m.;t with in patches more or less remote and isolated from each other. 
 The auriferous gravels appear, from their composition and distribution, to 
 result from a general alluvial action. In the crushed and pulverized veins 
 of the neighbouring hills, which make up the auriferous alluvions of the 
 valleys, the gold is often so capriciously and irregularly distributed that 
 the results of a week's working in some favoured spot will amply compen- 
 sate the miner for months of unprofitable toil in poorer ground. These 
 general facts are illustrated by the rich deposits met with in several places 
 of the Chaudi^re region, as at the Des Plantes, Gilbert, and Du Loup, and 
 it can hardly be supposed that in so vast a region, these are exceptional 
 cases. From these considerations, Michel deems it proper to encourage 
 the search for alluvial gold, in the hope of discovering other rich deposits, 
 especially when such workings may favour the discovery of the veins 
 which have furnished the precious metal. 
 
 Quartz Veins. — The old rock formations, upon which the gold-bearing 
 alluvions of Lower Canada repose, contain numerous veins or bands of 
 quartz, which run ordinarily in the direction of the stratification, N.E. 
 and S.W. Although these veins, with their encasing rocks, present 
 numerous outcrops, they are concealed from view, over large areas, by a 
 covering, variable in thickness, of vegetable soil or other superficial 
 deposits, so that trenches or excavations become necessary to follow their 
 course. It is especially in the slates and sandstones of the Upper Silurian 
 series that these veins have been observed in the greatest numbers. The 
 thickness and aspect are very variable. The quartz, however, is generally 
 white, although sometimes coloured by oxide of iron, apparently due to 
 the decomposition of some foreign mineral, which has given to the mass 
 
w 
 
 i 
 
 'I 
 
 i \ 
 
 III 
 
 I 
 
 I! 
 
 
 
 
 r" 
 
 li,i 
 
 "!■ 
 
 i'i ' 
 
 i' It 
 
 72 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 a cavernous or carious structure. Some of these veins seem almost free 
 from foreign minerals, while others contain metallic sulphurets, such as 
 cubic pyrites, arsenical pyrites, blende, argentiferous galena, and some- 
 times native gold. It appears also from the analyses published by the 
 Geological Survey that the pyrites and blende are sometimes auriferous. 
 
 The Reports of the Survey have shown the presence of native gold 
 both in the veins belonging to the crystalline schists of the Lower Silurian 
 near Sherbrooke, in Leeds, and in St. Sylvester in the seigniory of St. 
 Giles, and in those traversing the Upper Silurian rocks in the seigniory 
 of Aubert-Gallion (St. George), and in that of Vaudreuil at the Devil's 
 Rapids in the Chaudi^re. While thus establishing the presence of gold 
 in the veins of both the upper and lower formations, both of which might 
 have contributed to the auriferous alluvions, the Reports express an 
 opinion ihat the greater part at least of the alluvial gold of Canada is 
 derived from the Lower Silurian rocks. In support of the facts just cited, 
 several specimens containing visible grains of native gold in vitreous 
 copper have been extracted from a quartz vein which crosses the two 
 concessions known as "The Handkerchief," in the seigniory of St. Giles. 
 But inasmuch as visible gold has also been found in the veins of the 
 Upper Silurian rocks, and as the largest specimens of gold in the gangue 
 yet found in Canada are from the vein at the Devil's Rapids, Michel 
 believes it desirable to explore carefully all this part of the auriferous 
 region, in the hope of favourable discoveries. 
 
 A jh the veins attracting most attention are in the seigniory of 
 
 Vauvl numbers of £l"iilar quartz veins are found all the way south- 
 
 ward to the frontier ; and many have been discovered in the seigniories of 
 Aubin-Delisle and Aubert-Gallion, and in the townships of Jersey, Marlow, 
 Lini^re, and Metgermette. Several outcrops of quartz appear along the 
 Kennebec road ; and at low water many of them can be seen in the beds 
 of the Famine, Du Loup, and their tributary streams, such as the Oliva, 
 the Metgermette, and others. 
 
 The townships and seigniories which are the subject of the preceding 
 remarks, are on the right bank of the Chaudi^re ; but the veins for the 
 most part appear to cross the river, for many outcrops of them occur on 
 the road from St. Joseph to St. George, as well as on the shores and in 
 the bed of the Chaudi^re. Several of these have already been followed, 
 and uncovered on the left bank, especially in Vaudreuil and Aubert- 
 Gallion. Other outcrops are seen on the road from Vaudreuil to Lake 
 St. Francis, in the townships of Tring, Forsyth, Aylmer and Lambton. 
 
 Of the specimens of quartz veins collected by Michel and assayed by 
 Dr. Hunt, the following are worth recording : — 
 
 I. Vaudreuil, lot 21, concession St. Charles: powerful vein, running 
 N.E., with very slight S.E. dip ; 18 ft. wide. Gold, mean of 4 assays, 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 73 
 
 6 dwt. 13 gr. = $6 76c. (28J. 2</.) ; another sample, with visible gold, 
 4 oz, 18 dwt. = $101 29c. (21/. 2s.); average of 5 assays, $25 66c. 
 (5/. 6s. lid.) per ton. 
 
 2. Vaudrcuil, lot 19, concession St. Charles: vein in clay-slate, 
 running N.E. with S.E. dip, 24 ft. thick at outcrop. Gold, mean of 
 4 assays, 4 dwt. 21 gr. = $5 3c. {20s. iitf.); mean of 2 others, with 
 visible gold, 3 oz. 2 dwt. = $64 yc. (13/. 6s. iid.)\ mean average, 
 $24 71C. (5/, 2J. 1 1^.) per ton. 
 
 3. Vaudreuil, lot 20, concession De Lery : vein 7 to 8 ft. wide between 
 clay-slate walls, running N.E. with S.E. dip. Gold, mean of 2 assays, 
 14 dwt. 16 gr. = $15 15c. (3/. 3J. id.) per ton. 
 
 4. Lini^re, lot 2, range i : mass consisting of several veins 4 to 6 in. 
 and even i ft. wide, with intervening portions of wall-rock, running N.E., 
 with S.E. dip. Gold, mean of 2 assays, 6 dwt. 13 gr. = $6 76c. 
 (28J. 2d.) per ton. 
 
 With regard to gold in Lower Canada, Michel arrives at the following 
 conclusions : — 
 
 1. The auriferous deposits which cover a great region in Lower 
 Canada, in all probability contain, particularly in the valley of the 
 Chaudi^re, considerable areas whose regular and methodic working on a 
 large scale by hydraulic processes may be made remunerative ; in addi- 
 tion to which, limited deposits of exceptional richness, such as have been 
 already found, may be looked for. 
 
 2. Although the examination of the alluvial gold from the deposits 
 hitherto worked does not permit us to attribute its source to veins of 
 quartz in the immediate vicinity, it is nevertheless established that this 
 aHuvial gold is derived from the rocks of the region. 
 
 3. The existence of native gold having been established, alike in the 
 veins of the altered Upper and Lower Silurian rocks of the district, the 
 search for gold-bearing veins should not be confined to a few localities, but 
 may be extended with probabilities of success to the ;vhole area occupied 
 by the altered rocks of these two divisions. 
 
 An elaborate report on the Leech River district was prepared by 
 Dr. G. M. Dawson, in 1876-7. Leech River was discovered to be 
 auriferous by R. Brown's Government exploring expedition, in the 
 summer of 1 868. It attracted much notice, and it is estimated that about 
 $100,000 (20,000/.) worth of gold was obtained from it in a comparatively 
 short time. Houses and stores were erected under the supposition that 
 it would prove a permanent mining region, but it is now abandoned. 
 
 Very little gold has been found on the Sooke River, above its junction 
 with the Leech ; while, below, scales of gold occur on all the bars. On 
 the east and west reaches of Leech River, the greater part of the gold was 
 obtained, and, in turning up the North Fork, it rapidly diminished 
 
74 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (1 i ■ 
 
 I : 
 
 |i I 
 
 in quantity, — no pay being found above a fall known as the Devil's 
 Grip. 
 
 Tlie east and west portions of the Leech take their course along the 
 strike of soft, blackish schists, which appear to form the southern margin 
 of the slaty belt, and to these dark rocks must be attributed the gre iter 
 part of the gold. The valley is narrow, in places almort V-shaped, and 
 rises very steeply on its southern side, which appears to be formed by 
 hard trappean rocks. While the strike of the soft rocks explains the 
 course of this part of the river, its noi them branch, and the north and 
 south direction of the Sooke, seem to be due to remarkable systems of 
 parallel cracks, which have affected the rocks without causing much dis- 
 placement, and are best exem^^ lifted at the caiion on Sooke River. 
 
 Although the southern portion of the belt of schists appears to be 
 characterized by the preponderance of blackish beds, there are also con- 
 siderable intercalated masses of greenish-grey rooks, like tnose of Gold- 
 stream Bridge, and the general appearance of the beds near Kennedy Flat 
 is so precisely that of those of the Bridge and its vicinity that there seems 
 no reason to doubt that the same horizon is represented in both places. 
 At the mouth of Wolf Creek — ^joining the Sooke from the east, nearly 
 opposite Kennedy Flat — the compact trappean rocks are again found 
 bordering the slaty belt to the south. The material is here a fine-grained 
 felsitic trap or indurated volcanic ash, shot through with epidoic seams 
 and stains. Its dip is N. io° E. Z 54°, being almost opposite in direc- 
 tion to that previously observed in these rocks near their junction with 
 the slates. In following the auriferous belt to the North Fork, the rocks 
 were observed to have the following attitudes in order from east to 
 west : — Dip N. 17° E. Z 45° ; dip N. 22" E, Z 60° ; dip N. 30° E. Z 
 80° to vertical ; dip N. 17° E. Z 80° ; dip N. 22° E. Z 70°; dip N. 20° 
 E. Z 80° ; strike S. 58° W., vertical. 
 
 In all parts of the slaty belt quartz veins abound, and in the black 
 schists of Leech River are especially numerous, though small. A band of 
 slates is often characterized by small thin streaks of quartz, and little 
 lenticular bunches through all its layers, without showing any well- 
 marked large vein. The quartz holds little pyrites, though it is some- 
 times superficially rusty, and Dr. Dawson could not learn that gold had 
 ever been found in any of the veins. Just north of Kennedy Flat is a 
 broad quartz band, resembling a lode, but which, from its lamination and 
 compact aspect, more probably represents a zone of the slaty rocks 
 silicified. It contains no metallic minerals. 
 
 Adding to the east and west reach of the Leech River, about i J miles 
 of the North Fork, the total length of the stream on which gold in any 
 quantity has been found is about 5 miles. As far as Dr. Davson could 
 learn, all the good " pay " was obtained in cleaning up tjie bed of the 
 
 ' '-I 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 75 
 
 river itself, and by " crevicing " in the pot-holes, pockets, and fissures of 
 the slates of the sides of the valley. This distribution of the Rold seems 
 to follow naturally f'-om the steep sides of the valley and its small width, 
 and it docs not appear that rich finds were made on any of the terraces 
 and banks far above the stream, though a good deal of prospecting work 
 was done on somr of them. The greatest quantity of heavy gold seems 
 to have been obtained near Bacon Bar, about half-way between North 
 Fork and Kennedy Flat. At the last-named locality, the gold was nearly 
 all light and scaly. 
 
 Judging from appearances, the gold of the Leech River rocks has 
 been pretty generally diffused in small quartz seams, through certain 
 parts of the slaty rocks, of which a great mass has been worn down and 
 removed during the excavacion of the valley, leaving the heavy gold, by 
 a natural process of concentration, in a narrow line in the bottom of the 
 excavation. It may, therefore, vory a . '1 be that no veins exist suitable 
 for mining operations, though the deposit - of the valley have been so rich 
 in some places. At the same time, t^ ; finer particles of gold are very 
 generally diffused through all the surface <'<^posits, and one can generally 
 find 2 or 3 " colours " to a pan of dirt taken from the modern deposits 
 near the river level, or from the decomposed " cement " far up the slopes. 
 
 Little pyrites is found in association with the gold, and no particles of 
 galena were observed ; while magnetic sand is also present in rather small 
 quantity, especially on the lower part of the river near its junction with 
 the Sooke. In quality, the gold is remarkably good. 
 
 There is little doubt that some rich spots yet exist in the neighbour- 
 hood of Leech River ; but they must be comparatively quite limited in 
 extent, and, from the nature of the country, difficult to find. Dr. Dawson 
 was told that, in most cases, the miners were content to go no lower in tae 
 bed of the Leech than the surface of the cement, which in some places 
 passes completely under it. In this case, it is highly probable that an 
 auriferous horizon, at least equally rich with the upper, exists on the 
 surface of the true bed-rock. The steep-sided character of the valley pre- 
 cludes the possibility of the existence of extensive old channels following 
 different courses from the present stream ; but, on the south side of the 
 river, near its mouth, a gravel flat occurs, where, in the opinion of miners, 
 the river at one time flowed. This opinion may very probably be well- 
 founded, and if the ground is not very difficult it might be worth testing 
 it. It is also not improbable that, by hydraulic work, a great part of the 
 cement and benches near the river would be found remunerative. The 
 possible existence of auriferous veins — rich enough to pay for working 
 in this part of the country, which, in respect to its position, has great 
 advantages over the inland districts — should also be borne in mind, though 
 nothing of a very encouraging nature can yet be said on this subject. 
 

 
 li! 
 
 : 
 
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 : 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 i ■: ' 
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 if 
 
 It 
 
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 t 
 
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 76 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 In regard to the general relations of the auriferous belt, it may be 
 stated to intervene between the dioritic and felspathic rocks of the 
 Victoria series on the north, and the traps, amygdaloids, and breccias of 
 the Sooke series on the south, though its relations to either of these 
 systems cannot yet be certainly stated. 
 
 Though rather irregularly distributed in the slaty belt, gold, in paying 
 quantity, is probably confined to it ; which renders its definition, both on 
 the map and in its relations to the neighbouring rocks, a matter of some 
 importance. It is quite possible that several parallel folds may occur 
 within the width of the belt of gold rocks, and that variations in its width 
 and character may depend partly on these. In only two places has the 
 attitude of the rocks of the Sooke series been ascertained near their junc- 
 tion with the gold rocks. In one case, they dip in a direction almost 
 exactly opposite to them ; and, in the second, dip with them, and might 
 be supposed to pass under them conformably. 
 
 Copper ores and gold are intimately associated in the following locali- 
 ties : — In Lake township, where the diorites, green slates, dolomites, and 
 mica-slates are very extensively developed, copper ore occurs in a great 
 number of localities, and with it gold is always intimately associated. 
 At the Richardson gold-mine — Madoc, — on lot i8 in the sth concession, 
 both the yellow and purple ores of copper are associated with the green- 
 stone which occupies the western portion of the lot, while towards the 
 centre of the eastern portion gold was at one time obtained in large 
 quantities from the " gossan " which filled the crevices in a very cavernous 
 ferruginous dolomite. Here it was also closely associated with white 
 finely-granular mispickel or arsenical pyrites, through which yellow 
 sulphuret of copper was disseminated. At the Empire mine, at Madoc 
 village, tetrahedrite was found irregularly distributed through a very 
 siliceous brown weathering dolomite, and was both auriferous and argen- 
 tiferous, some of the analyses indicating large percentages. 
 
 In Marmora, copper ore was found in traces in a number of localities 
 along the western margin of the granite area known as the " Huckleberry 
 Rocks," and here it was associated with mispickel, which is highly auri- 
 ferous, but contains little silver. 
 
 At Elzevir, in the vicinity of Bridgewater, copper ore again occurs 
 in a number of places, and also gold in small quantity. 
 
 In the south-eastern corner of the township of Palmerston, a rather 
 important vein, carrying a large proportion of copper pyrites, was met 
 v/ith on the western half of lot 2 in the pth concession. It is closely 
 associated with dark-greenish hornblende rocks, and some glossy and 
 rusty mica-slates, and the gangue is largely composed of translucent 
 quartz, which appears to be divided into layers by intervening strings 
 of iron and copper pyrites. Calcite also occurs abundantly in bunches 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 77 
 
 and layers. Oliver, of Perth, who is interested in this location, says that 
 gold is found by analysis to be present in sufficient quantity for profitable 
 extraction. No official analyses of the ore have yet been made. 
 
 From an extremely interesting report by Richard P. Rothwell on the 
 Canada Consolidated Gold Mining Company's mines, it appears that 
 about 30 miles north of the city of Belleville (which is situated on Lake 
 Ontario), and in the township of Marmora, Ontario, is found a belt of 
 gold-bearing quartz veins, which have been shown to contain immense 
 quantities of ore of a highly profitable quality. The mines are situated 
 on the Moira River, in a well-wooded, rolling, agricultural country, where 
 the roads are good and level, and the distance to the railroad, at the 
 town of Madoc, is about 10 miles, and to Stirling, on another railroad, is 
 about 16 miles. 
 
 The gold-bearing veins are quartz-filled true fissures in syenitic 
 granite, with micaceous or talcoid slates forming the walls of, and horses ^ 
 in, the veins. This talcose slaty rock is the product of the chemical 
 decomposition of the syenite along the fissure, where it and quartz form 
 the gangue for an arsenical gold-bearing iron pyrites (mispickel). The 
 magnesia of the talc comes from the hornblende in the syenite. The 
 mispickel is found generally in a crystalline form, though sometimes in 
 heavy amorphous masses running in beds through the quartz. Con- 
 siderable quantities of crystallized calc-spar occur irregularly in the veins. 
 
 Some 4 or 5 parallel veins have been proved to exist in a belt of 
 500 or 600 ft. in width, running through the property of the company for 
 a length of over | mile, while the main vein has been opened on adjoin- 
 ing properties, making a total proved length of this great fissure of about 
 3 miles on the vein, a fact which, next to actual sinking, may be con- 
 sidered the best proof of the continuance in depth of the veins. Three 
 of these veins have been proved on this property by costine pits and 
 shafts sunk at short intervals along their outcrops, to depths varying 
 from 15 to 150 ft. In this manner, the east or main vein has been 
 thoroughly explored over a length of about 800 ft. by shafts of 40 to 
 1 50 ft. in depth ; these have, in every case, been in pay-ore all the way ; 
 their lowest points are now in as good ore as has been found on the 
 property ; and they have shown this vein to have a thickness exceeding 
 ?o ft. in many places, and averaging probably 10 or 12 ft ; while the 
 middle and west veins, though smaller, have still apparently a thickness 
 of 3 ft. and upwards. On the Hawkeye property, the west vein has been 
 opened to a width of about 1 2 ft. at a depth of about 60 ft. 
 
 The gold is found as free gold principally in the arsenical sulphurets, 
 but it occurs also in the quartz, where it is often plainly visible. The 
 proportion of sulphurets to quartz in the vein has been ascertained by 
 repeated tests ; it varies from 10 to 60 per cent, in weight of the entire 
 
78 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ■M 
 
 !' k 
 
 I ': 
 
 Urn 
 
 I! I . ■. in 
 
 vein-stuff, and these sulphurets carry from 30 to several hundred dollars 
 per ton, while the entire filling of the vein, without any sorting whatever, 
 has been found, by careful sampling of over 600 tons in 5-ton lots, to 
 run from $10 to $25 (2/. to 5/.) gold per ton and average about $20 (4/.). 
 Selected samples have been found to carry over $1000 (200/.) to the ton ; 
 but the conclusions arrived at have been based solely upon working 
 results, on large quantities of the ore treated just as it came from the 
 mines without any selection whatever, and they are believed to represent 
 figures which will be realized steadily in actual working operations. 
 
 The veins are beyond all doubt true fissures in syenitic granite — very 
 similar to the mines of Cornwall, Saxony, and other parts of the old 
 world, where they have been worked with profit for hundreds of years — 
 while their great proved length and thickness on this property put 
 beyond any reasonable doubt their continued productiveness to the 
 greatest depths. 
 
 It is not, of course, expected that the veins will be of uniform thick- 
 ness throughout, or that the ores will be equally rich in every place ; on 
 the contrary, the fissures will open out in some places and pinch in others, 
 and the ore itself will be far richer in some parts of the vein than in 
 others ; but the fact that not a single one of the 5-ton samples (repre- 
 senting over 600 tons) carried less gold than would leave a handsome 
 profit after deducting the cost of mining, milling, and loss iri treatment, 
 justifies the belief that pay-ore will be found throughout the entire length 
 (nearly 1000 ft.) already proved of the main chimney. 
 
 The ores are in that condition in which they occur to the greatest 
 depths, and their richness, with the usual fluctuations, has thus far in- 
 creased as depth has been attained. The yield is more than double that 
 of the Homestake, Black Hills, Dakota, ores (that come from somewhat 
 similar veins) which have paid such magnificent returns during t'lC past 
 two years, that the stock of that company is even now (August, 1880), 
 when every mining stock is depressed, selling at the rate of over 
 $3,ooo,cxx) (600,000/.) for the property. 
 
 Gold was first discovered in the Marmora district in 1865, as free gold 
 in quartz and mispickel, and sporadic attempts have since been made at 
 two or three points to treat the ores, chiefly by raw amalgamation. As 
 might have been anticipated from the nature of the ore, but a very small 
 proportion of the gold was saved in this way ; while the expense of treat- 
 ment in the little primitive mills adopted was great, and the loss of quick- 
 silver was heavy. There wa? neither experience nor technical knowledge 
 available at the time, and ,10 sufficient capital to put up suitable works 
 or to d'^velop the mines ; hence they have lain idle all these years without 
 a single serious effort to work them on an economical basis. Neverthe- 
 less, many tests of the ores were made, some on quite an extensive scale. 
 
AMERICA, N. : CANADA. 
 
 79 
 
 in reduction works in the United States and England, and the results were 
 invariably highly satisfactory ; so much so, indeed, that the owners of the 
 only developed properties, though financially unable to work the mines 
 themselves, esteemed them so highly that they would not sell at such a 
 price as would offer an inducement for others to purchase. By consoli- 
 dating a large number of tracts, and thus making a property of suflficient 
 magnitude to justify the establishment of large works, these valuable 
 ores have been made available. 
 
 Assays of average samples quoted by Rothwell show the presence of 
 gold in proportions varying from $15 to $100 (3/. to 20/.) per ton (of 
 2000 lb.), when dealing with large lots (several tons) of the undressed 
 ore; while samples of the pure mispickel reached $753 (150/.) and 
 even $2920 (584/.) per ton of 2000 lb. The crushed and concentrated 
 ore is roasted in a revolving furnace, and chlorinated or amalgamated. 
 
 An auriferous quartz vein, on which a shaft has been sunk by the 
 Shebandowan Mining Company, exists on location H, near Jackfish 
 Lake, lying 15 miles west of Shebandowan Lake. At this shaft, the 
 vein has a width of 5 ft. of solid quartz, which, however, divides into 
 three branches to the north-eastward. The vein carries considerable 
 quantities of copper and iron pyrites, galena and silver glance, and is rich 
 in visible gold. Numerous assays of the ore show very rich proportions 
 of both gold and silver, but it has not yet been tested on ? large scale. 
 In the neighbourhood of the shaft, this vein is enclosed in soft talcoid 
 slate, which is flanked on either side by chloritic slates. These again 
 are associated with dioritic, argillaceous, siliceous and porphyritic slates, 
 and also with massive diorite, porphyry, slate-conglomerate and granite. 
 There are likewise bands cf magnetite and quartzite. On location H, the 
 vein has been proved for nearly J a mile, and its apparent continuation 
 has been traced for about 8 miles farther, varying greatly, however, in 
 richness. Its general course is about N. 60° E. (ast.), while the slates, 
 which dip northward, at angles varying from 60° to 80°, run rather more 
 easterly, so that the vein intersects them at a small angle, and varies in 
 character in crossing the different bands. The formation is Huronian. 
 
 In a location on Partridge Lake, a small sheet of water a few miles 
 west of the western arm of Lac des Mille Lacs, the vein consists of white 
 quartz, averages 5 ft. in width, and runs north-eastward with the strike 
 of the talcoid schists which enclose it. Greenish mica-schists with the 
 same strike are met with on the south side of the lake, while granite 
 occurs on an island a short distance to the north of the vein. The vein 
 holds iron and copper pyrites, besides the gold, which occurs in dissemi- 
 nated grains. Specimens assayed in the Geological Survey laboratory 
 contained about $30 {61.) worth of gold to the ton of 2000 lb. No trials 
 have as yet been made on a large scale. 
 
So 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i I 
 
 1 Ijiii 
 
 I. i 
 
 An outcropping vein at Victoria Cape, on the west side of Jackfish 
 Bay (opposite to the Slate Islands), Lake Superior, is i| to 3j ft. thick, 
 and runs N. 55° E. It is heavily charged with iron pyrites, and also 
 holds galena and blende. The country-rock is a light-red granite with 
 green dioritic slate in close proximity to it. The discovery of gold in 
 this locality was only made last summe^ but the vein has been un- 
 covered for a distance of 500 ft., and shows a vertical section of 60 ft. 
 in a neighbouring cliff. An average of assays of the white and the dark 
 parts of the veinstone gave $27 (5/. 8s.) gold and $7.78 silver per ton. A 
 smaller vein, a short distance S.E. of the above, yielded $ 140.33 (28/. is. 4d.) 
 gold and $17.62 (3/. 13J. $d.) silver to the ton, and shows free gold. 
 
 A sample receivec from P^che village, Wakefield township, Ottawa 
 county, was a white (with occasionally a bluish or greyish tinge), 
 translucent quartz, traversed by small veins of a light-green coloured 
 apatite, and in parts coated with hydrated peroxide of iron. Native 
 gold was readily discernible ; it occurred sometimes in the quartz, and at 
 other times in the oxide of iron, or else at the junction of the two. The 
 assay gave 11725 oz. of gold per ton of 2000 lb., and 52*323 oz. silver. 
 
 Another sample from the northern point of a large island in the Lake 
 of the Woods, about 12 miles south-east of Rat Portage, was a quartz 
 penetrated by delicate needles of hornblende, with some greenish chloritic 
 matter, and a little calcite. It contained distinctly visible gold, and 
 assayed 37'3i8 oz. of gold per ton of 2000 lb., and 1*43 1 oz. silver. 
 
 The official statistics of the exports of gold-bearing quartz, gold- 
 dust, nuggets, &c., from the dominion of Canada in 1872-79 were as fol- 
 lows :— 1872, 257,175/. ; 1873, 215,678/. ; 1874, 223,734/ ; 1875, 334.539/- ; 
 1876, 306,675/; 1877, 247,724/; 1878, 214,898/; 1879, 196,686/ It is 
 impossible to say what proportion of this was contributed by British 
 Columbia and other districts outside Canada proper, or what quantity 
 found its way to San Francisco overland, and became included in United 
 States statistics. 
 
 Manitoba and the North-West Territory. — Dr. Harrington found 
 traces of gold in the iron pyrites which Dr. Bell collected (1877) from a 
 small vein cutting the gneisi on a point about one mile south of Great 
 Whale River ; also from thai in other small veins in the dolomite which 
 forms Dog Island, close to the main shore, a few miles north of Cape 
 Jones. The drift of the Little Whale River valley appeared to show in- 
 dications of alluvial gold, but numerous pannings at the first fall and 
 elsewhere failed to bring any of the precious metal to light. 
 
 When gold was found in the Saskatchewan River, near the Rocky 
 Mountains, it was presumed to have been washed from auriferous veins 
 in those mountains. But this view proved incorrect. Professor Hind, 
 who explored the country for the Government in 1858, says in his report 
 
 ■1 ; •', 
 
 .!:!li; 
 
AMERICA, N. : MANITOBA AND N.W. TERRITORY. 
 
 8l 
 
 that he discovered in St. Martin's Lake, a small sheet of water lying 
 between Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg, gneissoid rocks, traversed by 
 quartz and felspathic veins, and that these being gold-bearing rocks, he 
 searched for it ; but nothing was fovnd, probably owing to the lack of 
 time. The deduction which he draws from the later discovery of gold on 
 the plains of the Assiniboine is, that the precious metal has been conveyed 
 with the drift from ranges of gold-bearing rocks running parallel with the 
 Lake Winnipeg basin, and the Laurentian formation on the eastern side 
 of the lake, and extending to the north-west beyond Lake Athabasca. 
 He considers it certain that all over the drift of the plains, from Lake 
 Manitoba to the Rocky Mountains, gold will be found ; though, as a 
 matter of course, the wideness of the field can only be ascertained by 
 at-tual mining or erations. Governor Dallas is said to have washed gold 
 at Fort Edmonton, on the Saskatchewan. 
 
 On hearing of the discoveries on the Saskatchewan, &c.. Dr. Hector, 
 who accompanied the Palliser Exploring Expedition, gave it as his 
 opinion that the gold deposits had been washed from the shingle terraces 
 along the eastern base of the mountains, where, it is believed, the precious 
 metal is most abundant. 
 
 On ascending the Saskatchewan, there is a gradual disappearance of 
 the boulders of granitic, gneissic, and other crystalline rocks, simultane- 
 ously with which the auriferous character of the drifts likewise dies out ; 
 and Selwyn was credibly informed that no gold could be found on the 
 North Saskatchewan above Rocky Mountain House, though it had 
 frequently been prospected for by experienced miners. The first gold- 
 washings which he saw in descending the river were rather more than 
 40 miles below the mouth of the Brazean ; and thence to Edmonton, and 
 for some miles further down, more or less gold has been found on the 
 bars, and in the river banks, but always in a very finely divided state 
 showing evidence of having been transported from afar. Even as far 
 down as Carlton, gold can, he believes, be found, though not in quantities 
 suflficient to pay for working. On the South Saskatchewan, at the 
 crossing-place, about 20 miles S.E. of Carlton, he washed out a few 
 minute specks of gold from the gravel in the bed of the river — small red 
 garnets, with a considerable quantity of magnetic iron sand, constituting 
 the bulk of the residue in the pannings. It would thus appear that the 
 gold of the Saskatchewan has not been derived from the mountains at 
 its source, but from the drifts composed of granitoid gneiss, with horn- 
 blendic and micaceous schist, quartz and limestone, which are spread over 
 the face of the country for hundrec _ of miles, and which must have been 
 themselves largely derived from the denudation of the great belt of 
 Laurentian and other crystalline rocks, which extends from the shores of 
 Lake Superior north-westerly to the Arctic Sea. 
 
 G 
 
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 82 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The fact that the fjeneral direction of the glacial striae is S.W.-ward, 
 and the drift derived from rocks iti situ N.E.-ward, have an important 
 bearing in tracing any useful mineral, which may be found in the drift, 
 to its pareni source. As just stated, no gold has been detected in the 
 streams forming the sources of the Saskatchewan, in the Rocky 
 Mountains, or near their eastern flank, while it has been traced in the 
 North Saskatchewan and its northern tributaries, from the neighbourhood 
 of Rocky Mountain House to the Forks. Bell was informed by various 
 miners, who have spent much time in exploring, that they have detected 
 fine gold in almost every stream they tried between the two great 
 branches of the Saskatchewan from the longitude of Edmonton to the 
 Forks. He himself found minute specks at the Elbow of the South 
 Branch, and at one place in the Red Ochre Hills. As far as known, 
 however, the gold appears to be most abundant about Edmonton. It is, 
 no doubt, washed out of the drift, and as there is little probability of its 
 having come from the unaltei ^d strata underlying the plains, it is to be 
 inferred that it has been derived from the crystalline rocks to the N.E.- 
 ward, probably somewhere between the Methy Portage and Athabasca 
 Lake. These rocks lie at a distance of only about 250 miles from 
 Edmonton in that direction. Free gold is known to occur in veins in the 
 Huronian rocks to the north and north-west of Lake Superior. The 
 bands of Huronian rocks in all this region run in a south-westerly 
 direction, or at right angles to the general trend of their outline from 
 Lake Winnipeg to Lake Athabasca. Sir John Richardson, in his 
 "Journal of a Boat Voyage through Rupert's Land," mentions the 
 occurrence of rocks corresponding with the Huronian gold-bearing bands ; 
 and it appears probable that they run in belts having a south-westerly 
 course. He is therefore of the opinion that the gold found about Edmonton 
 is derived from veins in Huronian strata in the neighbourhood of Lake 
 Athabasca, or between this lake and the Methy Portage. The fact of 
 the Huronian rocks running in belts, whose direction nearly coincides 
 with that of the drift, would account for its somewhat local distribution. 
 
 Gold has been procured, from time to time, in various places and in 
 paying quantities, both along the Parsnip and the Peace rivers. It 
 always occurs in very fine, uniform-sized particles, quite similar in 
 character to that found on the Saskatchewan, and is probably entirely 
 derived, here as there, from the Drift deposits and Tertiary gravels of 
 Division I. (C^inozoic — Superficial deposits and Lignite-Tertiary group, 
 including the upper volcanic serie3), which are cut through, washed, and 
 re-distnbuted by the present river action. 
 
 The Buffalo mountains, lying south-east of Vermilion, are said to 
 contain gold and silver, and both are reported from the neighbourhood 
 of Fond-du-Lac. 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEW BRUNSWICK. 
 
 83 
 
 New Brunswick. — Gold has been reported as occurring at several 
 points in the metamorphic rocks of Albert County, but no reliable data 
 can be obtained. Specimens of supposed gold, examined, in nearly every 
 case proved to be iron pyrites. Many of the quartz veins, however, 
 show traces of galena, and resemble those of the auriferous area of Nova 
 Scotia ; and the occurrence of visible gold in the quartz pebbles of the 
 Carboniferous conglomerates of the coast would lead to the inference that 
 diligent search may yet be rewarded, although washings made at several 
 points by Ells did not disclose any traces of gold. 
 
 In Charlotte County, about 1 50 yd. north-east of the Oliver Lodge, 
 another metalliferous vein is exposed on the top of a low ridge of 
 chloritic diorite. The underlie of this vein is S. 35° E. Z 65°. It carries 
 sulphuret of copper (chalcopyrite) in a gangue of quartz, with some calc- 
 spar and foliated chlorite. It also contains native bismuth, native 
 copper (in the chlorite), carbonate of copper, and sulphuret of iron. 
 Samples of this ore, analysed under Dr. T. S. Hunt's directions, at the 
 Geological Survey Office, in Montreal, yielded 10 per cent, of bismuth 
 and $5 (i/.) to the ton of gold. The yield of copper, from samples 
 analysed by Prof. Nichol, of Halifax, was 29^ per cent. 
 
 W. S. Shea has given a detailed account of his explorations into the 
 gold-bearing gravels of certain river-valleys in the Counties of Victoria, 
 Northumberland, Carleton, and York, in Central New Brunswick, and has 
 been able to draw therefrom the following inferences : — (i) That the gold 
 in these alluvial deposits is derived from the quartz veins penetrating the 
 rock of the district ; (2) that the gravel, which contains pebbles of all 
 sizes, is derived from the disintegration of the rocks of the district ; and 
 (3) that, judging from the richness in gold of paying drift in California, 
 it is probable that these auriferous gravels will pay also. 
 
 Professor Hind mentions (1865) the discovery of gold in small 
 quantity at several points in the Nipisiguit in the drift, but in no case did 
 the washings indicate its existence in paying proportions. Quartz veins 
 are very numerous throughout the whole extent of the metamorphic 
 rocks in northern New Brunswick, many of which were broken up and 
 carefully examined by R. W. Ells in 1879-80; but no visible gold was 
 observed in any of them. The great majority of these veins are small 
 and irregular, and often of the nature of short gash-veins. Washings at 
 various points frequently disclosed the existence of black sand, with 
 which gold is often associated ; but gold was not found, though many 
 persons have been deceived by the occurrence of small scales of yellow 
 mica and minute particles of yellow pyrites. Explorations have been 
 carried on irregularly for a number of years, apparently without any 
 satisfactory results. 
 
 A company, during the summer of 1879, however, professed to have 
 
 G 2 
 
**J 
 
 84 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 found quartz In one of the branches of the Nipisiguit, that yielded 
 jjold at the rate of $5 (i/.) per ton ; and subsequently carried on 
 operations on the Millstream, 8 or 10 miles from Bathurst, in rocks 
 of presumed Cambro-Silurian age, the result of which has not yet been 
 published. 
 
 On some of the streams in the county of Northumberland, good 
 specimens of gold-bearing quartz are reported to have been picked up 
 several years ago ; and the number and aspect of the quartz veins at 
 several points renders the occurrence of this metal probable. On the 
 Little South-west MiramichI, a fine specimen of gold is said to have 
 been found, about 3 miles above the North Branch, and not far below 
 a heavy rapid, known as Main's Ledges ; while on the Main South- 
 west, several small pieces have been obtained a few miles above Boies- 
 town, but the locality whence these were originally derived has not been 
 ascertained. 
 
 Newfoundland. — In his Report for 1868, Alexander Murray, C.M.G., 
 endeavoured to draw attention to the quartz veins at sundry places in 
 the peninsula of Avalon, from their resemblance to the recognized 
 auriferous strata of Nova Scotia; but it is only since 1880 that any 
 attempts have been made to prove the ground. 
 
 The formation is serpentine, belonging to what is termed, in Canadian 
 geology, the " Quebec group " of the Lower Silurian basis, the great 
 metalliferous formation of North America. Where no serpentine exists, 
 it is vain to look for ore. The ore in Newfoundland occurs in beds or 
 pockets — not in veins — and, in the localities already opened, is extracted 
 with great facility. Howley estimates the total area of the serpentine or 
 ore-bearing formation at 5000 square miles. Murray says that the 
 experience of the late investigation convinces him more than ever that 
 many of the northern parts of the island, and the great bay of N6tre 
 Dame in particular, are destined to develop into great mining centres, 
 should capital and skilled labour be brought to bear in that direction. 
 The north shore of Conception Bay, 2 miles from Brigus, and in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of Brigus Lookout, has been the principal 
 scene of his investigations. Here, after a careful examination, he selected 
 a ledge of quartz which seemed the most promising. A hole was drilled 
 underneath it, and the first blast detached 2 or 3 cub. ft. of quartz, with 
 chloritic patches. In this mass, within an area of a single cubic foot, 10 
 " sights " of gold were obtained. The fragments of quartz were put into 
 a bag, and on shaking it out afterwards, a small piece of gold weighing 
 4 gr. was found, which had been detached by friction in carrying it to 
 Brigus. The quartz veins, in one of which the gold was found, are 
 reticulated over a considerable area, and intersect a green felsite mag- 
 ncsian slate of the Huronian age. They vary from i in. to i ft. in 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEWFOUNDLAND, NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 85 
 
 tion. 
 
 the 
 cipal 
 cted 
 illed 
 with 
 >t, 10 
 
 into 
 [hing 
 it to 
 are 
 
 lag- 
 
 t. in 
 
 breadth, 'f he veins frequently intersect one another, and at the points of 
 intersection form a knot or boss. It was in one of these knots that the 
 gold was found. The quartz holding the gold particles is associated with 
 a dark-green chlorite, and in the chlorite patches the gold is seen finely 
 distributed. The reticulated veins of quartz are chiefly limited to an area 
 of country nearly i mile in breadth, and 3 miles in length, extending 
 from Brigus Lookout in a south-west direction. Various reports are in 
 circulation to the cfifcct that gold has been found at a much greater 
 distance inland, in the same direction. 
 
 Murray also visited Fox Hill, about 2 miles from the former locality, 
 and obtained a gold specimen which had been found there by a resident. 
 From an examination of the district, and the evidence furnished, he i.s 
 strongly of opinion that there is here an area of country 6 miles in length, 
 and I mile in breadth, which, if judiciously explored and properly 
 worked, will be found auriferous. He further says that a large arc;i of 
 country in the region referred to is auriferous, although nothing short of 
 actual mining and practical experience can possibly prove what the 
 value of the produce may be, or whether the prospects of obtaining a 
 remunerative return for the necessary outlay are favourable or otherwise. 
 The specimens which have been obtained, although an unquestionable 
 evidence of the presence of the precious metal, cannot by any means be 
 taken as indicative of a certain average yield. But the indications are 
 certainly suffiiciently favourable to merit a fair trial ; and there are good 
 reasons to hope and expect that ample capital applied to skilled and 
 judicious labour may be found remunerative to future adventurers, while 
 a new industry will be added to give employment to the labouring 
 population of the island, and possibly bring this despised and but little 
 known colony into more prominence and consideration abroad than it 
 hitherto has enjoyed. 
 
 Nova Scotia. — All matters relating tc gold in Nova Scotia have been 
 ably reviewed by Gilpin, in his work on Nova Scotia mines (1880), and 
 subsequent reports ; it is impossible to do better than summarize from 
 him. See sketch-map, Fig. 5. 
 
 The Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, from Canso to Yarmouth, is 
 occupied by a series of measures presenting a rough, undulatory surface, 
 diversified by numerous lakes and rivers, and arms of the sea running far 
 into the land. The width of this district varies from 10 to 40 miles, and 
 its area may be approximated at 6500 square miles. In this district, are 
 large belts of a rock, commonly called " granite," the limits of which have 
 not yet been defined ; but it is believed to form an irregular band, 
 extending in a curve from Sambro to Cape Sable, and to form another 
 interrupted belt, running from Waverley to Cape Canso. These bands 
 are estimated by Prof Hind to cover about one-half of the district. 
 
86 
 
 GEOGRAI'HICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Sclwyn remarks that the gold-bearing series in Nova Scotia closely 
 resembles the Cambrian and Lingula-flag series of North Wales, also 
 auriferous. The lower members of both series, in both countries, consist 
 of a succession of thick, bedded, greenish-grey, fclspathic grits and 
 sandstones, or quartzites, with intercalated bands of shale ; and these arc 
 
 Fig. s- 
 
 
 Sketch-Map of Nova Scotian Gold-fields. 
 
 similarly overlaid conformably by black, earthy, pyritous slates and 
 sandy beds. On the south-west shore, measures occur, as near Yarmouth, 
 apparently belonging to the Quebec group. 
 
 Poole divides the former of Selwyn's series into two, the lower con- 
 sisting of slates and grits, crumpled, contorted, and cleaved transversely 
 to the laminae, and holding lodes not yet found productive ; in the upper, 
 quartzites predominate, and productive lodes occur. These measures are 
 all metamorphosed, and especially so at certain points, as Cochran's 
 Hill, Sherbrooke district, where the slates have become steatitic or 
 talcose schists, with rutile, garnets, &c. 
 
 This great series of strata has been thrown into well-defined east and 
 vilest undulations, and again disturbed by transverse waves. The elevated 
 points of intersection of these forces having been denuded, the lodes of 
 gold-bearing quartz occur as sets of irregular ellipses. Prof. Whitney 
 notices a similar connection of Californian lodes, with eroded anticlinals ; 
 
AMERICA, N. : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 87 
 
 and a corresponding arrangement has been observed in the Black 
 Hills. 
 
 The lodes present white, vitreous, opaque or milky quartz, differing 
 very much in colour and structure, according to the varying conditions 
 under which it is found. At Renfrew, it sometimes occurs crystallized 
 and showing banded vein structure, or holding pieces of slate, &c. The 
 lodes contain, as accessory minerals, arsenides and sulphides of iron and 
 lead, blende, copper pyrites, oxide of iron, copper glance, molybdenite, 
 native copper, sulphur, chlorite, felspar, garnets, micr, calcitc, felsite, 
 &c. ; not, however, in quantities of economic importance. 
 
 Some lodes are apparently destitute of mineral matter, and hold but 
 traces of gold. These are usually white and massive, vitreous to 
 granular, and occur sometimes 1 5 ft. in thickness. The thinnest single 
 lode worked is, perhaps, the Irving, at Mooseland, which varies in 
 thickness from i to i in. A lode 20 in. thick is considered a large one. 
 
 The gold occurs in the lodes in spots and bunches of the free metal, 
 of every shape and size, up to 60-oz. nuggets. It is also present in the 
 accompanying metals, as fine scales among their layers and crystals. It 
 is stated to occur crystallized ; among some specimens from Fifteen Mile 
 Stream, Gilpin noticed one, apparently a pseudomorph after a crystal of 
 cubic pyrites, J in. square. 
 
 The precious metal is not confined to the lode ; for in both slate and 
 quartzite walls, crevices have been found holding gold, and but little 
 quartz. Frequently where there are two or more lodes in slate, it is 
 found profitable to crush the intervening slate also, which holds gold in 
 laminai, and in the almost omnipresent mispickel. The quartzite forming 
 the hanging-wall of some lodes has also been seen to hold fine gold close 
 to the lode. 
 
 The age of the beds holding the auriferous lodes of Nova Scotia 
 is not yet determined. Geologically speaking they remain, in spite 
 of many ingenious speculations, an unknown land. At first they were 
 regarded as Middle or Lower Silurian ; afterwards as Laurentian. At 
 present, adopting the provisional divisions of the Geological Survey, they 
 are considered of Cambrian age. The ages of these rocks, unfortunately, 
 cannot be determined by the imperfect and ill-preserved fossils that have 
 been found ; their mineralogical characteristics are not to be relied upon 
 for such a classification. Knowledge of the structure of the gold-fields is 
 lamentably deficient, as well as concerning the question of the depth to 
 which the lodes hold gold in paying quantity. Taking Tangier at the sea- 
 level, and Mount Uniacke 560 ft. above the sea, it is unknown at the 
 present moment what relative line they mark in the downward extension 
 of the lodes. 
 
 Another important point in connection with the lodes is whether they 
 
88 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIbUTION, 
 
 tire beds or true veins. The former view has been advanced by 
 Dr. Sterry Hunt, Prof. Hind, and others, who consider them similar to 
 the Virffinia and North Carolina deposits, as described by Profs. Silliman 
 and Emmons. On the other hand, Selwyn considers them true veins ; 
 and his view is supported by Poole. 
 
 The last-named authority remarks that mining operations are not 
 confined to the bedded leads, for rich streaks of paying quartz have been 
 followed in cross-leads, and in what arc called "angling" leads. As a 
 rule, true cross-leads of later age than the true leads arc barren, or contain 
 but a few pennyweights of gold. Their influence, or that rather of some 
 so-called cross-leacis, on the productiveness of a regular lead, is often 
 remarked on ; but cross-courses of later date are not always distinguished 
 from contemporaneous connecting bands of quartz filling transverse 
 fractures of the same age as the bedded leads. The effect of cross-leads 
 on the productiveness of regular leads is worthy of note. For instance, 
 at the junction of a cross-lead with the IJelt lead at Montague, some 
 rich spots gave as high as 40 oz. to the ton. 
 
 Where slates predominate, and there arc few alternating beds of 
 quartzite, the leads arc almost invari' ' 'v barren, or so sparsely spotted 
 as to be unprofitable to work. Angling Is are met, which cross the 
 quartzitcs abruptly, and the slates grac. ally, proving rich in various 
 instances in one or other of the containing rocks. 
 
 In the working of the regular leads, inequalities characteristic of veins 
 are met with. Late operations at Wavcrley exposed a regular " horse " 
 of quartzite, and in one part of the foot-wall a roll of compact quartz 
 8 ft. wide, which in parts yielded handsomely. From the roll, a number 
 of strings of gold-bearing quartz were found to ramify in all diiec- 
 tions into the foot-wall of quartzite. One spot immediately below 
 this roll gave 90 oz. from a lot of 5 tons ; other strings in the foot-wall 
 yielded largely. At a fault in this lead, drusey cavities contained 
 crystals of quartz, galena, calcite, and iron pyrites. To mention one 
 other instance, the West Lake at Uniacke contained a pocket beneath 
 a swell in the lead 5 ft. wide, so rich that one crushing of 13 tons yielded 
 234 oz. 
 
 Often there is a narrow band of slate next the lead, which is called 
 "gouge," on account of the ease with which it is extracted with a thin, 
 long-pointed pick. Its fissile nature probably is due to disturbance at the 
 time the lead was formed. Thin leads have been known to taper out, 
 and what may be called their continuation to start in the side slate, and 
 expand to the original thickness from beyond the termination of the 
 quartz at first worked. While many of the gold-bearing leads are 
 regular and persistent for hundreds of feet, and lie parallel with wonderful 
 uniformit}', a careful following shows local troubles. Breaks and disloca- 
 
AMERICA, N : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 89 
 
 tions of the strata arc not uncommon ; and while many undoubtedly arc 
 of later age, some appear to be contemporaneous. 
 
 The distinctive features of the yold-leads of Nova Scotia, arcording 
 to Poole, are their general conformability with the slate and quartzitc 
 beds, and their regularity, suggesting that they are rather beds than 
 veins. Hut there arc characters that point to their being true veins in 
 spite of these features, and they are the following. The roughness of the 
 planes of contact between quartz and slate and quartzitc ; the crushed 
 state of the slate or gouge on some foot -walls ; the irregularity of their 
 mineral contents ; the terminations of the leads ; the effects of contem- 
 porary dislocations, and the influence of stringers and off-shoots on the 
 richness of the leads : characters that, singly or collectively, it would be 
 difficult to account for, associated with a stratified deposit. 
 
 The experience of all the miners, both native and from Australia and 
 the Western States, is united in calling the lodes true veins. 
 
 The presence of gold in a Lower Carboniferous conglomerate at Gay's 
 River, would show that some of the veins of Nova Scotia at least are of 
 prc-Carboniferous age. On the other hand, there is no reason why other 
 veins in the province may not be even of Tertiary date, or immediately 
 preceding the formation of the auriferous alluvions. 
 
 Alluvial gold-mining has not been carried on in Nova Scotia in any 
 degree commensurate with the value of the auriferous deposits which arc 
 in a greater or less degree known to exist, and which, in all probability 
 occur to a much larger extent than is generally supposed. An impression 
 has arisen that the greater part of the gold-districts present nothing but 
 rocky, denuded areas, without any, or at least very small, drift deposits. 
 The contrary is the case in some districts ; and numerous wide-spread 
 surfaces exist where alluvial gold-mining cannot fail to be pursued with 
 great profit, if sufficient capital is embarked in the enterprise. 
 
 Drift deposits are found at Waverley, upwards of 50 ft. deep ; aiid at 
 Tangier similar deposits exist, which have already yielded remarkable 
 returns, and have been abandoned on account of want of means to cope 
 with the influx of water. Where rich gold-bearing lodes are exposed 
 near the surface, in the valleys adjacent to such exposures, or in crevices 
 in the rocky surfaces, the gold from the denuded lodes must have accu- 
 mulated by its gravity. It has been alleged that the greater part of the 
 former auriferous drift of Nova Scotia has been carried by recent 
 denuding action into the Atlantic, and now forms the submarine banks 
 of the coast. This has certainly no foundation, and Selwyn confidently 
 asserts that bare rock surfaces are not more prevalent in the gold-districts 
 of Nova Scotia than they are in similar districts in Australia. In the 
 latter country, the gold-bearing veins are invariably accompanied by rich 
 alluvial deposits ; while in Nova Scotia \hv dctrital deposits which 
 
90 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 certainly occur under precisely similar conditions, are almost invariably 
 said to be unproductive. Perhaps the gold has not yet been sought for 
 with suflRcient intelligence and perseverance. Tangier, Oldham, Sher- 
 brooke, Waverley, Renfrew, and many other places, present all the 
 conditions for alluvial diggings, both in the form of old channels and 
 their re-worked condition. 
 
 The chief auriferous districts of Nova Scotia are as follow : — 
 
 Caribou. — This district is situated 6 miles south of the Musquodoboit 
 River, at Hamilton's Corner, about 36 miles from the Shubcnacadie 
 Station. Work of a preparatory character was undertaken first in 1867, 
 and has been carried on in an intermittent manner ever since. Several 
 of the lodes have paid well, as the North, Flat, Cross, and Hyde lodes ; 
 of which the Cross lode, at one time, gave quartz carrying 20 oz. A 
 lode on the Bushing area was found to lie for some distance in a 
 horizontal position, apparently in the summit of an anticlinal. In 1877, a 
 lode found on area 629, block 2, i ft. thick, yielded, in 6 months, 11 70 
 oz., and from a stope of 40 ft. and within a depth of 1 20 ft., the shoot of 
 rich quartz being vertical, and at the junction of a cross-lode. 
 
 Moose River. — The district lies about 7 miles west of Caribou, and 
 is accessible by road from Middle Musquodoboit ; it has only recently 
 received attention. The surface is reported to carry gold, but attempts 
 to wash it proved unsuccessful, it is reported, from improper construction 
 of the flume. Several promising lodes and many rich boulders have been 
 found ; and it is stated that, in Dec, 1879, a lode was discovered yielding 
 over 2 oz. to the ton. 
 
 Fifteen Mile Stream. — This district lies on a tributary of the East 
 River of Sheet Harbour, about 19 miles from the head of navigation. It 
 is very inaccessible, there beinjr no carriage-road to it. Explorations 
 have been carried on here for several years, and have shown the 
 presence of a large number of promising lodes ; and two crushers 
 were built. Its isolation, and the expense of getting supplies, have 
 retarded the opening of this district ; it is, however, again receiving 
 attention. 
 
 Gay's River. — This district is an interesting one, although it has 
 never occupied an important position as far as its yield of gold is con- 
 cerned. It is situated about 6 miles east of Shubcnacadie Station, on a 
 tributary of Gay's River. Here the gold slates are overlaid by flat beds 
 of Carboniferous conglomerate, an ancient consolidated drift. The gold 
 occurs in grains and scales at the base of the conglomerate, and in backs 
 in the slates ; small auriferous lodes have also been observed in the 
 slates. The modern drift overlying the conglomerate has also yielded 
 gold, derived from a similar source, or from the natural working over of 
 the conglomerate. The mining has been done by levels, driven in the 
 
 ■t^t^f^ 
 
AMERICA, N. : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 91 
 
 conglomerate at the junction of the two formations ; bu*- no rule has yet 
 been observed indicating the position of the gold. 
 
 Lawrencetovvn. — This district lies about 12 miles eatt of Halifax 
 Harbour. In the early days of mining here, a considerable quantity of 
 gold was taken from rich boulders and washings. The chief vein on the 
 Werner property was 8 in. thick, of bluish quartz, showing gold, blende 
 and mispickel. The Capel Townsend property embraces several groups 
 of gold-bearing veins ; that known as the Waddilow group includes 1 3. 
 The quartz, generally enclosed in slates, is somewhat ferruginous, and 
 contains copper pyrites, blende, and a little galena. Some of these lodes 
 are reported to have yielded well. Operations, however, have been 
 almost totally suspended, after large sums have been spent in prepa- 
 ratory work, mills, and machinery. The mining that has been done of 
 late years has been confined chiefly to Crookes' lode, the first opened ; 
 and it yielded well at the junction of cross-veins. 
 
 A large number of promising lodes pre known here, and there is no 
 reason why they should not be worked profitably. 
 
 Montague. — This district lies about 6 miles east of Dartmouth, 
 near Lake Loon, and has maintained an average output for a number 
 of years, greatly increased during 1870 and the three following years. 
 The best known lodes are, perhaps, the Belt, Werner, St. Patrick, and 
 Cross veins. 
 
 The Belt lode has been worked by several parties, and notably by 
 the Messrs. Lawso: , .vho, in the 5 years ending with 1874, extracted about 
 10,000 oz., with a handsome profit. The lode is enclosed in slate, sepa- 
 rating it from quartzite, and varies in thickness from 4 to 20 in. The 
 q>"-.irtz is highly crystalline, and shows, besides gold, iron and copper 
 pyrites, and mispickel. The sulphurets, according to Prof Silliman, are 
 most abundant near the underlying slate, which also holds gold and 
 mispickel in lumps, sometimes weighing 50 lb. 
 
 The richest part of the lode at the surface was at the Main shaft ; in 
 depth it trended to the westward. For many years, the presence of 
 rich boulders in the surface cover of the eastern part of the district, 
 caused the expenditure of much time and money in a search for the 
 parent lode. In the spring of 1879, G. Stuart and his associates found 
 the vein, called, from the colour of the quartz, the Rose lode. It varies 
 in thickness from 4 to 18 in. ; as yet the workings on it are limited, but 
 enough has been done to show a very rich chimney, dipping westward, at 
 an angle of 30°. 
 
 Up to the present date (1880), 292 tons have been crushed, yielding 
 1086 oz. During the past year, a lode close to the Symonds Mill yielded 
 well t the junction of numerous cross-veins, and promises to become 
 more valuable than even the Rose lode. 
 

 
 '■* 
 
 
 Ml 
 
 R i 
 
 Ir 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 'i 
 
 I 
 
 I' 
 
 J. >' 
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 92 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Waverley. — This district lies about 3 miles E. of Windsor Junction 
 Station, on the Intercolonial Railway. It was reported on by Prof. 
 Hind in 1869. In 1865, the returns gave a produce of 14,00002.; but 
 the annual output has since dwindled away to a few hundred ounces- 
 Among the chief lodes that have been worked may be mentioned the 
 Tudor, Brodie, South, and Taylor veins. Large and extensive works 
 were carried on, but they gradually ceased, as the main leads became im- 
 poverished in depth, and varying from 1 50 to 400 ft. Some of the new 
 veins have yielded fairly, as the United, American Hill, New South, and 
 No. 6 lode. The barrel quartz, in the eastern part of the field, attracted 
 much curiosity at one time. Here the lodes follow the strata, as they 
 bend over in an anticline. The corrugations generally have the form 
 of wave-like undulations, rarely that of tight folds ; and at one place, a 
 little to the westward, one of the lodes presents a nearly horizontal 
 sheet. The quartz is somewhat banded, and holds calcite, apparently of 
 later date, filling fissures in the lode. This has been worked at intervals 
 for a number of years, and is said to have averaged 1 2 dwt. per ton. 
 
 Oldham. — This gold-field is situated 3 miles east of Enfield Station. 
 Gold was discovered here in 1861, and since that date operations have 
 been carried on, with occasional periods of depression. The worked 
 portion of the district- is characterized by a valley, having a nearly east 
 and west course, occupying the crown of a very sharp anticlinal fold, the 
 axis of which is nearly parallel to the area lines. From records obtained 
 by Prof. Hind, it appears that in this district the pay-streak dips east, 
 generally at a low angle. 
 
 Among the most noticeable lodes, are the Barrel, Ohio, Frankfort, 
 Ritchie, Hall, Britannia, &c. A large amount of gold was extracted in 
 1877 from a lode on the eastern turn of the measures, the result of 5 
 months' work being 1280 oz. On areas loi to 105, the Blackie lode was 
 worked for some time in search of the mispickel nodules, which were 
 found to carry gold up to 5 and 7 oz. per ton. Mention has already been 
 made of the " angling lodes," of which interesting examples occur here. 
 The low angle of dip of the pay-streak has probably been the cause of 
 the comparatively shallow character of the workings carried on, which 
 proves an impediment to systematic mining. This is to be regretted, as 
 preliminary labours in common would have facilitated operations, and the 
 district promises to be one of unusual richness. 
 
 Renfrew. — This district lies about 7 miles west of Eni..,ld Station, 
 near the north end of Grand Lake. Work was begun here about the 
 same time as at Oldham, and the returns show a steady increase to 
 7904 oz. in 1867 ; and a decrease to but 3 oz. in 1874 ; since that date 
 there has been a slight improvement. Among the more prominent lodes, 
 may be named the Frcopcr, Sims, North, South, and Brook. The opera- 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
AMERICA, N. : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 93 
 
 o 
 :e 
 
 tions of the Ophir Company were systematically conducted for several 
 years, and handsome profits realized ; but the workings were abandoned 
 at a depth of 350 ft. Their returns during 5 years were 17,532 oz. 
 13 dwt. 21 gr. from 21,012 tons of quartz. All the mining has hitherto 
 been confined to the south side of the anticlinal ; the measures on the 
 north side arc generally covered by soil, and although rich boulders have 
 been found, the parent lodes remain for future workers. The proximity 
 of Lower Carboniferous measures, and their position relative to the lodes, 
 furnish, according to Prof. Hind's report, favourable conditions for the 
 accumulation of alluvial gold. 
 
 Sherbrooke. — This district lies about 38 miles by stage from Antigo- 
 nish, on the Halifax and Cape Breton Railway, near the village of Sher- 
 brooke, on the St. Mary River, and ranks first in the list of Nova Scotia 
 gold-fields. Up to September, 1866, it produced 19,101 oz., at the rate 
 of I oz. 16 dwt. to the ton. In the following year, 5809 tons yielded 8522 
 oz. of gold. The lodes and associated rocks present no features distin- 
 guishing them from those of other localities. 
 
 Among the numerous operations, the Wellington may be mentioned. 
 Here work has been carried on ever since the discovery of gold in the 
 district. The Wellington, Dewar, and other veins have been mined to 
 depths varying from 400 to 600 ft. The proprietors have conducted their 
 operations with care and prudence, and received a good return. Between 
 the years 1863 and 1869, they extracted 8984 tons, which yielded 12,215 
 oz., and similar results have since been obtained. On the adjoining Grape- 
 vine properties, favourable results have been made for a number of 
 years. Other properties that have paid well during the past year are the 
 Dominion and the Wentworth. A very large amount of work has been 
 done by other parties in this district, and it appears, from the continual 
 discovery of workable lodes, likely to afford equally encouraging results 
 for a long time to come. At Cochran's Hill, a little has been done in 
 lodes running in slate belts, and also at the Crow's Nest, 2 miles to the west- 
 ward. The strata here are highly metamorphosed. The yield per ton 
 has been low — 4 to 8 dwt. ; but the cheapness of extraction has enabled 
 work to be carried on at a profit. 
 
 Stormont. — This district, also known as Isaac's Harbour, lies cast of 
 Sherbrooke. For several years the returns gave an annual yield of about 
 1400 oz. ; but, during the last few years, the mines have remained 
 . almost entirely neglected. Promising lodes have been found in the 
 surrounding country, but have not yet been thoroughly tested. No 
 district has better promise for the future. The extent of mining that 
 was carried on is very small, and limited to a few lodes. The Mulgrave 
 yielded, from two areas, in 1863-4, 621 tons of quartz, giving 1897 oz. 
 of gold ; and the work done since has frequently yielded equally well. 
 
94 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Wine Harbour. — This district lies on the coast, about 4 miles E. of 
 the mouth of St. Mary's River, and 1 2 miles from Sherbrooke. Here the 
 auriferous quartz lodes are met with, over a belt nearly a mile from N. 
 to S., and are in thick bedded quartzites, generally associated with thin 
 layers of finely-laminated, bluish slate, which facilitates mining. The 
 returns show a falling off from the best year, 1864, when 4033 oz. were 
 obtained. Work has been confined chiefly to the ground owned by the 
 Eldorado Company. The property of the Provincial Company has 
 frequently yielded good quartz, the Caledonia Company having mined in 
 6 months $200,000 (40,000/.) of gold. The Hattie lode has also 
 yielded well. 
 
 Tangier. — This district lies on the Atlantic shore, about 50 miles east 
 of Halifax, and is well known as the earliest opened. In the eastern part 
 of the district, at Strawberry Hill, work has been pursued for a number 
 of years, chiefly on lodes known as Dunbrack and Forrest, and others 
 associated. The strata and the lodes are cut by a granitoid (.-') dyke, 
 about 1 5 ft. wide, which can be traced for several miles in a south-west 
 direction. It does not appe.ir to affect the contents of the lodes in any 
 way, nor to have shifted them. 
 
 A number of lodes extending to the Tangier River have been worked 
 at various times ; among them may be mentioned the Field, Leary, 
 Nigger, &c., which have yielded fair returns in the moderate depth they 
 have been worked to. A considerable quantity of gold was found in 
 the alluvion at one place in this district, and a pond called Copper Lake 
 was partially drained : Prof. Silliman states that a layer of tough clay 
 and glacial drift was met with underneath the mud and vegetable matter, 
 and everywhere in the under-clay smo.Il round nuggets were found. The 
 work of washing was, however, abariuoned, as the drainage was not 
 carried deep enough to allow its proper application. 
 
 Mount Uniacke. — This gold-field lies about 3 miles from Mount 
 Uniacke Station, on the Windsor Railway. A large number of lodes 
 have been exposed over an area having a breadth of about i J miles, and a 
 length of 6 miles. The veins are similar to those of other districts, and 
 enclosed in quartzite, frequently with linings of slate. Their thickness 
 varies from one inch to several feet, and the large veins are sometimes 
 divided into layers by interlaminations of slate. 
 
 The crystalline quartz, sometimes milky-white, sometimes bluish, the 
 latter being often laminated, fills the greater part of the lodes, and 
 generally the widest ; while arsenical iron-pyrites, or mispickel, is, at the 
 outcrop, the mineral of the narrower lodes. Certain quartz lodes appear 
 to the sight almost entirely destitute of foreign matter, while others con- 
 tain metallic sulphides, such as cubic iron-pyrites (often decomposed), 
 mispickel, and .sometimes blende, galena, and copper-pyrites. Hind 
 
AMERICA, N. : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 95 
 
 observed in all the selvages of some lodes, a blackish earthy substance 
 which appeared to be oxide of manganese. 
 
 Great irregularity of formation and structure characterizes the lodes 
 generally. Lodes, hardly impregnated with arsenical iron-pyrites at the 
 outcrop, on narrowing in depth, become converted into veinlets of pure 
 mispickel. Such lodes, measuring several inches at their outcrop, are re- 
 duced to a mere thread at a few feet in depth, while others are subject to 
 successive and sudden contractions and swellings. But the most extra- 
 ordinar)' case of irregularity, is that of the lodes which assume curiously 
 twisted shapes by branching .sometimes to the north, sometimes to the 
 south. The constancy of formation and structure, that is to say, the 
 regularity of the deposits, ha? been, so far, the rarest case with the lodes 
 in these areas ; but experience has demonstrated in many localities, that 
 the disorders described often disappear at a certain depth. 
 
 Other Districts. — Among other districts, may be mentioned the Ovens 
 in Lunenburg County, where alluvial washings were carried on for a 
 short time ; Gold River, Yarmouth, Stevviacke, Chezzetcook, Ship Harbour, 
 Harrigan Cove, Moose Head, Ecum Secum, &c. Gold has also been 
 reported from the Cobequid and South Mountains. In Cape Breton, the 
 Middle River, Baddeck, w.'ts some years ago made a gold-district, under 
 the name of Wagamatcook ; but no profitable lodes have been found, 
 although the slates occasionally yield scales of gold, and it occurs every- 
 where in the beds of the streams Campbell reported, in 1863, his 
 examination of the northern part of Cape Breton, and the discovery of 
 alluvial gold in the sands of many of the brooks. 
 
 In Nova Scotia, the dip varies from east to west, and each district has 
 its own experience to guide the miners. It is to be regretted that no 
 records or plans have been kept. The streaks are found to vary in 
 width, and sometimes to be lenticular, and to die out before coming to 
 the surface. It thus happens that frequently the miner finds himself 
 confronted by barren quartz, becomes discouraged, and abandons his 
 work, when prospecting tunnels might have disclosed another streak at 
 no great distance. On this subject, Dr. Sterry Hunt remarks that to 
 abandon a working on account of a momentary impoverishment of the 
 lode is too often done in this region ; and that in a large enterprise, 
 where mining is carried on in several veins at a time, the richness of some 
 may always be counted upon to compensate for the temporary poverty 
 of others. He has stated his opinion that many of the workings now 
 (1866) abandoned as unprofitable, will be again taken up with advantage. 
 
 This leads to the consideration of permanence in depth of the gold 
 yield ; in some districts, it is considered that no gold will be found in 
 paying quantity beyond a certain depth. This probably is a case of a 
 pay-streak lying in a comparatively horizontal position, and having an 
 
96 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 unproved interval of barren quartz below it. Gilpin thinks it will be 
 found that there need be no apprehension of the extinction of the veins 
 in depth being reached at distances less than those through which they 
 are known, from surface evidence, to extend horizontally in directions 
 parallel and transverse to the anticlinal axes ; and that, as these distances 
 are reckoned by thousands of feet, it may very safely be conjectured that 
 there is practically no limit to the depth to which the lodes may be suc- 
 cessfully followed. 
 
 The quartz is sorted and broken by hand for the stamps. The mills 
 are of the common pattern, with revolving stamps, weighing generally 
 550 to 700 lb.; though a few run with 450-lb. stamps, working in 
 cast-iron boxes. The batteries are provided with tables, and in some 
 cases with secondary oscillating plates, or tail runs, with or without 
 ripples. The use of plates in the batteries is not in practice. The 
 system of battery amalgamation is universally adopted ; the use of 
 blankets is unknown, and no attempts, beyond an occasional settling-tub, 
 are made to catch any lost amalgam, &c. These methods answer tolerably 
 well for much of the Nova Scotia gold, which is present in a coarse, free 
 form, but prove inadequate to treat fine gold and that held in the pyrites. 
 No regular system of assaying tailings and pyrites has ever been carried 
 out, but the tests made show what " a shameful waste has gone on since 
 gold-mining began." (Gilpin). 
 
 In support of this, the same authority quotes numerous official 
 analyses, one of which showed the presence of nearly 1 5 dwt. of gold to 
 the ton of tailings, not over 8 dwt. having been saved in the original 
 working. The average amount of gold in the tailings from Nova Scotia 
 mills may, according to Prof. Hind and others, be averaged at 4 dwt. to 
 the ton. The mean yield of two samples of tailings from Montague quartz, 
 crushed at Waverlcy, gave Prof. SilHman 16 dwt. 13 gr. of gold per 
 ton. It has been stated that at least 20 per cent, of the gold originally 
 present in the lodes, is allowed to pass through the mills, and to escape 
 to the nearest brook or pond, some mill-owners boasting of their facilities 
 for getting rid of the tailings. 
 
 Nova Scotia gold, like that of other countries, is an alloy in which 
 silver forms the chief of the impurities. The average fineness is 955 in 
 1000. The following analyses will show its character : — 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Old Tangier 
 Tangier (Field Lode) 
 ,, (Leary Lode) 
 
 Waverley (Laidlaw's) 
 O • 
 
 Authority. 
 
 O. C. Marsh .. 
 B. Silliman 
 U.S. Assay Office 
 
 H. How .. ., 
 
 A. Gesner 
 
 Gold. 
 
 98-13 
 
 97 '25 
 96 •60 
 
 94-69 
 93-06 
 
 Silver. Iron. Copper. Lead 
 
 1-76 
 
 2-75 
 
 4" 74 
 660 
 
 trace 
 
 0-05 
 
 0-39 
 0-09 1 
 
 Zinc. 
 
 0-16 
 
 Total. 
 
 99 "94 
 icx)-oo 
 
 99-98 
 
 99 '75 
 
 J I.!: 
 
AMERICA, N. : NOVA SCOTIA. 
 Yearly Gold Yield of Nova Scotia. 
 
 97 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average earnings per 
 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 Total 
 
 Stuff 
 
 Yield per ton 
 
 Total days' 
 
 m.-in per day and year, 
 
 
 
 
 Gold extracted. 
 
 crushed. 
 
 of aooo lb. 
 
 labour. 
 
 818 per oz. 
 
 
 
 A Day. 
 
 A Year. 
 
 
 
 
 07. dwt. gr. 
 
 tons. 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 
 « e. 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 1862 
 
 7,275 
 
 6.473 
 
 I 2 II 
 
 156,000 
 
 83 
 
 249 
 
 
 
 1863 
 
 14,001 14 17 
 
 17,002 
 
 16 II 
 
 273,624 
 
 92 
 
 276 
 
 
 
 1864 
 
 20,022 18 13 
 
 2«.434 
 
 18 16 
 
 252,720 
 
 I 42 
 
 426 
 
 
 
 1865 
 
 25,454 4 8 
 
 24,423 
 
 I 20 
 
 212,966 
 
 2 15 
 
 645 
 
 
 
 1866 
 
 25.204 13 2 
 
 32.161 
 
 15 2 
 
 211,796 
 
 2 14 
 
 642 
 
 
 
 1867 
 
 27,314 II II 
 
 31,386 
 
 17 9 
 
 218,894 
 
 2 24 
 
 672 
 
 
 
 1868 
 
 20,541 6 10 
 
 32,262 
 
 12 17 
 
 241,462 
 
 I 53 
 
 459 
 
 
 
 1869 
 
 17,868 19 
 
 35,147 
 
 10 4 
 
 210,938 
 
 I 52 
 
 456 
 
 
 
 1870 
 
 19,866 s 5 
 
 30,829 
 
 12 21 
 
 173,680 
 
 2 05 
 
 6.5 
 
 
 
 1871 
 
 19,227 7 4 
 
 30,791 
 
 12 II 
 
 162,994 
 
 2 12 
 
 636 
 
 
 
 1872 
 
 13,094 17 6 
 
 17,093 
 
 15 7 
 
 112,476 
 
 2 09 
 
 627 
 
 
 
 1873 
 
 11.852 7 19 
 
 17,708 
 
 13 9 
 
 93,470 
 
 2 28 
 
 684 
 
 
 
 1874 
 
 9.140 13 9 
 
 13.844 
 
 13 5 
 
 77,246 
 
 2 12 
 
 636 
 
 
 
 '^75 
 
 11,208 14 19 
 
 14,810 
 
 15 4 
 
 91,698 
 
 2 20 
 
 660 
 
 
 
 1876 
 
 12,038 13 18 
 
 15,490 
 
 15 13 
 
 111,304 
 
 I 94 
 
 582 
 
 
 
 1877 
 
 16,882 6 I 
 
 17,369 
 
 19 10 
 
 123,565 
 
 2 46 
 
 738 
 
 
 
 1878 
 
 12,577 I 22 
 
 17,990 
 
 13 23 
 
 110,422 
 
 2 05 
 
 61S 
 
 
 
 'IP 
 
 13,801 8 10 
 
 15,936 
 
 17 8 
 
 92,002 
 
 2 34 
 
 732 
 
 
 
 1880 
 Total 
 
 13,234 4 
 
 14.037 
 
 18 20 
 
 103,826 
 
 2 18 
 
 654 
 
 
 
 310,606 5 5 
 
 406,185 
 
 
 3,031,083 
 
 
 
 
 The following table exhibits a general statement of the condition of 
 the Nova Scotia gold-mining industry in the year 1880: — 
 
 General Statement of the Condition of the Nova Scotia Gold-mining Industry 
 
 IN THE Year 1880. 
 
 
 it! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 Districts. 
 
 .ti 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 V 
 
 i 
 
 s 
 
 ti 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 iJ 
 
 4-8 
 
 Yield per 
 Ton. 
 
 Maximum 
 
 Yield per 
 
 Ton. 
 
 Total Yield of 
 Gold. 
 
 verage yield 
 man per day 
 12 months at 
 (75*-) per oz. 
 
 
 Z 
 
 Q 
 
 a 
 
 (/3 
 
 !* 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 oz. 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 S c. 
 
 Caribou .. 
 
 3 
 
 5,418 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 , , 
 
 824' I 
 
 
 
 3 12 16 
 
 823 5 19 
 
 2 55 
 
 Gay's River 
 
 I 
 
 189 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 40 
 
 8 15 
 
 046 
 
 13 6 6 
 
 I 24 
 
 Montague .. 
 
 S 
 
 22,144 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 .. 
 
 1,221 3 
 
 9 22 
 
 9 13 
 
 4 270 8 17 
 
 3 47 
 
 Oldham .. .. 
 
 2 
 
 2,205 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 1,475: 
 
 II 5 
 
 7 3 14 
 
 829 4 17 
 
 6 75 
 
 Renfrew . . 
 
 I 
 
 796 
 
 I 
 
 ., 
 
 I 
 
 S37| 
 
 5 19 
 
 4 5° 
 
 155 14 13 
 
 3 50 
 
 Slierbrooke 
 
 12 
 
 36,240 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 6,465^ 
 
 12 12 
 
 5 10 
 
 4.042 7 9 
 
 2 07 
 
 Stormont .. 
 
 I 
 
 3.261 
 
 
 
 
 17s I 
 
 19 7 
 
 2 I 20 
 
 346 12 
 
 I 91 
 
 Tangier 
 
 3 
 
 13,343 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 790 
 
 13 10 
 
 2 13 8 
 
 530 14 3 
 
 70 
 
 Uniacke . . 
 
 4 
 
 10,316 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 1,505' 
 
 15 10 
 
 3 3 II 
 
 1,161 i6 12 
 
 2 02 
 
 Waverley .. 
 
 2 
 
 3.274 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 346 
 
 9 I 
 
 3 2 12 
 
 156 13 15 
 
 85 
 
 Wine Harbour . . 
 
 I 
 
 1,262 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 161 
 
 7 10 
 
 300 
 
 61 12 
 
 87 
 
 Unproclaimed .. 
 
 3 
 
 5. 378 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 498 I 
 
 13 10 
 
 329 
 
 842 4 13 
 
 2 81 
 
 
 38 
 
 103,826 
 
 32 
 
 16 16 
 
 14.037 
 
 
 
 18 20 
 
 9 13 
 
 13.234 4 
 
 2 81 
 
 n 
 

 i 
 
 ■'!■ 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 ! 
 
 i ; Ii1 
 
 <:: 
 ■'I 
 
 if I 
 
 98 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Costa Rica. — According to Keith Johnston (1877), the principal 
 gold-mines are 3 in number : — (i) Those of Trinidad, 4 " leagues" inland 
 from Punta Arenas, 1200 ft. above the sea, worked on a small scale by 
 a native company, and extracting i7i-carat gold from quartz ; (2) Those 
 of the Cerro del Aguacate, one of which is worked by the local Compania 
 de la Montana del Aguacate, and in an imperfect yet profitable manner ; 
 (3) That called Sacra Familia, lying a little north of the Aguacate mines, 
 at an altitude of 3000 ft. one of whose veins consists of auriferous 
 quartz similar to that of Trinidad, and is worked on a small scale by 
 private individuals, giving gold of 15 J carats. Gold is also said to exist 
 in the wild Indian country of the Atlantic slope. 
 
 In 1852, there was a small mint in Costa Rica, which coined $50,000 
 to $100,000 (10,000/. to 20,000/.) yearly, chiefly in dollar gold pieces. 
 
 The name of Costa Rica, or " rich coast," says Bates, was given to the 
 country by the Spaniards, not on account of the wealth actually found 
 there, but of the wealth they hoped to find there. Nor was it till some 
 time after the discovery of the gold-mines of Aguacate, in 1823, that the 
 resources of the land began to be developed. Since then, its mineral 
 wealth has been continually increasing in importance, and attracting 
 the foreign capital needed to open up the mining districts. This was 
 especially the case when the gold-mines of Paires were found in 1857, 
 followed by the discovery of the still more productive mines of Cirueletas 
 in 1864. Costa Rica may, in his opinion, be considered the richest of 
 tliC five Central American States. 
 
 In 1873-4, W. M. Gabb was employed by the Costa Rica Government 
 in exploring the south-eastern corner of that country, a region of about 
 3000 square miles, known as the district of Talamanca. His object was 
 to re-discover some mines of fabulous richness supposed to exist ; but he 
 declares that " such mines do not, and for sufficient geological reasons 
 cannot, exist there." His instructions required him to look for mines, 
 and he examined carefully for traces of the precious metals wherever he 
 went. He found in a few places quartz veins : one of considerable size, 
 the others practically valueless. Also deposits of placer-gold in a few 
 localities. But " the existence of gold here is rather of scientific than of 
 economic interest." The gold occurs in the metamorphosed Miocene 
 rocks, and always at a greater or less distance from the granites. 
 The point at which he found gold nearest to the granite was at least a 
 mile distant, although the rock was highly metamorphosed. The spot 
 where he found the largest quantity of gold was miles away from granite. 
 
 On the western face of the Aguacate Mountain, are found highly 
 altered claystones. These are rich in mineral veins, and have been 
 thoroughly explored for mines of gold and silver. 
 
 Some notes culled from the prospectus of the Costa Rica Company 
 
AMERICA, N. : COSTA RICA, GUATEMALA. 
 
 99 
 
 (1830) are worth recording here. The particular mines to which the 
 views of the Company were directed, are those of Quebrada-Honda 
 and Machuca, situated in the mountainous region of Aguacate. They 
 are about 14 leagues ^Johnston says 4) distant from the port of Punta 
 Arenas, in the gulf of Nicoya. These mines were first discovered in 
 1822, and have been worked both for gold and silver — the former, even 
 from the surface, being an object of such importance as to pay for 
 extracting it by a separate operation. The latter is likewise productive 
 from the surface, but increases rapidly in quantity towards water-level 
 and beneath ; and at the greatest depths to which the natives have 
 reached, the gold has been found (as to value) in at least an equal pro- 
 portion with the silver. The ores near the surface yield on an average 
 about 2 oz. of gold per ton, and from 5 to 10 marcs (2J to 5 lb.) of 
 silver. Between the top of the water-level and a point 1 5 ft. lower (be- 
 yond which the natives, through the want of mechanical skill, have not 
 been able to penetrate), the ores have given at different depths from 90 to 
 200 oz. of silver to the ton ; and every pound troy of the silver has been 
 found to contain 1 5 dwt. 1 2 gr. of fine gold — being equal in value (per 
 ton of ore) to 102 oz. of silver. 
 
 A Consular Report for 1880 states that Costa Rica mining will 
 always be restricted for want of capital, skilled labour, and good 
 machinery. The gold-mines called La Union, near to Punta Arenas, 
 have been recently sold to a French Company for 20,000/., which 
 company will provide the necessary machinery, and in time, will pro- 
 bably make them remunerative. At present there are a few other mines 
 worked by private capitalists, but with no great success. 
 
 Wagner and Scherzer (1857) allude to the quartz vein at Aguacate 
 as being opened in 1822, and having given considerable profit. 
 An assay of the ore showed 66 per cent, of gold, 33^ of silver, and 
 ^ of copper. Jose Joaquin Mora, brother of the President of the 
 Republic, who owned the property, told the visitors that the average 
 gold yield of the ore was 25 per cent, of the precious metal, and that 
 at the commencement of the works, 200 lb. of mineral gave no oz. 
 of gold. 
 
 Hale (reviewed in Bull. Soc. Geog. vol. viii. pp. 99- in ; Paris : 1827) 
 says that the whole of Costa Rica is full of mines of gold ; the Indians 
 collect much gold on the banks of the lagoons of Chiriqui ; more than 
 50 mines are already in work. 
 
 Guatemala. — Before 1820, whatever of gold and silver had been 
 collec'.ed in Guatemala, was included in the returns from Mexico, accord- 
 ing to Jacob. The figures given by Thompson are 146 marcs (of J lb.) 
 in 1823, 526 in 1824, and 253 in the first half of 1825. The export in 
 1878 is officially given as $15 (3/.) in value, to England. In 1878, an 
 
 II 2 
 
lOO 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 American mining engineer was employed by President Barrios to make a 
 complete survey of the gold-district discovered three years before. He 
 reported the ground along the banks of the Motagua River, and for a 
 considerable distance into the interior, to contain much gold, though no 
 quartz has yet been found. 
 
 Honduras. — Bates says that the rivers on the slopes of the Sulaco 
 range, which rise nearly in the centre of the State, wash down gold. 
 Dunlop observes that the ores generally contain i to ij percent, of gold, 
 which is also obtained in the river deposits by the Indians, pieces weighing 
 5 or 6 lb. having occasionally been discovered. The gold-washings, if not 
 the gold-mines proper, according to Squier, are most numerous on the 
 Atlantic slope ; " the principal supply of gold is from the washings of 
 Olancho, which are exceedingly productive." At Moran bar, on the river 
 Guayape, river washing is said to be carried on, the prospects all over the 
 bar being 8c. to 1 2c. (4</. to 6d.) per pan. The water is 4 ft. deep, with a 
 considerable current in the dry season ; during the wet season of 6 months, 
 work is suspended. 
 
 According to Bancroft, the art of extracting and melting gold has 
 long been known to the Mosquitos in Honduras ; but, although they 
 wear a few ornaments of this metal, they do not seem to prize it very 
 highly. At the time of Cockburn's visit to Honduras, dams were used in 
 mining, and instruments of cane to sift the gold. The mode employed 
 by the Poyas to separate gold from sand, is the one known in California 
 as panning, and is thus described. Scooping up some cf the sand in his 
 bowl, and then filling it with water, the Indian whirls it rapidly, so that 
 a feathery stream of mingled sand and water flies constantly over its 
 edge. He continues this operation until the sand is nearly exhausted, 
 and then fills the bowl again. After repeating this process several times, 
 he grows more careful, balancing the bowl skilfully, and stopping 
 occasionally to pick out the pebbles. When the process is complete, a 
 little deposit of gold, in grains, lies at the bottom o^i the calabash. The 
 gold-dust passes into the hands of the white trader. 
 
 The date when the mines of Yuscaran (a town distant about i day 
 from the borders of Nicaragua) were first opened, says Scherzer, is not on 
 record : many of them appear to have been worked for centuries. Five 
 are now (1857) systematically worked. The Malacate mine, the oldest 
 in Yuscaran, and which 30 years back was the most productive of the 
 auriferous silver-mines of the state, was, about 7 years ago, taken by a 
 company, who expended great sums in clearing away the rubbish by 
 which the galleries were choked, in order to get to the principal vein. 
 But after 7 years of continued digging — after penetrating 450 ft. in a 
 perpendicular, and 1800 ft. in a horizontal direction, the point has not 
 yet been reached where the former miners left off working. Another of 
 
AMERICA, N. : HONDURAS. 
 
 lOI 
 
 the silver-mines here, the Sanctissimo Sacramento, is worthy of mention. 
 The third mine in the neighbourhood of Yuscaran that he visited, was 
 that of Montserate. The ore is found here, as in all the mines of 
 Yuscaran, in combination with quartz, felspar, and lilack Jack ; 2500 lb. 
 of rock gave $55 (11/.) worth of silver, ^5 (i/.) of gold, and cost $20 or 
 $22 (4/ to 4/ 8s.) in workmen's wages. On an average, about 10 tons of 
 ore are got out of the mine here every week ; but a large portion of it is 
 still lying under water. 
 
 It is recorded in a Consular Report (1861) that, properly speaking, 
 few gold-mines in Honduras are as yet discovered; but gold occuis 
 abundantly in some of the rich silver-mines, in many of which, in fact, 
 the silver is found in combination with gold, iron, lead, zinc, antimony, 
 mercury, sulphur, etc. Most of these mines are situated along the chains 
 of mountains which lie on the Pacific slope, while gold-dust and some 
 gold-mines are to be found on the Atlantic side. Gold, according to all 
 accounts, is found in great quantity, and of the best description, in the 
 beds of all the rivers which flow into the Atlantic, and the washings in 
 these placers are represented to be highly remunerative. Men and women 
 employ themselves during certain portions of the year in gold-washing, 
 and they sell the gold-dust at from $ll 50c. to $12 (48J. to 50^.) the oz. 
 By far the greatest quantity of the gold exported from Honduras is raised 
 in this way, from the rivers Guayape, Jalan, and Manguile, in the depart 
 ment of Olancho, where it is found of the purest quality, as likewise in 
 those of Yaguale, Sulaco, Pacaya, and Caimito rapids in Yoco. Minas 
 de Oro, a village in the northern part of the Department of Comayagua 
 is, as its name implies, situated in a particularly auriferous district, the 
 precious metal being found not only in veins of a very rich character, but 
 also in beds and fragmentary deposits along a number of streamlets and 
 small rapids flowing into the Sulaco river. In this district are situated 
 the copper-mines which furnish all the metal used for the mintage of the 
 " provisional " currency, and gold is here also found to exist in a consider- 
 able proportion, as has been proved by washing the dust obtained in the 
 process of bruising the copper ores. 
 
 The most recent information concerning British Honduras gold- 
 deposits is furnished by Colonial Secretary Henry Fowler. The Macha- 
 quila, a rapid stream, was " full of the best gold prospects " the exploring 
 party saw ; and in the neighbourhood of the Belize and Machaquila 
 rivers, fair specimens of auriferous quartz were found. At one place was 
 encountered a quartz reef projecting 20 ft. above the ridge (3100 ft.), 
 and 10 to 12 ft. wide, running through a sandstone formation in a 
 direction N.E. and S.W. ; it was full of iron pyrites, which revealed gold 
 on analysis. Traces of gold and silver have been discovered in Deep 
 River, 30 miles from its mouth. 
 
 197 
 
 
102 
 
 Gl'OGRAPHICAL DISTRIUUTION. 
 
 The mineral district explored by Fowler's party is a belt of country 
 20 or 30 miles broad, running N.IL and S.W. from the south of the 
 Cockscomb Range into the neighbouring republics of Guatemala and 
 Honduras, and parallel to and distant from the coast as the crow flics 
 about 25 miles. The quantity of gold produced from the Honduras 
 mines has increased considerably of late, and it has become a means of 
 remittance by the Belize merchants. Fowler ascertained that 1756 oz. 
 were shipped from Belize, "under the past 6 months (1879), which have 
 been obtained immediately south of us. This represents the smallest 
 portion of the entire product." He saw nuggets from Honduras weighing 
 over 3 oz. 
 
 Mexico. — Jacob remarks that up to the invasion of Mexico, gold 
 alone has been found in America, or, if any silver had been procured, it 
 must have been in such small quantities as not to deserve mention. 
 Cortez, in his advance towards the capital, received 2560 marcs of gold 
 (nearly 70,000/.) at Chalco ; and subsequently 100,000 ducats (each equal 
 to about %2 39c., or 9^. yd.) from Montezuma. The mineral wealth of 
 Mexico is proverbial, but consists more of silver than of gold, though the 
 latter is very abundant. 
 
 The most extensive account of the gold-mines of Mexico is given by 
 Ward (1828). According to him, the gold contained in the silver (a great 
 abundance of which is found in the ores of some mines) was never 
 properly separated from it, after the communication between the interior 
 and the capital was closed. None of the Departments possessed a Casa 
 del Apartado (in which the chemical process of separating the two metals, 
 when combined, is performed) ; and although some portion of the gold 
 may nave been obtained by the use of quicksilver in the arrt\stres (crush- 
 ing mills), whatever remained incorporated with the silver was sacrificed. 
 As the amount of gold produced annually before the Revolution averaged 
 $1, 100,000 (220,000/.), a great part of which passed through the Casa del 
 Apartado, this loss in 1 5 years must have amounted to a very consider- 
 able sum. Ward himself saw ores from Guarisame}', r.t the mint of 
 Durango, which contained 2100 gr. of gold to the inavc (5760 gr. = I 
 lb.). The mines of Rayas have produced ores containing 2700 gr. ; and 
 550 gr. per marc (J lb.) is by no means an uncommon ley de oro (propor- 
 tion of gold) in the mine of Villalpando, at Guanajuato. These observa- 
 tions sufficiently prove the unavoidable inaccuracy of any estimate that 
 can now be formed, respecting the amount of the precious metals raised 
 from the mines of Mexico during the 15 years immediately subsequent to 
 the Revolution. The following three tables are given by Ward, the 
 marc of silver being taken at $8^ (355-. S</.), and that of gold at $136 
 (28/. 6s. 4d.) :— 
 
AMERICA, N. : MKXICO. 
 
 103 
 
 Account of the Coinage of tiik Mint of Mexico. 
 
 Year. 
 1796 
 1797 
 1798 
 1799 
 1800 
 1801 
 1802 
 1803 
 1804 
 1805 
 1806 
 1807 
 1808 
 1809 
 1810 
 
 s 
 
 Ycir. 
 
 1.297.794 
 
 iKll 
 
 1.038,856 
 
 1812 
 
 999,608 
 
 1813 
 
 957.094 
 
 1814 
 
 787,164 
 
 1815 
 
 610,398 
 
 1816 
 
 839,122 
 
 1817 
 
 646,050 
 
 1818 
 
 959.030 
 
 1819 
 
 1.359.814 
 
 1820 
 
 1.352.348 
 
 1821 
 
 1,512,266 
 
 1822 
 
 1,182,516 
 
 1823 
 
 1,464,818 
 
 1824 
 
 1,095.504 
 
 1825 
 
 Total 
 
 16,102,382 
 
 ',085,364 
 381,646 
 
 618,069 
 486,464 
 960,393 
 854,942 
 533.921 
 
 539.377 
 509,076 
 
 303,504 
 214,128 
 291,408 
 236,944 
 2.385.45s 
 
 Total 
 
 Produce of Guanajuato, 1796-1825. 
 
 Year. Marcs of Gold. 
 
 1796 1,081 
 
 1797 968 
 
 1798 2,529 
 
 1799 
 1800 
 180I 
 1802 
 1803 
 1804 
 
 1,972 
 
 1,932 
 
 1.457 
 1,676 
 
 1.538 
 2,128 
 
 1805 2,495 
 
 1806 2,188 
 
 1807 ^-.396 
 
 1808 1,842 
 
 1809 2,189 
 
 i8iO 1,419 
 
 Tola] 27,810 
 
 Year. 
 1811 
 l8l2 
 1813 
 1814 
 1815 
 I816 
 1817 
 I818 
 1819 
 1820 
 182I 
 1822 
 1823 
 1824 
 1825 
 
 Total 8,109 
 
 9,400,691 
 
 Marcs of Gold 
 
 550 
 
 
 
 
 
 907 
 
 
 
 
 
 462 
 
 
 
 
 
 708 
 
 
 
 
 
 841 
 
 
 
 
 
 694 
 
 
 
 
 
 523 
 
 
 
 
 
 401 
 
 
 
 
 
 450 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 326 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 298 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 597 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 413 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 517 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 419 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 8,109 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 The mines of Tlalpujahua are situated in N. lat. 19° if 30", and W. 
 long. 100° i' 15", upon the slopes of the mountains by which the valley 
 of Tlalpujahua is formed. Their position is extremely favourable for 
 drainage by adits ; and the shafts are neither difficult of access, nor at 
 an inconvenient distance from the town, most of them being contained 
 in a circle of 2 English miles. The metalliferous veins of this district 
 are found principally in the phyllade (thonschiefer or clay-slate), which 
 contains in subordinate strata, (i) grauwacke, (2"! grauwacke slate, (3) 
 transition limestone, (4) talkschiefer, (5) prismatic felspar of Jameson, 
 (6) diabase (principally composed of prismatic felspar and straight- 
 edged augite of Jameson), (7) quartz. The veins of Laborda and 
 Coronas vary in dimensions from 16^ to 5 J, and 8^ English it. ; that of 
 

 ■> 
 
 ' \ 
 
 E II 
 
 Hi 
 
 I! 
 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 
 If 
 
 e:;iv 
 
 104 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Las Virgines attains in some parts a width of 27^ and even 33 ft. ; nor 
 has any falling off been observed at the greatest depth to which these 
 veins have yet been explored. The ores contain native gold (bjxahedral 
 gold of Jameson) and native silver (hcxahedral silver), wh<" n are found 
 in small quantities. Rhomboidal silver-glance (I'argent antimonid sulfur^ 
 noir) is most abundant ; and next to it hexahedral silver-glance, or argent 
 sulfure. The red silver, or argent antimonid sulfure rouge, is less com- 
 mon but may frequently be found. Tlaljiujahua enjoys many advan- 
 tages as a mining district. I' a situated at a moderate distance both 
 from the capital and the coast, in the midst of a very fertile country. 
 Wood is equally abundant and cheap. Mining labour of all kinds is 
 lower than in any of the neighbouring states. Few of the mines exceed 
 150 varas (417 ft.) in depth, and almost all are so situated as to facilitate 
 their drainage by a single adit for a very considerable space below the 
 deepest of their present workings. The ores of some contain a /ey de 
 oro, so considerable as to raise the value of the marc (J lb.) to 1 1 2 and 
 $16 (soj. to 66s. 8(/.) ; and in reducing these ores, the assistance of water 
 power is almost always to be obtained. 
 
 The gold-mine of San Jose del Oro, in the mining district of Zimapan, 
 was formerly immensely productive, but has for many years been aban- 
 doned and in ruins. The ore is composed of felspar and copper, inter- 
 mixed with gold, which is found pure in v«ry minute particles, and is 
 separated from the copper in a few hours by the use of quicksilver in 
 the arras tres. 
 
 The mines of El Oro (Rancho del Oro) are situated just within the 
 confines of the state of Mexico. None of the shafts exceed 155 varas 
 (431 ft.) in depth. In August, 1826, El Rosario was the only shaft from 
 which ore was raised. The vein appeared to be rich, but small. The 
 gold is found in particles, imperceptible to the naked eye, in a matrix of 
 quartz, which contains sulphuret of silver disseminated throughout the 
 mass in narrow stripes. Gold-mines in Mexico generally diminish in 
 value as they increase in depth, and Ward apprehends that the district of 
 El Oro will not form an exception to this rule. The mines, howev'*, 
 were worked to advantage as late as 18 10, and it is upon record that, 
 in 1805, a single ca>^a of ore was sold at the mouth of the shaft for 
 $ll,CXXD (2200/.). [It is difficult to estimate the measure or weight of 
 the carga. Ward makes it 3 quintals or 1 2 arrobas : the former would 
 be equal to 312 lb., the latter to 300 lb. Browne's Handbook states 
 it to be 12 pancg..s, each of i.- almudas, which would amount to 18 
 bushels.] 
 
 The mine of Villalpcndo is situated in the mountains to the east of 
 Guanajuato, about 4 leagues from the town, upon a separate vein, totally 
 unconnected with the Veta Madre. The deepest level does not exceed 
 
 m 
 
i*^' " 
 
 AMERICA, N. : MEXICO. 
 
 105 
 
 200 varas (556 ft.). The ores are rich in gold, and in appearance resemble 
 .hose of the Rancho del Oro : they are often worth $30 to $35 {61. to 
 7/.) per marc {h lb.). 
 
 San Juan de Rayas is one of the most valuable luiues upon the Veta 
 Madre, or great Mother Vein, of Guanajuato. This Veta Madre is com- 
 posed of several parallel veins, running N.W. and G.E. Rayas is 
 situated in a ravine immediately below the mines of Santa Anita and 
 San Vincente, which, in accordance with the Mining Code, can only 
 claim to a perpendicular depth of 200 varas (556 ft.); all below that 
 depth is free, and belongs to those who can first work it. The extra- 
 ordinary richness of the ores of Santa Anita, some of which were sold 
 during the great "boiianza" of that mine in 1740 for their weight in 
 silver, in consequence of the large proportion of gold contained in them 
 first induced Rayas (the proprietor of San Juan de Rayas) to carry 
 his own works below them ; this was ultimately done, and exclusive 
 possession of the vein obtained. The first great " bonanza " was obtained 
 through the shaft of Santa Rosa ; when this was exhausted, new workings 
 were tried in a S.E. direction, and the shaft of San Miguel was sunk 
 at an expense of $700,000 (140,000/.), through which a second " bonanza " 
 was obtained, which yielded a nett profit of $11,000,0^0 (2,200,000/.). 
 From 1760 to 1780, the mine continued to be worked with considerable 
 profit ; but in the latter year, a torrent formed suddenly in the moun- 
 tains, burst into the mine, filled the lower levels, and destroyed nearly 
 all the men. It took 19 years to completely drain the mine cf this 
 water; but from 1799 for the next 4 succeeding yeans, a profit of 
 $400,000 (80,000/) was made annually. Since then, the greatest part 
 of the produce haS been absorbed in sinking another enormous shaft ; 
 but the Civil War and Declaration of Independence in 1821 had so 
 impoverished the owner thct he was compelled to seek assistance of a 
 British company. In November, 1826, the lowest and best levels were 
 still under water, although the company had succeeded in extracting ore 
 to the amount of $75,000 (iS,.)Oo/) from those which had been drained. 
 Rayas is regarded as one of the richest mines in the world, its otos in 
 the deeper levels being very abundant and rich, some of them con- 
 taining as much as 2100 gr. of gold in the marc (^ lb.) ; arid in the 
 ores called ginja de oro, native gold is found disseminated in considerable 
 quantities in the quartz. 
 
 Since its first discovery in 1556, Rayas appears by the books of the 
 proprietors to have paid to the Provincial Treasury, as the king's fifth, 
 the sum of $17,363,000 (3,472,600/). It has not yet (1828) nearly ap- 
 proached the depth at which' the produce of the Veta Madre is suppo.sed 
 by Humboldt to become less valuable ; and as, says Ward, "a l.'ge tract 
 of virgin ground will be laid open by the Tiro General (the ntw shaft), 
 
io6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 f'lii f 
 
 I 
 
 il inay be considered almost as a new mine, with all the security for its 
 future productiveness' that an experience of three centuries can give." 
 
 The mines of the Cerro de San Pedro, near San Luis Potosi, have 
 been abandoned for mcuy years on account of the extreme poverty of 
 the ores, which, notwithstanding a ley de oro by no means inconsiderable, 
 will not (1828) defray the e.rpense of working: $80,000(16,000/.) were 
 spent in a fruitless attempt to bring them into activity about 10 years 
 ago ; but the heaps of old slag that are to be seen at the present day in 
 every direction about San Lu s attest their former prolificness, as the 
 epithet of Potosi, bestowed upon the Intendancy, bespeaks the reputation 
 which they at one time enjoyed f^r wealth. 
 
 The State of Durango is rich in mineral deposits, none of which, 
 excepting Guarisamey and San Dimas, have been at all extensively 
 worked. There is hardly a single mine exceeding 100 varas (278 ft.) 
 in depth, for in general, the use of even the simplest machinery was 
 unknown in the north of Mexico. The mines were worked as long as 
 the water could be raised without incoiivenicnce by two or three 
 carriers, with leathern buckets, and abandoned when the discharge of 
 this duty became too laborious. 
 
 It is from the mines of Guarisamey that the ores most celebrated 
 for their ley de oro proceed. The proportion of gold is sometimes so 
 large, that a very small tejo, or cake of silver, which Ward saw at the 
 Assay office of the Mint, was valued at $2800 (560/.). In the other 
 mining districts of Durango, to the eastward of the Sierra Madre, there 
 is less gold ; and in the lead ores of Mapimi and Cuencame, none. 
 About Tamasula, gold is found pure, and it abounds in the whole 
 western declivity of the Cordillera, where native gold, or gold inter- 
 mixed in very large proportions with the silver, are the characteristics 
 of most of the principal veins. 
 
 The chief mining districts of Durango are those of Gavilanes, 
 Guarisamey and San Dimas, Tamasula, Canelas, and Sianori, all of 
 which are situated towards the western boundary of the state, upon 
 the descent from the Sierra Madre to the coast ; with Guanasevi, Indee, 
 El Oro, Cuencame, and Mapimi, to the eastward of the Sierra Madre, 
 and differing from those first mentioned, not less in the quality of their 
 ores (which are poor, but extremely abundant, and intermixed with 
 .,dd), than in their elevation above the level of the sea. Gavilanes, 
 Guarisamey, and San Dimas, lie nearly in the same parallel with the 
 city of Victoria, but about 5 days' journey to the westward, — three 
 spent up .1 the tableland, and two amidst the fastnesses of the Sierra 
 Madre. The deep and narrow ravines in which Guarisamey is situated 
 are Tierra Caliente, while the mountains that shut them in attain the 
 highest elevation of the Sierra Madre, estimated at 9000 ft. Gavilanes, 
 
 
 m. 
 
AMERICA, N. : MEXICO. 
 
 107 
 
 e 
 c 
 
 
 on thi contrary, stands upon a projecting platform, on the side of one of 
 the mountains, not very far from the summit. In this last district, the 
 mines are all opened upon one lode, which in dimensions may almost vie 
 with the Veta Madre of Guanajuato. It was discovered by its elevated 
 crest, and was found to produce very rich ores from the surface to the 
 depth of 60 varas (167 ft.), vhere a kind of black ore was discovered, 
 which resisted all attempts Lo reduce it to advantage. By smelting, it 
 yielded little or nothing, and by amalgamation, although the quantity of 
 silver produced was very considerable, the loss of quicksilver was so great 
 as to leave no profit. On the other hand, the vein, which at the surface 
 was only i vara (2782 ft.) in width, increased gradually until, at the depth 
 of 70 varas (194 ft), it was lO varas (28 ft), and in some places more than 
 15 varas (42 ft.) wide. An adit was driven, with an intention of piercing 
 the lode lOO varas (278 ft) below the old workings ; but from some mis- 
 calculation in the measurements, it did not reach' Lbc poini where it would 
 have cut the vein, and was given up by the proprietors in despair. Since 
 that time,Gavilane3 has been upon the decline ; and, in 1 826, the district only 
 contained one mine in activity, although abounding in metalliferous veins. 
 
 Guarisamcy, the head of the surrounding districts, owes its discovery 
 to the lode of T ecolota, which crosses the high road from Durango to the 
 coast, by Cosala. The abundance and richness of its ores soon brought 
 settlers into the vicinity of the mines ; the neighbouring mountains were 
 explored, and the veins of Arana, Cincc Senores, Bolanos, Piramide, 
 Candelaria, Dolores, and Tapia were discovered, with numberless others, 
 which have not yet been worked, the miners of Guarisamty having never 
 attacked a vein that did not leave a clear profit from the very surface 
 of the earth. 
 
 Almost all the lodes mentioned above were " denounced " (a Mexican 
 mining term for obtaining [a grant) by Zambrano, and all produced 
 " bonanzas," some of which were considerable. 1 he mine of Arana was 
 remarkable for containing, between two small stripes of rich ore, a cavity 
 filled with a rich metalliferous dust, composed almost entirely of gold and 
 silver. It was likewise distinguished by many of those rich spots, com- 
 monly called c/avos, which, although of small extent in a horizontal direc- 
 tion, were very constant in perpendicular depth. These clavos were 
 worked to a depth of 180 varas (500 ft.), though the mine had no shaft ; 
 and during the whole of this space, the most ordinary ores yielded 10 
 to 15 marcs (5 to 'j\ lb.) to the monton of 17 quintals (1560 lb.), while 
 the richest are said to have produced 70 to 105 marcs (35 to 52^ lb.). 
 The lode of Cinco Senores is 5 varas (14 ft) wide, and the quality of 
 the ores is fully equal to their abundance ; the mine is 300 varas (834 ft.) 
 in depth, which, even at Guarisamey, is an extraordinary circumstance, 
 few of the oldest mines exceeding 100 or 140 varas (278 to 389 ft.). 
 
io8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 ; 
 
 Near the summit of the mountains that separate San Dimas from 
 Guarisamey, lie the mines of Bolanos and Piramide, with others, all of 
 inconsiderable depth. The "bonanza" of Bolanos, upon its first dis- 
 covery, was celebrated ; but the mine was abandoned in consequence of 
 the failure of an adit, c6mmenced with great magnificence, but so badly 
 conducted that, after wandering in various directions in search of the 
 lode, at a very considerable expense, it came out again on the side, at a 
 very little distance from the point where it had entered the mountain. 
 
 On the north side of the same ridge, lies the famous mine of La 
 Candelaria, from which a very large portion of Zambrano's fortune pro- 
 ceeded. It is situated near the summit of the mountain, immediately 
 opposite to the mine's of Cinco Senores and Bolanos, there being about 
 three hours of difficult ascent from Guarisamey to these mines, and 
 nearly the same from San Dimas to the Candelaria. On the San Dimas 
 side, the mountair/^ are very precipitous ; and thus the mine of Candelaria 
 has been worked < " depth of nearly 600 vams (1670 ft.), by adits 
 driven one below the ;r upon the lode. The last, a most magnificent 
 work, is driven nearly 500 varus (1390 ft.) into the mountain, with such 
 amplitude that a stage-coach might pass through it into the very heart 
 of the mine, which may be worked 600 varas (1670 ft.) lower by pursuing 
 a similar plan. The rich ores of the lode have been found, from the sur- 
 face to the present depth, in separate beds, perpendicular to the horizon, 
 and divided by intermediate masses of rock. The beds of ore have been 
 constant from the surface downwards, and in that part of the lode 
 hitherto examined, which comprises a horizontal distance of near 500 
 varas (1390 ft.), there are 4 deposits of ore, with an equal number of 
 intermediate cavallos, or layers of rock. The lowest levels of the Cande- 
 laria are now 100 varas (27-^ ft.) beneath the last adit. 
 
 A little below Guarisamey, and in the same ravine, is the district of 
 San Jos^ Tayoltita, which contains the celebrated mine of La Abra, one 
 of the last worked by Zambrano. It was opened in " bonanza," and 
 continued so to the '^pth of 100 varas (278 ft.), where the progress of the 
 works was impeded by water ; and this was never drawn off, in conse- 
 quence of the death of the proprietor. His nephew, at the commence- 
 ment of the Revolution, collected what money he could, by extracting 
 the pillars of all the mines belonging to the house of Zambrano, and fled 
 to the Peninsula with the produce. The mine would, if worked anew 
 with the other mines of the district, with a little science and activity, 
 probably yield immense profits. 
 
 Tamasula, Canelas, and Sianori are all valuable districts, the two last 
 of which are situated on the extreme north-western boundary of the state 
 of Durango. 
 
 Upon the western descent of the Sierra Madre, 80 leagues from Chi- 
 
AMERICA, N. 
 
 MEXICO. 
 
 109 
 
 huahua, is the celebrated and recently discovered district of Jesus Maria. 
 This mining district was "denounced" in 1822, but was little worked in 
 consequence of scarcity of provisions, population, &c. It was in fact nearly 
 abandoned until 2 or 3 of the most promising lodes, having been worked 
 to the depth of 15 or 20 varas {At'2. to 56 ft.), began to yield very rich 
 ores. Upwards of 200 lodes were discovered in one year in a circle of 
 3 leagues in diameter in the neighbouring mountains. In consequence 
 of the poverty of the miners, few mines were worked deep. The deepest 
 (Santa Juliana) is not more than 70 varas (194 ft), but has produced ores 
 so rich that they were carried 80 leagues to Chihuahua and 1 30 leagues 
 to Parral to be reduced. Near the surface of the earth, all the lodes 
 contain a considerable quantity of gold ; this diminishes as the workings 
 increase in depth, while the proportion of silver augments. In the imme- 
 diate neighbourhood are several mining districts of very great promise, 
 some ancient, and some newly discovered. Such are Rosario, Nabosay- 
 guame. El Potrero, Quipore, El Pilar de la Cieniguita, El Pilar de Milpillas, 
 Batopillilas, and Cajurichic. These form a circle, the centre of which is 
 the Indian village of Moris. Jesus !Maria is near the summit of the 
 mountains, and cold in winter. Moris is in a temperate climate, almost 
 bordering on the Tierra Caliente. 
 
 The road from Guaymas to the interior of Sonora lies through the 
 town of Petic, situated near the confluence of the rivers Dolores and 
 Sonora ; 14 " leagues " to the west of Petic is the town of San Miguel de 
 Horcasitas, on the river Dolores. To the north of this town, the first 
 ramifications of the Sierra Madre in Sonora appear, abounding in mines 
 of gold, silver, and copper ; this latter bears a high price (and is sent to 
 China) in consequence of the large proportion of gold contained in it. 
 
 From San Miguel to Ures, on the south bank of the river Sonora, the 
 distance is 12 "letij^aes." To the north of this town, the road runs along 
 the banks of the river Sonora, confined in its course by two of the pre- 
 cipitous ridges which branch out from the great Cordillera, and intersect 
 the level country at regular intervals. These ridges preserve generally 
 the same direction (from N. to S.), and run parallel with each other 
 towards the Pacific, separated by the rivers Dolores, Sonora, Oposura, and 
 Barispe. In all these streams gold has been found, but in none so con- 
 stantly as in the river Sonora, the mountains on either side being nearly 
 perpendicular, and full of mineral veins. 
 
 The general opinion is that the riches of the Sierra Madre are 
 very great, Glennie terming it " one mine " from Guarisamey to Jesus 
 Maria. 
 
 To the north-east of Alamos (in Cinaloa), and nearly due west of 
 Jesus Maria, upon the slope of the Sierra Madre towards the Gulf, li^s 
 the mining district of San Jose de Mulatos, discovered in 1806, and 
 
no 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 registered as a placer de oro, on account of the quantity of gold found in 
 the small stream which descends from Mulatos to the river below. On 
 investigating the ravine from which this stream issued, three elevated 
 crests were discovered, one of them more than loO varas (278 ft.) high, 
 intersected in all directions by small threads or veins of white earth, con- 
 taining gold in so large a proportion that the ore of inferior quality was 
 disposed of at $12 and |i5 (50J. to 62s. 6d.) the arroba (25 lb.) ; while the 
 richest sold for $200 (40/.). Two of the crests have been extensively 
 worked, but the third is nearly virgin. All three may be explored to 
 advantage by commencing at the summit, and sinking through the crest 
 to the level of the ground, as the veins of gold traverse every part of the 
 rock. The gold is nearly pure, containing only \ gr. of alloy. Glennie 
 found a number of Indians suspended by ropes from the crests, picking 
 out the earth containing the gold with wooden stakes. 
 
 Cosala, 35 " leagues " south of Culiacan (the largest town in Cinaloa) 
 derives its importance from its mines, one of which, called Nuestra Seiiora 
 de Guadalupe, is celebrated. The proprietor refused the offer made in 
 1825, by an association, of $1,000,000 (200,000/.) to be allowed to work 
 the mine for 3 years. It is free from water, and situated considerably 
 above the plain ; it contains a vein of gold of considerable breadth, and 
 its produce might be increased 10 times ; but the proprietor often does not 
 work it for months, and when compelled to do so to prevent losing his title, 
 never allows more than 4 arrobas oi ^oXdi (100 lb.) to be raised in a week ! 
 
 At Comanja, between Lagos and Leon, is another district. The 
 principal vein of Comanja is considered to be a prolongation of the Veta 
 Madre of Guanajuato. 
 
 Colonel Bourne, speaking of the river Sonora, says that no doubt 
 great quantities of gold might be taken out by intelligent people, as it is 
 natural that the larger grains should bury themselves at some great depth, 
 and the natives never think of looking below i ft. deep in the sand. The 
 ridge on the left of this ravine is full of mineral veins, all of which contain 
 more or less gold ; and ^s gold in grains is generally discovered on or 
 near the surface, it is very probable that in the shelves and interstices of 
 these mountains, a large quantity of gold is deposited by the tremendous 
 periodical rains. 
 
 Babiacora is on a table-land about i mile from the river Sonora ; in 
 its neighbourhood are many silver-mines, most containing a greater or 
 less proportion of gold. The principal are Dolores and San Antonio to 
 the south-west of the town, Cerro Gardo to the south-east, and Cobriza 
 on the Cerro de San Felipe, in the valley above. 
 
 To the north is the mining district of Nacosari, 16 "leagues" from 
 Oposura, and 14 east from Arispe. The mines of Churunibabi, Pinal, 
 Huacal, Aguage, and many others, are equally rich with the above ; but 
 
AMERICA, N. : MEXICO, 
 
 I I I 
 
 ibt 
 
 is 
 
 in 
 
 or 
 
 to 
 
 iza 
 
 )m 
 
 )Ut 
 
 Pinal contains more gold than silver. To the west of Arispe, are the 
 mines of Santa Theresa, of gold and silver, completely virgin ; and the 
 mountain of San Pedro contains innumerable mines and veins untouched. 
 The mines of La Agame, near Horcasitas, are famous for the abundance 
 and richness of their gold-ores. In the plains of Sonora, beds of native 
 gold have been found in grains, varying in size from i to 60 oz., as in 
 Cieneguilla, San Francisco, San Antonio de la Huerta, Mulatos, Baucachi, 
 and various others. 
 
 Sevin (i860), alluding to the town of Jesus Maria, in the Sierra 
 Madre, on the head waters of the Rio Mayo, and near the frontier of the 
 state of Sonora, says that its gold-mines have at times been very rich. 
 The Mina del Rosario, even lately, has yielded $10,000 (2000/.) of gold 
 every week. At the present moment, it is abandoned. In general, gold- 
 mines are thought less valuable here than silver-mines. They are less 
 constant, the stealing of the ore is more easy, and their failure may in a 
 short time destroy the capital invested. The gold of Mulatos, as well as 
 of Jesus Maria, is extracted by a real mining process from the rocks in 
 situ. Mulatos is situated in the extreme south-western corner of the 
 state, 120 " leagues " distant from the city of Chihuahua. Its mines were 
 very rich at the time of the Spaniards, but have been abandoned since 
 their expulsion. From time to time, however, some poor people make a 
 living by collecting a small portion. The silver-ores of Jesus Maria 
 always contain gold in a sufficient ratio to make the marc (1 lb.) worth 
 $10 (2/.). Immense wealth was extracted from its numerous mines in 
 the time of the Spaniards. The mine called Santa Ludubigen has been 
 worked since the expulsion of the Spaniards. In the 6 months from May 
 to October 1839, it yielded a net profit of $400,000 (80,000/.) ; and during 
 1845-46, again $500,000 (100,000/.) were cleared by the concern. The 
 chief mine is the Santa Juliana, which has never been worked since the 
 Spaniards' time. It is 300 varus (278 yd.) deep, and now full of water. 
 It would require $200,000 (40,000/) to commence working it again on an 
 adequate scale. 
 
 Corralitos is situated in the northern part of the state, on the Rio de 
 las Casas Grandes, which empties into the Laguna de Guzman. This 
 place is distant about 90 " leagues " from the capital of the state. The 
 silver here carries gold, making the marc (^ lb.) worth $9^ (39.?. yd.) ; but 
 the Apache Indians, who live in the neighbouring mountains, render the 
 road to the capital unsafe, and thereby make necessaries very dear. 
 
 Yuguivo, in Chihuahua, near the capital, has several rich mines; many 
 have never been worked, and those that have are abandoned. The silver 
 contains a large proportion of gold. 
 
 At Cerocahuic, 8 "leagues" frcm Sententrion, and 12 "leagues" from 
 Batoseagachic, the silver contains a considerable proportion of gold. 
 
112 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 i. 
 
 
 Water-power is near, the mountains are covered with fine forests ; but no 
 regular mining operations have been tried, although promising success. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the Indian town of Tubarcs, on the western 
 side of the Rio Grande, several rich gold-mines on large regular veins 
 were worked by the Spaniards ; but since their expulsion, the mines have 
 been abandoned, and their locality is now unknown. 
 
 The great auriferous copper, silver, and lead vein, called La Purisima 
 and Dos Amigos, in Huacaivo, Chihuahua, reported on by D'Aumaile 
 in 1 86 1, passes diagonally through the valley of Papigochi, from N.E. to 
 S.W., and runs across the river Fuerte, near the Indian village of 
 Satesicochi, in a general N.N.E. course. It dips E. at an inclination of 
 about 45° on the tops of the highest hills, but soon takes a much more 
 perpendicular pitch, and in the lowest visible portion, above the bed of 
 the Fuerte, has already an angle of nearly 6o°. 
 
 The width between vein-walls may be set down at 20 to 25 ft, but 
 this width is filled up by various distinct lesser veins of copper, gold and 
 copper, and silver and copper, and divided by their respective lisos. The 
 country is dioritic ; the vein is remarkably well defined, and bears all the 
 indications of being a true vein. 
 
 In one of the narrow seams of the hanging-wall, directly above the 
 " winze " {pozo) of San Cristobal, was made the first discovery of gold in 
 a matrix consisting of gossan and a red talcose or steatitic matter 
 heavily charged with peroxide of iron. The deposit was superficial, and 
 yielded about 10 oz. per ton. Soon afterwards, the adits of Dolores and 
 Monserrate, and the "winze" de la Trinidad were opened. The ores 
 from the former gave from 6 to 7 oz. per ton, but are now not so rich ; 
 those of Monserrate and neighbouring workings, i to 6 ft. in width, give 
 ore of 3 to 6^ oz. per ton. 
 
 That of Trinidad is very soft and very wide, but yields only $15 (3/.) 
 per ton ; this, which would be considered good paying ore in California 
 is not worked. 
 
 From 2 cargas (600 lb.) of the last ore blasted out of San Pedro, 
 were extracted Si oz. of gold, besides a considerable amount which 
 remained in the concentrated tailings (polvillos). The gold is of very 
 handsome appearance, and gives by assay 888*75 of gold, 82*25 of 
 silver, -029 copper, with lead and a little tin. In the Frente de San 
 Pedro, they have already struck one of the seams of the upper wall 
 4 or 5 in. thick of solid sulphuret, and in this the gold becomes more heavy 
 and massive. A portion of this ore yielded per ton (2000 lb.) of copper, 
 576*32 oz. of gold, and 128 oz. of silver, which, at f i8*20 (75J.) per oz. 
 for gold = $10,489 (2185/.). From the copper smelted from the residue 
 of the gold-washings, D'Aumaile extracted gold 12 16 oz. = $22,131 
 (4615/. \2s. 6d.) per ton (2000 lb.") of copper. 
 
 :i . I 
 
 I i 
 
AMERICA, N. : MEXICO. 
 
 "3 
 
 ;dro, 
 hich 
 very 
 of 
 San 
 wall 
 :avy 
 •per, 
 oz. 
 idue 
 ,131 
 
 A miner brought D'Aumaile an ore, which he declared to be from a 
 narrow seam ... the hanging-wall {respaldo alto) of the Veta Fornelli, 
 giving " 141 oz." (? gold) " per ton. He petitioned for leave to work the 
 same on his own account, -leaning and delivering the copper ores to the 
 proprietors, free of expense." 
 
 Montezuma, in the second expedition of Cortez, stated that the 
 richest gold-mines were in the province of Zacatula. He also described 
 the method in which the gold was obtained, namely, by washing the 
 earth, the small grains of the metal sinking to the bottom. 
 
 Phillips (1854) states that gold occurs in its pure state in various parts 
 of Mexico, " in Sonora, in El Doctor, near Tasco, and recently it is said 
 to have been discovered in the river Mescala." 
 
 Much valuable information is contained in the notes collected by 
 R^mond, and edited by Whitney, according to which, the best mining 
 districts in Mexico, in order from south to north, are, in Durango, San 
 Antonio de las Ventanas, Guarisamey, and San Dimas, remarkable for 
 their auriferous silver-ores ; and 62 Mexican " leagues " N.E. of Mazatlan, 
 Jesus Maria in Chihuahua, and Real de la Cieneguita, Sonora, with gold- 
 mines. The igneous rocks are granite, either fine or very coarse-grained ; 
 porphyries, more or less felspathic ; and greenstones, all of which are 
 cut by dykes of extremely varied character. The granites, however, are 
 very poor in veins of the precious metal ; while the porphyries are highly 
 metalliferous. The Triassic forms isolated mountain groups in Sonora. 
 It is made up of heavy beds of quartzites and conglomerates, with coal- 
 bearing shales ; all of these are disturbed and elevated, and rest on 
 greenstones, felspathic porphyries, or granite. Wherever metamorphosed, 
 the Triassic rocks are auriferous. The metamorphic slates and lime- 
 stones of the Altar and Magdalen?, districts, which include the richest 
 gold-placers of Sonora, may possibly be of Triassic age, but the fossils 
 collected are too imperfect to admit of this being determined. There 
 are some reasons for believing those rocks to be rather of Jurassic than 
 of Triassic age, as they differ in lithological characters from both the 
 Triassic and Carboniferous of Northern Mexico, resembling rather the 
 Jurassic gold-bearing slates of the Sierra Nevada in California ; besides, 
 they lie outside and west of the Sierra Nevada. It may also be noticed 
 that the gold which they furnish does not resemble that obtained from 
 the Triassic strata. 
 
 At San Marcos, between San Antonio de la Huerta and the Real 
 Viejo, metamorphic jaspery slates occur in connection with the Carboni- 
 ferous limestones ; they are probably of Triassic age. Gold is found in 
 the gulches between the quartzite ridges, as in the Canada de la Higuera, 
 near Los Bronces in the Canada de la Iglesia, between the latter place 
 and San Antonio de la Huerta, and generally where quartzites occur. 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 In Durango and Sinaloa, gold, native silver, and sulphuret of silver 
 occur associated with galena, yellow blende, and iron pyrites. 
 
 A tabular statement showing the position and character of the 
 principal mines of Northern Mexico is given by these authors, from which 
 the following notes are taken : — 
 
 La Blanca, near San Antonio de la Huerta : country, quartzite and 
 conglomerate — Triassic ; N. and S. strike ; dip, 15° E. ; matrix, vesicular 
 quartz ; ores, gold and chloro-bromide of silver ; yield per ton, $43 
 (8/. igs. 4d). 
 
 Santa Barbara, near Corral Viejo : country, quartzite ; strike, N.E. 
 to S.W. ; dip, 30° S.E. ; width, ij ft.; matrix, quartz; ores, galena, 
 carbonate of lead, iron pyrites, gold ; yield per ton, $6j 57c. (14/. 2s. 2,d.). 
 
 Carmen, location Candelaro : country, porphyry-mctam. ; strike, N. 
 85° E. ; dip, 85° N. ; width, 28 ft. ; matrix, quartz ; ores, silver and gold, 
 sulphuret of silver ; yield per ton, $186 6$c. (38/. \ys. 8r/.). 
 
 Atocha, location Candelaro : country, porphyry-mctam. ; strike, N. 
 45° E. ; dip, 85 °N. ; width, 14 ft. ; matrix, quartz ; ores, silver and gold, 
 sulphuret of silver; yield, $213 35c. (44/. 9^.). 
 
 Rosario, Candelaro : country, porphyry metam. ; strike, N. 50° E. ; 
 dip, 70°-8o° N.W. ; width, 17 ft; ores, silver and gold, sulphuret of 
 silver ; yield, $160 (33/. 6s. Sd.). 
 
 Bolanos, near San Dimas : country, porphyry metam. ; strike, N. 
 45° E. ; dip, 75° S.E. ; width, 20 ft. ; matrix, white quartz ; ores, galena, 
 blende, gold. 
 
 Babicanora : country, limestone (Carboniferous) ; strike, N.E.-S.W. ; 
 dip, 75° N.W. ; width, 5 ft. ; matrix, quartz ; ores, galena, iron pyrites, 
 fahlerz, ruby silver ore, gold, and silver. 
 
 Writing to the Mining Journal {kWW. 1094) in 1873, J. H. Petherick 
 stated that the gold-fields on the Rio del Oro, Distrito de Mino, were 
 opening up profitably. In the El Puerto concession, a lode had just been 
 intersected, the vein being composed of sulphurets ; i ton 16 cwt., sent to 
 London, assayed 17 oz. of gold and 28 oz. of silver per ton, realised 72/. 
 per ton, and gave a profit of nearly 200 per cent, after paying all expenses 
 of extraction, freights over 200 miles land-carriage and by ocean steamer, 
 and treatment. The mines on the eastern and western banks of the 
 river are worked by English and American residents, and are increasing 
 their returns. There are deep runs of auriferous ground in these posses- 
 sions, as in Australia and California, which have to be explored. The 
 shallow alluvial has afforded a living to hundreds of natives for many 
 years past, who extract the gold by the batea only. 
 
 According to Bates, virgin gold is seldom found at Tepeyac, and not 
 in compact masses. It oci^urs in seams, consisting alternately of quartz, 
 sparry spherosiderite and limestone, amethyst, chalcedony, and horn- 
 
AMERICA, N. : MEXICO. 
 
 H5 
 
 stone. But in a porphyritic mountain at La Candclaria, near Guarisamcy, 
 pure compact gold is found both in laminae and disseminated in quartz 
 and calcite seams. Pearl gold has become rare in Pachuca, while it is 
 found mostly efflorescent or disseminated in the mines of La Luz and 
 San Bernabd. 
 
 The gold production of Mexico from the date of the independence of 
 the republic (1822) to 1875, has been stated at $47,327,383 (9,859,871/.). 
 
 Laur gives a table of the annual coinage of gold and silver at the 
 Mexican mint, from the year 1690 to the year 1850, in piastres (each 
 worth 37'647</.), from which it appears that the total value of gold coin 
 issued in that period was ^%6ii,%66 piastres (or more than 14,000,000/.). 
 
 Prof Soetbeer has compiled a table of the approximate yearly 
 production of Mexican gold, in periods, stated in pesos (each of a value 
 of 4J.), as follows : — 
 
 1522-1544 .. 
 
 135.250 
 
 1621-1640 
 
 255.500 
 
 1 545- 1 560 . 
 
 100,800 
 
 1641-1660 
 
 236,300 
 
 1561-1580 
 
 230,600 
 
 1661-1680 .. 
 
 231,900 
 
 1581-1600 
 
 308,400 
 
 1681-1690 
 
 222,200 
 
 1601-1620 
 
 269,900 
 
 MIN 
 
 TED. 
 
 
 1691-1700 
 
 220,000 
 
 1771-1780 
 
 867,000 
 
 1701-1710 
 
 270,000 
 
 I781-179O 
 
 552,000 
 
 1711-1720 
 
 330,000 
 
 I79I-180O 
 
 934.000 
 
 1721-1730 . 
 
 390,000 
 
 i8oi-i8io 
 
 1,072,000 
 
 1731-1740 . 
 
 390,000 
 
 I8II-I820 
 
 603,000 
 
 1741-1750 . 
 
 528,000 
 
 I82I-I830 
 
 550,000 
 
 1751-1760 . 
 
 411,000 
 
 I83I-I840 
 
 487,000 
 
 1761-1770 
 
 654,000 
 
 I84I-I850 
 
 1,123,000 
 
 1851 
 
 1,230,268 
 
 1857 
 
 828,526 
 
 1852 . 
 
 1,291,809 
 
 1858 
 
 596,063 
 
 1853 . 
 
 1,217,472 
 
 1859 
 
 832,372 
 
 1854 . 
 
 965,412 
 
 i860 
 
 574,634 
 
 185s . 
 1856 . 
 
 956,222 
 995.813 
 
 
 
 Average 1 851- 1860 
 
 948,859 
 
 1861 . 
 
 . 1,130,158 
 
 1867 
 
 871,537 
 
 1862 , 
 
 929,487 
 
 1868 
 
 982,898 
 
 1863 . 
 
 • 1,059,696 
 
 1869 
 
 1,026,300 
 
 1864 . 
 
 871,704 
 
 1870 
 
 1,182,628 
 
 1865 . 
 
 1866 . 
 
 930,996 
 1,010,131 
 
 
 
 Average 1861-1870 
 
 1,000,453 
 
 1871 . 
 
 1,150,512 
 
 1874 
 
 866,744 
 
 1872 . 
 
 1,113,007 
 
 1875 
 
 862,619 
 
 1873 .. 
 
 813,41s 
 
 1876 
 
 806,417 
 
 The total from 1861 to 1876 is i$,6i7,2/^g pesos (3,123,450/). 
 
 Danson places the total Mexican gold-production from 1521 to 1848 
 at 163,920,225 pesos (32,784,045/); Michel Chevalier states it at 
 389,269 kilos. (856,391-8 lb.,) or 1,341,000,000 fr. (or nearly 54,000,000/). 
 
 I 2 
 
lll'T « 
 
 ii6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 A II 
 
 The recapitulatory table given by Prof. Soetbeer may be translated 
 as follows : — 
 
 Years 
 
 1521-1690 
 
 1691-1810 
 
 I 1811-1850 
 
 I 1851 - 1875 
 
 I Total .. 
 
 Weight. 
 
 Value. 
 
 lb. 
 
 I 
 
 133.760 1 
 
 
 243, -:2i } 
 
 30,746,500 
 
 107,910 I 
 
 
 98,197 
 
 6,226,600 
 
 583,088 
 
 36,973,100 
 
 Nicaragua. — Perhaps the most diffuse information concerning the 
 gold-mines of Nicaragua is contained in the work (1874) of Thomas 
 Belt, who was for some years the resident manager of the extensive 
 mines belonging to the Chontales Co., situate in the village of Santo 
 Domingo, province of Chontales, in lat. 12° 16' N., and long. 84° 59' W. 
 The rocks of the district are dolerites, with bands and protrusions of hard 
 greenstones. The decomposition of the dolerites is very great, and 
 extends from the tops of the hills to a depth, as proved in the mines, of 
 at least 200 ft. 
 
 Gold-mining at Santo Domingo is confined almost entirely to 
 auriferous quartz lodes, no alluvial deposits having been found that will 
 pay for working. The lodes run E. and W., and are nearly perpc 
 dicular, sometimes dipping a little to the N., sometimes a little to the 
 and near the surface, generally turning over towards the face of the hill 
 through which they cut. The trend of the main ranges, also nearly E. 
 and W., is probably due to the direction of the outcrops of the lodes, 
 which have resisted the action of the elements better than the soft 
 dolerites. The quartz veins now form the crests of many of the ranges, 
 but are everywhere cut through by the lateral valleys. The beds of 
 dolerite lie at low angles, through which the quartz veins cut nearly 
 vertically, excepting that they are very irregular in thickness, and often 
 branch and send thin offshoots into the enclosing rocks ; they resemble 
 coal-seams that have been turned up on edge, so as to be vertical instead 
 of horizontal. Thv,_y lun for a great distance. Near Santo Domingo, 
 they have been traced for 2 miles in length, and probably they extend 
 much further. They are what are called fissure-veins. 
 
 The gold-mines of Santo Domingo are in veins or lodes of auriferous 
 quartz, that run parallel to each other, and are so numerous that across a 
 band more than a mile in width, one may be found every 50 yd. All 
 that have been worked vary greatly in thickness ; sometimes within 
 100 yd. a lode will thicken out from i to 17 ft. Their auriferous 
 contents vary still more than their width. The rich ore, worth from 
 I to 4 oz. per ton, occurs in irregular patches and bands, very small in 
 
 ■ iiiiii 
 
AMERICA, N. : NICARAGUA. 
 
 117 
 
 comparison with the bulk of the ore stuff, which varies in value from 2 to 
 7 dwt. per ton. The average value of all the ore treated by the Chontales 
 Mining Co., up to the end of 1871, had been about 7 dwt. per ton, and 
 during that time small patches were met with worth ICXD oz. of gold per 
 ton. The gold docs not occur pure, but is a natural alloy of gold and 
 silver, containing about 3 parts of the former to i of the latter. The 
 quartz lodes also contain sulphate of silver, peroxide of manganese, per- 
 oxide of iron, sulphides of iron and copper, and occasional lead ores. 
 
 The quartz is generally very friable, full of drusy cavities, and broken 
 up into innumerable small pieces, that are often coloured black by the 
 peroxide of manganese. The gold is in minute grain.s, and generally 
 distributed loose amongst the quartz. Pieces as large as a pin's head are 
 rare, and specimens of quartz .showing the gold in it are seldom met 
 with, even in the richest portion of the lode. The fine gold-dust can, 
 however, easily be detected by washing portions of the lode-stuff in a 
 horn. The quartz and clay are washed away, and the gold-dust sinks to 
 the bottom, and is retained in the spoon. This is the usual way in which 
 the lode is tested by the mining agents, and long practice has made 
 them very xpert in valuing the ore by the wash in the " spoon." 
 Although n» ^t of the gold occurs loose, amongst the soft portions of the 
 lode, the hard quartz also contain^ it disseminated in minute grains. 
 
 One feature in the distribution of gold in the quartz lodes of Santo 
 Domingo, led to a most exaggerated opinion of their value when they 
 were first mined by English compariics. 
 
 On the hills, near the outcrops of the lodes, the ore was in some 
 places exceedingly rich : 100 oz. of gold were obtained from a small patch 
 of ore near the surface of the Consuelo lode, and at Santo Domingo, 
 San Benito, San Antonio, and Javali lodes, very rich ore was also 
 discovered within a few fathoms of the surface. When, however, these 
 deposits were followed downwards, they invariably got poorer, and at 
 100 ft. from the surface, no very rich ore has been met with. Below 
 that, when the works are prosecuted still deeper, there does not appear 
 to be any further progressive deterioration in the value of the ore, and it 
 varies in yield from 2 to 7 dwt. of gold per ton, upon which yield farther 
 depth does not seem to have any effect. These rich deposits near the 
 surface are obviously due, not to the lodes having originally, before they 
 were exposed by denudation, contained more gold in their upper portions 
 than below, but to the effect of the decomposition and wearing down of 
 the higher parts, and the concentration of the gold they contained in the 
 lode below that worn away. In the decomposed parts of the lode, the 
 gold exists in loose fine grains : during the wet season, water percolates 
 freely from the surface down through the lodes, and the gold set free by the 
 decomposition of the ore at the surface must be carried down into it, so 
 
ill! 
 
 lilVi!! 
 
 * .i 
 
 i! 
 
 5ft 
 
 1 
 
 
 SI 
 
 ill 
 
 1 1> ' 
 
 ii8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 that, in the course of ages, during the gradual degradation and wearing 
 away of the surface, there will have been an accumulation of the loose 
 gold in the upper parts of the lodes from portions which originally stood 
 much higher, and have since been worn away by the elements. 
 
 The mining is entirely executed by the native workmen, principally 
 Mestizos from the border-lands of Honduras and Nicaragua, where they 
 have been engaged in silver-mining. 
 
 The band of auriferous quartz veins worked at Santo Domingo 
 continues westward for 8 miles, as far as the savannahs near Libertad, 
 and has been largely mined in the neighbourhood of that town, and 
 between that point and Santo Domingo. Besides the working of the 
 mines proper, some surface deposits, called by the Spaniards manias p-e 
 also w orked for gold, especially in the neighbourhood of Libertad. A iie 
 viantas consist of broken quartz, covering the faces of the hills in the 
 neighbourhood of some of the lodes. In some places, they form a 
 disjointed but regular stratum over the whole side of the hill ; and Belt 
 accounts for their origin by supposing them to be a further development 
 of the tendency of the lodes near their summits to incline over towards 
 the face of the hill through which they cut. In the San Antonio mine, 
 the lode is in part bent completely round ; this bending over in the lodes 
 is always towards the face of the hill, and Beit thinks it is produced by 
 successive small land-slips. 
 
 In the course of his work, Bf.'c briefly alludes to the scarcity of 
 alluvial gold deposits in Nicaragua, and attributes this to glacial denuda- 
 tion, which removes the whole surface passed over, and does not, as in 
 the case of water-worn areas, permit the gold to exert its specific gravity 
 ard arrest its movement. 
 
 Dr. Scherzer, writing in 1857, or 14 years earlier than Belt, says that 
 of the precious metals very little is obtained in Nicaragua ; the most 
 important works of this kind are the gold-mines of Santa Rosa de Venci, 
 24 " leagues " north of Leon ; and those found in the province of 
 Chontales in 1849. 
 
 The mines of Chontales lie about 50 miles from the sea coast, 1 14 
 N.E. from the town of Granada, and 36 from Lake Nicaragua. The 
 mining region extends over an area of about 80 miles, and lies 1 500 ft. 
 above the Atlantic Ocean. The metal is found in quartz, red sandstone, 
 and slate ; " the works an not carried on systematically, but by a 
 crowd of adventurers who go rummaging almost at random in the bowels 
 of the mountain." In 1854, there were about 300 men at work here: 
 they came chiefl.v from the mines of Honduras, in the hope of higher 
 wages, and were a motley crowd of North American, Irish, F'rench, and 
 German vagabond^, who used to go digging to-day here, to-morrow 
 there, and consuming in the evening what they had earned during the 
 
AMERICA, N. : NICARAGUA. 
 
 119 
 
 day. The population attracted to this lonely mountain district in search 
 of gold did not, however, altogetlur amount to above 600 persons, while 
 the Indian population of the province of Chontales amounted to 10,000. 
 Up to March, 1854, no gold from Chontales had ever found its way 
 into commerce, nor had any chemical analysis been made of the metal 
 contained in the ore ; but at that tim.c, some specimens were brought 
 that appeared so extraordinarily rich and productive, that a regular gold- 
 fever broke out in Granada, and there was a rush to the district of all 
 who could by any means manage to travel the 1 2 " leagues," while new 
 speculators arrived every day from the United States, and set about 
 forming joint-stock companies. The great hindrance, however, to the 
 profitable working of the mines of Chontales, was the want of well- 
 informed miners, as well as of good roads and sufficient capital. 
 
 In the environs of Teustepet, gold, silver, and copper have been 
 found ; bui- r'othing has been done towards a systematic working. 
 
 The miros of Matagalpa were discovered in 1808, but did not attract 
 the attention of large capitalists till 1 8 14. At that time, more than 
 200 men were employed in the mines, and the yearly produce was 
 calculated at ^0,000 piastres (12,500/.) The produce in 1857 was not 
 more than a quarter of that amount^ and there were bu<" 60 workmen. 
 
 Scherzer visited the most important mines of Matagalpa, and came 
 upon the first at about 2 " leagues " S.E. of Matagalpa. The greatest 
 mining works begin at San Ramon ; and the utmost that has ever been 
 obtained from them amounted to 33 lb. of gold, equal to a value of 
 $5000 (1000./.). To obtain this much, 12,000 cwt. of quartz had to be 
 got from the interior of the mountain, and crushed. This is equal to 
 1 3 dwt. 5 gr. per ton. 
 
 The tools and mining apparatus are perhaps the most primitive 
 employed in any quarter of the world, consisting merely of a crowbar 
 and an iron hammer, with a wooden crushing-machine made in the 
 country ; and the who'c process is quite independent of the discoveries 
 of modern technical chemistry \ vvorkman's wages at these mines are 
 little more than from 10 to 15^. a day with his food ; and an ounce of 
 gold costs— or did cost— $15 (3/.). 
 
 The second mine visited was thai- of La Leonesa, w' ere a perpen- 
 dicular depth of 270 ft. has been reacliL-d, and 7 galleries opened. These 
 works rlso, however, were stopped for want of capital. The mineral 
 veins ujually run from N.E. to S.S.E. 
 
 At a distance of a league from San Ramon, lie the gold-mines of La 
 Luna, and farther on those of Monte Grande, Ucalca, and San Pablo. 
 
 At the mine of San Rafael, ^ a " league " from Dipilto (which is the 
 last Nicaraguan town towards the Honduras frontier), although it has 
 been opened only 3 yea . a perpendicular depth of 150 ft. has been 
 

 
 ;fi] 
 
 >■ 
 "■I 
 
 r ll 111' 
 
 III 
 
 ■ 
 
 ii 'i 
 
 ; 
 
 1 20 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 :'■ 
 
 attained, and 10 horizontal subterranean galleries formed of more than 
 2 " leagues " in extent. The principal and most productive veins in 
 these mines run from E. to W. The produce of silver varies extremely. 
 In general, it is considered to be 3 to 6 oz. from 25 lb. of ore ; but 
 sometimes the same quantity of ore will yield as much as 24 oz. The 
 silver is mostly found united with lead, copper, or gold, but only with 
 the first in sufficient quantity to pay for the separation. Of gold, not 
 more than 20 oz. have been obtained from 25,000 lb. of the rock, which 
 is nearly 2 oz. per ton. 
 
 The gold-region of Guyappa is bounded on the east by the valley of 
 Lepaguare. The river Guyappa is a branch of a larger river between 
 the district of Olancio and the valley of Lepaguare, and empties into 
 the Caribbean a little to the south of Truxillo. 
 
 Froebel states that Matagalpa seems to form part of an extensive 
 gold-region, reaching from the sources of the Bluefield River north- 
 ward to the valleys of the Upper Patook or Guavape, in Honduras. 
 
 According to Squier (i860), the northern districts of Nicaragua, — 
 Segovia, Mata,'^alpa, and Chontales, — adjoin the great metalliferous moun- 
 tain region of Honduras, with which they correspond in climate, and 
 with which they are geologically connected. They are rich in gold, 
 copper, iron, and lead, the ores of which are readily worked. 
 
 Nearly all the streams to the eastward of the town of Nueva Segovia, 
 fallinp- from the mountains of Honduras into the Rio Coco, or Wanks, 
 carry gold in their sands, in greater or less quantities. The Indians, and 
 a few adventurers from other parts of the state, carry on washings 
 in a small and rude way, and consequently without any great aggregate 
 result. In the neighbourhood of Matagalpa, on the headwaters of the 
 Rio Escondido, are also gold-washings worked in like manner by Indians. 
 
 In the district of Chontales, among the mountains separating the 
 waters flowing into Lake Nicaragua from those falling into the Rio 
 Escondido, the ores of gold are found in abundance. Ihere are 
 numerous evidences that the mines were largely worked by the aborigines. 
 The metal occurs chiefly in quartz veins. Attempts were made in 
 1856-57 to introduce proper machinery for crushing the rock and ex- 
 tracting the metal, but the political condition of the country has been 
 such as to break up and discourage all enterprises of this kind. When- 
 ever order shall be permanently established, Chontales will no doubt 
 command increasing attention. Its accessibility from the shores of Lake 
 Nicaragua, and through the navigable waters of the Rio Escondido, 
 point it out as the most favourable mining region in Nicaragua. 
 
 Some explorations of Indian River, flowing into the Caribbean Sea on 
 the Mosquito shore, a short distance above the port of San Juan, disclosed 
 the fact that gold exists in that stream, as it does unquestionably in all 
 
 I 
 
 lli! 
 
AMERICA, N. : UNITED STATES. 
 
 121 
 
 the rivers falling from the mountains of Honduras into the Atlantic. It 
 may be questioned, however, "^ the gold, except in peculiar localities, 
 can be obtained m sufficient quantities to repay the cost and labour. 
 
 The methods of mining in Nicaragua, as in every other part of 
 Central America, are exceedingly lude, and it is not surprising that the 
 results are so often unsatisfactory. The silver and gold ores are crushed 
 in a basin of masonry, in which rises a vertical shaft, driven generally by 
 a horizontal water-wheel. This shaft has two arms, from each of which is 
 suspended a large stone or boulder. These are the crushers. After the 
 ore is reduced to sufficient fineness, the metal is separated by mercury : 
 "a long and expensive process, which is now beginning to be facilitated 
 and cheapened by the introduction of the German or ' barrel process.' 
 The machines for crushing the ores have, however, as yet, undergone but 
 slight improvement." 
 
 Byam has the following reference to the gold-washings of the country. 
 Some adventurers, generally of the very lowest class, both in manners 
 and morals, proceed to the auriferous streams that run through the south 
 part of the Honduras nearest to Segovia, for 2 or 3 months during the driest 
 part of the year, and when the rains have entirely subsided. The part 
 of the country is almost uninhabited, and on the arrival at the different 
 streams, each man and his female helpmate generally choose a spot, 
 often miles from their neighbours, where they commence operations. 
 The first thing is to build a rainada, or hut of branr'es, as the name 
 signifies ; but they always select a plrn-C where two good-sized trees are 
 near enough together to enable them to swing their hammocks between 
 them. The man is always within sight of the hut, In case assistance be 
 wanted in such a wild spot ; and ' ■ digs holes into the ground near the 
 stream, and after having piled Uj i heap of earth close to the water, 
 washes it in half-gourds, when, aftci rcpeatefl changes of water, aid the 
 spot chosen having proved a good one, a litlli ,iie gold-dust i - often visible 
 in the gourd. It requires a great deal of nicet_ to balanc. the gourds 
 backwards and forwards, up an-', down, and round about, so as to get rid 
 of the earth ; and it is still more difficult, at the last wasliing, to manage 
 to leave the gold all together at the very end of the remaining deposit, 
 which is generally of a black or dark-grey colour. The grains of gold 
 are often large enough to be picked out after one or two washings, and 
 even to be discovered whilst digging ; and a man in good hi' may find 
 enough gold in a week to keep him comfortably the wh( ' .ir. 
 
 Samples of ore brought to England by Truran from the Chontales 
 Go's, mines assayed from i dwt. up to 174 oz. 10 dwt. of gold per ton of 
 ore ; the average of 3 1 analyses, neglecting two which gave respectively 
 174 oz. 10 dwt. and 39 oz., was a little over 2 oz. 6 dwt. 4 gr. per ton. 
 
 United States. — The auriferous regions of the United States arc 
 
122 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I; ' 
 
 divided between two distinct and distant mountain ranges : the first and 
 by far the more important being what may be called the Pacific Coast 
 range, including the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Madre, the Black Hills, 
 and the Sierra Nevada, which, with the Andes and intermediate mountains, 
 Ibrm one continuous gold-bearing region extending from Alaska to 
 Patagonia ; the second, which was in reality the first discovered by Euro- 
 pean colonists, being the Alleghany range, on the eastern [Atlantit ] coast. 
 
 Old chroniclers give an account of a province called Cotachiqui, 
 which was visited by the Spaniard De Soto's gold-hunting expedition in 
 1538-40, and which was embraced in what afterwards became the States 
 of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, and, according to Logan, 
 had its centre on the western limits of South Carolina. Its capital and 
 chief town stood upon the tongue of land between the Broad River of 
 Georgia and the Savannah, just opposite the modern district of Abbeville. 
 The Spaniards entered this capital after a two months' march, and there 
 found hatchets formed from an alloy of gold and copper. At this their 
 cupidity was greatly excited, and they concluded that they had found 
 a country abounding in the long-coveted precious deposits of gold. And 
 so indeed they had: less than 15 miles south-east of the town, on the 
 opposite or Carolina side of the river, lay one of the most extraordinary 
 gold-deposits in the world. The Cherokees were well acquainted with the 
 Dorn mine. This is shown by the numerous relics of their handiwork 
 scattered around it, and there can b^ little doubt that the massive nuggets 
 of its outcropping gold supplied them abundantly with the finer metal of 
 the alloy that so attracted the Spaniards. It is no less known that the 
 gold and copper, found in the possession of the Indians, in the form of 
 solid masses or curious trinkets, by the first white men "'ho visited the 
 country, were obtained from these sources. 
 
 The Indian method of smelting these metals was one of the most 
 remarkable devices of savage ingenuity ; in practical efficiency the 
 modern blowpipe is scarcely superior. Logan says that, having first 
 hollowed out a flat stone in the form of a basin, they filled it with char- 
 coal, and upon this laid the nuggets of metal. A number of Indians then 
 seated themselves in a circle around the basin, each one having in his 
 hand a long reed, pierced through it - entin Ii ngth, and armed at one end 
 with a clay tube or pipe. Everything being ready, fire was applied to 
 the charcoal, and the whole mass instantly blown into a powerful heat 
 through the reeds, the clay extremities of which were inserted in the 
 basin. In this way the Indians could easily produce any variety of orna- 
 ment from these metals, using them either alone or in alloy. This 
 method was known to have been in use among the Indians who lived 
 upon the gold-producing lands of North Carolina, and 'he same process 
 must have been known to the Cherokees. These chronicles and 
 
AMERICA, N. : UNITED STATES. 
 
 123 
 
 traditions go to confirm what Lawson says, that the Indians, from time 
 immemorial, were acquainted with valuable mines of gold and silver in 
 Upper Carolina. 
 
 The Spaniards under De Soto, led on by stories, exaggerated or 
 misunderstood, of their Indian guides, made a wid ■ superficial exploration 
 in search of the origin of this treasure. They arc supposed to have 
 excavated many of the diggings in North and South Carolina and 
 Georgia, which are now overgrown with forests. But no rich deposits 
 appear to have been discovered, nor permanent operations undertaken. 
 
 In the great charter of King James, by which, in 1606, the right to 
 explore and settle the North American continent from the 34th to the 
 45th parallel, was granted to the London and Plymouth companies, it 
 was provided that one-fifth of the gold and silver, and one-fifteenth of 
 the copper, which might be discovered, should belong to the crown. One 
 of the earliest expeditions of Capt. John Smith, in Virginia, was the 
 exploration of the Chickahominy River, in the hope that it might con- 
 stitute a water-way to the Pacific Ocean ; and one of the next events in 
 the history of the same colony was a mining excitement, caused by the 
 supposed discovery of gold. It is a curious circumstance that gold really 
 occurs in the region ; though the glittering dust, of which a ship-load was 
 sent by the deluded colonists to the jewellers of London, proved to be 
 mica or iron-pyrites, a blunder that has had its parallel in modern days. 
 
 Already Jefferson, in his " Notes on Virginia," mentioned the finding 
 of a lump of gold weighing 17 dwt. near the Rappahannock ; and in 
 1799, the famous Cabarrus nugget, weighing 28 lb., was discovered at the 
 Reed mine, in North Carolina. But the great gold excitement in the 
 south followed the discoveries in Georgia from 1828 to 1830. 
 
 The early gold-production of the Atlantic States, i.e. between the 
 years 1804 and 1850, has been computed by Whitney as follows ; — 
 
 States. 
 
 Virginia 
 
 North Carolina .. 
 South Carolina .. .. 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Tennessee and Alabama 
 
 Total .. ,. 
 
 Value in 8. 
 
 Valu» in £. 
 
 1,198,600 
 6,842,900 
 
 818,100 
 6,048,900 
 
 263,800 
 
 249,708 
 1,425,604 
 
 170,487 
 
 1,260,187 
 
 54,958 
 
 15,172,300 
 
 3,160,944 
 
 In striking contrast to these figures, the production from 1851 to 1867 
 amounted to only $4, 39 1.9 iS (9i4,98i/.)- 
 
 The most important event in the history of mining in the United 
 States, says Raymond, was the discovery of gold in California, in 1848. 
 It was previously known to exist in the country, for rumours of it were 
 

 II 
 
 ► ■;■ 
 
 !l 
 
 
 
 124 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 current among the trappers, and placers had actually been worked in 
 what is now Los Angelos county ; but the Padres of the neighbouring 
 mission of San Fernando had discouraged the business as demoralizing to 
 their flocks ; and the existence of the precious metal was not widely 
 known ; still less was its distribution northward suspected. Stearns, who 
 went to California from Mexico in 1829, says that on the 22nd of 
 November, 1842, he sent 20 oz. California weight (i8| oz. Mint weight) 
 of placer gold to the U.S. Mint at Philadelphia. The mint assay was 
 returned August 6th, 1843. The gold was taken from placers first 
 ■discovered in March, 1842, by Francisco Lopez, a Californian, at San 
 Francisquito, about 35 miles north-west from Los Angelos. Lopez dug 
 up some onions with his sheath knife, and in the dirt discovered a piece 
 of gold. A few persons — mostly Sonorians — worked these placers, until 
 the war with the United States disturbed the country, taking out $6000 
 to $8(X)0 (1200/. to 1600/.) per annum. 
 
 The discovery of gold on January 19th, 1848, at Sutler's saw-mill, on 
 the southern fork of the American River, afterwards famous as Coloma, 
 in El Dorado county, was the beginning of the new epoch. This dis- 
 covery was made by James Wilson Marshall, a partner in the mill, 
 who observed in the debris washed down by the tail-race a glittering 
 fragment of a mineral unknown to him. Suspecting it to be gold, he 
 sought for further specimens, and obtained, in the course of a few days, 
 several ounces of it. Tests subsequently made established its character ; 
 and the news spread with great rapidity, arousing intense excitement 
 throughout America, and even in European countries. On March 1 5th, 
 1848, a San Francisco newspaper contained a paragraph giving the 
 tidings. In May, the same paper announced the suspension of publica- 
 tion ; and the editors and workmen, imitating their fellow-citizens of every 
 class, went off to the diggings. Two years later, the population of 
 California had risen from 15,000 to 100,000 ; and the gold-bearing zone, 
 extending along the west flank of the Sierra to Oregon, had been put 
 under active exploitation. The placer.'^ of the southern counties of Oregon 
 were opened in 1852 ; those of the John Day and Powder Rivers in i860. 
 Gold was discovered in Idaho, on the banks of the Peu d'Oreille River, 
 in 1852 ; but the active development of the territory dates from the dis- 
 covery of the Oro Fino mines in i860, and the opening, 2 or 3 years 
 later, of the rich Boise Basin. Montana was found to be auriferous in 
 1858 (possibly earlier), and in i860 placer mining was inaugurated. The 
 gulches of Colorado began to be worked in 1859 ; and that territory was 
 rapidly settled, chiefly by immigrants from the East. In Arizona, gold 
 is said to have been discovered in 1858, on the Gila river. In Nevada 
 and Utah, no gold-placers of importance have been found, though the 
 metal is not entirely absent from the mountain ravines, and in some 
 
k 
 
 AMERICA, N. : UNITED STATES. 
 
 125 
 
 instances, particularly at the Comstock lode in Nevada, it constitutes a 
 considerable portion of the value of argentiferous ores. 
 
 The first form of gold-mining in these States and Territories was that 
 of digging. The miner loosened the auriferous soil with a pick, and 
 shovelled it into a pan, from which, by skilful manipulation in water, the 
 clay, sand, and pebbles were removed, and the heavier particles of gold- 
 dust left behind. The first improvement on the pan was the rocker ; 
 afterwards the " tom " was introduced from Georgia, and with it the 
 sluice. In 1850 and 1851, the two latter devices began to be generally 
 employed, in consequence of the greater convenience of water-supply 
 afforded by the mining ditches. The first ditch of importance was made 
 in 1850; and its success so stimulated imitation that in the course of 8 
 years, 6000 miles of mining canals had been constructed, at a cost of 
 more than $15,000,000 (3,000,000/.), in California alone. 
 
 The following table, compiled by Richthofen, shows the gold export 
 from San Francisco in the years 1848 to 1859 : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Officially declared. 
 
 Probable actual sum. 
 
 in S' 
 
 in £. 
 
 in 8. 
 
 ini;. 
 
 184s 1 
 
 
 
 j 10,000,000 
 
 2.000,000 
 
 1849 
 
 66,000,000 
 
 13,200,000 
 
 < 40,000,000 
 
 8.000,000 
 
 1850) 
 
 
 
 ( 50,000,000 
 
 10.000,000 
 
 1851 
 
 46,457.895 
 
 9.291.579 
 
 55,000,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 1852 
 
 45,779.000 
 
 9,155,800 
 
 60.000,000 
 
 12,000,000 
 
 1853 
 
 54,965,000 
 
 10,993,000 
 
 65,000.000 
 
 13,000,000 
 
 1854 
 
 52,045,633 
 
 10,409,126 
 
 60,000,000 
 
 12,000,000 
 
 1855 
 
 45.161,731 
 
 9,032,346 
 
 S5.ooo.ooo 
 
 u, 000, 000 
 
 1856 
 
 50,697,434 
 
 10,139,487 
 
 55,000,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 1857 
 
 48,976,692 
 
 9.795.338 
 
 55,000,000 
 
 11,000,000 
 
 1858 
 
 47,548,026 
 
 9,509,605 
 
 50,000,000 
 
 10.000,000 
 
 1859 
 
 47,640,462 
 
 9.528,092 
 
 50,000,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 
 i860 
 
 42,325.916 
 
 8,465,183 
 
 42,325.916 
 
 8,465,183 
 
 1861 
 
 40,676,758 
 
 8,135.351 
 
 39,176,758 
 
 7,835.351 
 
 1862 
 
 42,561,761 
 
 8.512,352 
 
 36,061,761 
 
 7,212,352 
 
 1863 
 
 46,071,920 
 
 9,212,384 
 
 33,071,920 
 
 6,614,384 
 
 Blake states the production in 1864- 1867, as follows :- 
 
 1864 .. 
 
 $56,707,201 (11,341,440/.) 
 
 1866 
 
 .. $44,364,393(8,872,878/.) 
 
 1865 .. 
 
 45,308,227 (9,061,645/.) 
 
 1867 
 
 .. 41,676,292(8,335,258/.) 
 
 For the 
 
 years 1 860-1 877, Raymond gives 
 
 the following figures : — 
 
 i860 .. 
 
 $46,000,000 (9,200,000/.) 
 
 1869 
 
 ,. $49,500,000 (9,900,000/.) 
 
 1861 .. 
 
 43,000,000 (8,600,000/.) 
 
 1870 
 
 50,000,000(10,000,000/.) 
 
 1862 .. 
 
 39,200,000 (7,840,000/.) 
 
 1871 
 
 .. 43.500,000(8,700,000/.) 
 
 1863 .. 
 
 40,000,000 (8,000,000/.) 
 
 1872 
 
 36,000,000(7.200,000/.) 
 
 1864 .. 
 
 46,100,000 (9,220,000/.) 
 
 1873 
 
 36,000,000(7,200,000/.) 
 
 1865 .. 
 
 53,225,000 (10,645,000/.) 
 
 1874 
 
 40,000,000(8,000,000/.) 
 
 1866 .. 
 
 53,500,000 (10,700,000/.) 
 
 1875 
 
 40,000,000(8,000,000/.) 
 
 1867 .. 
 
 51.725,000 (10,345.000/.) 
 
 1876 
 
 48,000,000(9,600,000/.) 
 
 1868 .. 
 
 48,000,000 (9,600,000/.) 
 
 1877 
 
 50,000,000 (10,000,000/.) 
 
126 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 Professor Soetbeer gives a recapitulatory table, which may be trans- 
 lated as follows : — 
 
 Periods. 
 
 I 804- I 820 
 182I-1830 
 183I-1840 
 184I-1850 
 1851-1855 
 I 856- I 860 
 1861-1865 
 
 I 866- I 870 
 1871-1875 
 
 1821-1850 I 
 1851-1875 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total. 
 
 1821-1875 
 
 17 
 10 
 10 
 
 10 
 5 
 
 S 
 S 
 
 s 
 s 
 
 30 
 
 25 
 
 lb. 
 
 132 
 
 2,420 
 
 18,700 
 
 387,200 
 
 976,800 
 
 848, 100 
 
 733,700 
 836,000 
 654,500 
 
 Annual average. 
 
 lb. 
 
 7i 
 
 242 
 
 1,870 
 
 38,720 
 
 195,360 
 
 169,620 
 
 146,740 
 
 167,200 
 
 130,900 
 
 490 
 
 15.345 
 
 "6.575 
 
 2,455,800 
 
 12,387,600 
 
 10,755.450 
 9,304,650 
 
 10,602,000 
 8,300,250 
 
 Total production and value. 
 
 408,320 
 4,049, 100 
 
 55 
 
 4,457,420 
 
 25,891,200/. 
 256,749.750/. 
 
 282,640,950/. 
 
 The gold-production of the several States and Territories in the 
 year ending June 30, 1880, is thus stated by the Director of the Mint : — 
 
 Alaska $6,000 (1,200/.) 
 
 Arizona 400,000 (80,000/.) 
 
 California 17,500,000(3,500,000/.) 
 
 Colorado 3,200,000 (640,000/.) 
 
 Dakota 3,690,000 (738,000/.) 
 
 Georgia 120,000 (24,000/.) 
 
 Idaho 1,980,000 (396,000/.) 
 
 Montana 2,400,000 (480,000/.) 
 
 Nevada 4,800,000 (960,000/.) 
 
 New Mexico 130,000 (26,000/.) 
 
 N.Carolina 95,ooo (19,000/.) 
 
 Oregon 1,090,000 (218,000/.) 
 
 S.Carolina 15,000 (3,000/.) 
 
 Utah 210,000 (42,000/.) 
 
 Virginia 10,000 (2,000/.) 
 
 Washington T 410,000 (82,000/.) 
 
 Wyoming T 20,000 (4,000/.) 
 
 Other sources 14,000 (2,800/.) 
 
 Total $36,000,000(7,200,000/.) 
 
 Returns rendered by mine-owners of 7 of the Pacific States and Ter- 
 ritories to the 30th June, 1881, show : — 
 
 California $17,286,333(3,457,266/.) 
 
 Nevada .. 2,534,792 (506,958/.) 
 
 Arizona Territory S54,Si7 ("0,903^.) 
 
 Idaho Territory 1,541,652 (308,130/.) 
 
 Oregon 7S3,6i3 (150,720/.) 
 
 Washington Territory .. .. 90,000 (18,000/.) 
 
 Alaska Territory 1,900 (380/.) 
 
 Total $23,462,797 (4.692,559/-) 
 
AMERICA, N. : UNITED STATES. 
 
 127 
 
 The following information is furnished by a special bulletin of the 
 Census Bureau for 1881. California still holds the first place in produc- 
 tion of gold. The vast deposits of auriferous gravel continue to yield 
 largely, though their final exhaustion, in view of the enormous hydraulic 
 operations now going on, must be expected at no distant day. This 
 state furnishes 71 '47 per cent, of the total product of placer mines, and 
 5 1 • 38 per cent, of the product of deep mines. The discoveries in the 
 Bodio district added greatly to the deep-mine product. The gold-pro- 
 duction is f 108 "30 (22/. IIS. id.) per square mile. 
 
 The decrease of the yield of the Comstock lode has caused a consi- 
 derable decline in the product of Nevada. In 1876, the Comstock 
 yielded $18,002,906 (3,750,605/.) in gold, but in the census year the yield 
 of the entire Comstock district and outlying veins was only $6,922,330 
 (1442,152/.) for both gold and silver. The placer yield of Nevada is 
 insignificant. No important gravel deposits having suitable water-supply 
 are known to exist. 
 
 The yield in Utah is from a comparatively few rich claims, and varies 
 but little from year to year. The placer yield was only $20,000 (4000/). 
 More than half the ore is milled, although the territory's mining is 
 generally regarded as dependent upon smelting works. 
 
 The development of the Tombstone district has given a marked 
 impul-je to mining in Arizona. The placer yield is only $30,000 (6000/.). 
 
 Since 1876, the yield in Idaho has depended largely upon the old 
 placer mines of Boise Basin. The panic of 1876, in San Francisco, 
 seriously affected the Owyhee mines, which had contributed heavily to 
 the annual output. The proportion of placer to deep-minv-^ gold in 
 Idaho is a:> 60 to 40. The census examination was made too early to 
 include the developments in the Wood River country and the Yankee 
 Fork region. King predicted, when he wrote the census report, that the 
 output of Idaho would be doubled in two years. 
 
 Mining is overshadowed in Oregon by other industries. Nearly 
 all the deep-mine gold in the state is from the quartz veins of Baker 
 county. 
 
 Gold-quartz mining is conducted on a small scale in Yakima county, 
 Washington Territory, and the Upper Columbia placers furnish more 
 than one-half of the territory's placer yield. 
 
 Alaska contains many gold-bearing districts, but the yield has been 
 small. In the census year, $5951 (1190/) in placer-gold was sent to the 
 San Francisco Mint. 
 
 Colorado as a producer of gold was fourth in the census year. The 
 placer yield was small. 
 
 The Black Hills mines furnish Dakota's yield. The placer product 
 was about $50,000 (10,000/). 
 
128 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i i 
 
 Ik 
 
 Two-thirds of the deep-mine product of Montana is milled. The 
 gravel deposits are valuable, and it is estimated that the placer yield 
 is $1,162,906(232,581/.). 
 
 The mines of New Mexico, in 1880, were awaiting the extension of 
 railroads. Many of these mines were difficult and even dangerous of 
 access. The Census Bureau's work there was affected by the assassina- 
 tion of Col. Charles Potter, the expert in charge of the territory. There 
 is rich placer ground in New Mexico, but for want of water little gold 
 has been obtained from it. 
 
 In Wyoming, the production was confined to Sweetwater county. 
 The average fineness of placer-gold in the United States is 0*876. 
 Of le ore mined in the census year, 91*39 per cent, in tonnage was 
 treated at the reduction works, and 8 •61 per cent, was left on the dumps. 
 The average result of the working treatment, as compared with assay 
 value, was 81 '86 per cent, of the gold contents, 79*68 per cent, of the 
 silver, and 80*40 per cent, in all. The highest average yield was from 
 the Arizona ores — $7* 01 (2gs. 2\d.) gold, and $86*24 (17/. \gs. ^d.) silver 
 per ton. Of the total gold-product of the country, 64 per cent, came 
 from deep, and 36 per cent, from hydraulic, placer, drift, and river 
 mines. 
 
 After this general sketch of the gold-yield of the United States as a 
 whole, the auriferous states and territories may be considered in detail in 
 alphabetic order. 
 
 Alaska. — See pp. 37-8. 
 
 Arizona. — The mines of Pima county were the first opened in 
 Arizona, and are yet considered among the best. They are of quartz, 
 but placers have been worked at several points, and those at the Santa 
 Rita Mountains have given good results. South-west of Tucson, in the 
 Papago country, are extensive " dry washings," and the Papago Indians 
 ha'. :^ for years brought gold-dust to the Tucson merchants. Of the 
 quartz lodes, the Cerro Colorado and the Patagonia are the best known. 
 The lodes are argentiferous rather than auriferous. 
 
 The best placers were found in Yavapai county in 1 863. For several 
 years, large quantities of gold were taken from Lynx Creek, the Big Bug, 
 the H assay ampa, and other streams ; and now, at certain seasons, the 
 washings are very remunerative. The county is prolific in quartz lodes, 
 both of gold and silver, but especially the latter. The Accidental mine, 
 in Lynx Creek, has a vein 2 ft. wide ; looo tons of ore crushed by 
 arrastres gave $25 to $75 (5/. to 15/.) a ton. The Sexton mine, in the 
 Weaver district, is in the famous Antelope Hill, whence the largest gold- 
 nuggets were taken in 1863-4. The gold is free, and the ore crushed in 
 arrastres has given $37 (7/. loj.) a ton ; 3 tons from one of the spurs 
 yielded $573 (115/.) in gold. Rich placers have been discovered in the 
 
 . !■ ■! 
 
AMERICA, N. : ARIZONA, CALIFORNIA. 
 
 129 
 
 Santa Maria district, about 80 miles south-west of Prcscott. The gold is 
 coarse, but of good quality ; the work has to be done by the Mexican 
 " dry washing " system. The largest nugget found was valued at $50 to 
 $60(10/. to 12/.). 
 
 In Mohave county, the Greenwood mine is one of the largest gold- 
 properties. Some promising gold-lodes have been found in the Cerbat 
 Range, north of the VVallapai Mountains. 
 
 Placers are worked near Ehrenbci^r, in Yuma county, rich gold-dust 
 being found over an area 40 miles long and 15 wide; nuggets worth 
 $2 to $10 (8s. 4d. to 2/.) have been taken out. There being little water, 
 the dry process is used. Mexicans bring in gold from the vicinity of 
 Gila city, 20 miles from Yuma, where placers have been worked for 
 many years. 
 
 The vein-gold of Arizona is almost entirely found in the argentiferous 
 lead ores, and the state is remarkable for its silver rather than its gold. 
 
 California. — The auriferous wealth of California may be divided into 
 two sections — placer diggings and quartz veins. Of the former, the 
 shallow portions are now nearly exhausted, and of very small import- 
 ance, though the deep or high gravels, lying chiefly in Nevada, Placer, 
 and Sierra counties, still continue to be worked on a grand scale ; the 
 quartz veins are scattered from San Diego to Plumas counties, the most 
 important and productive being in Amador and Nevada, and on or near 
 the " Mother lode " or "great quartz vein," an irregular, disjointed out- 
 burst of quartz, extending over a distance of 80 miles, from Mariposa to 
 Amador, in a series of lenticular masses, separated by barren intervals. 
 
 Amador county. — The mother lode, occupying a width of about 12 
 miles, passes through the centre of this county, the principal mining 
 towns being Jackson, Sutter, Amador, and Drytown. Some of the 
 chief mines are worked on intermittent outbursts of quartz between 
 Jackson and Drytown. The Oneida mine, 2 miles north of Jackson, 
 has a vein 8 ft. wide, with the usual strike and dip, the quartz yielding 
 $10 to $1 1 (2/. to 2/. 5^.) a ton. In Hayward's mine (formerly Eureka and 
 Badger mines), the vein runs N. 22° VV., dipping 70° E., and enclosed in 
 dark, soft, argillaceous slate. The width of the vein varies from 8 to 
 40 ft., and after a length of 500 ft. suddenly pinches out. The gold is 
 very regularly diffused in the mineral, but rarely visible. The free gold 
 usually runs $15 (3/.) to the ton, besides 3 percent, of auriferous pyrites. 
 
 Several quartz mines are working at Volcano, some affording a good 
 yield of gold. The Whitman vein is in a band of slate lyi"g between 
 granite ; it can be traced for 2 miles, with a general direction of N. 22° E., 
 and a dip of 65° E., its average width being 6 ft. In th i same band, 
 the Italian's vein has an opposite dip, is about 5 ft. wide, runs N. 40° E., 
 and dips 45° E. ; and the Leviathan ranges from 9 to 25 ft. wide, yielding 
 
 K 
 
I30 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 $10 to $70 (2/. to 14/.) a ton. There is a considerable quantity of 
 gold in the dctrital mass overlying the auriferous slates in this region. 
 
 Butte county. — In i860, this county had 29 quartz mills, and 64 
 mining ditches, with an aggregate length of 583 miles; in 1875, there 
 were only lO mills (2 running), and 330 miles of mining ditch, supplying 
 8000 in. of water. About 4000 to 5000 tons of quartz were crushed in 
 1875. The sources of water-supply for the chief mine, at Cherokee Flat, 
 are Butte Creek and the branches of the Feather River, as well as the 
 watershed of Table Mountain. The tailings from the mines have run 
 down the channel of Dry Creek. The Spring Valley Company here 
 received $401,600 (80,320/.) for gold bars in 1874-5. The Cherokee 
 mines yield also platinum and diamonds. The two leading veins are 
 described as follows : — 
 
 Forbestown Consolidated : course, S.W. and N.E. ; dip, N.W. ; 
 average width, 6 ft. ; country-rock, slate ; vein-matter, quai tz ; stamps, 
 10; weight, 750 lb.; drops per minute, 85; height, 6 in.; process, 
 Paul's ; capacity per day, 10 tons ; cost of treatment, $2 50c. {lOs. $(/.). 
 
 Mammoth : course, E. and W. ; average width, 6 ft. ; country-rock, 
 granite ; vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 5 ; weight, 650 lb. ; drops per 
 minute, 85 ; height, 7 in. ; process. Paul's ; capacity per day, 10 tons ; 
 cost of treatment, $ I 50c. (6s. 3^.). 
 
 Calaveras county. — From the foot-hills bordering the San Joaquin 
 Valley towards the summit of the Sierra, runs the belt of auriferous 
 metamorphic rocks which forms the great mining field of central Cali- 
 fornia. The lower portion is only covered by superficial detritus, 
 apparently remnants of broken channels, which existed higher up, and 
 flowed in a general direction from north to south. In the higher 
 portion, near the junction of the slates and granite, are isolated patches 
 of these ancient gravels, covered by basaltic lava, and below these, on the 
 limestone belt, superficial placers which are worked during the rainy 
 season. The mother lode enters the county from Tuolumne, and crosses 
 it into Amador. It makes strong croppings at Carson Hill, Albany Hill, 
 Angel's, San Andreas, and Lower Rich Gulch, on the Mokelumne River. 
 Carson Hill alone is credited with the production of $4,000,000 (800,000/.) 
 of gold, but operations have been suspended for some years, as the free- 
 gold bearing character of the rock changed in depth, and was succeeded 
 by tellurides and arsenical compounds requiring metallurgical treatment. 
 In 1875, there were 40 quartz mills, 30,500 tons crushed, 23 mining 
 ditches, 510 miles in length, and delivering 3160 miners' in. per diem ; 
 in 1870, 24 mills, crushing 11,536 tons, 22 mining ditches, 598 miles 
 long, and giving 6300 in. 
 
 El Dorado county. — The belt of auriferous rocks in this county is 
 nearly 30 miles wide, and contains several systems of quartz veins, among 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 131 
 
 them being the mother lode ; but the formation is much broken, and the 
 ore of low grade. During 1875, only 3 mills out of 27 were at work ; 
 this falling off is attributable to the impovcrishi.ijnt of the quartz in 
 depth. Several of the mines formerly noted for their production of free 
 gold, such as the Cederberg, suspended operations, this class of ore run- 
 ning out at a depth of aJout 250 ft., and the quartz below that level being 
 too poor for remunerative workmg. The leading mines arc ; — 
 
 VVoodside : course, N.W. and S.K. ; dip, 65° E. ; average width, 
 3 ft. ; country-rock, talcos:^ jlate ; vein-matter, auriferous quartz ; tons 
 worked, 1500; average yield, |3S (7/.); percentage of sulphurets, i J ; 
 product, 1875, $3S,ooo (7000/.); stamps, 5; weight, 650 lb.; drop, 7 
 in, ; drops per minute, 84 ; cost of treatment, |;2 {8s. 4^/.). 
 
 Taylor: course, N.W. and S.E. ; dip, 75° E. ; country-rock, slate; 
 vein-matter, auriferous quartz ; tons worked, 5000 ; average yield, $7 to 
 $18 (i/. gs. 2d. to 3/. ISJ.) ; percentage of sulphurets, i ; product, 1875, 
 $50,000 (1000/.); stamps, 10; weight, 700 lb.; drop, 7 in.; drops per 
 minute, 80 ; cost of treatment, $2 {^s. 4^/.). 
 
 Mount Pleasant : course, N. 16° E. ; dip, 80" E. ; country-rock, 
 granite ; vein-matter, auriferous quartz ; tons worked, 700 ; average yield, 
 $47 (g/. 16^. Sfl^.) ; percentage of sulphurets, i^ ; product, 1875, $31,000, 
 (6200/.); stamps, 10; weight, 750 lb. ; drop, 7 in. ; drops per minute, 80; 
 cost of treatment, $2 50 c. (lOj. 5</). 
 
 Mariposa county. — The principal source of gold in this county up 
 to 1870 was the Mariposa estate. The course of the vein is N.E. and 
 S.W., dipping 65° E. ; the width varies from i to 7 ft. ; and the 
 country-rock in the 6 different mines is : (i) porphyritic greenstone and 
 talcose slate ; (2) porphyritic greenstone and micaceous slate ; (3) green- 
 stone and talcose slate ; (4) black slate on both walls ; (5) porphyry and 
 slate ; (6) granite. The vein-matter is sulphuretted quartz and free gold ; 
 the average value runs from $8 to $40 (i/. \2s. lod. to 8/. 6s. 8d.) per ton. 
 In 1875, the county had 20 quartz mills, and 7 mining ditches totalling 
 45 miles long; in 1870, 30 mills crushed 35,000 tons, and 10 mining 
 ditches 66 miles long delivered 3500 miners' in. of water. There is thus 
 a considerable falling off, which is in part attributable to litigation and 
 unexplained financial difficulties. 
 
 Nevada county. — This county derives its importance both from the 
 extent of its auriferous gravels and the number and richness of its quartz 
 lodes. In 1870, there were 73 quartz mills, which crushed 125,000 tons, 
 and 53 mining ditches, with a total length of 875 miles; in 1875, the 
 mills were reduced to 46, and the quantity crushed to 80,000 tons, while 
 the mining ditches numbered 75, with a total mileage of 625 miles, 
 delivering 40,000 miners' in. per diem. The principal quartz-mining 
 district is Grass Valley, where operations commenced in 1851. The 
 
 K 2 
 
 > 
 
!!•» 
 
 i ii 
 
 l1 
 
 132 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 aggregate product of its quartz veins was estimated by Raymond to have 
 reached $30,000,000 (6,000,000/.) in 1875. The auriferous rocks are 
 mostly metamorphic schists or greenstones, alternating with belts of 
 syenite. The quartz veins are generally not large, 8 ft. being a full 
 average thickness ; wiiile some of the most productive have not averaged 
 over I ft. The metallic contents vary extremely ; but the gold is easily 
 saved, being clean, angular, and not very .'.mall. The sulphurets usually 
 amount ^o 2 per cent, of the auriferou.j rock ; they are readily concen- 
 trated, and yield an average of $100 (20/.) a ton nett by the chlorination 
 process. The district contains about a dozen continuously productive 
 mines, about half of which have given great profits, and as many more 
 irregularly remunerative. The principal may be thus described : — 
 
 Idaho : course, N.W. ; dip, 70° S.W. ; average width, 7 ft. ; country- 
 rock, greenstone and slate , vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 35 ; weight, 850 
 ib. ; drop, 10 in. ; drop: per minute, 70 ; capacity per day, 70 to 80 
 tons ; cost of treatment, $2 {8s. 4^.) ; tons crushed in 1875, 28,103. 
 
 New York Hill : course, N.W. ; dip, j^"" N.E. ; average width, 2 
 ft. ; country-rock, greenstone ; vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 19; weight, 
 900 lb. ; drop, 9 in. ; drops per minute, 80 ; capacity per day, 45 tons ; 
 cost of treatment, $2 25c. (9^. 4^.) per ton ; tons crushed, 1875, 25,000. 
 
 Eureka : course, N.W. ; dip, 70° S.W. ; average width, 3 ft. ; 
 country-rock, greenstone and slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 30 ; 
 "'^-ight, 850 lb. ; drop, 10 in. ; drops per minute, 62 ; capacity per 
 day, 60 tons; cosi of treatment, $3 34c. (I3.y. iid.) per ton; tons crushed 
 in 1875,4310. 
 
 Empire: course, N. ; dip, 28° W. ; average width, ih ft. ; country- 
 rock, greenstone and slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 20 ; weight, 
 900 lb.; drop, 9 in.; drops per minute, 73 ; capacity pr:r day, 40 tons ; 
 cost of treatment, $2 (8.f. 4d.) ; ton.? crushed in 1875, 11,000. 
 
 Pittsburg : course, N. ; dip, 74° W. ; average vndth, 11 in. ; country- 
 rock, slate and granite ; vein-matter, quartz. 
 
 Antelope: course, N.E. ; dip, 40° N.W. ; average width, 11 in.; 
 country-i'ock, granite and greenstone ; vein-matter, quartz and ochre. 
 
 California (a) : course, N. ; dip, 40" E. ; average \\'idth, i ft. ; country- 
 rock, granite ; vein-matter, clay-slate, &c. ; hjamps, 10; weight, 750 lb. ; 
 drop, 7 in. ; drops per minute, 78 ; capacity per day, 18 to .s ; cost of 
 treatment, $2 (8^. 4d.) a ton ; tcn= CiUshcd in 1871;, 3940. 
 
 Gold Tunnel: cou<-':c, JN. ; dip, .^G" E ; average width, i ft. 2 in.; 
 c: "^iitry-rcl:, ^.anite ; vein-matter, clay and quartz ; stamps, 10 ; weight, 
 750 lb.; urop, 8 in.; drops per minute, 80; capacity per day, 18 
 tons; cost of treatment, $1 75c. (ys. ^d.) per ton; tons crushed in 
 J 375, 1000. 
 
 Nevada : course, N.W. ; dip, 45° N.E. ; average width, 5 in. ; 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 ^33 
 
 country-roc':, grani'.c" vein-matter, quartz with pyrites and galena; 
 stamps, 15; weight, 750 lb.; drop, 9 in.; drops per minute, 85; 
 capacity per day, 30 tons ; cost of treatment, y$c. (3^. 2if,) ; tons crushed 
 in 1875, 4000. 
 
 California {^) : course, N.W. ; dip, 45° N.E. ; average width, 3 
 in. ; country-rock, granite and slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; stamps, 
 10; weight, 750 lb. ; drop, 7 in.; drops per minute, 78; capacity per 
 day, 20 tons; cost of treatment, $2 (Ss. 4d.); tons crushed in 1875, 2000. 
 
 Flavor county. — This has been one of the most important hydraulic- 
 mg counties in the state. The chief quartz-mining districts are in the 
 vicinity of Auburn, in the foot-hills bordering on the Sacramento Valley. 
 Their description is as follows : — 
 
 St. Patrick : course, E. and VV. ; dip, 45° S. ; thickness, 20 in. ; coun- 
 try-rock, trap cap overlying granite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, 
 $41 SOc. (8/. 13J.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 2 J. 
 
 Crater: course, E. and W, ; dip, 43° S. ; thic' — ?"", ''O in. ; country- 
 rock, syenite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $42 (8/. 15.?. id.) per 
 ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 3. 
 
 Spanish : course, N. and S. ; dip, 38° E. ; thickness, 36 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate covering granite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average 
 value, ,$9 (i/. lys. 6d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 2^. 
 
 Gold Blossom : course, N. and S. ; dip, 78° E. ; thickness, 30 in. ; 
 country-rock, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, 
 ^ 50c. (1/ lis. 2,d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, l^. 
 
 Mina Rica : course, N. and S. ; dip, ?-<^° E. ; thickness, 18 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate; vein-matter, quartz; average value, $15 (3/. 
 2^. 6d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 2\. 
 
 St. Lawrence : course, N. and S. ; dip, 43° S. ; thickiicss, 24 in. ; 
 country-rock, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, 
 $7 50c. (i/. I \s. id.) per ton , percentage of sulphurets, ij. 
 
 Buckeye : course, E. and W. ; dip, 65° S. ; thickness, 15 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorpiiic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, i|32 50c. 
 (6/. i$s. 5<y.) per ton ; percentage cl sulphuret.s, 2. 
 
 Elizabeth : course, E. and W. ; dip, 58° S. ; thickness, 20 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorpiiic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $28 (5/. 
 \6s. 8 /.) per ton percentage of sulphurets, 2. 
 
 Cooper : course, E. and W. ; dip, 45° S. ; thickness, 20 in. ; country- 
 re jk, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $22 (4/. 
 ". IS. 8d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 2^. 
 
 Scott : course, E. and VV. ; dip, 80° S. ; thickness, 8 in. ; country-rock, 
 syenite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $20 (4/.) per ton ; percentage 
 of sulphurets, i. 
 
 Holder : couse, E. and W. ; dip, 80° S. ; thickness, 8 in. ; country-rock, 
 
134 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 1? 
 
 v 
 
 syenite ; vein-: -atter, quartz ; average value, $30 {61.) per ton ; percentage 
 of sulphurets, ij. 
 
 Shady Side : course, E. and W. ; dip, 80" S. ; thickness, 8 in. ; country- 
 rock, syenite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $50 (10/.) per ton ; per- 
 centage of sulphurets, I. 
 
 Auburn : course, N. and S. ; dip, 45° E. ; thickness, 30 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate; vein-matter, quartz; average value, $15 (3/.) 
 per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, i. 
 
 Solsie : course, N. and S. ; dip, 45° E. ; thickness, 12 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $40 (8/.) 
 per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, \. 
 
 Consolidated : course, E and W. ; dip, 32° S. ; thickness, 20 in. ; 
 country-rock, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, 
 $10 (2/.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, i. 
 
 Orleans : course, E. and W. ; dip, 45° S. ; thickness, 36 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate; vein-matter, quartz; average value, $15 (3/.) 
 per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 8. 
 
 Crandall : course, E. and W. ; dip, 45° S. ; thickness, 36 in. ; country- 
 rock, metamorphic slate ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $8 (33J. 
 ^d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, 4. 
 
 Julian : course, N. and S. ; dip, 60° E. ; thickness, 36 in. ; country- 
 rock, syenite ; vein-matter, quartz ; average value, $8 (33J. /^d.) per ton ; 
 percentage of sulphurets, 2^. 
 
 Plumas county. — Little gold, except what has been derived from the 
 overlying gravel, is found in the beds of the streams coursing through 
 the great syenitic mass of the Spanish Peak range. The most productive 
 zone is within the group of slates situated between the syenite and the 
 belt of greenstone, particularly in the talcose slates. This condition 
 holds good in the south-west, at or near the junction of the slates with 
 syenite, granite, and serpentine. Gold occurs in the recent alluvium 
 originating in the greenstone belt, or in situ in this rock. The next slate 
 group adjoining the serpentine shows but few original gold-deposits. 
 
 Within the great serpentine belt, no gold is known occurring in place, 
 and but little in alluvial beds that cannot be traced to the older gravel 
 deposits situated upon it. The slate group east of the serpentines 
 appears to be auriferous to some e.vtent, particularly near the edge of the 
 sandstone schist, which latter gives evidence of having orifinated many 
 auriferous deposits. 
 
 San Diego county. — The mines of this county are mainly situated 
 in Julian and Banner districts in the Santa Isabella Mountain, some 
 40 to 60 miles north-cast of San Diego town. The main mass of tlie 
 Cuyamac portion of the mountain con'^ists of mica-slate and hornblendic 
 porphyry, coursing north-east and south-west, standing almost vertical, 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 135 
 
 and bounded westward by basaltic rocks, which have overflowed its 
 western boundary of garnet porphyry. The veins are very numerous, 
 lie on the western and south-western slopes of the mountain, and run in 
 almost every conceivable direction, subject to the irregularities of the 
 hornblendic porphyry. The larger veins course north-east and south- 
 west, and are imbedded In the slate. Their dip is from 70° E. to almost 
 vertical. They are narrow, and have no bold outcrop, and only in places 
 are clearly-defined walls laid open. The gangue is quartz, and varies in 
 width from ^ to 3 ft. Gold is the only precious metal which the veins carry ; 
 accompanying it are traces of antimonblende. The gold occurs in grains 
 and thin flakes, and is abouf 790 fine. It is disseminated very sparingly 
 in the gangue, but occurs in rich pockets at intervals. The veins are 
 expected to last in depth ; but they are narrow, and demand economical 
 management. There were 8 quartz mills at work in the county in 1875. 
 A few of the mines yielded $20 to $30 (4/. to 61.) per ton. 
 
 Tuolumne county. — This county has been made remarkable by the 
 deep-lead mining under Table Mountain. In 1875, 20 quartz mills were 
 at work, crushing about 15,000 tons. The chief mines are : — 
 
 Golden Gate : course, N.E. and S.W. ; dip, 70° to 80° W. ; average 
 width, 6 ft. ; country-rock, slate ; vein-matter, flinty quartz ; average 
 yield, $14 50c. (3/. o.i-. $d.) per ton ; percentage of sulphurets, i^ to 4. 
 
 Confidence: course, N. 25° W. ; dip, 22° E. ; average width, 7 ft; 
 country-rock, granite ; vein-i latter, quartz and sulphurets ; average yield, 
 $16 (3/. 6s. M.) per ton. 
 
 Yuba county. — The placer mines of Sucker Flat, Smartsville, and 
 Timbuctoo have been among the most productive of the state. In 
 respect to quartz mining, the county has a poor record. 
 
 Gold-gravels of the Sierra Nevada, — The preceding remarks under 
 the heads of the counties of California have referred more especially to 
 the quartz reefs and their products ; but the state is more remarkable for 
 its abnormally developed system of deep placer mines. These have 
 recently been made the subject of most elaborate and exhaustive research 
 by the well-known geologist. Professor J. D. Whitney, from whose mag- 
 nificent work — ' The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada ' — the fol- 
 lowing notes have been condensed. 
 
 -^w^rm 
 
 im 
 
 mm 
 
 Distribution of the Gravels. 
 
 In the Pliocene gr- > -, which, at the mouth of the San Francisco 
 Cation, lie unconformably on the older rocks, gold has been obtained by 
 washing at various times since 1841. In the Sierra Nevada, the forma- 
 tions which overlie the bed-rock are of greater interest than in perhaps 
 any other mountain chain. They are often of great thickness, as com- 
 
136 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 m: 
 
 ^^ 
 
 pared with the usual development of such detrital beds ; they represent in 
 their formation a geological period of considerable length, not being ex- 
 clusively of recent or post-tertiary origin ; they arc quite largely made up 
 of volcanic materials, so that the period during which they were accumu- 
 lating must have been one of great igneous activity ; and, finally, they 
 are, almost everywhere, more or less auriferous, containing a sufficient 
 quantity of gold to make their working profitable. 
 
 The most easily recognised division of the bed-rock is into granitic 
 and metamorphic, for there is little of the non-granitic which has not 
 undergone considerable chemical change. So large a portion of this 
 metamorphic rock has a slaty structure, that the whole series is often 
 termed the " auriferous slate series," or the " auriferous slates ;" not that 
 the whole formation is gold-bearing, but that these are the rocks with 
 which gold is associated, the metal, however, occurring almost exclusively 
 — so far as the bed-rock is concerned — in connection with veins of quartz, 
 which are abundantly distributed through certain portions. When, there- 
 fore, " bed-rock slates " or auriferous slates " are mentioned, unless with 
 some special limitation, they include all the non-granitic rocks of the 
 gold-region of the Sierra Nevada, underlyin^^ the imperfectly consolidated 
 detrital materials, which, with the accompanying volcanic deposits, form 
 the superficial covering of so large a portion of the western slope. 
 
 The highly metamorphic condition of many of these rocks, the fact 
 that the gold-bearing formations of the Appalachian chain, of the Urals, 
 and of Australia, has been proved to be of Palaeozoic age, Murchison's 
 dictum that gold could only be expected in any considerable quantity in 
 the oldest rocks, and the entire absence of fossil evidence as to the epoch 
 of the auriferous belt of the Sierra Nevada, long impressed geologists 
 with the belief that this formation could not be otherwise than Palaeozoic. 
 [This point will be further discussed in the next chapter.] 
 
 The dolomitic or magnesitic portion of the great mother lode before 
 mentioned (p. 129) decomposes somewhat readily, and it becomes a kind 
 of " gossan," or cellular, ferruginous mass, of a dark -brown colour, often 
 traversed in every direction by seams of white quartz. The quartz is the 
 auriferous portion of the lode, although it is far from being uniformly 
 impregnated with gold. Most of the mines which have been worked, 
 between the Merced and the Stanislaus, are on the north-east side of the 
 vein, either in contact with it, or in some parallel band of quartz subordi- 
 dinate to, or at a little distance from it. The talcose slate bands in the 
 vein are often themselves more or less auriferous. 
 
 Gravel deposits of considerable magnitude are not limited, even on 
 the Pacific slope, to the Sierra Nevada : there are quite extensive beds in 
 the Coast Ranges. They have even, in one district, been worked to some 
 extent for gold. Generally, however, they are not sufficiently auriferous 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 137 
 
 to encourage working. Neither have the Coast Range gravel deposits 
 those peculiar features which make the Sierra g/avels so interesting. 
 There are also gravel beds of considerable magnitude in the extreme 
 southern and northern portions of the State of California, which are 
 more or less auriferous, but in regard to which there exists little or no 
 definite information. The gravels in the caiions of the San Gabriel 
 Range, and in some of the valleys of the San Bernardino Mountain are, 
 or have been, worked for gold at various times during the winter season. 
 They are not the scene of extensive and permanent mining operations, 
 but rather of the nature of the ordinary placer-mining gravels ; i. e., of 
 local origin and comparatively unimportant. The deep canons of the 
 rivers of the extreme northern counties, especially the Klamath and its 
 branches, contain large amounts of gravel, which have been at times 
 extensively worked for gold, and in places with large profits. 
 
 The gravel region proper, or that portion of the western slope of the 
 Sierra Nevada here to be especially described, may be said to be nearly 
 conterminous with the belt of auriferous slates. Where granitic rocks 
 prevail, whether in the southern portion of the Sierra, or along the crest 
 of the range, the gravels are local in character and not largely washed 
 for gold. The true gravel-mining region begins in Mariposa county and 
 extends into Plumas, as far as the line marking the limit beyond which 
 the slope of the Sierra is entirely covered with volcanic material. But 
 all portions are by no means equally important, either in respect to the 
 amount or the richness of their gravel. Taking the counties in geogra- 
 phical order from south to north, the importance of the gravel deposits 
 increases from Tuolumne to Calaveras, and thence to Amador ; El 
 Dorado, Placer, Nevada, and Sierra are the great mining counties, and 
 there is a gradual falling off in Butte and Plumas. 
 
 These gravels are worked by the hydraulic method described in 
 detail in a subsequent chapter. Tunnel mining is practised on a much 
 less extensive scale than formerly. 
 
 Origin of the Gravels. 
 
 The whole series of phenomena observed in the Sierra Nevada gives 
 ample grounds for the belief that the metamorphic rocks of the range, — 
 the bed-rock in fact, — were the original home of the gold now so gene- 
 rally distributed through the gravel. Obviously the mode of occurrence 
 of the auriferous gravels themselves shows clearly that their presence is 
 entirely dependen' on that of a body of slaty rocks, enclosing great 
 numbers of quartz veins, which in many cases are sufficiently well sup- 
 plied with gold to repay the expense of mining. In short, the quartz- 
 mining districts and the gravel region are essentially one and the same 
 
 ll\ 
 
 i 'V I 
 
138 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 .r- 
 
 l|:^ 
 
 
 nil 
 
 tract of country, as will be apparent on inspection of the various maps 
 accompanying Whitney's splendid volume. 
 
 Some very fine gold has been carried, no doubt, to a considerable 
 distance from its native bed, and deposited upon strata which were not 
 in the least auriferous ; but the coarser portion of the gold remains either 
 on or in close proximity to the place where it originated. 
 
 That the distribution of the gold in the gravel should be irregular, and 
 that it should be wide-spread, are conditions which seem quite in harmony 
 with its origin. Quartz veins are very generally distributed through the 
 bed-rock series ; a large portion of these contain some gold, many of them 
 are rich enough — in places, at least — to pay for working. But it appears 
 to Professor Whitney very clear that the older gravels have been formed 
 from a material considerably richer in gold on the average than is the 
 present bed-rock of the region. 
 
 As to the question whence came the gold contained in the quartz 
 veins, Whitney would derive it from the enclosing and surrounding rocks 
 themselves. There are abundant facts to prove beyond all doubt that 
 gold is distributed in minute quantities far and wide throughout the great 
 mass of these metamorphic rocks, entirely independent of all the quartz 
 veins. Indeed, it may well be questioned whether there is so much as a 
 single ton of metamorphic rock of the auriferous series above the level 
 of the sea in the Sierra Nevada in which a sufficiently delicate chemical 
 analysis might not detect a trace of gold ; and it can hardly admit of a 
 doubt that the aggregate quantity of the gold which is thus distributed 
 through the mass of the rock is incomparably greater than that which 
 exists in the quartz itself There is thus no lack of resource from which 
 the gold in the quartz may have easily been derived ; while, on the other 
 hand, the general character of the quartz veins themselves appears to 
 him to furnish strong evidence in favour of the view that the gold in 
 them has been thus derived. They are not often what are technically 
 called " fissure veins." They are generally intercalated between the 
 planes of stratification of the slates, and irregular bunches and lenticular 
 masses of limited extent are common among them. Furthermore, the 
 rocks in many localities are penetrated in every direction by little, irre- 
 gular quartz veinlets and stringers, which often carry gold, and are some- 
 times in spots extremely rich, even when less than an inch in thickness. 
 
 Throughout the gravel region, the evidence constantly presented is 
 cumulative and overwhelming that these gravel banks are the work of 
 streams of fresh and running water. But then arise the great questions, 
 Whence came these streams, and where did they go ? In answer thereto, 
 the theory which first gained extensive credence was that of the foimer 
 existence of a single great river, flowing south-easterly for hundreds of 
 miles along what is now the south-western slope of the Sierra, and nearly 
 
 1 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 139 
 
 parallel with the axis of the range, before the mountains were uplifted. 
 And the supposed channel of this great stream, now filled with gravel, 
 was called the " blue lead." 
 
 This theory was founded, of course, upon the supposed existence of 
 a narrow belt of deep gravel banks, stretching across the country in a 
 sout i-easterly direction. But later, when it came to be more generally 
 understood that the deep-gravel banks were not all confined within so 
 narrow a belt as this theory would require, the theory was modified far 
 enough to admit the existence in the gravel period of two or three large 
 rivers with their branches, the courses of the main streams, however, 
 b^^i/'g still supposed to be nearly parallel, and the general direction of 
 '" >• flow to be south-easterly. 
 
 ^ fust objection to this blue-lead theory lies in the fact that from 
 the 1 "die Yuba to the Mokelumne River, including the best-known 
 and most important gravel-mining region in the State, there is no well- 
 defined belt or belts of deep gravel banks stretching N.W. and S.E., 
 such as must necessarily underlie the very foundation of this theory. 
 
 The single fact of the non-existence of any such definite north-west 
 and south-east belt or belts of deep gravel banks as have been supposed, 
 though perhaps insufficient of itself to positively disprove the blue-lead 
 theory, does nevertheless completely remove the very foundation on 
 which it was built. 
 
 But there are other and more positive objections to it. Incidentally, 
 Whitney mentions another important fact connected with this theory. 
 The term " blue lead " derived its origin, in part at least, from the blue 
 gravel, and there has always been an intimate association in ideas between 
 the two, many even going so far as to believe that the blue gravel was 
 characteristic everywhere of the blue lead, and was not found out 'de of 
 it. But the fact is that the blue gravel is scattered here and there all 
 over the gravel region, though its quantity is ordinarily the greatest where 
 the banks are heaviest. It cannot be said to be characteristic of any 
 particular channel or set of channels. And Whitney is thoroughly satis- 
 fied that the peculiar dark-bluish colour which gave rise to the name 
 " blue gravel " is due, in the vast majority of cases at least, not to any 
 original peculiarity in the character of the rocks from which the gravel 
 was derived, nor to any peculiarity in special streams which once fliowed 
 in particular channels, but simply to local chemical action in the mass 
 of the gravel itself subsequent to its deposition. 
 
 The south-western slope of the Sierra Nevada, at the commencement 
 of the gravel period, was, in Whitney's opinion, a broad, gently un- 
 dulating, and moderately hilly country, having in all probability exactly 
 the same gentle average slope which exists to-day south-westerly towards 
 the valley, — a slope which for great distances ranges from 100 to 130 ft. 
 
 ' s .V'.f 
 
 t t 
 
 ii.' 
 
I40 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 :i ; 
 
 
 
 IB' 
 
 to the mile, — and having at the same time its greater drainage basins, 
 already marked out where they exist to-day, by the occasional ridges and 
 spurs which traversed, sometimes for considerable distances, the rolling 
 hilly country, though rarely rising so much as looo ft. above the general 
 plane. High up towards the summit of the range, indeed, the country 
 grew gradually rougher ; and here was probably more or less of caiion 
 and of precipice, though it is not at all likely that there was anything 
 comparable in magnitude with many of the modern cafions. 
 
 There may possibly, indeed, have been among the peaks occasional 
 gorges 2000 or 3000 ft. in depth ; but it seems hardly possible that any 
 such gorges then could have been continuous for many miles, and they 
 were the results, in all probability, not so much of denudation or erosion, 
 as of the original upheaving forces which built the range and raised the 
 lofty peak. 
 
 Among these loftier summits, the streams which slowly gathered the 
 ancient auriferous gravel took their rise. Thence they flowed south- 
 westerly across the smoother sloping country, the larger streams draining 
 respectively nearly the same regions as now, and in the same directions, 
 and finding their way by the shortest practicable routes to the valley, 
 which, however, may then have been a lake or sea. 
 
 This appears to Whitney to be the general outline of the manner and 
 means by which the ancient auriferous gravel was slowly accumulated, 
 its materials — 1. e. its gold, as well as its boulders, pebbles, and sand — 
 being derived from the bed-rock over which the streams ran, and from 
 the quartz, &c., which it contained. The longer such a process continued, 
 the more the streams would wander, the greater would be the quantity of 
 gravel accumulated, and the greater the actual area over which it would 
 be spread. He thinks this process continued until the advent of the 
 volcanic era, when the enormous quantities of volcanic matter which 
 were spread far and wide over the western slope of the Sierra, buried 
 beneath their mass the previously accumulated gravel, as well as the 
 rocks from which it was derived, and were the chief and direct cause of 
 the final ending of that gravel period. 
 
 Size and Character of the Gold. 
 
 At Wiessler's claim, Iowa Hill, the gold near and upon the bed-rock 
 is coarse, and worn into elongated and flattened grains ; it is said to be 
 worth $18 (3/. 1 5 J.) per oz. That from the upper part of the bank is 
 scaly, and exceedingly fine, or " flour gold," and is generally worth 50c. to 
 75c. (25</ to Zlhd-) an oz. more than the coarse gold on the bed-rock. 
 
 At the Lebanon Tunnel, the channel has proved rich in coarse and 
 rather scraggy gold. One lump is said to have weighed 10 oz., and 
 another 42 oz. 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 141 
 
 At Nahor's claim, in Green Valley Gorge, the gold is rather coarse 
 and smooth, and it seems generally to grow coarser as the ridge is 
 ascended from Iowa Hill. 
 
 The gold from the tunnels about the head of Indian Canon was usually 
 very coarse. Some of the claims paid well, and occasional spots were 
 found that were very rich. 
 
 The gold in Grizzly Caiion is said to be coarse, and generally rather 
 smooth, although some of it was quite " scraggy." 
 
 At the Mountain Gate Tunnel, near Damascus, the gold is generally 
 not very coarse, although it is sometimes so, a piece weighing 9 oz. having 
 been found here. The coarser gold is generally well-rounded and smooth, 
 the finer is often flaky or scraggy, and sometimes pieces of considerable 
 size are found very scraggy, with more or less quartz adhering to them. 
 The gold from the Cement Mill claim, at Damascus, is not so coarse 
 ai that from the Mountain Gate Tunnel, and is worth about $18 25c. 
 (3/. i6s.) per oz. 
 
 At Sterrett's claim, in Sailor's Caiion, east of Canada Hill, some 
 coarse gold is found on the bed-rock, and finer gold in the gravel above. 
 The gold is well washed. 
 
 Nearly all the gold in Weske's claim, near Michigan Bluff, even 
 when the pieces are quite large, is in thin, scaly, and tabular forms, which 
 are generally pretty well waterworn and smooth. 
 
 In the Van Emmons claim, at Michigan Bluff, the gold in the quartz 
 gravel is not in such thin tabular forms as at Weske's mine, but is 
 thicker and rounder, and more water-worn ; it is also duller and darker 
 in colour, and is said to be worth $19 50c. (4/. is. ^d.) per oz. The 
 gold from the quartz gravel at this locality is said to be worth a 
 little more per ounce than that from the so-called " black gravel," which 
 contains less quartz and more metamorphic rocks. 
 
 Strobel, who has been for many years a purchaser of gold-dust at 
 Michigan Bluff, states that the fine gold is always richer than the coarse. 
 For example, if coarse gold from a given locality be worth $17 25c. 
 (3/. \is. lod.), the fine gold from the same locality will be worth $18 
 (3/. I SJ.) per oz. 
 
 The gold from El Dorado Hill, near Michigan Bluff, is generally well 
 water-worn, and about as coarse as that from Weske's mine, but thicker 
 and heavier, and often very black ; it resembles that from the quartz 
 gravel at Michigan Bluff. 
 
 At the Specimen claim, in Byrd's Valley, many handsome specimens 
 have been obtained of crystallized gold. 
 
 Mad Caiion, near Byrd's Valley, is said to have been very rich in 
 scraggy gold, furnishing many beautiful specimens, with foliated and 
 tabular crvstalline forms. Ladies Canon also paid well, but yielded little 
 
142 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 fine gold, the metal being mostly in large pieces, or " slugs," very rough 
 and scraggy, and often associated with qu.irtz. 
 
 In the Paragon mine, at Bath, the gold now obtained is always fine, 
 a piece worth as much as 5c. (2^^/,) being very rarely seen. Yet the pay- 
 streak is rich, and portions of it have yielded $5 (i/.) per car-load, the cars 
 holding but little over a ton each. But Wheeler, one of the owners of 
 this mine, states that, while working the front portion of the mine, and 
 for a distance of 2400 or 2500 ft. back from the mouth of the tunnel, 
 considerable coarse gold was found, and pieces worth $2 to $5 (Ss. 4^/. to 
 l/.) each were not uncommon. Absolutely no coarse gold at all has 
 been found more than 2500 ft. back from the mouth of the tunnel. 
 
 In the New Jersey mine, at Forest Hill, the gold from the back 
 channel is not worth so much as th'at from the front. That from the 
 quartz boulders contains considerably more silver than that from the gravel. 
 At Smith's Point, between First and Second Brushy Cafions, a 
 stratum worked by drifting some 40 or 50 ft. above the bed-rock was 
 quite rich in rather coarse gold ; while the gravel beneath it is far poorer, 
 and the gold much finer. The gold here is generally fine and scaly, but 
 the coarse gold is pretty well worn and heavy. Considerable "shot 
 gold " is also obtained from points in this region. 
 
 The gold in Castle Hill, a short distance above Georgetown, is pretty 
 coarse, well-rounded and heavy ; it is often m^ or less covered with a 
 kind of blackish incrustation. 
 
 At the Excelsior claim, near Placerville, the gravel was drifted at 
 two different levels, once on the bed-rock, and then again at 20 ft. higher. 
 The bed-rock gold is rather coarse, much of it being in pieces of 5c. 
 (2j</.) to $20 (4/. 3 J. 4d.) in value ; it is also very smoothly rounded, and 
 it averages about $19 loc. (3/. igs. yd.) per oz. in value. The gold from 
 the upper streak is rather fine, not quite so well washed as that from the 
 bed-rock, and is worth, on the average, $1 (4s. 2d) more per oz. than 
 that. This gold is said to contain but a mere trace of silver. 
 
 Seam Diggings. 
 
 At Illinois Carion, near Georgetown, are so-called " scam diggings," 
 which consist of decomposed bed-rock, filled with irregular seams of 
 quartz containing gold. This ground has been worked by the hydraulic 
 method, and is said to have paid a little less than wages, on the average, 
 although as high as $40 (8/. 6s. Sd.) to the pan has been obtained. 
 
 At Georgia Slide, near Georgetown, seam diggings have been worked 
 in the bed-rock for some 16 or 17 years, and have reached a depth 
 of 175 ft. in the bed-rock, which is a rather soft, decomposed slate, generally 
 more or less talcose, and full of decomposed crystals of pyrites ; much 
 of the slate itself contains fine gold. 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 143 
 
 Young's Dry Diggings are shallow surface excavations, covering 2 or 3 
 acres of sloping ground, on the south-western side of the ridge, which 
 extends along the road from Georgetown to Spanish Dry Diggings. 
 They are said to have p -d well, whenever water could be obtained. It 
 is stated that a little scam of quartz, some 20 ft. long, was once struck 
 here, from which in a short time between §25,000 and $30,000 (5000/. to 
 6000/.) was taken. The bed-rock at this locality consists partly of rather 
 soft slate and partly of very hard and tough mctamorphic sandstone ; 
 the latter occurs, in places, in lenticular masses enclosed in the slates. 
 
 The Spanish Dry Diggings belong entirely to the class of "seam 
 diggings," although the gulches in this vi inity are said to have been rich 
 in the early days. There arc two principal claims, the Grit and the 
 Dam. The course of the main tunnels is very nearly north and south, 
 and this appears to be the general course of the belt of rich ground. 
 Immediately east of the Grit claim is a heavy mass of semi-serpentine, 
 which appears to be the product of the metamorphism of a very fine- 
 grained slate. The rocks in the mines are slates and sandstones, the 
 latter very fine-grained ; these rocks are filled with crystals of iron 
 pyrites, and traversed by numerous small irregular seams of quartz. It 
 is said that, in the Grit claim, the seams which have paid best run nearly 
 north and south, and dip to the east at an angle of 45°, or thereabouts. 
 These seams traverse the decomposed rock, antl dip towards the serpen- 
 tine ; but it is stated that they do not pass into it. The Grit claim is said 
 to have yielded not less than $300,000 (60,000/.). It was from this mine 
 that the magnificent specimen of gold was Lakcn which was on exhibi- 
 tion for some time in San Francisco, and which afterwards was taken to 
 Paris. Its intrinsic value was estimated at $4000 (800/.), and it was 
 entirely made up of fine reticulations of imperfect arborescent crystal- 
 lizations. It is said that some $6000 or $8000 (1200/. to 1600/.) more 
 was taken out from the same place in the immediate vicinity of this 
 remarkable specimen. The Dam claim is said to have yielded $250,000 
 (50,000/.) ; and the seam diggings, within a mile of the town of Spanish 
 Dry Diggings, have yielded fully $1,000,000 (200,000/). 
 
 The small quartz seams in the Dam claim run in every possible 
 direction, without regularity, and the gold is very far from being 
 uniformly distributed through them ; indeed, it occurs chiefly in 
 " pockets," so that it is commonly said that a miner at these diggings 
 either makes nothing or a fortune. It is stated that, whenever the quartz 
 seams run into hard rock, they thin out or disappear altogether, and the 
 gold almost invariably gives out. 
 
 Immediately opposite Spanish Dry Diggings, on the other side of the 
 river, at a place known as Shenanigan Hill, is a spot where some work 
 has been done, and where are also seam diggings resembling those just 
 
 
 n 
 
 
144 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ■ i: : 
 
 11 
 
 described. There arc other claims of a similar character in this vicinity, 
 and from one — the Short Handle — it is said that $60,000 (12,000/.) was 
 taken from a seam only 20 or 25 ft. long, and worked to a depth of 30 ft. 
 In the range of hills immediately west and south-west of the village 
 of Greenwood, and which rise to a height of 100 to 150 ft, are seam 
 diggings of some extent, in the so-called Franklin and French claims. 
 Here a piece of ground of an irregular shape has been worked out, 
 covering an area of I or 2 acres in extent, and the maximum elevation of 
 the banks is about 60 or 75 ft. The rocks exposed here are very fine- 
 grained argillaceous slate and sandstones, and associated with these is a 
 rock which was once a fine breccia or conglomerate, and which has since 
 been so metamorphosed as almost to have lost its original character. 
 There is also a porphyritic slate, which consists of a fine-grained silicious 
 base, with large crystals of felspar scattered through it. These crystals 
 are so large and so peculiarly distributed through the rock as to give it 
 an appearance slightly suggestive of its being covered with hieroglyphics. 
 For this reason, probably, it is known to the miners as " China rock." All 
 these rocks have been irregularly and extensively decomposed, and arc 
 traversed in every direction by little seams of quartz, but they arc not 
 numerous. These seams are occasionally rich in gold ; but, to use the 
 mineral phrase, they are very " spotted." It is said that about $80,000 
 (16,000/.) has been taken from the French claim in 10 or 12 years' 
 working. There are several other claims of a similar character in this 
 vicinity ; but none has paid so well as the French claim. In the early 
 days of California, the gulches and ravines about here arc said to have 
 been quite remunerative ; but water is not abundant in this region. 
 
 There are seam diggings between Johntown and Georgetown on the 
 hill at the head of Crane's Gulch. They are in a slate rock, which is quite 
 talcose in character, and considerably decomposed. The slates have the 
 usual north-westerly strike, and nearly vertical dip, and are a good deal 
 contorted. The seams of quartz are irregularly distributed through the 
 slates, curving more or less, but on the whole following pretty nearly their 
 stratification. 1 he whole area of ground which has been worked here is 
 not far from I acre, and from the flume or tailing-sluice to the top of the 
 bank at the highest point is about 75 ft. At one place, a bunch of quartz 
 is exposed at a depth of about 40 ft. below the top of the bank, and is 
 there nearly 3 ft. thick ; but a few feet higher up it splits into 8 or 10 
 little irregular stringers, which extend branching upwards for a short 
 distance, and then disappear, none of them reaching the surface of the 
 rock. This is, indeed, the case with most of the quartz seams at this 
 locality : they rarely extend to the surface. There has been a great deal 
 of pyrites in the quartz as well as in the slates ; but it is now decom- 
 posed and carried away. The quartz itself is considered of little value, 
 
AMIiKICA, N. : (ALII'OkNIA. 
 
 '45 
 
 and is not crushed, the i^ok] bcinj^ all obtained from the shiices, for 
 which purpose the rock has to be blasted and broken with the hammer, 
 and then washed with a 2-in. hydraulic jet. 
 
 Amount and Yield of Gravel worked. 
 
 At Wiessler's claim, Iowa Hill, in 1871, the body of ground worked 
 had a length of 1200 ft. and width of 400 ft. approximately ; the 
 maximum height of the bank was 125 to 130 ft. Assuming an average 
 of 1200 ft. in length by 350 ft. in width, and 60 ft. in depth, the amount of 
 gravel washed away will be 933,333 cub. yd. The amount of gold 
 taken out can only be guessed at. It has been variously stated at 
 sums ranging from $500,000 to $2,000,000 (100,000/. to 400,000/.). 
 
 From the south-west corner of the ground owned by Wiessler at 
 Iowa Hill, another large pit extends into the hill in a direction S. 30'' \i. 
 magnetic, for a distance of 700 or 800 ft. with a maxiiiuim width of 
 something over 200 ft, the height of the bank at the head (jf the pit rang- 
 ing from Co to 80 ft. The quantity of material removed from here was 
 estimated at 200,000 cub. yd. The bed-rock was not reached, and the 
 gravel immediately upon it fs said to be too poor to pay for working. No 
 information has been obtained by Whitney as to the amount of gold 
 yielded by this work. 
 
 On the south-easterly side of the Iowa Hill Ridge, including the North 
 Star and .Sailors' Union claims, an area of about 1000 by 250 ft. has been 
 worked off, with an average depth of 100 ft. ; this gi\cs as the total 
 amount of ground wasted, about 1,000,000 cub. yd. In regard to the 
 operations of the Sailors' Union mine, the following statement was taken 
 by Whitney from the Company's books : — Ground worked, 580 ft. long 
 by 160 ft. wide, and with an average depth of 1 16 ft. ; 
 
 Gold taken from the bed-rock ... $124,598 (25,957/) 
 
 Gold from gravel above bed-rock ... 42,800(8917/) 
 
 Total 
 
 $167,398 (34,S74/-) 
 
 This gives as the yield of the gravel, which equals in amount 398,700 
 cub. yd., the sum of io-7c. (5 •35^/.) per cub. yd. 
 
 At the Morning Star mine, near Iowa Hill, there has been about 
 J acre of the bed-rock stripped and cleaned, which is said to have yielded 
 about $30,000 (6000/.) exclusive of the $40,000 (8000/.) which was taken 
 from the crevice. 
 
 At King's Hill there have been 4 or 5 acres washed off to an average 
 depth of 20 ft. 
 
 In the east pit at Elizabeth Hill, an area of 700 ft. by 200 ft. has 
 been worked to an average depth of about 20 ft. In the middle pits at 
 
 L 
 
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 1 1 
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 m 
 
 ;'•« 
 
 n 
 
 
146 
 
 GEOGR.M'ilTCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Iti' 
 
 II, 'ft if; 
 
 Elizabeth Hill, an aggregate area of about 3 acres has been washed off, 
 exposing banks whose licights range from 50 to 75 ft. In the south-west 
 pit at Elizabeth Hill, there has been about an acre of ground washed off 
 to an average depth of 75 ft. 
 
 About 800 ft. south of the Wisconsin Hill school-iiouse, on both sides 
 of a little branch of Refuge Cafion, hydraulic pits have been worked over 
 an aggregate of 5 to 6 acres, exposing banks whose ipaximum height 
 ranges from Co to 75 ft. 
 
 In the claims worked by Vaughan, at Wisconsin Hill, about 12 
 acres of ground were washed off, in 5 years' work, to an average depth 
 of 55 ft. The yield is estimated at about $30,000 (6000/.), which would 
 gWe an average of about 34c. {17 d.) per cub. yd. 
 
 It is stated that in one season's work, the sum of i| 10,000 (2000/.) was 
 taken from the Lebanon Tunnel, at New York Cafion, and vhe total 
 yield of the mine is estimated to have been $75,000 (15,000/.). 
 
 At the Clinton claim, in Grizzl> Caiion, an area of 600 ft. by 100 ft. 
 was sluiced off to a depth of 20 ft, yielding, it is .said, $240,000 (48,000/.). 
 
 The main channel at Canada Hill is said to have yielded about 
 $100,000 (20,000/), and the adjacent gulches $50,000 (lO.OOO/) more. 
 
 The English claim and the one adjoining it on the western side of 
 the ridge, near Deadwood, are said to have yielded $100,000 (20,000/). 
 
 The Morning Star mine, Startown, has yielded $300,000 (60,000/). 
 
 The Slab claim, on the trail '^ mile below Last Chance, is said to 
 have yielded not less than $75,000 (15,000/). 
 
 The Basin claim at the Devil's Basin is said to have yielded about 
 $200,000 (40,000/). 
 
 The Dick and the Arkansas claims are said to have yielded over 
 $70,000 (14,000/) each, and the Dam claim some $40,000 (8000/). All 
 throe of these claims are on the upper part of the West Fork of El Dorado 
 Canon, 5 or 6 miles a little east of north from Michigan Bluff. 
 
 At Weske's mine, near Michigan Bluff, on June i6th, 1871, Coodyear 
 saw washed out from 8 car-loads of gravel, of about 14 cub. ft. each, the 
 result of one day's work, with 20 men employed, 91. J- oz. of jjold, worth 
 $i6ci 25c. (333/ \\s. \o\d.). The total yield foi the current week, at 
 this claim, was 514^ oz., worth $8939 44c (1867/ 4^. 8c/). At this claim, 
 the distance worked on the channel in 5 months was about 200 ft., and 
 the yield during the first 5 days of the week of Goodycar's visit was 
 352 oz. Weske's mine had yielded something over $100,000 (20,000/) up 
 to June 30, 1871. 
 
 El Dorado Hill, near Michigan Bluff, is said to have yielded over 
 $150,000 (30,000/). 
 
 Fabulous stories are told of the richness of Dutch Gulch, which lies 
 between the point of the Flat and Red Hill, at Michigan Bluff. For 
 
 I : 
 
 "'"' 
 
 m 
 
AMERICA, N. • CALIFORNIA. 
 
 147 
 
 il 
 
 instance, it is said that one man took out $1100(220/.) from a single pan 
 of dirt here. Another statement with respect to the Flat itself, and 
 which was repeatedly made, was to the effect that in drifting here two 
 men took out 1200 oz. in one week; this vias at the Empire claim. 
 Stickncr's Gulch, which runs down on the opposite side of the point, 
 at Michigan Bluff, into Skunk Gulch, is also said to have been extremely 
 rich, although not comparable with Dutch Gulch. 
 
 At Ayer's claim, on theeast sideof the ridge facing El Dorado Canon, 
 north of Michigan Bluff, from a space near the mouth of the tunnel, 
 about 100 ft. long and 30 to 40 ft. wide, about $30,000 (6coo/.) was 
 taken out, and after that nothing further was found. 
 
 In the Franklin claim, near Michigan Bluff, from a triangular piece 
 of ground about 80 ft. long and 40 ft. wide, or say 2000 sq. ft., $37,000 
 (7400/.) was taken out. 
 
 The Express Agent at Forest Hill, K. B. Soule, stated that the ship- 
 ment of gold through the Express office at that place in 1871 ranged a 
 little over $30,000 (6000/.) per month ; this comprises the yield of the 
 Forest Hill, Brushy Caiion, and Yankee Jim claims. Soulc considered 
 that the shipments from Michigan Bluff were a little greater in amount 
 than those from Forest Hill, and that the total yield from the country 
 between the North and Middle Forks of the American amounted (in 1871) 
 to something like $1,500,000 (300,000/.) per annum. 
 
 At Smith's Point, between First and Second Brushy Caiions, a strip of 
 ground 2000 ft. long and having an average width of 200 ft. approx- 
 imately, has been washed off, with an average depth of 50 ft. It is esti- 
 mated that more than a million dollars (200,000/) has been taken from 
 this ground. This was first drifted over, however, to a considerable extent, 
 and afterwards "hydrauliced," and a portion of the gold was obtained 
 from drifts running 200 to 600 ft. beyond the present faces of the banks. 
 
 Scule stated that the yield of the Paragon mine, at Bath, had been, 
 up to 1871, ce-tainly over $750,000 (150,000/), and that during 5 years, 
 f»om 1863 to 1370, its regular product was $100,000(20,000/) per annum, 
 no tn'o years differing from each other by so much as $5000 (1000/) 
 during that time. 
 
 The area which has been h> drauliced off at Todd's Valley is probably 
 about I mile long, with an average width of ^ mile. The ground washed 
 off here was in the form of a ridge, which, along the middle line, was 
 some 60 to 75 ft. in width, and the average depth was about 35 ft. This 
 gives a total amount of nearly 9,000,000 cub. yd., a'^.d the estimated 
 \ leld from this ground is $4,000,000 (800,000/), or about 44c. (is. lOt/.) 
 per cub. yd. The estimate of the yield of this ground was given by 
 Pond, who has lived at Todd's Valley .^^ince 1849, and is and has been 
 largely interested in mining operations at that place. 
 
 fl 
 
 my"* 
 
 
 m 
 . '11 
 
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 *■■;:■ 
 
 t- 
 
 ir 
 
 r 
 
 |i- 
 
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 rtiift 
 
 148 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 A piece of ground in Pond's claim, of the yield of which precise 
 record had been kept by Pond, and which was hydrauliced in the 5 years 
 beginning with 1866, was surveyed by Goodyear. It was found to 
 contain 138,206 sq. ft., or 3 ' 1728 acres, equal to 1 5,356 sq. yd. If the pay- 
 gravel averaged 35 ft. deep, as estimated, this will give 179,153 cub. yd. 
 of auriferous gravel ; and the total estimated depth of 50 ft. will give 
 255,933 cub. yd., in all, wa.shed away from this ground. Its total yield was 
 $91,828 30c. (19,130/. lys. lid.). Considering therefore the auriferous 
 gravel alone, the yield would average 51 •257c. {2s. i •628^^/.) per cub. yd. ; 
 while, considering all the bank moved, it would be 35'88c. {\s. '^■gj^d.). 
 Since the water bill for the same time was $29,003 42c. (6042/. ys. yd.), 
 it also appears that the water cost about 11 ■332c. (5'666</.) per cub. yd. 
 of earth moven. The price of the water was loc. (5c/.) per "inch" for 
 10 hours, or 'c. {hd.) per " inch " per hour. But the method of measuring 
 the water was an unusual one. The opening in the measuring-box 
 through which the water issued was lO in. high, its bottom being level 
 with the bottom of the box, and the water standing 4 in. above the top 
 of the opening, or 14 in. deep. The amount of the discharge was regu- 
 lated by a sliding gate, which varied the horizontal length of the 
 opening according to the quantity of water required. For example, 
 if JOG ■■ inches " were required, the gate was set to leave the opening 
 40 in. long. 
 
 The former Express Agent at Georgetown stated that Mameluke 
 Hill had yielded not less than $2,000,000 (400,000/.). 
 
 The Roanoke Channel at Bottle Hill, near Georgetown, was found to 
 pay well wherever there was any gravel, and many spots were extremely 
 rich. From n single candle-box full of dirt as much as 70 oz. arc said to 
 have been taken. The total yield of the channel has been, it is thought, 
 not less than $1,000,000 raoo.ooo/) Almost all the ground has been 
 worked over three times, and a part of it four times, each time paying 
 satisfactorily. In the first spur reached by the channel after crossing 
 Roanoke Gulch, a spot about 100 ft. long, in the Buffalo claim, yielded, 
 it is stated, about $60,000 f 1 2,000/). In the Bottle Hill claim, immedi- 
 ately below the last bend in tlic channel, Vxfore it passes out of the hill, 
 was a spot about 200 ft. I'/thj, where the whole width of the 
 channel did not exceeil 75 ft, but which yielded as much as $200,000 
 (40,000/), which would be over $13 (2/ 14J. 6d.) per sq. ft. of surface of 
 the bed-rock. In this claim, it is said that there was in 1851 or 1852 a 
 face of gravel 5 or 6 ft. in thickness, stretching entirely across the 
 channel, and, to use the miner's expression, "perfectly yellow" with gold. 
 Yet, rich as this gravel was, it has not generally paid expenses to 
 hydraulic the top off, after th" bottom had been drifted out. In all the 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 149 
 
 spurs crossed by the channel, after leaving Roanoke Gulch, the cement 
 is decomposed and soft, and easily piped, and the banks would not 
 anywhere be more than about 100 ft. in height, if the whole bed of this 
 portion of the channel were hydrauliccd. Consequently several pits 
 have been opened, and the attempt made to wash the whole off ; but as 
 a whole, the work has not even paid "water-money." 
 
 At Wilcox's claim, on the North Fork of Long Canon, the gold is 
 distributed entirely through the gravel from top to bottom. It is both 
 coarse and fine, and generally flaky. The bed-rock surface is not rich, 
 and would hardly pay for drifting. About 2 acres have been washed off 
 here, and $100,000 (20,000/.) obtained. 
 
 The proprictc^r of Mora's mine, v.est of Volcanoville, states that his 
 gravel averages at least $2 (8s. ^d.) a car-load, and that his claim has 
 yielded about $20,000 (4000/.). 
 
 At the E.xcclsior claim, near Placervillc, about 20 acres of ground 
 have been washed off, with an average thickness of 50 to 60 ft. of pay- 
 gravel. The yield from this ground is estimated at o\er |l5,ooo,ooo 
 (1,000,000/.), about half of w hich was taken out by drifting, and the other 
 half by hydraulicing. The whole ridge has been drifted out at two 
 different IcveLs ; first on the bed-rock, and then along a second pay- 
 streak, which v/as about 20 ft. above this. The latter streak paid about 
 $12 (2/. \os.) per day to the hand employed. Aldcrson, the principal 
 proprietor, estimates the yield of the Excelsior gravel at $1 (4$-. 2(1) per 
 cub. yd. of dirt washed away ; this includes also the top, which is 
 volcanic gravel. 
 
 It is estimated that the yield of the ground in Coon Hollow, near 
 Placervillc, has been at the rate of $5 (20.$-. 10^/) per cub. yd., and that 
 the total amount obtained there is $5,000,000 (1,000,000/). 
 
 Amount of Gravel still remaining. 
 
 The distance in a straight line from the outcropping bed-rock a little 
 south-west of the Parker House at Iowa Hill, to the base of the first 
 Sugar Loaf, is some 2300 or 2400 ft. ; and within this distance, says 
 Whitney, nothing but gravel is to be .scm on the crest of the hill. The 
 Oddfellows Hall is not far from midway between these two extremities, 
 and the drifting never extended so far southward as this Hall. As good 
 a rough estimaio as can now be made of the total quantity of gravel 
 originall}' existing, and capable of being hydrauliced, in this ridge, 
 bct.veen tliL first Sugar Loaf and Ipdcpcndcncc Hill, would be ^ mile 
 square, or KvO acres, with an average depth of 100 ft. over the whole of 
 it. The little flat on which stands Independence Hill is about .{ mile 
 
 ■M' 
 
 r ^ t<k 
 
I50 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 long, and it is covered, though not very deeply, with volcanic matter, 
 and may possibly be yet hydrauliccd. This estimate would give, in 
 round numbers, about 26,000,000 cub. yd. of auriferous gravel in the 
 Iowa Hill i<.idge, between the first Sugar Loaf and Independence Hill. 
 Of this quantity, it may be estimated that about 20,000,000 cub. yd. 
 were concentrated in the deep channel \ hich crosses the crest at Iowa 
 Hill itself, and the remainder scattered along the sides of the ridge at 
 various points, but chiefly along the south-eastern side, near Indian 
 Caiion, and in the shallow patch which caps the ridge near the Catholic 
 church, a little north-east of Iowa Hill. The total quantity already 
 washed away when Whitney wrote (1879), was put by him at probably 
 between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 cub. yd., of which about nine-tenths 
 may be assumed as having come from the deep channel, and the 
 remainder from smaller pits at other points. This would leave between 
 23,000,000 and 24,000,000 cub. yd. yet capable of being hydrauliced. 
 How much of this it will ever pay to wash, is a difficult question to 
 answer ; but probably the greater portion of it will be worked with 
 profit, whenever the supply of water shall be plentiful, reliable, and 
 cheap. Such estimates as the above must, however, be considered only 
 as approximations. In this case, the area was calculated from measure- 
 ments made by pacing, the heights of the banks being determined by 
 the aid of the barometer. There was also as much information obtained 
 as possible in regard to the probable lay of the bed-rock under the 
 gravel, both from personal observations and from the statements of men 
 who had worked in the various shafts and tunnels in the region. 
 
 Goodyear makes the following estimate of the amount of ground 
 remaining to be worked by the hydraulic process, in the vicinity of 
 Placerville : — 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Hangtown Hill to Reservoir . . 
 Excelsior claim. Coon Hill 
 Webber claim, Coon Hill 
 
 Webber Hill 
 
 Little Spanish Hill 
 
 Big Spanish Hill 
 
 Smith's Flat 
 
 Clay Hill 
 
 Indian Hill 
 
 Negro Hill, below Reservoir .. 
 
 Steven's claim, spur 
 
 White Rock Caiion, south-west side 
 
 White Rock Point, spur 
 
 Cedar Flat 
 
 Uimensions. 
 
 Cub. yd. 
 
 2640 ft. X 1000 ft. X 7s ft. 
 
 7.333.333 
 
 40 acres 135 ft. deep 
 
 8,7I2,CKK) 
 
 9CXD ft. X 1200 ft. X 100 ft. 
 
 4, OCX), 000 
 
 40 acres 75 ft. deep 
 
 4,840,000 
 
 20 acres too ft. deep 
 
 3,226,666 
 
 10 acres 100 ft. deep 
 
 I. 613. 333 
 
 1200 ft. X 200 ft. X 60 ft. 
 
 533.333 
 
 3 acres 15 ft. deep 
 
 72,200 
 
 6 acres 20 ft. deep 
 
 193,600 
 
 50 acres 75 ft. deep 
 
 6,050,000 
 
 1 5 acres 40 ft. deep 
 
 568,000 
 
 1200 ft. X 1000 ft. X 40 ft. 
 
 177.778 
 
 1 500 ft. X 400 ft. X 90 ft. 
 
 ,'',000,000 
 
 IS acres 45 ft. deep 
 
 Tcital 
 
 1 , 089 , 000 
 
 40,809,243 
 
 II , 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 151 
 
 If, to the above estimate, is added 25 per cent, for special localities, 
 which is probably a liberal allowance for the quantity which remains 
 distributed along the sides and spurs of various hills, and not taken into 
 account above, it may be said, in Whitney's opinion, that as fair an 
 estimate as can now be made for the total quantity of gravel capable of 
 being hydrauliccd in the vicinity of Placcrvillc will amount, in round 
 numbers, to 50,000.000 cub. yd. 
 
 Ocean placers or Beach diggings. — Klamath county is noted for its 
 " gold bluffs," which extend into the neighbouring state of Oregon ; they 
 arc auriferous sea-cliffs, which become disintegrated by the surf, and thus 
 expose their gold. These beach sands are reported to have been 
 prospected some 20 years ago ; but though gold was discovered, it was 
 not in quantity sufficient to pay the expense of working. Much attention 
 has of late been directed to the subject of beach mining, and the dis- 
 covery of gold in pc.ying quantities seems now to be established beyond 
 doubt. Since the discovery, the whole of the beach from north of the 
 Ocean Side House, as far south as Point San Pedro, has been taken up 
 by various claimants. Two of the claims are reported to have together 
 taken out about $800 (160/.) for 2 weeks' work. As a discovery, it is 
 probable that it is not a very rich find ; but there seems to be 
 sufficient gold to pay fair day wages. The pay per man has hereto- 
 fore varied from $2 to $8 {Ss. 4c/. to 33^ 4^.), according to the statements 
 of the miners. 
 
 The nature of the deposit, according to S. B. Christy, is very much 
 what is usual in such cases. There are alternating layers of magnetic 
 iron sand and of common quartz sand upon the higher parts of the 
 beach, while lower down, where the surf breaks, the sand becomes 
 usually coarser and more full of pebbles. Layers of black sand are not 
 infrequently found upon the top of the partly dried, undisturbed sand, 
 owing to the removal of the lighter siliceous material by the action of 
 the wind. As one digs down, the layers alternate white and black, the 
 thickness of each varying from that of a knife-edge to 3 and 6 in. At 
 length, at a depth of 2 to 4 ft. the " hard-pan " is reached. This hard-pan 
 is composed of a sort of clay sandstone ; upon it is usually found a layer of 
 coarser sand or gravel, which, especially when in depressions and crevices 
 which favour a concentrating action of the waves, is usually the " best 
 pay." But some of the higher layers of black sand arc quite rich also. 
 They seem to be formed upon a " false bottom," as the miner,; call it, 
 by some high tide which makes a new deposit, while its waves are not 
 violent enough to disturb the previous la)ers. 
 
 The concentrating action of the waves upon an inclined beach must 
 be considerable. The configuration is entirely changed after a storm, 
 
 I ■ *■ 
 
 h * 
 
152 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 U>i 
 
 and the whole area as far up as the cUffs is entirely covered by the surf 
 during heavy weather. The action of the water on the sands is 
 essentially the same as in the miner's pan. The quartz sand has a 
 specific gravity of only 2*5, while that of the magnetic oxide of iron is 
 usually about 5 ; hence the separation of these two materials is tolerably 
 complete. The other heavy materials, as gold and platinum, naturally 
 remain with the magnetic sand. 
 
 Under the microscope, the black sand shows itself to be composed of 
 more or less perfectly rounded grains of magnetic oxide of iron, with a 
 few silica particles, and occasional fragments of what appear to be 
 garnets. Mixed with the black sand is the gold, which, under the 
 microscope, is almost invariably bright, and in only a few cases presents 
 a rusty appearance. It is always in the form of oblong or elliptical 
 scales, which arc doubly concave, and arc usually surrounded by a 
 thickened rim. A number measured by Clark gave the following 
 dimensions : — 
 
 C 0-0030 in. 
 Smallest ! Z'^^° " 
 
 !o'oof)5 in. 
 o-oo6o ,, 
 O'COTO ,, 
 
 Avcr;i''c thickness of tho r'.nis of the scales, o^ooi in. 
 
 0-0035 ,, 
 0-0035 
 
 Measurements made hy Christy gave Lhc following results 
 
 Ciolil o'OioS in., 0-0098 in, o'0049 in. 
 
 I 
 
 Platinum occurs also, though not in large quantities. The fragments 
 are usually more compact and less flattened than the gold particles. 
 One specimen measured 0*0044 in. 
 
 As the particles of magnetic oxide are very nearly of the average 
 diameter of the gold particles, and as, moreover, they are rounded, it 
 becomes a matter of the greatest difficulty to scpartite them by washing, 
 in spite of their great difference of specific gravities, which are as 5 to 19. 
 The leaf-like form of the gold rciidcis it practically as easily moved by 
 water as the magnetic oxide. It is only by the skilful touch of an old 
 miner that a good " colour " can be shown in the pan. 
 
 The method of treating the ore, which varies from nothing up to $25 
 or i<30 (5/. to 6/.), per ton, is to either pass it with water down an 
 ordinary blanket sluice, or to use a combination of amalgamated 
 copper plates, riffles, hanging plates, etc., such as the Russel amalga- 
 mator. Both these methfids seem to work to the satisfaction of the 
 1 arties interested. 
 
 Christy found that the ;;old amalgamates very freely, as one would 
 natia-ally infer from its bri5.;htness and freedom from rust. The finer 
 
 Mt 
 
AMERICA, N. : CALIFORNIA. 
 
 153 
 
 particles, when once allowed to dry, seem to become covered with a film 
 of air, so that when again wet with water they float upon the surface. 
 Another curious fact is the great purity of the gold. Falkncr and Reese 
 report the gold which they assayed as from 950 to 953 fine. The miners 
 frequently treat their concentration before amalgamating with a little 
 nitric acid to remove the iron rust (which does not seem to be present). 
 It is not probable that this dissolves the silver from the gold, as these 
 concentrations are still wet with salt water. It therefore appears to be 
 more probable that the silver is removed by the long action of the salt 
 water upon the thin scales, which are only a thousandth of an inch thick 
 in their thickest part. However this may be, it is reported to be the 
 purest placer-gold that has been found in California. 
 
 An estimation of the strata composing the bluffs has been made by 
 A. W. Chase. Commencing at the top, the sections are: 10 ft. loam, 
 20 ft. yellow clay, 40 ft. coarse yellow gravel, 10 ft. brownish sandstone, 
 40 ft. red and yellow gravel, 5 ft. bluish sandstone containing partially 
 lignitized trees, 55 ft. very coarse red and yellow gravel, 5 ft. very fine bluish 
 gravel, IS ft. indurated sand, 10 ft. deep red gravel, 5 ft. blue sandstone 
 showing lignite, 5 ft. blue sandstone without lignite, 7 ft. gravelly beach 
 to low-water mark ; dip, 15^ N. The fine gold is supposed by Chase to 
 be mainly derived from the topmo.st stratum. The conclusions arrived 
 at by him arc as follows: — (i) That the gold evidently comes from the 
 bluffs ; (2) that after " caves," the gold obtained is much coarser in 
 character ; (3) that it is only after a succession of swells that cut the 
 beach at an angle, that the rich sands are found : when the surf breaks 
 squarely on, let the storm be never so heavy, it simply loads the beach 
 with gravel ; (4) that no one witnessing the power of the surf can doubt its 
 immense grinding force ; (5) that the gold follows the first two or three 
 lines of breakers, and will never be found in paying quantities beyond. 
 
 Professor J. D. Dana, who examined specimens of the sand, says that 
 the red grains in it are garnets, and that probably the deposit dates partly 
 from the close of the glacial era (i. e. the time of melting of the ice in 
 the early half of the Champlain period, when floods and gravel depositions 
 were the order of the day), and partly from the later half of the 
 Champlain period, when the floods had somewhat abated, and the 
 depositions were more gentle. 
 
 Gold yield of California for 1880. — As "a specially trustworthy 
 contribution to the history of the production of the precious metals of 
 the United States," the Mining Record of New York gives (April I, 
 1882) the appended table of "the gold product of California by counties 
 for the 12 months ending May 31, 1880," to which is added the 
 equivalent value in pounds sterling : — 
 
 
 tJi 
 
 if . ■ 'i«(;iii 
 
154 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 lltilliun produced from ore 
 
 raised uiid treated during census 
 
 year. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Amndor . . . ■ 
 Butte . . . . 
 Calaveras 
 Del Norte 
 El J>orado 
 Fre^«o . . . . 
 Humboldt . . 
 
 Inyo 
 
 Lassen 
 
 Los Angelos . . 
 Mariposa 
 Mono . . 
 Nevada . . 
 Placer . . . . 
 Plumas . . 
 San iiernardino 
 Stanislaus 
 San IJicgo 
 Shasta .. .. 
 Siski\ ju . . 
 Trinity 
 Tuolumne 
 Vuba 
 
 {17: 
 
 .332 7 
 
 il? 5 
 
 ,0b6 6 
 .35s 3 
 
 .243 4 
 
 ■ O80 5 
 
 ,oq6 9 
 ,816 6 
 1 000 9 
 ,902 s 
 536 3 
 
 506 o 
 605 3 
 4 o 
 4 2 
 204 5 
 
 06. 
 
 Total 35'. 679 4 
 
 Additional produc- j 
 tion estimated j 
 from transporta- 
 tion statistics . . 
 
 Grand total ■ 
 
 50,790 I 
 
 403,469 s 
 
 1,350.547 
 
 347.fMy 
 
 96,881 
 (39,360 
 
 35.7"3 
 34,7Jy 
 
 188,050 
 
 2,766,235 
 
 888,907 
 
 60,000 
 
 755,276 
 
 237,850 
 95,200 
 
 203 , 204 
 22,000 
 
 128,260 
 
 £ 
 281,359 
 
 72,426 
 
 ^0,178 
 14,450 
 
 5,354 
 7-238 
 
 38,777 
 
 57u,2.)9 
 
 185,188 
 
 12,500 
 
 '57-349 
 
 49.552 
 19,838 
 42-3)9 
 4.588 
 26,721 
 
 7,269,861 
 
 '1,049,925 
 
 8,319,786 
 
 1,514,156 
 
 218,784 
 
 1,732,940 
 
 Production of hydraulic, placer, 
 
 drift, and river mines for year 
 
 ending May 31, 1880. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 '5,730 3 
 
 4,6"5 8 
 
 6,208 o 
 
 *24,877 7 
 
 3.724 9 
 
 1,219 o 
 
 3,062 3 
 
 13,998 2 
 
 7,946 o 
 
 3,030 7 
 
 21,789 7 
 23,4'3 I 
 37,635 7 
 27,081 7 
 •50,423 6 
 
 325, '74 
 95,451 
 
 .'-•8,33' 
 •514,268 
 
 77,001 
 
 =5.199 
 42,631 
 
 289,368 
 '64,259 
 
 62,650 
 
 450,432 
 483,993 
 
 .777,999 
 *t559-828 
 1,042,349 
 
 67,794 
 
 20,094 
 
 36,735 
 
 107,138 
 
 16,096 
 
 5,250 
 
 8,881 
 
 60,285 
 
 34.221 
 
 13,053 
 
 93,840 
 100,831 
 162,087 
 116,626 
 217,155 
 
 243,806 7 
 
 5.039.932 1.050,085 
 
 •171,298 3 j*3,S4',05o 737,7' 
 
 415,105 o 8,580,982 1,787,803 
 
 Total. 
 
 8 
 .350.547 
 
 325. '74 
 444, 100 
 128,331 
 611,149 
 69,360 
 77,001 
 25,703 
 34.739 
 
 188,050 
 •79', 434 
 93'. 538 
 349,368 
 919.535 
 
 63,650 
 237,850 
 545,632 
 687,196 
 799,999 
 6S8,o88 
 ,042,349 
 
 £ 
 
 281,359 
 
 67,794 
 
 92.521 
 
 26,73s 
 
 137,332 
 
 14.450 
 
 16,096 
 
 S.354 
 
 7.238 
 
 38,777 
 581.540 
 194,071 
 
 72,840 
 
 '9'. 574 
 
 13,053 
 49,552 
 113,672 
 '43,165 
 166,665 
 '43-352 
 217-155 
 
 12,309,793 2,564,284 
 
 4-590-97S 956,948 
 
 16,900,768 3,521,232 
 
 Estimated. 
 
 t Including $300,000 {60,000/.) from "pocket" mines. 
 
 ti'. 
 
 This estimate is at least $300,000 (60,000/.) below Wells Fargo's for 
 
 1879, and $850,000(170,000/.) below that for 1880; and it is $600,000 
 (120,000/) less than Burchard's figures for the year ending June 30, 
 
 1880, whence the editor of the Miniftg Record is "more satisfied than 
 ever that the gold product is being over-stated." 
 
 Carolina {North). — Gold occurs in numerous localities throughout the 
 state, generally in quartz veins of the gneissic, granitic and dioritic rocks, 
 also in those of the talcose, chloritic and argillaceous slates ; in beds of 
 the slates themselves ; and in the gravel deposits, the debris of the 
 decomposed rocks and veins. The principal counties in which it has 
 been found in sufficient quantity for exploration are : Franklin, Nash, 
 Granville, Alamance, Chatham, Moore, Guilford, Davidson, Randolph, 
 Montgomery, Stanly, Union, Cabarrus, Rowan, Mecklenburg, Lincoln, 
 Gaston, Catawba, Caldwell, Burke, McDowell, Rutherford, Polk, Cleave- 
 land, Cherokee, Jackson, Transylvania and Watanga. 
 
 It is generally more or less alloyed with silver, varying from pure 
 gold on the one side to pure silver on the other. Near the surface, it is 
 usually associated with limonite, and, at a greater depth of the deposits, 
 with pyrite, chalcopyritc, galcnite, zinc-blende, tetradymite, arsenopyritc, 
 rarely with altaite and nagyagite. Specimens of gold, remarkable for 
 their size, have been found at the Rccd mine, in Cabarrus county. 
 
AMERICA, N. : CAROLINA, N. 
 
 155 
 
 the Crump mine and the Swift Island mine in Montgomery county, (at 
 the latter place in plates, covered with octahedral crystals,) at the 
 Cansler and Shuford mine, in Gaston county, the Littlcjohn mine, in 
 Caldwell county, and Tax Hill, in Burke county. Very beautiful 
 arborescent gold has been obtained from the Shcmwcll vein in Ruther- 
 ford county. The variety " electrum," containing 36 to 40 per cent, 
 of silver, has been met with in octahedral crystals at Ward's mine, in 
 Davidson county ; also in Union county, at the I'cwtcr mine, and 
 associated with galenite and zinc-blende at the Stewart and Lemmond 
 mines, and in the neighbourhood of Gold Hill, Rowan county. 
 
 According to Dr. Asbury, very interesting specimens were found at 
 Silver Hill, when the mine was first opened, consisting of lumps several 
 inches in length, one end of which was pure gold, while the other was 
 pure silver. None of them has been preserved. 
 
 Professor Emmons says that the gold of North Carolina belongs to 
 four different geological periods : — (i) The loo.se quart/, grits beneath the 
 surface soil ; (2) in stratified layers which are contemporaneous with the 
 rock ; (3) in connection with seams and joints of the rock.s, and pro- 
 bably also diffused in the mass ; (4) in regular veins associated with 
 quartz and the sulphurets of iron and copper : — 
 
 (i) The quartz grits form loose beds, made up mainly of broken- 
 down auriferous veins, in rounded and angular pieces, and resting usually 
 upon a bed-rock, which may be of almost any formation. The origin of 
 this auriferous grit is modern, and due in great part to existing forces. It 
 is everywhere distributed in the state, but varies in thickness and richness. 
 
 (2) The occurrence of gold in layers and beds contemporaneous with 
 the rock leads Emmons to pronounce it as " a sediment," and he traces it 
 to " the Palaeozoic period." These deposits may be " distinguished from 
 veins by the absence of walls ; there is really no line of demarcation 
 between the auriferous layers and the adjacent ones." Even miners who 
 are perfectly familiar with the bed " are not aware of a change, except by 
 the absence of gold, or until it is proved by panning." These facts, in his 
 opinion, "go to prove most conclusively that a fissure never was formed, 
 and that the layer has become auriferous by the deposition of gold, in 
 company with the sedimentary matter which forms the layer." It appears 
 to him probable that the gold " may be widely diffused or contained in 
 most of the rocks of North Carolina, which belong to the Taconic 
 system" [the earliest member of the Palaeozoic group, which he divides, 
 in ascending scale, into Taconic, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and 
 Permian] ; but " it should be understood that the strata in which the 
 quantity is sufficient to pay a profit are rare." The chief mines placed 
 by Emmons in this class are : — Jones, Davidson county ; Lafiflin, Delft, 
 Robins, Sawyer, Randolph county ; Howie, Lawson, Union county. 
 
 m 
 
 J] 
 
 ! '.I 
 
156 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (3) This class of deposits partakes both of the characters which 
 belong to the sediments proper, described in (2), and of those in which 
 the metal is distributed in regular veins. The gold of this class of 
 deposit is connected immediately with quartz scams or irregular veins, 
 which do not extend continuously through the rock, but terminate in it, 
 and do not pursue the usual, nor any special, direction. The quart/ is 
 subordinate to slate, but Emmons is " not aware that the latter contains 
 gold, except when it is in contact with the former, or is distributed in the 
 natural joints, which usually contain a film of quartz. The distribution 
 of the metal, too, is irregular ;" it "is found in pockets or bunches, some 
 of which are very productive." There is thus " more uncertainty in the 
 results, and the mining operations cannot be conducted in a manner so 
 systematic as when " the gold is " distributed in regular veins." In the 
 Ward mine, of this class, the greatest quantity of gold has been obtained by 
 washing the soil ; the results obtained by panning on several acres 
 show that gold is widely distributed in the immediate vicinity where the 
 principal workings have been carried on. At the Canslcr and Shuford 
 mine, both the soil above the rock and the soft reddish rock itself yield 
 the metal ; but the most productive parts of the rock are the natural joints 
 and quartz scams. In proximity to the natural joints, pieces of gold 
 weighing i lb. have been found, made up of slightly coherent plates, 
 separated by slate or talc. Other mines included in this class by 
 Emmons arc : — Hoover Hill, now being worked by an English company ; 
 Porti.s, Franklin county ; Parker, Stanly county ; and Beaver Dam, 
 Montgomery county. 
 
 (4) True fissure veins need not be defined here. In North Carolina, 
 their direction usually coincides very nearly with the strike of the beds ; 
 but it is rarely, if ever, that it continues to coincide with the beds as they 
 descend with the rock. The extreme variation (in North Carolina) of the 
 direction of the main or right-running veins is from N. 10° W. to N. 70° 
 E., but it is usually N. 45" E. Veins intersecting this line should be 
 considered only as cross-courses, but instances of them are not numerous In 
 this state. The metal in a promising vein, in addition to its distribution 
 hi masses through the gangue, is also accumulated upon the foot-wall, and 
 is rarely against the roof or hanging-wall. This is more obvious in the 
 case of sulphurets than in quartz gangues. It is common in North 
 Carolina for veins to extend a mile, and to carry sufficient metal to pay 
 for working the whole distance. The principal mines enumerated by 
 Emmons in this class are : — Conrad Hill, Davidson county ; Gold Hill, 
 Rymer, in Rowan county ; Reed, Phoenix, Vanderburgh, Orchard, 
 Earnhardt, Pioneer, all in Cabarrus county ; Phifer, Davis, and 
 Pewter, all in Union county ; Hearne, Stanly county ; Reynolds', 
 Montgomery county ; McCulloch, Fisher Hill, Lindsey, Beason, Harlan, 
 
AMERICA, N. : CAROLINA, N. 
 
 »57 
 
 Gardner, all in Guilford county ; Rudcrsill, Dunn, in Mecklenburg 
 county. 
 
 Emmons concludes his remarks u[)on the gold of the state by 
 deprecating the inefficiency of the apparatus employed in its extraction, 
 and the carelessness and ignorance displayed in conducting operations. 
 
 Professor Kerr, the present Sta'^e Geologist, endorses Emmons' 
 remarks upon the ore beds described in (?.), and says that the width of 
 these auriferous beds varies from a few inches to 60 or 70 ft. The same 
 authority is of opinion that all the auriferous gravels of the state have 
 been formed by what he calls " frost drift " or " earth glaciers," i. e. the 
 effects of repeated frost and thaw in decomposing the rocks, and then, 
 by alternate expansion and contraction, causing their detritus t ■ carrange 
 its component parts. According to Kerr, there are probably 500 square 
 miles of gold-drifts in North Carolina. They are found through a range 
 of 400 miles east and west, from the lower waters of the Roanoke, near 
 VVeldon, to the extreme western border, the county of Cherokee ; and 
 they belong to all the different subdivisions of the Archaean rocks of the ^ 
 state. The two most extensive deposits are found in the middle region 
 on the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, among the low ranges and spurs of 
 the mountains. The schistose and slaty rocks, highly inclined and much 
 contorted and dislocated, are in many places penetrated by innumerable 
 small veins and seams of gold-bearing quartz. In the disintegration and 
 breaking-down of these rocks, and the movements of the ddbris in the 
 manner described, it is evident that the gold particles, with the 
 heavier crystalline minerals, will be accumulated near the bottom of 
 the drifts, on or near the surface of the bed-rock, or " slate," as the miners , 
 call it. 
 
 The gold-mining of modern times began 60 years ago in this region, 
 from the accidental discovery of a 28-lb. nugget by a boy in one of these 
 streams. Most of the simple and effective appliances now in use every- 
 where for the separation of gold from such deposits — the long-tom, sluice, 
 riffle-box, &c. — were devised and used in this locality, and were carried 
 hence to California, when, 25 years later, the trained miners of this region 
 emigrated in a body to that newer and richer field. Since that emigra- 
 tion, there has been but little placer mining done in North Carolina. 
 Still this sort of mining has never entirely ceased, and in some sections, 
 and by a few families, it has been followed continuously to the present. 
 The richest deposits within reach of water have been worked over, but 
 there are large areas still untouched, because inaccessible to water, without 
 considerable outlay for ditching, canalling and fluming, to which, says 
 I'err, neither the capital nor the enterprise of the region is equal. 
 
 The gross gold-product of the mines of North Carolina, so far as in- 
 dicated by the Mint returns, from 1 838 to 1856, was $4,233,336 (881,945/.) ; 
 
 ;'H 
 
 %h :! 
 

 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 Li|2j8 12.5 
 
 lU 
 
 u 
 
 14^0 
 
 u& 
 
 1 
 
 '•25 r-^ ii4 
 
 
 < 
 
 6" 
 
 ► 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sdences 
 Corporation 
 
 Ti V£«i7 .AAIN STRUT 
 
 WlBSJ£t,N.Y. 14SS0 
 
 (716) •72-4303 
 
 
 ■-^ 
 
%^ 
 
 
ii 
 
 
 158 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Dr. Stevens (Amer. Jl. Min., i. 313) puts it at "not far from $30,000,000" 
 (6,250,000/.) down to 1866. From a pamphlet accompanying a memorial 
 from the Sixth Congressional District of North Carolina, asking for a 
 commission to visit the district (Scien. Amcr., xxxviii. 212), it appears 
 that the gold-producing area of North Carolina covers about 12,000 sq. 
 miles, containing 140 mines already (1878) developed, and that their 
 gold-yield. up to June 30, 1877, was $10,370,492 (2,161,074/.). 
 
 Carolina (South). — Here, according to Tuomey (1848), the gold- 
 mines are of two classes, " deposit " or " branch " mines, and " vein " 
 mines, fulfilling the same conditions as sections (2) and (4) of the North 
 Carolina group. An example of the first-named kind in the Tomassic 
 Valley covered an area of many acres ; and on a branch of the Tyger is 
 one extending a mile in length and having a width of 100 yd. At this 
 locality, the auriferous gravel is 8 in. to 3 ft. thick, and is overlaid by a bed 
 of pebbles 6 to 8 ft. thick, the whole occupying a flat between two hills, and 
 being covered by a fertile soil of considerable depth ; the deposit rests 
 upon mica-slate, having a very irregular surface, and exhibiting unequi- 
 vocal marks of the action of water. 
 
 As regards age, Tuomey considers that the deposit-mines may be 
 referred to two distinct periods : — 
 
 (i) Those consisting of beds of rounded and waterworn quartz pebbles, 
 of various sizes, but seldom exceeding 6 in. in diameter, constituting the 
 most extensive beds in the State, and " in such positions as to preclude the 
 possibility of the pebbles being rounded and transported by any stream 
 or other aqueous force that could have existed since that region received 
 its present form." The gold in these older deposits can " rarely if ever 
 be traced to its original source in the veins in place, partly, no doubt, 
 from their being transported from a great distance, and partly from the 
 total destruction of the veins by denuding forces." In almost every 
 mine of this class, there are peculiar indications known to the miners as 
 favourable or otherwise : the presence of schorl, of ferruginous matter, etc. 
 The deposits belonging to this category which arc particularly mentioned 
 by Tuomey are in the Tomassic Valley, on the Tyger, near the summit 
 of the Blue Ridge, at the foot of Poor Mountain, and at Rankin's, on 
 Little River. 
 
 (2) The beds of more recent origin are known by the angular 
 fragments of quartz that predominate in them. Nearly all the vein- 
 mines in the state have been discovered by tracing thes*^ oeds to their 
 sources. Not unfrequently the veins occur at a short distance from the 
 deposit ; but sometimes, while the soil contains sufficient gold to pay for 
 working, when it is exhausted, not a trace of a vein can be seen, a 
 circumstance ascribed by Tuomey to the fact of the original vein having 
 thinned out and disappeared. This class of deposits embraces those 
 
 _.•*** 
 
AMERICA, N. : CAROLINA, S. ; COLORADO. 
 
 159 
 
 being worked in the vicinity of veins, such as at Estatoe, in AbbeviUr? ; 
 on Lawson's Fork, in Spartanburg ; and in Cherokee Valley. 
 
 The gold of the deposit-mines occurs in irregular particles, more or 
 less water-worn, of larger size and greater purity than the vein-product. 
 
 The veins are also divided by Tuomey into two categories: (i) those 
 in which the precious metal is found disseminated in the slates, or in beds 
 between them, and called by the miners " slate mines " ; and (2) those 
 in which the lodes are true veins. In the former class, he includes, for 
 the most part the mines of Chesterfield, Lancaster, and some of the Fair 
 Forest mines, in Union. And to the latter belong Nott's mine, Nuckols 
 and Norris's mine, those near the Limestone Springs, and those on the 
 Broad River, near Smith's Ford. 
 
 In the King's Mountain range, the first mine towards the north on 
 King's Creek is very remarkable, being a bed of rather poor iron ore 
 (hematite) and common quartz, about 3 ft. thick, in mica-slate. The 
 gold is confined to certain ferruginous portions, in which small quartz 
 veins abound. At other places in this range, the gold is associated with 
 iron as a yellow ochre. Above Easter-wood Shoals, some of the mines 
 consist of talco-micaceous slates, intersected by veins of felspar passing 
 into kaolin, the auriferous veins being coarse crystalline granite ; at 
 Littlejohn's, not far distant, on the contrary, the gold-bearing lodes are 
 quartz, and though granite veins are common in the mine, they contain 
 no gold. Tuomey is "convinced that all the oxide of iron that occurs in 
 the gold-veins was once sulphuret of iron, or pyrites, and that at a depth 
 below the surface which is quite variable, the iron associated with the 
 gold exists in that form." 
 
 Colorado. — The principal gold-producing mines of Colorado are 
 situated in Gilpin county, and are the subject of an exhaustive report by 
 J. D. Hague, which will be largely drawn upon in the following remarks. 
 Typical veins in this district will be selected for description, choosing 
 those that have been most extensively worked. 
 
 Concerning the lodes in general, it may be said that they are all 
 enclosed in a rock of one common type chiefly granitic, with gneissic 
 varieties. Their course, with few exceptions, is either due E. and W., or 
 N.E. and S.W., the prevailing line along the prominent lodes being 
 about 5° to 10° N. of E. The Gregory, Bates, and a few others arc 
 exceptions ; but the Bobtail, Burroughs, Gardner, Flack, Gunnell, 
 Winnebago, and others, strike about N. 85° E., and more nearly represent 
 the average course of the veins in the district. The dip is generally 
 nearly vertical. The lodes possess the features of true fissure-veins, and 
 are remarkably free from faults or displacements. 
 
 Bobtail lode.— This has the reputation of having been the most 
 productive vein of Colorado. The average course for 800 ft. is due E. 
 
 \l 
 
I 
 
 i!i 
 
 1 60 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 n 
 
 
 f| 
 
 ii' 
 
 and W. ; the dip is nearly vertical, varying from N. to S. ; the width of the 
 vein ranges from a few inches or a mere seam to 10 or 15 ft, but does not 
 exceed 3 to 4 ft. on an average. The enclosing ruck is gneiss, sometimes 
 of granitic character. The walls are usually well defined, especially the 
 southern one. The vein matter is a quartzose and felspathic mixture, 
 highly silicious, and carrying much free quartz, but not having the 
 appearance of solid quai tz veins ; in many places, it has a granitic look, 
 thus differing but little from the country-rock, and in such cases is 
 usually quite barren. The gangue is soft, whitish or pale-greenish rock, 
 consisting chiefly of decomposed felspathic material, mixed with quartz, 
 and thickly impregnated with iron- and copper-pyrites. The richer ore 
 is concentrated in a seam of solid sulphurets, composed mainly of iron 
 and copper pyrites, with less quantities of galena, zinc-blende, arsenical 
 pyrites, &c. The gold, rarely if ever entirely without silver, is associated 
 with the pyrites, most richly with the fine copper-pyrites, and varying in 
 the iron-pyrites according to the closeness of grain. 
 
 Tlie productive part of the vein usually carries a seam of solid 
 auriferous pyrites, i in. to 3 ft. wide, an average of 10 to 12 in. being 
 deemed excellent ; this seam is accompanied by a mass of gangue i to 
 4 ft. \/ide, with finely crystallized sulphurets generally disseminated 
 through it. The last-named forms the bulk of the vein, and gives 6 to 
 7 oz. of retorted amalgam per cord (7 to 8 tons) of ore, the value being 
 $14 to $16 (2/. i8s. 4^/. to 3/. 6s. 8d) a ton. The total yield of the lode 
 since its discovery is roughly stated at $2,500,000 (500,000/.). 
 
 Gregory lode. — This lode is worked over a length of 1 500 to 2000 ft., 
 its general course being N.E. and S.VV. The dip is nearly vertical, 
 though sometimes N.W. and sometimes S.E. The countjy-rock is 
 generally similar to that of the Bobtail, but sometimes abounding in 
 mica. The walls arc not very regular, and are liable in places to scale off 
 and fall in large pieces. The width varies from 2 to 5 ft., sometimes 
 expanding to 1 2 or 15. The vein-matter is like that of the Bobtail ; the 
 value of the compact ore seam is generally somewhat less, but its 
 development is greater. The poorer matter gives 5 to 6 oz. per cord. 
 Lumps of free gold worth $50 (10/.) have been found. 
 
 The yield of the lode can only be partially stated with regard to one 
 portion of it: the Black Hawk mine in 1867 produced 12,193^ oz. of 
 crude bullion ; in the latter half of 1868, 39423 oz. of amalgam ; in the 
 first half of 1869, 3177 oz. of retorted amalgam. 
 
 Bates lode. — This lies nearly parallel to and several hundred feet 
 north-west of the Gregory ; it has been worked to considerable depth 
 for about 1000 ft. in length. The country-rock has the same features as 
 already described. The veins are somewhat less in width, but regular, 
 well-defined, and promising as to permanence. The ores in some parts 
 
AMERICA, N. : COLORADO. 
 
 i6i 
 
 are distinguished by a large proportion of argentiferous galena, zinc- 
 blende and silver sulphurets, associated with the iron- and copper-pyrit.-s, 
 giving them sometimes a high value in silver, but rendering difficult, or 
 practically impossible by any simple process known in the district, 
 the extraction of the gold. 
 
 Illinois lode. — The course of this lode is N. 60° E., with a gradual 
 approximation to neighbouring lodes farther south, which run N. 85° E. ; 
 the dip is 84° S., and regular ; the average width is about 2 ft. ; and the 
 walls are generally smooth and well-defined. The vein-matter is chiefly 
 quartz ; sometimes white, hard, and amorphous, carrying little or no 
 metal ; sometimes showing a sparse distribution of crystallized iron- 
 pyrites throughout its mass. But most commonly the vein-matter is a 
 mixture of siliceous and felspathic material, in which occur small seams or 
 scattered particles jf pyrites, associated, as before described, with a 
 narrower but solid seam of compact pyritous ore ; the latter is 2 to 12 in. 
 thick. The valuable mineral in the mine consists chiefly of iron-pyrites, 
 with a lesser proportion of copper-pyrites, and, as a characteristic feature, 
 some arsenical pyrites ; with these are associated zinc-blende and galena 
 The yield of this ore averages about 4 oz. of fine gold and 20 oz. of fine 
 silver per ton. The yield of the poorer material averages about i oz. 
 
 Gardner lode. — This lode is nearly parallel to and 300 to 400 ft. 
 north of the Illinois. Its course is N. 85° E., and dip 75° S., both being 
 very regular. It has been partially developed over about 800 ^t. in 
 length. The vein is large and regular, seldom less than 3 or more than 
 10 to 12 ft. wide, the walls being smooth and well-defined, and costing 
 little for timber. The ore resembles descriptions already given, but carries 
 considerable galena and zinc-blende ; and the valuable mineral is widely 
 diffused. About J to | of all the vein-matter broken is sent through the 
 stamps, and yields on an average about 6 oz. of bullion or $100 coin 
 (20/. i6s. Sd) per cord, equal to $12 or $14 (50^. to 58J. 4^.) per ton. 
 
 Burroughs lode.- — One of the earliest discovered and most developed 
 lodes in the territory, the Burroughs, lies about 400 ft. north of the 
 Gardner, and almost exactly parallel. Its dip is nearly vertical, or 
 85° S. It is opened along mere than 2000 ft., and worked to depths of 
 200 to 600 ft. The country-rock differs nothing from the preceding 
 examples, but is narrower, varying from 8 in. to 4 ft. The vein-matter 
 and ore present the same general features ; but the pyrites is ferrous 
 rather than cupreous, and more argentiferous than usual. 
 
 California, Indiana, Flack, Mercer County, and other lodeo These 
 are ^ mile west of the Burroughs lode which they resemble in position, 
 but from which they differ widely in the character of the ore, carrying a 
 much larger proportion of argentiferous galena, zinc-blende, and sulphurets 
 of silver. Ores from some of these mines assay 7 oz. of gold and 68 oz. 
 
 M 
 
l63 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of silver per ton ; others, 3 oz. of gold and 18 oz. of silver. In the Coaley 
 and Gilpin lodes, gold has quite disappeared, while the silver yield comes 
 up to 2 1 5 oz. per ton. 
 
 With regard to the total gold- production of Colorado, Hollisted states 
 that from 18^,9 to June 1866, $12,401,374 (2,583,624/.) worth was 
 delivered to the mint ; and supposing this to represent only one-third of 
 what was actually got, the total would be $37,204,122 (7,750,872/.). 
 Hague computed the output in 1868 and 1869 (combined) at $6,500,000 
 (1,354,166/). Porter gives the total production in the census year (1880) 
 as $3,2(X),ooo (666,666/), and enumerates the following counties : — Gilpin, 
 $2,380,000 (495,833/) ; Boulder, $300,000 (62499/) ; Clear Creek, 
 $ i96,orX) (40,833/) ; Custer, $100,000 (20,833/) ; Lake, $58,000 (i 2,083/.) ; 
 Summit, $51,000 (10,624/.) ; Park, $50,000 (10416/); San Juan, $40,000 
 (8332/.) ; Chaffee, $31,500 (6565/). 
 
 Dakota. — The auriferous region of Dakota is comprised within the 
 Black Hills, and occupies a metamorphic range covering an area of 900 
 sq. miles, extending north and south through the central portions of the 
 hills for a distance of 75 miles, with a breadth varying from 5 to 25 miles. 
 The product, as estimated by the Director of the Mint, for 1880 was 
 $3,600,000 (75,000/) of gold. 
 
 The mineral resources of this region have been made the subject of a 
 valuable report by W. P. Jenney, according to which the gold occurs in 
 the following formations : — 
 
 I. In veins of quartz, more or less ferruginous, traversing the Archaean 
 schists and slates, 
 
 n. In strata of slate, mineralized and altered by the action of waters 
 depositing silica and iron-pyrites. 
 
 III. In the conglomerate forming the lower layer of the Potsdam sand- 
 stone, resulting in this case from the denudation of the ledges in the 
 Archaean rocks. 
 
 IV. In trachyte and porphyry intruded at the time of elevation 
 of the Hills, in the interval between the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. 
 
 V. In deposits in the slates and sedimentary rocks, produced by the 
 intrusion of the trachyte and porphyry. 
 
 VI. In placer-gravels resulting from the decomposition and erosion 
 of the above formations, in Tertiary and recent times. 
 
 The miners, for convenience in making laws to govern the lecording 
 and locating of claims, have divided the gold-fields into different districts, 
 which division is followed as closely as possible by Jenney in considering 
 the value and character of the gold-deposits. 
 
 French Creek. — In the French Creek district is embraced all the 
 area of granitic and schistose rocks surrounding Harney Peak, and 
 forming the southern portion of the Hills, bounded by Spring Creek on 
 
AMERICA, N. : DAKOTA. 
 
 163 
 
 the north, and including the placer-gravels in the valleys of Wiwi 
 Creek, Custer Gulch or French Creek, Amphibious, Minnekata, and Red 
 Caiion Creeks, streams draining the region and emptying into the south 
 fork of the Cheyenne. 
 
 The gravel deposits elevated above the present level of French Creek 
 show often a local concentration of gold on the outer edge of the bed-rock, 
 from the repeated washing away of the gravel by floods os- heavy rains, 
 leaving behind the gold contained in it. Though giving a very 
 encouraging prospect at first, on driving an open cut a few yards into 
 the bar where the gravel was undisturbed, the richness of the pay- 
 dirt rapidly decreased, until it equalled the true average of the whole 
 deposit, showing that the result first obtained was only a rim-roc'c 
 " prospect." 
 
 The richest layer in the pay-gravel was rarely on bed-rock, but 
 usually 10 to 20 in. above it, forming the upper surface of the stratum of 
 compact clayey gravel, mixed with fragments of decomposed bed-rock, 
 which had caught and retained the greater portion of the gold. 
 
 The gold obtained from the placer-gravels on French Creek was in 
 small flattened scales and grains, quite uniform in size, mixed with very ! 
 little fine dust, and nearly free from magnetic iron sand. It showed but 
 little action of water, and the garnet crystals associated with it were often 
 quite perfect and scarcely rounded by attrition. The greater portion of 
 the gold seems to be derived from the quartz ledges in the schistose rocks, 
 and not from the intruded granite ; for in side gulches, where the rocks 
 are wholly composed of granite, Jenney failed to detect any traces of gold. 
 The pay-gravel is composed of the heaviest pebbles, with some clayey 
 sand and large quantities of red garnet crystals derived from the schists. 
 It is soft, rarely cemented to a conglomerate, and easily washed in a 
 sluice. 
 
 The exploration and prospecting on French Creek showed a general 
 diffusion of fine gold in the gravel beds, but little concentrated in the 
 deposits, and found in small quantities throughout the whole breadth of 
 the valley. 
 
 Above the stockade are localities where the gravel will pay fair 
 wages for sluicing, using the limited water-supply of the creek, and 
 working only the richest places in the beds. Jenney regards the poverty 
 of the French Creek deposits, compared with those afterwards discovered 
 on the streams farther north, to be due to a deficiency in the source of 
 supply, owing to the confined area drained by the stream, the small 
 amount of denudation to which the ledges in this area have been subjected, 
 and to a want of sufficient grade in the valley to cause a concentration 
 of the gold into a pay-channel. 
 
 Had all the gold diffused through the valley of French Creek been 
 
 u 2 
 
 
^'^ 
 
 164 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRirUTION. 
 
 concentrated into a narrow lead or pay-channel, it would have made 
 claims as rich as the most enthusiastic miner could desire. 
 
 Spring Creek. — The result of Jenney's prospecting on Newton's Fork 
 branch of Spring Creek seems to show a general diffusion of gold in 
 nearly paying quantities through extensive gravel deposits, which in 
 many respects resemble the bars in Custer Gulch. The water-supply 
 was, however, considerably greater, and the grade or descent of the valley 
 sufficient to enable the deposits to be vvr -ked with much less expenditure 
 of time or labour ; so that, were the deposits of equal richness, they 
 would be more valuable here than on French Creek. 
 
 In the valley of Spring Creek, about 8 miles below Newton's Fork, 
 near where the immense quartz formation known as the Mammoth ledge 
 crosses the gulch, prospecting resulted in the discovery of gold in paying 
 quantities in the placer-deposits of this stream. 
 
 On examination, the pay-gravel was found to be a deposit about 
 35 ft in width, crossing the creek and extending into the banks on either 
 side, resulting from the decomposition of a stratum of soft clay-slate in 
 the bed-rock, which had caught and retained the gold swept over it by 
 the stream. The " pay-streak " is a compact gravel, full of small red 
 garnet crystals, rich in coarse gold, 3 to 6 in. in depth. 
 
 The gold is derived from quartz ledges of enormous dimensions in a 
 belt of clay-slate and quartzite, 20 miles in width, crossing the Hills in a 
 north-westerly direction at this point. The clay from the bed of the 
 stream near camp yields 4c. to 8c. {2d. to 4fl^.) to the pan, and several pieces 
 of about the value of a dollar have been found. 
 
 The richest layer in the deposit was the lower part of .the red garnet 
 gravel, where it rested on the upper surface of the blue plastic clay. 
 Pieces taken from this «-ontact showed, on breaking, scales and particles 
 of gold contained in it. The bed-rock, so far as Jenney's party dug into 
 it (about a foot below the surface), contained coarse gold in small 
 quantities, probably caught in crevices in the rock before it de- 
 composed. 
 
 This deposit may be described as a strip of plastic clay crossing the 
 bed of the creek, and resulting from the decomposition of strata of 
 soft clay-slate located on the rise of the bed-rock, while both above and 
 below was a hard massive quartzite, smooth and water-worn, but pro- 
 tecting the slate from being rapidly cut away by the current of the stream. 
 The sample obtained, when assayed, showed that the gold from this 
 district is very pure, being 9461V fine, or 22| carats; just as it is 
 washed from the placers, it is worth $19 44c. to $19 63c. (4/. \s. to 
 4/. \s. <^\d^ an oz. 
 
 The valley below the Mammoth ledge is contracted in width, and 
 appears to have been gradually filled up since it was excavated. 
 
AMERICA, N. : DAKOTA. 
 
 l6: 
 
 Bed-rock has been reached in only two places, althoUj,.. a number of 
 shafts have been sunk by the miners : and in these cases the rock was 
 hard, and the gravel poor in gold. 
 
 Above the original discovery for nearly 5 miles, the gravel deposits arc 
 very broad and extensive ; flats, in places | mile wide, extend along the 
 banks of the creek ; while elevated bars are to be found at the bends of 
 the stream and sides of the valley, which proved to be very valuable. 
 Stand-off Bar pays $1 (4s. 2ci.) in gold per hour per man employed. 
 
 The gold appears to be derived from the decomposition of the slates 
 and quartzites, as well as from the denudation of the quartz ledges 
 traversing these rocks. The source of supply of the gold is immense. 
 The side valleys and gulches are often excavated for miles along the 
 outcrops of the gold-bearing slates ; and the quartzites, with their 
 enclosed veins, have acted as feeders to the placers of the main valley. 
 Over a very extensive area these rocks have been enormously eroded, and 
 the resulting material swept away. The gold it originally contained has 
 been partly caught and retained in the gulches; the rest, intermixed with 
 gravel and boulders from the metamorphic rocks, and also from the lime- 
 stone and recent formations in the foot-hills, being carried far out on the 
 plains, and scattered broadcast over their surface, so that very little can 
 ever be recovered. From the results of the prospecting done in this 
 district up to August 1, 1875, it would be inferred that the character of 
 the bed-rock strongly influenced the deposition of the gold. Where the 
 bed-rock was a hard, massive quartzite, the water had worn it smooth, 
 and no gold was to be found on its surface, while the gravel above it was 
 loose and poor in the precious metal ; but where the bed-rock was soft, 
 easily-decomposing slates, it had caught and retained the gold swept 
 over its surface by the stream ; and the gravel above, compact from the 
 clay produced by it? decay, was also rich in gold. In the flats and 
 creek bed, when a stratum of soft slates is found crossing the gulch 
 below, a high and hard bar with valuable deposits should be sought for. 
 
 Whiskey Creek. — From the fact that the area drained by this stream 
 is almost identical in the character of the rocks with that of the 
 Spring Creek district, although less extensive, Jcnney considers that 
 there are good reasons to expect that, at least in some localities, gold 
 may be found in paying quantities in the gravel deposits of Whiskey 
 Creek and its tributaries. 
 
 Castle Creek. — Gold was discovered on Castle Creek, above the 
 caiion, on June 12, 1875. It was found in small gravel deposits along the 
 creek, and in the gulches leading into the stream from the south. About 
 2 or 3 miles below the point where Custer's trail leaves the valley, a bar, 
 covering an area of 2 acres, gave, on prospecting, nearly ic. {^d.) to the 
 pan of fine gold. This deposit of gravel was 4 to 5 ft. in thickness. 
 
 I 
 
1 66 
 
 CiKOGRAl'MICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 composed of quartz and slate pebbles, resting on bed-rock of mica-schists, 
 elevated about 6 ft. above the water of the creek, and so favourably 
 situated for working that the grave! could be sluiced with very little 
 expense or trouble. Several pits were sunk in the flats near the channel 
 of the stream, but failed to reach bed-rock, owing to springs of waten 
 which could not be kept down by baling. Small gravel benches were 
 found on the sides of the canon below this bar, which gave 4 to 6 colours 
 of gold to the pan, but were of too limited area to be valuable. 
 
 The gold from this portion of the stream is in small flat grains, 
 resembling that of French Creek, and prrbably similarly derived from the 
 quartz veins in the schists. In July, a ;.ity of miners discovered gold 
 in paying quantities on Castle Creek, b( low the north bend. The pay- 
 dirt gave, by several tests, 5c. to 1 5c. (2^d. to 7^^.) to the pan of coarse 
 rusty gold. 
 
 Rapid Creek. — Samples of quartz from the hills between Rapid and 
 Box-Elder Creeks gave, on crushing 2 or 3 oz. in a mortar, and panning, 
 4 to 6 fine colours of gold. Gold was discovered in paying quantities in 
 a number of places along this portion of the valley ; but the miners did 
 not open the placers, and prospected the bars only enough to prove the 
 presence of gold. These deposits of gravel, including both the high bars 
 and narrow flats in the caiion, are known to be valuable, resembling 
 those of the Spring Creek district. 
 
 Reports from Rapid Creek, dated December 31, 1875, stated that 
 "♦:hf caiion is located from head to mouth, and loc. ($(/.) to the pan is 
 V lered a low average prospect in the pay-streak." 
 
 . jx-Elder and El'' Creeks. — There are a few low bars on the larger 
 branches of Box-Elder which may be found to contain gold in workable 
 quantities ; but the only gravel deposits of any size are in the flats along 
 the stream and its numerous branches. 
 
 Spearfish and Bear Butte Creeks. — Just above the mouth of the 
 caiion, several small streams enter Spearfish from the south-west, heading 
 in the ridge between Spearfish and Floral Valley. On these branches a 
 party of miners discovered rich placer deposits. One pan of dirt on the 
 discovery of Bear Creek contained $27 (5/. 12s. 6d), and one man took 
 out with a rocker, in 8i days, $165 (34/ ys. 6d.). 
 
 Among the mica-schists on the head branches of the east fork of Bear 
 Butte Creek, the soldiers found gold in the gravel deposits of the side 
 gulches of the stream ; and a piece weighing about J dwt. was obtained 
 from one of their prospecting pits near Camp Terry. Gravel deposits of 
 considerable extent are reported in the valleys of the branches of the east 
 fork, but have not as yet been prospected by the miners. Gold has been 
 discovered by the miners on Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks, and the 
 numerous gulches running into them in the vicinity of Terry Creek. The 
 
AMERICA, N. : DAKOTA. 
 
 167 
 
 placers arc extensive, and in most places the bed-rock is reported to be 
 near the surface ; and the gold is doubtless derived from the disintegration 
 and erosion of the igneous rocks, as well as from slates and quartzitcs. 
 
 Having detected gold in similar trachytes in the licar Lodge range, 
 Jenney considers its occurrence in rocks of igneous origin in tl.is district 
 as extremely probable. 
 
 Bear Lodge. — Half a mile north-east of the central peaks, a gold- 
 bearing ledge was discovered and t xced in a north-west and south- 
 east direction for several hundred yards. On examination, it was found 
 to be irregular in shape, without any well-defined walls or boundaries, 
 and merging on all sides into the adjacent trachyte rocks. 
 
 Prospecting in the dry ravine a short distance below this ledge, the 
 gravel from off bed-rock was found to be largely composed of material 
 derived from the disintegration of the ledge. Twelve fine coloiirs of 
 gold, or about Jc. (^r/.) to the pan was obtained. It would seem probable 
 that the whole of the gold contained in the gravel in this ravine has been 
 derived from the decomposition and denudation of the above ledge. 
 
 The occurrence of gold in trachyte, without any quartz being 
 associated with it, has been previously reported from several mining 
 districts in the West. 
 
 Exploring a number of small streams rising near Warren Peaks, 
 flowing to the north and east, gold was found in gravel deposits in the 
 flats along the banks of the creeks in several places, but nowhere in 
 paying quantities. The streams being small and the wash not very great, 
 there were no high gravel deposits, though one or two bars covering about 
 an acre were observed occupying flats elevated 3 or 4 ft. above the creek. 
 These deposits were situated so that they could be readily worked, but 
 only yielded, on testing, ^c. to ^c. (jT^d. to^d) to the pan in very fine dust. 
 
 The gold is derived from the igneous rocks forming Warren Peaks, 
 most of it apparently from the manganese and limonite ledge on the 
 north-east slope, as the largest quantities were found in the ravines 
 heading near that point. 
 
 In reviewing this small district, which is very interesting scientifically, 
 even if the deposits of gold should not be found of workable richness, it 
 may be stated that the bars are of limited area, and usually shallow 
 deposits of felspar gravel. The gold is fine, and up to the present time 
 has not been found in remunerative quantities. The water-supply is 
 small, but probably sufficient for working purposes during the spring 
 months. The district is remarkable in the occurrence of gold without 
 any quartz whatever being associated with it, and in the fact that the 
 gold is derived from felspar trachyte-porphyry of recent geological age. 
 
 Auriferous Gravel in the Foot-hills. — A belt of gravel deposits, resting 
 usually on the Red beds near the edge of the plains, extends from Red 
 
 li 
 
1 68 
 
 GKOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Canon Creek, in the extreme southern end of the Black Hills, all along 
 the south-eastern foot-hills, across the valley of Minnekatti, Amphibious, 
 French, VViwi, Whiskey, Spring, and Rapid Creeks to Hox-Elder, where 
 it thins out and disappears. On examination, these gravel beds seem to 
 be river deposits, though in places they cap hills 300 ft. above the prc.->ent 
 bed of the nearest stream. Where the divides between the creeks are 
 quite wide at the edge of the plains, the gravel is seen to be thickest and 
 most extensively deposited near the valleys of the streams, and to thin 
 out toward the crest of the divides. The gravel appears to have been 
 deposited by the water at the point where the power of the stream 
 became insuflRcient to transport farther in large quantities boulders of 
 this size and weight, and the beds resemble somewhat shore or estuary 
 deposits, such as are formed near the mouth of a stream emptying into a 
 lake or sea. These gravel banks have been formed since the elevation 
 of the Black Hills ; and the great Tertiary sea which gave rise to the 
 extensive beds of that age in the valleys of White River and the South 
 Cheyenne may have reached to the foot-hills of this range. A gravel 
 "wash" from the Black Hillii is found all over the surface of the plains 
 to the north, east, and south of the range. Near the Cheyenne, this 
 gravel forms a conglomerate 6 ft. in thicknes.s, between the top of 
 Cretaceous No. 5 and the base of the White River Tertiary, and also 
 occurs as scattered gravel boulders on the tops of the Tertiary hills, 
 showing that it has been deposited since the close of the Cretaceous 
 period, both before and after the later Tertiary. These gravel beds are 
 made up of a mixture of boulders and pebbles from all the harder rocks 
 found in the different geological formations on the eastern slope of the 
 Black Hills, including granite, trachyte, schist, slate, quartzite and 
 quartz in all its varieties, mixed with a variable proportion of sandstone 
 and limestone from the disintegration of the Potsdam, Carboniferous, 
 and Red beds. 
 
 Where Rapid Creek bursts through the foot-hills and flows out on 
 the plains, are very extensive gravel beds of this character, evidently 
 deposited by the stream at different periods, as they cover the tops of 
 hills at three distinct elevations, respectively at about 50 ft., 100 ft., and 
 300 to 350 ft. above the present bed of the creek. The lowest of these 
 deposits occupies benches and flat-topped hills formed of the soft red 
 sandstone of the Red beds. The gravel is mostly composed of limestone 
 and sandstone boulders, mingled with quartz, slate, and ferruginous 
 quartzite. The next, also resting on the Red beds, is of similar 
 character ; not more than 50 per cent, of the gravel is derived from the 
 metamorphic rocks. Both these deposits are on the side hills of the 
 valley, in places forming banks or terraces 20 to 30 ft. in height, and 
 should properly be classed as high bars. The gravel from off bed-rock, 
 
/ ^i 
 
 AMERICA, N. : DAKOTA. 
 
 169 
 
 obtained by drifting into the face of these bars a distance of 4 or 5 ft., 
 gave Jcnney one to two colours of gold to the pan. The highest gravel 
 deposits are in places 30 to 40 ft. in thickness, capping the tops of the 
 hills of Ccuboniferous and Triassic limestones, often at a considerable 
 distance from the present valley of the stream ; the lower layers contain 
 water-worn boulders, i to 2 ft. in diameter, of quartz, slate, quartzite, 
 granite, and trachyte, both fclspathic and hornblendic ; but scarcely a 
 trace of limestone or sandstone rocks is found in these more elevated 
 deposits. Wherever tested, the gravel from off bed-rock gave small 
 quantities of gold on panning. 
 
 In the dry side ravines of Whiskey Creek, among the Red beds, gold 
 was discovered by a party of miners entering the Hills. Prospecting up 
 a dry gulch, they obtained 25 colours of gold from the dirt shaken from 
 the roots of a small bush growing in a narrow crevice in the bare sand- 
 stone bed-rock at the bottom if the ravine. This locality, known as the 
 " Rosebush diggings," derived its ^old from the gradual \va.shing down 
 into the ravines of the gravel 'Icposits capping the hills by the action of 
 occasional heavy rains, when for a short time a stream of water would 
 flow through the gulch, and sluice the gravel accumulated in it, the gold 
 being caught in the crevices of the bed-rock, while the dirt was swept 
 away. Prospecting in one of these side gulches, about i a mile from the 
 main stream, the dirt from the crevices in the bed-rock was found to 
 yield Sc to 15c. (ajrt'. to 7i^/.) to the pan. The gold was in fine particles, 
 associated with small red garnet crystals, derived from the schists in the 
 neighbourhood of Harney Peak. This ravine was excavated about 200 ft. 
 in depth through the Red beds. Its bottom was formed of a pavement of 
 the upper layers of the Carboniferous sandstone, while the hills on both 
 sides were covered with a deposit of slate and quartz gravel v hich had 
 furnished the gold. 
 
 A mile below, the small side gulches in the Red beds afforded in 
 places Sc. to ioc.(2i^. to 5^^.) to the pan of gold ; but the supply of water 
 at this time (July 20) was so small that the miners decided to give up 
 prospecting in the vicinity, and abandon the diggings until the spring 
 rains should fill the water-holes, and make it possible to work the pay-dirt 
 in rockers, if rich enough deposits should be discovered. 
 
 About 5 miles south of Whiskey Creek, at the edge of the plains, con- 
 glomerate 30 ft. in thickness caps hills !CX) to 150 ft. in height, of the .soft 
 sandstone of the Red beds. The conglomerate is composed of granite, 
 quartz and slate boulders, cemented by sand and lime into a loosely-coher- 
 ing " cement," the lower layers of which contain quartz boulders i to 2 ft. 
 in diameter. The small gulches in the vicinity are full of the quartz gravel 
 resulting from the decomposition of the conglomerate, and undoubtedly 
 contain gold ; but unfortunately there was not a drop of water anywhere 
 
 ' 'M 
 
170 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 1 
 
 to be found in the neighbourhood, and Jenney was obliged to reh'nquish 
 the attempt to prospect them. Similar gravel deposits encircle the foot- 
 hills, crossing the valleys of French, Amphibious, and Minnekata Creeks. 
 
 Should i hese elevated gravel deposits on further exploration be found 
 to contain throughout their thickness sufficient gold to warrant working 
 by the hydraulic process, water can be conveyed from the streams in the 
 Hills to them in many places under a considerable head, as they are 
 elevated only about 3800 ft. above the sea, whiie the streams, 1 5 miles 
 in the interior, are flowing through valleys at an elevation of 5000 ft. 
 On Rapid Creek a large volume of water, at least 2000 " miners' inches," 
 under a head of 75 ft. to the mile, can be made available for working 
 these high bars above the valley, at a moderate expenditure of capital 
 and labour required to construct the flumes. Only two streams. Rapid 
 and Minnekata, having gravel deposits of this character in their valleys, 
 form a continuous stream of water to the Cheyenne ; the rest all sink in 
 their beds among the foot-hills, several miles from the plains. Among 
 some of these dry ravines, cutting through the gravel deposits, miners in 
 the future may make good wages by washing the earth from the bottoms 
 of the gulches in rockers during the early spring months, when there is a 
 sufficient supply of water in the vicinity. 
 
 Georgin. — In 1799, large lumps of gold were found in Georgia, one 
 weighing 28 lb. ; this incited exploration, and in the early part of thte 
 present century, the rush to the mines resembled that to California in 
 1849. Between 1838 and 1856, the gross product of gold, so far as 
 indicated by the Mint Returns, was $5,685,864 (1,184,555/.). W. P. 
 Blake, writing in 1858, makes the total to the end of 1855 as $6,488,932 
 (1,351,860/.), and states the fineness at 928 on the average of assays made 
 over a period of 20 years. 
 
 This author affirms that gold is almost uniformly distributed in the 
 soil and drift on the hills and hillsides, and in the valleys and dry ravines 
 of Lumpkin county, and adds that water from the Chestatee River 
 may be had in abundance, and at an elevation sufficient for hydraulicing 
 all the deposit. He is further " much impressed with the close similarity 
 of the gold-deposits to those of portions of California. The great 
 dififeience between the two regions appears to be in the scale upon which 
 they are developed." " The hills are formed of gneiss and mica-slate on 
 edge, traversed with auriferous quartz veins, and covered with beds of 
 drift as in California. Gold occurs not only along the streams in gravel, 
 but is found high on the hills under accumulations of river-drift, gravel, 
 and clay. River gravel and gold are found here at 200 to 300 ft. above 
 the streams. Many of these deposits on the hills give evidence of great 
 richness," but have been neglected owing to their distance from water. 
 
 According to the official report of the State Geologist, Dr. George 
 
AMERICA, N. : GEORGIA, IDAHO. 
 
 '7' 
 
 ^ 
 
 i 
 
 Little, the gold-belt of Georgia is about ICX) miles in breadth, with 
 barren intervals here and there. It lies north-east and south-west across 
 the entire northern and part of the eastern section of the State. It 
 extends through a large number of counties. But few mines have been 
 developed in Columbia and Lincoln counties, but they are claimed to be 
 among the richest in the State. A vein near Goshen, in the latter 
 county, is said to be yielding at the present time $iooo (200/.) per 
 month, at a cost of but $115 (23/.). While many very rich and profitable 
 mines have been opened in the lower portion of the belt, the greater 
 proportion of the mining has been done in the northern or mountainous 
 section, especially in the counties of Lumpkin, White, Union, Dawson, 
 and Cherokee. 
 
 "The gold occurs under three distinct conditions : — (i) as sand (dust) 
 or pebble (nuggets), forming integral portions of the deposits of sand 
 and gravel along the streams, which sometimes extend as high as icx) ft. 
 or more above the stream levels ; (2) as grains, strings or masses, forming 
 integral portions of extensive bods of schists, which ' are sometimes 
 accompanied by layers of quartz of greater or less thickness, and are 
 sometimes destitute of the least particle of quartz ; (3) as a part of the 
 whole of the mineral contents of quartz veins. 
 
 " The quartz veins vary in thickness from a few inches to 10 ft. or 
 more, and have seldom been worked below the water level, from want of 
 capital to purchase the necessary machinery. The ore, when obtained 
 from the veins, is pounded in mills run by water-power, and generally 
 varies from $5 to $50 (i/. to 10/.) per ton, the cost of handling being about 
 Soc. {2s. \d.) per ton. There are, however, many instances where the 
 yield has been as high as $60 and even $100 (12/. to 20/.) per ton." 
 
 According to P. H. Mell, there are three points of special interest where 
 gold has been obtained in large quantities, mostly by rude and primitive 
 appliances, viz. Dahlonega, AUatoona Hills, and Burnt Hickory. From 
 these localities and intermediate points, during the fiscal year 1875-6, 
 there was produced $7,379,000 (1,537,292/.) 
 
 Idaho. — Gold is found in Idaho in both placers and veins. The 
 former have been worked at a good profit in nearly every county, and during 
 1880 many new and rich deposits were opened up in the Wood River 
 district, .Salmon River Mountains. The chief veins now being exploited 
 are in the Salmon River and Owyhee Mountains. On the Snake River 
 placers, in 1864, gold-dust to the value of $2,500,000 (500,000/.) was 
 collected and sent through regular transporting agencies, and it is 
 estimated that nearly as much more was forwarded by other means. 
 The apparatus first employed was a rocker provided with an amalgamated 
 copper plate, which afterwards gave place to improved appliances, de- 
 scribed in another chapter. The gold is exceedingly fine, and occurs 
 
 i 
 
172 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 with a heavy black sand. Most of the mines are of argentiferous galena 
 containing some gold, and the bulk of the ore is sent to Salt Lake City 
 for treatment. The Wood River district was reported to have produced 
 over $1,000,000 (200,000/.) worth of bullion in 1 881, but there is nothing 
 to show what proportion is gold. 
 
 Maine. — Important discoveries of gold-deposits have been made in 
 Maine lately (Scien. Amer., xlii. 122). The shaft of the Fort Knox mine, 
 at Prospect, opposite Bucksport, on the Penobscot River, is now (1880) 
 down 62 ft, and the ore from the bottom contains both gold and silver. 
 Mineral from the Deer Isle mine, on Deer Island, Penobscot Bay, gave 
 $30 (6/.) worth of gold per ton, besides other metals. The Owl'."? Head 
 mine, 7 miles below Rockland, at the mouth of Penobscot Bay, is showing 
 specimens of quartz very rich in gold. 
 
 Missouri. — According to G. C. Broadhead, gold has been found in 
 Missouri, in Chariton, Linn, Adair, Putnam, Sullivan, and Mercer counties. 
 It is in very small grains, the largest particles, from Adair county, being 
 no larger than a grain of wheat. 
 
 Montana. — Raymond (1876) remarks that the yield of the placer- 
 diggings has steadily decreased for some years, mainly owing to want of 
 combination among the miners in bringing water and building flumes. Still 
 the total placer-gold obtained in 1875 was valued at $2,400,000 (480,000/.) 
 contributed as follows: — Deer Lodge county, $900,000 (180,000/) Old 
 Alder, and other gulches in Madison county, $450,000 (900,000/) Bannack 
 and vicinity, $300,000(60,000/); Cedar Creek and Quartz Creek, Missoula 
 county, $100,000 (20,000/) ; Confederate Gulch, and the gulches and bars 
 in Meagher, $300,000 (60,000/) ; Gallatin county, $50,000 (10,000/) ; 
 Jefferson, $150,000 (30,000/) ; Lewis and Clarke, $350,000 (70,000/). 
 
 The gold-product during 1876 was $3,925,000 (817,710/). According 
 to Clark, Centennial Historian for the Territory, the yield has been : — 
 
 Year. % 
 
 1862 600,000 
 
 1863 8,000,000 
 
 1864 16,000,000 
 
 1865 18,000,000 
 
 1866 17,000,000 
 
 1867 '6,000,000 
 
 1868 15,000,000 
 
 Year. 9 
 
 1869 11,000,000 
 
 1870 9,000,000 
 
 1871 8,000,000 
 
 1872 7,000,000 
 
 1873 5,200,000 
 
 1874 4,100,000 
 
 1875 4,100,000 
 
 Most of this was gold-dust ranging above 900 in fineness. The enormous 
 production of the years 1 864-8 was due to the rich placer-diggings found 
 in the gulches of the Missouri head tributaries. 
 
 Bcver Head county. — From the first settlement of Bannack, in 1862, 
 till 1875, not less than $3,000,000 (600,000/) worth of precious metals 
 (including silver) have been taken out, mainly from the placer-diggings. 
 
AMERICA, N. : MAINE, MISSOURI, MONTANA, NEVADA. 
 
 173 
 
 The first veins of auriferous quartz discovered in the territory are also in 
 this district. In the Blue Wing district, the gold mostly occurs in argenti- 
 ferous galena. 
 
 Deer Lodge county. — The hill-side placer-diggings below the Atlantic 
 Cable mine have given large returns, but are now probably exhausted. 
 The Atlantic Cable mine, says Raymond, " lies in a zone or dyke of 
 crystalline limestone, which is enclosed by granite." The dyke runs 
 N.E. and S.W., and dips N.W. at the surface. The ore-vein is 
 irregular in dip, strike, and width, but everywhere too wide for convenient 
 timbering. The ore is soft, highly iron-stained, porous quartz, which 
 frequently contains decomposed ores of copper ; the average value is 
 stated at $22 38c. (4/. 13J. ^d.) per ton. The North Pacific lode is sup- 
 posed to be an extension of the Atlantic Cable, and resembles it in every 
 respect ; the occurrence of " white limestone fragments in the vein-matter, 
 and the environment of the richest by spar, is a feature of both lodes." 
 
 The Pyrenees vein runs S.E. and N.W., between granite walls, with 
 a 6-in. seam of white clay separating the quartz from the wall-rock, the 
 latter being perfectly defined, and the vein varying in width from 1 8 in. 
 to 3^ ft. The rock is dark-brown quartz, showing particles of free gold. 
 The Whin-Doodle, Pittsburg, and Four Johns veins closely resemble the 
 Pyrenees in all principal features, the ore being valued at $40 to $50 (8/. to 
 10/.) a ton. The North Atlantic and Rosa Whitford veins, on the other 
 hand, are similar to the Atlantic Cable, and average Lbout $20 (4/.) a ton. 
 
 Nearly all the argentiferous galena veins of Montana yield more or 
 less gold, helping to swell the total product of that metal, without 
 claiming particular attention from a gold-mining point of view. 
 
 Nevada. — The gold production of Nevada for the fiscal year ending 
 June 30, 1880, according to Porter, was: — Storey county, $3,323,840 
 (692,427/.) ; Eureka, $1,167,383 (243,200/.) ; Humboldt, $78,994 (16,457/.) ; 
 Elko, $68,538 (14.279/0 ; Nye, $28,572 (5952/.) ; Lyon, $23,773 (49.S3/-) \ 
 White River, $18,396 (3832/.); Lincoln, $7861 (1637/.); Esmeralda, 
 $953 (199/-) ; Lander, $760 (158/.). 
 
 This state is especially remarkable for possessing the renowned 
 Comstock lode, and several gigantic mining enterprises (e.g. the Richmond, 
 Mineral Hills, &c.), in which a very large British capital is invested. 
 
 The Comstock lode has been described at tedious length by 
 numbei o of writers, but the summary of its formation has been succinctly 
 stated by Clarence King in the following paragraph : — 
 
 " The ancient Virginia Range, prior to the Tertiary period, was com- 
 posed of sedimentary beds of the Great Cordillera system, which, in the 
 late Jurassic epoch, had been folded up, forming one of the corrugations of 
 that immense mountain structure which covers the western front of the 
 American Continent. Accompanying this upheaval were outpourings of 
 
'74 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 granite and syenite. The erosion which followed this mountain period 
 escarped the ancient rocks, and modelled the eastern point of Mount 
 Davidson into a comparatively smooth surface, whose average angle of 
 slope sunk to the east at almost 40°. In the late Tertiary, at the time of 
 the volcanic era, the Virginia Range shared in the dynamical convulsions 
 which gave vent to excessive volcanic outflows of immense volume and 
 very remarkable character. The first, ard, so far as the Comstock lode is 
 concerned, the most important, was of propylite, or trachytic greenstone, 
 which deluged the range from summit to base, covering large portions of 
 its ancient surface, and leaving here and there isolated masses, which rose 
 like islands above the wide fields of volcanic rock. Subsequently 
 followed the period of the andesites, which, at their commencement, in 
 the form of a thin i itrusive dyke, penetrated a new-formed fissure on the 
 contact plane of the ancient syenite and propylite. This earlier andesite 
 period gave birth to the solfataras, which, bursting from a hundred vents, 
 rapidly decomposed the surrounding rocks, and gradually filled the fissures 
 of the Comstock with their remarkable charges of metal-bearing quartz. 
 The latest flows of andesite poured out over the decomposed propylite, and 
 since they are themselves unaltered, their appearance marks the period 
 when solfstaric action over wide areas had ceased. While it no longer 
 maintained its energy through the broad zone of propylite, it still continued 
 intensely active within the chambers of the Comstock lode. Metallic 
 contents were introduced into the quartz, the clay-seams were formed by 
 a rapid decomposition of the neighbouring propylite materials, the lodes 
 reduced to a spongy semiplastic condition, and at last the final solidifi- 
 cation of the quartz took place. Outside of the vein, two events of 
 geological interest have occurred : first, the period of trachyte eruptions, 
 when from the ruptures of the crust, parallel to the Comstock lode, vast 
 volumes of sanidin-trachyte overflowed the country ; and, secondly, the less 
 powerful but still important outpouring of basaltic rock, which marked the 
 close of the volcanic era. Within the vein, and probably caused by one or 
 both of these latter volcanic disturbances, a pressure has been exerted which 
 has crushed and ground the masses of quartz into minute fragments. It is 
 interesting to observe that, while this force was great enough to crush 
 quartz-masses 150 ft. in breadth into mere angular pebbles, the dis- 
 turbances were insufficien!- to cause any actual faulting of importance. 
 Both within and without the vein, solfataras gradually came to a close. 
 The heated currents of ,vater, which even yet ascend into the lower levels 
 of the mines, are evidi^nce that at no very great depth a considerable 
 temperature is still maintained ; but this is only a faint relic of a once 
 intense action." 
 
 Again, he remarks that " quartz forms the only gangue in the Com- 
 stock lode. Those small masses of carbonate of lime, which occur, inter- 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEVADA. 
 
 175 
 
 
 mingled with quartz, in the Gold Hill and Hale and Norcross lower 
 levels, are rather to be considered an included mineral of accidental 
 occurrence than as a true gangue. With the exception of small quan- 
 tities of silver minerals contained in the clay sheets, where they are 
 placed in contact with the be aanza, the whole silver-tenure of the lode is 
 contained in the bodies of quartz. The ore itself is composed of native 
 gold, native silver, silver-glance, stephanite, polybasite, rich galena, occa- 
 sional pyrargyrite, horn silver, and, with extreme rarity, sternbergite. 
 Intimately associated with these, occur iron- and copper-pyrites and zinc- 
 blende. Of these, pyrargyrite and horn silver are rarities ; polybasite 
 and sternbergite, in recognizable crystals, occupy a few scattered locali- 
 ties ; stephanite, in defined crystallizations, has been found in nearly 
 every bonanza ; but the main body of the ore is a confused semi-crystal- 
 lized ass jciation of native gold and silver, vitreous silver ore, rich galena, 
 copper- and iron-pyrites, and zinc-blende." The following two analyses 
 are of samples from the Savage and Kentuck lower workings of 1 869 : — 
 
 i 1 
 
 Analyses of Comstock Ores. 
 
 Silica 
 
 Protoxide of iron . . 
 
 Alumina 
 
 Protoxide of manganese 
 
 Magnesia 
 
 Lime 
 
 Sulphide of zinc . . 
 Sulphide of copper 
 Sulphide of lead . . 
 Sulphide of silver . . 
 
 Gold 
 
 Bisulphide of iron 
 Potassa and soda . . 
 Water 
 
 Savage. 
 
 83-95 
 I -95 
 
 I-2S 
 
 0*64 
 
 2-82 
 
 o-8s 
 I-7S 
 030 
 036 
 I -08 
 
 0"02 
 
 i-8o 
 
 1-28 
 
 2*33 
 
 Kentuck. 
 
 91-49 
 083 
 113 
 
 137 
 
 1*42 
 
 013 
 
 0*41 
 
 0'02 
 
 0"I2 
 
 0-0017 
 
 0'92 
 
 I -OS 
 
 059 
 
 100-38 
 
 W. G. Mixter. 
 
 99-48 
 
 A. Hague. 
 
 In a report dated Feb. 10, 1873, addressed by Clarence King to the 
 chairman of the Richmond mine, it is stated that the Eureka district, 
 and a wide extent of surrounding country, are made up of a series of 
 broad mountain folds, having an approximately north and south trend. 
 Carboniferous, Devonian, and Silurian strata, amounting to not less than 
 1 2,000 ft. in thickness, form the main part of this system ; with volcanic 
 rocks of the trachytic an^^ basaltic families, here and there breaking 
 through and overflowing tne sedimentary formations. Anticlinal crests 
 usually form the mountain chains, which average about 10,000 ft. above 
 sea-level, and are separated from each other by broad meridional valleys 
 
 liiiffl 
 
 i. 
 
176 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of 4000 and 5000 ft. altitude. Dislocation, faulting, intense metamor- 
 phism, and violent aqueous erosion, have combined to give an especially 
 rugged and precipitous topography to the region. Eureka district itself 
 lies at the point of junction of two converging ranges, the Diamond and 
 Pinon, belonging by its position more strictly to the former ; but geologi- 
 cally it would seem to be more intimately allied to the latter. 
 
 Ruby Hill, within which is the Richmond Mine, is a partly detached 
 fragment of the northern half of a local mountain fold, which has left 
 the prevalent north and south course, curving round nearly into an east 
 and west trend. It is therefore locally a geological exception as to its dip 
 and strike. To this wide departure of trend is probably due the extreme 
 metamorphism and dislocation which it has suffered. The basis of the 
 hill is a series of quartzite strata, conformably upon which lie a thick 
 group of limestone beds, belonging to the Silurian formation ; the main 
 strike is about N. 60° to 65° W., with a dip of about 30° N.E. Extreme 
 outbursts of recent volcanic material at the west base of the hill, and again 
 near Eureka Town, probably fix the age of the mineralization of Ruby 
 Hill ore-bodies within the Miocene period, a time (throughout this 
 region) fertile in deposits of large wealth, such as of the famed Comstock. 
 Thus early in their development, it is somewhat difficult to classify 
 these ore-bodies ; but it is quite within the limit of safety to say, that all 
 the Ruby Hill mines are on one large "bed-v.In," which has '-'^en 
 crushed, moved, and shattered to such an extent as to interrupt the ore 
 sheet, if indeed it were ever quite continuous. 
 
 The country limestone is more or less shaly and siliceous near the 
 quartzite, but, in passing upward, compacts into thick heavy masses, 
 whose original bedding is almost utterly lost, resulting in a massive 
 capping, shattered by irregular jointed planes, and everywhere seamed 
 and impregnated with veins and bunches of calc-spar. The ore-bodies 
 occupy the shattered shaly limestone zone, bounded by the quartzite 
 below, and the more massive limestone above. As must inevitably be 
 the case with all similar deposits, the waUs of this bed-vein are more or 
 less irregular and undulating : the included ore-mass pinching or widen- 
 ing in accord with the accidents of pressure and metamorphism ; hence 
 the remarkable changes in dip and thickness which characterize it. 
 
 The foot-wall, wherever developed, is quite defined, more or less 
 marked and streaked, with occasional clay selvages, which are never im- 
 portant or continuous. The hanging-wall is still less perfectly defined, — 
 it is characterized by a broken surface, and by a zone of broken lime- 
 stone blocks detached from the hanging country, and lying within the 
 vein-material, surrounded by bunches of ore and masses of oxidized ferru- 
 ginous gangue. Between these walls, for an average thickness of 60 ft., 
 lies the mass of ore, for the most part fairly uniform in appearance and 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEW IIA IPSIHRE, NEW MEXICO. 
 
 177 
 
 composition. Galena, somewhat shattered and decomposed, is con- 
 spicuous in the region of the foot-wall ; lead carbonates are freely 
 mingled through the middle, while highly oxidized ferruginous ore, 
 carrying a higher tenure of gold, predominates near the hanging-wall. 
 
 In the half year ending Feb. 28, 1875, this mine turned out 18,000 
 tons of mineral, the yield from which was : gold, 62,000/. ; silver, 
 109,000/.; lead, 51,000/. The weights of the metals respectively were : 
 gold, 1200 lb. ; silver, 35,000 lb. ; lead, 3000 tons. 
 
 A report on the mine by J. D. Hague, dated Nov. 8, 1877, 
 states that it " is found in a belt of limestone, which forms the principal 
 mass of Ruby Hill, a low outlying spur of Prospect Mountain. This 
 limestone rests upon an underlying formation of quartzite on the south, 
 and is overlaid, at least for a portion of the length of ground explored, 
 by a belt of shale on the north. The general trend of this formation is 
 easterly and westerly ; and the beds are inclined to the northward, at a 
 variable angle to the horizon, sometimes very steep, and often, especially 
 the quartzite, less than 45°. The thickness of the limestone belt, between 
 the quartzite and the shale, also varies very much, being 1 200 ft. or more 
 on the surface, and about 225 to 300 ft. in the deeper levels of the 
 Richmond mine, or its neighbour on the south-east, the Eureka." 
 
 The mixed nature of the ores of all this region requires them to be 
 submitted to metallurgical processes, a multiplicity of which have been 
 introduced at different times and with varying results, and will be fully 
 described in another chapter. 
 
 New Hampshire. — Gold is found (Amer. Jl. Min., vi. 169), in the 
 galena of Gardner's Mountain, Lyman township, Grafton county, and in 
 the Lyman Hills. At a gold-mine (Scien. Amer., xxxi. 378) about \\ 
 miles east of Mount Monadnock, several assays of the quartz are said 
 to have averaged $100 (20/) a ton, the ledge in which the gald is found 
 covering 32 acres. 
 
 New Mexico. — Some years since, great excitement was occasioned by 
 the finding of gold in the Jacarilla [Jicarilla] Mountains. The diggings 
 are shallow placers, the top ground of which has yielded 10 to 25c. {^d. 
 to 1 2\d^ to the pan. They are extensive and deep, but the complete 
 absence of water prevents any other than the " dry " method of washing 
 being used. In 1878 (Proc. R. Geog. Soc, xxii. 275), the diggings were 
 comparatively deserted. 
 
 According to O. St. John, on the upper course of the Mareno, in the 
 vicinity of Elizabeth Town, is situated one of the famous mining centres 
 of the territory. The auriferous lodes intersecting Great Baldy have 
 distributed their wealth in the beds of the gulches furrowing its sides. In 
 the lower course of Grouse Gulch, an extensive placer claim is (1876) 
 being worked by the hydraulic method. The deposit rests upon a layer 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of partially-indurated, tenacious, red clay, of considerable depth, being 
 the superficially decomposed bed-rock, a coarse-textured light granite. 
 
 In 1861, W. P. Blake, of Dahlonega, Georgia, published some obser- 
 vations of his tour of exploration made in 1857 in the mountains of the 
 northern part of New Mexico, near Santa F^ from which the following 
 remarks are taken. This gold-field has been known and worked since 
 1828. It is confined to the Placer [Gold] Mountains, about 20 miles 
 from Santa F^, towards Albuquerque, and although worked continuously 
 since its discovery, its limits have not been extended by exploration 
 far from the place where the gold was first found. The yield of gold 
 has been chiefly from the placers or washings, and not from veins, and 
 was estimated by Wislizenus, in 1847, to vary from $30,000 to $250,000 
 (6000/. to 50,000/.) a year; but it soon after greatly diminished, until 
 counted by hundreds rather than thousands. Blake found these placers 
 to be on the slopes of subordinate or outlying ridges of the eastern 
 ranges of the Rocky Mountain chain, and to be true hill-deposits 
 affording coarse gold, like that from the high placers of California. The 
 "pay-gravel " lies deep below the surface (20 to 60 and even 100 ft.), and 
 is generally very rich. Owing to the almost total absence of water, 
 mining and washing have been but imperfectly conducted, and a large 
 amount of gravel remains untouched. The Mexicans sink circular 
 shafts, like wells, through the soil and alluvions to the gravel ; tunnel 
 upon the bed-rock ; take the good gravel to the surface in sacks ; cart it 
 2 miles to water ; and then pan out the gold in wooden bowls or bateas. 
 In the winter, water is sometimes obtained by melting snow with heated 
 stones. There are two principal placers, the " old " and the " new ; " at 
 the former there is a small stream or rivulet for a part of the year. 
 
 These placers are about 5 miles apart, but there has been very little 
 prospecting to determine their real extent New Placer is known to be 
 about 10 miles long, for the workings or pits have extended over that 
 distance. The gold appears to have washed out of two caiions in the 
 mountain, which are near together, and seem to drain but a very small 
 part of the surface. Veins or beds containing gold crop out higher up in 
 the ravines of the mountains. It is remarkable that in one place, at least, 
 gold occurs in strata of quartzose sandstone, probably of Carboniferous 
 age, and in great ferruginous beds, rather than in veins. The sandstone 
 appears to have been charged with auriferous pyrites, by the decomposi- 
 tion of which the gold has been liberated. At other points, regular 
 quartz veins bearing gold-pyrites are found, and some of them have 
 been worked at different times for over 20 years. The Ortiz mine has 
 been worked to a depth of 135 ft, and levels driven for nearly 200 yd. 
 on the course of the vein, which is represented to be about 6 ft thick. 
 The Biggs' mine, which adjoins it, has been worked to nearly the same 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEW MEXICO. 
 
 179 
 
 depth. In the mountains known as Los Ccrillos, about 8 miles from New 
 Placer, there is a deserted mine, known amonj^ the old Mexicans as 
 La Mina del Oro, the true character of which could not be well 
 determined. It certainly is very ancient, and there is no record or 
 tradition concerning it, except that the work was done before the Insur- 
 rection, which took place in 1680. The principal shaft is over 200 ft. 
 deep, and is cut vertically, with great precision, through solid rock. The 
 sides are very smooth, and it is evidently the work of experienced 
 miners. A stone, allowed to drop vertically, does not reach the bottom 
 for several seconds, and then gives a dull sound as if striking earth, 
 showing that there is no water in the mine even at that depth. There arc 
 two other shafts, and they all communicate by galleries in miners' style. 
 In 1834, there was an attempt made to clean out the mine and work it, 
 by a party of Mexican residents of Santa Fe, but without any success, 
 there being no water nor machinery for raising and reducing the ore. 
 
 At the placers, large lumps, pepites, or nuggets of goH have been 
 frequently found ; the largest of which Blake could get reliable informa- 
 tion was worth about $2000 (400/.), another was valued at $1800 (360/.) 
 and there have been many worth from $50 to $80 (10 to 16/.). At Old 
 Placer, none larger than about 80 dwt. had been found. The gold from 
 New Placer is remarkably black and ill-looking on the surface, but is 
 very fine, being worth $20 (4/. 3^. 4^.) an oz. Only $16 (3/. 6s. 8(f.) an 
 oz. is paid for it to the Mexicans at the mines by the traders. When 
 these miners are employed by the day they receive 60 to 75c. (2s. 6d. to 
 3 J. i\d.) a day. 
 
 The Gold Mountains and Placers are about 300 miles south of Pike's 
 Peak, and there is little reason to doubt that gold will be found at intervals, 
 if not in an almost continuous belt, over this entire distance. The New 
 Mexican gold-field is probably much more extensive than is generally 
 supposed, and when it is thoroughly prospected, many more rich placers 
 will doubtless be found. The geological indications in the mountains 
 north of Santa Fe, judging from specimens brought to Blake, arc 
 favourable to the presence of gold, and are more like the auriferous rocks 
 of other gold-regions than the formations at the Placer Mountains. 
 
 The observation of the occurrence of gold in beds of sandstone is not 
 only interesting to science, but of considerable practical importance. 
 The erosion, or breaking down of such a bed would supply gold to a 
 stream or deposit without its being accompanied at the same time by 
 the usual beds of quartzose gravel, the soft friable sandstone being 
 completely broken up into sand by attrition. Thus, rich deposits may 
 exist on the hill sides without any indication of their presence by beds of 
 rolled gravel or broken fragments of veins on the surface. Green 
 Russell, an experienced placer-miner and mountaineer, who made 
 
 N 2 
 
n^^^tarmr^i^ftjm^f^ffw 
 
 180 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 an extended tour through the new gold-region of Western Kansas in 
 1856, informed Blake that he had observed such conditions, having found 
 rich deposits of gold without much gravel and scarcely any quartz. This 
 authority also states that gold occurs in considerable quantities upon the 
 Arkansas River, in extremely thin scales, as low down as the crossing 
 of the old Santa Fe road, near old Fort Atkinson. This is far out upon 
 the broad plains, and below any coarse alluvions. The quantity of gold 
 increases as the river is ascended, and the best prospects were obtained 
 at the Pueblo above Bent's Fort. The Arkansas, near this point, has 
 several forks or branches heading in the mountains to the southward, in 
 the vicinity of the Spanish Peaks ; and there is much reason to believe 
 that gold will be found there. A connecting link between the New 
 Mexican gold-field and that of Pike's Peak would thus be formed. A 
 sample of the Arkansas River gold, brought in by Russell, yielded 
 971 by assay at the Dahlonega Branch Mint, being worth about $20 
 (4/. 3^. 4//.) an oz., or nearly the same as the New Mexican gold. It 
 would thus appear that the Rocky Mountain gold is of superior quality, 
 the average of the Californian gold being from 875 to 885, and the 
 Australian 960 to 966. 
 
 New York. — Four well-defined gold-fields are stated to exist in New 
 York state : — (i) Commences somewhere about Plattsburg, and runs 
 south into Hamilton, Fulton, and Saratoga counties, then dividing into 
 two branches, west into Herkimer and east into Washington county ; 
 (2) in Dutchess county ; (3) in Westchester and Rockland counties ; (4) 
 in Erie and Alleghany counties. Near Clinton, an auriferous vein of 
 quartz (Ann. Rep. Amer. Inst. City N. Y., xxv. 827), varying in width 
 from 6 to 12 in. has been traced to a distance of 3000 ft. on the 
 surface; samples have been found to contain $15 45c. (3/. 4s. 4^d) 
 worth of gold per ton. 
 
 Reports on the auriferous quartz veins of Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, 
 have recently (1869) been published (Amer. Jl. Sci. and Arts, xlvii. 139) 
 by Prof. J. G. Pohle and Prof. John Torrey. According to the former, 
 there are 4 veins dividing the talco-argillaceous schist in the direction of 
 the cleavage. The quartz is cellular and brown with oxide of iron, 
 arising from the decomposition of pyrites ; but below it is more compact, 
 and the pyrites is unaltered. Analysis of the rock afforded Prof. Pohle 
 963 to 975 thousandths of gold, the rest almost solely silver. Prof. Pohle 
 adds that the geological formations on this property are of the Lower 
 Palaeozoic age ; the Potsdam periods of it arc well represented by the 
 metamorphic slates and the calciferous sandstone, but no fossils have thus 
 far been found. The slates (argillaceous mainly) form a characteristic 
 feature of the whole Appalachian range, and the presence of gold here 
 supplies the link heretofore wanting in the chain of the Appalachian gold- 
 
AMERICA, N. : NEW YORK, OHIO, OREGON, 1'ENN'a, UTAH. l8l 
 
 fields ; " for there can be no doubt that this is a part of the grand belt 
 taking its rise on the St. Lawrence river, and scattering its auriferous 
 treasure for 1300 miles a'ong the south-eastern border of North 
 America, terminating in Alabama." 
 
 Dr. Torrey assayed a quantity of the quartz procured by him at the 
 mine, it being " a fair average of the lode," and amounting to several 
 hundred pounds, and states as his results, that of 3 assays, the average 
 yield of gold per ton of ore (2000 lb.) was $118 49c. (24/. 13.?. 8^^/.). In 
 no case was the proportion of gold less than $100 (20/. i6s. 8d) per ton. 
 
 0/tio. — Professor Andrews observes (Geol. Survey, p. 133) that gold 
 has been taken from the drift at several points in Licking county, and 
 that in the .summer of 1868, gold-dust was gathered to the value of $17 
 (3/. \os. \od.). 
 
 Oregon. — The gold-fields of Oregon are said to have produced 
 $1,050,000 (218,750/.) worth of gold in 1879. Condon observes that the 
 auriferous regions of Oregon centre in its mountain chains, viz. the Coast 
 and Cascade Ranges, and the Blue, Siskiyou, Umpqua, Calapooya, Snow, 
 and Puebla Mountains. The gold of the Coast Range and of its cross- 
 spurs the Siskiyou, Umpqua, and Calapooya Mountains, has only been 
 found in paying quantities on the sands of the sea-beach, forming a 
 continuation of the deposit already described under California (sec 
 pp. 1 5 1-3). All the streams that fall from the western slopes of the 
 Cascade Range contain more or less gold in their bars. The ClacVamas, 
 the Molalla, the Santiam, the Calapooya, and the forks of the Willamette, 
 have all been found to contain gold, but only that of the Santiam has 
 been worked. The gold of the Blue Mountains occurs in quartz veins 
 traversing an isolated mass of slate some 60 to 70 miles cast of the 
 Des Chutes River. It was worked for a time, but without paying results. 
 The Snow and Puebla Mountains, extending from Nevada into the 
 south-eastern corner of Oregon, are to some extent gold-bearing. 
 
 Pennsylvania. — It has been stated (Scien. Amer., n.s. v. 247) by 
 Eckfeldt, who was principal assayer at the Philadelphia Mint in i86r, 
 that underneath the paved city of Philadelphia, there lies a deposit of 
 clay, whose area probably measures over 3 miles square, and is believed 
 to average not less than 1 5 ft. in depth, samples from which, extracted 
 from a central position at a depth of 14 ft, yielded i milligramme of 
 gold from 1 30 grammes of the deposit. As the clay loses 1 5 per cent, of 
 its weight on drying, it contains in situ i part gold in 1,224,000 ; i cub. ft. 
 weighs nearly 120 lb. ; and as the assay gives j^ gr. or 3c. {\\d^ worth 
 of gold per cub. ft, the 4,180,000,000 cub. ft of clay contain $126,000,000 
 (26,250,000/.) worth of gold, assuming it to be uniformly rich ! 
 
 Utah. — Bingham Canon, in this territory, has been the field of placer- 
 mining on a small scale ; and considerable amounts of the precious metal 
 
l82 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIHUTION. 
 
 1^ 
 
 were obtained in times gone by from its glittering sands. The supply 
 was, however, uncertain, and rarely very rich ; and the diggings were 
 gradually abandoned to a colony of Italians. But the working of 
 auriferous quartz is now attr.icting attention. The gold occurs in a 
 porous, and generally very soft and decomposed iron-stained quartz 
 rock, which is still, in the lower workings, impregnated with iron-pyrites. 
 The gold was undoubtedly originally contained chiefly in pyrites, and 
 the oxidation of these h.is left the rock porous and honeycombed, and 
 the gold " fiee." The decomposition has gone to a considerable depth, 
 the veins cutting across ridges rising nearly lOO ft. above drainage ; the 
 pyrites are not wholly decomposed down to this water-level, but, where 
 protected by clay selvages, they are found in parts of the vein, especially 
 along the foot-wall, only a few hundred feet below the surface. The 
 veins are of immense size, 30, 50, and Co ft. being worked in some places ; 
 and there appear to be several beds of this gold-bearing pyritic quartz, 
 separated by beds of barren quartzite. The hanging-wall of at least 
 one vein is porphyry, though the whole question as to the number of 
 beds and their relations to the quartzite and porphyry is still undeter- 
 mined. The course of the gold-bearing beds is north-east and south- 
 west, and their dip north-west, whici.. iforming to that of the quartzite, 
 is at 40" to 60°. The ores are said assay $15 to $16 (3/. 2S. 6d. to 
 3/. 6s. 8(/.) to the ton, taken from the decomposed portions of the veins. 
 
 Vi>'gi>iia. — The following paper was prepared in response to a letter 
 from the author to the Governor of Virginia, requesting information 
 about gold-mines and gold-mining in Virginia : — 
 
 "THE GOLD BELT OF VIRGINIA. 
 
 " By Thomas Pollard, Commissioner of Agriculture of Virginia. 
 
 " The Great Gold Belt of Virginia extends from Fairfax county, on the north, to 
 Halifax county on the south, a distance of about 200 miles in length by 15 to 25 miles 
 in width, embracing an area of at least 4000 miles. [A large number of mines have 
 been opened along this belt, particularly in Fauquier, Culpcper, Spotsylvania, Orange, 
 Fluvanna, and Buckingham counties.] More recently alluvial gold has been discovered 
 in Montgomery and Floyd counties, on the lands bordering on Brush Creek. The 
 proportion of gold there is 20 to 7Sc. (jo to 37!^'.) per bushel of earth. The largest 
 particles yet found are worth about See. {2s. id.). Gold is found everywhere for miles 
 up and down Brush Creek and its tributaries. Later information, says the Mont- 
 gomoy Messenger, is that several pieces have been found worth $1 25c. (jJ. 2\d.), 
 The Gold Belt of Virginia is composed of a series of granitic, syenitic, steatitic, 
 chloritic, and other rocks peculiar to this section, striking north-east and south-west 
 with the belt, and dipping at high angles, or standing nearly vertical. Stratified with 
 these are numerous veins of gold-bearins: quartz, seams of magnetic, specular, hema- 
 tite, and other ores of iron, trap dykes, occ. The gold found in these materials varies 
 in value from |i 30c. to |tooo {e,s. $t/. to 200/.) to the ton. An average 100 tons 
 from the surface downwards is estimated as worth $932 32c. (194/. 5j.). (Report of 
 
AMKRICA, N. : VIRGINIA. 
 
 '83 
 
 Richmond Chamber of Commerce). Assays of samples from the Franklin miire in 
 Fauquier county, made by R. D. Irvinjj, of New York, in 1870, gave for 200 lb. of 
 materials from the veins, an average value of $46 40c. (9/. 1 3.r. 4^/.) of gold, and 
 $1 48c. (5J. 2tL) of silver; in another $72 55c. (1;/. 2J. 3J</.) of gold, and 41c. 
 (ij. 8Jr/.) of silver ; while another gave net $2 32c. ((>f. 8</.) of gold. The mean assays 
 of ten samples was $24 44c. (5/. i.f. lOf/.) to the ton of 2000 lb. [Large numbers of 
 mines have been opened along the belt, notably in Fauquier, Culpcper, Spotsylvania, 
 Orange, Fluvanna, and Buckingham counties ;] and from these, and gatherings from 
 the surf;icc and soils, $1,662,627 (346,380/.) worth of gold had reached the Philadelphia 
 mint up to June 30, 1871. ' If the same skill and capital were employed here as in 
 California, these mines, in the opinion of practical miners, would yield as well as those 
 of that noted gold-producing state. Silver is associated with some of the gold-bearing 
 rocks above enumerated, especially the chloritic slate. Copper pyrites are abundant 
 in all the gold belt. Carbonate of copper is also found.' (Hotchkiss' ' Summary of 
 Virginia.') 
 
 " The gold interest of Virginia has suffered much from speculation. A party 
 secures specimens, hurries to Northern cities, gets up a company of speculators, who 
 develop the mine enough to sell to another company of speculators, and so the business 
 has been conducted. In California and other new countries, men who go there to 
 mine have to depend on their daily work for support, and are forced to work systema- 
 tically and industriously, or fail in supplying themselves in food and clothing. If this 
 had been the case in Virginia, instead of buying and selling mines on speculation, the 
 gold interest would have been in a very different condition. In Virginia the deepest 
 mining for gold has been not over 1 50 ft., while in California shafts have been opened 
 1000 to 1400 ft. Dr. Gray's letter following this communication proves conclusively 
 that we have gold-mines in Virginia which will pay liberally if properly worked 
 and managed. The many speculating schemes which have been inaugurated and 
 failed, have made people adverse to believing in the gold belt of Virginia ; but now 
 that the gold yield of California is falling off, and capital there invested is not yielding 
 so satisfactorily, capitalists are turning their attention to Virginia, and a fresh impetus 
 has been given to this industry in our State. Professor Silliman, an eminent American 
 geologist, and Professor William B. Rogers, then of the University of Virginia (and 
 who made a geological survey of Virginia between 1843 and 1848), in 1836 made a 
 personal inspection of the gold mines in Virginia, and each published statements of 
 the true character of the veins, of which they formed a very favourable estimate, the 
 average assay of those they examined reaching $165 (34/. js. 6if.) to the ton. Since 
 then, Professor M. H. Stowe, now of Washington city, formerly located on the Franklin 
 mine in Fauquier, Va., a practical mining engineer, has made a careful study of the 
 Eastern gold belt, being previously well acquainted with the Western, and has given 
 the results of his observations in the Mining Record of New York. Professor Stowe 
 writes to the Record ' that Dr. Endlich, of the Smithsonian Institute, had made an 
 examination of the geological formation of the veins in Virginia, and pronounced it to 
 be the same as that of California, on which the best paying mines occur,' and Professor 
 Stowe further states ' that Dr. Endlich confirmed him in the views he had long enter- 
 tained that the veins were true fissures.' (' Gold Interests of Virginia and the South ' ; 
 John Tyler in the Southern Review, January 1879). V/e quote further from Mr. 
 Tyler's arHcle : ' Captain Riley, an experienced mining engineer from the Pacific 
 Coast, who made an examination about the same time, and from whom Professor 
 Stowe quotes, says of one of the mines in Fauquier county, Va., that with the 
 advantage of location, facilities for economical working, vast extent, and richness of 
 lode, this property has great intrinsic merit, and deserves to be classed among the 
 foremost gold-mines of this or any other continent.' It is important to notice the opinion 
 of Professor Stowe, concurred in by Dr. Endlich, that we have true ' tissure veins,' 
 
i84 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I i 
 
 i i 
 
 instead of sedimentary or deposit veins. This gives greater value, as it promises an 
 almost inexhaustible supply ; for in ' fissure veins ' the ore increases in richness as you 
 descend, and although the free gold diminishes, yet the sulphurets increase, and the 
 latter can be so successfully worked with the present improved methods, that the 
 additional metallic value far exceeds the additional cost of producing. This has been 
 proven in North Carolina, where they have mined to a depth of 600 or 700 ft. No- 
 where else in the East has deep mining been tried. The deepest in Virginia for gold 
 is from 120 to 150 ft. Mr. Tyler, after saying that ] ractical mining engineers who have 
 made an examination of the Eastern gold belt state that the true method for continuous 
 and large yields was deep mining, expresses the opinion that the want of this is a 
 prominent cause of failure. He says : ' It has been the case from Virginia through to 
 Georgia, with the one exception in North Carolina, that mining has been caniedon in 
 the majority of cases only to water level, and in only a few cases below 100 ft. • * * 
 Experience proves that the proper system is to go deeper.' 
 
 " Many gold-mines have been worked in Virginia from time to time. Want of 
 experience and of proper machinery, want of sufficient depth, speculative investments 
 with no expectation of working them, except enough to get up a company and sell out, 
 with a repetition of this by another company or individuals, have caused failures and 
 suspensions of many of the mines. Then the late civil war caused a suspension of all 
 mining, save iron, coal, saltpetre, and sulphur. Within the past three years the interest 
 has revived, and a considerable number of mines are being worked, particularly in 
 Buckingham, Fluvrmna, and Goochland. In some localities the yield has proven 
 quite large. 
 
 "In Goochland county we have the Bertha and Edith, Tabb, Belzora, Fisher, Gilmer, 
 Marks, Waller, Moss or Scisson, L'Aigle d'Or ; in Fluvanna county, the Tellurium, 
 Bowles, Perkins, Jennings, Fontaine, Snead, Hughes ; in Louisa county, Walnut 
 Grove, Slate Hill, Louisa, Profit, Luce, Walton, Morrison, Baker, Tinder Flat, Alley 
 Copper (the latter contains a considerable portion of silver and lead mixed with the 
 gold) ; in Buckingham county, the Moseley, Booker, Lightfoot, Allen, Hobson, Rough 
 and Ready, Duncan's, De Sear (or Appleton's); Buckingham, Greeley ; in Fauquier, 
 Franklin, Bancroft, Wykoff, Ellis, and perhaps others, and several in Spotsylvania, 
 names not known ; in Orange, Vaucluse and Melville. The Tellurium, located partly 
 in Fluvanna and partly in Goochland, has produced the most gold of any of those 
 enumerated. It was worked for many years by Commodore Stockton, and has pro- 
 duced since its first working about $i,coo,ooo (200,000/.), though it was never worked 
 below 120 ft., the depth of the free gold, the sulphurets, now known to be most 
 valuable, having been thus lost. It is this mine that Dr. Gray speaks of at length in 
 his interesting communication. 
 
 " Mr. Tyler quotes from Professor Stowe (from a letter written by him in 1873, just 
 after his return from California and Colorado), regarding his estimate of the value of 
 the Virginia mines. He says : ' I am now of the decided opinion that the ores of Vir- 
 ginia are the richest and easiest to work of any I have ever met. I have made over 
 200 assays of ore from the Atlantic Slope, and have visited in person many of the 
 localities where gold is found, and I speak from facts.' This is a strong opinion 
 coming from an expert mining engineer. Mr. Tyler says that his opinion concerning 
 the value of deep gold-mining is fully concurred in by Professor Stowe, and by Hon. A. 
 S. Hewitt, President of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, who says in his 
 Centennial address, ' the principal reliance of our gold-mining industries for the future 
 must be quartz, and hydraulic or deep gravel-mines. These may be expected to main- 
 tain for years to come their present rate of production, if not to increase it.' The same 
 gentleman, in his address, gives a strong reason in favour of our Eastern mines, which 
 are at our very doors, with cheap labour and materials close at hand. Mr. Tyler 
 quotes from Professor Stowe as to the value of the sulphurets— their value in the East 
 
AMERICA, N. : VIRGINIA. 
 
 185 
 
 as compared with their value in CaHfornia and Color? do. The former are far richer, 
 and can be easier worked. Professor Stowe says : ' The avet.^sre yield from sulphurets 
 in California is $91 (18/. igs. id) per ton ; from Colorado, |'28 (26/. 13^. 4^/.), and 
 from the Virginia mines, $166 (34/. r \s. 8(i.), which shows largely in favour of the East. 
 Besides, the cost, he says, of working sulphurets in California by the chlorination pro- 
 cess is $10 (2/. IS. Stf.) per ton, while in Virginia it ought not to exceed $3 50c. (14J. jd.) 
 per ton. This difference of more economical working in the East applies to all 
 branches of gold mining, for the average cost of mining and milling in California is 
 between $8 and $9 (33J. 4d. to 37J. 6d.) per ton, while in the East it is only a little over 
 $2 {8s. 4</.).' After speaking of the great value of the copper and iron pyrites in Vir- 
 ginia, he says : ' I do not know of any other section that offers such inducements to 
 capitalists as our gold mines here in Virginia. What has been done elscwher"- in 
 saving the precious metals, and utilizing concentrations, can be done here, and with 
 much less outlay of capital. What would cost here in the way of exploiting mines, 
 would cost from $2000 to $5000 (400/. to 1000/.) in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. No 
 investments in railroads, manufactures, or farming lands, will pay such large dividends 
 for the outlay as will the gold mines of Virginia, when handled with the proper skill 
 and energy.' 
 
 " Professor Stowe, in an article published 'n the Piedmont News (Culpeper, Va., 
 August 30, 1877), says : 'The Placer mines of Goochland county are now successfully 
 worked by the hydraulic process, which is ■:; extensively and profitably carried on in 
 California ; and there are several other counties in the State where the hydraulicing 
 could be made to pay well. Much may be expected by the proper employment of this 
 process in Virginia. It can be worked much more cheaply here than in the West. In 
 many places in California, the cost of water alone per year would be a snug fortune, 
 v/hile here it can be had for nothing. * * It has been asserted that hydraulicing 
 will pay a profit in this State if the soil yields 15 c. {7\d.) per ton, provided other con- 
 ditions are favourable. I know, in one place in particular, where the soil would yield 
 tliat much to the pan, and often more. I have seen as much as |4 (i6j. 8d.) washed 
 from one pan of dust and gravel. "^ here is plenty of water not far distant, but for want 
 of capital and br^i.is this valuable ; iacer mine is idle. Its past history would indicate 
 that there are several fortunes in it. The several years' experience I have had in Vir- 
 ginia teaches me the importance of, and the necessity for, a cheaper ore crusher than 
 we have at picsent. The apparatus should be portable, and not weigh over 200 lb. It 
 should require no expensive foundations, and be so constructed as to be run by horse 
 power, if desired, and crush to the requisite fineness 500 lb. quartz per hour. * • 
 We need also a cheap and effective process for saving the gold after the ore is 
 crushed. This process should be simple, and easily worked by any one of intelli- 
 gence. The gold mining interests of the " Old Dominion " have been seriously 
 affected by a great many costly and useless processes, which have done much more 
 liarm than good.' 
 
 " Professor Stowe, in another article in the same paper, describes some of the gold 
 mines in Culpeper, Orange and Fauquier counties (the Vaucluse, Melville, Old 
 Culpeper, Ellis, Bancroft, Kidwell, Waterman, Franklin and Wykoff), and gives the 
 cost of mining and milling at one of these mines at $2 20c. (9J. 2d.) per ton (the Ellis 
 mine) in Culpeper county, superintended for three years by himself, and then compares 
 it with the Taylor mine in California, where the cost, according to the report of the 
 United States Mining Commissioner for 1875, was for mining and milling $9 95c. 
 (2/. is. i,^d.) per ton ; and by the same roport, the average cost in 27 leading mines in 
 California, mining and milling was $3 26c. (i/. 14J. $d.) per ton. Describing one of 
 these mines, the Wykoff, in Fauquier, he says the geological features at the Wykoff 
 present the same general characteristics that prevail elsewhere on the line of the gold 
 I It. The country rock is talcose slate, and the strata arc nearly vertical. The 
 
 
m 
 
 1 86 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 frf!! 
 
 lis 
 
 decomposition of this rock forms the excellent soil referred to. * * After describing 
 the different veins, one of which is 20 ft. thick (the Mill House vein), he says : ' I have 
 made careful analyses of samples, taken by myself from these veins, with the follow- 
 ing results : Mill House vein yielded $41 28c. (8/. 12s.) per ton ; Tunnel vein, the ore 
 of same value ; from the Slate vein the clean sulphurets gave $89 i8c. (18/. lis. jd.) per 
 ton ; in another vein, known only by its outcrop, the clean sulphurets yielded $623 loc. 
 (129/. i6j. 3rt'.) per ton ; another vein, which contains copper pyrites, yielded of pure 
 gold $30 (6/. $s.) per ton.' 
 
 "We find in the Richmond Whig (August 22, 1876), and the Mining Record 
 September 5, 1878), articles from Professor Stowe on the values of the sulphurets of 
 Virginia. He says : ' Nearly all the gold-bearing veins of the State carry the gold in 
 sulphurets, or at least where they have been. In the lower level of our mines the 
 sulphurets will contain at least 80 per cent, of all the gold in the ore, and hence the 
 importance of the capitalist and miner knowing their value in practical mining operations. 
 I have made numerous tests of Virginia sulphurets, and have been taking great pains 
 to get them from every gold-bearing county in the State, in order that I might get at 
 the facts. I have access to the assays of others, so as not to allow myself to be 
 deceived. So far as I can learn, the assays of auriferous sulphurets in this State are 
 higher than the average of like ores in the Western mines. What I mean by " su^ 
 phuret" is pyrites of iron, copper, and galena, which are found on the line of the gold 
 belt. No antimony has been found in our gold mines, and some experts deny the 
 existence of arsenic. Only traces of zinc are found, and we have no refractory consti- 
 tuents in our sulphurets that are found in the West.' Professor Stowe gives the 
 analyses of the sulphurets of seven Virginia mines and of seven California mines, the 
 former based on his own experience, and the latter taken from the ' United States 
 Mining Commissioner's Report,' and says 'it will be seen from the above that the 
 average yield of go'i from the sulphurets of seven Virginia mines is greater by $75 
 (25/. I2J. 6rt?.) per ton than the average of a like number in California. These averages 
 are not from selected mines particularly, but from those whose yield of sulphurets 
 could be ascertained. There are many mines in the States above mentioned that 
 would furnish sulphurets giving a much higher, and some a much lower, yield than the 
 averages above given respectively ; but I do not believe the ratio would be much 
 changed. * * It is hard to tell with certainty what will be the metallurgical treat- 
 ment of sulphurets in this State. Chlorination is the leading process in California, and 
 will probably be introduced here before the close of the present year (1876). [It has 
 been introduced to some extent]. Several other processes for the treatment of gold 
 ores are to be introduced shortly, and among them there may be something as effective 
 as chlorination, and much easier, requiring less chemical manipulation. • * In 
 California the cost of working ores by the chlorination process is about $10 (2/. is. 8d.) 
 per ton. In Virginia it ought not to exceed $3 Sec. {14s. yd.) per ton.' Professor 
 Stowe speaks of assays made by him of the sulphurets of the Home Mine, Appomat- 
 tox county. He says : ' I have recently made several assays of the Home Mine, taken 
 from newly opened veins, with the following results : Shaft No. 3, per ton, $206 70c. 
 (43/. IS. 3^.) ; shaft No. 4, per ton, $261 68c. (54/. lOJ. ^d.) ; shaft No. 5, per ton 
 $219 lor. (45/. I2J. 8^/.) ; average, §229 i6c. (47/. 15^.).' 
 
 " Professor Stowe describes a mine in Fauquier county on the Mason tract, opened 
 in 1875, and called the Bancroft Mine. In 1876, when he vis'' d it, they were about 
 to put in operp.tion a Lightning Pulverizer, or quartz mill, anc iie Lightning Amal- 
 gamator. He describes the former, and says the inventors claim a capacity of 15 to 
 30 tons per day, depending on the character of the ore. Professor Stowe saw the 
 machine operated, and was much pleased with the result. The ore, he says, was 
 rapidly reduced to a very fine powder. 'In comparison with an ordinary lo-stamp 
 
AMERICA, N. : VIRGINIA. 
 
 187 
 
 mill this one is cheap, its cost being but $500 (100/,), and it requires from 6 to 8-horse 
 power only to run it.' He also describes the Amalgamator, and says, ' Should this 
 process prove a success at the Bancroft Mine, it will at once create a revolution in gold 
 mining in the South, as well as elsewhere. Low grade ores can be worked at a profit, 
 where with any other method they would not pay expenses.' This machinery is the 
 invention of Walker Brothers & Co., of Philadelphia. What has been the subsequent 
 success of the pulverizer and amalgamator, we are not advised. 
 
 "Gold was discovered in Virginia in 1831, and was confined for a considerable 
 period to surface mining, corresponding to the placer mining of California, and the 
 gulch mining of Colorado. It has been pursued with varying success. We have 
 pointed out some of the sources of want of success, and adduced facts sufficient, we 
 think, to demonstrate that Virginia is rich in gold, and that time and perseverance, 
 with improved methods and improved machinery^ will make gold mining here very 
 profitable, and eventuate in making this State one of the most productive gold regions 
 in the world." 
 
 The following is Dr. Gray's letter referred to above : — 
 
 " Richmond, Va., May 18, 1881. 
 " Dr. THOMAS POLLARD, Commissioner of Agriculture, Richmond, Va. : 
 
 "Dear Sir, — In reply to your inquiries in regard to gold mining in Virginia, in 
 the interest of Alfred G. Lock, F.R.G.S., I respectfully submit ; — 
 
 " 1st. I am not a practical gold miner, though acquainted with many facts pertinent 
 thereto, having been raised within z\ miles of the oldest gold-mine in the State. 
 
 " 2nd. Being more familiar with this mine than any other, I give fuller account 
 thereof, compiling my statements from written affidavits from owners and lessees 
 respectively, since the discovery of the mine. 
 
 " 3rd. The name of the mine alluded to is the Tellurium Gold Mine. 
 
 " 4th. It comprises 344 acres of land by late survey. A.bout 320 acres are situated 
 in the county of Fluvanna, and 24 acres in the county of Goochland. It is about 
 5 miles from the James river at Columbia, on the R. & A. Railroad. 
 
 " 5th. This mine was discovered by George Fisher, sen. (now dead), about the year 
 1832 ; was leased by him, his sons, and Judge D. W. K. Bowles in 1834, and worked 
 continuously and profitably until 1848, when it was sold to Com. R. F. Stockton. 
 
 "6th. George Fisher, jun., now the oldest geologist (practical) in Virginia, states in 
 writing (before me) that there are three developed gold-bearing veins on this property, 
 viz. : the big (sandstone), the little, and the middle veins. They run north-east and 
 south-west, and dip at an angle of 20° to 30° east. The average value of the ores for 
 these 14 years is put down at $100 (20/.) per ton, the minimum being about $5 (i/.), and 
 the maximum $300 (60/.) per ton. The vein matrix carrying gold is slate, quartz, 
 oxide of iron (brown), tellurium, etc. ; sulphurets exist in abundance, but not to any 
 considerable extent in the three veins spoken of. 
 
 " 7th. The average estimate of Com. Stockton's work (for 9 years) is put at about 
 $20 (4/.) per ton by his underground manager. He worked the sandstone vein almost 
 exclusively, while his predecessors operated the two others. 
 
 " 8th. The deepest shaft on the place is 120 ft., and there is only one of these. Of 
 the remainder 80 or 90 per cent, will not reach an average depth of 45 ft. (water 
 level). 
 
 " 9th. The property, until lately, has been idle ; but is now leased by its owners 
 (The Columbia Gold Mining Company, Hon. A. M. Keiley, President), to a northern 
 gentleman, for purposes of further development, with partial working of its ores. The 
 
 Mil 
 
 !f':J 
 
■A ' 
 
 ! i 
 
 1 88 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 last report we had, some three months since, represented that he was saving $7 
 (i/. gs. 6d.) per ton from the ore furnished by the sandstone vein. 
 
 "10th. Amalgamation has been the plan of saving the gold in Virginia, and is 
 still, generally ; but I understand chlorination is being tried upon the Sneade mine in 
 Fluvanna. 
 
 " nth. A lo-stamp California mill is in use upon Tellurium, with amalgamated 
 copper plates to save the gold. I believe this plan will lose at least 40 per cent, 
 of the precious metal. Much of the gold in Virginia is very fine, and cannot be 
 saved by amalgamation. Wet crushing is used generally. What we want is a better 
 saving process than yet known to me, unless chlorination shall serve that purpose. 
 To my mind its chief objection is that it is expensive. I should also advocate dry 
 crushing. Upon a good many properties the gold is lamellated, and so thin and delicate 
 that it will be readily carried off by water. To illustrate how readily this occurs 
 with the fine gold in the Tellurium ore, I will cite a single example : Prof. M. H. 
 Stowe, of Washington, D.C., assayed some of the Tellurium ore as follows, viz. the ore 
 was crushed and passed through a sieve, 60 holes per inch, was then agitated in water 
 and allowed 30 seconds to settle ; the water was then poured off, filtered, rinsed, dried, 
 and assayed, and gave in gold $38 98c. (7/. 14J. 5^). The aggregate of this, together 
 with the gold which subsided, made the ore worth $88 06c. (18/. 6s. i id.), 
 
 " 1 2th. Value of Virginia gold ores : assay of 50 tons Tellurium ore gave an average 
 of $51 22c. (10/. 13J. 5^.) per ton, the highest being $137 50c. (28/. 12J. ii«/.), and the 
 lowest $4 80c. (i/.). The best information I can give of the general value of the gold 
 ores in Virginia is to say that the average is somewhere between $5 (i/.) and $15 
 (3/.) per ton. The ores ari- abundant, and I have no recollection of seeing any one 
 from one of our acknowledged gold mines run under $4 (i6j. 8d.) per ton. 
 
 " 1 3th. Cost of gold mining and milling in Virginia. I am indebted to Prof. Stowe 
 for the itemized cost of mining and milling in Virginia, which statement he has made 
 up by a carefully kept record upon the Ellis gold mine in Virginia. He concludes his 
 paper in these words : " Total of mining and milling at the Ellis may be put at, per 
 ton, $2 20c. {gs. 2d.). 
 
 " 14th. The Virginia Burke Rocker, about which you inquire, is a mere cradle like 
 a closed infant's cradle, made water-tight, open at the top and provided with a per- 
 forated sheet-iron bottom (false and above the true bottom), and a chamber below, 
 charged with mercury for purposes of amalgamation. The whole is placed upon rockers 
 for agitation of gravel, etc., with watti which is constantly kept pouring upon it. It is 
 a rude fixture, but very popular in Virg .ia for placer miners, or surface washers. 
 
 Very respectfully submitted, 
 
 William B. Gray." 
 
 m 
 
 Much information concerning the auriferous wealth of South-west 
 Virginia has recently been published by C. R. Boyd, under the heads of 
 the several counties, which may be summarized as follows : — 
 
 Montgomery county : Brush Creek. — The south side of the county 
 is marked by Huronian strata. These rocks, mainly micaceous, felspathic, 
 and chloritic, banded here and there with heavy dykes of quartz, trend 
 N.E. and S.W., the length of the councy on that side. The decomposition 
 of these rocks through many ages h;is left the gold which is now being 
 found along the streams. Whether any distinct stratum exists, with 
 well-marked veins of the precious metal, has not yet been fully determined. 
 
AMERICA, N. : VIRGINIA. 
 
 189 
 
 The washings so far show the gravel to yield about 33 dwt. to the hand 
 per day, with rude sluice-boxes. The same strata cross the south fork 
 of Roanoke River, about the line between Montgomery and Floyd 
 counties, and ought there, in the deeper gorges, to yield more heavily 
 than elsewhere. Three miles east of Pilot House, more gold has been 
 washed from the gravel and other detritus than at any other point. The 
 gold has been found in surface washings over an extent of country 6 to 
 8 miles wide, chiefly in quartz dykes in mica-slates alternating with 
 granite, which is occasionally porphyritic. The dip of the rocks is N. 
 here, but on the south side of Laurel Ridge the dip is the other way. 
 Gold has been found in very handsome quantities on Laurel Creek. 
 " The rock ledges near Pilot House are granitic next to Pilot Mountain ; 
 near the foot of this mor.ntain, next to Brush Creek, hydro-mica slates 
 come in, showing here and there ledges of quartz, one of which, 6 to 
 12 ft. thick, holds most of the much-talked-of gold of Brush Creek. 
 Then south of this are the hydro-mica, chloritic, and schistose bands, 
 which are again repeated in Laurel Ridge, giving the gold again." 
 
 Floyd county. — On the Floyd county side of the river there is no 
 stream answering in position to that of Brush Creek. Consequently 
 the formation, though containing, no doubt, the same percentage of free 
 gold, is not so concentrated as to be noticeable like it is where a stream 
 of the size of Brush Creek has worn away much of the rock material, 
 leaving the gold in the sands and detritus along it. 
 
 It seems that what gold exists is generally very uniformly distributed 
 through the great mass ; but there is no reason to doubt that it is con- 
 centrated here and there in easily defined veins. These Huronian rocks 
 are known to have such characteristics in other places. 
 
 Carroll county. — No well-ascertained information has been obtained, 
 as yet, concerning gold and silver here. Gold is strongly suspected in 
 the Huronian series, occupying the south-western prolongation of the 
 Brush Creek rocks, which are now yielding gold in Montgome>y county. 
 
 Grayson county. — So important a statement as that there are immense 
 quantities of the precious yellow metal in the county should, no doubt, 
 be made with a great deal of caution ; yet such is the opinion advanced 
 here, after an investigation of some length. 
 
 That the gold exists in the present rock in sufficient quantities to 
 pay for extraction is rather a premature statement to make, but that the 
 disintegration of these Huronian rocks has, through ages, left paying 
 quantities in the debris and drift among the streams, is confidently 
 believed. The region of Elk Creek participates in this distribution. In 
 all likelihood, a line parallel with the course of Iron Mountain, about 
 the distance from that mountain that Elk Creek Post Office is, clear 
 
1 90 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Mi? 
 
 u 
 
 W 
 
 through the country, would be in a gold-bearing series. The gold, it 
 may be submitted, results from the decomposition of a pyritous quartz 
 and felspathic band, which seems to follow this line, showing with some 
 distinctness, also, on the bank of New River, a few miles above the old 
 Grayson Sulphur Springs, on the line between Grayson and Carroll. 
 
 Elk Creek, however, on the north side of Point Lookout, is the district 
 most likely to pay the intelligent prospector. 
 
 Ashe county. — The ores taken in Mulatto Mountain, from what has 
 been commonly accepted as the south-western continuation of the Ore 
 Knob lode, yield on an average as follows : copper, 3 per cent. ; gold, 
 $2 5c. (8s. 6^d.) per ton ; silver, $2 80c. (lOs.) per ton. These ores were 
 taken from a vein 5^ ft. thick ; but it is barely possible that this vein 
 lies about i mile to the north of a point where the Ore Knob vein 
 should be, if continued. Mulatto Mountain is 10 miles S.W. from Ore 
 Knob. 
 
 The Copper Knob mine, situated in the Blue Ridge, near the Ashe- 
 Wantanga line, was found, upon a close examination, to agree very fully 
 with Kerr's description, which is as follows : " This is a quartz vein, or 
 rather a group of them ; the principal one carrying variegated copper, 
 with a little chalcopyrite, malachite, chrysocolla, specular iron pyrites, 
 together with visible free gold and silver. The vein is a large body of 
 hornblende slate, though the prevalent rock of the section is a grey 
 gneiss, with a strike N. 60° E., and dip S.E. 40°. The vein is a true 
 fissure, with a direction N. 35° W. ; dip, N.E. 45"". Dr. Emmons, who 
 visited the mine when it was open, says, ' This is a true vein, and has a 
 perfect regularity in direction, as well as in its walls.' The width is 
 variable, being 18 in. at the surface, and 12 to 24 in. at different depths 
 below ground." The ores, analysed by Manross, gave "gold ij oz., and 
 silver 18 oz. per ton of mixed rock and ores." Handsome specimens of 
 purple copper ore from the centre of the vein, showing much free gold 
 to the eye, yielded about $2600 (542/.) in gold to the ton. 
 
 Elk Knob copper vein, really in Wantanga county, seems to be 
 nearly at a point where the Peach Bottom continued that way would 
 strike ; but it is an entirely different kind of rock from Peach Bottom 
 vein. Elk Knob vein has been well exposed by the owners in several 
 places, and is at different points variable in thickness, in one deep ravine 
 being 7 ft, and at another point 16 ft. thick. The vein seems to be 
 largely composed of mundic (iron-pyrites) ; but yields fine specimens of 
 grey copper-ore, and copper-pyrites, all mixed with a low percentage of 
 gold and silver. 
 
 Washington. — The gold-production of Washington territory was 
 officially stated at "something under $100,000" (20,000/.) in 1879. 
 
 Wyoming. — Rumours of gold in this territory were current long 
 
AMERICA, N. : WASHINGTON, WYOMING; W. INDIES: ARUDA. I9I 
 
 before the country was settled. The most important gold-mining 
 " camps " have been in Douglass Creek ; Medicine Bow Mountains ; 
 near the North Fork and Grace Creek tributaries of the Little Laramie ; 
 the Centennial district ; the Jehu Mountain district ; Rawhide Buttes ; 
 Running Water ; Laramie Peak ; along the sources of the Stinking 
 Water, a tributary of the Big Horn, rising in the Shoshone Mountains; 
 on the head-waters of Clark's Fork, on the Yellowstone ; in the Red 
 Mountains ; at several points along Sand Creek, a tributary of the 
 Belle Fourche ; in the region between the Black Hills and the Bear 
 Lodge Mountains ; and in Nigger Gulch. 
 
 West India Islands. Aniba. — Upon this island, one of the Dutch 
 Antilles, gold was discovered in 1824-25, and the mines were worked in 
 a very superficial way till 1838. The only method then pursued was 
 washing the dirt brought down the hill-sides by the rains, in which 
 manner, large quantities of free gold were obtained, including a nugget 
 weighing 44 lb. In 1838, the natives were granted free right to mine, 
 and carried on operations in a disconnected and irregular way till about 
 1854, when the depth of their pits generally required better appliances 
 than they could command. From 1855 to 1867, very little was done, 
 though it has been stated that 10,000 02. of gold were brought to market 
 in that period. In 1867, a 35-years' lease of all the gold-mines in the 
 island was granted to Francisco Isola, and sold by him to an English 
 company, which, under various changes of name, still enjoys the right. 
 
 The formation of the island is chiefly syenite, but clay-slate, porphyry, 
 dioritic slate, diorite, and granite are also reported. These rocks, or a 
 portion of them, are penetrated by numerous auriferous quartz veins. 
 Over 200 such veins had been discovered by their outcrop in 1872, 
 varying in width from a few inches to more than 30 ft. No less than 
 158 of these have been examined and fully described. Of samples taken 
 from 47 veins, 10 yielded upwards of i oz. of gold per ton; 12, from 
 1 3 dwt. to I oz. ; and the remainder, between 2 and 1 3 dwt. Assays of 
 the samples from the 10 richest veins gave the following results in gold 
 per ton : — Sero Hacha, 4 oz. 15 dwt. ; Picaron, i oz. 6 dwt. 3 gr. ; 
 Matividiri, i oz. 9 dwt. 9 gr. ; Goldstein, i oz. i dwt. ; Sombrero, 2 oz. 
 6 dwt. ; Bushiribana, 2 oz. 12 dwt. 12 gr. ; Casa B'anca, 3 oz. 2 dwt. 
 
 12 gr. ; Mira la Mar, i oz. 19 dwt. 12 gr. 
 
 Yet despite the abundance of the precious metal, large sums of 
 English capital have been unsuccessfully applied to the development of 
 the industry. This appears to be due to three main causes — inefficient 
 apparatus, local peculation, and general mismanagement. The 4074 tons 
 of ore treated have yielded 2697 oz. 7 dwt. of free gold (equivalent to 
 
 13 dwt. 5 gr. per ton), realising in London 8255/. \2s. 6d. (or 3/. is. per 
 oz.). The tailings resulting from the treatment of this quantity of ore 
 
 ..*?., 
 
192 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 it ■ 
 
 '■I 
 
 
 I-'i 
 
 and an additional 843 tons previously vvoiked, arc estimated to amount to 
 about 4500 tons ; several assays of these average 17 dvvt. 11 gr. of gold 
 per ton, bringing the total gold-value of the original ore to about 
 I oz. 10 dvvt. 16 gr. 
 
 Cui>a. — Gold was sent to Spain from this island by the early settlers ; 
 but the colonists seem always to have preferred wresting it from the 
 natives to working the mines for themselves, and the mineral wealth of 
 the country remains but little developed or even discovered. Auriferous 
 sands are found in the Holguin, Escawbray, and some other rivers ; and 
 fine samples have been obtained from the workings of Agabama and 
 Sagua la Grande. 
 
 Hayti [Sanio Domingo, Hispaniola].* — Our knowledge of the gold- 
 mining capabilities of Hayti is due almost exclusively to Gabb, ac- 
 cording to whom, almost everywhere the metamorphosed slates carry 
 quartz veins, sometimes barren, sometimes auriferous. These veins 
 are usually small, rarely more than a foot or two in width ; although 
 one instance occurs on the Upper Jaina River, where a width of 
 over 28 ft. is attained. In no case is it supposed that these masses 
 are filled fissures, in the ordinary sense of the term. In every instance 
 where a good outcrop occurs, so that its nature can be clearly made 
 out, the quartz is found interbedded or interstratified with the slate, 
 following its contortions, and intimately united on the sides. In other 
 words, they are true veins of segregation. They are most numerous 
 in the vicinity of the injected masses of crystalline rock. They occur 
 also quite abundantly in the whitish talcose rock of the main ridge, 
 as for instance, on the Bonao road, and again, in the neighbourhood 
 of Jamasa. But one strongly-marked feature has been observed to 
 characterize all the veins. Those nearest to the intrusive rocks are 
 always gold-bearing ; and those at a distance from them are invariably 
 barren. This has been abundantly proved by innumerable examinations. 
 No vein-mining for gold has ever been undertaken on the island, but 
 Gabb caused numerous analyses to be made of specimens from various 
 localities, always with the above results ; and further, as a natural inference, 
 every stream running through the metamorphic rocks in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of masses of syenite carries gold in its sands, while all 
 those running exclusively in the syenites, or at a great distance from 
 them, are without the precious metal. Thus the Nigua and Jaina 
 Rivers are barren at their heads, but immediately on entering the slates 
 they and all of their tributaries are gold-producing. The upper waters of 
 
 * The island was called Haiti by the Indians, Hispaniola by the Spaniards, St. Domingue 
 or Santo Domingo by the French. Haiti is now the territory of the Haitian Republic in the 
 west, Santo Domingo that of the Dominican Republic in the east. There is at present no 
 integral name for the whole island.— (Stuart, Jl. R. Geogr. Soc, xlviii. 274.) 
 
 ■.. 'f\ 
 
AMERICA, N. : VV. INDIES, IIAYTI. 
 
 193 
 
 the Nizao, Ocoa, and their upper branches carry gold ; while the Majoma, 
 entirely in crystalline rocks, is barren. Not to multiply examples, the 
 same may be said of all the north face of the Cibao range, west of 
 Santiago; while east of Vega in the north, and east of the Jaina River 
 on the south, that is, east of the eruptive rocks, no gold has ever been 
 reported. 
 
 Almost everywhere in Savana de las Lagunas, a colour, and some- 
 times a dozen colours to the pan were found. And though, wherever the 
 slates occur in the neighbourhood of the eruptive rocks, there gold occurs 
 in most, if not all, of the included quartz veins, and the streams are 
 always more or less auriferous, Gabb docs not think there is sufificient 
 inducement to bring foreigners here with the exclusive object of mining 
 gold. Usually the gravels are not rich enough intrinsically, or where 
 they are, the quantity in any one spot is so limited that mining on any 
 large scale is not likely to be profitable. On the other hand, he does not 
 wish to discourage the detailed examination of the quartz veins. They 
 are numerous ; and some of the pieces examined, while not showing 
 free gold, collected by himself as fair specimens, gave returns that 
 would be considered very encouraging in California. Occasionally 
 a vein can be found that, on account of its thickness, extent, general 
 appearance, and result of assays of its quartz, would certainly be opened 
 in California, and there is no reason why it should not be in Santo 
 Domingo. 
 
 Still further south, in the savana of Santa Rosa, the gravels with their 
 red sand, angular fragments of quartz, and the little black streaks of iron- 
 sand in every rain-wash, remind a Californian irresistibly of the foot-hills 
 of the Sierra Nevada. They are in places slightly auriferous, and though 
 not probable, it is yet not impossible, that here, if anywhere, spots may 
 be found where hydraulic mining might be prosecuted with success. 
 The small amount of gold in the present bed of the river seems to 
 indicate that the quantity would be proportionately still less when spread 
 over so wide an area ; yet the black sand, the invariable companion of 
 placer-gold, is by no means scarce. 
 
 West of the Jaina, below the mouth of the Mano, is a hilly region of 
 slates, bounded on the west by the syenites, which extend across to the 
 Upper Nigua. These hills are traversed by numerous dykes, and are full 
 of quartz veins. The slates are an inextricable mixture of green, grey, 
 brown, and black claystones, variously coloured jaspery slates, and some 
 more or less talcose. Among the first, Gabb found, a couple of miles 
 below the mouth of the Madrigal, a black rock slightly arenaceous, 
 ^'ery compact and full of white grains. This is certainly a metamorphic 
 shale, and yet, from its appearance in hard specimens, might be 
 mistaken for a porphyritic rock. A similar material was found not rare 
 
 O 
 
194 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 :;.i 
 
 on the Nigua River. The quartz veins are usually very small, hardly ever 
 over a few inches in width, and seem to be limited also in horizontal and 
 vertical extent. A few, however, can be measured by feet rather than 
 inches, and Spear spent some weeks in making an experimental opening 
 on one nearly 3 ft. wide, to ascertain its character. The result of his 
 excavation was to disclose a vertical vein with well-defined margins 
 intercalated in the shale. The quartz yielded a little gold by the 
 ordinary miner's test of grinding in a mortar and washing the powder. 
 It is doubtful, however, whether the quantity would have been sufficient 
 to warrant earnest mining. 
 
 On the ridge overlooking the mouth of the Mano, at the head of two 
 streams called the Anones and Caballo, which unite and run into the 
 Jaina, a mile or more below the mouth of the Madrigal, is the largest 
 quartz vein on the island. It crops out on the top of the ridge, and its 
 down-hill side is so covered with soil and great blocks of quartz, that it is 
 impossible to ascertain its exact width from a mere surface inspection. 
 It is certainly 20 to 30 ft. thick, and may be much more. Fragments of 
 the quartz are found the whole length of bofh streams. Gold is found in 
 every eddy in their caflons, and Gabb obtained it by washing even the 
 dirt from the hill-sides. The quartz, as it appears on the surface, is more 
 or less cavernous, the cavities lined or filled with peroxide of iron. On 
 crushing it in a mortar and washing it, Gabb obtained bright gold in little 
 flakes. He caused an assay to be made in New York, of a portion which 
 he took with him in 1 869 ; but " the returns of the chemist were so high 
 that I shall not record them here, preferring to believe that either my 
 specimens were accidentally an unfair sample, or that the chemist made 
 some mistake." Apart from this, enough is known to prove that the vein 
 is gold-bearing, and Gabb believes sufficiently promising to warrant 
 further examination. 
 
 Not only is this vein auriferous, but many of the smaller ones must 
 contain their share of the precious metal. Over an area of several square 
 miles of this vicinity, the streams yield gold, and the earth on the hill- 
 sides, and even on their summits, contains k. About La Horca, Gabb's 
 party found gold everywhere ; and throughout the woods are innumerable 
 pits, often 20 to 30 ft. in circumference and many ft. deep, whence the 
 Indians mined the clay and gravel, and, carrying it to the nearest stream, 
 washed it. It is doubtful, however, if placer-mining could be made pro- 
 fitable on a modern scale. Not that the dirt is not rich enough ; but its 
 quantity in any one place is not sufficient to warrant the construction of 
 expensive ditches, and the slow process of carrying the earth to the 
 water in the Indian style is too laborious and costly to be thought of. 
 Although innumerable little streams intersect the hills, none carries 
 sufficient water for sluices. Possibly some of the larger creeks, like the 
 
AMERICA, N. : W. INDIES, IIAYTI. 
 
 •95 
 
 Caballo, Anones, Jivand, &c., might pay moderately to wash their 
 channels ; but they would be exhausted too quickly to make them an 
 object of attention alone. The women constantly wash gokl in the creek- 
 beds, and also in those of their tributaries, using the well-known batea or 
 wooden bowl. But they are content with a return of 3 or 4 reals {ly^ to 
 50c., or 19 to 2'-)d.) a day. Gabb himself obtained in the Jivand, grains 
 worth as much as loc. (s</.) in the ordinary gold-pan, and saw lumps 
 weighing \ oz. extracted by women in the same manner. 
 
 There can be no doubt as to the sources of this gold. It is true that 
 it is usually more or less rounded, but a very little transportation among 
 hard stones will suffice to produce this appearance. It is never found 
 far away from or up stream above the quartz veins. Where quartz is 
 most abundant, the gold is also found in the greatest quantities, and 
 where the one is absent the other does not occur. On the hill-sides, the 
 auriferous earth is clearly derived from the decomposition of the under- 
 lying slates ; and finally gold is nowhere found in those parts of the 
 streams running only in the eruptive rocks, unless a belt of slate crosses 
 still hjgher up. Nor is it ever found in the earth overlying the syenites. 
 Throughout this region, syenitic dykes are constantly encountered, and 
 the upper half of the Jivand runs throughout the parent mass, while 
 veins of the same rock crop out in several places in the lower part of its 
 course, as well as at the mouth of the Anones, and in the bed of the 
 neighbouring part of the Jaina. Here is thus a further proof oi the 
 theory already enunciated, that the proximity of eruptive masses is the 
 cause of the presence of gold in the veins of this country. 
 
 On the Jivand, there is more than usual variety in the appearance 
 of the syenite. In one place, Gabb found it flesh-coloured, owing to a 
 pinkish felspar ; in another, it is dark-grey and very fine grained ; and 
 in still another, it is white, with acicular crystals of hornblende. Near 
 there, in the Jaina, towards the mouth of the Anones, there is a small 
 dyke made up of white quartz, white and pink felspar, and with little 
 isolated grains of a black mineral, which Gabb could not determine with 
 certainty ; and between the Anones and the river, is another in which 
 the materials are very unevenly distributed, hornblende occurring both 
 in irregular masses and in isolated crystals. 
 
 South of this region, the quartz veins still occur in the slates, and on 
 the Susua and Medina Creeks some gold is found ; but the eruptive 
 dykes here disappear, and the quantity of gold rapidly diminishes. It is 
 said to be found as far south as the Cuallo, but this requires corrobora- 
 tion. If it does occur there, it is in very small quantities. 
 
 In the quartz are nests of purple sulphuret of copper, some of them 
 as large as one's fist, and little streaks and threads of the mineral are not 
 rare. On crushing and washing a sample of this quartz, Gabb found a 
 
 o 2 
 
 
196 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 minute trace of gold. 
 above Monte Mates. 
 
 A little gold, hardly worth mentioning, is found 
 Secor, Swan, & Co., found : — 
 
 Copper 
 Gold, per ton 
 Silver ,, 
 Sulphur 
 
 Sample a. 
 
 20 '5 per cent. 
 $12 80c. (2/. ly. 4</.) 
 10 40 (2/. 3^. 4^.) 
 
 Sample i; too lb. 
 
 19 per cent, 
 fiooc. (2/. IS. Sd.) 
 13 3 (2/. I4f. 3iJ.) 
 
 Sample e. 
 
 20 S per cent. 
 
 Sample J; 9 torn. 
 
 12 "S per cent. 
 Is oc. (2ar. iOti.) 
 I 23 (SJ. i}./,) 
 25 ■ 6 per cent. 
 
 Some curious statistics of the gold-production of Hispaniola, taken 
 from Spanish writers of the Middle Ages, are given by Prof Soctbeer. 
 It is estimated by Humboldt that the total quantity of gold obtained 
 here during the occupation by Columbus and his followers did not exceed 
 1,000,000/. 
 
 AMERICA, SOUTH. 
 
 Argentine Republic, or La Plata.— By far the most complete 
 account of the auriferous wealth of the Argentine Republic is given by 
 Major Rickard, to whom much of the following matter is due. 
 
 San Lilts province. — The mining districts are situated to the north 
 of the capital, the most remote being about 40 leagues distant. Some of 
 the gold-mines here are so irregularly opened and destroyed that they 
 leave no profit upon the working, and are dangerous to those who labour 
 in them. On the other hand, there are many new veins which are still 
 either in superficial working, or abandoned from want of capital and 
 perseverance. 
 
 A German was working an old gold-mine in La Carolina in 1865, 
 yielding arsenical iron-pyrites, and a vein of auriferous copper, recently 
 discovered in the department of Santa Barbara, ^.bout 30 leagues from his 
 furnace. The ore, a bisulphide, which this vein yields on the surface, 
 holds some 50 per cent, of copper, with i-f^g oz. of fine gold per ton ; but 
 in depth the vein degenerates into red oxide, with silicate of copper and 
 iron ; and at 1 1 fathoms in the vertical shaft, it becomes an almost pure 
 oxide of iron, holding only 5^ pf r cent of copper and -j^ oz. of gold per 
 ton. In some pieces of the ore, native gold is found in little specks and 
 thin laminae ; but on assaying a general sample from a large heap, it 
 becomes manifest that the gold is not disseminated in the mass, but only 
 exists as isolated specks. Rickard suspected that this vein, called 
 La Angelita, would eventually become worthless, degenerating into 
 auriferous quartz holding very little gold, but adds in a subsequent note 
 that it " became rich sulphides." 
 
 The Rio Quinto (here called Rio Grande) has its source at La 
 Carolina, and its sandy bed exhibits for many leagues striking indications 
 
 '1 a;i 
 
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I it . 
 
 11'!: 
 
 
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I i 
 
 I i 
 
 &. 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 197 
 
 of gold. The districts of La Carolina, celebrated for their auriferous 
 wealth, are as follows : — 
 
 La Caiiada Honda. — Following almost the same route northward from 
 the capital, and passing through El Trapiche and Levingston's works, 
 the Sierra is penetrated, and Caiiada Honda is reached at about 20 leagues 
 from the city of San Lu's. Here, at 41 26 ft. above sea-level, the first gold- 
 placers are found. Tl.e Caiiada (a valley) runs north-west to south-east, 
 over a league in length, by 175 yd. in average breadth. At the entrance 
 are situated the washings of Gonzalez Otero. 
 
 Formerly the placer miners were unable to work at any great depth, 
 from the invasion of water, which issued very copiously precisely at the 
 part most productive in gold, a depth of 8 to 10 yd.; but one of them, 
 Mauricio Morales, succeeded at length in partially overcoming the 
 difficulty. He sought a lower level at the foot of the Caiiada, and from 
 that point excavated a canal, pushing his way tliroi'gh the rock'- until he 
 effected communication with the auriferous deposits situated higher up. 
 He covered this canal with flags, leaving a conduit beneath, by means of 
 which the workings in the auriferous beds above are to a great extent 
 drained of their water. 
 
 During Rickard's visit, two placer-washings were being carried on ; 
 one by Otero, and the other by Morales. The system of washing is by 
 long-toms with riffles, 50 ft. long, 1 5 in. wide, and 8 in. deep, fixed at an 
 angle of 10°. The auriferous bed lies at 24 to 30 ft. from the surface, and 
 the superincumbent strata are : — (i) alluvium, 4 to 8 ft. in thickness ; 
 (2) beds of yellow marl, mixed with alluvium, 8 to x2 ft; (3) a bed of 
 black sandy clay, 4 to 5 ft. ; (4) yellow auriferous sand, with particles of 
 the primary rocks which form the surrounding mountains, 3 ft. ; (5) bed- 
 rock, consisting of mica-schist, gneiss, and granite, with felspar and talc. 
 
 A stream of clear water runs on the surface, and is utilized for two 
 purposes. First, it is led by small channels in ,^ifierent directions, and made 
 to pass over terraces each lower than the other. About i yd. in .^epth 
 of this upper stratum is broken down by labourers into the water, by 
 which it is carried away, and this is continued until the overlying strata 
 are got rid of, and the auriferous deposit is eventually reached. A single 
 labourer can in a day remove about 320 cub. yd., and he is paid at the 
 rate of 2/. 10s. per month, without maintenance. Secondly, when water 
 is abundant, another canal carries it to the long-tom or sluice, placed 
 as described, and suspended at about 10 ft. above the auriferous bed. 
 Two men with long-handled shovels heave the yellow earth into the sluice, 
 where it is carried over the riffles by the water with considerable force. 
 All the- coarse gold is caught by the riffles, but much of the finer particles 
 must undoubtedly be lost. Two men can pass 25 tons of auriferous sand 
 through the sluice in a day ; and on the average they extract 4 oz. of 
 
 
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s 
 
 
 198 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 gold. From the approximate calculations Rickard was able to make, he 
 does not think that the yield generally exceeds 4 dwt. of fine gold per 
 ton ; but there are parts extremely rich, from which two men have 
 extracted as much as i lb. of gold in one day. Morales informed him 
 that, during the 6 years he had worked there, on a very restricted scale, he 
 had extracted about 1 600 oz. of gold, at a cost of about 2 1 66/. 
 
 Taking the extension of the Canada yet unworked at 8700 yd. in 
 length, with an average breadth of 25 j'd. in the part where the gold is 
 found, and the auriferous bed at i yd. in average thickness, there are 
 217,500 cub. yd., which, at about 30 cwt. per cub. yd., would yield a 
 total of 326,250 tons ; and this, at 4 dwt. per ton, is equivalent to 50,976 oz. 
 On account of the low percentage of fine gold (720), this can only be 
 estimated at 2/. 14s. 2d. per oz., and would therefore produce a total 
 value of about 138,000/. The stream is insignificant in winter, and is 
 sometimes frozen up ; in summer, it is more abundant from copious rains, 
 and large re r"'iir=; might be formed with facility. 
 
 In the moi enclosing the Cailada Honda are many auriferous 
 
 quartz veins, supc xially scratched by the old miners, but none being 
 now worked. Water invades the workings at a short depth ; and the 
 ores being in some cases pyritous (arsenical iron-pyrites), the gold cannot 
 be fully nor easily extracted. These lodes were rich on the surface, 
 according to tradition ; and there is reason to believe that such was the 
 case, for the auriferous deposits in the Cailada below can have had no 
 other source. 
 
 La Carolina. — From the placers of Cafiada Honda, the road takes a 
 westerly direction, passing through the chain of hills which divide La 
 Carolina from the Cailada, at 4903 ft. above sea-level. At a distance of 
 about a league, is a Chilian mill, erected by Antonio Schmidt and Co., 
 grinding about i^ ton of ore in 24 hours, and fitted with gratings of 2500 
 holes to the sq. in. The ground ore is carried through a sluice about 
 50 ft. in length, and the tailings are discharged into a vat, whence 
 they are removed at convenient intervals. 
 
 At the end of every week (according to the run of the ore), the riffles 
 are removed from the sluice, and nearly all the gold present is found in 
 the first 4 yd. from the mill. The gold is always more or less mixed 
 with iron-pyrites, and this mass is thrown back into the trough of the mill 
 with mercury, to extract the gold by amalgamation. In a few hours, the 
 gold (partially) unites with the mercury, in which state it is taken out, 
 carefully washed in wooden dishes, strained through canvas, and distilled ; 
 the gold is generally of a fineness of 835, or 20*04 carats. The ores being 
 reduced at the time of Rickard's visit were extracted from the principal 
 lode of La Carolina, called Piiliera, which was not then in beneficio or 
 productive ore. Nevertheless the bulk of the vein-stuff yielded i '66 oz. 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 199 
 
 per ton, of which nearly ^ oz. was left in the tailings thrown out from the 
 sluice. The gold being combined with iron-pyrites, and very finely dis- 
 seminated throughout the mass, the apparatus employed was incapable 
 of extracting more. All these ores also hold an appreciable quantity of 
 silver, varying from 14" 8 to 37 oz. per ton. 
 
 About a league north of the reducing works are many old, abandoned 
 mines, situated on the principal vein of La Carolina, which runs from north 
 to south, and is traceable for a distance of nearly half a league, having an 
 average width of about i yd. This lode is very irregularly worked on 
 the surface, and probably to its lowest depths ; the deepest shaft on the 
 vein is about 55 fathoms. The workings rehabilitated by Schmidt and 
 Co. consisted of an adit, driven so as to cut the lode at a right angle at 
 a good depth, and at the same time to drain the old workings, which were 
 found in every case to be inundated. The lode where cut was a good 
 yard in width, but yielded only the percentage of gold previously stated. 
 Rickard was assured by the owners that the return of gold from the 
 pyritous ores was 5 to 7 oz. per ton. 
 
 North of this adit, is an old and very important mine. A well-driven 
 adit, on the level of the bottom of the ravine at the foot of the mountain, 
 was about 120 yd. in length ; and the vein, in Rickard 's opinion, should 
 be cut at about 40 yd. further on, and at a depth of 50 fathoms from the 
 surface ; and he believes that this enterprise, if carried on, would yield 
 good results. The mine in the first place would have to be drained, when 
 a rich portion of the lode would in all probability be laid bare under certain 
 parts, which on the surface present the appearance of having been 
 formerly very productive. This, however, would entail the expenditure of 
 a large sum, owing to the scarcity of labour and fuel, and other draw- 
 backs inherent to the district. The vein is at an elevation of 4243 ft. 
 The only mine in actual work on this vein at the time of Rickard's visit 
 was Schmidt's, and in it only 10 men were employed, while the capital 
 invested did not amount to more than 800/. 
 
 Towards the north-east from the village of La Carolina is another 
 mine, on a different lode, running from east to west, .nd which is about 
 I yd. in width. The vein stuff consists of arsenical iron-pyrites, mixed 
 with galena and blende. This mine, called Mercedes, belongs to 
 Levingston. The vein is irregularly and badly worked. At present the 
 ores are raised by means of a vertical shaft, about 10 fathoms deep in 
 water, and exceedingly dangerous from the unsafe state of its walls. 
 There were about 18 tons of ore on surface dressed, of an average assay 
 of i oz. gold per ton ; 6 men were employed. 
 
 In addition to these fixed works on the veins, 3 men and about 20 
 women are engaged in erratic and superficial operations in various parts 
 of, the Cerro of La Carolina. These also make a living by washing the 
 
 6 - J 
 
 i 
 
 :■' 
 
 
 it 
 
 ^ ''8 
 
 
 
 
i: 
 
 i 
 
 200 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 sand and earth in the ravine, and on the margin of the stream, from which 
 they extract a fair quantity of gold. In the little village of La Carolina 
 are 17 houses, with 50 inhabitants, who, properly speaking, constitute the 
 whole population. At Ceno Blanco, 2 leagues to the east, are a few 
 small huts, and about 20 inhabitants occupied in washing operations, but 
 here with indifferent success. 
 
 The gold-produce of La Carolina, including that of Cafiada Honda, 
 from fixed and erratic operations, is about 160 oz. per month, the value 
 of which may be calculated at about 500/. 
 
 The geological formation of the district about La Carolina princi- 
 pally consists of mica-schist, with gneiss, syenite, talcose and felspathic 
 rocks, and is consequently most favourable for auriferous deposits. 
 
 To the south of the Fort of San Rafael, on the banks of the Rio 
 Colorado, are the celebrated deposits of auriferous copper in the Cerro 
 de Payen. It would be important to organize an expedition for the 
 exploration of those districts, but this could only be carried out with a 
 large armed force, on account of the Indians. 
 
 In the eastern part of the Paramillo, and close to the high road from 
 Mendoza to Uspallata, there are many veins of auriferous quartz, 
 formerly worked by the Spaniards, and even by the Indians, for their 
 peculiar old grinding-stones or marayes are strewn about. The workings 
 are however now choked up, and may be said to be worthless ; the veins 
 are narrow, although some were extremely rich in former times. Some 
 4 01 5 miners were working in 3 of these mines, but only extracting 
 fragments of ore from old shafts and levels ; these ores hold 7 to 10 oz. 
 of fine gold per ton, but the quantity is so insignificant, that it can only 
 afford a miserable existence to such men. There is no water nearer to 
 these old mines t^an at a distance of 2 leagues down this valley, and 
 that so trifling that it scarcely affords sufficient for the necessary domestic 
 use of the workmen. 
 
 Gualilan. — This gold-mining district is far-famed for the quantity of 
 the precious metal extracted during the period of Spanish colonial rule in 
 South America. It was discovered by a muleteer, named Juan Suarez, 
 in the year 175 1. Returning from a visit to Chili, he lost a loaded pack- 
 mule in the neighbourhood, and, on seeking for the animal, found it resting 
 on the spot now occupied by the Pique mine. To drive on the mule 
 more conveniently, this man took up several stones, and placed them in 
 his leather apron ; but was so struck with the great weight of one in 
 particular, that he determined to keep it for further inspection. On his 
 arrival at San Juan, he consulted with a friend, and they discovered the 
 stone to be impregnated with metallic gold. They immediately sought out 
 the place at Gualilan, and enriched themselves before others knew of the 
 discovery. Soon, however, this became known ; hundreds flocked to the 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 201 
 
 spot, and after a superficial search, discovered many mines, which 
 yielded large quantities of gold, until the great drawbacks to all 
 mining enterprises in South America — flooding and revolution, 
 interrupted their prolific labours. The War of Independence came, and 
 all was left. 
 
 There are 3 lodes, but only 2 were worked. These are 6 to 60 ft. in 
 width, and occasionally, when they join, and are walled by elvan courses, 
 yield quantities of gold. Their direction is nearly N. and S., dip 43° W., 
 and they are visible on the surface for a length of about 4000 yd. The 
 hills in which they are situated are detached from the principal chain of 
 the Tontal range, of which they are spurs, and are composed of lime- 
 stone. The veins are accompanied, and at parts traversed, by elvan 
 courses, which improve the yield of gold where they come into contact 
 with the lode. There are 14 mines in all (on the same veins), which 
 were worked with great energy for many years after their discovery, 
 until at a depth of about 40 fathoms, more or less, they were inundated 
 by water, and the lower works had to be suspended. 
 
 The vein-stuff extracted from the lodes is properly silver-ore, holding 
 chlorides of this metal, but with other combinations, which render it 
 extremely rich in metallic gold. There are large deposits of arsenical 
 iron-pyrites, holding a fair percentage of gold ; but the former miners of 
 the country were unable to extract the whole amount, and, as it caused 
 a considerable loss of mercury in the amalgamation process followed, the 
 greater part was left in the mines, or thrown aside as useless. The 
 quantity of this refuse ore is immense, and may be estimated at thousands 
 of tons, intermingled with earth, stones, &c., but all of which holds gold 
 in the proportion of not less than i oz. per ton. 
 
 After exhausting the veins on the surface, and as far down as the 
 water would permit, and leaving the workings choked up, the mines were 
 abandoned by the original owners. Others followed, however, by whom 
 new works were established ; and a vertical shaft was sunk about 40 
 fathoms, to drain the mines at their greatest depth. But the means thus 
 employed were entirely inefficient, and the mines were successively 
 abandoned and renewed by new adventurers, who expended their limited 
 resources and capital without securing any return for their money. One 
 of the last to undertake the task, Vicente Oros, during the few days that he 
 was able to keep down the water level, and to work at about 4 fathoms 
 below it in the main shaft, extracted 12 tons of ore from an old level or 
 gallery, the assay of which for gold was 5 oz. to the ton. He employed 4 
 men and a foreman, working with 4 horses and two large buckets geared 
 on to a whim, and in this way 750 gal. of water per hour were taken 
 out ; but this is of course inadequate, and cannot keep down the water so 
 as to admit of working in the lower galleries. 
 
 ' .. 'm 
 
202 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 One of these old mines, La Misnata, not many years ago, yielded ores 
 holding 96 oz. of gold and 4933 oz. of silver to the ton. 
 
 Guac/ii. — At 12 leagues north of the town of Jachal, in the high range 
 of mountains to the west, is situate the celebrated mining district of 
 Guachi. The road to this place is almost impassable either on foot or 
 horseback. The cone-shaped mountain where the mines are is 
 1 2,200 ft. above sea-level. The mountain is isolated, and stands in the 
 midst of a circular cordon of others, also of great altitude, and frightfully 
 steep and rugged. It is traversed in all directions by veins of auriferous 
 quartz, and horizontal beds holding more or less gold. 
 
 The name of this mountain is an Indian word guachi, signifying the 
 " mountain of gold " ; and tracing thus the origin of Gualilan, Rickard 
 finds it also indicates the existence of the precious metal, as it means the 
 " land of gold." The prefix giia in the Huarpe tongue signifies " gold," 
 and wherever the name is found, there are sure to be old gold-mines or 
 placer-washings, worked by the aborigines, and doubtless still rich if 
 modern appliances were brought to bear upon them. 
 
 The mines in Guachi are old and much worked, and according to 
 tradition, a very large quantity of gold has been taken thence. The 
 principal vein runs N.N.W. to S.S.E., and in some parts is 30 ft. and in 
 others 60 ft. in width, including an enormous centre wall of quartz and 
 elvanite, which also contains more or less gold. The lode is visible on 
 the surface for a length of over 100 yd., but the works are choked up in 
 consequence of a great landslip which took place many years since. 
 This large vein is formed by the junction of two others, the Risco and 
 Potro, which in their turn are traversed by veins containing arsenical iron- 
 pyrites, almost at right angles ; the lode is in beneficio at the points where 
 these crossings take place. From assays of ore-stuff" taken from differ- 
 ent parts, Rickard found the gold generally did not exceed i oz. per ton. 
 
 Thousands of tons of ore undoubtedly exist in the old subterranean 
 workings, but the local difficulties present almost insuperable obstacles to 
 their profitable working. In the first place, it would be impossible to get 
 machinery to the foot of the mountain in the present state of the ro.ids ; 
 and in the second place, there is neither wood nor water at ha ad to 
 supply the requirements of extensive operations in the mines, which &re 
 now almost entirely abandoned. Rickard only found 4 men, who were 
 employed in quarrying stones for the construction of a grinding-mill, about 
 to be erected by Jose Maria Suarez, with the intention of amalgamating 
 the picked ores from the old mines. 
 
 At the foot of the mountain, water is found in considerable abundance, 
 but is highly charged with the sulphates of copper and iron, and consequently 
 almost worthless for machinery, as the copper in solution would corrode 
 all the ironwork with which it may come in contact, and would soon 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 203 
 
 destroy the wood as well ; neither is it potable. In the narrow and short 
 ravine at the foot of the mountain, arc some placer-washings of more 
 than average richness. Here the same earth and gravel is washed year 
 by year after the rains, with almost equally favourable results. This 
 proves that the gold comes from some surface veins above, being carried 
 down by the rains, and accumulated in the sands at the bottom. The 
 geological formation of the mountain is favourable for gold, being mica- 
 schist, gneiss, and syenite. Hornblende predominates, with crystallized 
 felspathic rocks. Potable water is obtained at a short distance from the 
 mines, but it is very limited in quantity, and not of the best description. 
 
 After the rains, the poor people in the neighbourhood wash the earth 
 in the bottom of the ravine, and sometimes find small nuggets of gold ; 
 and from this and other indications, there would seem to be no doubt as 
 to the existence of a vein or auriferous deposit on the slope of the 
 adjacent Sierra, whence these pieces of the precious metal proceed. 
 Despite every effort to obtain information, Rickard could hear of no such 
 deposit, nor discover whence so much gold is annually derived. He was 
 not able to gather any data as to the yearly production of gold by the 
 placer-warhings. 
 
 Faniatina. — An auriferous district is situated about 7 leagues from 
 the town of Famatina (chilecito), in the Cerro Negro, at 10,250 ft. above 
 sea-level. There is a total absence of firewood, but abundance of water 
 and pasture. It consists of auriferous lodes, the principal not exceeding 
 3 in number, much exhausted. Their deepest workings are about 30 
 fathoms in vertical depth, and are full of water and debris. The lodes 
 vary in width from half a yard to a yard ; and almost all of them consist 
 of arsenical iron-pyrites, holding a considerable quantity of gold, which 
 cannot, however, be extracted by the crude systems of amalgamation 
 practised in those regions. 
 
 The black oxide of manganese and iron abounds, and considerable 
 quantities are lying about on all sides. A sample of these ores, taken 
 without selection, assayed 6 oz. of gold to the ton, a yield which would 
 make the extraction and reduction of the ore very profitable; but, 
 owing to the difficulties of transport, the result of any enterprise in this 
 direction would be extremely problematical from a commercial point of 
 view. The greater part of the veins are very narrow, and their working 
 on a large scale would not be sufficiently, if at all, remunerative. 
 
 La Mejicana. — The Rincon de la Mejicana mine was formerly worked 
 for gold. It has been recently opened by Carlos Angel, but the vein had 
 not been cut in beneficio when Rickard visited the mine. 
 
 The Verdiona mine, which was also renowned for its richness, is now 
 choked up with ddbris, and has been abandoned for many years. 
 Rickard was unable to enter the galleries or workings, for when mines 
 
 -mpt 
 
lit 
 
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 204 
 
 GEOGRArniCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 have been abandoned a few years in La Mejicana, their entrances become 
 filled up with snow and sand from the surface, forming a frozen mass for 
 10 or 12 yd. down, and of such hardness that it cannot be broken 
 without blasting. As a consequence, mines are soon choked up and their 
 entrances completely obstructed. There is a large quantity of ore on 
 the surface, principally arsenides of iron, from which Rickard took a 
 sample, yielding about 46 oz. of silver (with gold) per ton ; also traces 
 of copper, but none of nickel, which these ores are believed to contain. 
 
 The Compaiiia mine, next after the Verdiona, belongs to Vicente 
 Gomez, and was in active operation. There were 1 3 men employed, and 
 about 6 tons of ore were dressed on the surface, the second class holding 
 209 oz. of silver and about f oz. of gold to the ton. The first class ore 
 gives 1529 oz. of silver and l^ oz. gold to the ton. The vein is the same 
 as that on which the Verdiona mine is situated, and being in active work, 
 Rickard had the opportunity of inspecting the lowest levels and seeing 
 the lode in depth. It varies in width from ^ to i^ yd. ; it contains a 
 large proportion of arsenical iron-pyrites, with a poor assay for silver and 
 gold. The lode, nevertheless, promises well at a great depth, and a 
 marked improvement is observable in it from the surface to the lowest 
 levels. These are not, however, over 20 fathoms in vertical depth. 
 
 There is a large quantity of poor ores on the surface, holding a fair 
 percentage of copper and some gold, which, perhaps, might be profitably 
 reduced in suitable furnaces, and produce copper regulus holding gold 
 and silver, if mixed with ores having a good percentage of these metals. 
 
 The Upulungo mine is contiguous to the Compaiiia, and belongs to 
 Ricardo Valdez. This mine is said to be very rich, but its mouth being 
 choked up with debris and snow, Rickard was unable to explore it in- 
 ternally. The owner of the Compai^.ia had commenced a lawsuit against 
 Valdez for having penetrated fronri a lower level in his mine into the vein 
 of the Compaiiia, where ores holding a large percentage of silver and 
 gold were extracted. The mine had not been worked for over a year. 
 
 There are 5 other veins or mines in La Mejicana, all of which are out 
 of work, and so choked up with earth as to prevent any internal explora- 
 tion. Their importance is manifest from superficial appearances, and 
 they are almost identical with those of La Compaiiia. Without excep- 
 tion, they have all been worked upon the surface only, and none of them 
 carried deep enough to prove their ultimate richness. 
 
 An adit to cut all the veins of La Mejicana has been started on a 
 level with the bottom of the ravine. This is a very important, but ill- 
 directed, undertaking. The mouth of the adit is at a distance of about 
 100 yd. from the Compaiiia mine, and at a vertical depth of 80 to 90 
 yd. from the surface of the latter. It is 10 ft. high by 6 ft. wide, but 
 badly constructed, tne main wooden props having already broken and 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 205 
 
 given way, owing to the great weight of the superincumbent earth and 
 stones. Not more than 23 yd. of it remain open, the total length being 
 about 50 yd. The expenditure on this enterpri.se was about 8500/., but 
 the work done does not represent a higher sum than 2500/. 
 
 Rickard does not consider the direction of this adit to be the true or 
 best one for cutting all the veins of La Mejicana ; but, at the length of 
 100 yd. inwards, its course might be altered, taking two angles, one to 
 the left and another to the right, by which means many gold and silver 
 veins would be cut ; for, at a short distance lower down in the ravine, 
 are found old gold-mines of good assay when formerly worked. These 
 are now choked with earth and water, but the principal lodes go into 
 and bury themselves in La Mejicana, and it is therefore very probable 
 that they would be cut by the adit. 
 
 About 5 leagues lower down 'n the ravine are some old placer- 
 washings ; but they are now with at commercial value, unless worked 
 on a large scale, as is done in California, that is, washing 300 tons a day. 
 
 The lode of the Restauradora mine is on the average 7 ft. in width, 
 and the mean assay for copper is 1 8 per cent. ; but the ore also contains 
 silver in the proportion of about 27 • 1 3 oz. per ton, and ^ oz. of gold. It 
 is the presence of the precious metals which renders the reduction of 
 copper-ores at all profitable, as this latter alone barely covers the cost of 
 extraction from the mines, reduction, freight, and other expenses incurred 
 previous to its sale in Europe. It is in such cases as this that the want 
 of good and cheap means of conveyance from the interior to the coast is 
 most severely felt, for the profit is absorbed in charges for transport. 
 
 The ore-stuff on the surface consisted, at the date of Rickard's visit 
 (March, 1869), of 450 tons of first class ore, holding 20 per cent, of 
 copper, and 600 tons of second class, holding only 1 2 per cent, of copper, 
 but richer in gold and silver. The ores are sulpho-arsenides, with 
 antimonides of copper and iron, or what are commonly called black, grey, 
 and yellow sulphides, with purple or peacock copper-ore. About 270 
 tons per month are raised and dressed for the furnaces. 
 
 The mine is worked by galleries, winzes, and shafts. An adit, with 
 tramway and waggons, communicates with the upper workings, and dis- 
 charges the ores into the ore-yard on the surface ; but there is another 
 adit lower down, at the foot of the mountain, on which they had been 
 continuously at work for 4 years, driving night and day, to effect com- 
 munication with the upper workings and drain them. It is 360 yd. in 
 length, with a tramway ; but 1 5 months' work was still necessary before 
 it could reach the desired point. When this is accomplished, however, 
 the mine will be freed from water, presenting a vertical depth of 125 
 fathoms in virgin ground, which can then be worked without difficulty or 
 impediment. While this is being done, ore of a suitable class exists on 
 
 \ 
 
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 M 
 
 -i/'j 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 if 
 
 r^K 
 
 1:1 
 
206 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the surface, and will be obtained from tlie upper workings sufficient to 
 keep the furnaces going at the rate of i(X) tons a month for over a 
 year. 
 
 Carranr.a, Molina, & Co.'s mines. — The Rosario mine is the oldest in 
 the district, and is energetically worked, with galleries and shafts, and a 
 spacious adit, z-.t 75 fathoms vertically from the upper surface of the 
 mountain. The miners are working 40 fathoms lower than the adit 
 level, and at this depth a considerable quantity of water makes its 
 appearance. Nevertheless, it is easily removed by means of hand 
 pumps. The lode is very variable in width, being in parts 18 ft. ; but the 
 average does not exceed 3 ft. The assay of the ore is higher than that 
 extracted from La Restauradora by Lafone, but it is less abundant. 
 Still, from its superior assay, almo .l an equal quantity of copper is pro- 
 duced. All the ore-stuff raised during the year held on the average 20 
 per cent, of copper, 19' 16 oz. of silver, and J oz. of gold to the ton. The 
 vein in the lower levels was in good bcneficio when Rickard saw it, and 
 promises to improve. 
 
 The Mcjicana mine is on a large vein, 8 yd. in width, of ferruginous 
 ore, formerly worked for gold. When Rickard visited this mine, an adit 
 was being driven on the vein, but had not yet reached good ore. He 
 was afterwards informed that good beneficio was subsequently cut. 
 
 The Esperanza mine belongs to the same owners. The vein is i yd. 
 in width, holding 30 per cent, of copper, in carbonates, oxides, anr il- 
 phides, with a higher assay for silver and gold than the Rosar V 
 
 vertical shaft was driven, and a whim had recently been constructea to 
 raise ore more economically. Good results are certain to be obtained in 
 working this lode in depth. 
 
 Ores from the Rosario have frequently a high assay for gold, and 
 sometimes native gold visible in specks on the surface. In many in- 
 stances those ores hold 70 per cent, of copper and 5 oz. of gold to the 
 ton ; but when a quantity of this percentage is obtained, they are re- 
 mitted direct to Europe without reduction, and leave a large profit. 
 
 Argentina [Oj'o de Agua]. — Very wide veins of auriferous iron-ore, 
 which ought to hold a proportion of gold, exist in the neighbourhood. 
 
 Guayco. — A"riferous ores are said to exist in the adjacent mountains ; 
 there are many open superficial workings on quartz veins, in some of 
 which native gold is visible. 
 
 A report by Ford, a former Secretary of Legation in the Argentine 
 Republic, states that the mines in the province of La Rioja contain gold. 
 They are considered amongst the richest in the Republic, particularly 
 those situated in the district of Famatina. The mines in the province of 
 San Juan contain gold. El Morado is the name given to a mine from 
 which gold is extracted, yielding on an average 10 oz. of the precious 
 
AMERICA, S. : ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. 
 
 207 
 
 metal to the Spanish ton. Gold and silver are also met with in the 
 district of Tontal. The province of Mcndoza is rich in gold-mines ; and 
 in that of Catamarca copper is largely extracted, containing a consider- 
 able quantity of gold. 
 
 Captain Andrews (1827) mentions the lavaderos (alluvial gold-wash- 
 ings) of the Rinconada, and regrets that those of Jujuy, so much spoken 
 of as producing abundance of gold in dust, grains {pepitas), and scales 
 {lainin(e\ yielding never less than 23 carats, have been abandoned, with- 
 out being a third worked, for want of a pump. 
 
 A writer in 1830 describes the gold-mines of the Cerro Morado, of the 
 Famatina range, (prov. La Rioja), and the mode of clearing water from the 
 mines by hide buckets, the inefficiency of which has caused several mines of 
 reputed value to be abandoned : (in Mexico, these hide buckets answer well). 
 In the Cerro Morado, vast masses of syenitic greenstone and quartzosc 
 rocks are imbedded in, or alternated with, the clay-slate superimposed on 
 the gneiss. The elevations of this Cerro are intersected with broad veins 
 containing a friable and highly ferruginous indurated earth of a composite 
 nature, but exhaling a strong argillaceous odour. This earth contains 
 deposit^ of auriferous cellular quartz, in which, iron, variously oxidated, but 
 chiefly n scaly oxides, is interspersed, and is apparently the agent in 
 the disintegration going on in the quartz. Large specimens of this quartz, 
 with fine grains of gold here .uid there visible on the surface, may be ob- 
 tained ; copper- and iron-pyrites, said also to be auriferous, occur in these 
 veins. Veins of pure scaly oxide of iron arc also to bt met with, and are 
 likewise regarded by the native miners as creadtros, or indications of the 
 proximity of gold. Some of these auriferous veins attain the breadth of 
 several yards, and, in 1827, yielded i to 20 or more oz. of gold in 50 cwt. 
 of ore. Two of them are worked with profit. Much gold doubtless 
 exists in this district ; and it would perhaps not be difficult to extend the 
 present works without risking any great amount of capital. The highest 
 part of the Mejicana (a portion of the Famatina range) is called the 
 Espina, and contains several mines and veins of silver. The ore of this 
 elevation is a black, or greyish-black earthy sulphuret of silver, either pure 
 or more or less dispersed in a quartzose and hornstone gangue, and con- 
 taining a proportion of gold sufficient to give the silver produced a yellow 
 tinge. The veins of the Mejicana dip 70° to 75° N.E. The inclemency 
 of this region is excessive. 
 
 More recent information is contributed by Egerton, Secretary of 
 Legation in 1881, who says that perhaps the best known Argentine 
 mines are those of Famatina, in the Mejicana range, in the province of 
 Rioja. The formation is Silurian. The copper ores of this region yield 
 an average of 27 to 30 per cent, of copper, and there is always gold or 
 silver — generally both — present, while gold in veins is distributed in the 
 
 ■\ m 
 
 A 
 
 \m 
 
 mm 
 
: 
 
 I 
 
 !:; 
 
 \\m 
 
 208 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ferruginous quart^:. As a rule, in this district, the veins are of two 
 classes : in some, there is alternate porous quartz with sulphuret of silver, 
 iron- and copper-pyrites, grey antimonial and arsenical copper, galena, 
 and blende, the mineral becoming more compact and full of sulphuret 
 after a certain depth. Such is the principal vein, the Upulungo and 
 other metalliferous veins are more homogeneous, containing large quan- 
 tities of grey copper, v/ith some gold, but no silver. 
 
 Of the very great richness in ore of the Mejicana range, there need be 
 no doubt. The main obstacle in the way of mining here is the position 
 of the mines, 16,000 or 17,000 ft. above the sea-level, near the summit 
 of the range, the ores having to be carried into the valley by mules, a 
 descent of more than 10,000 ft., the village of Famatina being 5600 ft. 
 above sea-level. The distance from thence to the nearest stats .1. on the 
 Cordova line is considerably over 100 miles. 
 
 In Jujuy, which is in a very backward state, there is little enterprise 
 and less capital ; and silver and gold are sought for in a very primitive 
 manner. The .'•o-called mines are chiefly in the department of Timbaya, 
 Tilcara, and Cochinaco. There is a vein, the Carmen, in the Rinconada, 
 which is said to be very rich in gold. In the province of Salta, during 
 the Spanish times, gold was found and collected in various districts, chiefly 
 in the Ca'chequi valley. 
 
 Gold used in former days to be got at the Gualilan and Guachi mines, 
 in the Pismanti and Jachal vnlleys. The mines of Carolina, in the 
 province of San Luis, used to be fanxous, the Sierra of San Luis, near 
 Tomalasta, in which they are situated, abounding in auriferous quartz 
 mixed with pyrites and iron. The mountains of Cordova contain uch 
 silver-quartz veins, copper-pyrites, and argentiferous lead ; and the Sierra 
 de la Pumilla appears especially full of gold, the matrix veins of which 
 are chiefly of white, bluish, or rose-coloured quartz. The districts of 
 El Patacon, Bragada, and Caleca, in this range, are the best known in 
 this respect. 
 
 According to St. John Wileman (1882), gold-mines are being worked 
 on a small scale and in the rudest manner in the states of San Luis, 
 Mendoza, San Juan, Cordova, and La Rioja. The yield of pure gold 
 obtained from imperfect crushings varies, according to the character of 
 each specific reef and depth of working, from ij to 15 oz. per ton of 
 quartz or pyrites. Moreover, the alluvial gold-deposits or " placers " 
 situated in the states of San Luis and Jujuy, give an average yield of yV 
 to ^ oz. pure gold per cub. yd. of pay-dirt passed through the sluices. 
 " Nothing but capital and honest capable management are required to 
 ensure far .nore durable and lucrative results from gold-mining in this 
 country than can be anticipated in India, even on the assumption that 
 Indian mines will give as high a yield as their prospectuses indicate." 
 
AMERICA, S. : BOLIVIA. 
 
 209 
 
 Bolivia. — Though silver is the staple metal of Bolivia, gold in con- 
 siderable abundance has been found in the mountainous districts ; but the 
 mines have not been worked to the extent of their capabilities, owing 
 to the expense of treating the ores. In these lodes, the gold mostly 
 occurs in admixture with antimony, silver, and other substances, neces- 
 sitating metallurgical processes for its complete extraction. The mountain 
 of Illimani, according to Keith Johnston, is believed to contain great 
 quantities of gold, in consequence of that metal having been found 
 profusely deposited hi the lake of Illimani at its base. In the 17th 
 centurj', an Indian found here, not far from the city of La Paz, a mass of 
 native gold, said to have been detached from tiie mountain bj' lightning, 
 and which was sold for $11,269 (i787/-)> ^"<i placed in the Natural 
 History Museum at Madrid. The bulk of the Bolivian gold, however, is 
 alluvial, obtained from the lavaderos or washings in the beds of streams, 
 the most productive of which are the celebrated ones of Tipuart, fed by 
 streai; from the snovz-capped peaks of the Cordillera ol Ancuma, about 
 60 " leagues " north-east of La Paz, in the province of Larecaja. The 
 precious metal is found mpepitas or grains 10 to 12 yd. below the surface, 
 imbedded in a clay stratum several feet thick. These washings were 
 worked by the Peruvian Incas, whose tools are occasionally found buried 
 in the alluvion, and almost invariably in the richc *■ spots. The placers 
 and quartz veins of Chaquecamata, in the province of Ayopaya, in 
 Cochabamba, are also famous, and their yield up to 1847 was valued at 
 8,000,000/. Several districts in Potosi, Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, and 
 Tarija are also rich in gold. 
 
 From Humboldt, it appears that the gold minted in the years 1780 to 
 1 790 was of the following value : — 
 
 V 
 
 vi 
 
 m 
 
 ■■'' .... 
 
 
 ■Ma 
 
 Year. 
 1780 
 1781 
 1782 
 
 1783 
 1784 
 
 c 
 
 Year. 
 
 176 
 
 1786 
 
 80 
 
 1787 
 
 no 
 
 1788 
 
 92 
 
 1789 
 
 76 
 
 1790 
 
 tl 
 
 120 
 94 
 
 97 
 J 
 
 110 
 
 Prof Soetbcer continues it for the years 1 791-1803, thus : — 
 
 Year. 
 179I 
 1792 
 1793 
 
 J 794 
 1795 
 1796 
 
 1797 
 
 £. 
 
 Year. 
 
 98 
 
 1798 
 
 58 
 
 1799 
 
 88 
 
 1800 
 
 no 
 
 180I 
 
 102 
 
 1802 
 
 143 
 
 1803 
 
 203 
 
 
 L 
 
 231 
 142 
 168 
 175 
 
 I2Q 
 140 
 
 
 He also gives a recapitulatory tabic of the silver and gold production 
 
 
,!!i 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 ■l .' 
 
 2IO 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of Bolivia from 1545 to 1875, the latter part of which may be translated 
 as follows ; — 
 
 Period. 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total Gold. 
 
 Yearly Averag'.-. 
 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 £■ 
 
 1545-1560 
 
 16 
 
 35,200 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1561-1580 
 
 20 
 
 35,200 
 
 1,760 
 
 111,600 
 
 1581-1600 
 
 20 
 
 52,800 
 
 2,460 
 
 167,400 
 
 160I-1620 
 
 20 
 
 52,800 
 
 2,460 
 
 167,400 
 
 1621-1640 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139.500 
 
 164I-1660 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 i66i-i68o 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1681-1700 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139.500 
 
 1701-1720 
 
 20 
 
 26,400 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 1721-1740 
 
 20 
 
 26,400 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 ^741-1760 
 
 20 
 
 26,400 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 1761-1780 
 
 20 
 
 35. 200 
 
 1,760 
 
 111,600 
 
 1781-1800 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1801-1810 
 
 lO 
 
 22,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 18U-1820 
 
 10 
 
 13.200 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 1821-1830 
 
 10 
 
 8,800 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 83,700 
 
 1831-1840 
 
 10 
 
 13.200 
 
 1,320 
 
 : 841-1850 
 
 10 
 
 13.200 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,70fj 
 
 1851-1855 
 
 s 
 
 11,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139.500 
 
 1856-1860 
 
 s 
 
 11,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1861-1865 
 
 s 
 
 11,U0U 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1866-1870 
 
 s 
 
 11,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 1870-1875 
 
 5 
 
 22,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 
 
 Total production. 
 
 
 1545-1850 
 
 306 
 
 580,800 
 
 36,828,000 
 
 1851-1876 
 
 25 
 
 66,000 
 
 4.1 
 
 85,300 
 
 1545-1875 
 
 331 
 
 646,8001b. 
 
 41,013,000/. 
 
 The following valuable remarks were kindly prepared by J. B. 
 Minchin, a recent traveller in Bolivia, at the request of the author. 
 They form the most important contribution to the knowledge existing 
 on the subject. 
 
 GOLD-DEPOSITS IN BOLIVIA. 
 
 " The most extensive gold-region of Bolivia is probably that of the La Paz Cordil- 
 lera ; it is known to extend through the province of Caupolican, and through the 
 Peruvian provinces still further north ; but I am acquainted with it myself only south 
 of the isth parallel. Its southern limit is not definitely known, but it probably extends 
 with some interruptions to the neighbourhood of Cochabamba, where the rich deposits 
 of Chaquccamata have been worked. Gold is met with throughout this region 
 on both sides of the mountains, but the deposits on the north-cast side appear to be 
 far richer, both in quantity and quality. On this side, gold-bearing quartz veins are 
 found at great altitudes, and have been imperfectly worked at Yani, a village situated 
 on one of the spurs of the Sorata mountain. 
 
 " On descending the deep ravines which slope towards the plains of the Amazon, 
 extremely rich deposits arc encountered along the river courses. The quebradas of 
 Tipuani and Cajones are notable instances. The gold in these cases is found col- 
 lecicd on the bed-rock, usually 25 to 40 ft., and sometimes more, below the river level ; 
 also under \\Kt playas or level banks occurring at intervals. This bed-rock is occasion- 
 
AMERICA, S. : BOLIVIA. 
 
 21 1 
 
 ally composed of more or less inclined slate strata ; at other places it is a hard ferru- 
 ginous conglomerate, no doubt itself overlying the slate. 
 
 " In addition to the deposits in the rivers, the hills along each S"" . j of the ravines 
 contain in many places gold-bearing strata. These, in the Tipuani quebrada, which I 
 have myself examined, present at some points facilities for being worked by the 
 hydraulic system, by utilizing the water of certain streams which descend from great 
 heights to the main river, and by means of which, employing suitable hose, a vast 
 extent of ground might be washed down at a comparatively low cost. The work 
 has, however, hitherto been almost exclusively confined to extracting gold from the 
 bed-rock below the river, on which it is nearly everywhere met v/ith, at some points in 
 great quantities. The problem has been to reach this depth and extract the water 
 which p-ircolates into the workings. Tn some cases, this has been done by means of 
 water-wheels, moved by streams brought at considerable cost round the foot of the 
 hills, and working pumps ; in other cases, by actually baling the water out, tiers of 
 Indians being employed to pass the buckets from one to another. 
 
 " The late Sefior Villamil, for many years sub-Prefect of the province, and who had 
 on this account facilities for obtaining Indian labour, worked the Tipuani deposits more 
 extensively than any one else ; and though his operations were conducted in a more 
 or less primitive and imperfect manner, it is estimated that he took out nearly 
 $2,000,000 (400,000/.) worth of gold. On visiting Europe, when already an old man, 
 and seeing the powerful machinery employed here in mines, he is reported to have 
 exclaimed, in a conversation on Tipuani, ' Con veinte alios mas de vida, y la expericn;:ia 
 que yo tengo, que Napoleon, le compraria su Francia !' 
 
 " At Chuchiplaya, situated a few miles below the village of Tipuani, a wide pit was 
 sunk with some difficulty to the bed-rock (here about 10 yd. below), and gold-dirt 
 giving 2 and 3 oz. to the batea, or small wooden dish, was taken out ; but the machinery 
 for extracting the water appears to have broken down, and the work was abandoned. 
 
 " The rugged nature of the country on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the want of 
 roads even for mules, and the consequent difficulty j.' introducing any kind of 
 machinery, has hitherto proved the chief obstacle to the extensive working of the 
 gold-mines. This obstacle will probably be to a great extent overcome when lines of 
 communication are established by way of the Amazon. The high quality of the gold, 
 its well-known abundance, and the many other valuable products of this region, such as 
 cinchona-bark, coffee, and c. offer a great inducement for the investment of 
 
 capital. 
 
 "The cultivation of cinchona, wnich 1, now Ijccoming of importan c in this region, 
 will also have the effect of facilitating commnuication with th<- Pacific ; the distance, 
 indeed, across the mountains is comparatively sh> t to Lake T. caca, the steamers on 
 which connect with the Puno R?ilway, and by this with the sea-coast. 
 
 "The climate of the mines is usually good; that of the quartz rin region, at a 
 height of say io,coo ft. above sea-level, is particularly healthy, .u i crtain points 
 of some of the low and deep ravines, intermittent fevers pievail, no doubt due to the 
 rank vegetation and to the hardships suffered by all who i.uw go there, from the want 
 of proper food. Almost everything is at present carried on the backs of Indians from 
 the town of Sorata, from La Paz, or from some point bordering on the high table-land ; 
 most of the passes across this part of the Andes are at a height . rather over 15,000 
 ft. above sea-level. Besides the mines of Chaquecamata, g' ' ' ts still farther south 
 through the province of Chayanta, and is met with at the Km^onada on the Argentine 
 frontier. 
 
 " Gold-mines also exist in Eastern Bolivia. The Jesuits are said to have 
 worked extensively among the low hills of San Simon on the river Itenez ; and an 
 experienced Californian miner, who visited the spot, has informed me that he found 
 rich quartz veins, and took away some fine specimens, which attracted much attention 
 in ban Francisco. But here again the want of roads, and the fact of the navigation of 
 
 P 2 
 
 1i 
 
 
 ' ? '-Vi 
 
 Wf 
 
 
 
 
 
212 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the Itenez being cut off from direct communication with the Amazon by the falls of 
 the Madeira, prevents anything being done to work them. 
 
 " Further up the Itenez, in the neighbourhood of the old city of Matto Grosso, 
 gold is worked to some extent by the Indians and negroes, who are, however, 
 frequently disturbed by the incursions of savage tribes. San Javier, in the 
 province of Chiquitos, is another extensive gold-region, occupying probably nearly loo 
 sq. miles of low hilly country. Work is carried on at present in a primitive manner 
 at Santa Rosa, a mining village of some 2500 inhabitants, engaged exclusively in this 
 pursuit. The gold, of a very fine quality, is met with in the widt; ravines a kw 
 yards below the surface in strata overlying the slate bed-rock ; the distribution appears 
 to be irregular, many of the workings yielding well, while others in the neighbourhood 
 are almost unproductive. Not even cradles are employed ; the dirt is exclusively 
 washed in small wooden hand-basins. 
 
 J. B. MiNCHiN, Assoc.-M. Inst. C.E." 
 
 The province in which the present city of La Paz is situated was 
 formerly known by the name of Chuquiyapu, which, in the native 
 language, is commonly thought to signify c/iacra, or an " inheritance of 
 gold," and is locally and corruptly called Chuquiabo. Along the valley 
 Dc la Paz, flows a pretty large river ; when it is increased, either by rains, 
 or the melting of the snow on the mountain, its current forces along huge 
 masses of rock, with some grains of gold, which are found after the flood 
 has subsided. (Pinkerton's Voyages.) 
 
 On the Llisa and Condormanana hills, near San Andres de Mochaca, 
 veins of gold have been found, as well as in Vilaquil, 18 miles from La 
 Paz, where ancient winnowing-grounds have been recognized {Nature, v. 
 412). Mathews (1878) states that a great deal of gold is found in almost 
 all the ravines forming the head-waters of the Beni and Mamord rivers 
 (the two principal affluents of the Madeira), and that most of the streams 
 descending to the Itenez, from the CordilhH" Ccral, in Brazil, have 
 auriferous sands. Whilst he was in Sucre, a Chilian expedition 
 returned from the Sierra of St. Simon, with very encouraging 
 accounts and specimens of the gold-quartz found there. Orton (1876) 
 alludes to the Beni as draining " the valleys of Yungus and Apollo, rich 
 in gold." 
 
 Brazil. — Gold occurs in Brazil in quartz veins traversing clay-slates, 
 mica-slates, and other metamorphic icks, among which is the itacolumit-i" ; 
 in certain iron-ores, called itabirite .md jacutinga ; and in the drift clays 
 and gravels, and alluvial sands and gravels, arising from the disintegration 
 of the former. The most important auriferous district is in the vicinity of 
 Ouro Preto, in the province of Minas Geracs. The only gold-mine yet 
 opened in northern Brazil is at Tury-assu, province of Maranhao. Con- 
 cessions have been granted for this purpose, in many parts of Bahia, 
 Pernambuco, Parahyba, Piauhy, Goyaz, Ceard, and Sao Paulo, some of 
 which will undoubtedly be productive. Gokl 's known at Ca^apava, 
 Rio Pardo, Santa Maria, and Cruz Alta, province of Rio Grande do Sul, 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 213 
 
 
 southern Brazil ; and many more localities will be added to the list when 
 this gigantic country shall have been thoroughly explored. 
 
 Touching the gold-production of Brazil from 1691 to 1875, Prof. 
 Soetbeer gives the following summary : — 
 
 
 Periods. 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Annual Average. 
 
 
 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 i, 
 
 
 
 1691-1700 
 
 10 
 
 33.000 
 
 3.300 
 
 209,250 
 
 
 
 1 701-1720 
 
 20 
 
 121,000 
 
 6,050 
 
 383.625 
 
 
 
 1721-1740 
 
 20 
 
 389,400 
 
 19.470 
 
 1.234.575 
 
 
 
 1741-1760 
 
 20 
 
 642,400 
 
 32,120 
 
 2,036,700 
 
 
 
 1761-I780 
 
 20 
 
 455.400 
 
 22,770 
 
 1,443,825 
 
 
 
 1781-1800 
 
 20 
 
 239.800 
 
 11,990 
 
 760,275 
 
 
 
 1801-1810 
 
 10 
 
 82,500 
 
 8,250 
 
 523.125 
 
 
 
 1811-1820 
 
 10 
 
 38,720 
 
 3.872 
 
 245.520 
 
 
 
 1821-1830 
 
 10 
 
 48,400 
 
 4,840 
 
 306,900 
 
 
 
 1831-1840 
 
 10 
 
 66,000 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,500 
 
 
 
 1841-1850 
 
 10 
 
 52,800 
 
 5,280 
 
 334.800 
 
 
 
 1851-1855 
 
 5 
 
 24,200 
 
 4,840 
 
 306,900 
 
 
 
 1856-1860 
 
 5 
 
 23.320 
 
 4,664 
 
 295.740 
 
 
 
 1861-1865 
 
 5 
 
 26,400 
 
 5,280 
 
 334.800 
 
 
 
 1866-1870 
 
 s 
 
 19,250 
 
 3.850 
 
 244,125 
 
 
 
 1871-1875 
 
 5 
 
 18,920 
 
 3,784 
 
 239.940 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 Total production. 
 
 
 
 1691-1850 
 
 160 
 
 2,169,420 
 
 137.560,950/. 
 
 
 
 1851-1875 
 
 25 
 
 112,090 
 
 7.107.525/- 
 
 
 
 169I-1875 
 
 i8s 
 
 2,281,5101b. 
 
 144,668,475/. 
 
 
 According to Dietzsch (Min. Jl., xlix. 347), since the discovery of gold 
 in 1693 to the present time, the quantity extracted in Brazil may be 
 computed in round figures at 2,000,000 lb. troy. By far the greates*. propor- 
 tion of this has been derived from alluvial deposits by river washing. 
 Along the Rio das Velhas, and its tributaries, as well as those of the Doce 
 river, there is ample evidence (in gravel heaps, &c.) of the amount of 
 work performed. The principal period of this washing has been from 
 1695 to about 1825. 
 
 The exports of gold from Rio de Janeiro in 1879 were 1,187,638 milreis 
 (120,248/.) to Great Britain, 2424 (245/.) to Germany, 38,830 (3931/.) to 
 France; total, 1,228,892 (124,424/.); in 1879-80, they were 1,926,306 
 (195,038/.) to Great Britain. 
 
 Quitting statistics, the most reliable and exhaustive account of the 
 gold-mines and auriferous gravels of Brazil is that given by Hartt, one 
 of the members of Agassiz's scientific exploring party. He discusses the 
 subject under the heads of the several provinces, as follows. 
 
 Rio de Janeiro. — At Cantagallo, during the reign of the first Viceroy 
 of Brazil, gold was discovered by certain seekers and smugglers 
 {garimpeiros), who, quietly taking possession of the place for many years, 
 extracted gold in secret, and it was a long time before the Brazilian 
 
 %$ 
 
 ^I'ii 
 
 m. 
 
M 
 
 m 
 
 ■I: 
 '.if 
 
 214 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 government discovered the region whence so much gold found its way to 
 the capital. Mawe says that the rock of the locality is granite, composed 
 of felspar, hornblende, quartz, and mica, sometimes holding garnets — 
 evidently gneiss, like that of the Serra do Marto, to the westward. He 
 states that the gold comes from the lowest bed of cascalho or gravel, 
 occurring always in rounded grains, and that he never saw a crystallized 
 specimen. Gold and ferric oxide were the only metallic substances found 
 here. At the time of Mawe's visit (1808), so little gold was extracted, 
 that the guinto or royalty claimed by the government scarcely sufficed to 
 pay the officers and soldiers appointed to collect it. Von Tschudi says 
 that the gold of Cantagallo came from the bed of a stream. Gold was also 
 formerly washed in Santa Rita, a place about 5 Brazilian leagues north- 
 east of Cantagallo. Mawe describes the gold as occurring in a bed of 
 cascalho or quartz gravel, overlaid by earth. The layer of cascalho varies 
 in thickness from 2 ft. to 7 or 8 in., and lies under a thickness of 4 or 5 ft. 
 of earth. The Cantagallo region was never very rich in gold. 
 
 Espiritu Santo. — In 1723, the first settlers on the Itapemerim discovered 
 gold in one of its affluents on the north, called Rio do Castello. A decree 
 of the 17th September of the following year determined that the auriferous 
 lands should be divided into small portions among all those who wished 
 to employ themselves in the labour of mining, with the condition that they 
 should subject themselves to the laws of the sesmarias and to the impost 
 on the gold. A gold-washing town was established at the confluence 
 of the Castello with the Itapemerim ; but the hopes of a rich yield proved 
 deceptive, and the Corografia Brasilica, published in 18 17, speaks of 
 these mines as having been abandoned on account of the incursions of the 
 Indians. It appears that in certain places on the head-waters of the Rio 
 Mangarahy, traces of wash-gold were found ; at least the names California 
 de Dentro (in the colony) and California de Fora (on the southern bank 
 of the Rio do Meio) would indicate it. 
 
 Minas Geraes. — Gold and diamonds occur in the Serra do Grao 
 Mogor. Spix and Martius, who visited it, describe it as being only about 
 4300 ft. high. The prevailing formation of this region is quartzose slate. 
 Boulders of white quartz are abundantly scattered over the surface, and 
 contain asbestos. The drift, as well as the sand and gravel of the streams 
 in the vicinity of Sucuriu, contains gold, but in small quantities. Hartt 
 saw a few old abandoned workings. The Ribeirao do Meio is a brook 
 emptying into the Capivary, from whose sands gold has been got. 
 
 In 1727, Sebastiao Leme do Prado, with a band of Paulistas, travelling 
 northward through the province of Minas, discovered gold in the river 
 Bom Successo, and gave it the name which it bears. He established here 
 regular mining operations, and founded the city now known as Minas 
 Novas, which grew to be a flourishing town. The precious metal was 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 215 
 
 also discovered elsewhere in the vicinity, and in especial abundance on 
 the hills bordering the Rio Capivary, near the Arraial da Chapada, 
 where it was very extensively mined. The gold was principally obtained 
 from the sands and gravel of the river, and from the gravel sheet under- 
 lying the drift-clays on the slopes and tops of the hills. Very little gold 
 was extracted from the quartz veins, some of which were known to be 
 richly auriferous. The hills are dry, and water is to be found only in the 
 rivers, which, during the greater part of the year, afford a good supply, so 
 that the washing of the gravels on the high grounds was attended with 
 much difficulty. Ditches or regas were dug round the hills to collect 
 rain-water, which was brought into tanks, and in some of the washings 
 all the water used was derived from this source. At Minas Novas and 
 Chapada, washings said to be rich were pointed out to Hartt as 
 abandoned because of the scarcity of water, when 100 ft. below tumbled 
 a dashing stream. 
 
 Notwithstanding the disadvantages under which these old miners 
 laboured, a large extent of ground was worked over, and an immense 
 quantity of gold was extracted ; according to one authority, 300 arrobas 
 (97 II lb.) were sent to Bahia alone. Many large nuggets were dis- 
 covered in these mines. In the Lavra do Batatal, a lump weighing 28 lb. 
 was found. In 1746, diamonds were discovered in the vicinity of 
 Diamantina, and Government prohibited the extraction of gold in order 
 to encourage the search for diamonds. This prohibition put a stop to the 
 gold-mining of Minas Novas, and, though the prohibition has been 
 removed, the blow has been fatal, for little gold-mining has since been 
 carried on, and the present (1870) inhabitants content themselves with 
 agricultural pursuits, or help to swell the number of miners who wash for 
 diamonds on the Rio Jequitinhonha. The gold-mines are to-day 
 practically abandoned, but the idea that they were worked out is very 
 erroneous. At Minas Novas and Chapada, the rocks are slates and 
 quartzites, and resemble very closely those of the gold-region of Nova 
 Scotia. Indeed, it was the strong resemblance borne by the slates of 
 Calhdo and the vicinity to the Nova .Scotian gold-bearing rocks that 
 aroused Hartt's interest, and led him to turn out of his way to visit Minas 
 Novas. These rocks evidently overlie the mica-slates which flank 
 the gneiss of the coast belt, and Hartt believes they will prove to be 
 Silurian in age, perhaps of the Quebec group. At Minas Novas, their 
 strike is N. 42° to 50° E., and their dip is vertical. They are traversed 
 by great numbers of milky-quartz veins, some of which are well known 
 to be auriferous, and are of considerable dimensions. 
 
 In an enormous gully cut out by the surface waters in the hillside 
 above the cemetery on the Bom Successo, at Minas Novas, are several 
 fine veins of corrugated quartz, which appear to have precisely the same 
 
 
 ■ I'. :*i 
 
I i 
 
 2l6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 structure as the barrel quartz of Nova Scotia. These veins run nearly 
 vertically through the rock, and may be beds instead of veins. As they 
 are exposed in the cliff, they present the appearance of vertical nssures, in 
 which, cylindrical masses of quartz are piled in a single row, their ends 
 projecting like logs. Some of these cylinders of quartz are 2 ft. in 
 diameter. Hartt spent some time in an examination of this vein for gold, 
 but could detect none. The large size of the quartz veins of the vicinity 
 maybe inferred from the dimensions of the quartz boulders scattered over 
 the surface, some of which weigh many tons. Hartt is not aware that 
 any auriferous vein has been worked at or near Minas Novas, but at the 
 Arraial da Chapada several were anciently more or less exploited. A 
 rich vein, according to universal testimony, crosses the praqa and it is 
 well known th-jt a miner followed it in secret, until he undermined his 
 neighbour's house, when his secret was let out. There one hears the 
 terms " vein " and " gravel " gold, and Hartt saw many beautiful specimens 
 of crystallized gold in the hands of the inhabitants, some taken directly 
 from quartz veins, others obtained from quartz boulders. There can be 
 no doubt that rich auriferous lodes exist in the neighbourhood, which 
 have never been explored, and which one day must be developed ; for all 
 the gold which so richly abounds in the drift, must have come from the 
 underlying rocks. 
 
 The decomposed rock is immediately overlaid by a sheetof f<a;jm///<?or 
 quartz pebbles, whose thickness varies from a few inches to 8 or more ft. 
 The pebbles are of all sizes, and are more or less rounded. Hartt 
 observed in several localities that there were large boulders lying in this 
 gravel, just above the rock. The cascaiho is often so cei. .nted by ferric 
 oxide as to form a conglomerate, which requires to be broken up before 
 it is washed for gold. Like the drift pebble sheet of the coast, it forms a 
 concentric layer wrapped over the whole rock surface of the hills, and it is 
 found lying on very high slopes and piled up in masses such as water 
 never deposits. 
 
 It is in the cascaiho that the greater part of the gold of Minas Novas 
 and vicinity occurs. Over this gravel lies a mass of red drift-clay, 
 varying very much in thickness, from a few inches to 50 ft. or more. 
 This is, like the drift-clays of the coast, a homogeneous mass, through 
 which are scattered from time to time angular and rounded quartz 
 boulders of large size. Over large tracts between Minas Novas and the 
 Arraial da Chapada, this sheet of clay is so thin that the cascaiho bed lies 
 on the surface, and the country is consequently stony and barren. The 
 clay contains sometimes more or less gold. It is, however, to the cascaiho 
 sheets that the search for the precious metal has been principally confined. 
 The gold occurs disseminated through the gravel in flattened grains, and 
 in occasional nuggets of considerable size, which are always in a crushed 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 217 
 
 and battered state. The process of extraction is similar to that de- 
 scribed by Mawe, as employed at the mines of Jaragud, in Sao Paulo. It 
 consists in stripping off the clay sheet down to the gravel, which is 
 broken up and washed on the spot in rude trenches, to separate the 
 pebbles, when the auriferous mud and sand are washed in the batea or 
 wooden washing-pan. A large number of the washings are situated on 
 the tops of hills, or slopes at some height above the water of the stream ; 
 and in these cases, washing is performed through the aid of rain-water. 
 In several localities, water is conducted to the washings from streams. 
 Some of the old regas or ditches are still visible, running for miles around 
 the hills. The supply of rain-water is of course sufficient only during 
 the rainy season, so that washing operations had to be suspended for the 
 rest of the year. 
 
 In the old washings, as in that above the cemetery at Minas Novas, 
 or the Lavra da Santa Cruz, at the junction of the Rios Fanada and 
 Bom Successo, the gravel lies in great piles. At the Arraial da 
 Chapada, the same thing is seen ; but there the whole tops of hills have 
 been deprived of their clay coating, and washed over, so that to-day they are 
 hoary with the quartz boulders that remain, the testimony of a departed 
 industry. Hartt was informed that the custom with the miners was, as 
 a general thing, to wash the gravel on the spot. It seems wonderful 
 that when the washing was near a river or stream, the gravel was not 
 sent down to this stream to be washed. To-day the washings, though 
 owned by private individuals, who to some extent know their value, are 
 unworked, the owners finding it more profitable to pursue agriculture, or 
 wash for diamonds in the Jequitinhonha. The abundance of gold over 
 this region may be seen from the nuggets in the possession of the 
 ptjople, and which have been picked up on the hill-sides or in rain- 
 gullies. After rain, one sees in the ravines the footprints of those who 
 regularly go in search of gold washed out by the surface waters ; and in 
 the streets of Minas Novas and Chapada, little dams are built across the 
 small rain-gullies by the children, to collect water to wash the soil for 
 gold, which they collect in quills, and larger dams are built by the elder 
 members of the population for the same purpose. " No one who has 
 been over the ground as I have (says Hartt), and has seen the 
 irregular way in which the mining has been performed, and the immense 
 area of drift which has yet been untouched — drift rich in gold, as the 
 occasional recent washings testify, can doubt that the region is far from 
 exhausted ; it has only been forgotten." His friend, J. S. Mills, of New 
 York, an excellent geologist, who discussed these observations with him, 
 suggested that the gold probably occurs in bands in the drift, the 
 direction of which might be worked out by a careful topographical 
 survey. With modern mining methods and appliances, they would 
 
 ■ ■ "sSi 
 
 • '^ *i 
 
fl 
 
 ;!i 
 
 2l8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 undoubtedly prove very remunerative. The system of washing by hose- 
 pipes could be employed successfully in many localities. 
 
 Gold also occurs in the gravel and sands of the streams, these loose 
 materials being derived in part from the drift, in part from the decom- 
 posed rock. Near the Arraial da Chapada is an outlier of the Tertiary, 
 called the Serra do Macaco, which forms a very picturesque flat-topped 
 mountain, with escarped sides, in which the horizontal layers of red and 
 white clays are beautifully exhibited. Hartt queries whether the lower 
 beds of this series may not be found to be auriferous in some places. 
 Finally, the sands of the Arassuahy, above the Rio Setubal, or there- 
 abouts, are rich in gold. 
 
 Bahia. — Some of the hills in the Serra de Itardca must be 3000 ft. 
 high or more ; and Prince Neu-Wied says that gold is found here. The 
 mountains in the vicinity of the fazenda of Joazeiro are of granite and 
 gneiss-granite. Gold occurs in veins in the rock, and also in the sands 
 and gravels of the Brumado and other streams, where it is found in grains 
 and nuggets. Spix and Martius speak of one nugget having been found 
 v/eighing 8 lb. Two leagues north of the villa are other gold-deposits, 
 
 Ceard. — Villa das Lavras da Mangabeira is situated close to the Rio 
 Jaguaribe, and takes its name from a number of small gold-washings 
 {lavras) which, from time to time, for many years past, have been 
 wrought in its neighbourhood. Nothing, however, was done to any 
 extent till about 2 years ago, when 2 English miners were sent for by 
 a company in the city of Ceard, the capital of the province. They continued 
 their labours till about 2 months before Hartt passed through the place, 
 having been recalled by their employers. He could not learn what 
 amount of gold they had obtained, but the persons of whom he made 
 inquiries remarked, with apparently much truth, that they did not believe it 
 was sufficient to repay the expense, or the work would not have 
 been abandoned. The gold is here found in small particles, in a dark- 
 coloured diluvial soil, at a considerable depth. At Granja, Baturite, 
 Crato, Termo de Milagres, Ipti, Rio Salgoda, from Missao-Velha to 
 Lavras : in all these places, gold occurs in grains or powder in sands, 
 gravels, or clays ; its source is not known. 
 
 Maranhao. — Gold occurs in the province of Maranhao, and has been 
 worked by a mining company ; but Hartt was unable to obtain facts 
 bearing upon the nature of the deposits, or their yield. The two principal 
 mines are those of Tur/ and Maracassume, 
 
 Goyas. — Gold is found in many localities in the province of Goyaz. 
 The country in the vicinity of the capital is largely auriferous. Castelnau 
 speaks of the occurrence of the precious metal at the following localities : — 
 Rio Vermelho, Rio Bagagem, Serra Dourado, Districto de Ouro Fino, 
 Morro do Calisto, Districto da Anta, Thesouras, Rio Claro, Julgado de 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 219 
 
 Crixas, Natividade, Trahiras, &c. In the valley of the Paraguay, near 
 Cuiubd and Diamantino, diamonds and gold occur in abundance. 
 
 Provinces South of Rio. — At Itvi, a short distance from Sao Paulo, the 
 Rio Tiete is represented by Major James as cutting through horizontal 
 deposits of red sandstone and conglomerate ; and this is the material which 
 is used to pave the streets of the capital : as Fletcher and Mawe have 
 remarked, the rock contains gold. Mawe, speaking of the streets of Sao 
 Paulo, says the pavement is an " alluvial formation, containing gold, many 
 particles of which are found in the chinks and hollows, after heavy rains, 
 and at such seasons are sought for by the poorer sort of people." 
 
 Westward of Sao Paulo, are some high hills, the most conspicuous 
 being Jaragud, in whose vicinity gold-mines were anciently worked. 
 
 The occurrence of gold in the gneiss regions of the Serra do Mar, at 
 Sao Paulo and Cantagallo, and in the same Eozoic belt on the Mucury, 
 as reported by the engineer Schieber, is interesting, as these rocks 
 are rarely over rich in the precious metal, and the whole gneiss 
 belt of Brazil is remarkably barren of metalliferous deposits of all 
 kinds. 
 
 Gold is said to occur in the Villa de Guarapuava, to the west of the 
 River Tibaji, and elsewhere in the province. Pompeo says the gold-mines 
 of Sao Paulo produced up to the beginning of the present century 4650 
 arrobas (150,520^ lb.) of gold. 
 
 The Gold-mines generally. — In this section, Hartt endeavours to pre- 
 sent such facts as will enable the reader to obtain a fair idea of the mode 
 of occurrence of gold in Brazil, and of the character of the mines. A 
 great amount has been written on the gold-fields of Brazil, but it is for 
 the most part lacking in scientific accuracy, and much of it has rather 
 tended to obscure than throw light upon their real structure. 
 
 The Auriferous rocks. — The Eozoic gneiss of the coast-belt furnishes 
 gold at numerous localities along its whole extent. Hartt thinks that 
 the auriferous deposits occur in the upper part of the gneiss series. Gold 
 is found in the gneisses of the Itacama Mountains. The mines of Jara- 
 gud in Sao Paulo, of Cantagallo in Rio de Janeiro, and of one of the 
 tributaries of the Itapdmerim, are among the most important in this 
 region. Gold also occurs in the gneiss of the Mucury basin, and in the 
 north, as at Piancd Over this whole region, the metal is found rather 
 sparingly, and appears to be derived from the quartz veins traversing the 
 gneiss ; but probably the only instance where gold has been extracted 
 from a quartz vein in the gneiss-belt is the mines on the Rio Bruscus in 
 Parahyba. With this exception, mining has been confined entirely to 
 the washing of the cascalho underlying the drift-clays, and of the gravels 
 and sands of the rivers. These washings have all been abandoned. 
 Between the coast gneiss-belt and the sea, are no auriferous deposits ; 
 
220 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 i 
 
 
 m 
 
 tii 
 
 I 
 
 but In very numerous localities in the interior of the country, the newer 
 metamorphic rocks are rich In gold. 
 
 In the clay-slates, the quartz veins sometimes show free gold, with 
 very little pyrites associated. The auriferous quartz varies much in 
 character. Sometimes it Is compact and milky, at others, as at the Cata 
 Branca mines, it is very granular and sugary. A specimen of vein-quartz 
 with gold, from the mine of Sao Vicente, In Minas Geraes, is composed 
 for the most part of clear, colourless quartz, in rather coarse granules, 
 giving to the rock the appearance of a pure quartz sandstone, or of white 
 lump-sugar (known in Brazil by the name of cacdj ; but in the same 
 specimen, the quartz passes into a more compact bluish rock. 
 
 In the quartz veins, as is elsewhere the case, the rock is not all 
 auriferous, but the gold runs in streaks. The Sao Vicente specimen 
 above described shows well-marked streaks, rich In free gold, which 
 appear to have run parallel with the side of the lode. 
 
 Where the vein-rock Is rich in sulphides, the gold Is, as a rule, not 
 visible, but intimately mixed with the rock. This is the case at Morro 
 Velho. The sulphides consist of magnetic Iron-pyrites, which is the most 
 abundant, and yields a little gold ; common Iron-pyrites is less abundant, 
 and gives more gold ; and mispickel or arsenical iron-pyrites, which is the 
 principal gold-bearer. 
 
 Of the ferruginous deposits, none is more interesting than the so-called 
 jaaitinga formation. Heusser and Claraz (Ann. des Mines, xvil. 290), 
 describe It thus : — 
 
 " L'itabirite est simplement une vari(?ld de fer-oligiste schisteux, qui est accompagnde 
 de quartz et de mica. EUe pr^senvc quelquefois des couches puissantes ct trJ^s- 
 dtendues, qui peuvent etre exploit^es comnie mineral de fer. Quand elle est pulv^ru- 
 lente, on la ddsigne sous le nom de jacotinga^^ 
 
 It is, in fact, a pulverulent variety of itabirite, a name bestowed by 
 Von Eschwege, thus : — 
 
 " Itabirit, — Elsenglimmer, Eisenglanz, meist dichter, auch blattriger, hin-und-wieder 
 magnetischer Eisenstein und wenig Quarz erscheinen, entweder als festes, dichtes 
 Gestein, oder haben ein kornigschiefrlges Gefiige." 
 
 This rock Is composed of micaceous specular Iron ore, compact 
 specular Iron, rarely laminated, a little oxide of Iron and quartz dis- 
 seminated. It is the rock of which the Peak of Itabira and the Serra da 
 Piedade are formed. 
 
 Burton describes /(^a^//;/^^ as of iron-black colour, with metallic lustre, 
 sparkling in the sun with silvery mica ; the large pieces often appear 
 dark reddish-brown, but crumble to a powder almost black. The con- 
 stituents are micaceous iron-schists, and friable quartz mixed with 
 specular iron, oxide of manganese, and fragments of talc. Much of it is 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 221 
 
 foliated. It shows great differences of consistency, some being as hard 
 and compact as haematite, and requiring to be stamped like quartz. 
 In parts it feels soapy, and is not harder than fullers'-earth ; it is easily 
 wetted and pulverized, but hard to dry. 
 
 Gardner describes jacutinga as a soft, friable, greenish-coloured, 
 micaceous iron-schist. Its gold is free. Castclnau says, that at Congo 
 Soco, the gold is always confined to a little vein, which winds about in 
 the rock. This is never more than 5 to 7 millimetres (o* 195 to 0*273 in.) 
 in width, and sometimes it is as thin as a hair. 
 
 In the gold-region, is found an auriferous superficial deposit of broken 
 fragments of ferruginous rocks, cemented together, and called tapanhoa- 
 canga or canga. This formation has been minutely described by Von 
 Eschwege, substantially as follows : — 
 
 The rock is composed of sharp-cornered, angular (rarely slightly 
 rounded) fragments of micaceous iron {eisenglimmer) , specular iron, and 
 magnetic oxide of iron, held together by a red, yellow, or brown, ochreous 
 cement, the fragments being several lines to 8 in. in diameter. It is often 
 very auriferous, and sometimes contains scales of talc and chlorite, and 
 stray fragments of itacolumite. The cement becomes in places so 
 abundant that the imbedded pieces are not visible ; this then forms 
 distinct deposits of red ironstone in thin layers, containing ordinarily many 
 little flakes of mica. The rock is not only found in the valleys and on the 
 slopes of the mountains, but it covers their most elevated ridges and 
 flanks like a sort of mantle, \ \.o \\ toise in thickness [a toise equals 
 6 '395 tt] ; it is in general superimposed upon the ferruginous schist and 
 clay-slate. The most important foreign mineral deposits found in it are 
 brown haematite and wavellite, which occur in considerable masses near 
 Villa Rica. The Serra do Tapanhoacanga, near Congonhas do Campo, 
 province of Minas, whose summit rises to a height of 4800 ft, is com- 
 pletely covered with it over an area of several miles ; all the flank of the 
 mountain where Villa Rica is situated is encrusted with it ; the surface is 
 overturned by the mining works. The Campo de Saramenha, opposite, 
 is as if paved with it. It is abundant along the route from Villa Rica to 
 Serro do Frio ; it is probably also found in the province of Coyaz. 
 
 It is difficult to explain (says Von Eschwege), the origin of this con- 
 glomerate. The angular fragments, the irregularity with which they are 
 piled up one on the other, the manner in which this rock covers, like a 
 coat or glazing, the top and flanks of the m'^untains, tend to make one 
 believe that it is not the result of the rapid degradation of the ferruginous 
 mountains, which formed only the most elevated points in the country, 
 and of which the peak of Itabira, the Serra da Piedade, and others are 
 the remains ; but that it is due to the extremely prompt drying up of the 
 liquid which sojourned formerly on the mountains, and has brought 
 

 222 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 r.i ' 
 I ' i" 
 
 II; 
 
 f:i! 
 
 ■' 1 1 
 
 ' -i ( 
 
 ^ 
 
 there <he fragments which to-day cover them. These could not follow 
 the liquid to the bottom of the valleys, and were arrested like solidified 
 lavas on the midst of the slopes. The disorder with which they are 
 piled up proves sufficiently that the deposit was not gradually made. 
 Castelnau says that the can£-a is certainly of plutonic origin. Glacial 
 drift seems to have been unknown to these geologists. 
 
 Sao Joaod'El Rei mine. — At Sao Joao d'El Rei and Sao ]os6, situated 
 a few miles west of Barbacena, on the Rio das Mortes, arc auriferous 
 deposits formerly worked for many years with great profit. In 1830, an 
 English company leased these mines; but in 1834, they were found 
 unprofitable and were abandoned. Burton says the gold was principally 
 obtained from a lode, which however, he does not describe. The 
 jacutinga formation is said to occur here. 
 
 Ouro Preto. — The country over a very large area in the vicinity of 
 Ouro Preto is very auriferous, and here are situated the richest gold- 
 mines of the empire. The gold occurs primarily in quartz veins traver- 
 sing metamorphic rocks, such as clay-bi tr, mica-slate, iron-schists, &c. ; 
 also disseminated through the rock in some places ; and secondarily 
 it is found wide^y distributed in drift and alluvial sands and gravels. 
 
 Morro Velho. — T'^e celebrated Morro Velho mine is situated on the 
 western side of the valley of the Rio d?"^ Velhas, not far from Sabard. 
 It was long worked by native miners, but on the failure of the mines at 
 f'Pio Joao d'El Rei, it w.is purchased by the " St. John del Rey," company, 
 and has been worked with remarkable success ever since. The gold is 
 extracted from a lode of quartz enclosed in clay-slate. 
 
 Gongo Soco. — The gold-mines of Gongo Soco lie about 20 miles east 
 of Morro Velho, on the opposite side of the valley of the Rio das Velhas. 
 They were very productive, and became famous ; Weddcll says that 
 the old miners once took out 100 lb. in 3 hours ; but through bad 
 management, the compar y that worked them failed. The income of the 
 company during the 30 or more years of its existence was, according to 
 Morae.s, 1,338,416/., of which, 375,163/. was profit. 
 
 Gardner says, on the authority of Helmreichen, that at the Gongo Soco 
 mine there is the following succession of rocks : — a bed of itacohiinite, 
 underneath which is a bed of aurifercMs jacutinga 50 fathoms thick 
 [while Castelnau rays that \hc jacutinga here is ordinarily only 16 centi- 
 metres (6\ in.) in thickness], then a thick layer of ferruginous itacoluniite, 
 v,'ith a dip of 45°, lying on clay-blate, containing masses of iron- 
 stone. U ider'yiug the slates is granite. Castelnau says that these 
 beds '" p S. The gold occurs free in the jacutinga, a.nd is separated 
 by washing. 
 
 Weddell describes the Gongo Soco jacutinga as black and friable as 
 coal ; it was said to be very soft, so as to admit of being worked with a 
 
 A__- 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 223 
 
 pick, and blasting was unnecessary. When the gold was not visible, the 
 ore was st3'.T;3d and washed without using mercury. When the precious 
 metal was visible, it was treated first in a mortar, and then washed in a 
 daUa or wooden washing-bowl. The Gongo Soco gold is deep-yellow 
 in colour, and is said to contain palladium. The gold of Brazil is always 
 alloyed with silver, and occasionally with platina ; sometimes it contains 
 a considerable percentage of iron, when it is very dark in colour. Iridium 
 and irid-osmium occur in the gold-washings of Minas. Burton has seen 
 specimens " of a bright brassy tint, and sometimes dingy red, like worked 
 unpolished copper." 
 
 Rossa Grande. — The Rossa Grande Gold-mining Company owns a 
 tract of land 21 sq. miles in area, not far from the mines of Morro Velho. 
 The gold occurs in a mixture of quartz, sometimes associated with iron- 
 ore, at others with arsenical pyrites, or ferric oxide. Some of these ores 
 are said to be very rich, producing even as much as 50 oitavas (5 oz. 
 15 dwt. 7 gr.) to the ton. Besides the vein-rock, gold occurs \x\ jaaitinga 
 and in alluvial washings. Burton visited me inl.ie, and reported it as 
 looking very much like a failure. 
 
 Morro de Santa Anna. — The Morro de Santa Anna, where the " Dom 
 Pedro North del Rey " Company was established, is a mountain about 
 4000 ft. above the sea and some 2000 ft. above the neighbouring valley. 
 Near Santa Anna is another mine, called Maquine, worked by the 
 company owning the Morro Santa Anna, which has been abandoned. 
 " Out of all the gold-mines of Brazil (says Hartt) only two have paid, — 
 Morro Velho and Maquine. The rest have failed, some of them after a 
 more or less prosperous career, and notoriously in most cases from bad 
 management, and an imprudent outlay of funds." 
 
 Cata Branca. — In 1843, D'Osery, geologist of the expedition of Count 
 Castelnau, visited and examined the Cata Branca mine. He reported 
 the rocks to consist of itacolumitearv^ clay-slates alternating, and in strata 
 almost perpendicular. He describes the auriferous vein as running nearly 
 N.-S., and traversed by fissures or faults in which the gold occurred. It 
 was also found in the fissures for a distance of 2 or 3 palms on each side of 
 the line of the faults, together with bismuth. Sometimes gold was found 
 v.here the vein-quartz came into contact with the enclosing rock ; the 
 interior of the vein was very barren. D'Osery thought that originally 
 the vein was composed of pure quartz, which was afterwards disturbed, 
 and the gold and bismuth introduced by sublimation. The mine proved 
 a failure, because of bad working and want of economy. 
 
 Exhaustion of the Mines. — The generally received impression that 
 the gold-mines of Brazil are exhausted is, in Hartt's opinion, a very great 
 mistake. There are still surface deposits of wide extent which, with 
 modern appliances, could be successfully worked. The underground 
 
 ^r 
 
 .til 1 
 
 ( 1 ' I 
 
 'I 
 
 .'?. 
 
 T m 
 
 ^%\ 
 
il 
 
 m 
 
 
 :1; 
 
 I'Orf 
 
 Hi 
 
 224 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 wealth of the country is almost untouched. In this belief he is sup- 
 ported b> Burton ; and Liais, in treating of the head of the basin of the 
 Sao Francisco, says : — 
 
 " Quant aux filons pyriteux qui abondent dans les rdgions montagneuses circon- 
 scrivant le bassin du SSo Francisco, et ou ses divers affluents prennent leur source, ils 
 ont et^ h. peine attaqu^s. Cast \h. cependant que reside la grande richesse auriffere de 
 la province de Minas Geraes, car c'est de la surface ddcomposde de ces filons pyriteux 
 qu'^tait provenu I'or qui fut jadis retird des d£5p6ts meubles." 
 
 Glacial Drift, — In South America, from Tierra del Fuego northward 
 to at least 41° S., glacial phenomena have been observed and reported by 
 Darwin and others ; and these phenomena appear identical with those so 
 well studied in the northern hemisphere. Drift occurs in the Falkland 
 Islands, Australia, and New Zealand. The antarctic continent is buried 
 in ice and snow. No doubt can exist that a drift period prevailed over 
 the southern part of the southern hemisphere. D'Archiac called attention 
 to the fact that no mention of either striae, furrows, or polished surfaces 
 had been made by those who studied the drift of South America ; and 
 he suggested that it might be perhaps owing to want of attention on the 
 part of travellers. 
 
 When Professor Agassiz claimed, in 1865, to have found glacial drift 
 in the vicinity of Rio, scientific men were astonished, and doubted the 
 correctness of his deductions ; and when from under the equator he 
 reported the discovery of glacial moraines, the statement seemed past 
 belief In connection with a careful description of the Brazilian coast, 
 Hartt noted with much detail the occurrence of certain surface deposits 
 northward to Pernambuco at least, which deposits he claims to be glacial 
 drift. The glacial origin of the tapanhoacanga or canga has been already 
 (p. 222) discussed. 
 
 To this scientific account of the Brazilian auriferous deposits, may be 
 added the testimony of various travellers, foremost among whom is Mawe 
 He first alludes to the old gold-mines of Jaragud, the first discovered in 
 Brazil, and distant about 24 miles from the city of St. Paul. They were 
 famed for the immense treasures they produced nearly two centuries ago, 
 when at the ports of Santos and St. Vincent, whence the gold was shipped 
 for Europe, this district was regarded as the Peru of Brazil. The face of 
 the country is uneven and rather mountainous. Tlie rock, where it 
 exposed, appears to be priraitive granite, inclining to gneiss, with a 
 portion of hornblende, and frequently mica. Tbe soil is red, and remark- 
 ably ferruginous, in many places apparently of great depth. The gold 
 lies, for the most part, in a stratum of rounded pebbles and gravel, called 
 cascalho, immediately incumbent on the solid rock. In the valleys, where 
 there is water, occur frequent excavations, made by the gold-washers, 
 to a considerable extent, some of them 50 or 100 ft. wide, and 18 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 225 
 
 or 20 ft. deep. On many of the hills, where water can be collected for 
 washing, particles of gold are found little deeper than the roots of the 
 grass. 
 
 The mode of working these mines, more fitly to be denominated 
 washings, is simple, and may be easily explained. 
 
 Suppose a loose gravel-like stratum of rounded quartzose pebbles 
 and adventitious matter, incumbent on granite, and covered by earthy 
 matter of variable thickness. Where water of sufficiently high level can 
 be commanded, the ground is cut in steps, each 20 or 30 ft. across, 2 or 3 
 ft. broad, and about i ft. deep. Near the bottom, a trench is cut to the 
 depth of 2 or 3 ft. On each step stand 6 or 8 negroes, who, as the 
 water flows gently from above, keep the earth continually in motion with 
 shovels, until the whole is reduced to liquid mud, and washed below. 
 The particles of gold contained in this earth descend to the trench, 
 where, by reason of their specific gravity, they quickly precipitate. 
 Workmen are continually employed at the trench to remove the stones, 
 and clear away the surface, which operation is much assisted by the 
 current of water which falls into it. After 5 days' washing, the precipita- 
 tion in the trench is carried to some convenient stream, to undergo a 
 second clearance. For this purpose, wooden bowls are provided, of a 
 funnel shape, about 2 ft. wide at the mouth, and 5 or 6 in. deep, called 
 gamellas. Each workman, standing in the stream, takes into his bowl 
 5 or 6 lb. weight of the sediment, which generally consists of heavy 
 matter, such as oxide of iron, pyrites, ferruginous quartz, &c., of a dark 
 carbonaceous hue. They admit certain quantities of water into the 
 bowls, which they move about so dexterously that the precious metal, 
 separating from the inferior and lighter substances, settles to the bottom 
 and sides of the vessel. They then rinse their bowls in a larger vessel of 
 clear water, leaving the gold in it ; and begin again. The washing of 
 each bowlful occupies from 5 to 8 or 9 minutes ; the gold produced 
 is extremely variable in quantity, and in the size of its particles, some of 
 which are so minute that they float, while others are found as large as 
 peas, and not unfrequently much larger. This operation is superintended 
 by overseers, as the result is of considerable importance. When the 
 whole is finished, the gold is borne home to be dried, and at a convenient 
 time is taken to the permutation office, where it is weighed, and a fifth is 
 reserved as royalty. The remainder is smelted by fusion with muriate of 
 mercury, cast into ingots, assayed, and stamped according to intrinsic 
 value, a certificai of which is given ; after a copy has been duly 
 entered at the rrmt office, the ingots circulate as specie. 
 
 The gold-washing at Santa Rita is distant from Cantagallo about 
 5 leagues in a north-east direction. The washing is in a deep ravine. 
 The stratum of cascai/io, which lies under a bed of soil 4 or 5 ft. deep, 
 
 V.H 
 
 
 If I 
 
 ^ Ml 
 
 i '• 
 
 
 I) 
 

 ! 1 
 
 !i 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 
 1 ; 
 
 I- ' I' 
 
 nil: 
 
 226 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 is very thin and uneven, being nowhere more than 2 ft. thick, and in 
 many parts not more than 7 or 8 in. The incumbent soil is removed at 
 great labour and expense, being dug out and carried away in bowls ; and 
 the cascalho is conveyed with great care to a convenient place for water, 
 where it is washed by the most expert among the miners, in a way 
 similar to that practised at the mines of Jaragud. 
 
 When the cascalho is below the bed of the river, means are required 
 for drawing the water from the pits. The hydraulic machines employed 
 for this purpose are constructed as follows : — A trough or spout, made of 
 4 stout planks, forming a cavity, say 6 in. square, is placed in an inclined 
 position, with its lower end in the pit, where a roller is properly secured 
 to a pile driven into the ground ; an iron chain, with peculiar links, on 
 every one of which is fixed a piece of wood, nearly answering the 
 interior dimensions of the spout, is passed through it, then under the 
 roller, and over the outside, up to the axis of a water-wheel, which, being 
 put in motion, causes the discharge of a column of water equal to the 
 cavity. These machines are calculated to raise a great deal of water, but 
 they are liable to be thrown out of repair. 
 
 Caldcleugh (i 819-21), speaking "»f the Paraibuna, says that it flows 
 down from the back of the Serra da Mantequeira, under the name of the 
 Rio Preto, which is in fact a mere translation of the Indian word 
 Paraibuna. It is here about 50 yd. across, and flows with a turbid but 
 rapid current, half a degree farther to the east, where it joins the 
 Paraiba. Its sand is eminently auriferous, and in front of the registro 
 many canoes were at work. By means of a windlass and an iron scoop, 
 the gold-washers dredge up into the canoe a portion of the bed of the 
 river, and when they have procured as much as they can carry, they 
 move to their washing-place, which is a kind of platform projecting over 
 the river ; the cascalho or gravel and sand is then shovelled into a large 
 trough, and upon it a neighbouring stream is conducted by means of large 
 bamboos. The canoes are very large, and formed out of a single tree. 
 There were usually three blacks in the canoe, and two on the platform, 
 who received a. patach or 320 reis (8 •65^.) per diem each, which, for 
 5, amounted to 1600 reis (3 J. 9\(i.) ; and as the daily gain was generally 
 equal to 2200 reis, there was a balance of 600 reis for the owners of the 
 boat. One of the patraos informed Caldcleugh that he frequently collected 
 with three boats 5 or 6 oitavas (11 J to 14 dwt.) of gold in the course of 
 the day. The gold he showed was fine-grained and of good colour. The 
 gravel brought up with it consisted chiefly of quartz of a brilliant 
 whiteness, rounded cornelians of a yellowish-red tint, some agates, and 
 aquamarines of a muddy bad colour. Caldcleugh obtained from the mass 
 of refuse several specimens of this description, and a few water-worn 
 wine-yellow topazes. On the bank of the river, he observed many 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 227 
 
 large masses of ferruginous quartz, destined, perhaps, when the pro- 
 cess of decomposition is completed, to add a small stock of gold to the 
 sands of the stream, whence large quantities have been already obtained. 
 
 The Rio Maranhao, with its red muddy stream, pursues a winding 
 course, and has produced considerable quantities of gold. 
 
 At the gold-washing about a league distant from Congonhas, 5 
 leagues from Queluz, the gold exists in a very friable qua.tz rock, 
 traversing in veins a greenstone slate. These veins are porous, and in 
 their cavities the gold, of about 22 carats fine, is disseminated, and 
 distinctly visible to the naked eye. Grains of a black shining substance, 
 which probably are merely oxide of iron, accompany the gold, which 
 does not put on any geometrical figure, but seems composed of sharp 
 angular particles. Large masses of greenstone slate, in a state of decom- 
 position, and appearing like fullers' earth, lie on each side of the veins. 
 The quartz is placed under stampers, and a stream of water carries off 
 the coarser sand in one direction, while in another a number of hides, 
 placed in the contrary direction to the lay of the hair, secure the lighter 
 particles of metal. 
 
 The metalliferous veins i league from Passagem, 6 in. to i yd. in 
 width, consist of quartz, containing schorl, arsenical and iron-pyrites, 
 gold, and arseniate of cobalt. The overseer showed Caldcleugh some 
 plants whose juice is squeezed into the bowls containing gold, to carry 
 down the lighter particles. There were several plants in common use for 
 this purpose, but the one generally preferred, from its containing more 
 juice, was called itavibdmba ; it appeared to be a Solanuiii. The leaves 
 had a bitter taste and gummy feel. 
 
 The Rio das Velhas, a very considerable stream, has produced and 
 yet produces large quantities of gold. 
 
 The gold-works near the village of Santa Rita are situated in an 
 immense qitebrada or ravine, which has been worked almost through the 
 heart of a mountain of chloritic slate, intersected by quartz veins, in which 
 the gold exists in combination with arsenical and iron-pyrites. The 
 chloritic slate, which is hlj^hly inclined, also contains gold in the 
 proximity of the veins, and, as well as the quartz veins, is carried to the 
 stamping-mill. 
 
 According to E. Williamson, who accompanied an expedition to 
 examine the new gold-fields of Caxoeira of Pianc6, in the south-western 
 extremity of the province of Parahyba, a section along the valley of the 
 river Bruscus shows the rocks at the MInas das Caxoeira, and the position 
 of the gold bearing veins, to be as follows. At the southern extremity 
 are two bands of syenitic gneiss ; underlying these is a series of schistose 
 gneiss, and a narrow band of syenite. Succeeding these are the gold- 
 bearing series, which almost wholly consist of fine-grained micaceous 
 
 2 
 
 !!' ' 
 
 
 i , : 
 
 m 
 
 
 
 '■'IM 
 
 ^IwK 
 
 :ifij:v 
 
 
 :b¥ 
 
 'tM»' 
 
 
 
t'i 
 
 228 
 
 GEOGKAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 gneiss, passing imperceptibly into mica-schists. The auriferous veins 
 which traverse the rocks arc very numerous. They appear as irregular 
 lenticular masses, running parallel to the strike, often dipping between, 
 but rarely cutting through, the beds. The matrix of the lodes is a coarse 
 white semi-opaque quartz, containing small quantities of the arsenides 
 and sulphides of iron, and sulphides of copper, lead, and zinc ; most of 
 the galenas contain antimony. The variety of minerals resulting from 
 the decomposition of these ores is very great : carbonate of zinc, 
 carbonate and chloro-phosphate of lead, phosphate, arseniate, and 
 carbonate of copper, oxides of antimony, and native sulphur are common 
 in some of the lodes ; sulphate of copper, sulphate and chromate of lead 
 are more rare ; native gold is sparingly scattered throughout nearly all 
 the lodes, and in the Boa Esperan^a veins grains of platinum are found. 
 The run of rocks in the valley of the Bruscus are very auriferous, and 
 quartz veins are abundant ; and though the rocks are greatly contorted 
 no trace of a true fault can be found anywhere in the whole district. To 
 this want of true fractures, Williamson ascribes the poorness of the 
 quartz veins : there being nothing favourable to the concentration of the 
 ores, the gold has been equally distributed throughout all the veins. 
 The whole series agree in every respect with the characteristic features of 
 the Canadian Laurentian rocks, as given by Sir W. E. Logan. 
 
 Mulhall (1873) says that gold abounds in the Cuiiapiru district (in 
 the Rio Grande do Sul province), near Banda Oriental. He adds that 
 Correa Camara gives a list of minerals found at various places, which 
 may be summarized thus : — Gold at Piratiny, Encrusilhada, and San 
 Gabriel. 
 
 Scully (1866) makes numerous references to gold, which may be 
 epitomized as follows. The province of Mato Grosso was at one time 
 very productive in gold. The mint' ai productions of the province of 
 Goyaz include gold ; but the mines, which up to the beginning of this 
 century had yielded nearly 1 50 tons of gold, seem almost exhausted. 
 There are various mines of gold in the province of Maranhao. The 
 province of Sao Pedro do Sul is rich with gold. The minerrJ wealth of 
 Minas Geraes is exceedingly great. Of gold it has alre^^dy produced 
 about 550 tons. Little has been done in the examination of the mineral 
 resources of the province of Para, yet it has been ascertained that gold 
 exists. Gold is also found in the province of Ceard. The mineral 
 wealth of Sao Paulo is great, the gold-mines alone having produced, up 
 to the end of the last century, nearly 70 tons of that metal. The 
 mineral wealth of the province of Alagoas does not seem to be great, 
 though gold has been found. The province of Bahia abounds in 
 mineral riches. The gold-mines of Chapada, Gentio, and Sincora, while 
 worked, were very lucrative. 
 
AMERICA, S. : BRAZIL. 
 
 229 
 
 The gold-mines in \hejacutinga formation have recently (1879) been 
 described by Dietzsch (Min. Jl., xlix. 239), whose remarks may thus be 
 summarized. The mineral denominated jacuthiga by the Brazilian 
 miner is a pure iron-ore, and forms a fine-grained rock of distinctly 
 foliated structure. In some lonalities, it alternates with thin layers of 
 white quartz, giving to the whole formation a ribbon-like striped 
 appearance, of a whitish and iron-grey colour. Pure specimens of the 
 mineral contain 97 per cent, of sesquioxide of iron, o • 1 5 to o • 20 per cent, 
 of manganese, 0*30 per cent, of lime, and i to 2 per cent, of silica. Strata 
 of jamtinga of stupendous magnitude traverse the mining district of 
 Minas in four distinct formations, which have a width of \ to upwards of 
 I mile, and a longitudinal extent of 30 to 40 miles ; they are, in fact, 
 r.iountains of iron-ore. The direction of these strata is generally N.N.E. 
 S.S.W., with an inclination towards E. The jamtinga is frequently 
 aperincumbcnt to the itacolumite, a rock likewise peculiar to the country, 
 and which is chiefly a fine-grained quartz, united by thin laminae of 
 chlorite and talc. 
 
 It must not be supposed that all the jacuthiga is auriferous. There 
 are only some of the beds which contain the precious metal in a limited 
 longitudinal extent, and these sections are called by the miners lodes. 
 While the whole bulk of these lodes is in some degree auriferous, they 
 contain again a number of vein.s, pre-eminently rich, and generally well 
 defined, d.'pping invariably N.E. These veins are sometimes also termed 
 lines of gold, and vary in size from i to several inches and even feet fn 
 thickness ; they approach in one locality of the lode the head-wall, in 
 another the foot-wall, and arc considered particularly rich when accom- 
 panied by mineral having the appearance of a very friable grey sandstone. 
 Bunches are very rich accumulations of gold, and it has been found that 
 those encountered in the deeper workings of the Maqui' ' mine have 
 always been richer than those met with in the higher parts of the lode ; 
 it is considered a very good sign when the iron accompanying the gold 
 in the bunches assumes a hydrated frosty appearance. 
 
 It has been the general practice in jacutinga-mmvn^ to pursue and 
 excavate the veins of gold as soon as discovered, either by rising or sinking 
 diagonal excavations from different levels ; and the product of such 
 workings is termed "vein-stuff" or "box-work," because it is transported 
 to the reduction-works in locked boxes. The ground between the lines 
 or veins, and that above and below them, though generally auriferous, is 
 for the time left standing, to be excavated by the general stoping after- 
 wards. There are, therefore, generally two distinct stoping operations — 
 a system which in general mining Avould be considered unfair working, 
 but which in this kind of mines has certainly its advantages ; it facilitates 
 a proper separation of the concentrated rich vein-stuff from the poorer 
 
 r...(v.|i 
 
 t '•(•'•I 
 
 -M 
 
 .'■si:; 
 
 m 
 
 Kit 
 
230 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 minerals, a necessity commanded both by the requirements of the extrac- 
 tion process, and on account of the ease with which gold may be 
 extracted by the workpeople if left in the general stopes. 
 
 The village of Sao Gonzalo, which is three leagues N.N.E. from Santa 
 Barbara, is said by Spix and Martius to have possessed, above 30 years 
 ago, very considerable gold-washings. From Sao Gonzalo to Villa da 
 Campanha (Minas Geracs), they met everywhere with indications of the 
 gold-washing ; the trenches, in particular, by which the water required is 
 led from the highest parts of the country, are often of surprising extent, 
 and run for leagues along the declivities of the mountains. The moun- 
 tains consist of granite, which not unfrequently passes into gneiss, and the 
 felspar of which is almost entirely decomposed into kaolin. Here and 
 there veins of quartz traverse the rock in manifold directions and these 
 always abound in disseminated gold. According to them, the gold- 
 washing in the Ribeirao de Ouro Preto, is thus performed. The gold- 
 washers {faiscadores) are dressed in a leather jacket, and have a round 
 bowl cut out of the wood of the fig-tree {gamelleira), from ij to 2 ft. in 
 diameter, and i ft. deep {gatiieila, paneila, batea), and a leather bag fixed 
 before them. They generally select those places in which the river is not 
 rapid, where it makes a bend, and has deep holes. They first remove the 
 large stones, and upper layers of sand, with their feet or their gamelia, 
 and then take up a bowlful of the deeper and older gravel of the river 
 (cascalho virgim). They continue to stake, wash, and strike off the stones 
 and sand at the top, till the heavy gold-dust appears, pure, at the bottom 
 of the vessel, on which a little water is thrown in with the hand, and the 
 gold at length put into the leather bag. This mode of gold-washing is 
 here called inergulhar (" diving "). They sometimes wash the cascalho 
 upon a platform {canoa) erected on the spot. 
 
 Writing in 1880, Max Beschoren (Proc. R. Geogr. Soc. ii. 702-3) says 
 of the South Brazilian plateau comprised between the rivers Ijuhy Guassu 
 and Passo P'undo, southern tributaries of the Uruguay river, that the 
 country consists partly of highland, and partly of rich slopes gradually 
 descending to the bed of the Uruguay river ; metals are known to exist 
 here, the old Jesuit missions having worked gold, silver, and copper mines, 
 and a resident of Palmeira, a few years since, having brought back from 
 the region referred to, unmistakable evidence of mineral wealth, in the 
 shape of a bag of gold-dust. 
 
 A vast amount of commercial and general information concerning the 
 gold-mining industry of Brazil, will be found in Captain Burton's two 
 volumes on 'The Highlands of the Brazil,' an indispensable companion 
 for all engaged in developing the auriferous resources of the country. 
 And the very ardent student may digest Kenwood's exhaustive " Observa- 
 tions on Metalliferous Deposits," occupying over 700 pages in the 
 
AMERICA, S. CHILI. 
 
 231 
 
 ' Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society of Cornwall,' and to 
 which further reference will be made in the next chapter. 
 
 Chili. — Dr. Soetbeer gives the following table of the gold-production 
 of Chili in the years 1545 to 1875 : — 
 
 Period. 
 
 1545-1560 
 I561-1580 
 1581-160O 
 16OI-1620 
 1621-1640 
 1641-1660 
 1661-1680 
 1681-1700 
 170I-172O 
 1 721-1740 
 1 741-1 760 
 1761-I780 
 1781-1800 
 180I-181O 
 181I-182O 
 1821-1830 
 183I-1840 
 1841-1850 
 1851-1855 
 I 856- I 860 
 1861-1865 
 
 I 866- I 870 
 1871-1875 
 
 1545-1850 
 1851-1875 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Annual Average. 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 C 
 
 16 
 
 70,400 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 20 
 
 17,600 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 20 
 
 17,600 
 
 880 
 
 55.800 
 
 20 
 
 15,400 
 
 770 
 
 48,825 
 
 20 
 
 15,400 
 
 770 
 
 48,825 
 
 20 
 
 15,400 
 
 770 
 
 48,825 
 
 20 
 
 15,400 
 
 770 
 
 48,825 
 
 20 
 
 15,400 
 
 770 
 
 48,825 
 
 20 
 
 17,600 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 20 
 
 17,600 
 
 880 
 
 55.800 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 20 
 
 44,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139,500 
 
 20 
 
 88,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 10 
 
 68,420 
 
 6,842 
 
 433.845 
 
 10 
 
 44,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 10 
 
 26,400 
 
 2,640 
 
 167,400 
 
 10 
 
 26,400 
 
 2,640 
 
 167,400 
 
 10 
 
 22,000 
 
 2,200 
 
 139.500 
 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 
 3.300 
 
 660 
 
 41,850 
 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 Iv 
 
 
 1545-1875 
 
 306 
 
 25 
 
 331 
 
 Total. 
 
 559,020 
 
 20,900 
 
 579.920 
 
 35,446,950/. 
 1,325,250/. 
 
 36,772,200/. 
 
 '1! 
 
 The exports from Caldera in 1875-79 are thus officially stated : — 
 
 Bar Gold. 
 
 1875 
 1876 
 1877 
 1878 
 1879 
 
 lb. 
 
 39 
 22 
 
 6J 
 26 
 88 
 
 Silver, Gold, 
 
 and Copper 
 
 Regulus. 
 
 lb. 
 
 101,178 
 
 18,114 
 
 15.457 
 
 636,704 
 
 Silver and 
 Gold ores. 
 
 lb. 
 177,672 
 206,448 
 119,658 
 214,368 
 
 In his observations on a * Voyage into the South Sea in the year 1 593,' 
 Sir Richard Hawkins (Hakluyt Soc, 1847, pp. 157-8) relates of the 
 Indians in Chili, that they gather gold " in two manners : the one is by 
 washing the earth in great trayesofwood in many waters," the other, 
 " by force of art to draw it out of the mynes." 
 
 
232 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Hi 
 
 One of the earliest writers on Chili, Peter Schmidtmeyer (1824), says 
 that from Santiago to Copiapo arc valleys vvhich.although now only watered 
 by very small rivers, show traces of having been once filled up by them 
 to a height of 30 or 50 ft. ; each bank is lined with a high, extensive mass 
 of rounded stones mixed with earth, entirely dissimilar from the ground 
 on each side of the valley, and two or three different banks are seen con- 
 tracting as they lower, and shelving down with a regularity which seems 
 to indicate that the water, after flowing a considerable time with an even 
 stream, must have suddenly fallen much at different periods. It is in 
 them, and often at a height of 20 or 30 ft. from the present bed of the 
 rivers, that search is made for gold. To do so in the lowest channels, 
 and by the sides of the streams now flowing, will not reward the labour, 
 unless it be in some mountainous spots known to contain gold. He 
 further alludes to the " gold mounts near Guasco," and to the gold obtained 
 near Talca ; and summarizes by saying that the " mines and washings for 
 gold extend over most parts of Chili below the Andes, but the principal 
 spots are near Copiapo, Guasco, Coquimbo, Ligua, Petorca, Tiltil, 
 Caren, and Talca." 
 
 Caldcleugh (1825) remarks that far the largest proportion of the gold 
 found in Chili is procured by means of washing the beds of rivers. It is 
 of a very pure quality ; he met with it in no instance crystallized, but in 
 large flattened grains of a peculiarly briyl olour. Not unfrequently beds 
 of gold several inches thick are fallen in with ; some of these beds have 
 produced extraordinary quantities of metal. The only gold-mine he 
 visited, which properly deserves the name of mine, was on the road to 
 Valparaiso ; it existed in a gangue of iron-pyrites, but was neither rich 
 nor extensively worked. The auriferous iron-pyrites of Chili occurs 
 isolated and finely crystallized. At Coquimbo, gold is found in a matrix 
 of carbonate of copper. 
 
 Head mentions the gold-mines of El Bronce de Petorca, province of 
 Aconcagua, and Caren, near Santiago. 
 
 According to the great naturalist, Darwin (1846), the strata sur- 
 rounding the intrusive hillocks at the mines of Los Hornos, are 
 intersected by many veins of copper-pyrites, associated with much 
 micaceous iron-ore, and by some gold. At Yaquil, he observed that the 
 principal auriferous veins ran nearly parallel to the grain or imperfect 
 cleavage of the surrounding granitic rocks. With respect to the distribu- 
 tion of the different metals, copper, gold, and iron are generally associated 
 together, and are most frequently found (but with many exceptions) in 
 the rocks of the lower series, between the Cordillera and the Pacific, 
 namely, in granite, syenite, altered felspathic clay-slate, gneiss, and (near 
 Guasco) mica-schist. Gold occurs in its native form. It is believed that, 
 in many cases, the upper part of the vein is the most productive ; this 
 
AMERli A, .S : CHILI. 
 
 233 
 
 fact Darwin considers to be probably connected witii the abundance of 
 the metal in the stratified detritus of Chili, which must have been chiefly 
 derived from the degradation of the upper portions of the rocks. These 
 superficial beds -^f well-rounded gravel and sand, containing gold, 
 appeared to him to have been formed under the sea close to the beach, 
 during the slow elevation of the land. Schmidtmeyer remarks (v. ante) 
 that in Chili gold is sought for in shelving banks at the height of some 
 feet on the sides of the stream^, and not in their beds, as would have been 
 the case had the meta) been deposited by common alluvial action. 
 Gold is often found in iron-pyrites ; at two gold-mines at Yaquil (near 
 Nancagua), Darwin was informed by the proprietor that in one the gold 
 was always associated with copper-pyrites, and in the other with iron- 
 pyrites ; in this latter case, it is said that if the vein ceases to contain 
 iron-pyrites, it is yet worth while to continue the search, but if the iron- 
 pyrites, when it reappears, is not auriferous, it is better at once to give up 
 working the vein. Although copper and gold are most frequently found 
 in the lower granitic and metamorphic schistose series, yet these metals 
 occur both in the porphyritic conglomerate formation (as on the flanks of 
 the Bell of Quillota and at Jajuel). and in the superincumbent strata. At 
 Jajuel, Darwin was informed that the copper-ore, with some gold, is 
 found only in the greenstones and altered fclspathic clay-slates, which 
 alternate with the purple porphyritic conglomerate. Several gold-veins 
 and some of copper-ore are worked in several parts of the Uspallata 
 range, both in the metamorphosed strata, and in the intrusive andesitic 
 rocks of that range. At Los Hornos N.E. of lUapel) likewise, there arc 
 numerous veins of copper-pyrites and of gold, both in the strata of the 
 gypseous formation, and in the injected hills of andesite and various 
 porphyries. At the Durazno mine (Yaquil), the gold is associated with 
 copper-pyrites. 
 
 Gilliss, who accompanied the U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to 
 the Southern Hemisphere during the years 1849-5^, remarks that the 
 auriferous deposits near Illapel, Petorca, and Andacollo, have been the 
 most productive of the Aconcagua gold-washings, those of La Ligua, on 
 a hill just to the northward of Quillota, and of Catemo, 12 leagues nearer 
 to the source of the river, were among the most noted. The gold-mines 
 of Chivato and Chuchunco, on the summit of Cerro Chivato, have 
 occasionally yielded rich ores ; they have been worked for nearly 100 
 years, and after heavy rains in winter, the sands of the ravines contain 
 gold. Remains of former gold-workings exist on the haciendas of Payen, 
 the Cerros Amarillos, and Aculeo, and the whole claim extending from 
 Algiie to the village of Peumo ; only one mine, that of La Leona, near 
 Rancagua, is now in operation. As far back as 1863, a committee 
 reported no less than 175 gold-deposits in the provinces of Aconcagua, 
 
 m 
 
 
234 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Santiago, and Colchagua, all within and west of the Cordilleras of the 
 coast, commencing at Chacabuco. 
 
 A recent (1878) writer in the Mining Journal (xlviii. 691) draws 
 attention to "extensive deposits of auriferous gravel. From time 
 immemorial, Chili has been a gold-producing country. The gold of 
 the Incas was Chilian, and partly Bolivian. The Spaniards took 
 immense quantities of gold out of the Chilian river beds, worked by the 
 batea or pan by their allotments of Indians. From about the latitude of 
 Coquimbo, and throughout the south of Chili, and within some 50 miles of 
 the coast, a belt of auriferous gravel, from a few feet to several hundred 
 feet thick, extends with various interruptions." 
 
 John P. Sewell, addressing the Mining and Scientific Press of San 
 Francisco (Min. Jl., xlix. 225) in 1879, says that, from the Chilian 
 historian of the time of the Conquest, we gather that the Chilian Indians 
 paid a yearly tribute of 1400 lb. of gold to the Inca of Peru. Almagro, 
 a Spanish oflficer, seized the tribute on its road to Cuzco ; ni it were 
 nuggets worth $500 and $700 (100/. and 140/.). Immediately after the 
 Spaniards founded Santiago, the capital, they commenced (a. D. 1549) to 
 work the gold-washings at Marga-Marga with Indians, and extracted 
 such large amounts of gold that it was weighed in the steel-yard. At 
 Quilacoya, the governor Valdivia employed 10,000 to 15,000 Indians, 
 and pushed his conquests still further south, and founded the " Seven 
 Cities " in order to work the gold-washings at Aranco, Angol, Canete, 
 La Imperial, Valdivia, Osorno, and Villarica. There are abundant data 
 to prove that the gold-washings were worked on an immense scale by 
 the early Spaniards. Sewell states that the work was done almost 
 entirely in the river-beds, and perhaps some ground-sluicing ; but that the 
 beaches (? benches) arc untouched : thus contradicting Schmidtmeyer and 
 Darwin. It appeared impossible, both to foreigners and natives, that 
 such an extensive gold-field at Marga-Marga, 10 miles long by 5 miles 
 wide, could exist almost at the outskirts of Valparaiso, the principal 
 seaport of Chili, without their being aware of its value. He mentions 
 the Niblinto washings, near Chilian, and the washings at Caren, as about 
 to be worked ; and notices a point of difference between the Chilian and 
 Californian gold-washings, in that the former are located west of the 
 coast range, and near the sea, at the outlet of some stream or river, and 
 extend from the Straits of Magellan up to the city of Copiapo. The 
 coast range is traversed by numerous gold-ledges, which appear to have 
 been the sources of the gold-gravels. Sewell opines that the dead rivers 
 must have run from Magellan Straits to the north and on the west of the 
 coast range, since the gravels are deposited on that side, all close to the 
 coast, and in every case traversed at right angles by the live streams 
 running into the sea. These remarks refer to the central portion of Chili, 
 
AMERICA, S. : U. S. OF COLOMblA. 
 
 235 
 
 between Coquimbo and Concepcion. In the southern or Indian territory, 
 it would appear that gold is found right across from the foot of the 
 Cordillera to the coast. 
 
 Andacollo, 35 miles from Coquimbo, has long been famed for the 
 quantity of gold said to exist over the district ; but on account of the 
 scarcity of water, it is difficult to collect, though small parties of washers 
 make a livelihood by washing the soil. The gold is of a reddish colour, 
 and is used in the country. The great mine of Los Cristalcs, at Canqucnes, 
 was recently said to have been rediscovered, and other ancient workings 
 are attracting new attention. 
 
 This section cannot be concluded without making special reference to 
 the exhaustive work just published by our countryman B. Vicuna 
 Mackenna, on ' La Edad del Oro en Chile,' which deals with the gold- 
 washings and workings from the time of the Incas down to tiiC present, 
 and fully discusses the questions of local mining laws and a gold coinage. 
 The book is too bulky (nearly 500 pages) for convenient summarizing, 
 and should be studied at length by all interested in the subject. See also 
 Appendix A. 
 
 Colombia (United States of) or New Granada.— The gold- 
 production of this confederation from 1537 to 1875, is thus stated by 
 Dr. Soetbeer : — 
 
 
 Period. 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Annu.".; 
 
 Average. 
 
 
 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 / 
 
 
 
 •537-1544 
 
 8 
 
 35,200 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 
 
 1 545- 1 560 
 
 16 
 
 70,400 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 
 • 
 
 1561-1580 
 
 20 
 
 88,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 
 
 1581-1600 
 
 20 
 
 88,000 
 
 4,400 
 
 279,000 
 
 
 
 1601-1620 
 
 20 
 
 132,000 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,500 
 
 
 
 1621-1640 
 
 20 
 
 132,000 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,500 
 
 
 
 1641-1660 
 
 20 
 
 154,000 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 1661-1680 
 
 20 
 
 176,000 
 
 8,800 
 
 558,000 
 
 
 
 1681-1700 
 
 20 
 
 176,000 
 
 8,800 
 
 558,000 
 
 
 
 1701-1720 
 
 20 
 
 220,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 697,500 
 
 
 
 1721-1740 
 
 20 
 
 220,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 697.500 
 
 
 
 1741-1760 
 
 20 
 
 220,000 
 
 n,ooo 
 
 697,500 
 
 
 
 1761-1780 
 
 20 
 
 176,000 
 
 8,800 
 
 558,000 
 
 
 
 1781-1800 
 
 20 
 
 198,000 
 
 9,900 
 
 627,750 
 
 
 
 1801-1810 
 
 10 
 
 110,000 
 
 11,000 
 
 697,500 
 
 
 1811-1820 
 
 10 
 
 66,000 
 
 6,600 
 
 418,500 
 
 
 
 1821-1830 
 
 10 
 
 70,400 
 
 7,040 
 
 446,400 
 
 
 
 1831-1S40 
 
 10 
 
 72,600 
 
 7,260 
 
 460,350 
 
 
 
 1841-1850 
 
 10 
 
 74,800 
 
 7,480 
 
 474.300 
 
 
 
 1851-1855 
 
 5 
 
 38,500 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 I 856- I 860 
 
 5 
 
 38,500 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 1861-1865 
 
 5 
 
 38,500 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 1866-1870 
 
 5 
 
 38.500 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 1871-1875 
 
 5 
 
 38,500 
 
 7,700 
 
 488,250 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 1537-1850 
 
 314 
 
 2,479,400 
 
 157,216,500 
 
 
 
 1851-1875 
 
 25 
 
 192,500 
 
 12,206,250 
 
 
 
 1537-1875 
 
 339 
 
 2,671,900 
 
 169,422,750 
 
 
 •III 
 
 I 
 
 "i. '; 
 
 f' 
 
 m 
 
 1 
 
 
 M 
 
 r 
 
 i'*! 
 
 'f. *■ 
 
 !« 
 
 ^;1 
 
 ■li 
 
 \'\^ 
 
 
 §1 
 
 f : 
 
 1 
 
 
 \h!i 
 
 
rr 
 J] 
 
 
 IIpI 
 
 I-!! 
 
 m \ 
 
 • 
 
 fri'* i 
 
 236 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTK.N. 
 
 Schmidtmcycr alludes to the mines of Choco, on the western side of 
 the Andes, as bc.ag one of the spots which have hitherto (1824) produced 
 most gold in the west of America. The gold- and platinum.-mines of 
 Choco are said to be on some of the affluents of the river Atrato, and its 
 sands are still auriferous. Mollicn (1824) say., that Santa F4 receives a 
 considerable quaniity of gold from Panipluna and Giron, the latter being 
 tlie purer. 
 
 Lloyd (1833) states that in Panama proper, only 2 gold-mines are 
 worked, Santa Rita and Pr.qucni ; but their produce is insignificant. 
 They are in the mountains near Porto Bcllo. In Vcragua, including 
 Choco, a considerable quantity of gold is obtained by washing; it is 
 chiefly got by a few proprietors of slaves, or by free Indians, " who employ 
 one portion of the year in collecting the alluvium from the bottoms of the 
 rivers and piling it in hcap.s, a second in washing it, and the remainder 
 in spending it." 
 
 In 1850, Ed. CuUen wote to the Mining journal (xx. 237) an 
 account of an excursion he made into the forests of Panama, and " found 
 that gold was to be obtained by washing the earth on the sides of the 
 mountains, on the banks of the streams, and in the crevices between the 
 ledges of rock in their bed." In the neighbourhood (.)f Malineca, near 
 Yavisa, on the river Tuyra, or San Maria, the capital of the territory, he 
 found gold abundant in the streams, and the quartz rocks ricli with it ; 
 he dug upwards of 3 lb. of it, 22 carats fine. Mining, he says, was carried 
 on by the Spaniards formerly ; and he read in the archives of the 
 Treasury of Panama, that the king's tax of 5 per cent, from the single 
 mine of Cana, the Mina Real in the Cerro del Espiritu Santo at Santo 
 Crux de Cana, amounted tc upwards of 3^ millions of dollars (729,166/.) 
 per annum, giving upwards of $70,000,000 (14.583,333/.) per annum for 
 the produce ! All mining operations in Darien were stopped, and the 
 mines closed up, by a decree of the King of Spain, dated the 12th of 
 March, i6.?5, in consequence of the repeated incursions of *^Iie buccaneers, 
 and the interruption which the commerce of the Spania-.ds suffered from 
 their vessels cruising in the Gulf of Darien. Since chat period they 
 were never reopened. 
 
 Dunlop (1852) says that the Indiaiis among the mountains and 
 hills, wash gold in most of the streams of the Isthmus ; but this also 
 has partaken of the unencrgetic and lazy character of the Spanish creole 
 character, and those versed in such affairs think that much larger 
 returns could be obtained by the application of skill and regular labour. 
 Long ago the Spaniards used to mine and wash gc'd very successfully 
 on the Isthmus, both near Costa Rica, and southward of the Darien ; but 
 Peru and the niore distant auriferous districts tempted them to relinquish 
 all others for the time, and subsequently, when the revolution of Colombia 
 
AMEKlv'^A, S. : U. S. (JF COLOMBIA. 
 
 237 
 
 disorganized these realms, and changed the system of labour by abolishing 
 slavery, the Daricn and Pa.nama diggings were gradually abandoned, and 
 it is only quite lately that any, saving the Indians, have turned attention 
 to them. Whilst at Panama, he often heard of gold-digging expeditions 
 to the streams and mountains in the vicinity ; but California was so easily 
 reached by all in quest of ore, that comparatively few, save native gold- 
 hunters, were of the parties. The gold-mining ar I -washing throughout 
 the Isthmus is a very important feature in its prospects. The govern- 
 ment arc willing to give easy concessions, and such adventures could be 
 started with all facility, since the first attempts might be made near 
 Panama or Chor6ra, and with comparatively little expense and no danger ; 
 and even although not lucrative at first, the quartz on the higher ground 
 would repay labour, for the streams all contain more or less gold washed 
 down from the hills. 
 
 Captain FitzRoy (1853) remarks that in the early days, so famed was 
 Darien for gold, that the province was called " Golden Castile " (Castilla 
 de Oro) ; it was the principal portion of that Ticrra P'irme, so famed 
 afterwards as the Spanish Main, the real El Dorado to which Sir Walter 
 Raleigh went in 1517-18, Sir Francis Drake in 1557, troops of buccaneers 
 in the 17th century, and the Scotch colony in 1698. Repeated aggres- 
 sion on this auriferous district, where abundance of gold was procured by 
 black slave labour, after the aborigines had been diminished in numbers 
 by oppressive cruelties, induced Spain to close and abandon the mines 
 for a time (early in the i8th century), even those famous ones in the 
 mountains of Espiritu Santo, near Cana. from which alone more gold 
 went through Panama in a year than from all the other mines of America 
 taken together. These Cana mines were sacked in 1702 and 171 2 by 
 the English, in 1724 by the French, and by the Indians in 1727. Never- 
 theless in 1774, mining operations were again going on, havi.ig been 
 re- established a few years previously. When Cana was taken b)' the 
 exi edition (as narrated by Davis) sent from Jamaica, by Col. Beckford, in 
 170.!, there were about " 900 ho ises " (probably most of them mere huts) ; 
 therefore the population could hardly have been less than 3000 at that 
 date. Since the t; ne when Spain lost her American dominions, New 
 Granada has include i Darien : but the aborigines have held their ground 
 on the Isthmus. No mines have been regularly worked. A few gold- 
 washers only have frequented the rivers in the dry season. The very 
 sites of villages, and the actual localities of mines, have been overgrown 
 by the thick underwood of tropical vegetation ; and, except by tradition 
 among the Indians, their places arc forgotten. According to the old 
 Spanish boundaries, the province of Panama is separate and distinct 
 from that of Darien. A French company has lately obtained a grant 
 to work gold-mines on the Marea river, and, among other parties, arc 
 
 > 
 
 1 
 
 
 4; 
 
 '.»t 
 
 
238 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRirjU 1 ION. 
 
 1 Hi:r 
 
 ' 'i 'p. 
 
 4\ 
 
 : 
 
 ■: m 
 
 earnestly striving to monopolize the Cana district, whence so much gold 
 was carried formerly. 
 
 In the Mining Magazine of Sept. 1853, p. 284, it is stated that the 
 gold of Antioquia is 20 carats fine, that of Choco 21, and that of 
 Giron 23 f. 
 
 J. H. Smith (1854) records that the mountains, after following a course 
 from south-east to north-west, as far as the volcano of Chiriqui, turn to 
 the north, sending down towards Punta Burica a range of broken ridges 
 and spurs of lower hills. Traditions speak of the auriferous richness of 
 these lands. The gold-mine of Tissingal, which gave name to the ad- 
 jacent coast of Costa Rica, was one of the richest ever worked by the 
 Spaniards. This mineral deposit was behind the volcano of Chiriqui, 
 and amor.g the range of the spurs of the Cordillera, forming the northern 
 limits r f Burica. Not long since, an Indian from the vicinity of the 
 volcanf) came to the town of David (the capital of Chiriqui), and sold two 
 lumps of gold weighing i lb. each. The celebrated mines of Estrella are 
 familiar to readers of the early discoveries by the Spaniards. It is well 
 known that there existed gold-mines in the vicinity of the Mosquito 
 coast, which in former times extended as far as the Bay of Almirante 
 and lagoon of Chiriqui on the Atlantic. The Mosquito Indians, who 
 V, ere in continual warfare with those of the mountains and plains on the 
 Pacific side, finally overthrew the latter, destroying their niines, the 
 preci.s'" localities of which have been lost since then. From ihe.se 
 accounts, it may be inferred that the gold found in the ancient graves 
 must have been procured in the territory where those Indians dwelt. 
 Gold has been found in the mountains, ravines, plains, and streams 
 which run into the Pacific, particularly at Guanavano and Charco Azui. 
 On the road from Costa Rica to this province, an extensive quartz 
 formation has been discovered at Las Breiias. It is a common occur- 
 rence for the Indians of Tevrora to visit this spot, to grind the rock and 
 extract gold. 
 
 Holton (1857) alludes to the gold-deposits in the vicinity o" Piede- 
 cti«»ta, at head of the river Lebrija, which empties into the Magdalena, 
 in Pampluna province ; and states that the gold-washings of Choco 
 cannot be worked by white*, and the free negroes will not work. Also 
 on the road from Cali to Vijes, Buenaventura province, is a hacienda 
 called San Marcos, where, up a small stream, are f'^und numerous 
 auriferous veins of quartz. It is only about 20 miles uo the valley of 
 the Dagua to the port of Buenaventura. In a spur of tne Caldas chain, 
 clcse to Vijes, are gold-veins or deposit.^, and a mill for amalgamation is 
 being built. There are also gold-washings. 
 
 De Puydt (1868) decla'-es that, as for gold, it is on record that the 
 Spaniards grea*:ly enriched ihemselves by working mines of that precious 
 
 iV. 
 
i 
 
 AMERICA, S. : U. S. OF COLOMBIA. 
 
 239 
 
 metal in the Darien ; and he is " enabled to state positively that almost 
 all the rivers — particularly on the Pacific slope — waft down either gold- 
 sands or gold-agglomerations of larger or smaller size. " 
 
 When Captain Bedford Pim was in Panama (1869), the great topic of 
 the hour was the gold-mines of Barbacoas, a place up the river Tumaco, 
 on the west coast of South America, nearly uncer the Equator One of 
 the mines there in successful operation had produced 400 lb. weight of 
 gold since Dec. 1865. The gold is of fine quality, and so is called " float " 
 gold, that is, flat and thin. The white men, from exposure, want of food, 
 and climatic disadvantages, were dying like rotten sheep. The general 
 conviction was that the poor man, whose whole fortune consisted in 
 mining implements, would not be much bettered by going to Barbacoas ; 
 but that powerful companies might be able to turn the mineral wealth of 
 the locality to good account. 
 
 F. A. A. Simons (1881) states that the sands of the Rio Dibulla, 
 a good-sized stream, springing from Mount Chirua, the sacred mountain 
 of the Arhuacos, and flowing into the Caribbean Sea, are highly 
 auriferous, and he believes would repay working for gold. Gold abounds 
 also in the sand of the Rio Sevilla, which flows from the eastern side of 
 the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, into the river Frio, wlv-'h latter 
 empties into the Cienaga Grande lagoon, communicating with the Carib- 
 bean Sea. In reference to this, C. R. Markham has observed that the 
 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta was the scene of one of the most remark- 
 able epi.sodes of the early Spanish conquests in America during the 16th 
 century. When Charles V. w^antcd to colonize Venezuela, and to dis- 
 cover El Dorado, which was supposed co be a kingdom teeming with 
 gold, in the very centre of South America, he made a grant to a powerful 
 mercantile house, the Velsers of Augsburg, of the whole country from Rio 
 Cesar to Marcapana, and as far to the south as they could conquer. 
 They sent out a German adventurer named Alfingcr, who landed at Coro, 
 and at the head of about 200 Germans and Spaniards, with a great army 
 of Indians, marched down the valley of the Cesar until he came to the 
 junction of the Magdalena. There he found a people so enormously 
 rich in gold that he loaded a number of his Indians with it, and sent 
 them back to Coro, with an intimation that he should remain where he 
 was until he received further supplies. 
 
 Tl.e Pauama Herald oi Aug. 3, 1851, alludes to the rich gold-mines 
 in the vicinity of Choco, from which large quantities of gold-dust have 
 beeti sent from the port of Buenaventura to Panama and Europe, as 
 bcii-g easier of access than arv others. The most extensive mining on 
 the Isthmus is carried on in the neighbourhood of Quibdo or Cibera. 
 On the Rio Andagada, a branch of the Atrato, about 2 days' pull above 
 Quibdo, are said to be rich mines, which have not been taken up ; also 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 * '■, :i 
 
 .•^ 
 
 k 
 
 'A 
 
 ■' •Si! 
 
 • ^ t4 
 
240 
 
 GEOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 in the neighbourhood of Noveta, which is situated above Cibera. On the 
 Rio Bebera, about 15 miles below Quibdo or Cibera, are also good mines, 
 which are easy of access. High up the rivers, surface gold is found in 
 quantity ; lower down, it is found at considerable depth, and much of the 
 top earth has to be removed before it is accessible. In the interior are 
 good diggings high up in the mouiitains. Gold undoubtedly abounds in 
 the interior of the Isthmus, within a few miles of this city ; but great dif- 
 ficulties have to be overcome before the mines can be worked with profit, 
 such as the high price of provisions, and want of roads or even paths. 
 
 Old Methods of Washing for Gold. 
 
 A very able and interesting account of the manner of washing gold 
 by the natives of this country was published in the Mining Magazine, 
 Oct. 1856, pp. 303-8. It may be summarized as follows. 
 
 The instrument used by the native alluvial gold-washer, called 
 alniocafre, is peculiar in its form and construction. The blade of this 
 instrument has a semi-elliptical shape, is about 9 in. long and 2 in. broad 
 at its base, with a gradual taper to the point, which is blunt. The shank, 
 which is in a direct line with the long axis of the instrument, is cylin- 
 drical, and receives a handle about 8 in. in length. With this implement, 
 which is made of tough, well-tempered steel, the gold-seeker scrapes and 
 digs among the boulders in the streams, and in the cracks and crevices of 
 the strata everywhere. He has another implement for testing the quality 
 of the earth or sand to be washed. It is a boat-shaped piece of 
 horn, named cacho de bateador. In this he collects a small quantity 
 of the material to be tested, and by repeated levigations with water, 
 which is allowed to flow off afterwards slowly, the lighter and soluble 
 portions escape, leaving behind the metal with its metalliferous 
 associates. 
 
 When a locality is fourd sufficiently rich for washing operations, the 
 loose earth, pebbles, and sand are scraped together, and if water is 
 present, the larger pebbles and stones are carefully washed and thrown 
 aside. The material thus collected is put into a wooden bowl (called by 
 the natives baiea), taken to a stream or pool of water, and there 
 washed. 
 
 The batea of this region is peculiar also. It is conical in shape, and 
 has 2 short projections from the brim, about 2 in. long, and opposite to 
 each other, which serve as handles. The cavity of the bowl terminates 
 below, in a point, but the outside is slightly truncated. The batea is 
 made from the mountain cedar, and is light and strong. The method 
 of using it is much the same all the v/orld over, and needs no special 
 description here. 
 
 The working of veins, since the Spanish rule, has almost been aban- 
 
AMERICA, S. : U.S. OF COLOMBIA. 
 
 241 
 
 doncd, not being as profitable as the gold-washings, because of the rude, 
 tedious, and imperfect methods of extracting the ore and separating the 
 metal. The Spanish mode of grinding the ore, by manual labour, 
 between two small stones, which, under any circumstances, must have 
 been a losing operation, was rendered almost an impossibility, on account 
 of the matrix becoming so hard as to require efficient implements to 
 extract and pulverize it. For this reason, undoubtedly, all the excava- 
 tions in veins have only penetrated a few feet below the natural surface, 
 and rarely ever into the compact portion of the matrix, although the 
 Spaniards must have been convinced from the explorations they did 
 make, that the ore increased in richness as they descended into the 
 vein. 
 
 The native of the present day is well satisfied with washings from an 
 auriferous stream of a few oz. of wash-gold ; and, with his characteristic 
 apathy, nevjr attempts to make an excavation in a newly-discovered 
 vein, or in search of a deposit of oro corrida or wash-gold, excepting now 
 and then a narrow tunnel or " lead " into a hill, where he is oftentimes 
 richly repaid for his labour. The tunnels, or guacas, as they are called, 
 have been sources of great wealth to the gold-digger of this region, 
 especially during the time of the Spaniards ; and they constitute a large 
 proportion of the excavations in this vicinity. The most unquestionable 
 proofs still exist of the abundance of wash-gold in the hills of Cocuyos, 
 Guinea, Zapaterito, and Barrera. 
 
 In former times, the rivers of Santiago, Conccpcion, Barrera, 
 Zapaterito, San Antonio, and San Bartolomo were those most noted for 
 their gold-washings, and they are the principal streams that yield the 
 most satisfactory returns to the • gold-washer of the present day. In 
 these rivers are many deep pools and eddies, where, from their depth, 
 neither the Spaniard nor the native has been able to wash the auriferous 
 beds at the bottom. One of these localities in particular is the lower falls 
 of the San Jago, where, there is every reason to believe, an immense 
 deposit now exists ; for within the last two years, exceedingly rich 
 washings have been made from the earth taken at the margin of the 
 pool below the falls. The washings of a single batea full of earth, are 
 said to have given I lb. of gold, and many successive bowl-washings have 
 yielded each from i to 3 and 4 oz. of fine gold. At different times, 
 attempts have been made to wash the shallow portions of this basin ; 
 but the depth of water has been too great for the rude methods 
 adopted. 
 
 The method of collecting the auriferous sand and detritus from the 
 beds of the deep pools in the rivers and streams is by diving, and scraping 
 it together with the alinocdfre, and thus loading the batea, which they 
 bring up from the bottom, and, after carrying it to a convenient place, 
 
 R 
 
 1. 
 
 * k^ 
 
 Ml 
 
242 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 wash the contents. The contrivance of the native for keeping himself at 
 the bottom of the pool while engaged in collecting the detritus and sand 
 from among the boulders and out of the crevices in the formation, is 
 very rude, but effective. It is as follows : — He selects an oblong quad- 
 rangular .stone of the requisite weight, say about 10 to 12 lb. One side 
 of this he makes concave, to be adapted to the nape of the neck, and 
 then about it he works a netting of bejuco, which is the natural rope of 
 this country. To this he attaches a broad flexible band of tough bark 
 by both of its ends, and of such a length as to be slipped readily over the 
 head from behind forwards as far as the forehead, while the stone is 
 resting upon the nape of the neck. With the stone thus arranged upon 
 his neck, and armed with the abnocdfre and batea, he cautiously wades 
 to that depth where he can retain his foothold with his head above water ; 
 then, throwing himself forward into the water, the weight of the stone 
 bears his head downward to the bottom of the pool. Here he secures the 
 batea stationary by putting a stone into it, and then groping about, with 
 almocdfre in hand, he scrapes together the auriferous sand and fills the 
 
 . batea. Before his batea is loaded, the diver is compelled, perhaps several 
 times, to rise to the surface for fresh air ; and this he does by slipping 
 the band from his forehead and casting off the stone. After rising to 
 the surface, he swims to the place where he can gain his foothold as 
 
 • before, and then drawing towards him the stone, by means of a cord 
 attached to it, he replaces it upon his neck, and after he is sufficiently 
 refreshed, dives in the same manner again. The batea is necessarily 
 always retained where the depth of the water is not greater than the 
 diver's height, as it would otherwise be impossible for him to raise the 
 batea full of sand and detritus. By this rude and tedious management 
 does the gold-washer obtain the gold from the bottom of the pools, which 
 have not, generally, a greater depth than his own height. In some 
 instances, however, the beds of pools of considerable depth have been 
 partly washed by some natives more daring and persevering than the 
 rest, where the great abundance of gold has been an inducement. In 
 these cases, the diver only attempts to collect some lumps of gold from 
 the crevices in the strata, and from among the loose rocks, or to gather a 
 small qua.''tity of auriferous sand in a tortiana or gourd, which is re- 
 peatedly emptied into the batea on the bank, and, when a sufficient 
 quantity is collected, is there washed. 
 
 Old diggings, mines in veins, tunnels into the hills, and, in fact, every 
 variety of excavation, arc to be seen in great numbers in these regions, 
 and particularly in this section. The extensive workings in the mines 
 of Vela Solida and Vela del Rey conclusively testify to exploration and 
 mining on a large scale in former times, and with considerable intelli- 
 gence and energy. But for the last 25 years, the gold-washings even 
 
AMERICA, S. : U.S. OF COLOMBIA. 
 
 243 
 
 have gradually declined, until at the present time, only 100 lb. or so of 
 wash-gold arc obtained annually by the very few natives now engaged 
 in this vicinity. Some 25 years since, an enterprising New Granadian, 
 Juan Lopez by name, worked somewhat extensively in the old mines 
 and excavations of the Spaniards ; but as far as known, he carried on his 
 mining operations with no additional improvement upon the old Spanish 
 system, nor did he advance much farther in his various explorations 
 than the Spaniards originally. He worked principally in the out- ^ 
 croppings of the veins, and drove leads into several hills for deposits of Ij 
 wash-gold ; yet in a few years' labour he amassed immense wealth, '^ 
 which he and his family succeeding him have managed to nearly ? 
 dissipate in a few more years. , 
 
 The so-called guacas of this region arc very interesting objects for ^ 
 examination and scientific inquiry, on account of the novel geological X 
 conditions attending the presence of gold, which are exhibited by 
 them. These guacas penetrate the hillsides at various elevations, Z 
 differing greatly in their extent, and varying exceedingly in many - 
 instances from the horizontal direction. There are, however, several -" 
 circumstances which are found associated with these excavations without \ 
 exception, and some of them arc undoubtedly the indications which l 
 lead to the selection of the locality, and govern the course and extent of ^■ 
 the gnaca. c 
 
 At whatever elevation on the side of the hill the excavation may be, \ 
 the opening is always at a considerable distance below the summit of the s 
 hill ; and as the general direction of these tunnels is the horizontal, they ^' 
 penetrate the body of the hill at greater or less depths below the natural ^ 
 surface. The indication which governs the selection of the spot for n 
 commencing a guaca is the presence of a stratification called by the >' 
 natives pena, and a detritus, either superimposed or partially mingled * 
 with the upper portion of this stratum, which yields gold. This deposit of ," 
 auriferous detritus varies exceedingly in extent, but when it is confined >' 
 to a few feet in breadth and thickness, it is styled a vcncro, or vein. The \ 
 stratum called peua is felspar or gneiss decomposed to a greater or less ' 
 degree in its upper layers, which, coloured by iron sulphates, present 1 
 different shades of blue. As one descends in these strata, they become ' 
 more compact and hard ; and in no instance is gold found below the 
 extent of decomposition and consequent dissolution in these strata. The 
 vein or auriferous deposit is composed of boulders of trap, greenstone, 
 gneiss, and felspar ; detritus of every description of rock belonging to -^ 
 this region, and decayed vegetation, such as trunks of trees and fruits, ^ 
 some of which have lost entirely their vegetable matter, and are imprcg- ) 
 nated with aluminous earths ; while iron-pyrites, magnetic sand, and ) 
 crystallized quartz, and lastly, by far the most important ingredient, gold, . 
 
 
' 1 1 
 
 M 
 
 w, 
 
 t',i\ i 
 
 244 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 If 
 
 
 \ 
 
 in large quantities, fill the interstices. Above the auriferous deposit is 
 superimposed a layer of porphyroidal clay, of no great thickness generally, 
 which is variously coloured by iron and its compounds. This layer is 
 styled among the native miners here " sep^," and is not unfrequently 
 absent, or of very limited thickness. Above this layer comes a stratifica- 
 tion, which, from its position and character combined, presents an 
 interesting geological phenomenon worthy of especial attention. The 
 name given to this latter by the natives is tosca. It seems to be of 
 volcanic origin, having been evidently superimposed upon the sep^ when 
 in a molten state. It has many of the characteristics of lava, and would 
 .eem to have been the result of volcanic action while the surface of this 
 region was submerged below the level of the sea. 
 
 This tosca is of varied thickness and extent, in some places reaching 
 the surface, and frequently making a stratum which extends through- 
 out the body of the hill, overlying the sep^. In some giiacas it 
 forms the roof for their entire extent ; and its presence is considered 
 one of the most favourable indications of the existence of gold in the 
 vencro. 
 
 In most instances, the tosca is covered by diluvium and alluvial earth, 
 to a greater or less thickness, forming the summits of the hills. Now 
 and then, however, the tosca comes out to the surface on <;he plateaux of 
 \}Lic giiaca hills. This is the case on the Cocuyos hill, one of the most 
 celebrated of these eminences, where it may be seen and traced to 
 considerable distances. The auriferous deposits in these gnaca hills 
 vary greatly in extent and disposition, as already remarked. Sometimes 
 there is no distinct and uniform venero, but the deposit is distributed 
 irregularly in layers of different thickness and limits, with interruptions 
 like " faults " in a vein of quartz, composed of the layers o{ pena and sepe 
 interposed in juxtaposition. This occurs generally when the deposit is 
 located deep in the hill. 
 
 A vast amount of detailed information is scattered through the 
 reports of the Directors of the Colombian Mining Association, and 
 Mariquita and New Granada Mining Company, for a sight of which the 
 author is much indebted to the present successors to the properties, 
 Messrs. Powies and Rogers. The general facts recorded in these reports 
 only confirm what has already been said, and it would needlessly occupy 
 space to reproduce them. 
 
 Ecuador. — Pritchett (i860), from his own observations, and from 
 the trustworthy information of others, confidently asserts that the lower 
 alluvial slopes of the Andes, which gradually subside into the great 
 Amazonian plain, all contain gold, from the sources of the Napo, on the 
 north, to the Maraiion, above the Pongo de Manzeriche, on the south, 
 perhaps nowhere in very great quantity, but still amply sufficient to be 
 
AMERICA, S. : ECUADOR, GUIANA. 
 
 245 
 
 ;; 
 
 
 worth the trouble of working. In his voyage hither, his party began to 
 encounter beaches strewn with pebbles of granite and quartz, at a little 
 less than half-way up the Bombonaza, on the ridges and in the 
 valleys ; the pebbles gradually became larger and more numerous as they 
 ascended, and were always accompanied by gold. In fact, throughout 
 the Upper Bombonaza one can hardly scrape up the quartz gravel to the 
 depth of a foot without encountering small fragments of gold. Near 
 those streams where gold is known to be most abundant, the loose, wet 
 gravel extends to a great depth ; through this the larger pieces of gold 
 gravitate by their own weight, and are to be found if searched for ; but 
 as the Indians only wash the surface gravel, scraping it up merely 
 with their hands, it is not to be wondered at that they rarely find a 
 nugget. 
 
 It would in Pritchett's opinion undoubtedly be worth while to explore 
 the mountain Llangaiiate, from the snows of which comes down the 
 turbulent Topo, where rocks wiih quartz veins, and even blocks of pure 
 quartz, are copiously strewn. The tradition that gold has been got out 
 of this mountain in the time of the Incas is so universally diffused that 
 it can hardly be altogether without foundation. In it are the sources of 
 the Curardy (a tributary of the Napo), the Bombonaza, Topo, Verde, 
 Shuna, and many other rivers, whose banks show quartz and gold. In 
 connection with this point, it may be mentioned that Dr. Villavicencio, 
 in his Geography of Ecuador, refers to a Spaniard who became suddenly 
 rich, and who at his death asserted that Llangaiiate had been the source 
 of his wealth. His confession was duly registered in the archives of the 
 city of Latacunga ; and some years ago. Dr. James Taylor, in his memoir 
 on the ' Eastern Gold Fields of the Andes, ' mentions their Qrcat 
 importance and immense extent. 
 
 In 1866, Col. Neale reported the discovery of unworked and hitherto 
 unknown gold-deposits in the district of Esmeraldas. 
 
 Orton (1876) generally bears out Pritchett's statements, adding that 
 the prevailing rock on the eastern side of the Ecuadorian Andes is mica- 
 schist, and that the name of the Curardy river is probably derived from 
 ciiri (gold). 
 
 Guiana (British). — Gold was discovered at Tupuquen, on the 
 Yuruari, a tributary of the Cuyuni, in 1857, and on the British side of 
 the Cuyuni itself, about 40 miles up, in 1863. The working has not been 
 successful, and has given rise to complications with the boundary 
 question (see Proc. R. Geogr. Soc, ii. n.s. 52-3). 
 
 Guiana (Dutch) or Surinam. — Gold-digging commenced here 
 in earnest in 1875, after Alma's journey to the Commewyne, near the 
 PVench border, where the first start was made. Subsequently an expe- 
 dition sent to trace a new road from the Fall of Brokopondo, above 
 
 ■ rt 
 
246 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIilUTION. 
 
 Surinam, to the Fall of Prcdosengoc, opened up other auriferous lands ; 
 and concessions covcrinf^ nearly 300,000 acres were allotted. One of 
 the richest spots was a placer on the Saramacca River, about 125 miles 
 from Paramaribo. A report on this locality by G. A. Taylor, published 
 in the prospectus of the Surinam Gold-mining Co., gives the following 
 information. The ground in the creeks consists of : (i) top soil of yellow 
 clay, I ft. and upwards ; (2) sand and gravel, i to 6 ft. ; (3) clay of unknown 
 depth. The sand and gravel pays well at top, growing richer in depth 
 and reaching its maximum yield along the surface of the lower clay. 
 The gravel in the creeks is scarcely at all water-worn, showing the 
 proximity of its source. The clay has not been penetrated, nor have the 
 surrounding hills been tunnelled. The product is stated to reach ^ lb. to 
 4 lb. of gold daily from each long-torn ; if so, it is puzzling to know why 
 the proprietor sold it to a company. 
 
 A recent Consular Report (1878) has the following remarks : — 
 " The only branch of industry worth noticing is the exploration of 
 gold, and its development increases marvellously. This metal seems to 
 abound in the colony. In every district where it has been sought for, it 
 has been found in larger or smaller quantities. The opportunity given 
 by Government to rent land at the nominal price of loc. {2d.) per hectare 
 {2\ acres) per annum is an inducement to almost every one to test their 
 fortune in the gold-fields. The gold is obtained by a primitive process 
 of washing with sluices and long-toms, and is found in the alluvial 
 deposits. The report for 1877 shows an increase of the value exported, 
 during that year only, by the steamers of the Compagnie Generale 
 Transatlantique, as compared with 1876, of 251,000 florins (20,916/.) ; and 
 during 1 878, 407,059 florins' (33,921/.) worth has been exported by the 
 same conveyance, against 343,780 florins (28,648/.) in 1877 ; but the 
 amount really found is difficult to ascertain, as parties conceal the results 
 of their explorations. No export duty being leviable thereon, the total 
 value exported otherwise remains unknown, as would that shipped by the 
 French steamers, were it not done through the intermediacy of the 
 Surinam Bank, which advances a certain amount to the parties for their 
 gold, to enable them to continue their expeditions, and ships the same 
 to Holland. The sum advanced by the bank nearly amounts to the 
 value of the gold, and the commission charged for its interference 
 is I per cent. For the year 1879, the export thus recorded reached 
 700,000 florins (58,333/). The nominal rental received by the Govern- 
 ment was 19,760 florins (1646/) in '1878, and 34,678 florins (2889/.) 
 in 1879." 
 
 Guiana (French) or Cayenne.— What little information exists 
 concerning the auriferous wealth of French Guiana is mainly due to our 
 Consular Reports, and to the accounts given by mining experts sent out 
 
AMERICA, S. : GUIANA, TARAGUAY, PATAGONIA. 
 
 247 
 
 for the purpose by companies. One report stated the average yield of 
 gold per month during the year i(S75 at 9427 oz., a mine at Sinnamary 
 having produced a nugget weighing nearly 2 lb. New finds were 
 being recorded at Iracoubo, Mana, and Maroni ; antl the streains called 
 Oyac, Orapa, and Comte were reported to have numerous placers along 
 their banks. A consular report for 1S78 said that Mana produced 21,747 
 grammes (say 48 lb.) of gold in March 1877, and 39,662 grammes (say 
 88 lb.) in April. The diggings at I'as-trop-tOt, in the district of Mana, 
 afforded over 300 lb. of gold in the 6 months ending Aug. 31, 1879. 
 Crevau.x considers that the Tumac Ilumac range is not the only source 
 of the gold, but that the lower chain running through the colony contains 
 most of the gold which is found in and along the creek 
 
 The following details are gathered from a report by Oliver Pegler, 
 A.R.S.M., upon the Pas-trop-t6t placer, addressed to the Mana 
 Gold Co. 
 
 The concession is situated in the south-west portion of French 
 Guiana, between the rivers Mana and Maroni, at a distance of about 125 
 miles from the coast. The geological character of the country is meta- 
 morphic — Silurian rocks, abounding with trap and more recent eruptive 
 formations. The gold-bearing deposits at present known and worked 
 are of very limited area, being confined to the deeper beds of the ravines 
 and creeks, which in extent may be estimated at I per cent, of the total 
 area of the concession. The system employed for extracting the gold 
 from the auriferous earth, by the natives, consists in an extremely rude 
 process of washing;, no machinery is necessary, and plenty of timber 
 abounds for constructing the sluices. The bed of auriferous earth rests 
 mostly upon a stratum of clay, and is of varying thickness, from 2 or 3 in. 
 to 3 or 4 ft., the average thickness being 13 in. The over-burthen, or 
 superincumbent crust, consists of clay covered with a layer of decayed 
 vegetable matter, and is also of varying thickness. The average may be 
 taken at about 5 ft. This auriferous bed is composed of quartz fragments, 
 and other mineral resting on the clay, with fine sand above ; thus the 
 gold, owing to its high .specific gravity, is found in greater quantities in 
 the deeper and coarser portions of the bed. 
 
 Paraguay. — According to Keith Johnston (1875), gold has been 
 found in Paraguay, but in quantities too small to repay working, though 
 sought for diligently by experienced men in all likely districts. 
 
 Patagonia. — Gold is washed in Patagonia in a stream near Punta 
 Arenas, the capital of the Chilian colonial territory of Magellan, in 
 Brunswick peninsula, Straits of Magellan. The natives offer it for sale 
 in laminated grains and scales, against its weight in sovereigns. Assa3's 
 o. it by C. L. Claude, of Valparaiso, gave : — Gold, 91 "760 ; silver, 7 "466 ; 
 copper, 0*248 ; iron oxide, 1*224; total, ioo'698. 
 
 u 
 
 ■:1'« 
 
 
 
^1>* 
 
 
 1^. 
 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 11.25 
 
 1^128 |2^ 
 
 ijj ^^" Mil 
 
 iJil 
 
 1.4 mil 1.6 
 
 ^ 
 
 7^ 
 
 7: 
 
 
 ^j>*' 
 ^ 
 
 '/ 
 
 Photographic 
 
 Sdaices 
 
 Corporation 
 
 WIBSTH.hi.V. USSO 
 (716) 172-4503 
 

 f 
 \ 
 
 
 ^ 
 

 ; 
 
 i , 
 
 !i : 
 
 ft 
 
 248 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Peru. — The gold-production of Peru in the years 1 533-1875 is thus 
 stated by Dr. Soetbeer : — 
 
 
 Periods. 
 
 No. of 
 Years. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Annual Average. 
 
 
 
 
 
 ll>. 
 
 lb. 
 
 £ 
 
 
 
 1533-1544 
 
 12 
 
 18,480 
 
 1,540 
 
 97,650 
 
 
 
 1545-1560 
 
 16 
 
 10,560 
 
 660 
 
 41,850 
 
 
 
 15C0-1580 
 
 20 
 
 II,OOU 
 
 550 
 
 34,850 
 
 
 
 1581-160O 
 
 20 
 
 11,000 
 
 550 
 
 34,850 
 
 
 
 160I-1620 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 162I-164O 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 1641-1C60 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 1661-1680 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 1681-1700 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 1 701-1720 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69.750 
 
 
 
 172I-1740 
 
 20 
 
 22,000 
 
 I,IOO 
 
 69,750 
 
 
 
 I74I-1760 
 
 20 
 
 22.000 
 
 1,100 
 
 69.750 
 
 
 
 1761-1780 
 
 20 
 
 26,400 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 
 
 I781-1800 
 
 20 
 
 28,600 
 
 1.430 
 
 90,675 
 
 
 
 1801-1810 
 
 10 
 
 17,160 
 
 1,716 
 
 108,810 
 
 
 
 1811-182O 
 
 10 
 
 9,900 
 
 990 
 
 62,750 
 
 
 
 1821-183O 
 
 10 
 
 7,040 
 
 704 
 
 44,640 
 
 
 
 1831-184O 
 
 10 
 
 9,900 
 
 990 
 
 62,750 
 
 
 
 184I-1850 
 
 10 
 
 13.200 
 
 1,320 
 
 83,700 
 
 
 
 1851-1855 
 
 5 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 
 
 I 856- I 860 
 
 5 
 
 3,850 
 
 770 
 
 48,800 
 
 
 
 1861-1865 
 
 5 
 
 4,400 
 
 880 
 
 55,800 
 
 
 -. 
 
 I 866- I 870 
 
 5 
 
 3.960 
 
 792 
 
 50,220 
 
 
 
 1871-1875 
 
 5 
 
 3.960 
 
 792 
 
 50,220 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 1533-1850 
 
 318 
 
 339.240 
 
 21,510,900/. 
 
 
 
 1851-1875 
 
 25 
 
 20,570 
 
 1,304,325/. 
 
 
 
 1533-1875 
 
 343 
 
 359.810 
 
 22,815,225/. 
 
 
 According to Markham (1862) upwards of 1 1,500,000 (300,000/.) 
 came into the department of Puno yearly, either as payments for wool, 
 or in salaries for official.s, without counting the expenditure for the troops ; 
 and it is calculated that more than half this sum eventually finds its way 
 into the hands of the Indians, who bury it. Thus, in considering the 
 mineral wealth of Peru, the enormous quantities of coined money, the 
 vases or other articles made of the precious metals, which have been 
 buried by the Indians, must be taken into consideration ; for this practice 
 has been going on since the time of the Incas. Now that the currency 
 consists almost entirely of the debased half-dollar." of Bolivia, if a Spanish 
 dollar or any other good coin is accidentally received by an Indian it is 
 immediately buried. 
 
 In the beginning of the last centuuy, a Jesuit found gold in a hill 
 called Camante, in the Marcapata valley, situated between two ravines, 
 in one of which, called Garrote, a Spanish company established gold- 
 washings. The leading man of this company, named Goyguro, employed 
 hundreds of Indians, and extracted gold from the Camante hill in lumps ; 
 
AMERICA, S. : PERU. 
 
 249 
 
 but one day an immense landslip fell into the Vilca-mayu, the chief 
 stream of Marcapata, and all the workmen ran away and could not be 
 induced to return. This was in or about the year 1788. 
 
 In 1836, a company was formed by several young adventurers, the 
 chief of whom were Jos6 Maria Pacheco of Cuzco and Jose Maria Ochoa 
 of Huara, with the object of again discovering the long-lost golden hill 
 ofCamante; but their expedition led to no practical results. In 185 1, 
 Colonel Bologenesi became the manager of an expedition for collecting 
 cinchona-bark in the forests of Marcapata, during which, indications were 
 met with of the ancient gold-washings. 
 
 Extending for a distance of 180 miles, from Marcapata to the frontier 
 of Bolivia, is the watershed along that part of the eastern Andes known 
 as the Snowy Range of Caravaya, where the numerous streams take their 
 rise which unite to form the Ynambiri. The Madrc de Dios, Marca- 
 pata, and Ynambiri are thus the great sources of the Purus. The tribu- 
 taries of the latter drain the province of Caravaya. 
 
 The first mention of this region, continues Markham, is to be found 
 in the pages of the old Inca historian, Garcilasso de la Vega, who says 
 that " the richest gold-mines in Peru are those of Collahuaya, which the 
 Spaniards call Caravaya, whence they obtain much very fine gold of 24 
 carats, and they still get some, but not in such abundance." The Jesuit 
 Acosta also mentions "the famous gold of Caravaya in Peru." After 
 the final overthrow of the younger Almagro, in the battle of Chupas, in 
 1 542, some of his followers crossed the snowy range, and descended into 
 the great tropical forests of Caravaya, where they discovered rivers 
 whose sands were full of gold. On the banks of these rivers they built 
 the towns of Sandia, San Gavan and San Juan del Oro ; large sums of 
 gold were sent home to Spain, and the last-named settlement received 
 the title of a royal city from Charles V. In 1553, these settlers received 
 a pardon from the Viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza, in consideration 
 of the gold they sent home to the Emperor. It is said that they sent 
 him a nugget weighing 4 arrobas (i29jlb.), in the shape of a bullock's 
 head ; and that afterwards another nugget, in the shape of a bullock's 
 tongue, was sent to Philip II., but that the ship which carried it was lost 
 at sea. Eventually the wild Chuncho Indians of the Sirineyri tribe fell 
 upon the gold-washers, and overpowered them. In the following century 
 certain mulattos occupied the gold-washings in Caravaya, and the king, 
 as a reward for their labours in extracting treasure, offered to comply 
 with any request they might make. The mulattos asked to be called 
 Seiiores, and for the privilege of entering every town on white mules with 
 red trappings, and the bells ringing. 
 
 The Spaniards long continued to extract gold from the rivers of 
 Caravaya, and established coca-farms and coffee-plantations in some of 
 
250 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 the ravines formed by spurs of the cordillera. Gold, however, was the 
 product for which Caravaya was most famous. 
 
 In 1615, the viceroy Marquis of Montes Claros spoke of the rich 
 Invader OS or gold-washings of Caravaya ; and his successor, the Prince 
 of Esquilache, wrote a long report upon them in 1620. It appears that, 
 at that period, the richest of the Caravaya mines was called Aporuma, 
 and that it had then been worked for 15 years by a company of adven- 
 turers. These men, the chief of whom were named Quiiiones, Frisancho, 
 and Perez, had excavated very extensive works to drain off the water ; 
 and they petitioned the viceroy to grant them a mita of Indians to 
 complete the works, for that thus the royal fifths would be augmented. 
 In 1678, the yield of the royal fifths from the Caravaya gold-vva.shings 
 was at the rate of $806 (168/.) in 3 months. The town of San Gavan, 
 with 4000 families and a large treasure, was surprised and entirely 
 destroyed by the Carangas and Suchimanis Chunchos, on the 1 5th of 
 December, 1767. 
 
 In 1849, Caravaya attracted notice as a land rich in the precious 
 metal, and it soon became the California of South America. In July of 
 that year, two brothers named Poblete, in searching for cinchona-bark, 
 discovered great abundance of gold-dust in the sands of one of the 
 Caravaya rivers, and the news soon spread far and wide. Up to 1852, 
 crowds of adventurers, among whom were many Frenchmen, continued 
 to follow in the footsteps of the Pobletes, but most of them returned 
 empty, and the excitement has now died away. 
 
 In the warm valleys are to be found all the wealth and population of 
 Caravaya. The population cons'sts of 22,000 souls, almost all Indians ; 
 and the wealth, besides the flocks of sheep on the western table-land, is 
 created by the produce of coca, coffee, sugar-cane, and aji pepper plan- 
 tations, fruit-gardens, and gold-washings. Markham could obtain no 
 reliable statements respecting the yield of gold. 
 
 It is supposed that the old Spanish town of San Gavan was situated 
 near a river of the same name, about 20 miles from Aragon's estate. 
 The site is now overgrown with dense forest, and it has never been 
 visited since its destruction ; yet it is believed that vast treasure lies 
 concealed amongst the tree-covered ruins, because the attack of the 
 Chunchos was sudden, and at once successful ; they care nothing for the 
 precious metals, and San Gavan contained a royal treasury, and was a 
 central deposit for the gold of Caravaya. 
 
 Phara is a ravine on the eastern slope of the Andes, about 35 miles 
 from Crucero. Here many gold-mines were worked by Senores Mulattos, 
 and at no great distance is the famous gold-mine of Aporuma; in the 
 ravine of Pacchani. Phara is on the road to the gold-diggings which 
 were discovered by the brothers Poblete, and which attracted so many 
 
AMERICA, S. : PERU. 
 
 251 
 
 luckless adventurers between 1849 and 1854. They are at a distance of 
 15 leagues to the northward. The path lies along a long ridge, 
 gradually descending for 6 leagues to a little hamlet called La Mina 
 Thence to the banks of the river Ynambiri, here called Huari-Huari, 
 is a distance of 3 leagues, down a very dangerous road, covered with 
 huge block'; of schist, and skirting along fearful precipices. For this 
 distance ihe road is passable for mules. The river in 70 yd. broad, and 
 is crossed by an oraya, or bridge of ropes, traversed by a sort of net or 
 cage. On the other side, at the junction of the Huari-Huari and the 
 golden river of Chaluma, there is a place which has been named 
 Versailles by some French adventurers. From Versailles to the lavaderos, 
 or gold-washing?, is a distance of 6 leagues up a narrow forest-covered 
 ravine ; and, in this distr.nce, it is necessary to wade across the river 
 Chaluma no less than 53 times. At the end of this perilous journey is a 
 place called Alta-garcia, where the adininistradores of the company of first 
 discoverers were established in 1850. Thence to Quimza-mayu (3 rivers) 
 is \ league, and here the lavaderos commence. In this part of its course 
 the river is called Taccuma. Many of the gold-seekers have been formerly 
 engaged in the cinchona-bark trade, and know the country thoroughly. 
 
 The tributaries of the Chaluma, called Quimza-mayu, rise in hills 
 completely isolated from the Andes, and their sands are full of gold, both 
 in dust and nuggets. Immediately above the lavaderos rises a hill 
 called Capacurco, and by the French adventurers, Montcbello, formed of 
 quartz and other primitive rocks, with rich veins of gold. Here 
 Manuel Costas of Puno erected a house, and brought out machinery for 
 crushing the quartz ; but the undertaking failed through the badness of 
 the machinery, and the immense cost and difficulty of transporting 
 materials through such a country. A few adventurers, however, still 
 continue to wash for gold in the Chaluma or Taccuma. In the part of 
 its course above the lavaderos, this river descends rapidly from an isolated 
 range of forest-covered, precipitous hills ; and in one place its waters 
 plunge down in a cascade, with a sheer fall of 40 ft. 
 
 The region known as San Juan del Oro.was once famous for its gold- 
 washings ; and here the royal town of the same name stood, founded 
 by the fugitive Almagristas, and afterwards tenanted by the Seiiores 
 Mulattos, but long since destroyed and abandoned. 
 
 The geological formation of Caravaya is composed of non-fossiliferous 
 schists, micaceous, and slightly ferruginous, with veins of quartz. It is a 
 portion of the extensive system of rocks which Forbes has grciped 
 together as belonging to the Silurian epoch, and which extends almost 
 continuously over an extent from north-east to south-west of more than 
 7CX3 miles, forming the mountain chain of the Eastern Andes, continuous 
 from Cuzco, through Caravaya to Bolivia. 
 
 2 t- 
 
 
 
252 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The streams flowing from the Eastern Andes to the north-west of the 
 Paucartambo system combine to swell the Ucayali, while those to the 
 south-east of the Pablo-bam ba fall into the Beni, one of the chief 
 tributaries of the Madeira. The intermediate streams are the sources of 
 the unknown Purus. They are all more or less auriferous. 
 
 At Tipuani, in Bolivia, there is a very rich auriferous country, 
 composed of blue clay-slates, with no fossils ; while the beds near Sorrata 
 contain fossils, and consist of blue clay-shales, micaceous slates, grau- 
 wacke, and clay-slates, with gold-bearing quartz, metallic bismuth, iron- 
 ore, and argentiferous galena. The whole of this Silurian formation is 
 eminently auriferous, and contains everywhere frequent veins of auriferous 
 quartz, usually associated with iron-pyrites. 
 
 Raimondi (Proc. California Acad. Sci., iii. 359) states that there are 
 two principal ranges of the Cordilleras in Peru. The Western, or 
 Cordillera of the Andes, divides the waters running into the Pacific on one 
 side, and the Amazon on the other. The other chain is the Eastern 
 Cordillera, which appears to be entirely composed of micaceous and 
 talcose schists, metamorphosed by the elevation of the granites, and 
 contains numerous veins of quartz, which in some places are quite rich in 
 gold. Along the whole length of the coast, at a distance of i or 2 leagues, 
 rises a small chain of hills, called Lomas (" the Hills ") formed of granite, 
 syenites, and porphyries, and containing in scattered spots a little 
 gold. 
 
 The same authority (Jl. R. Geogr. Soc, xxxvii. 1 34) states that the sand 
 of the river Piquitiri is auriferous, and higher up, works were commenced 
 having for object to give the water another course, so as to extract gold 
 from the bed with greater facility. The owner of the farm of San Jos^ 
 having discovered the remains of these works, was induced to continue 
 the search for gold in this river ; but, in consequence of the great 
 difficulties that presented themselves, and the little profit, the work was 
 discontinued. There is no doubt that the Piquitiri contains gold ; for 
 his followers, having washed some of the sand, took out particles of the 
 metal. 
 
 Forbes gives the following description of a local method of sluicing 
 here adopted. The valley is, in the first instance, completely closed up, 
 and the course of the river stopped by a rude wall or dam of stones, 
 provided with sluices, and having a portion of the wall somewhat lower, 
 in order to carry off any overflow of water, which otherwise might disturb 
 the workings. A longitudinal excavation is then made close up to the one 
 side of the valley, and of such breadth as can be conveniently carried on 
 by the number of hands at disposal; and, in making this, the large 
 boulders and stones, too heavy to be carried off by the rush of water, are 
 piled up to one side, whilst the earti:, gravel and clay are merely loosened 
 
AMERICA, S. : PERU, URUGUAY. 
 
 253 
 
 and flushed ofT, by the water turned on from the sluices, allowing the force 
 of ^ lie stream to carry them down the river. On arriving at the several 
 successive auriferous beds, which are known from previous trials, and 
 which are denoted by the dark bands running horizontally across the 
 excavation, as seen in Fig. 6, more care is taken ; but the whole of the 
 auriferous earth is likewise flushed off, and, being so much heavier than 
 
 iMC. 6. 
 
 m 
 
 Mode of Sluicing in S. America. 
 
 !*^ 
 
 the rest, deposits itself at but a little distance from the workings, where 
 it is collected and subjected to repeated washing in a trough until 
 nothing but the gold-dust remains behind. See also Appendix A. 
 
 Uruguay. — Our knowledge of the gold-fields of Uruguay is entirely 
 due to Bankart, who, having in 1867 had his attention called to some 
 Jesuit reports of the existence of gold south of Brazil, in the territory now 
 known as the Banda Oriental, determined to carefully examine the 
 northern portion of the Republic. 
 
 Starting from the highest revenue port (Salto) on the Uruguay, he 
 took a nearly due east course, passing through the department of the 
 same name for about 160 miles, without obtaining traces of anything but 
 copper, lead, and iron. Thence he pursued investigations in the 
 neighbouring department of Tacuarembo, between the 30th and 33rd 
 parallels of latitude, and 54th to 56th degrees of longitude, where he met 
 with a complete change. Granite and quartzose rocks of the primary 
 formation, intersected by slate reefs in immense ranges, met the eye on 
 all sides running into Brazil, most of them bearing in a northerly direction, 
 and dipping to the east. On examining the sands and detritus at the 
 
254 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 bottom of the rivers Tacuarembo, Grande, and Chico, he found a little 
 very fine gold ; and, proceeding farther on the other side, came upon some 
 alluvial deposits washed down from thq surrounding hills, consisting of 
 gravel, rounded quartz boulders, decomposed slate, sometimes 30 ft. deep, 
 resting upon syenitic granite ; this woyld, in many places, yield well with 
 proper appliances. And at a place called Corralles, originally (from 
 appearances) a lake having all around limestone, auriferous quartz, and 
 slate reefs, he learnt that small pepitas or pieces of the precious metal 
 are constantly met with, clinging to the roots of the palm-grass used for 
 thatching purposes. No trial had as yet been made as to the probable 
 deposits of gold below, for it is always a swamp. He heard that some 
 years ago a Brazilian, with the aid of his slave, had washed out over 
 50 lb. weight of free gold, after 3 months' labour, from a dry creek not 
 very far from this. 
 
 Proceeding to the spot indicated, he there saw the remains of their 
 workings through the drift ; and on searching the neighbouring hills, 
 found several fine quartz lodes bearing N.N.W., and dipping E. He 
 met with free gold here and there plainly visible to the naked eye, 
 from which he took many samples, also occasionally auriferous pyrites 
 below the surface ; these lodes vary from 3 to 1 5 ft. in width. A piece 
 of solid gold, weighing over i lb. (of 16 oz.), has been taken out of 
 the quartz on the surface, and is in the hands of the Uruguayan Minister 
 of War. 
 
 Here Bankart entered an open cutting about 6 ft. deep, and 
 descended into a shallow well cut into the quartz, and was able to pick 
 down rock which contained gold of a superior quality. Between these 
 gullies and the quartzose hills, lay several flats, composed to some depth 
 of gravel, rounded quartz, and slate ; they will probably prove richer in 
 metal than the adjoining creeks, which appear to be of more recent 
 formation ; but in all the gravel of the deep ravine which had been torn 
 open by the floods, Bankart noticed an entire absence of small pieces of 
 quartz, such as are found covering the slopes of the mountains or in the 
 lower deposits of gravel. The quartz lodes are generally traversed by 
 slate reefs, and sometimes run into or cease, when brought into contact 
 with granite. 
 
 Here and there Bankart found shepherds squatting on the ground, 
 engaged in turning up tae surface for about 15 in., and breaking up the 
 pieces of quartz with a hammer upon a stone mortar, setting aside such 
 as contained visible gold, and rejecting the rest. By thus working for a 
 few hours, they managed to collect a small heap of specimens, which they 
 carried home ; and, after accumulating a sufficient quantity, they calcined 
 and pounded them, and amalgamated them with mercury in a batea. By 
 this operation they obtained only the heavier gold, throwing away the rest 
 
AMERICA, S. : URUGUAY, VENEZUELA. 255 " 
 
 as useless ; the result gave them on an average about ^ oz. per working 
 day. The gold thus extracted finds its way sometimes it. to Nioiitevidco, 
 but more generally to the Rio Grande, where it is no uncommon thing to 
 meet with purchasers of I to 200 oz. at a time. The gold is of 4 qualities, 
 ranging from 15 to 23 carats. 
 
 The ground here answers to the surface diggings of Australia and the 
 placers of California, only the order of things is slightly reversed. In 
 those countries the gravel was invariably washed to obtain the free gold, 
 the quartz being thrown away ; whilst in Uruguay the quartz alone is 
 crushed, and the gravel is disregarded. No doubt .■■ome of the richest 
 deposits lie in these accumulations, for wherever Bankart washed this 
 drift, he invariably found gold in company with a large proportion of 
 magnetic iron. His investigations led him to inquire if there had been 
 no excavations made in the quartz-reefs ; and in reply, he was shown 
 various spots where shafts had been commenced, but relinquished after 
 going 2 or 3 fathoms deep, on account of water. In all cases the rock 
 had proved extremely rich, but the miners had no appliances whereby 
 they could get rid of the water. Bankart devoted some weeks to testing 
 the accuracy of their statements, and was enabled to return with a 
 plentiful supply of very good stone. He pursued his researches for 
 about 90 miles in length on the course of the lodes, and stretching 
 18 miles across them. Several lofty hills of magnetic iron were 
 encountered, bounded by trap, and running into slate. And both in 
 the gossan, and in the gravel at the base, he washed more or less gold 
 in every pan. 
 
 Various assays made in England of picked specimens, gave the 
 following results : — 
 
 No. oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 1 Gold 87 16 16 
 
 2 Fine Gold 76 o o 
 
 |FineGold 81 16 14 
 
 3 \Fine Silver 18 8 14 
 
 4 Fine Gold 2992 11 o 
 
 5 Fine Gold 6512 18 o 
 
 Bankart anticipates an average of 2 oz. of gold per ton from the reefs. 
 He discovered large and strong lodes of iron- and copper-pyrites associated 
 with gold, evidently from the quartz and slate reefs that traverse them, 
 extending for many miles, giving unmistakable evidences at the surface 
 of the riches hidden below. The ancient workings have been abandoned 
 evidently from excess of water, and from paucity of capital. These are 
 situated only about 90 miles from the seaport of Maldonado. 
 
 Venezuela. — The following valuable tables concerning the gold- 
 production, and general state of the gold-industry of Venezuela, are due 
 to J. M. Muiioz (En. and Min. Jl., Apr. 12, 1879). 
 
 ^!:, 
 
256 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 WAY-BILLS OF 
 
 THE MUTUAL UNION 
 
 TRANSPORTATION COMPANY OP THE MINING 
 
 COMPANIES 
 
 
 IN r,i;AYANA, VENKZUELA, 
 
 FRO.M ORGANIZATION ' 
 
 10 DECEMBER 3IST, 1878. 
 
 Date. 
 
 No. 
 
 of 
 
 trip. 
 
 aj «tamps, 
 £1 Callao. 
 
 as Ktanip^. 
 
 NaciJpi, 
 
 0. Kx. .nnd 
 
 ao atamps. 
 Hansa. 
 
 30 Stamps. 
 Potosi. 
 
 10 stamps. 
 Chili, Mo- 
 ciipia and 
 
 10 stampi. 
 Caratail 
 
 
 
 
 Mk. Co. 
 
 
 
 New York. 
 
 
 
 «.'^74. 
 
 01. 
 
 07. 
 
 oz. 
 
 07. 
 
 07. 
 
 07. 
 
 oz. 
 
 May . . 
 
 I 
 
 .. 
 
 520} 
 
 
 9S| 
 
 222f 
 
 K'? 
 
 fM 
 
 • ■ 
 
 June .. 
 
 July .. 
 
 2 
 
 .. 
 
 585 
 778 
 
 . . 
 
 89J 
 
 • ■ 
 
 3 
 
 .. 
 
 , , 
 
 336 
 
 '64* 
 
 1. 014 
 
 .. 
 
 Aug. .. 
 
 4 
 
 589 
 
 658 
 
 248I 
 
 3'2i 
 
 204 
 
 ',382 
 
 .. 
 
 Sept. .. 
 
 S 
 
 795 
 
 583 
 
 '25 
 
 222i 
 
 '49? 
 192} 
 
 903i 
 
 .. 
 
 Oct. .. 
 
 6 
 
 640J 
 338J 
 
 476 
 
 
 376 
 
 443 
 
 .. 
 
 Nov. ,. 
 
 7 
 
 573i 
 
 , , 
 
 
 '75 
 
 840 
 
 .. 
 
 Dec. .. 
 
 8 
 
 622 
 
 1,032 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 214 
 
 968 
 
 
 ^ 1875- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. .. 
 
 9 
 
 399J 
 
 827J 
 
 , , 
 
 ,, 
 
 '3S« 
 
 80s 
 
 .. 
 
 Feb. .. 
 
 10 
 
 444 
 
 1,606 
 
 , , 
 
 962 
 
 205 
 
 803 
 
 .. 
 
 Mar. .. 
 
 II 
 
 1,480 
 
 ',3'7 
 
 , , 
 
 414 
 
 '65 
 
 272 
 
 .. 
 
 Apr. .. 
 
 12 
 
 1.239 
 
 ',203 
 ',328 
 
 , , 
 
 265? 
 
 '65i 
 
 433i 
 
 .. 
 
 May .. 
 
 '3 
 
 '.'73 
 
 , , 
 
 123 
 
 '74 
 
 427J 
 
 .. 
 
 June .. 
 
 '4 
 
 1, 360 J 
 
 I, 042 J 
 
 ., 
 
 '32i 
 
 '64S- 
 
 336 
 
 ., 
 
 July .. 
 
 'S 
 
 1,280 
 
 ','3' 
 
 , , 
 
 120 
 
 26s 
 
 3'8 
 
 .. 
 
 Aug. .. 
 
 It 
 
 '.'35 
 
 1,201 
 
 ,. 
 
 281 
 
 27'f 
 
 299 
 
 .. 
 
 Sept, .. 
 
 17 
 
 '.33' 
 
 820 
 
 .. 
 
 3'2i 
 
 35Si 
 
 322 
 
 .. 
 
 Oct. .. 
 
 18 
 
 1,421 
 
 93' 
 
 .. 
 
 309 
 
 368 
 
 245 
 
 .. 
 
 Nov. .. 
 
 19 
 
 1,382 
 
 1,023 
 
 .. 
 
 
 32s 
 
 23' 
 
 .. 
 
 Dec. .. 
 
 20 
 
 1,402 
 
 i,o6iJ 
 
 .. 
 
 , , 
 
 405i 
 
 262 
 
 ,. 
 
 1876. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. ,. 
 
 21 
 
 1,387 
 
 940 
 
 30 stamps. 
 
 , , 
 
 '93 
 
 242 
 
 .. 
 
 Feb. .. 
 
 22 
 
 1,462 
 
 1,281 
 
 Panama 
 
 ^ ^ 
 
 333I 
 
 270 
 
 .. 
 
 Mar. ,. 
 
 23 
 
 1,681 
 
 862 
 
 S.A.Mg.Co 
 
 280 
 
 3744 
 
 230 
 
 ,, 
 
 Apr. .. 
 
 24 
 
 1,604 
 
 1,492 
 
 .. 
 
 301 
 
 380J 
 
 261 
 
 .. 
 
 May .. 
 
 25 
 
 '.536 
 
 1,522 
 
 ,, 
 
 660 
 
 246? 
 
 434 
 
 ,. 
 
 June .. 
 
 26 
 
 '.424i 
 
 843i 
 
 .. 
 
 186 
 
 442? 
 
 498 
 
 .. 
 
 July .. 
 
 27 
 
 946 
 
 ','47* 
 
 .. 
 
 611J 
 
 284} 
 
 601? 
 
 ,. 
 
 Aug. .. 
 
 28 
 
 I,720t 
 
 574 
 
 461 f 
 
 330 
 
 238} 
 
 5'2 
 
 .. 
 
 Sept. .. 
 
 2y 
 
 2,594i 
 
 845J 
 
 458? 
 
 '50 
 
 347J 
 
 620 
 
 .. 
 
 Oct. . 
 
 
 3.994 
 
 i.334i 
 
 664J 
 
 
 4261 
 
 268 
 
 .. 
 
 Nov. .. 
 
 
 2,793 
 
 623i 
 
 
 325 
 
 429* 
 
 390 
 
 .. 
 
 Dec. , 
 
 
 i,682i 
 
 2i;8i 
 
 9S7i 
 
 364i 
 
 332J 
 
 '42* 
 
 .. 
 
 1877. 
 
 
 40 stamps. 
 
 50 stamps. 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 Stamps 
 
 Jan. .. 
 
 33 
 
 3.122? 
 
 ,. 
 
 785J 
 
 424 
 
 225 
 
 .. 
 
 Remington 
 
 Feb. .. 
 
 34 
 
 3.598I 
 
 .. 
 
 
 430 
 
 402 
 
 ,. 
 
 Mg. Co. 
 
 Mar, .. 
 
 35 
 
 3.726i 
 
 .. 
 
 38oi 
 
 '.345 
 
 458 
 
 '32 
 
 3'9i 
 
 Apr. .. 
 
 36 
 
 2,167 
 
 19 
 
 1,212 
 
 1,003? 
 
 607 
 
 .. 
 
 420 
 
 May .. 
 
 37 
 
 i,4'3* 
 
 3,02li 
 
 208 
 
 '.513 
 
 493 
 
 •.. 
 
 SS9i 
 
 June .. 
 
 38 
 
 558i 
 
 753i 
 
 .. 
 
 1.444} 
 
 486} 
 
 .. 
 
 299 
 
 July .. 
 
 39 
 
 I.'OJ 
 
 619* 
 
 626J 
 
 ',738* 
 
 48'i 
 
 .. 
 
 382 
 
 Aug. .. 
 
 40 
 
 1,017 
 
 4371 
 
 ., 
 
 ',415 
 
 156 
 
 .. 
 
 585* 
 
 Sept. .. 
 
 4' 
 
 I, 202 J 
 
 ,. 
 
 .. 
 
 1,611 
 
 261? 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 Oct, .. 
 
 42 
 
 2,0964 
 
 382 
 
 .. 
 
 902 
 
 223 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 Nov. ,. 
 
 43 
 
 2,300 
 
 586i 
 
 ., 
 
 1,050 
 
 454J 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 Dec. .. 
 
 44 
 
 2,156 
 
 490J 
 
 461J 
 
 1,800 
 
 303i 
 
 '97J 
 
 .. 
 
 1878. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 stamps 
 249I 
 
 20 stamps 
 
 Jan, .. 
 
 45 
 
 94'! 
 
 342 
 
 494? 
 
 957 
 
 326 
 
 Nueva 
 
 Feb. .. 
 
 46 
 
 i,377i 
 
 269 
 
 452 
 
 808 
 
 401} 
 
 390'i 
 
 Hansa 
 
 Mar. „ 
 
 47 
 
 '.532 
 
 24 
 
 448J 
 
 348 
 
 3'6} 
 
 90} 
 
 27J 
 
 Apr. .. 
 
 48 
 
 i.905i 
 
 stopped 
 
 331 
 
 353 
 
 24s 
 
 .. 
 
 .. 
 
 May .. 
 
 49 
 
 4,204 
 
 work. 
 
 
 346i 
 
 562? 
 
 S'o 
 
 80J 
 
 ^ une . . 
 
 50 
 
 5. 034, 
 
 . , 
 
 ,( 
 
 924 
 
 i,oo3i 
 805I 
 
 644 
 
 .. 
 
 uly ,, 
 
 51 
 
 6,ii7i 
 
 ,, 
 
 77i 
 
 468 
 
 100} 
 
 .. 
 
 Aug, .. 
 
 52 
 
 5.428 
 
 .. 
 
 
 663 
 
 639 
 
 421? 
 
 120 
 
 Sept. ., 
 
 53 
 
 4,968 
 
 .. 
 
 102 
 
 420 
 
 868 
 
 879 
 
 • • 
 
 Oct. .. 
 
 54 
 
 3.964 
 
 ,, 
 
 '74 
 
 209 
 
 756 
 
 632? 
 
 • • 
 
 Nov. ,, 
 
 55 
 
 S,07'i 
 5,465! 
 
 .. 
 
 
 621 
 
 568} 
 
 mi 
 
 • * 
 
 Dec. .. 
 
 56 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 1,009 
 
 774i 
 
 503 
 
 • • 
 
AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 257 
 
 Remarks. — This is simply the ounces sent by the companies in 
 bars, averaging 91 5 thousand fine, or almost English standard, and worth, 
 say $18 (3/. 1 5 J.) net per oz. Much gold is carried every month for 
 merchants and others not belonging to the Union, amounting to about 
 on an average 500 oz. per month, not put down in the list above. 
 Most of this is stolen from the mills by workmen ; rest from hand- 
 workings and placer. 
 
 Callao Co.— From the first trip up to the May trip No. 49, they 
 ran a "middle mail," on their own account, on a contract that only 
 expired April 1878. Therefore, it is but fair to calculate from trip 
 No. I to 48 at one-third more oz. for their probable product in any 
 given month. 
 
 Nacupi Co. — Sold occasionally a few hundred ounces here for present 
 needs after November 1876, when they began to be financially hampered. 
 They finally went into bankruptcy, March 1873, and have been closed 
 up ever since. But the foregoing pretty fairly represents their 
 product. 
 
 Hansa Co. — Made little more than shown here ; some went by private 
 hands to Bolivar ; none sold here. They stopped milling, November 
 1874, and did not reorganize until October 1877. 
 
 Panama Co. — Began milling, August 1876; really began, November 
 1875 ; but exploded both boilers following December, and water-works 
 and new boilers not finished until July 1876. They frequently sell all 
 their gold in Caratal ; sometimes a part only. Since their failure last 
 March, owing to poor quartz, all sold in Caratal. Full time for them is 
 about 1000 oz. per month. 
 
 Potosi Co. — Never sold any gold here ; therefore this represents their 
 full product. The blanks are stoppages for breakdowns, repairs, or 
 alterations. 
 
 Remington Co. — Only ran 6 months. Quartz good, but vein too 
 small. 
 
 Mocupia and New York Co. — This represents their full product. 
 Variations represent fewer hours by breakdowns, &c. 
 
 Caratal Co. — This also is full product. Their year's stoppage, 1877, 
 was to pull down old mill and build new 20-stamp mill. 
 
 Nueva Hansa. — Just begun ; was drowned out by the river. 
 
 The aggregate production, as per accompanying table, is 288,678 oz. 
 of fine gold ; and if to this is added the number of ounces that are carried 
 by merchants and private conveyances, estimated at about 40,000 oz. 
 more, we have a sum total of 328,678 oz. which, at the round value of 
 $20 (4/. Ss. 4d.) gross per oz., makes $6,573,560 (1,369,491/.) produced by 
 the mining region of Venezuelan Guayana in 4 years and 8 months ; a 
 surprising result, considering the immense difficulties of every kind that 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 259 
 
 the companies have had to contend with in a wild, tropical region, 
 diflficult of access, and far removed from civilization and its advantages. 
 
 According to the Report of the British Consul at Ciudad Bolivar, for 
 1880, gold is the chief and almost, it may bo said, the only industry of 
 the State, on wh! 1 both public and private incomes more or less depend. 
 Absorbing, as it does, almost all the labour of the State, by offering 
 superior inducements, it renders every other enterprise entirely hopele.^s. 
 Gold-mining is the sole pre-occupation of all minds. In this vice-con- 
 sular district, as an industry, it only dates, it maybe said, from 1866, 
 when companies were formed for working this hitherto undeveloped 
 source of wealth. But whether from the enormous expenses which have 
 to be incurred in importing and setting up suitable machinery, the trans- 
 porting of it to Caratal, a distance of about 150 miles from Port Las 
 Tablas, by bullock-wago'.is, or the exceptional dearness of labour, pro- 
 visions, and fuel, which latter has to be procured fron-" the adjacent 
 forests at great outlay, for the working of steam machinery, the fact is 
 that until now only one, the Callao Company, has returned dividends to 
 its shareholders. 
 
 A fair average of the yield of the quartz of the different companies is 
 2j oz. per ton. A new gold-field, said to be of vast extent and richness, 
 has been recently discovered at a place called Cicapra, about 150 miles 
 from this city, and 50 miles N.E. of Caratal. A good deal of placer-gold 
 has been obtained lately from this locality. According, however, to the 
 opinion of experienced mining engineers, who have visited that district, 
 it is likely to become, if properly developed, amongst the richest of these 
 auriferous regions. 
 
 • n 
 
 ^J« 
 
 
 Specification of the Gold-mining Companies established at the 
 Department Roscio, State of Guayana, 1879. 
 
 Names. 
 
 Callao 
 
 Potosi 
 
 Mocupia and New York . . 
 
 Caratal Gold 
 
 Independiente 
 
 Union 
 
 Nueva Providencia . . 
 
 Nueva Hansa 
 
 Concordia 
 
 San Luis 
 
 Eureka 
 
 Orinoco Exploring . . 
 South American 
 
 San Salvador 
 
 San Antonio del Arbolito 
 Porvenir 
 
 Capital. 
 
 bolivars. 
 1,288,000 
 
 Private 
 1,200,000 
 520,000 
 500,000 
 975)000 
 700,000 
 800,000 
 900,000 
 980,000 
 540,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 Stamps. 
 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 S 
 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 40 
 30 
 
 Observations. 
 
 In activity. 
 
 Closed. 
 
 »i 
 Closed for want of funds. 
 
 •I i» 
 
 >* ft 
 
 Bankruptcy Court. 
 
 Prospecting works. 
 
 The bolivar is equivalent to ifr. ; 25 bolivars = i/. 
 
 S 2 
 
26o 
 
 GEOGPAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 As the Unfon Company has got no stamps, it makes use of the mill 
 of the Nueva Providencia. 
 
 Statement of the Monthly Remittances op the Gold-mining Companies, State op Guavana, Venezuela, 
 
 DURING the Year 1879. 
 
 Name of 
 Company, 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Callao.. .. 
 Potosi . . . . 
 Mociipia & i 
 New York i 
 Caratal 
 Nueva Hansa 
 Eureka 
 
 Feb. I March. April, 
 
 I oz, 
 
 3.707"'4 
 I 609" 10 
 
 497 '25 
 
 3SO'5o 
 
 May. June, 
 
 July- 
 
 Total 
 
 5.163-99 
 
 02. oz. oz. oz. oz. I oz. oz. 
 
 S.839'3« 4'447"'7 4>7'5'"1 1.705'59 'i.344"04 >. 635-46 3,235-60 
 I,?a3 |i,i34 1,576-90 1,491-701 550-50 919-10 1,200 
 
 Aug. 
 
 .«74-50 
 664-50 
 25' -50, 
 
 965 
 
 S59'"5 
 79*'i7; 
 
 803-75 
 393-50 
 
 993' I2i 
 481-75 
 
 853 'SO 
 5»8 
 34 
 159-88 
 
 870-50 
 
 764 
 33-25 
 "7-50 
 
 9, I52-8I 7, 185-29 7, 488-371 4, 671 -16*3,469-92 4, 338-81 
 
 .11 
 
 ,108-75 
 557-25 
 
 5 , 101 ■ 60 
 
 Sept. Oct, 
 
 oz. oz. 
 
 3,542-123,491 
 i,283-»o 965 
 
 938*181,051 
 
 846 I 533 'SO 
 
 Nov, 
 
 3.367-75 
 i.335"'o 
 
 1,172-06 
 
 368 
 '43 
 
 6, 599-40 6,040- 50 6, 385-91 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Total. 
 
 oz. I oz. 
 3,831-6239,861-931 
 
 »9o |I3. 577-50 
 369-12 11,785-73* 
 
 518-50; 6,563-75 
 
 141*10 681-81 
 
 277-38 
 
 7''So-43 72.748- 1 
 
 Statement of the gold from the Caratal Mines, State of Guayana, 
 shipped at the Port of Ciudad Bolivar from January 1866 to December 
 1879, 
 
 Ounces, 
 15,587 
 30,142 
 29,050 
 33.555-63 
 
 1866 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 1870 
 1871 
 1872 
 1873 
 
 35.7i3"75 
 25.941 
 32. 747 '25 
 41,649 
 
 1874 
 1875 
 1876 
 
 1877 
 1878 
 1879 
 
 Total 
 
 Ounces, 
 55,698-04 
 79,496-69 
 86,529-66 
 
 100,988-69 
 95,204-79 
 
 107,722-76 
 
 770,026-26 
 
 This important and rich gold-field has been ably and minutely 
 described by Dr. Clement Le Neve Foster, from whose valuable account 
 the following facts are taken. 
 
 The Caratal gold-field is situated about 160 miles in a straight line 
 east-south-east of Ciudad Bolivar, or Angostura, the capital of the 
 state of Guayana, in Venezuela. It lies 100 miles south of the river 
 Orinoco, some 75 miles up from the principal mouth. 
 
 The country between Ciudad Bolivar and Pastora consists almost 
 entirely of gneiss, with some mica-schist, and hornblende-schist, and 
 a little granite. All three varieties are seen at Ciudad Bolivar itself. 
 From here to the Caroni is a gently undulating savannah, showing out- 
 crops of gneiss as far as the neighbourhood of the Arasiama ridge, which 
 is formed of itabirite (see p. 220), About Arasiama and on both sides of 
 the Caroni near Guri, the strike of the gneiss is, roughly speaking, east 
 and west. 
 
 Beyond Charapo is some hornblende-schist, striking E 15° N., in land 
 which forms the watershed between the basin of the Orinoco and that 
 of the Essequibo. Where the road crosses it, the watershed is not more 
 than about 1 100 ft. above sea-level. Further east, at Limones, is granite ; 
 but the greater part of the country consists of gneiss, which now gets a 
 
AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 261 
 
 Strike of N. 18° W. to N. 15° E. Both east and west of the Oranato, 
 Dr. Foster found hornblendic schist, striking N. 10° E., N. 45° W. And in 
 crossing the Guatapolo, he noticed a dyke of porphyrite, resembling some 
 of the Cornish elvans, and remarkable for the well-crystallized quartz 
 which it contains. 
 
 Before arriving at Pastora, the series of schists and slaty rocks, which 
 continue into the Caratal district, make their appearance ; near Pastora 
 are siliceous schists striking N. 45° W., N. 60° W., N. 70° W. ; and at 
 Caratal itself these rocks are often a fine-grained clay-slate, like some of 
 the Cornish " killas." At other times, the rock is much coarser ; and a 
 talcose variety frequently occurs. As a rule, these slaty rocks are much 
 decomposed. The decomposed schist forms the " bed-rock " in many of 
 the alluvial diggings, and is known to the miners as cascajo. Besides 
 these slaty rocks, there are large outcrops of a felstone, either intrusive 
 or interbedded ; this is the " blue-stone " of Dr. Stevens, a compact grey, 
 bluish-grey, or greenish-grey rock, often containing small crystals of iron- 
 pyrites, the " mica " of the miners. The schistose rocks have, roughly 
 speaking, an east and west strike, with a varying dip. 
 
 It was only on the north side of the Yuruari, near the Tupuquen Ford 
 and north of Callao, that Dr. Foster noticed outcrops of a rock which he 
 calls " gabbro," on the authority of David Forbes, F.R.S. To the north 
 of the mining district — in fact, in the country about Upata, gneiss, mica- 
 schist, hornblende-schist, and granite occur. It will thus be seen that to 
 the west and north the gold-bearing slates are surrounded by gneiss and 
 other metamorphic rocks. No fossils have as yet been found, though 
 carefully searched for by Dr. Plassard ever since he discovered the gold- 
 fields. The age of the rocks is consequently unknown. 
 
 The gold-deposits of the Caratal district may be classed under 4 
 heads: — (i) Lodes, veins, "reefs," "ledges," ox filones \ (2) alluvial or 
 " placer " diggings, or greda ; (3) red earth, or tierra de flor ; (4) gravel 
 and sand of river-beds. 
 
 I. Lodes. — About a dozen lodes have been discovered, and worked on. 
 It is impossible to give any general direction of the strike and dip of these 
 lodes ; but it may be observed, that several well-marked and rich lodes 
 run east and west, while others, equally productive, have strikes approach- 
 ing to north and south. As the lodes are few in number, a short 
 description of each will furnish the best idea of their general nature. 
 
 The Callao lode lies about if mile N.N.W. of Nueva Providencia. 
 It is a north and south lode dipping west, and is i to 2 ft. thick in 
 many places ; it consists mainly of quartz, with a little iron-pyrites and 
 brown oxide of iron, and a few blackish streaks, due, perhaps, to chlorite. 
 The gold in this lode is very coarse, and specimens of pure white quartz 
 and native gold, without a particle of oxide of iron, arc often found. 
 
 >* , 
 
 f; 
 
 ' !'l? 
 
262 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The surrounding rock or " country " is felstone, with a little iron-pyrites. 
 The miners say that the presence of iron-pyr'tes is a favourable sign for 
 the productiveness of the lode. The Callao lode has been worked along the 
 strike for a distance of about 200 yd., and it is said to die out south- 
 wards. The deepest workings in the Caratal district are upon this lode ; 
 but they only reach down 36 yd., further progress being prevented by 
 water, and the want of pumping machinery. Very large quantities of 
 gold have been obtained from Callao. 
 
 The Corinna lode is situated further eastward, on the bank of the 
 Yuruari. The lode is 4 ft. wide in places, and dips west. It consists 
 mainly of quartz, with brown oxide of iron, mammillated pyrolusite, thiii 
 streaks of a blackish mineral, and visible gold. This lode has been 
 worked to a depth of about 1 2 yd., and has been profitable. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the Corinna, the American Company has 
 made openings upon other lodes and branches. Some of the quartz shows 
 visible gold, the rest does not, but all is auriferous ; on an average. 
 Dr. Foster was told that the quartz from these openings gives about 
 i^ oz. of gold to the ton. The "country" of these lodes and of the 
 Corinna consists of decomposed schist. On the hill south-east of Nueva 
 Providencia are numerous abandoned barrancas or pits sunk to work the 
 Tigre lode. Its strike is N. 30° E., and it is said to be about I ft. wide, 
 and very rich. The country is a hard, dark-greenish rock. 
 
 In Nueva Providencia, numerous blocks of loose quartz containing 
 gold are lying about in one part of the town, probably derived from a 
 lode which crops out here ; and the Prefect of the Department of the 
 Yuruari has been working a lode in his garden just east of the town. In 
 the San Felipe property, to the south of the town, several lodes are said 
 to have been discovered. 
 
 The Peru lode, situated near the source of a branch of the Mocup'a 
 brook, runs E. 5° N., and dips S. at 60°. It is 2 ft. wide, and consists of 
 quartz, with brown oxide of iron, the usual blackish streaks, talc, and 
 visible gold. 
 
 In another little neighbouring valley are the Potosi workings. In one 
 of the adits driven into the hillside are two east and west lodes, dipping 
 55° in opposite directions, the level being driven just below the intersec- 
 tion, The stuff is very similar to that of" Peru," and there is no difficulty 
 in finding visible gold. 
 
 The Chili lode lies about \ mile south of Potosi, and, after Callao, is 
 at present the most important in the Caratal district. The Chili main 
 lode runs about E. 10° N. to E. 15° N., and dips S. at 45° to 60°. It 
 varies in width r.oTi 2 to 6 ft. It consists mainly of quartz, with brown 
 oxide of iron, the blackish streaks, talc, a white, earthy mineral like 
 kaolin, and visible gold. In many pieces of stuff from this lode are 
 
AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 263 
 
 cubical cavities lined with gold as if they had been plated, or containing 
 leafy gold ; sometimes also the cavity is filled with brown oxide of iron, 
 in which specks of gold are visible. The cavities seem to be due to the 
 decomposition of iron-pyrites, which originally filled them. The coarse 
 gold which is found at Callao does not occur at " Chili." To the west, 
 the Chili lode splits up into at least three branches. 
 
 The Chili main lode has been worked to a depth of about 30 yd. 
 The " country " is decomposed talcose clay-slate. In several of the shafts 
 which have been made on this lode, the porfiro ox porfido of the miners 
 occurs. This so-called " porphyry," also known at Chili as quartzo morado 
 and piedra morada, is a reddish, pink, or brown ferruginous hornstonc, 
 sometimes becoming jasper. It now and then contains crystals of iron- 
 pyrites, or cavities left by their decomposition. At Chili, it forms a sort 
 of lode parallel to the white quartz lode, from which it is separated by a 
 few inches of cascajo. The " Chili " miners told Dr. Foster that they 
 occasionally found visible gold in it, but too little to pay them to work it. 
 A similar rock {porfiro) is found all over the Caratal district, and is 
 regarded by the miners as a favourable indication for gold. 
 
 A little work has been done on a lode called San Antonio, a short 
 distance from " Chili." Two barrancos, very close to one another, have 
 been sunk upon it ; and they show a quartz lode 2 ft. thick, which strikes 
 S. 20° E. to S. 45° E., and dips sharply to the west. The surrounding 
 rock is cascajo. The lode consists of quartz, with blac': streaks, iron- 
 pyrites, brown oxide of iron, and very fine gold. 
 
 Lying in the basin of the Yguana, like Chili and San Antonio, are the 
 Panama workings. Much work has been done here upon loose blocks of 
 quartz which strew the hillside, and a small opening has been made on 
 the top of the hill, upon an east and west lode. This lode is 3 ft. wide in 
 places, and dips south. On the opposite side of the valley, a flattish lode 
 2 to 6 ft. thick has furnished a good deal of quartz. Quartz has also 
 been found and worked at the Lagunta, near Panama, and at the 
 Independiente, between Panama and Nueva Providencia. 
 
 2. Alluvial or ^'placer" diggings. — Excepting a few places on the 
 banks of the Yuruari, the working of auriferous alluvions has at present 
 been confined to the valley of the Mocupia, and its various tributaries, 
 such as the quebradas or valleys known as the Tigre, Peru, Aguinaldo, &c. 
 
 On leavl.ig Nueva Providencia by any of the paths to the west, the 
 traveller comes upon pit after pit, 6 to 10 yd. deep ; and although this 
 ground was worked as early as 1857 and 1858, it can be pretty well seen 
 what the diggings were like. 
 
 The following is the succession of the beds : — 
 
 1. Soil. 
 
 2. Red clay, showing no signs of stratification. 
 
 
 'i>A 
 
 '^■■'X\ 
 
 ''"if 
 
264 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 :!! 
 
 
 j .1 
 
 3. Soft clayey »wco de hierro. 
 
 4. Hard moco de hierro, brown iron ore, with pieces of quartz in it, 
 and a little clay. 
 
 5. Blocks of vein-quartz, often auriferous. 
 
 6. Greda, or pay-dirt, a yellow ferruginous clay, containing nuggets 
 and small grains of gold. 
 
 7. Cascajoy decomposed schist, forming th'i bed-rock. 
 
 About \ mile from the town, on the road to Tupuquen, are the Planada 
 diggings, said to have been worked with much profit in 1857. The 
 section of one of the Planada pits is as follows : — 
 
 1. Soil. 
 
 2. Clayey gravel. 
 
 3. Blocks of quartz. 
 
 4. Greda, or pay-dirt. 
 
 5. Cascajo, or bed-rock. 
 
 In a neighbouring pit. Dr. Foster saw about 6 ft. of clay, and then 
 6 ft. of gravel, the bottom being filled with rubbish. The pebbles found 
 in the gravel are mainly composed of the greenish-grey felstone, known as 
 piedra negra ; subangular and rounded pieces of ferruginous hornstone are 
 also common. Higher up the valleys the placer-diggings are shallower. 
 
 3. Tierra de Flor and Moco de Hierro. — In many places in the Caratal 
 district, just below the soil, at a depth of 18 in. to 3 ft, is a layer of red 
 earth, often containing pieces of auriferous vein-quartz, pieces of moco de 
 hierro, and grains of pysolitic brown hematite, the " granson " of the 
 miners. When washed, this tierra de flor, or " surface earth," as it is 
 called, furnishes, in addition, decomposed crystals of iron-pyrites, a black 
 magnetic iron-sand called arenilla, and often nuggets of gold. The 
 manner in which the gold occurs appears to be very irregular ; the 
 miner may wash several bateas of earth, and find no gold, or only the 
 color de oro (i. e. merely a few fine grains of gold), and then get several 
 nuggets in the next lot. The largest nugget yet found in the Caratal 
 district was obtained from the tierra de flor, close to Nueva Providencia ; 
 it weighed 1 5 lb. 
 
 In the diggings at the south-south-west comer of the town, Dr. Foster 
 saw tierra de flor lying above alluvial ground. 
 
 The following is the succession : — 
 
 I. 
 2. 
 
 3- 
 4- 
 5- 
 
 Soil. 
 
 Tierra de flor, red earth, with loose stones of quartz. 
 Ferruginous clay. 
 
 Greda, or pay-dirt, yellowish clay, with blocks of quartz. 
 Cascajo, or bed-rock, dect .nposed schist. 
 From the manner in which this term tierra de flor occurred. Dr. 
 Foster at once concluded that, geologically speaking, it was a " rainwash "; 
 
AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 265 
 
 but it was only after talking the matter over very frequently that he and 
 Dr. Plassard arrived at the conclusion that the tierra de flor is nothing 
 more nor less than decomposed moco de hierra washed down the hillsides. 
 The name moco de hierra is given to a highly ferruginous rock, which 
 assumes the various ibrms of : — 
 
 a. Ferruginous conglomerate. 
 
 b. Ferruginous grit. 
 
 c. Ferruginous breccia. 
 
 d. Pisolitic brown iron ore. 
 
 It always consists mainly of limonite and earthy red hematite, with 
 pebbles or angular and subangular fragments of quartz, schist, and 
 felstone. When it takes the form of pisolitic brown iron ore, it consists 
 of a number of globular concretions of limonite. This moco is found in 
 loose blocks or the surface, and often forms plateaux, sometimes more 
 than 100 (or tven 200) acres in extent. The edge of the plateaux is 
 generally marked by a bold rocky escarpment. Here it may be seen 
 that the moco is 6, 8 or even 10 ft. thick at the least ; and the same thing 
 may be observed where a stream has cut its way down through a moco 
 plateau. 
 
 In searching for quartz lodes, Dr. Foster came to the conclusion that 
 the moco de hierra affords no evidence of lodes in the immediate vicinity ; 
 for his observations led him to infer that it is probably of alluvial origin. 
 He supposes that the ferruginous matter of which it consists so largely 
 is derived from iron-pyrites, which was contained in the alluvial d' posit, 
 partly in the form of loose pieces, and partly enclosed in fragments of 
 rock. Some may also have been derived from chalybeate waters 
 coming from other sources than the alluvium itself In some cases, the 
 moco is of undoubted alluvial origin ; and the miners, finding that where 
 they met with a bed of moca they usually had a good pay-dirt, or greda, 
 came to the conclusion that the moco was a good indication of gold- 
 deposits of all sorts. Dr. Foster adds that the alluvial moca lying above 
 the pay-dirt has occasionally furnished nuggets covered with a black 
 coating of oxide of iron, like some that are found in the tierra deflar. 
 
 From all this, it will be seen that there is nothing in the mode of 
 occurrence or mineral contents of the tierra deflar to militate against the 
 hypothesis that it is neither more nor less than maco decomposed in place, 
 or decomposed moco washed down the hillsides. 
 
 Should all the moco be of alluvial origin, we may expect a pay-dirt 
 below it in the higher plateaux, just as \,z find one in the more recent 
 deposits ; and it is possible that the nuggets in the red dirt are mainly 
 derived from a pay-dirt underly: .^ the moca, and not from the moca itself. 
 
 Some assays of moco that Dr. Foster made at Caratal gave gold ; 
 some that have been made since, gave either no gold or merely traces. 
 
 i 
 
 V'Vigl 
 
 \t^ 
 
 'Bm 
 
266 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 il; 
 
 There are therefore two points which remain to be settled with regard to 
 the inoco : — 
 
 (i) Whether it often contains gold enough to make it a workable 
 deposit. 
 
 (2) Whether all moco is really a deposit like the moco of the placer- 
 diggings near the town, or, in other words, whether it overlies a pay-dirt 
 or deposit of alluvial gold. 
 
 4. Recent Stream-beds. — When the dry season commences, the rivers 
 and streams sink rapidly ; many dry up entirely ; others still have a few 
 waterholes left ; while the Yuruari always flows a little, except in seasons 
 of most extraordinary drought. In any case, banks of sand and gravel 
 are left high and dry, or partially so. On digging through them, a gold- 
 bearing bed is often met with, which furnishes nuggets and small grains 
 of gold on washing. The amount of work which goes on with these 
 deposits at the present time (1869) is but small, though at first they 
 were the only ones that were known. 
 
 The whole of the pres' at ^1869) workings are comprised within a 
 circle of ^^ miles radius, with Nueva Providencia as its centre ; but it 
 must not for a moment be imagined that this is the whole of the 
 auriferous region. Two American gentlemen, Davis and Austen, found 
 gold on the river Paragua ; and just before leaving. Dr. Foster heard of 
 the discovery of a lode of gold-quartz in the hills to the south of Pastora. 
 A little gold has been found at Upata. Dr. Plassard aiao told him that 
 a lode of auriferous quartz traverses the bed of the Yuruari at Cura ; and 
 the same was reported by Seiior Carlos Siegert. It is further known 
 that gold has been found, and even worked, on the banks of the Cuyuni, 
 in British Guiana (see p. 245). All these facts tend to prove that the 
 auriferous rocks are spread over a very wide area indeed. 
 
 The old Spaniards, by following the rivers and searching the ravines, 
 discovered quantities of gold in the rivers Tesorero, Santa Crux, and 
 Guaratarro, which abounded in large nuggets ; the remains of their 
 washings can be seen at the present day. 
 
 Humboldt, speaking of the rivers which descend N.E. towards the 
 coast of Puerto Cabello and La Punta de Hicacos, says the most 
 remarkable are those of Tocuyo, Aroa, and Yaracuy. In the ravines 
 nearer the sea, the Indians have their gold-washings. Grains of gold-ore 
 are found in all the mountainous lands between the river Yaracuy, the 
 town of San Felipe, Nirgua, and Barquismeto, particularly in the Rio de 
 Santa Crux, in which the Indian gold-gatherers have sometimes found 
 lumps of the value of 4 or 5 piastres (say 12s. to 15^.). The gold-deposit 
 of Tesorero is about i^ league from Guaratarro. The Spaniards had 
 several washings here, and the Creoles say quantities of gold in large 
 nuggets were discovered. 
 
AMERICA, S. : VENEZUELA. 
 
 267 
 
 Capt. Prince writes (Min. Jl, xlviii. 999) that after spending a 
 fortnight in the Tcsorero and Guaratarro districts, inspecting the rivers, 
 valleys, and ravines in the vicinity of Tesorero, which is situated about 
 3 miles N.N.E. of the Guaratarro, he discovered in all the ravines 
 particles of gold, and this with only a slight sul-face washing in toluvias 
 and common dinner-plates, particularly in the dry bed of a flood torrent 
 called the Quebrada de Tucana, situated i mile S.S.E. of the hamlet of 
 Tesorero ; in short, for many miles, vast ferruginous alluvial deposits, 
 auriferous in all parts. 
 
 The placer-gold of Venezuela is said to contain about 8 per cent, of 
 silver. 
 
 Callao mine, — More detailed information regarding the great Callao 
 mine is contained in two recent reports by Hamilton Smith and Charles 
 Oxland respectively, which were very obligingly placed at the disposal 
 of the author by the Hamburg company owning the property, and from 
 which the following observations are derived. 
 
 Hamilton Smith's report [abridged] : — 
 
 " The country-rock in the district is a compact greenstone or diorite (?) whose 
 character does not materially change for a distance of several kilometres. The 
 principal lodes are of quartz, more or less sugary in quality, and are doubtless true 
 fissure-veins, having the greenstone for both hanging- and foot-walls, with but a small 
 parting or gangue — sometimes none — separating the quartz from the country-rock. In 
 some places the greenstone is considerably mixed with the quartz, and occasionally 
 carries gold to some little distance from the quartz. 
 
 " The veins have generally a fiat dip or inclination, varying from 60° to 35° from the 
 horizon ; their strike (direction of lode on horizontal plane) is in different directions, 
 being N. and S. at Callao, E. and W. at the Chili and Panama, and N.W. and S.E. at 
 the Orinoco. 
 
 " Gold is carried by the quartz indifferently through the vein. When found in the 
 pure white quartz, it is exceedingly bright and perfectly 'free' (readily amalgamates) ; 
 where found in bluish streaks, it is darker and less pure ; and when the vein is mixed 
 with country-rock, the gold is often in close connection with pyrites. 
 
 " The greatest vertical depth thus far attained has been 1 30 metres (65 fathoms) at 
 the Callao mine, and nearly 91 metres (45 fathoms) at the Chili lode. To the eye the 
 character of the gold does not appear to change as greater depths are reached. At 
 the north-west corner of Callao No. 4 workings, at a vertical depth of 116 metres (58 
 fathoms), by far the greater part of the gold carried by the vein is in the pure white 
 quartz. In the Mocupia mine, on the deepest workings of the Chili lode, the same 
 condition exists. At the present time, from the Callao mill, the amalgam yields nearly 
 47 per cent, of retorted gold, of a fineness of 915 to 925, which also shows that in 
 the Callao ore the gold still continues coarse and free. In these deeper workings, as 
 is the case nearer the surface, where the vein is mixed with country-rock, more 
 sulphurets are present, and the ore is consequently more refractory and difficult to 
 properly reduce. 
 
 " In the Callao mine, which was the one most carefully studied, this admixture of the 
 country-rock with the vein seems to be chiefly on the northern and southern limits of 
 the ' pay-shoot ' of ore, and to indicate approaching weakness or pinching of the vein. 
 
 " The ore in the district can therefore be assumed to be ' free,' that is to say, the 
 gold can in a great measure be obtained by the mill process as carried on in the 
 
 4 
 
 M 
 
 m. 
 
 
 
 ^VA 
 
 
 { a 
 
 51 
 
268 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ordinary and simple gold-quartz reduction-works of California and other portions of 
 the United States. 
 
 " The reduction machiiiery in use in the district is of a very primitive nature, con- 
 sisting simply of stamp-mills, with amalgamation in the batteries and on copper plates, 
 but none of the ordinary auxiliary gold-saving appliances. 
 
 " The placer-gold is extracted by washing with the batea or wooden bowl, the 
 ' rocker ' and ' long-torn ' used in California and Australia, not having been introduced. 
 Owing to the gentle slope of the Yuruari and the rich ravines and flats, it was and still 
 is impracticable to wash these placers by ground-sluices, and cheaper hydraulic 
 methods, such as have been so largely used in the precipitous gold-regions of other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 "The yield of the Callao mine in 1879 was as follows : — 
 
 January.. 885 tons crushed yielding 4*24 oz. per ton. 
 
 February 1023 „ „ 5 78 „ „ 
 
 March .. 866 „ „ 5*19 
 
 April .. 872 „ „ 5-47 
 
 II 
 
 Total 3646 tons, average yield 5*20 „ „ 
 
 " The Callao reduction-works consist of a good stamp-mill, stamps weighing about 
 650 lb. (English) ; drop, 9 in. ; 60 drops a minute ; each stamp crushing about i? ton 
 in 24 hours ; screens rather coarse ; amalgamation in batteries and on copper plates. 
 Some of the heavier tailings are treated in revolving iron barrels, which in 1880 yielded 
 nearly 2 per cent, of the gross product. Samples of the tailings running to waste, 
 from batteries 9, 10, 11 and 12 (20 stamps), gave the following results : — 
 
 20 large hourly samples Nos. 9 and 10 assay 60 oz. gold, say 900 fine. 
 20 ,, ,, ,, II ,, 12 ,, 02 ,, ,, ,, ,, 
 
 42 II II II 9i iOi "1 IS „ 99 „ „ „ „ 
 
 Mean 81 oz. gold, say 900 fine. 
 
 " Such loss from ore of this class, yielding 2 oz. per ton, is very large ; indeed one- 
 half as much would be excessive. It is probable that the loss from these 4 batteries 
 sampled is greater than from the 8 batteries." 
 
 Charles Oxland's report [abridged] : — 
 
 " The quartz is compact, and carries the gold coarse and free. But little pyntes is 
 found, equal to about i to J yc: cent, of the ore, and this appears in streaks that would 
 be likely to lead an expert to believe that it is greatly on the increase ; but after the 
 appearance of the streaks, the lode again returns to its normal character, carrying little 
 or no pyrites. 
 
 "In the bottom of the workings the lode has increased in size, and the quality of the 
 quartz is excellent. Some of it is exceptionally rich, and will probably yield about 
 5 oz. of gold to the ton. 
 
 " The mine has yielded, from the year 1 87 1 to March 1 88 1 , the amount of 322,000 oz. 
 of gold (standard), resulting from an estimated amount of 92,325 tons of ore. The 
 number of tons is probably considerably less than this, as no weighing-machine has 
 been used, and consequently the weight had to be estimated. The yield for 7 months 
 in 1 88 1 was as follows : — 
 
 Oz. of gold. 
 
 April 6726 
 
 May 6624 
 
 June 6909 
 
 July 4750 
 
 Oz. of gold. 
 
 August 5473 
 
 September ., .. 6029 
 October 73'4 " 
 
(?! "'ij^ 
 
/ , ■" 'o (to 
 
rHO> KKI.L * RON, I.1TH -10. KIN-, St rOVi*!' C.Al'.r.KN 
 
t ! 
 
ASIA : AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 AS/A, 
 
 269 
 
 Afghanistan.— Col. Yule (1875) says that some small quantity of 
 gold is taken from the streams in Laghman and the adjoining district ; 
 and he alludes to a stream in Wakhan, called Zcrzumen by Wood, 
 which he thinks may be Zarzamin (" gold ground "). Wood (1841) says 
 that " the Kokcha, like every other tributary of the Oxus, is fertile in 
 gold." Hamilton remarks that gold is said to be found in some of the 
 streams that flow from the Hindu Kush mountains. Vigne (1840) states 
 that the sand of the Kirman is washed for gold. Bellew (1874) gives 
 the following account of a visit to the gold-mine at the foot of the hills 
 lying north of the city of Kandahar. The mine is situated on the S. side of 
 and half-way up in a small creek, running N.E. into an angle formed by 
 a spur projecting on to the Kandahar plain from the Baba Wali range. 
 The hills are of a very hard and compact blue limestone ; but the 
 surface of the creek and the adjoining plain is a coarse gravel, containing 
 fragments of greenstone, hornblende, quartz, and mica-schist. The 
 mine is close to the ridge of blue limestone. It is a wide excavation 
 straight down into the soil, and in a soft easily-worked rock. Bellew 
 examined several of the stones, and found them to consist of particles of 
 greensand, hornblende, felspar, quartz, and mica, bound together in a 
 gritty ferruginous clay. The formation appears to be one of decomposed 
 syenite, and is sufficiently compact to require blasting in the excavation. 
 The process is very rough, and simply this : — a vein of quartz, 3 or 4 to 
 only i in. or less thick, is exposed in the rock, either by the use of the 
 pickaxe, or by the aid of gunpowder. The workmen then examine the 
 vein with the naked eye, and if any particles of gold are detected, they 
 are removed with the surrounding portions of matrix, by means of a chisel 
 and hammer. An immense number of quartz veins traverse the rock in 
 all directions, and in several of them compressed plates of gold are 
 visible, in sitti. In some instances the metal was seen by Bellew in thick, 
 lumpy masses, nearly the size of an almond. There must be an 
 immense amount of waste in this rough process, and no doubt the heaps 
 of excavated rock lying about the mouth of the pit would yield to the 
 experienced miner a very profitable return. The mine has now been 
 worked nearly 12 years, but with several intermissions. For the first 2 or 
 3 years, it is said to have yielded very abundantly. It is now farmed by 
 a contractor, at an annual rental of 500/. As the surface gravel of the 
 plain, N. of the city, is of the same character as that of the creek in which 
 the mine is situated, it may be reasonable to suppose that the gold- 
 yielding stratum extends under the alluvium of the plain. 
 
 According to Griesbach (1881), the gold occurs here in quartz veins 
 (reefs) which traverse the zone of contact between the hippuritic limestone 
 
 i 
 
 
 I 
 
 
2 70 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and the extensive trap outbursts, and, as far as he could ascertain, are 
 confined to the lower beds of the Cretaceous limestone. The quartz veins 
 vary in thickness from the width of a pencil-line to many ft., and most of 
 them strike N.E. and S.W. The contact rock is calcareous, and contains 
 a green mineral, disseminated through the mass. F. R. Mallet has 
 examined the rock, and found that the portion soluble in dilute hydro- 
 chloric acid consists mainly of lime and magnesia, with 30me iron. The 
 insoluble part is chiefly silica and alumina, with some iron and magnesia. 
 There is also a trifling amount of copper, and scarcely more than a trace 
 of nickel. The rock appears to be an extremely impure (arenaceous and 
 argillaceous) ferruginous magnesian limestone. The green spots evidently 
 owe their colour to the copper and in part perhaps to the nickel. Such 
 is the matrix of the auriferous quartz reefs. 
 
 The native miners continued sinking their productive shaft, until the 
 sides of it at last gave way, burying those who were working below. 
 Since then, nothing has been done. The shaft is now 60 to 80 ft. deep, 
 and about as wide, filled with rubbish from the sides. The auriferous 
 vein, which was yielding gold in good quantities at the time the mine fell 
 in, is mostly covered with blocks from above. The portion exposed is 
 only about 2 in. thick, but Griesbach was told it thickened lower down to 
 about 2 ft. or more, and some of the nuggets of gold obtained were of 
 the size of a man's fist ; all the larger nuggets were extracted by hand, 
 and only the rest of the quartz crushed and amalgamated. He proposed 
 to the late Wali of Kandahar to sink another shaft about 100 yd. S. of 
 the present position, to strike the same or other auriferous veins ; but 
 his advice could not be carried into effect, owing to the outbreak of 
 hostilities shortly after. 
 
 It is highly probable that gold will be found all along the line where 
 Griesbach found the trappoid beds more or less altered by the younger 
 traps, and traversed by quartz reefs in profusion. This line extends from 
 the gold-mine to the S.W. towards Kokaran, including the Murghan 
 Hill. Gold is also found and worked in some fashion in the Hazara 
 country, and in various streams of Northern Afghanistan. 
 
 Comparing Southern Afghanistan with the coimtries lying W. and 
 N.W. of it, Griesbach notices the vast extent of Cretaceous (hippuritic) 
 limestone connecting them. The features of this formation are very 
 remarkable, and it retains its character uniformly, more or less, over the 
 entire area. In the Hungarian Banat, it is accompanied by a syenitic 
 granite, which Cotta named Banatite ; and the contact zone, which 
 is in those places mostly converted into a crystalline rock, yields 
 various ores, amongst them gold. The gold localities in the Banat also 
 yield minerals of cobalt and nickel, and in some places (Oravicza) 
 they are the leading minerals of the auriferous area. So in Afghanistan, 
 
 
ASIA : ANAM, CAMBODIA, COCHIN CHINA, SIAM. 
 
 271 
 
 the gold-bearing rock occurs near the junction of the Cretaceous group 
 and tie igneous zone, and minerals of both cobalt and nickel occur in 
 traces all over the rock. 
 
 According to Captain Hutton, gold, which is caWed pi/lah used to be 
 imported into Kabul from Bokhara, where it was found in the river 
 Amur; the best qualities sold for Rs. 17 to 18 (34^. to 36^,) per to/a 
 (180 gr.), and an inferior kind for Rs. 10 {20s.). Dr. Balfour states that 
 gold is found with lapis-lazuli at Haladat, near Bamian (34*^ 52' 30" N., 
 67° 45' 30" E.) ; also at Istalif (34° 52' 50" N., 69° E.), in the district of 
 Koh-i-daman ; also in the sands of the Kabul river. 
 
 Anam, Cambodia, Cochin China, and Siam.— The geography 
 of these four countries is so little known, and their respective boundaries 
 are so ill-defined, that it is impossible to deal with them otherwise 
 than collectively. 
 
 According to Richard (1778), the rivers of Tonquin " bring down gold 
 in their sand. Some are employed in finding it in a kind of ditches, 
 into which they purposely turn the course of the water, and find gold at 
 the depth of 5 or 6 ft. in the sands. They find still more in the clefts 
 of the rocks, and the streams of springs which issue from them, which 
 indicates mines not yet discovered : there are even districts where gold 
 should be very plentiful, since they there breed ducks, merely for the 
 profit of the gold they extract from their excrements. There are, be- 
 sides, mines that are open, but which are only worked by the Chinese." 
 
 According to Sir John Bowring (1857), gold is found in many parts of 
 Siam. The most p: ^uctive localitjr is Bang Taphan, in the province of 
 Xumphon, at the foot of the high mountains called the Three Hundred 
 Peaks. Grain-gold and nuggets are collected. The soil containing the 
 goi'- is crushed and washed in wooden bowls, and, by agitation, the 
 metal is separated from the mass. The gold-mine is guarded by orders 
 from the king, and worked only under special authority. Private indivi- 
 duals are allowed to collect gold, on condition of their paying for the 
 privilege a certain amount per day ; but the climate is most unhealthy, 
 and the yellow fever carries off in less than a month the greatest part of 
 the adventurers. 
 
 John Campbell, formerly a Californian miner, went gold-mining in 
 Siam in 1856, at Matabong, 35 miles by land from Bangkok. He 
 describes the district as consisting of ravines in an elevated basin, oval in 
 shape, 30 miles long and 18 miles wide, surrounded by craggy walls of 
 rock, the whole covered with dense jungle. The richness of the Mata- 
 bong district he considers as beyond question ; but he complains greatly 
 of the jungle fever, the tropical rains, &c. 
 
 Mouhot (1864) has many references to the gold-mines of Cambodia. 
 On a: ival at Muang-Kabine (80 miles E. of Bangkok), he found great 
 
 
^■1 
 
 272 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 excitement prevailing, on account of a recent discovery of gold-mines, 
 which had attracted to the place a number of Laotians, Chinese, and 
 Siamese. The mines of Battambong (190 miles E. of Bangkok), being 
 less rich, are not so much frequented. The tribute of the province of 
 Korat, Laos, consists of gold or silver, and in several districts amounts 
 to 8 ticals (nearly 4 oz.) a head. Lenye is the district of Siam richest in 
 minerals. In several localities Mouhot discovered auriferous sand, but 
 only in small quantity. In some of the villages the inhabitants employ 
 their leisure time in searching for gold, but they told him that they 
 hardly gained by this work sufficient to pay for the rice they ate. There 
 are also many other mines rich in gold in the chains to the east and west 
 of Cambodia. Unluckily, most of these mountains are frightfully 
 unhealthy, and none but those who have lived there from infancy can 
 remain long among them with impunity. 
 
 Kennedy (1867) says that gold-mines were discovered some few 
 years back in the immediate vicinity of Krabin (14° N., 102° E.). 
 They are the exclusive property of the Chao Phya Umerat of Bangkok, 
 who every year despatches an officer to superintend the works, and 
 collect the duty from those who resort there. The gold is obtained by 
 washing. After the discovery of the.se mines, one or two parties of 
 Europeans proceeded thither from Bangkok ; but the business is so 
 trying, and the loc^Uty so fatal, that few of the adventurers lived to 
 return, and the practice has consequently been discontinued. It is only 
 in the dry season that the diggings can be worked, and a duty of 
 I fuang (3f ^.) for every ftiang's weight of gold extracted, is collected 
 from the miners, among whom Chinese, Siamese, Cambodians, and 
 natives from all the neighbouring races are to be found. 
 
 A writer in the Mining Journal {yi\\. 187, 203 ; 1871), speaking of the 
 territory of Ligor, and of Quedah and the Pah-Chan river, says that, 
 along with the stream tin, gold is often found in considerable quantities, 
 and frequently in pieces as large as green peas. That the rocks contain 
 gold, in payable quantities, he considers past all doubt. 
 
 Arabia.— Of Arabia, it is stated byStrabo(B. xvi. c. 4, § 18 ; Bohn's 
 Library, iii. 205-6), that "a river flows through their country, which 
 brings down gold-dust ; but they are ignorant how to make any use of 
 it. They are called Debae [the Debae occupied Sockia : the river which 
 flows through the country is called Boetius by Ptolemy]. Near theye 
 people is a nation more civilized, who inhabit a distric*- with a more 
 temperate climate ; for it is well watered, and has fre ^aent showers. 
 Fossil gold is found there, not in the form of dust, but in lumps, which 
 do not require much purification. The least pieces are of the size of a 
 nut, the middle size of a medlar, the largest of a walnut. These are 
 pierced and arranged alternately with transparent stones strung on 
 
ASIA : ARABIA, ASSAM. 
 
 273 
 
 threads, and formed into collars. They are worn round the neck and 
 wrist. They sell their gold to their neighbours at a cheap rate." Pliny 
 (iv. 32) speaks of the littus Hanwiceum in connection with gold, and 
 Capt. Burton would identify it with the modern Hazramaut. Yet 
 Niebuhr declared that " the precious metals are not found or known to 
 exi.st in Arabia, which has no mines either of gold or silver." And 
 Palgrave (Ency. Brit.) similarly declares that " in mineral products of 
 a valuable description, Arabia is singularly poor, so much so as to 
 suggest that the Arabian gold and jewels of classical writers must have 
 been brought from Yemen as from a mart or depot, not a place of pro- 
 duction. Now-a-days, of gold-mines and precious stones, not a trace 
 can be found." 
 
 In contradiction of all this unfavourable testimony, Capt. Burton 
 (1878 and 1879) announced as the result of his two expeditions on 
 behalf of the Khedive, the discovery of great treasures, and of remains 
 of the seven ancient Midianitic cities, which were built on the sites of the 
 gold-mines once worked by the Copts, the Persians, and the Romans. 
 But evidence of the existence of gold in Midian, in considerable and 
 remunerative quantities, is still lacking. In his journey to Medina, 
 Burton ascertained that gold was found near Muwaylah. 
 
 Assam. — According to Ball, Assam has long been famous for the 
 production of gold, and many authorities have stated that all its rivers 
 contain auriferous sands, some, however, limiting this general statement 
 to those which rise in the hills to the north. Putting aside all exaggera- 
 tion, it would seem that there are few, if any, named streams in the 
 districts of Darrang, Lakhimpur, and Sibsagar, which do not yield gold ; 
 while in 8 other districts included in the Chief Commissionership of 
 Assam, viz. Goalpara, Kamrup, Nowgong; Garo, Jaintia, and Naga 
 Hills ; Cachar and Sylhet, there is no gold, so far as our sources of infor- 
 mation go. That it is wholly absent in all is not likely ; but it is not 
 and does not appear ever to have been sought for successfully in any of 
 them. 
 
 The most interesting early account of the production of gold in Upper 
 Assam is by a Hindu named Muniram, the Revenue Serishtadar of Bar 
 Bandari, whose paper on the subject Captain Jenkins forwarded in the 
 year 1838 to the Coal Committee. Here it is said that before the British 
 took possession of the country, the Sonwals paid a yearly tribute of 
 4000 tolas ( 1 500 oz.) of gold, or in value, at Rs. 1 6 a tola, Rs. 64,000 
 (6400/.). While the Government had possession of Upper Assam, 400 
 Sonwals paid a tax ; and at the time of writing (i.e. i 838), the Raja had 
 levied a tax on 150 or \6o Jotes (i.e. parties of 4 individuals), of these 
 Sonwal paiks. Colonel Hannay estimates that, in the northern district 
 of Sadiya alone, including Lakhimpur, there were 10,000 of these 
 
 T 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 I 
 
274 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Sonwals who had to pay at least 4 annas weight, or Rs. 4 (8j.) worth of 
 gold each ; the total amount would be Rs. 40,000 (4000/.), and since 
 much was jorobably paid by the Sonwals south of the Brahmaputra, the 
 total revenue may have been 8000/. to 10,000/. ; the total out-turn did 
 not greatly exceed this, since gold-washing was a service performed by 
 those who held land for their subsistence. 
 
 There appears to be no foundation whatever, says Ball, for the state- 
 ment, first made apparently by Jacob, that the yield of gold in Assam 
 amounted to 30,000 oz. Recently (1881) Hyde Clarke stated that the 
 yield had formerly been 40,000 oz,i.e. the equivalent of 140,000/. at 
 the very least. Ball suggests that the rupees of the above statement 
 have been mistaken by some one for oz., and that thus the error arose. 
 
 Muniram states that, besides the above-mentioned tax, the Sonwals of 
 Upper Assam, in the time of Raja Rajeswar Singh, used to present 
 6000 to 7000 tolas (2250 to 2625 oz.) of gold ; besides which gold was re- 
 ceived from a number of places in Lower Assam, and from the Bhutias. 
 
 Four methods of collecting gold were practised, according to Muni- 
 ram : — (i.) The Kacharis (Cassaris) wait for a rise in the river, and 
 immediately afterwards, on its fall, they scrape up the newly-deposited 
 sand, which they wash for gold. (2.) All other Sonwals wash for gold 
 during the dry season. (3.) The Rydegeea Phukun's Sonwals collect 
 the leaves of the copat in the hills ; these they burn, and collect gold from 
 the ashes. (4.) The gold-washers in the Seedang (? Sittang) get the gold 
 by washing the moss and slime which they scrape from the rocks in the 
 bed of the river. 
 
 Some remarks are offered by Ball to explain the third method of 
 obtaining gold which is mentioned by Muniram. That gold is ever 
 taken up by plants and deposited i. living vegetable tissue is not only 
 improbable, but the fact that it is sometimes found among the roots of 
 plants is considered to be attributable to the circumstance that it is a 
 mineral not assimilated by plants, while the solutions in which it is 
 carried into these positions are. Thus it is supposed that, the solvents of 
 gold being absorbed, the metal itself accumulates by gradual increments. 
 It seemed at first probable to Ball that the copat plant grew on the 
 banks of the streams, and acted mechanically by arresting small 
 particles of gold. But on inquiry, the copat would seem to be a common 
 plant in Assam, and possibly belongs to the ginger family. Its leaves, 
 being thin but strong, are commonly used to wrap up small parcels. 
 Their connection with gold probably was that they were used to wrap up 
 the gold, and the small three-cornered packets may have been burnt in 
 order to save the fine gold adhering to the leaves ; hence may have arisen 
 the fable. 
 
 Colonel Hannay mentions that the soil found about the roots of 
 
ASIA : ASSAM. 
 
 275 
 
 trees, especially those of the tree-fern, are rich in gold. This calls to 
 mind the fact that skins of animals are laid down in gold-bearing streams 
 in Kashmir, and horns of wild cattle, with the hair attached, in Burma, for 
 the purpose of arresting the spangles of gold. Indeed, the use of 
 blankets in quartz-crushing mills is an application of the same principle. 
 The velvety surface of young sprouting ferns growing on the banks of 
 streams, might serve to arrest some gold, and these, if burnt, would yield 
 an auriferous ash. 
 
 Colonel Dalton mentions a tradition of a nugget having been found 
 attached to an edible root. This, of course, may have been a chance 
 occurrence ; but, on the other hand, it may be explainable as above. 
 
 The following is Muniram's account of the method of washing and 
 collecting gold from sand : — 
 
 Wherever the current is strong, with a falling bank above it, ending 
 in a sharp turn of the river, the Sonwals examine the opposite shore 
 where the sand from the falling bank is thrown, and if this should con- 
 tain gravel mixed with the sand, it is accounted a good place to find 
 gold in. 
 
 Each party consists of a headman {paioee) and 4 assistants {pallecs), 
 who wash in one trough {dorongee). When they find a proper place to 
 commence operations, they begin by working about in the sand with a 
 sharp-pointed bamboo {sokalee)^ to find the depth at which the gravelly 
 sand is ; they then take it up in a piece of split bamboo {J}ans chola) and 
 examine whether there is any gold-dust in it. If they see 12 or 14 bits, 
 they immediately build their houses and commence operations. They 
 first bund up the deep part of the stream, if it be a small one, with sand, 
 and if large, with stakes and grass : the stream then takes a different 
 direction over the sand ; they allow it to wash away the upper surface of 
 sand, so as to expose the gold sand, when the bund is re-opened, and 
 the stream returns to its original bed. The upper sand is then scraped 
 off, and the gold sand collected with a kind of wooden spade {kater 
 dohtal). This shovel is \\ cubits long by i cubit in breadth, with a 
 handle 4 cubits long ; the blade is of the form of a crescent, with holes 
 at each corner, through which a string is passed, and 2 men lay hold of 
 and pull this string, while another keeps pressing the spade down in a 
 perpendicular position. The sand is then taken up in small baskets 
 with handles [cookees), and thrown on a bamboo lattice-work or strainer 
 {bmt), which is laid over the trough. This trough is made of wood, and 
 is 3 cubits long, i cubit broad, and i span high all round, with a slit 3 
 fingers wide at one end. Water is now thrown over the sand with a 
 calabash having a large piece scooped out at the bottom, beside a very 
 small hole on one side {lad) ; the water is thrown on with one hand, 
 while the other hand is employed in moviiig the sand about, and sweep- 
 
 T 2 
 
 \ 
 
 1*1 
 
276 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 i 
 
 ing off the larger particles of gravel from the surface of the strainer. In 
 this way, the sand is spread on, and water poured over it ; and as the 
 trough fills, the water and dirty sand run off through the slit in it, while 
 the clean sand and gold remain at the bottom of the trough, the trough 
 being placed at a small angle to assist the water and dirt to run off 
 quickly. 
 
 When 40 or 50 baskets of sand have been thus washed into the 
 trough, the Sonwals call it a shia, and if a rati of gold is produced from 
 one shia, they think themselves very fortunate indeed ; for during the 
 long days they get about 30 shias or washings producing i rati each, 
 and during the short days about 25 shias, each party thus making on an 
 average about \ tola (45 gr.) of gold daily. When they happen to fall 
 on a good old stream that has not been disturbed for 5 or 6 years, they 
 get 2 ratis of gold from every shia or washing, and then each party 
 makes about \ tola (90 gr.) daily. 
 
 The gold and sand of the last washing is collected into pottles 
 {chongct), by spreading a leaf of copat or some other plant at the end of 
 the trough, and dropping water very gently on the sand through the 
 small hole in the calabash, which causes a parting of the sand and gold 
 thrown on the leaf; when the whole is collected in this way, it is put 
 into the pottle and tied up, and the next washing is commenced. As 
 soon as they have collected enough in the pottles, they give up washing 
 the common sand, but pour out the gold and sand from the pottles into 
 the trough again, and putting in about an anna's weight of quicksilver 
 for each tola ( 1 80 gr.) of gold-dust, they pour water over the sand to 
 keep it in motion, while the quicksilver remains below with the gold-dust 
 and forms it into a lump ; this lump is then put into a shell on a fire of 
 nahar-wood charcoal. When the quicksilver evaporates, the shell be- 
 comes lime ; it is then carefully taken up in a spoon, and thrown into 
 water, when the gold falls to the bottom. If it be of a brass colour, it is 
 wrapped in a paste made of clay from the cooking chulas, mixed with a 
 little salt, and burnt in a fire, which gives it a proper colour. This 
 process causes an absolute refinement of the surface of the gold. It is 
 the same used in gold refining by the natives generally ; but in the latter 
 case, the metal has to be reduced in the first instance to very thin leaves, 
 to allow the muriatic acid fumes to penetrate and unite with the alloy. 
 
 A very large proportion of the gold which is obtained in Assam is 
 " doubly derivative," coming from the degradation of the Tertiary rocks. 
 In the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, it is probably directly derived 
 from the crystalline rocks. It is important, says Ball, that this should 
 be clearly understood, and that the prospect of finding gold in its original 
 itrix in the easily accessible parts of the valley of the Brahmaputra is 
 very small. 
 
ASIA : ASSAM. 
 
 277 
 
 Darrang district. — In the Darrang district, several of the rivers which 
 join the Brahmaputra on the north arc said to contain gold, which is 
 still or has formerly been washed for. They are the Bhoroli, which is 
 perhaps identical with the Bhairavi, the Burigang [Boongawn], and the 
 Bargang [Burrowgawn]. 
 
 The name of the Bhoroli river appears to be repeated in several 
 parts of Assam, so it is uncertain which is referred to, A particular 
 river which bears it, however, is said to have been noted for its gold. It 
 joins the Brahmaputra 5 or 6 miles above Tezpar. 
 
 Under the name Bhairavi a river .n Darrang is stated to yield gold 
 of a superior quality. The name does not appear on the map, but from 
 the indication of its position as rising in the Aka hills, it '3 probably the 
 proper name of the Bhoroli. 
 
 The Burigang river, which rises in the Dufla hills, and joins the 
 Brahmaputra near Bishnath, is said to contain gold. 
 
 The Bargang river rises also in the Dufla hills, and joins the Brah- 
 maputra 3 or 4 miles above the last mentioned. Both for the quantity 
 and quality of its gold, it is said to have been more noted than the Dikrang 
 even. 
 
 Lakhimpur district. — This district appears to include a greater 
 number of named and distinctly auriferous rivers and streams than the 
 whole of the rest of Assam put together. The total yield of gold about 
 1853 was, according to Colonel Dalton, 20 lb. per annum, worth about 
 1200/. Here too, the Brahmaputra, or, as it is called above Debong 
 Mukh, the Lohit, contains gold in sufficient abundance to be washed for. 
 The principal tributaries of the Brahmaputra on the north which yield 
 gold are the Dikrang, Borpani, Subanshiri, Sisi, Dihong, Dibong, Digara ; 
 and on the south, the Joglo and the Noa Dihing. 
 
 Brahmaputra River. — Colonel Hannay states that about the year 
 1838, above Sadiya, a party of gold-washers, consisting of 12 men^ 
 washed for 20 days and realized 7 tolas (1260 gr.) of gold. In the 
 vicinity of Tengapani Mukh, a party of Kacharis, 60 in number, washed 
 for 5 days and realized 25 rupees' weight of gold; also 35 men for one 
 month, who collected \ tola (90 gr.) or 8 rupees' (i6.y.) worth of gold each. 
 In the year 1853, the total outturn of the Brahmaputra was said to be 
 I to i^ lb. of gold per annum. 
 
 In 1855, Colonels Dalton and Hannay were requested by Government 
 to make a further and more complete examination of the auriferous 
 deposits of Upper Assam than they had previously done. They first 
 commenced operations a few miles above the Bhramakhund gorge ; but 
 finding the deposits less rich as they penetrated further into the hills, 
 they returned to Parghat, 8 miles below Bhramakhund. Here the river 
 debouches from the mountains, after cutting through an enormous deposit 
 
 ■ .'8 
 
 fi 
 
 i 
 
 
278 
 
 GEOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIBL) llON. 
 
 of earth and boulders to the depth of 1 50 ft. The gold obtained above 
 Parghat contained a certain proportion of dendritic and crystalline par- 
 ticles, while below that point it consisted of flattened spangles, evidently 
 the result of attrition. The actual source of the gold was not ascertained. 
 At Bhramakhund are slates and felsites in situ. Travelled boulders of 
 granite, gneiss, &c., were observed there, as also much white, ferruginous, 
 and cellular quartz. The last was possibly the matrix of the gold. 
 
 Gold from the Brahmaputra, forwarded by Colonels Dalton and 
 Hannay, which was assayed by Dr. T. Boycott at the Calcutta Mint, 
 yielded only 88 "281 per cent, of pure gold. This confirms an opinion of 
 Muniram, that the gold obtained from the Kacharis was of an ijiferior 
 character, because they always obtained it in the Brahmaputra. This 
 gold was obtained partly in a Californian cradle worked by 4 men at 
 Gurumora, 18 miles below Bhramakhund; 2^ tons of stuff which were 
 passed through it yielded 30 gr., or in value Rs. 2*8 (5j.). In the native 
 trough {durunt), worked by 3 men, the yield from 1 8 cwt. of stuff washed 
 in one day was about 1 2 gr., or in value I rupee {2s.). The natives looked 
 upon this as a poor yield, stating that after a flood they sometimes got 
 double that amount. 
 
 Other rivers. — The Dikrang river has a long course, and enters 
 Lakhimpur from the Dufla hills, if it does not rise in them. It was 
 formerly noted for the quality and quantity of the gold found in its 
 sands. 
 
 The Borpani river is said to be a tributary of the Pisola, a name not 
 on the map. There is, however, a Borpani, a tributary of the Dikrang. 
 It is said to have been more remarkable for the quantity than the quality 
 of its gold. 
 
 There is little recorded about the Subanshiri river, but the average 
 yield about the year 1853 was 3 to 4 lb. of gold. It was thus one of the 
 most valuable. 
 
 Colonel Dalton estimates the average yield from the gold-bearing 
 sands of the Sisi river to be 1 5 gr. to a ton. About i lb. of gold was 
 obtained per annum from this stream. 
 
 The gold from the Dihong river contained 90*234 per cent, of pure 
 gold. It is alluded to as being one of the richest in Assam. In the ex- 
 periments conducted by Colonels Dalton and Hannay, 5^ tons of gravel 
 yielded 90 gr. of gold, or at the rate of i6\ gr. per ton. If the large 
 fragments which can be removed by hand be excluded, the yield would 
 be 22 gr. per ton. The Californian cradle used on this occasion was 
 found to give proportionally more to each of the 4 meff employed upon 
 it than did either the native trough with its 3 men, or the Singpho 
 washing-dish with 2. The annual yield was 2 to 4 lb. of pure gold 
 apparently, but the name is (? mis-) printed Dibong. 
 
ASIA : ASSAM. 
 
 279 
 
 The annual yield of gold from the Dibong river was estimated in 
 1853 to be I to I ^ lb. ; another statement is that it is 2 to 4 lb. In one 
 of these cases, it is evident that Dibong is a misprint for Dihong. 
 
 About 5 miles from its junction with the Brahmaputra, gold was 
 found by Colonels Dalton and Hannay in the bed of the Digara river, 
 but only in small quantities, and higher up stream washing was not 
 successful. 
 
 The Joglo [Jugla] river rises in a range of small hills which stretch 
 across from Jaipur to Sadiya. After a very short course, it falls into the 
 Buri Dihing. In the Joglo, the soil and sand is scraped from the banks 
 and washed ; that which has collected about the roots of trees, especially 
 about those of tree ferns, is considered to be most rich in gold. Allusion 
 has been already made to this, and to the tradition that in this tract a 
 native traveller found gold in lumps attached to an edible root. In 
 olden times, it is said that from the richness of the gold here the area 
 through which the river flows was kept as a royal preserve, and Muniram 
 says that the gold brought by the Sonwals of this tract was the best in 
 all Assam. In 1853, it was visited by Colonel Dalton, who states that 
 it had been deserted by the gold-washers, in consequence of its costing 
 more to propitiate the evil spirits of the place who guarded over the 
 mineral treasures than they could afford to pay. As the spirits were 
 not considered to be hostile to Europeans, Colonel Dalton, without any 
 preliminary propitiation, set the washers who were with him to work. 
 The ancient alluvial deposit here appears to be of considerable extent 
 and thickness. A stratum of gravel, about 15 ft. above the highest 
 water-mark, was proved to contain gold. The natives made use of a 
 sluice by forming two embankments with bamboo and rubbish, thus 
 dividing the river into three channels, which enabled them to turn the 
 water in or out of the central channel into which they collected a heap 
 of gravel. By means of sieves, they removed the larger pebbles, while 
 the current carried away the finer sediment. The residue was then 
 washed in pans with much more satisfactory results than usual. Colonel 
 Dalton's rough estimate of the outturn was 18 gr. of gold to the ton of 
 rubble which was washed. This was equal to about 8 gr. per man per 
 diem. He points out that before the yield of this field can be properly 
 ascertained, the base of the deposit should be examined. 
 
 According to Colonel Hannay, a party of 20 Kacharis, who washed in 
 the Noa Dihing for 3 months, towards the end of 1837, obtained 10 tolas 
 (3I oz.) of gold, which was sold at Sadiya at the rate of Rs. 12 (24y.) per 
 ^<?/rt (180 gr.). Their earnings, therefore, were Rs. 2 (4J.) per man per 
 month. Colonel Hannay remarks on the fact that after the coarser por- 
 tions are removed, the residue includes a number of minute and beau- 
 tiful crystals of quartz. This has not been noticed elsewhere in Upper 
 
 ■"I'M* 1 
 
280 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Assam. During the examination made by Colonels Dalton and Hannay 
 in 1855, the Noa Dihing was found to contain gold in larger proportions 
 than the Brahmaputra, but only in the form of minute spangles, very 
 liable to be carried away in the washing. The gold was found to diminish 
 in quantity as the hills were nearcd. Traces of platinum were obtained 
 with the gold. 
 
 Manipiir state. — The operation of gold-washing as here conducted in 
 the Ningthee river is thus described by Captain Grant (1832). The sand 
 and gravel are first placed in a sieve, and the finer parts fall on to a 
 hollow plank, 4 ft. long and 2\ ft. wide at the upper end, and i^ ft. at the 
 lower, which is open, the top and edges being protected by a rim or 
 margin }^ in. high. The lower half is cut into grooves \ in. deep and 
 wide. The fine sand caught in these grooves is washed in a wooden 
 dish, resembling a shield in shape, which has a polished black internal 
 surface, and a receptacle in the centre ; placed floating on the water, it is 
 revolved till all the sediment is removed, and the iron sand and gold are 
 left. By means of these implements, about i gr. of gold is got in \ hour. 
 
 Sibsagar district. — The principal rivers whose sands include gold in 
 the Sibsagar district are the Dhaneswari [Dhunsiri], with its tributary 
 the Pakerguri, the Desue [Disoi], the Jangi [Jcinjij, and the Buri Dihing ; 
 but the auriferous deposits on the flanks of the Naga hills extend through- 
 out from the Dhaneswari to the Noa Dihing. 
 
 For comparison with the yields of other rivers, Colonel Hannay men- 
 tions that he was informed by the chief of the washers that in the 
 Dhaneswari river 15 men obtained 7^ tolas (2 oz. 16 dwt. 4 gr.) of gold 
 in 1 2 to 15 days. 
 
 On the Desue river, in Colonel Hannay's time, the gold-washers 
 carried on their operations \\ days' journey above Jorhat, where the bed 
 is stony. Here the yield was about the same as in the Dhaneswari, 1 5 
 men having obtained 7i tolas in 12 days. 
 
 Montgomery Martin has recorded that the Assam Government re- 
 ceived into the royal treasury 1 500 gr. of gold yearly from a gold-mine 
 called Pakerguri, situated at the junction of the Dhaneswari with the 
 Brahmaputra. There is some obscurity about this, as the Pakerguri 
 joins the Dhaneswari a day's journey from the Brahmaputra. 
 
 The Desue and the Joglo rivers yielded the best gold in Assam, and 
 the gold ornaments for the Raja's family are said to have been made 
 exclusively from the gold obtained in them. 
 
 In the Jangi river, according to Colonel Hannay, 15 men washed for 
 12 days, and obtained 71 tolas of gold. 
 
 Colonel Hannay mentions that a party of salt-traders, 24 in number, 
 washed for gold for one month in the Buri Dihing river, and realized only 
 1 2 annas' weight, or about 1 2 rupees' (24J.) worth. 
 
ASIA ; DANCA, BORNEO. 
 
 281 
 
 Banca. — An extract in the Mining Journal (xHx. 743) says that 
 the occurrence of gold is only known in the Kajoc-Bessi valley (in the 
 Pangkal-Pinang district) near Cape Bonga, where it must have been 
 formerly found near the inland head, Mindim. It was, however, not 
 discovered in the sandstones which occur at the place where it is at 
 present found. However, it is possible that here, just as in a few other 
 places, a little gold might be met with. 
 
 Borneo. — The greatest quantity of Borncan gold is furnished by 
 Sambas, Landak, Montradak, and Borneo proper. Gold is one of the 
 chief productions of Banjarmassin. The amount annually collected in 
 the island cannot be ascertained, but the exports from Brunei have been 
 as follows -.—In 1870, $5789 (1206/.) ; 1879, $2258 (470/.); 1880, %l(>(>l 
 (763/.). On the other hand, the imports of gold from Singapore into 
 Brunei, in 1880, were $3500, and the foreign imports of gold into 
 Sarawak in the same year were $162, making a total only %\ less than 
 the exports. 
 
 Crawford (1820) says that the practice of mining for gold from alluvial 
 deposits in the Indian Archipelago is pursued by both natives and 
 Chinese; but systematically, skilfully, and eiTectually, as to production, only 
 by the latter. The chief seat of the Chinese mining operations is Borneo, 
 and of that island principally the territory on its west coast, situated 
 towards the mountains, and lying between the rivers of Pontianak and 
 Sambas. The country is usually denominated Montradak, from the name 
 of the principal town or village) which is situated about 2 days' journey, or 
 rather voyage — as it is an inland navigation — from the coast. The whole 
 tract is alluvial, and channelled by the beds of numerous rivers, some of 
 them of great size. Crawford's information respecting the economy of 
 the mines was principally got from personal communication with 
 Chinese, who were for years engaged in them. The whole Chinese 
 population of this part of the country amounts to 36,000, of whom 4000 
 only are women. Part of the latter are of the mixed Chinese and native 
 race, the greater number being natives of the place, purchased or 
 kidnapped. Six thousand of the whole of this population only are 
 directly engaged in the working of the mines, the rest being occupied in 
 trade or agriculture, or in branches of industry subservient to the 
 working of the mines. Like the tin-mines of Banca, the economy and 
 circumstances of which they very closely resemble in many particulars, 
 the gold-mines of Montradak are divided into large and small. Of the 
 first there are 13 at present wrought; of the second, 57. The prin- 
 cipal difference in these consists, not in the amount or the fertility of 
 the ore, but rather in the greater or smaller capital which is employed 
 in working them, and of consequence, in the principle and extent to which 
 the mining operations are conducted. The great mines are wrought by 
 
 
 
 % -.: 
 
 .'Vll 
 
282 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 companies of persons of property and capital who employ monthly 
 labourers. The smaller mines, on the other hand, are worked by the 
 mere labourers, who at once conduct the operative parts, and share the 
 proceeds on terms of perfect equality. The large mines employ loo to 
 2CX) men, including labourers and overseers; the smaller, lO to 50. The 
 economy of the large mines is chiefly worthy of notice. The mode of 
 paying the labourers is by monthly wages, with a supply of food. An 
 inexperienced labourer receives for the first 4 months, 2 Spanish dollars a 
 month; for the second 4 months, $4 ; and for the remainder of the year, 
 $5. Ever afterwards he receives $6, and if he has capacity and integrity 
 to make an overseer, ij58 ; from the mode of making payment, as will be 
 afterwards shown, there is a real advance of 30 per cent, on these wages. 
 In defiance of the climate, the miners labour severely. They work about 
 12 hours a day, beginning their operations by break of day, or, if there 
 be moonlight, earlier, not ceasing until half-past 6 at night, and taking 
 very little time to their meals. 
 
 The mine is a longitudinal excavation following the course of the 
 mineral stratum, and its breadth and depth necessarily depend upon the 
 circumstances of that stratum. The situation of the ore is, however, com- 
 monly very superficial, not usually above 5 or 6 ft. from the surface ; 
 40 ft. is a common breadth for the stratum containing it, and of course 
 for the mine, and 10 ft. for its depth, making 15 or 16 ft. a common 
 depth for the whole mine. The processes pursued for extracting the ore, 
 for clearing the mine of water, and for washing the mineral earth, much 
 resemble the same operations followed with the tin ore. The access to 
 the mine is by the trunk of a forest tree, into which steps are cut. The 
 ore is extracted and brought up by manual labour with spades and 
 baskets. The largest mines are cleared of water by the Chinese wheel, 
 and the mineral is washed in an aqueduct lined with the bark of trees, 
 and supplied by a neighbouring brook with a stream of running water. 
 In the large mines it is the practice to suspend the process of extracting 
 the mineral, and to wash the auriferous earth at the end of every 35 days. 
 A mine wrought by 200 labourers will afford in that time, as the largest 
 produce, about 320 bongkals, or 555^ oz. Troy ; and as the lowest, about 
 140 bongkals, or 243 oz. Troy. The foUov/ing detailed statement will point 
 out more fully the expenses and piofitii of the mining business as con- 
 ducted by the Chinese : — 
 
 Statement of the Expenses and Profits of a Borneo Gold-mine, worked 
 
 BY 200 Ladourers. 
 
 Expenses. 
 
 20 overseers for 35 days, at $8 per month $186 67 or ^42 o o 
 
 180 miners for „ $6 „ , 126000,, 28310 o 
 
 30 per cent, on wages of 200 men 43400,, 97 13 o 
 
ASIA : IIORNEO. 
 
 !«3 
 
 7o//V«A uriliiiary rice, at $1 per/zW*/ $700001 ^^15 15 
 
 17J ,, salt fisli, at $2 iicr/;V-«/ 35 00 .1 7 '7 
 
 4 „ salt, at $ij ,, 5 00 .. '2 
 
 2 „ edible oil, at $15 ., 3000,, 6 15 
 
 Interest of (lead stock, ami re|)airs of tools and inaciiincs .. 3500,, 7 '7 
 
 Interest uiion capital of $2000 67l-., at 25 percent., for 35 days 49 II ,, II I 
 
 Total charges $2104 78 ,, £4-;^ 11 
 
 Pri>/!/s. 
 Produce, 2000 /w/i,'/(v//j of Montradak yoKI-dust, worth .. $4848 00 or /^ 1 090 lO o 
 Gross profit for 35 days 2743 22 ,, 617 4 6 
 
 Annual profit 
 
 .. $28,607 89 „ ^6436 15 6 
 
 The gold of the Indian Islands, whether obtained from veins or mineral 
 deposits, always appears in the commercial transactions of the country 
 in the form of coarse sand or dust, that of the alluvial deposits being, 
 from attrition, always smooth, and is of intrinsic valyc usually in pro- 
 portion to the size and coarseness of the grains. In commercial language, 
 gold-dust is designated by the name of the country which produces it, 
 and that of the same country is pretty constantly of the same touch or 
 fineness. Independent of the quantity of copper or silver always in 
 combination with the ore, it invariably contains a considerable mixture 
 of earth, iron, and other adventitious matters. The most productive 
 mines, it may be remarked, afford gold of the lowest test, and that which 
 contains the largest portion of mechanical admixture. The following 
 table presents at one view the assay and value of some of the most 
 common descriptions which appear in the markets ; — 
 
 Table exhibiting the VALUii and Assay of the Gold-dust of several Parts 
 
 OF TUM Indian Archipelago. 
 
 
 of Gold, tnkeil 
 
 Country 
 
 In 100 parts 
 of Gold-dust. 
 
 In 100 parts of the metal. 1 /;!'= ""^' 
 '^ estimated. 
 
 Value 
 
 per 
 
 
 N.ime 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 pper. 
 cale 
 
 uch 
 10 
 
 ^.3 
 
 from the District 
 
 where 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 1 ""i ' £0 
 
 oz. 
 
 Df 
 
 it 
 
 wliich produces it. 
 
 situated. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Iver and 
 
 1 carats oi 
 of 24 par 
 
 y native 
 or scale 
 parts. 
 
 gold-dust. 
 
 « = 
 
 ^z 
 
 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 "a 
 
 •6 
 ■5 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1°. 
 
 IS. 
 
 
 
 
 Q 
 
 s 
 
 C 
 
 <n 
 
 u 
 
 ■" 1 " '« 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 II ''^ '■ 
 
 d. 
 
 8 c. 
 
 GoldofOmbak ,. 
 
 Borneo 
 
 3-7S96-2588-I9 
 
 8-SI3-3 
 
 II 8i 21-17 8-82 ,3 12 
 
 Ii27 81 
 
 »» 
 
 Sanga . . 
 
 »> 
 
 4-96 95 -04 90-97 
 
 3-65'5-38 
 
 9-0321-83 9-10 3 13 
 
 5i,28 33 
 
 9» 
 
 Larak 
 
 »» 
 
 3.8396-I786-II 
 
 5-907-99 
 
 13-8920-67 8-61 I3 10 
 
 4i27 13 
 
 >> 
 
 Banjar-Laut 
 
 f> 
 
 2-66 97-34'90-45 
 
 4-345-21 
 
 9-55 21-71 9-05 i3 14 
 
 9J 28 84 
 
 >9 
 
 Pontianak 
 
 II 
 
 14-05 85-95 82-99 
 
 16-14 
 
 0-87 
 
 17-01 19-92 8-30 ;3 
 
 7i 
 
 23 37 
 
 99 
 
 Jambi 
 
 Sumatra 
 
 5-47 94-539I-84 
 
 
 
 8-1622-04 9-18 13 13 
 
 9 
 
 28 44 
 
 )> 
 
 Sambas . . 
 
 Borneo 
 
 9-0091-0083-68 
 
 
 
 16-37,20-08 8-37 13 4 
 
 8i 
 
 24 9S 
 
 91 
 
 Palembaiig 
 
 Sumatra 
 
 2-ii97-89'93-75 
 
 
 
 6-7,522-50 9-38 
 
 3 17 
 
 Hi 
 
 30 06 
 
 )f 
 
 Montradak 
 
 Borneo 
 
 i2-02'87-98 84-09 
 
 •• 
 
 •• 
 
 15-9120-18 8-41 
 
 3 2 
 
 lOj 
 
 24 24 
 
 iM 
 
284 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The chance of an increased produce from the mines of the Archi- 
 pelago, says Crawford, will depend upon the share of tranquillity which 
 the country enjoys, and the degree of freedom secured 10 its commerce. 
 " Nothing further is requisite, for the ore, from all accounts, exists in 
 inexhaustible abundance. This is most particularly applicable to 
 Borneo, the immense alluvial tracts round the whole circumference of 
 which everywhere contain rich deposits of this metal, from whence it 
 necessarily follows that the primitive mountains of the interior must 
 contain veins of it. From the abundance of the ore and the usual fascina- 
 tion of all mining projects, '^specially those in quest of the precious 
 metals, the search for gold will be the first object to engage the atten- 
 tion of any enterprising and industrious people settled in the country, of 
 whatever race. Amidst a great deal of anarchy and disorder, mining has 
 of late years been prosecuted by the Chinese with surprising spirit. It 
 is (1820) not above 8 or 10 years since considerable capital and the use 
 of machinery have been applied to it, and in that time there has been a 
 vast increase of produce." 
 
 According to J. H. Moor (1837), gold is found in almost every part 
 of the Residency of the N.W. coast, in the areng strata. The gold of 
 Sintang, Sanga, and Landak is about 9 touch ; of Muntuhari, about 
 8^ ; of Mandor, a shade below 8 ; these are places under Pontianak. 
 That found at Montradak, under Mampawa, is about 8 touch ; under 
 Sambas, of 9 touch ; at Sapan, of 8 : at Larak, of 8^ ; at Siminis, of 8 ; 
 and at Salakao, of 7^. The mines are worked thus : — A shaft barely 
 sufficient to permit the miner to turn round in, or at most 2 ft. in 
 diameter, is sunk to the areng strata — a kind of yellowish gravelly earth 
 mixed with various sized pebbles, and which also contains, at times, 
 diamonds. This stratum is I to 3 ft. thick, and is dug out to the extent 
 of 7 or 8 ft. from the sides of the shaft, under the upper strata, which 
 sometimes are propped up ; but this precaution is often neglected, which 
 is the cause of frequent accidents. The areng is hoisted up in small 
 baskets by bamboos, on the ends of which pa''t of a branch is left, and 
 forms a small hook. Small didans (circular trays slightly converging 
 towards the centre) are nearly filled with areng, and the workman (a 
 Dayak, Malay, or Chinese), sitting himself in the nearest stream, immerses 
 the dulan, and works the earth by hand until the earthy particles begin to 
 separate ; the dulan la then brought to the surface, and a rotatory motion 
 is given to it, until the water it contains, being saturated with earthy 
 matter, is poured off. This is continued till such time as the water comes 
 away clean : the ^-^Id from its gt-^ater gravity collects in the centre. The 
 Sultan of Sambas has a lump weighing \2\ bongkals, d^nd says he has 
 seen some weighing 25 hongkals (i dongka/ =8 '^2 gr.). 
 
 In Coti, says Moor, gold-dust is not procured in any very large 
 
 
ASIA : BORNEO. 
 
 285 
 
 "■<■■'. 
 
 quantities, although the country abounds in it. Coti gold-dust is con- 
 sidered equal in quality to that of Passier, and it might be got in large 
 parcels ; but the gathering of the nests in a great measure impedes the 
 usual supplies. All the people conceive that where gold is sought after 
 the birds invariably disappear ; therefore, as birds'-nests are a much more 
 profitable article than gold-dust, the Sultan has ^prohibited the searching 
 for it under severe penalties. The Bugis, notwithstanding, contrive to 
 get considerable quantities: in 1827, two prows only carried away 92 
 caries (276 lb. Troy). The usual price is 25 rea/s per bongkal. The 
 Sultan had (1837) in his possession at Bong An, an immense quantity of 
 gold, formerly the property of his uncle. Per Batti Sari, who died in Jan. 
 1828. This Pangeran came to Coti about 30 years before with 1$ piatls 
 (2100 lb.) of gold-dust, and thenceforward accumulated it from all 
 quarters. By the Sultan's account, he left 18 piculs (2500 lb.) of gold, 
 besides an immense sum in dollars and jewels ; but the brothers of the 
 Sultan and the Pangeran Seripa say the weight of gold-dust must be 
 near 25 piculs (3433 lb.). The whole of this treasure belongs to the 
 Sultan, and is buried in the ground at Bongan (according to the Bugis 
 custom) in three different places, one of which only has hithert) been 
 opened ; it was found to contain that portion brought from Passier • the 
 Sultan would not permit the other two depositories to be .ouched. 
 
 Hunt (1837) says that the principal gold-mines of Borneo are in the 
 vicinity of Sambas. There is a mountain called Guming Pandan, about 
 80 miles inland ; from this branch out rivers ; one leads to Mampawa, one 
 to Batu Bulat, near Tunjong Mora, and one toXandak ; the whole inter- 
 mediate area betv/een the rivers is a firm, yellow, argillaceous schist or a 
 ferruginous quartz, interspersed with vitreous ores, of a remarkable 
 dark-reddish colour, abounding with the richest veins of gold, and 
 equal if not superior to any mine extant. There are only 50 
 parets or mines now wrought in the whole kingdom of Sukadana, 3c 
 of which are in the Sambas district, each mine having at least 30c 
 Chinese employed. Their pay, one with another, is $4 {\6s. 8a.) per 
 mensem. 
 
 The mines are rented from the Raja at the rate of 50 bongkals (86^ oz.) 
 of gold per mine per annum, besides a capitation tax of $3 {\2s. 6d.) per 
 head on every Chinaman. There are 30,000 Chinese in the Sambas 
 district, and they feel themselves strong enough to oppose or evade this 
 tax ; it hence becomes a perpetual contest between greedy extortion on 
 the one side and avaricious chicane on the other ; there are besides about 
 12,000 Malays and Dayaks. 
 
 The Larak gold-mines arc situated to the eastward of the town of 
 Sambas, and are particularly rich and productive. The mines of 
 Simirds are a day's journey from Sambas, up a small creek ' ading to 
 
 
 m 
 
286 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Sambas river, below the town ; and the mines are abundant. Salakao is 
 up a river, 1 5 miles south of the Sambas river ; it lies nearly 40 miles 
 up, but communicate.' with Sambas by another river ; here the metal is 
 found more abundant than anywhere else ; and 20,000 Chinese are in this 
 district. Montradak is 3 days' journey up the Mampawa river ; it is 
 under an independent Ma^ay prince. Some accounts make the popula- 
 tion of this district great, near 50,000 Dayaks, Malays, and Chinese ; but 
 perhaps half the number may be nearer the truth ; these are chiefly 
 employed on the gold-mines and in producing food for the miners. 
 These mines, however, do not produce that quantity which they might 
 under Chinese management. hTandor is about a day":? journey from 
 Pontianak, and belongs to the Sultan ; it is reckoned a very rich mine, 
 though but recently wrought. There are as yet only 1 2 parets of about 
 200 men each ; but it is capable of extf'nsion. Numbers of Chinese are 
 settled in this district, and the population is annually increasing. 
 
 About 3 days' journey up the Pongole river, lies the district of 
 Sanga, with a population of 25,000 souls, Dayaks, and a few Chinese, 
 under a Malay independent prince. The population is chietiy employe.' 
 on the rich mines of gold in the neighbourhood, which is particularly 
 puic and abundant ; but the mines are not wrought with the same industry 
 as those under the Chinese management. The Dutch thought it of so 
 much consequence as to keep a forc'j at Sanga, and to place the present 
 Rajah on that musnud. About 2 days' journey farther up, lies another 
 gold district, called Sintang, the inhabitants of which are principally 
 Dayaks. Beyond Sintang, and higher up on the same river, lies the 
 town of Sukadana, abounding in gold, the inhabitants of which are also 
 Dayaks. 
 
 The Matan mines of gold are abundant, and capable of becoming 
 highly productive. About 3 days' journey from Pontianak, lies the 
 celebrated mountain of Landak, which, " after Golconda, is the most 
 valuable diamond mine in the w rid." Her~ also much gold !■; 
 produced, and much more might be had under proper management. 
 
 There is a very valuable gold-mine in the north of Borneo, at a place 
 called Tampasuk, situated in the district ceded to the English by the 
 Sultan of Solu ; but having become the principal pirate port on the 
 coast, the working of the mine has been discontinued. 
 
 The whole produce of the gold-mines of Sukadana is said to be 
 annually about 20 piculs (3433 lb.), or $1,000,000 (200,000/.), at $25 (5/.) 
 a bongkal (832 gr.) ; but na calculation of this sort can possibly be 
 correct. Living, as the Chinese do, under the rapacity of despotic and 
 ferocious ireebooters, wh > are actuated by no one principle of honour, 
 'ustice, or good faith, it is their interest to conceal the riches they amass, 
 not only to preserve themselves from the clutches of these tyrants, but 
 
ASIA : r.ORNEO. 
 
 287 
 
 a« 
 
 as t^"^" most compact substance to transport to their native shores, to 
 which they repair with the fruits of their industry, by the annual junks 
 that arrive at Pontianak, leaving the mines to new settlers ; 200 or 300 
 leave Pontianak every year. 
 
 The standard of Salakao gold at Pontianak is fixed at 23 Spanish 
 dollars the bongkal of $2 weight. The Sanga and Larak is $25 the 
 said bongkal. 
 
 Not having had an opportunity of inspecting any of the gold-mines 
 personally, Hunt does not know if the ores readily melt of themselves, or 
 whether they require the aid of any fluxes before they yield the metal ; 
 but he believes the principal attention of the miners is directed to the 
 rich veins of pure native gold, and that no operation is performed 
 beyond that of pulverizing, and simple washing; all the gold about 
 Pontianak being in dust, though some he met with in Borneo proper was 
 run into bars. 
 
 At Manday, on the north-east coast of Borneo, in the province of 
 Mangidara, is a very rich mine of gold. 
 
 Passier and Coti, in the Straits of Macassar, produce considerable 
 quantities of gold ; and gold and diamonds are brought down by the 
 river to Banjarmassin. 
 
 Dr. Leyden (1837) enumerates among the productions of Banjar, 
 gold of a finer touch commonly than that of Sambas, which is only 
 7 touch, whereas that of Banjar is often 8 or 9. The gold-mines at 
 Banjar are said to lie very near the surface, at the depth of about 3 
 fathoms. Those at Kirsan and Duku, which are very rich, lie in a red 
 marl ; above the mine generally lies an incrustation like ratan-wood, 
 beneath which the gold-dust is found in a red earth. 
 
 J. Brooke (1842) says that the q ;antity of gold yearly procured at 
 Sambas is moderately stated at 130,000 bongkals, which, reckoned at the 
 low rate of 20 Spanish dollars a bongkal, gives 2.600,000 Spanish dollars, 
 or upwards of 500,000/. sterling. The most intelligent Chinese are of 
 opinion that the quantity in Sarawak exceeds that at Sambas. 
 
 Capt. Sir E. Belcher (1848), alluding to the gold-mines at Sclingok, 
 about 8 miles inland from Kutching, on the river Sarawak, says the gold 
 is obtained by washing, from a very loose disintegrated granitic debris, 
 containing detached crystals of quartz — dodecahedrons, or 6-sided 
 pyramids, base to base — pyrites, antimony, and traces of tin. Much of 
 the light gold is lost in the washing. 
 
 Logan (1856) mentions several gold-mines on the Kapuas, the princi- 
 pal river on the W. coast ; the gold is found at 15 to 30 ft. below the 
 surface, and the gold-bearing stratum is about 4 ft. thick. The earth 
 containing the gold is piled up, and washed once in 3 or 4 months ; the 
 earth is thrown into a ditch, planked for the purpose, about 2 ft. wide 
 
 ^'1 
 
288 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 \' 
 
 and I J ft. deep, water is turned on, and the earth is stirred with spatulas 
 or hoes ; the water carries away the earth and sand, the gold and 
 pebbles remain, and are separated by the dulan. 
 
 Spenser St. John (1862) remarks that washing only is employed, no 
 deep sinkings have been attempted, nor quartz discovered in large quan- 
 tities, and it is not likely to be whilst most of the country is clothed with 
 forest. Nearly all the gold-working in Borneo is done by kimsis or com- 
 panies, which sometimes number several thousand men, generally, how- 
 ever, only a few hundred. He thus describes the mode of working by 
 the Chinese at Bau. They dam up the end of the valley, forming a large 
 reservoir of water \ mile long. The dam is completely faced with wood, 
 towards the water, and partially on the outside, to resist the tropical 
 rains. A ditch 4 ft. wide is cut from the reservoir to the ground selected 
 to be worked ; a sluice-gate in the dam regulates the supply of water to 
 the main ditch, and minor sluice-gates to it regulate the supply to the 
 smaller ditches. \ h > ^'lis is all prepared, the sluice-gates are opened, 
 and the earth in its i. ourhood is thrown into the ditch ; the rushing 
 
 water carries off the muu and sand, and allows the particles of gold to 
 sink to the bottom. After 3 or 4 months, they clean out the ditch, and 
 carefully wash the residue, which generally yields them sufificient to 
 make a tolerable division among the workmen after all the expenses are 
 paid. It is a most wasteful mode of working, for by rewashing the 
 tailings, the women and children obtain as much gold as the men. 
 
 That there is an abundance of gold to be found there, .St, John adduces 
 as an instance, that in Nov. 1848, a great landslip took place, and the 
 face of the Trian mountain was laid bare. Thousands of Chinese washed 
 it all in about 6 weeks, and none got less than ij oz. per month of gold. 
 He saw a nugget picked up weighing 7 oz. From Siniawan to Bau, 10 
 miles, are a constant succession of reservoirs and gold-workings. On 
 the limestone hills of Piat, he found a large party of Malays seeking gold 
 in the quartz which lines the crevices and caves of these hills. 
 
 Boyle (1865) says that a considerable amount of gold-washing is done 
 at Bow [Bau] on the Sarawak river, and, as every flood brings with it 
 a fresh supply, it is evident that it exists in greater quantity in the high 
 lands through which the head-waters of the river flow. 
 
 According to Crocker (1881), many years ago Rajah Brooke en- 
 couraged some Kay Chinese to try the gold-field at Marup, about 100 
 miles up the Batang Lupar river. Since then an extensive area has 
 been proved, and for many miles an alluvial deposit is found, yielding 
 gold in paying quantities, and sometimes in pockets. 
 
 Sarawak. — The following notes on gold in Sarawak are taken from 
 Everett's pamphlet quoted at the end of this volume, by the kindness of 
 W. M. Crocker, Esq. 
 
ASIA : BORNEO. 
 
 289 
 
 Gold occurs in the form of fine sand or flattened plates in alluvial 
 deposits over a great part of Sarawak. Washings are carried on in 
 Upper Sarawak, at Bau, Paku, Gambang, and in Samarahan, at Sirin, 
 in Sadong, at Malikin, and in the Batang Lupar, at Marup. The opera- 
 tions are wholly superficial, although at Bau and Marup, the principal 
 Chinese washings in the country, the stratified clays belonging to the 
 sandstone formation, and containing at the former locality decomposed 
 porphyritic dykes, have been cut into to some extent ; but the precious 
 metai has never been regularly mined for, nor, indeed, has it been dis- 
 covered in situ, except in the case of the gold contained in the veinstones 
 and quartz reefs of the antimony district, and associated with a lode of 
 argentiferous arsenic at Bidi. 
 
 The alluvion of the limestone caverns and fissures, and especially the 
 sands in the beds of streams, have yielded sufficient to induce the natives 
 to work in such spots. The washing is carried on partly by Malays, but 
 chiefly by country-born Chinese from Sambas. 
 
 Nuggets are of extremely rare occurrence and of small size ; but if 
 the Chinese are to be credited, some of considerable weight have occa- 
 sionally turned up in the adjacent Sambas district. St. John mentions 
 having seen one of 7 oz. taken from the auriferous clay at Trian, near 
 Bau, and this is probably the largest ever found in Sarawak. The gold- 
 dust is usually in a state of the finest comminution ; but samples from 
 Kunpang, near Marup, are composed of fine dust intermixed abundantly 
 with thin flat plates of the metal of ^ to ^ in. diameter — a form which 
 has been ascribed to some original laminated structure in the parent 
 matrix. Similar lamellae are said to have been detected in the siliceous 
 veinstones of the antimony lodes ; but where Everett had the oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the gold in these situations, it appeared in sparsely 
 scattered specks, without a sign of running into plates or veins. The 
 veinstones are r w and again found to contain a very profitable per- 
 centage, and the Chinese quarry the stone in a superficial way, and pound 
 it in wooden mortars with iron rammers. One block of siliceous matrix 
 (about 1 5 lb.) at Paku, containing some 20 per cent, of grey antimony, 
 yielded when thus crushed about $12 (50J.) worth of gold ; jutthis result 
 was considered quite exceptional. At Jibong, both wh'te quartz and 
 black siliceous veinstone are crushed, and, of these two, the latter is 
 thought to yield the higher percentage of the metal. Both in crushing, and 
 in washing from the alluvial clays, the find is very uncertain, and good 
 " hauls " seem to be few and far between. Marup, Bau, and Paku have 
 afforded remunerative washings, and Sirin in a less degree. The succession 
 of the superficial deposits in the last named locality is as follows: — (i) 
 vegetable mould, (2) unstratified felspathic clay, (3) clayey gravel, (4) 
 uptilted indurated clay-shale. The whole section to the basement-rock 
 
 U 
 
 
 \i 
 
 
 i'M 
 
290 
 
 GFOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of clay-shale is only 5 ft. in thickness, and it is in the gravel stratum 
 that the gold is found associated with small rolled fragments of cinnabar, 
 and with the clay-ironstone which abounds all over the gold and anti- 
 mony districts of Sarawak. 
 
 The components of the auriferous gravel are quartz, sandstone, 
 impure agate, porphyrite, &c. The surrounding country is made up of 
 steep low hills of indurated clay-shale and clayey sandstone, with yellow 
 felspathic clays overlying, and is seamed with dykes of hornblendic trap- 
 rock ; at a short distance to the S., limestone hills appear. 
 
 The quality of Sarawak gold varies with the locality in which it is 
 found. Thus Marup dust sells at $32 (61. i^s. ^d.) or even $34 (7/. \s. 
 8d.) per bongkal (i oz. I4dwt. 16 gr.), according to the supply, Sadong 
 gold at $26 (5/. 8j. \d), whilst Paku gold is quoted at $28 (5/. \6s. 8d.), 
 the difference being estimated by the whiteness of the metal, which is 
 dependent on the amount of silver existing in natural alloy iu it. No 
 scientific analysis of Sarawak gold has been made. 
 
 With regard to the annual production of gold in the territory, there 
 are no reliable data for even approximating the total amount. Low puts 
 the yearly export at 7000 oz. in 1840. Although nominally all gold 
 carried out of the country must be declared, it is beyond doubt that 
 quite as much is exported in a private way as is declared at the export 
 office in Kutching [Sarawak], whilst a large portion of the total yield is 
 bought up in the country, and does not show in the trade returns. 
 
 In connection with the consumption of gold in the territory, it is a 
 noteworthy circumstance that none of the savage tribes of this part of 
 Borneo seem ever to have made use of this metal, notwithstanding their 
 intercourse with Malays, and in a less degree with Chinese, during so 
 many centuries past. Everett never knew an instance of a Sea- or Land- 
 Dyak, a Kayan, Bakatan, or native of other wild t''ibe, seeking gold on 
 his own account, or manufacturing it into any description of ornament, 
 however rude. 
 
 In tracing the origin of gold in Sarawak, it is evident that the imme- 
 diate source of the metal is in the alluvial clays and gravels, and in 
 certain of the clay-shales which so thickly mark the older formations in 
 N.W. Borneo; out of these it is being swept continually into the 
 streams. But Everett, from observation of a considerable number of 
 sections in different parts of the country, comes to the conclusion that 
 the auriferous strata of Sarawak Proper have been derived immediately 
 from the waste of porphyritic and especially siliceous dykes, associated 
 with the system of arsenic and antimony lodes developed in that neigh- 
 bourhood ; and that in other localities (the Batang Lupar washings for 
 instance), similar strata appear rather to have been re-arranged more 
 than once, so much so that the original home of the gold they contain 
 
ASIA : BURMA, BRITISH. 
 
 291 
 
 can no longer be guessed at with certainty. The only clue to the pro- 
 blem in these latter districts is to be found in the circumstance that 
 there is invariably evidence of considerable metamorphic action among 
 the constituent rocks of the various localities. It is highly probable 
 that much of the gold originally lay in quartz rock, as is the case in 
 many places in Sumatra and in the Malay Peninsula, and may still be 
 the case in the less known parts of Sarawak. " But, even if auriferous 
 reefs are discovered at a future day, it is open to doubt whether they 
 will afford a field for European speculation, especially since an analysis 
 of the auriferous veinstones at Bau, by a competent metallurgist, has 
 failed to give such a result as to tempt further operations," 
 
 Burma [British]. — Within the limits of British Burma, says Ball, 
 gold has been found in the beds of the Irawadi and some of its tributaries, 
 in the Pegu division, and in the beds of the Sittang and tributaries. The 
 Tavoy river, and the Great Tenasserim and tributaries, in the Tenasserim 
 division, also contain auriferous sands ; but the gold-washer's trade 
 appears to be very unremunerative. So far as is known, no gold has 
 been found in the Arakan division. 
 
 Pegu division. — Theobald (1873) says that gold is occasionally 
 washed for in the sand of the Irawadi, opposite Prome (18° 47' 53" N., 95° 
 18' 18" E.), but in such fine dust and so sparingly that few engage in the 
 task of washing for it. He witnessed the process at Shwe-gyeng [Shuay- 
 gyeing] ("gold scratching"), in 19° 2' N. and 95° 5' E., and not to be 
 confounded with the place of the same name in the Tenasserim 
 division. The gold is found in a coarse gravel bank, left dry by the river 
 when it subsides after the rains. This coarse gravel is dug out and laid 
 on a sort of hurdle, which permits the fine sand to pass through, the 
 coarse pebbles and boulders being rejected. The sand is washed on an 
 inclined board, the lighter portions being gradually swept down the 
 incline by a stream of water directed over it, whilst the heavy auriferous 
 sand remains, and is from time to time collected. This sand is lastly 
 washed in the common wooden hand dish, of circular form, and the gold 
 it contains is collected by amalgamation. The profits are small, not more 
 than 2 or 3 annas (3 to \\d?) a day per man. 
 
 Tenasserim division. — Capt. Wyndham (1853) visited the gold- 
 washings, which are situated near the junction of the Shwe-gyeng 
 [Shuaygyeen] and Moot-ta-ma rivers, about 10 miles S.W. of the town of 
 Shwe-gyeng (17° 54' 40" N., 96° 51' 15" E.) on the Tsit-toung [Sittang]. 
 The washings are known to be of great antiquity, and in the time of the 
 native government, there was a farmer-general who paid a certain sum to 
 the royal treasury, and sublet the privilege of washing to numbers of 
 persons. Specimens of the sands obtained by Wyndham were examined 
 by Dr. Oldham, with the result that, in 1 cub. ft, 0*75 gr. of gold was 
 
 U 2 
 
292 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 obtained by washing, and an additional o'20gr. by amalgamation ; in all 
 0*95 gr. The sand consisted of particles of metamorphic rocks, with 
 schorl and magnetic iron. Two nuggets purchased in the bazaar, and 
 which may have come from the Shan States, were imbedded in quartz. 
 The gold-dust contained 92 per cent, of pure gold and 8 per cent, of silver. 
 
 The occurrence of gold of fair purity being undoubted, the question 
 remains as to the amount in which it may occur, and the probability of 
 its yielding a profitable return. If the specimen of auriferous sand 
 forwarded by Capt. Berdmore be taken as a fair average sample of the 
 kind of soil, and of the amount of gold contained in it, it would follow 
 from Dr. Oldham's examination (by which means nearly 1 gr. of gold 
 was procured from about ^ cub. ft. of soil) that i cub. yd. of the same 
 sand should afford about 135 gr. of gold. Or, rejecting from the 
 calculation the portion obtained by amalgamation, viz. 0"20 gr., the 
 yield by washing alone would be 101*25 S^> or say an average of 
 100 gr. of gold for each cub. yd. of the sand washed. This sand is stated 
 to be the surface soil, and being therefore readily accessible, 2 men could 
 with great ease raise and wash i cub. yd. in a day. There would 
 therefore be 100 gr. of gold as the remuneration for i day's work for 
 2 men, or 50 gr. per man per day. This gold would be worth about 3/. 
 per oz. ; that is, the produce per man per day would be equivalent in 
 value to 5^"^ of 3/. or 6s. ^d. per day — an ample remuneration for ordinary 
 workmen, but scarcely sufficient to tempt many adventurers to visit the 
 locality. Dr. Oldham corcludes by stating his belief that at leasjt half 
 the gold present is lost. 
 
 This locality was subsequently visited by Theobald (1863), who says 
 that the auriferous beds presented much resemblance to those containing 
 gold in Russia, and described by Murchison in his ' Siluria.' From the 
 marked scarcity of quartz pebbles, he concluded that quartz was not the 
 sole matrix ; he believed that the gold was derived from the rocks near 
 the sources of the Moot-ta-ma, and his estimate of the daily earnings of 
 the washers was only 5 annas (j\d.) per man. Later on (1866) some 
 Chinese tried washing here, but did not find the work sufficiently 
 remunerative, so they gave it up. 
 
 Abernethy (1867) an Australian miner, aided by the government, 
 penetrated further than the Chinese usually worked, but was unable to 
 make the undertaking pay. He condemned the sources of the gold as 
 being steep and rocky, and having a hard smooth ledge, upon which gold 
 is seldom found in paying quantities. He also examined the sources of 
 the Baw-ga-ta with much the same result. None of the accounts quoted 
 state whether there are any quartz reefs in this region or not. 
 
 Mason found gold in the streams which fall from the granite ranges 
 between Yay [Re] (15° 15' N., 97° 53' E.) and Monmagon [Moung-ma- 
 
ASIA : BURMA, UPPER. 
 
 293 
 
 gan] ; and states that gold was found by O'Riley with the tinstone at 
 Henzai (14° 48' N., 98° 10' E.) 
 
 Gold is also F-^'d to occur with the tin ores which are found east of 
 Tavoy (14° 5' N., 98° 10' E.) The richest deposit is one of red earth and 
 pebbles near the source of the Tavoy river. On the eastern side of the 
 range, at the base of which this deposit rests, the Siamese Government, 
 according to Dr. Morton, who is quoted by Mason, employ several 
 hundred men permanently to wash for gold ; each man is expected to 
 find one tical {2$2 gr.) weight, or about 20 rupees' {^os.) worth of gold per 
 annum. In former times, the Burmese Government exacted a similar 
 service on the Tenasserim side. A native officer in Tavoy obtained 
 about 10 rupees' worth of gold in 9 days' washing. The composition of 
 this gold, according to an assay at the Calcutta mint, was — gold, 87*895 ; 
 silver, 9 "241 ; base metal, 2*864; total, 100. 
 
 According to Dr. Heifer (1839) almost all the tributaries of the 
 Tenasserim river contain gold. Near the old town of Tenasserim 
 (18° 8' N., 98° 55' E.), there are, or used to be, pits sunk in the alluvium 
 from which gold was obtained. It is stated that the workers sometimes 
 obtain i or 2 annas' weight during the season. 
 
 Burma [Upper.] — The use of gold in Burma, says Ball, both for the 
 purpose of ornamenting buildings and decorating the person, is universal 
 throughout ; but it is perhaps more prominently brought to notice in 
 the cities and towns of Upper Burma. A portion of this gold is obtained 
 from washings in the country, but by far the greatest amount is imported 
 from China. Spears, as quoted by Dr. Oldham in 1855, estimated the 
 average imports at 1 100 lb., and the indigenous gold which was brought 
 to the capital at 360 lb., making a total consumption of 1460 lb. Except 
 when manufactured into leaf, the export was prohibited. It seems 
 probable that the gold of Upper Bi.rma is more frequently "doubly 
 derivative," like the gold of Assam, than is that of Lower Burma, which 
 in some instances certainly comes directly from the crystalline rocks. 
 
 Captain Hannay enumerates gold with other products of the Hukong 
 valley. It is found both in dust and in pieces of the size of a large pea. 
 The rivers which produce the greatest quantity are the Kapdup and 
 Nam Kwan ; pits are dug on the banks of the former, and the gold is 
 found in the old alluvial deposits, in quoting the above account, 
 Dr. Anderson adds to it that he was told by a Kamthi Shan, and by 
 the Chinese at Momein [Moulmein], that gold is abundant near the 
 supposed junction of the two main streams of the Irawadi, in the 
 Kamthi country. 
 
 Placer gold is found in some streams entering the Kyen-dwen river 
 from the west, near Kannee Myo (22° 30' N., 95° E.) The mode of 
 collecting the gold is very curious. Horns of the wild cow {Bos sondaicus), 
 
 ■Mi 
 
 m 
 
 '■■-■Hi 
 
 ¥m 
 
 1 
 
294 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 with the hair on, are planted in the beds of the rivers to arrest the gold 
 and, when charged with the spangles, arc sold for 12 or 13 ticals 
 (l/. \2s. 6d. to 1 1. \$s.) each. 
 
 In the upper parts of the Irawadi, both at lihamo [Bamo, Bamoo, 
 Banman] and near Thingadhaw, where the coal-mines are, gold is 
 obtained in the sands. Near the coal-mines of Ket-zu-bin, which are 
 some miles due south of those of Thingadhaw, Dr. Anderson states there 
 is a small rivulet which is auriferous; he was informed that a single 
 washer could earn the equivalent of 3^. a day. A few miles nearer 
 Thingadhaw, the Ponnah creek contains gold ; but the washers are 
 described as being miserably poor : they stated that much larger quantities 
 were obtained at Shwe-gyeng, 2 days' journey northwards. Dr. Anderson 
 also records that when at Bhamo he was shown a small quantity of gold, 
 in grains as large as peas, which he was told came from a hill to the 
 north of the village of Ponline. Yule (1858) says it is brought to 
 Bhamo from the Kyen-dwen river; and (1875) that the Kakhyens 
 do not now bring gold for sale to Momein, though it is found to some 
 extent in their hills, more especially in the direction of Mogaung, whence 
 it is exported towards Assam. Marco Polo says a good deal of gold was 
 found in the province of Caugigu : great doubt exists as the locality 
 meant, but Pauthier considers Laos the most probable, and Yule agrees 
 with him. Gold is also found largely in Coloman, adjoining. The 
 Laos or Chians occupy territory contiguous to Burma and Siam, and 
 enjoy semi-independence. 
 
 Celebes. — Tavernier (1678) remarks that the " Island of Celebes or 
 Macassar produces gold also, which is drawn out of the rivers, where it 
 rowls among the sand." 
 
 According to Stavorinus (1759), it appears that Celebes contains 
 much gold, and that in the neighbourhood of Pavigi, which is situated 
 upon the Gulf or Bay of Tomini, gold is found by digging about 4 ft. 
 under the surface of the earth. 
 
 J. H. Moor (1837) indicates the auriferous wealth of Mamoodjoo in 
 Mandbar, on the west coast of Celebes. One of the principal rajah's 
 brothers told him he would within 5 days produce 10,000 bongkals 
 (17,354 oz.) of gold, 5000 of which should be in lumps of i, 2, and 3 catties 
 each, if he would in return give muskets, Palembang-made cannon, gun- 
 powder, and 5 chests of opium ; and in the course of i yr., he would engage 
 any quantity (for similar articles), in pieces of 5 to \0 catties oi %o\d,, if they 
 should be preferred to the small lumps or dust. In fact, he said, the 
 quantum of gold which he himself and his brothers could produce 
 would be equal to the payment of the largest importation of arms and 
 ammunition ; and the policy among them was to bring forward no more 
 than was absolutely necessary for such purchase. That such is their 
 
ASIA : CELEBES, CEYLON. 
 
 295 
 
 policy, Moor is almost certain ; and there is but little Hou.bt tnat large 
 quantities of the present gold could be procured, for particular parts of 
 the country abound in it. Great care is taken to keep strangers from it, 
 so these rajahs have only to shake off their slothful habits, and go with 
 their people to collect it. 
 
 According to Bickmore (1868), the most valuable export from the 
 Bay of Gorontalo (Tomini) is gold, which is found in great quantities, at 
 least over the whole northern peninsula, from the Minahassa south to 
 the isthmus of Palos. The amount exported is not known, for, though 
 the Dutch Government has a contract with the princes to deliver all the 
 gold obtained in their territory to it at a certain rate, they are offered a 
 much higher price by the Bugis, and consequently sell it to them. No 
 extensive survey has yet been made in this territory, by the mining 
 engineers employed by the Government ; the extent and richness of 
 these mines are therefore wholly matters of the most uncertain specula- 
 tion. The fact, however, that gold was irried from this region before 
 the arrival of Europeans, more than 340 years ago, and that the amount 
 now exported appears to be larger than it was then, indicates that the 
 supply must be very great. The Government has not yet granted to 
 private individuals the privilege of importing machinery and labourers, 
 and proving whether or not mining can be carried on profitably on a 
 large scale, A fragment of rock from this region was shown to Bickmore 
 at Kema, by a gentleman who said he knew where were large quan- 
 tities of it ; and that specimen certainly was very rich in the precious 
 metal. Gold is also found in the S.W. peninsula of Celebes, south of 
 Macassar. The geological age of these auriferous rocks is not known. 
 
 Ceylon. — According to Dixon (188 1), the island of Ceylon is referred 
 to by Ptolemy as containing gold ; and Solinus, a noted historian, makes 
 mention of it in his works, A.D. 238. The early inhabitants of Ceylon 
 were not ignorant of its presence. It is referred to in the Mahdwanso ; 
 while, during the founding of the Ruwanveli Ddgoba at Anurddhapura, 
 there was a sudden appearance of sprouts of gold above and below the 
 ground, and of silver in the vicinity ofAdam's Peak. It is also referred to 
 in the Singhalese works entitled Kadayim-pota, as being found in several 
 localities ; and the names of many places either have reference to its 
 occuirence or to their glistening appearance resembling gold, such as 
 Ruwanvella, Ramboda (formerly Rangboda). The Singhalese name for 
 gold is rang', for gold ore, the term amurang, signifying unripe or 
 unextracted gold ; while ratrang refers to melted gold. 
 
 In 1854, gold was found in the Mahaoya and at Nuwara Eliya, 
 and still later again at Nuwara Eliya. There is a great similarity between 
 the hill regions of Ceylon and the S.E. Wynaad district at the N.W. 
 base of the Nilgiris, which has recently become so prominent on account 
 
 
w 
 
 296 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of its auriferous reefs. As to the probable age of these districts, there is 
 uncertainty ; but there can be no doubt that the two regions are contem- 
 poraneous, consisting of granitoid schists or gncissoid rocks, that they are 
 highly metamorphosed, and that quartz reefs form a conspicuous feature. 
 
 The reefs arc often white, occasionally somewhat brecciated, and not 
 unfrequcntly bound together by hjematite or limonite. Although the 
 strike of the rock is peculiar in the Nilgiris to E.N.E., yet the auriferous 
 reefs run N.N.W., corresponding with the gneiss a little further to the 
 N. The general run of the rocks here is N. to N.W. As on the 
 Wynaad, there is an absence of intrusive rock — no dykes, porphyritic 
 masses, nor basalts. It has been observed that the auriferous belts are 
 richest where micaceous and chloritic rocks occur. Strange to say, in 
 the cuttings of the railway into the hill ^Hstrict, and the various cuttings 
 on the public roads, no prominent reefs have been crossed. Probably 
 one or more may be met with on the extension of the railway from 
 Nawalapitiya to Nanu-oya. In several parts, the country is traversed 
 by large persistent reefs of quartz, with numerous narrow seams and 
 veins diverging from them, and often traceable into decomposed litho- 
 margic earth. Some good examples of these are to be found in the 
 Balangoda, Pusselldwa, Ramboda, and Dolosbdge districts. The cha- 
 racter of the vegetation in prospecting for gold is of great assistance in 
 Australia, where each formation is characterized by distinct forms of 
 vegetation ; but in Ceylon there is no such guidance, as the mountainous 
 zone is but one formation. 
 
 As scattered grains or nuggets, Dixon met with gold in the alluvlunr 
 of the Deduru-oya beyond Kurunegala. The particles were ex- 
 ceedingly small, and other metallic matters were not uncommon. This 
 must have come from some quartz reefs farther up the hills. Its occur- 
 rence in this river is referred to in the Kadayim-pota. A second instance 
 of its occurrence in this form was in the Galle district, where a small 
 nugget was taken from the alluvium accumulated in one of the ravines ; 
 it weighed over 6 gr., and was associated with fragments of gems, such 
 as sapphire, garnet, chrysoberyl, tourmaline, zircon, as well as of sul- 
 phides of some rare metals, due to disintegration of the matrix in which 
 they occurred originally. Dixon followed up the ravine to its head, 
 with the expectation 01' finding a quartz reef from which the gold must 
 have been dislodged. He found two small reefs crossing it, and specimens 
 from these gave traces of gold, but not in sufficient quantity to warrant 
 its being worked. He had further specimens from this reef of a much 
 better character. 
 
 In grains and leaves as free gold, from quartz, it occurs in the 
 Ramboda district, Central Province, where several remarkable reefs 
 strike across the valleys. In one of Dixon's tours, he gathered numerous 
 specimens of quartz of various hues, chloritic and micaceous rocks. On 
 
ASIA : CHINA. 
 
 297 
 
 breaking them up and examining, he found in the quartz traces of gold, 
 but is unable to give the precise locality. It occurs in the pyrites of the 
 gem-pits in the Ratnapura-Rakwana districts, but only in very small 
 quantity. From the little Dixon saw, it is his opinion that considerable 
 quantities will yet be brought to light. 
 
 It is elsewhere stated that the richest specimen of gold-bearing 
 quartz yet discovered in Ceylon was on the Theberton estate, in the 
 Maskeliya district, where arc frequent outcrops of quartz reefs, and where 
 gold has been washed since time immemorial. 
 
 Sir J. Emerson Tenncnt (i860) says that gold is found in minute 
 particles at Gettyhedra, and in the bed of the Maha-oya and other 
 rivers flowing towards the west. Ruanwelle, a fort about 40 miles distant 
 from Colombo, derives its name from the sands of the river which flows 
 below it {rang-ivelle = " golden sand "). Rang-galle, in the central 
 province, is referable to the same root — " the rock of gold." But the 
 quantity hitherto discovered has been too small to reward the search. 
 The early inhabitants of the island were not ignorant of its presence. 
 
 China. — Pumpelly (1867) gives the following table of gold-washings 
 and -mines in China : — 
 
 i-M 
 
 W: 
 
 
 
 Table of 
 
 GOI.D-WASIUNC.S AND 
 
 -Mines in China. 
 
 Province. 
 
 Department. 
 Shun-tien-foo 
 
 District. 
 
 Place and Circumstance of Occurrence. 
 
 Chi-li.. .. 
 
 Mi-yun-hien .. 
 
 Gold-mine % It* E. of city. 
 
 
 (Peking) 
 
 
 
 
 Yung-ping-foo . . 
 
 Tsien-ngan-hie:i . . 
 
 Gold-washings in the Kae-ho river. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Lu-lung-hien .. 
 
 (!)n Mount Tsoo. 
 
 Shcn-si 
 
 Si-ngan-foo.. 
 
 Lin-tung-hien . . 
 
 On Le mountain, 2 le W. of the city. 
 
 
 Shang-chow 
 
 Lo-ngan-hien .. 
 
 Coarse wash-gold at liwang-lung-shan, 
 80 le N.E. of city, and rich washings at 
 Yang-hwa-shan. 
 
 
 Han-chung-foo . . 
 
 Si-heang-hien . . 
 
 Gold. 
 
 
 Hin-ngan-foo 
 
 Han-ying-ting 
 
 Coarse gold in the Han river. 
 
 Kan-suh .. 
 
 Lan-chow-foo . . 
 
 
 Coarse wash-gold. 
 
 
 Kung-chang-foo . . 
 
 Min-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 Keae-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 Wiln-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Si-ning-foo .. 
 
 Si-ning-hien .. 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Suh-chow .. 
 
 
 Gold 70 le W. of the city at Tung-ting-shan, 
 
 
 Chinsi (Barkaoul) 
 
 
 ,, to le E. at Kin-shan. 
 
 Shan-tung . . 
 
 E-chaou-foo 
 
 Lan-shan-hien 
 
 Gold and silver mine 90 le S.W. at Paou- 
 shan, and gold 60 le N. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Kii-chow 
 
 Gold 100 le N. at Chi-paou-shan. 
 
 
 Tsing-chaou-foo . . 
 
 Lin-ku-hien . . 
 
 Gold-sand 60 le S.W. at Sung-shan. 
 
 
 Tung-chaou-foo .. 
 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Hu-pih 
 
 Hwang-chaou-foo 
 
 Hwang-kang-tien .. 
 
 Wash-gold 140 le N. at Tang-king-shan. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Ilwang-ngan .. 
 
 Gold E. at Tsang-kia-shan. 
 
 
 King-chaou-foo .. 
 
 
 Gold. 
 
 
 Shi-nan-foo.. 
 
 Kien-che-hien 
 
 Coarse wash-gold 15 le W. at Shi-jou-shan. 
 
 Sze-chuen .. 
 
 Ching-tu-foo 
 
 Kien-chow 
 
 Ooarse wash-gold. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Wang-kiang-hien .. 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 Tsung-king-hien .. 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 
 Pang-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 E- m 
 
 * 1 le = 486'i76 yd., or 444*4»3 metres. 
 
298 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Table of Gold-washings and -Mines in China. — continued. 
 
 i 
 
 :| 
 
 Province. 
 
 Department. 
 
 District. 
 
 Place and Circumstance of Occurrence. 
 
 Sze-chuen 
 
 Micw-cliow.. 
 
 
 Coarse wash-gold. 
 
 coiitd. 
 
 Do 
 
 Ngan-hien 
 
 Nugget-gold N.E. at Kin-shan. 
 
 
 Ning-yuen-foo . . 
 
 Yen-yuen-hien 
 
 Gold 30 /("W. at Ho-kin-ho-shan, and very 
 coarse gold 150 U N.W. 
 
 
 Paou-ning-foo .. 
 
 Kw'\ng-yuen-hien .. 
 
 Coarse wash-gold. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Pa-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Kien-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Chung-king-foo .. 
 
 Yung-tsang-hien . . 
 
 Gold-washings. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Iloh-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Fuh-chow 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Yu-yang-chow .. 
 
 Pang-shwuy-hien . . 
 
 Coarse wash-gold. 
 
 
 Chung-chow . 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Kwei-chaou-foo .. 
 
 Wan-hien 
 
 Do. 30 /- S. 
 
 
 Sin-ting-foo 
 
 Ta-tsoh-hien .. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 
 Lung-ngan-foo .. 
 
 Ping-woo-hien 
 
 Coarse wash-gold. 
 
 
 Mei-chow ,. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Lu-chow 
 
 
 Do. in the Tsing-kiang river. 
 
 
 Ya-chow 
 
 
 Do. in the Pih-kia-shui river. 
 
 
 Maou-chow . . 
 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Che-kiang . . 
 
 Ning-po-foo 
 
 
 Gold at Kih-vii-shan. 
 
 
 Yen-c low-foo . 
 
 In all the district . . 
 
 Wash for gold. 
 
 
 Choo-chow-foo .. 
 
 Lung-tseuen-hien . . 
 
 Light-coloured gold. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Sung-yang-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 Fuh-kien .. 
 
 F'oo-chow-foo . . 
 
 
 Coarse gold. 
 
 
 Formosa 
 
 Fung-shan-hien 
 
 Gold E. at Kin-shan. 
 
 Kiang-si . . 
 
 Nan-chang-fbo . . 
 
 Fung-sin-hien 
 
 Gold-sand. 
 
 
 Jaou-chow-foo .. 
 
 Po-yang-hien .. 
 
 Gold at Hwang-king-tsih. 
 
 
 Fu-chow- foe 
 
 Ling-tse-hien ., 
 
 Gold 40 le W. 
 
 
 Kan-chow-foo .. 
 
 Shin-kin-hien.. 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Kwang-tung 
 
 8haou-chow-foo ., 
 
 Ying-tt h-hien . . 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 H wuy-chow-foo . . 
 
 Ho-yuen-hien , 
 
 Do. at Lan-tien-ta. 
 
 
 Shaou-king-foo .. 
 
 Kae-kien-hien 
 
 Di. Kin-tsung. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Kwang-ning-hien .. 
 
 Do Kin-kung. 
 
 Hoc-nan . . 
 
 Chang-sha-foo .. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Hang-chow-foo ., 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Yuen-chow-foo .. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Chang-teh-fo3 . . 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Chin-chow .. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Tsing-chow 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Yo-chow-foo 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Kwang-si .. 
 
 Liu-chow-foo 
 
 Yung-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Lae-ping-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Sze-ni;an-foo 
 
 Pin-:-how 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Tsien-kiang-hien . . 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Shang-ling-hien 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Ping-lO-foo .. 
 
 Ping-lo-hien . . 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Woo-chaou-foo .. 
 
 Hwae-t:iih-hien 
 
 Wash-gold in river at Kin-ngoh-shan, 
 70 le W. 
 
 
 Sin-chaou-foo 
 
 Kwei-hion 
 
 Gold. 
 
 
 Nan-ning-foo 
 
 Hwang-chow .. 
 
 Gold-mines. 
 
 Kwei-chow 
 
 Tung-jen-foo 
 
 
 Gold-sand washings 100 le W. in the Sung- 
 che river, and 140 le W. in the Ti-chi 
 river. 
 
 
 Tsun-e-foo .. 
 
 Tung-tsz-hien . . 
 
 Gold. 
 
 Yun-nan ., 
 
 Tsuh-hiung-foo .. 
 
 Yaou-chow 
 
 Coarse gold in the upper Ta-yaou river. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 Tsuh-hiung-hien .. 
 
 Gold in the Yen-shan mount. 
 
 
 Li-kiang-foo 
 
 
 Gold washed in many places in the Kin- 
 sha-kiang for a distance of 500 le. 
 
 
 Yung-chani foo . . 
 
 
 Gold-mines in the Chang-pan-shan. 
 
 
 Do. 
 
 
 Gold-washings in the Lant-:;an river. 
 
 
 Tung-chu'^n-foo .. 
 
 
 ,, in the Kin-sha-kiang. 
 
 
 Yuiig-pih-ting . . 
 
 
 Gold. 
 
 
ASIA : CHINA. 
 
 299 
 
 According to Murray and Crawford (1836), gold is collected in the 
 sands of the rivers in Yunnan and Sze-chuen [Se-tchuen, &c.], and 
 copious mines of it are said to exist in these provinces, and in Hoonan 
 [Hou-kwang]. Williams (1848) adds that it comes especially from the 
 upper branch of the Yangtsz-kiang, called Kinsha-kiang (" golden sanded 
 river ") from this product. 
 
 The largest amount is said by Davis to come from Likiang-fu, near 
 that river, and from Vungchang-fu on the borders of Burma. 
 
 Barton (1862) noticed along the shingly flats and islands in the Yangtsz- 
 kiang above Kweichow, that the natives were washing for gold ; and at 
 one part the river is called the "golden reach." Abon*- 2 miles below Wan 
 is one of these extensive flats, which was marked out by the Government 
 into lots, and let out to the washers, who were in great numbers. 
 
 Blakiston (1862) came to one of these shingle beds a few miles above 
 Siau-kiang, in the same river, where a number of people were at work 
 turning up t ' sand and stones, and washing it in rockers. From tills 
 point upwards, for a considerable distance above Wan, he often came on 
 large parties of people similarly occupied. Five men are employed at 
 each rocker; the labour of digging and carrying the gravel being 
 divided between two, another carries water to a trough alongside of the 
 one who rocks and washes, and the remaining man collects the washed 
 sand and removes the shingle. The cradle or rocker is simply a shallow 
 wicker basket resting on a frame, which has a joint, and allows of an 
 oscillating motion to and from the washer, who, as each man arrives 
 from the digging — which is usually but 4 or 5 yd. distant, and deposits 
 his load in the cradle, pours water on it, then rocks away, pours more 
 water, and rocks again, until all the sandy particles are washed from the 
 shingle, which is thrown away. The sand and the gold it contains, 
 which by the way is in extremely small particles, run down a wooden 
 inclined plane. The gold is subsequently smelted out ; but the yield is 
 so small that only the very lowest coolies care to work at this laborious 
 - employment. The number of people employed during the low-water 
 season at this work must be consicLiable. The Chinese believe that 
 the " dust " is washed from the mountains of Thibet ; and the Yangisz- 
 kiang above is known as the Kinsha-kiang [" river of gold sand "], while 
 at its junction with the waters from Tnng-ting Lake, mu h lower down, 
 it is called the Kin-ho [" gold river "]. 
 
 After leaving Chung-king, he roticed many places where the shingle 
 beds had been washed for gold ; and a friend discovered in the British 
 Museum a record that a M. Fage, a missionary, mentions that 3 days 
 after leaving the Kinsha-kiang, he came on the " Lou-tsze " Kiang, 
 which discharges itself into the sea to the S.W., on the banks of which 
 he found numerous gold-washings. 
 
 m 
 
300 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Williamson (1867) says :hat gold is found in the sands of almost all 
 the streams in the eastern portion of Shantung ; it is found in all 
 the rivulets around Hai-yang. The following places are very noted. 
 Kiendien, 70 le (about 20 miles) S.E. from Lai-chow, in 37° 12' N. and 
 120° E., and 95 le (about 27 miles) N.E. of Ping-tu ; the quartz here 
 is very rich, as well as the sand from it. Williamson was told that a 
 tea-cup full of ground quartz would sometimes yield 2 oz. of gold, and 
 that 100 catties (133^ lb.) of sand was worth about 1000 cash (5^. \od?) ; 
 he was also informed that a man from Shen-si with 300 followers, many 
 years ago, cleared in 2 months 50,000 oz., after paying all expenses. 
 Another place is Ku-hien, about 18 miles W. by S. from Chefoo. Gold 
 is procured in the streams which flow from the Lau-sze-shan. He 
 passed several old gold-washings on the banks of the river which 
 flows past the town. A third place is Kow-tew, near Ning-hai, 60 le 
 (16^ miles) S.E. of Chefoo. He was told that the gold-washers in the 
 district of Tsi-hya made an average of a dollar a day in 1866. 
 
 Cooper (1870) says the natives collect gold, both by washing the 
 sands of the Lantsau-kiang, and by mining in the hill-sides. 
 
 Markham (1870) observes that in the streams and gorges of the 
 Tsi-hya valley, near the seaport of Chefoo, Shantung, after heavy rains, 
 gold is found in considerable quantities, and finds a ready market in Lai- 
 yang. The Chinese are allowed to wash for gold, but are restricted 
 from digging, or mining in any way ; from the quantity obtained from 
 these washings, it is presumable that the precious metal abounds in the 
 province. He saw large nuggets which had been picked up. 
 
 Cooper (1871) alludes to the Mooquor chief showing one of his gold- 
 mines. A number of people were hard at work : some bringing the 
 auriferous earth from the horizontal shafts in the side of the hills ; 
 others washing it in long troughs, made of hollowed trees, into which 
 a constant supply of water flowed from a little stream. The gold- 
 mines, the chief informed Cooper, were very rich ; indeed, " the country 
 lying between Atenze and Weisee may be called the gold-field of 
 China." 
 
 Col. Yule (1875) refers to Martini's .statement as to the large 
 quantities of gold derived from the Kinsha-kiang, which he identifies 
 with the river Brius of Marco Polo. This latter asserts that in Carajan 
 [Yunnan] " gold-dust is found in great quantities ; that is to say, in the 
 rivers and lakes, whilst in the mountains gold is also found in pieces of 
 larger size. Gold is indeed so abundant that they give i saggio of gold 
 for only 6 of the same weight in silver." Martini says that abundance 
 of gold in Yunnan is proverbial in China, so that if a man lives very 
 extravagantly, they ask if his father is governor of Yunnan. 
 
 Consul Adkins (1877), at Newchwang, gives an account of the valley 
 
ASIA : CHINA. 
 
 301 
 
 of Chia-t'i-kou, some 30 miles long, in which there are rich diggings about 
 5 or 6 days' journey E. by S. from Kirin and Newchwang. The veins of 
 quartz in the hill-sides are verj numerous. The quartz, when dr j, is 
 roasted, then crushed, and then washed on a cradle or "slip"; and so 
 rude and imperfect is the operation that it usually pays to wash the 
 quartz 2 or 3 times. The quantity of gold found in a ton of quartz 
 varies ; but a Chinese miner, who showed the consul a slab of quartz 
 brought from these diggings, assured him that less than $230 (47/. 18s. 4^.) 
 worth of gold per ton is considered a poor yield. The miners in this 
 locality are said to be a lawless set, and to have a very peculiar social 
 organization. A man named the Han pays an annual tribute of 20,000 
 tae/s (5833/.) to the Chinese Government, and governs absolutely within 
 the limits of his concession ; and no official writ runs there without his 
 permission. He has an armed following, and a number of miners and 
 workmen are in his pay. Those who are not in his employ pay a royalty 
 for permission to mine. The community under his rule is said to num- 
 ber about 1000, and is principally Chinese ; but a number of Coreans 
 have recently found their way into the territory, and are working with 
 considerable success. 
 
 Capt. Gill (1880) noticed a couple of men washing for gold in the river 
 bed about 5 miles below Shui-ching-p'u ; and again in the bed of a 
 stream about 600 ft. below Mount Tang-go-la. The washers sometimes 
 g^t f-^-Q or "il^ tae/ per day only, sometimes ^^ to f^ per day, and now 
 and then a large nugget. He was told that the gold w .j not in the fine 
 particles in which it is found in the Chin-sha, but in nuggets. This 
 place is called Zu-gunda. 
 
 Consul Baber (1882) noticed that gold was wa.shcd above Lu-ting 
 bridge, in the manner describe )y Capt. Blakiston on the Upper 
 Yangtsz-kiang. It is also found .u i^uggets, occasionally of lar;_ ' ze, 
 in the border country. At the turn where the highway to Ta-chien-lu 
 leaves the T'ung, i. e. at Wa-ssu-kou, gold burings driven into the rock 
 may be seen on the further bank He could not approach the place ; 
 but the gold was offered him for sale in the shape of pills of clay full of 
 minute scales of the precious metal. Quite lately, gold has been dis- 
 covered close to Ta-chien-lu, and the rush of diggers his caused a good 
 deal of embarrassment to the authorities. North of \Va-ssu-kou, the 
 T'ung is called Chin-ch'uan [" gold stream "] a term which is also applied 
 to the district which it drains. It is unknown to European^ Alluding 
 to the river which Marco Polo calls Brius, Baber identn it with the 
 " Upper Yangtzu [Yangtsz-kiang] ; its local name is Chin-ho [" gold 
 river "] ; the name " Chin-sha-chiang [" golden sand river "] should in 
 strictness be confined to the Thibetan course of the stream." 
 
 This section may be concluded with the following valuable remarks 
 
 H 
 
 ■ '31 s 
 
 6 if J 
 
 sV,' 
 
 m 
 
302 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 
 by Henry F. Holt, the learned Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society, 
 who was so good as to prepare them specially for the present work : — 
 
 " HENRY F. HOLT'S NOTES ON GOLD IN CHINA. 
 
 " At Burga Bulak-tae, on the western confines of Uroumtsi (Chinese Tieh-hwa) 
 there is an abyss about 13^ geographical miles in circumference, covered with hot 
 ashes, and a crust of sulphur and salt. So pestiferous are its exhalations that not a 
 bird can fly over it, nor any human being or animal approach it with impunity. Not 
 far from this place are the celebrated productive mountains that yield a liiry>- quantity 
 of gold. They are situated in Suyhae district, some also in the barbarous regions of 
 Urkitla and Usoo, and are worked to a considerable extent by the natives. Over each 
 50 of them, the Government appoints a head man, who becomes responsible for the * 
 payment of 3 per cent, of the pure metal to the State. All the proceeds must be cast 
 into bars by certain shroffs, who affix their stamp to them to attest their purity. Ingots 
 that have not received this mark are liable to confiscation. To prevent smuggling, 
 Government appoints military posts near all the mines. The gold is paid into the 
 hands of inspectors, who keep a very accurate account, and forward it to the 
 capital as often as an official of high degree proceeds to Peking. The average annual 
 amount is not stated, for the bullion is paid into the Imperial Exchequer, and not 
 carried to public account. The works arc very extensive, and above 30,000 miners 
 find constant employment. 
 
 " There are other mines in the Tunhwang district. Government does not allow 
 more than 2000 men to work them, and appoints overseers to control the miners, and 
 to take care that the 3 per cent, is properly paid into the Treasury. The very minute 
 regulations regarding the mining operations here, sufficiently prove that smuggling is 
 extensively carried on, and that the number of persons actually engaged in mining 
 exceeds perhaps three times the limits officially fixed. All the proceeds of the revenue 
 are paid into the hands of the administrators of the Imperial Treasury. 
 
 " In one of the most desert parts of Shensi province, on the northern frontiers, at 
 the Hopoota and Hala mountains, much gold-dust is found. Government does not 
 interfere in this enterprise, but exacts a security from the head man of every 50 mines, 
 to pay regularly of every tael (\\ oz.) of pure gold, 23 per cent, into the public treasury, 
 and 3 per cent, additional for contingencies. Though some of ^'^ .^c exactions are 
 regularly discharged, a great part of the precious ...^^^1, wnich is obtained by uncom- 
 mon dexterity, is smuggled and privately sold. 
 
 " The celebrated Yangtsz-kiang river, which flows through Yunnan under the 
 name of the Kinsha-kiang [the river of golden sand], finds employment for hundreds 
 of thousands of natives, who wash for gold. Government, in order to levy a tax on 
 this, has divided the river into small districts, each of which pays a monthly rent of i 
 mace {jd.) in gold, and 7 taels 2 mace 6 candareois (4?". 4./) per annum as a fee. The 
 works are principally at Yangpih, a district in the north-west, inhabited by aboriginal 
 tribes, the most persevering workers of the mines under the direction of the Chinese. 
 As the exactions on the part of the Government are Ijy no means heavy, the enterprise 
 thrives and the labour is remuncrati\c. 
 
 " The mines at Ho-king (26" 32' N., 100" 22' E.), Pihya, and Pootsaou are cele- 
 brated for their productiveness. Government grants licenses to master miners, for 
 which they pay every month 2 mace 5 candareens {\s.6\d>j in gold, with an annual rent 
 of 7 taels 2 candareens {^\os. iijd.), and, during an intercalary year, 1 /ael 2 candareens 
 (5J. ii|</.) in addition. The large number of people employed here proves the 
 importance of these mines. 
 
 " In the south-west part of this province, on the frontiers of Cochin China, in the 
 district of Kalhwa, the, famous gold-niines of Ma-koo are situate ., and not far from 
 
ASIA : COREA. 
 
 303 
 
 them are those of Manso. They are entirely in the possession of hardy mountaineers, 
 who pay a trifling tax to the Chinese Government. The ore is found amongst the most 
 frightful mountains, inaccessible to every one except the natives, who, with the agiUty 
 of a chamois, ascend the highest cliffs and rarely miss their footing. 
 
 " Richer than any of the above mines are those in Kweichow province, at 
 Kingshe, within the district of Sze-nan-foo, on the frontiers of Szechuen province, a 
 region inhabited by Meaou-tze tribes. They pay 40 per cent, of the nett produce and 
 3 per cent, for fees. The gold obtained here is of the best d(. cription, but to get at it 
 great dangers have to be encountered, and the privations of the miners in their perilous 
 pursuit exceed all belief. The mountaineers are the more numerous workmen. The 
 country all around is destitute of nearly every other production, so that the people, sur- 
 rounded as they are by wealth, are extremely poor. 
 
 " Gold is found in several places in the north of China, Manchuria and Mongolia. 
 Before the rebellion in Shensi, it was obtained from the sand of the rivers and streams 
 of that province, especially in the neighbourhood of Lanchow. The Jesuit fathers tell 
 us that an infinite number of persons made their livelihood by searching the sands of 
 these rivers. Gold is also procured in considerable quantity in Mongolia, and in the 
 centre and on the seaboard of Manchuria. Samples which have been brought from 
 the neighbourhood of Poissiet very much resemble Australian gold. 
 
 " It is indeed astonishing to become aware of the universality of the knowledge of the 
 existence of gold in northern China, and of the apathy with which it appears to be 
 regarded. It is found in the sand of almost all the streams in the eastern portion of 
 Shantung province after heavy rain. It is found in the rivulets in the neighbourhood 
 of Hae-yang. But while thus widely distributed, there are several places which are 
 pre-eminently distinguished for its production. Of these may be mentioned Kiea-dien 
 70 le (20 miles) S.E. from Lae-chow, in 37° 12' N., 120° E., and 95 le (27 miles) N.E. of 
 Pingtu. Marvellous stories relating to the richness of the quartz and of the sand are 
 current among the people, which of course have to be taken ' cum grano.' It is said 
 for instance that a teacup full of ground-down quartz would sometimes yield 2 oz. of 
 gold, and that 100 catties of the sand is worth 1000 cash. It is also said that many 
 years ago a man came from Shensi province with 300 followers, and that in 2 months 
 he cleared 50,000 oz., after paying all expenses ; and so on. Twelve or thirteen years 
 ago a company of respectable men belonging to the neighbourhood made a proposal 
 to the local authorities to work the mine, but 10,000 taels (2916/.) were demanded 
 before the. necessary permission would be accorded, and this led to the abandonment 
 of the scheme. 
 
 "Another place famed as a market for gold-dust is Koohien, about 18 miles W. by 
 S. from Chefoo, in Shantung. It is procured in the streams which flow from the 
 Lansze hills. A third place deserving of mention is Kowtow, near Ninghai, 60 Ic (i6i 
 miles) S.E. of Chefoo. The gold-washers in the adjacent district of Tsc-hia make on 
 an average about $1 (4 J. 6^?'.) a day.'' 
 
 Before quitting the subject, it may be well to add that so long back 
 as 1868 the Chinese Government issued very strict enactments against 
 the admission of foreigners to work in the gold-washings and -mines, 
 ostensibly for fear of dissensions arising between them and the natives. 
 
 CoREA. — Oppert (1880) states that the natives' searching and digging 
 for precious metals is strictly forbidden, and this prohibition is so 
 rigorously kept up that transgressors are threatened with capital 
 punishment ; notwithstanding which, it cannot be altogether prevented, 
 at least in those places where gold-dust is found, which is the case in 
 nearly all the rivers of the central and southern provinces. Gold is found 
 
 li 
 
304 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 everywhere, all over the country, in quartz, and as dust in the river beds ; 
 the province of Pieng'an, nearest to China, is reported to have the richest 
 gold-mines of all. The standard of the Corean gold is a very low one, 
 however, it being of only half the fineness of Chinese gold, or barely 50 
 touch, as compared with Chinese 98 touch fine. Gold is one of the 
 principal productions in the neighbourhood of the harbour of Gensan. 
 
 India. — The subject of gold in India has been worked up with great 
 care and research by Ball, and recently published in the volume treating 
 of the economic branch of Indian geology. This will form the main 
 source of the information given in the present section, but will be supple- 
 mented to a considerable extent by facts derived from private communi- 
 cations, and by consulting some few authors whose works were 
 inaccessible to Ball, or have been published since he wrote. 
 
 General remarks. — Ball introduces the subject with some general 
 remarks which clearly show his opinion of the regenerated ancient 
 industry — the getting of gold in India ; and though his views must be 
 regarded as illustrating the pessimist view of the matter, they exhibit 
 throughout a tone of caution which is eminently appropriate to the 
 case, and deserves greater heed than has hitherto been paid to it. A 
 summary of his remarks will here suffice. 
 
 Although, he observes, the values of all mineral deposits are apt to be 
 overrated, both by the general public and by persons possessing a " little 
 knowledge " of the subject, there is perhaps not one of them with regard 
 to which more unsound and fallacious arguments are applied than to gold. 
 
 It is commonly said of countries where gold-bearing sands are found 
 that there must necessarily be some source where the gold occurs in 
 abundance. By experience, no less than by general considerations, the 
 falsity of this conclusion has been repeatedly demonstrated; but it 
 continues to be asserted to this day. 
 
 Il must be borne in mind, however, that the subaerial degradation 
 and erosion of the earth's surface by the action of the elements has been 
 going on, in the same manner as at present, for an enormously long 
 period of time. Huge valleys have thus been scooped out and vast 
 masses of materials have been carried down by streams, and it cannot be 
 denied that the sifting action of such streams would tend to concentrate 
 the heaviest particles in the nooks and crannies and to carry away the 
 lighter ones : hence the apparent abundance of gold in a virgin stream. 
 The gold may have originally occurred very sparsely disseminated 
 through an enormous mass of materials ; but, by the concentrating pro- 
 cess which has been so long in operation, nature has done the heaviest 
 part of the work, which the gold-washer completes. He soon finds out 
 that the amount of gold brought down in a single year gives him in- 
 significant returns, and, in time, an area becomes practically exhausted 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 305 
 
 as regards its alluvial gold ; though in a country like India, whore a man 
 can live for so small a sum, it is possible to derive a subsistence, such as 
 it is, from the washings of a few rivers year after year in succession. 
 
 The idea prevalent among gold-washers that, after a rest, old tailings 
 become again productive in consequence of the growth of the gold, is 
 explained by the fact that, under the influence of the atmosphere, decom- 
 position and disintegration of enveloping minerals and hard crusts take 
 place, whereby the gold is released from its concealment, and appears, 
 and may be collected in the later washings. 
 
 The ultimate derivation of most of the gold of Peninsular India is 
 doubtless from the quartz reefs, which occur traversing the metamorphic 
 and sub-metamorphic series of rocks ; but there is evidence to show that 
 in some parts of the country, gold occurs in certain chloritic schists and 
 quartzites, and possibly also in some forms of gneiss, independently of 
 quartz veins. As to the relative productiveness of the reefs in the 
 different groups or series of metamorphosed rocks, the imperfect evidence 
 which at present exists is somewhat conflicting. The truth of the matter 
 probably is that there is no rule applicable to the whole of the country. 
 What may be true in Western Bengal— namely, that in so far as the 
 amount of alluvial gold affords a safe guide, the general productiveness 
 of the sub-metamorphic to the metamorphic rocks is as 2-5 or 3 to i — is 
 not necessarily true of other areas. 
 
 The presence of gold either as an original deposit or as a detrital 
 product from the older rocks, has not as yet been proved in any member of 
 the great Vindhyan format'on. But in the next succeeding formation, 
 several of the groups included in the Gondwana system are believed to 
 contain detrital gold ; of these, the evidence seems clearest in the case of 
 the Talchir. It is almost certain, however, that the gold obtained in the 
 Godavari and in its tributary near Godalore or Mungapet is derived 
 from rocks of Kamthi age ; and the gold of the Ouli river in Talchir in 
 Orissa is derived from sandstones, but whether from those of the Barakar 
 or the Kamthi groups is not certainly known, as both occur in the river 
 section. It is of course natural that the sedimentary rocks which first 
 filled the previously existing hollows and basins should contain gold, as 
 well as the other materials derived from the degradation of the older 
 metamorphic rocks ; but gold is also probably present, though its 
 existence has not yet been proved, in some of the still younger groups. 
 
 In so far as Peninsular India is concerned, the only other sources of 
 gold are the recent and sub-recent deposits which rest on the meta- 
 morphic and sub-metamorphic rocks. Passing to the extra-peninsular 
 regions, evidences of the existence of gold in rocks of several different 
 periods are met with. In Ladak, certain quartz reefs which traverse 
 rocks of the Carboniferous period are almost certain to be gold-bearing, 
 
 X 
 
3o6 
 
 GEOGRArmCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 as particular streams which rise within their limits contain auriferous 
 sands. In Kandahar (see p. 270), gold occurs in rocks of Cretaceous age ; 
 here the deposit is an original one, and is connected with the intrusion of 
 trap. Lastly, all along the foot of the Himalayas, from west to east, 
 from Afghanistan to the frontiers of Assam and Burma, the Tertiary 
 rocks which flank the bases of the hills, and which occur also in the Salt- 
 range and in Assam, south of the Brahmaputra, are more or less 
 auriferous. But this gold is all detrital, and was no doubt, in the first 
 instance, derived from the crystalline metamorphic rocks of the higher 
 ranges, which are otherwise known to contain gold. Although it is not 
 inconceivable that exceptionally rich leads might occur in some places 
 among the Siwalik sandstones, the project to search these rocks for 
 productive reefs, of which something has been heard from time to 
 time, could never have emanated from any one possessing the slightest 
 knowledge of the nature of these deposits. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting general account of the gold-mines of 
 Southern India is that given by Mervyn Smyth. Alluding to the 
 extent of the auriferous region of the Wynaad, he quotes Brough Smyth 
 that " gold has been found in the south, near Eddacurra ; on the 
 north, near Nellacottah ; on the west, near Vyteri ; and on the east, 
 as far as Bolingbroke, that is to say, over an area of more than 500 
 square miles." Of this area, native workings have been confined to 
 Devala and its vicinity, a mere fraction of the country indicated ; and 
 even here the mines are of no magnitude, the deepest shaft being 70 ft. 
 and the longest adit 126 ft. ; and yet it is from such workings as these, 
 within these narrow limits, we are asked to believe that such enormous 
 quantities of gold as the following were obtained: — B.C. lOOO: gold 
 brought to Solomon by way of the Red Sea — 3,330,000 lb. ; A.D. 1294 : 
 ransom paid to Alau'a din, general of Jalalu'a din Khilgy, Emperor of 
 Delhi, by the Rajah of Deoghar — 17,500 lb. of gold ; A.D. 1310 : part of 
 spoil of Devara Samuda (Halebid, Mysore) presented by Malik Kafur, 
 to the Emperor of Delhi — 2,400,000 lb. of gold ; A.D. 1309 : accumula- 
 tions of Kales Dewar, Rajah of Mabar — 1200 crores of gold =1200 
 millions sterling, or 90,800,000 lb. of gold. That India may have pro- 
 duced this enormous quantity of gold is not improbable ; but what we 
 may well doubt is that all this wealth could have been derived from the 
 Wynaad. Another point which goes to prove that the Wynaad could 
 not have been the locality from which all this gold was obtained, is the 
 singular absence of ruins of cities, temples, &c., and the presence of 
 primaeval forests of vast extent. One would imagine that where such 
 immense w'ealth came from there would be indications of its influence, in 
 the shape of great cities, temples, tanks, cultivation, and other signs of 
 civilization. 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 5^7 
 
 The question that suggests itself is, if we are not to look to the 
 Wynaad as the spot from whence this large quantity of gold was 
 derived, where else arc we to look ? It is thought that all the necessary 
 requirements are satisfied in an examination of the country forming a 
 great triangle, whose sides may be indicated by the Eastern Ghauts, the 
 river Kistna, and the Western Ghauts, and this country was known as 
 Mysore at the death of Hyder AH in A.D. 1782 — a region whose geo- 
 logical aspect is similar to that of the gold-bearing regions of America 
 and Australia. Eastwick, in an article in the Gentler,.atis Magazine for 
 January 1880, mentions as one of the facts illustrative of the abundance 
 of gold in Southern India, part of the spoil of Dwarasamudra, amounting 
 to 2,400,000 lb., presented to the Emperor of Delhi, by Kafur, his suc- 
 cessful general. The ruins of the city are to be seen in the vicinity of 
 Halebid, in the Hassan district, Mysore. It is said to have been 
 destroyed shortly after its capture by Kafur, by another of the ruthless 
 Mahomedan invaders. The splendid temples still in existence speak of 
 the great wealth of this place. Of the wealth derived from India by 
 Solomon, it will be sufficient to say that many of the incidents re- 
 counted in the Ramayana, B.C. 1 300, show that Mysore was at that time 
 in a flourishing state. Among great cities of more recent date may be 
 mentioned Ikkeri, Shemoga district (a.d. 1640), where gold pagodas and 
 fanams were coined, many of which are still to be seen in the Mysore 
 country ; Bednur, or Nagur, at the capture of which place Hyder was 
 said to have obtained 12 millions sterling. Here he established a mint, 
 where gold coins — Haidari pagodas — were struck in his name. Vija- 
 yana^ar (A.D. 1 565) is identified with Hampe in the Bellary district. 
 
 Abdul Razzak, who visited it in 1 441 as ambassador from the Court 
 of Persia, speaking of its wealth, says — " In the King's treasury are 
 chambers with excavations in them filled with molten gold, forming one 
 mass. All the inhabitants of the country, whether high or low, even 
 down to the artificers in the bazaar, wear jewels and gilt ornaments in 
 their ears and around their necks, arms, waists, and fingers." It will be 
 presently shown that all these cities were situated in or near districts 
 known to be auriferous in the present day, and where may be seen ruins 
 of mines of great extent. Of the N. and S. Ponaar {pon — gold, aar — 
 river), it will be sufficient to mention the villages of NuUoor and Coon- 
 door, on the former, and Utchalam and Poonpillay in the Salem district, 
 on the latter, where gold-washing is carried on to the present day. 
 
 On the western coast, gold is found in the Gungavelly and Gairsoppa 
 rivers, N. Kanara, and in the Beypur river, in Malabar. The auriferous 
 reefs and old workings of the Wynaad have been reported on by Brough 
 Smyth, while those of Kolar have had more than justice done them 
 by such men as Munday, John Harris, and Vazie Simons, who have 
 
 X 2 
 
 m 
 
 
 '' -'I 
 
3o8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 examined them on behalf of different companies. But it is not to these 
 
 localities alone that auriferous reefs arc confined : scattered all over the 
 
 whole area are gold-bearing reefs and old mines, some of the latter of 
 
 far greater extent than any to be found in the Wynaad or Kolar ; and 
 
 it is believed that no spot within the boundaries mentioned can be 
 
 indicated, which is more than 50 miles from the nearest ancient working. 
 
 Immediately south of Kolar is Baramahal, in the Madras Presidency, 
 
 wrested from Tippoo in 1792. The greater portion of this district is 
 
 made up of low hills, 1500 to 4000 ft. high. In the northern part of this 
 
 district are the jaghires of Bagalur, Beriki, Sholagherry, and Kangundi, 
 
 the mining rights of which have been purchased by several companies. 
 
 About 10 miles west of the Coopum Railway Station is a singular 
 
 loc "ng conical hill, rising about 600 ft. above the surrounding country, 
 
 anu about 200 ft. above the remainder of the ridge, which runs north and 
 
 south for about 15 miles. The top of this peak terminates in a boss, 
 
 which overhangs on its south-west side and gives it a conspicuous 
 
 appearance, so that it can be recognized from miles off. This hill is 
 
 known as Mallapakondah, and is situated in the Kangundi jaghire, 
 
 Salem district. Half-way up this hill, and on its southern face, is the 
 
 entrance of an adit driven into the heart of the hill. It would appear 
 
 that there were originally several of these drives at different levels, and 
 
 the topmost is now filled in with the sinking of the roof, which can be 
 
 traced for lOO yd. or so on the surface of the hill. The lower levels are 
 
 still open, but obstructed here and there with great blocks of quartz and 
 
 casing ; with a little trouble and some inconvenience from the crowd of 
 
 bats that come trooping out at this unusual intrusion, one can penetrate 
 
 about 50 yd. The mine is called by the natives Gowd-shanie, and the 
 
 inhabitants of the village of Purtheguttay, near the foot of the hill, are 
 
 quite willing to lead the traveller to the mine, but they know nothing of 
 
 its construction, or that gold can be obtained from it, A well-made 
 
 road about 4 ft. wide, and paved the whole way (ij mile) with large 
 
 stones, leads to the mouth of the mine, and testifies to its wealth, as it 
 
 must have paid well to have allowed of so expensive a pathway being 
 
 constructed. 
 
 The quartz is highly ferruginous and dark^oloured, dense in the centre, 
 and cavernous where it joins the casing ; the latter is a kind of vitrified 
 slate. The principal reef is about 10 ft, wide, and on either side are 
 smaller reefs, from 2 ft. to 2 in. Sulphate of iron is apparent in some 
 of these, and it is not difficult to collect flowers of sulphur in small 
 quantities. No gold can be seen in the quartz by means of the naked 
 eye, but a small piece of a few ounces, crushed and washed, gives 
 innumerable grains of fine gold. It is not necessary to choose a par- 
 ticular piece of quartz ; any bit from the debris lying about may be 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 309 
 
 tested with good results. Two miles south, and on the same ridge, are 
 two other mines within J mile of each other. The more northern, called 
 Goolgunta, consists of three circular shafts sunk at the angles of a 
 triangle, whose side is 50 ft. The shafts are connected by passages at 
 about 40 ft. from surface, but it is impossible to tell their extreme depth, 
 owing to the large quantities of water in them. Great heaps of debris 
 testify to the amount of material that must have been excavated ; .^ mile 
 south-cast is the Chigarulgunta mine, the entrance to which is by means 
 of two shafts, each about 7 ft. wide, and 20 ft. long. The upper shaft is 
 about 60 ft. deep, and at one end is a narrow manhole (just large enough 
 for a small man to wriggle through), leading into the adjoining shaft, 
 which is fully 100 ft. from surface. At the bottom of the deeper shaft 
 are two adits running north-west and south-east along the strike of the 
 reef Great numbers of rock-pigeons have taken up their abode in 
 these mires, and eggs innumerable and young pigeons are seen in the 
 clefts of the rock. The great heap of excreta of these birds (not less 
 than 20 ft. in height) testifies to the age of these mines. The whole of 
 the rocks below arc coated with chloride of ammonia (sal ammoniac) 
 from the urine of the pigeons. The quartz is of a yellowish-white colour 
 and pyritous, and is extremely hard, as is the casing ; and it is wonderful 
 to think how the natives could have cut through such dense stuff with 
 their primitive appliances. One sample containing visible gold was 
 chipped off from a leader 100 ft. from surface. Two miles farther south 
 is another large mine, called Nundymoduk or Baswana. The natives 
 say that this mine is of great extent, but the water with which it is 
 nearly filled prevented its examination. The natives have a tradition 
 that when the miners from seven adjacent villages were engaged picking 
 away the quartz at the bottom of the mine, the water from the 
 neighbouring river (S. Ponaar) found its way into the mine and drowned 
 the workers, since which period it has been abandoned. There appears 
 to be some truth in this statement, as when this mine was pumped dry, 
 some three years ago, the skeletons of several human beings were found. 
 This and the two last-mentioned mines are in the Beriki jaghire. 
 
 Numerous other mines exist in this and the adjoining jaghires of 
 Sholagherry and Bagalur, and the whole country is cut up with numer- 
 ous quartz reefs, and the gold is washed in all the streams during the 
 monsoon. The whole of this country bears marks of advanced civiliza- 
 tion at an early date. At present it is a wilderness of thorny shrubs 
 with here and there small villages of from 40 to 50 houses. In the 
 immediate vicinity of the mines just mentioned are ruins of two large 
 cities — Nungungowdah and Dauerkondanec. The ruir.s of the former 
 cover several square miles, and the breached bund of aa immense tank, 
 50 ft. high, and i mile long, and pitched throughout with large stones. 
 
 r:!' 
 
 , ..^. 
 
 m 
 
3IO 
 
 GKOGUArillCAL DISTUIUUTION. 
 
 testifies to its importance. In Daucrkondance are still standing several 
 temples, built throughout of finely chiselled stone, in good preservation. 
 The elaborate and delicate carving of the cornices, the great size of the 
 blocks used, speak of the lavish use of money. Numerous inscriptions 
 in ancient Kanada line the basement of the inner temple. On the ad- 
 joining hill (Yale Kotay mulla — seven-fort hill) the remains of fortifica- 
 tions are to be seen, one above the other to the top of the hill. Within 
 the topmost line of fortification is a large cave running some distance 
 into the heart of the hill ; and within this cave, tradition has it, the mint 
 of lialla Raj was constructed. To this day, they say, when, after heavy 
 rain, water rushes from the mouth of the cave, small gold coins are 
 occasionally picked up. This locality, with its numerous antiquities, 
 affords ample materials for the archaeologist : 80 miles south from this 
 place, we come to the mines worked by Tippoo, in the Kolegal taluq, 
 Coimbatore district. These mines, as well as. those in the adjacent 
 taluq of Chamrajnuggar, Mysore territory, were filled in, it is said, by 
 Tippoo, and the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages deported, to 
 prevent intelligence of these workings reaching the ears of the English, 
 under Lord Cornwallis, who invaded My.sore from this direction. 
 
 The mines in Chamrajnuggar are of great extent and of much 
 antiquity, and it is from this region that all the gold said to be so 
 common at Munipur is supposed to have been got. Land for mining 
 purposes in Chamrajnuggar and Kolegal has been applied for by several 
 English and Indian companies. Thirty miles to the W.S.W. are the 
 Nilgiris, where are old workings of some extent at Nunjanaud, described 
 by Brough Smyth in his report on the Wynaad. Farther west is the 
 gold-field of the Wynaad and Malabar. Skirting north Wynaad is the 
 Heggadevcnkota taluq, Mysore territory, where gold is said to be 
 found in the streams. Still farther north, in the Attikuppa taluq, is the 
 gold-field of Chinnataghery, near Bellibctta. These mines are reputed 
 to have been of great wealth, but to have been worked out. The famous 
 temple of Melukote — the richest in Mysore — is saiil to have been built 
 with the wealth derived from these mines ; but at present a few washers 
 are just able to earn a precarious livelihood by sifting the sands of the 
 neighbouring streams during the monsoon. The late Maharajah of 
 Mysore made an attempt to work these fields, and employed a set of 
 native miners for abuut a month ; but as no results were obtained, the 
 attempt was abandoned. About 12 years ago, several samples were 
 sent in from this locality by Col. Hill, of the Mysore Commission, with 
 a request that they might be assayed and something be done to open 
 these mines, of which about 54 exist at BelHbetta, if the result of the 
 assay should be favourable ; but nothing seems to have been done, the 
 report was pigeon-holed, and the samples were sent to the local museum. 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 311 
 
 At present the land h.is been applied for by several T'uropean gentlemen, 
 and the truth of the report of the exhaustion of its auriferous product 
 will soon be tested. North, again, arc the ruins of the once famous 
 city of Dwarasamudra, now called Halebid (Jtale, old, leduy houses). 
 Allusion has already been made to the great wealth of this city in 
 comparatively modern times ; no less than 2,40fJ,ooc !b. of gold was paid 
 to Kafur as a ransom, and it has often been a subject of inquiry as to 
 where this vast quantity of the precious metal could have been obtained. 
 An examination of the low slate hills to the west of Halebid, and so far 
 north as Sakarapatam, will show that they are in places actually honey- 
 combed with mines, some in good preservation, others filled with debris. 
 Every stream about these hills gives a small yield of gold, showing 
 that their auriferous wealth is far from exhausted. In the adjoining 
 taluq of Harnhalli, are numerous mines and old workings ; and so 
 common was this metal during the reign of the Hoysala Ballala kings, 
 that a local tradition has it that the sculptors employed on the famous 
 Halebid temple were paid in gold equal in quantity to the dust resulting 
 from the tooling of those " marvellous elaborations of ornamental sculp- 
 ture." There may be some truth in this tradition, as even the price 
 alleged to be paid to the masons would not be too much for work that 
 has called forth the following eulogium : — " Some of these are carved 
 (on stone) with a minute elaboration of detail which can only be repro- 
 duced by photography, and may probably be considered as one of the 
 most marvellous exhibitions of human labour to be found, even in the 
 patient East." — (Fcrgusson's Architecture, p. 397.) These temples are 
 computed to have cost 9,000,000/. sterling. About 70 miles due west 
 from Halebid, and in the South Kanara district, arc the celebrated 
 diggings of Moondabetta, 7 miles south of Mudu Badari. Here, too, 
 European enterprise has stepped in, and after one or two failures is now 
 in a fair way of success. North-east fiom this are the Honnali fields in 
 the Shemoga district. The richness of these fields may be judged from 
 the following official communication from W. Hill, Deputy Commissioner 
 of the Shemoga district, to the Commissioner of the Nagur division, dated 
 respectively Nov. 16 and Dec. 16, 1878: — "The only place in the 
 district where gold is to be found is a nulla near the village of Pulvan- 
 hulle in the Chattanhulle margin of the Honnali taluq. It appears 
 that gold-dust was formerly obtained by washing the sand of the nulla. 
 The right to do so used to be farmed out under the head Julgar^ 
 but this item of revenue was abolished in 1870. Vide Isthiar, dated 
 Sept. 28, i860, the amount of contract realized was — 1857-58, 357 rs. 8 a. ; 
 1858-59, 264 rs. Since then, 2 to 4 rs. weight is brought weekly to the 
 market at Nyamti for sale by the Julgars (sifters)." " Since writing my 
 letter, No. 763, of the i6th ult., on the gold washed out from the sand, 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 . rtj 
 
 
 i'J 
 
 Kl 
 
 
 ?u 
 
 '>"! 
 
3^ 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 
 or rather alluvium, of the PulvanhuUe stream, 3 miles south of 
 Nyamti, I ' ave the honour to report that I have been able to visit the 
 spot and gather the following further particulars : — (2.) The nviniber 
 of men who gain a livelihood by washing the gold is about 20. Their 
 number was formerly greater, but several have been attracted during the 
 last 10 years to a hill called Bijari Gudda, near Karkal in South Kanara, 
 where the finds are said to be greater and the work more remunerative. 
 Work is carried on in the PulvanhuUe mostly in the rainy months, and 
 regular workers are said to be able to earn as much as Rs. 50 (5/.) in the 
 
 season. Once and again small nuggets are met with. The largest 
 
 found was about 10 years ago — I oz. 14 dwt. 6 gr. in weight ; another 
 more recently of i oz. 5 dwt. 17 gr. ; and a third, accidentally to an 
 outsider, of i oz. i dwt. 10 gr. in weight. The quantity of gold bought 
 annually in Nyamti and the neighbourhood is said by the traders to be 
 I lb. II oz. in weight, of the value of Rs. 800 (80/.). I beg to forward a 
 imiall specimen of the gold, valued at Rs. 5 (to be obligingly returned if 
 i.>ot bought for the Museu 11), also some black ferruginous sand with 
 minute particles of gold (of the value of As. --^ such as is usually found 
 by the washers. The diggings are not confined to the PulvanhuUe 
 stream, but to all the minor streams flowing from the hills in the 
 neighbourhood. One ot he best is said to be the Surhona stream, near 
 Devikopa, a little off the Kumsi Honnali road, about 3 miles north- 
 west of Nyamti, and about the same distance from PulvanhuUe. The 
 chief drawback to its being worked is the want of water. The Julgars 
 ^washers) informed me that they were well aware that gold was dug up 
 aom pits in Kanara, but they explained that it would be us .less to 
 attempt it here, as veins of gold were not found imbedded in the quartz. 
 I forward specimens of the quartz, slaty rock, gravel, and hematite 
 (ironstone) picked up by me at thj heads of the streams from which the 
 gold is washed down. They may be of assistance in enabling Brough 
 Smyth, with the foregoing information, to judge; whether it would be 
 worth while to take the trouble of inspecting the locality. Evidently 
 the prospect.T ot finding richer veins in South Kanara are greater. " 
 
 It is a noticeable fact in Indian policy that where a handicraft has been 
 confined . 1 a family, or set of families, for a lengthened period, the 
 people who practise the calling arc identifi ■\ with it, and it becomes a 
 caste distinction, a? iiuch as the wrll-known four great divisions of 
 Brahmin, Kchetria, Veishya, and Sudra. The goldsinith is as much 
 distinguished from the woav^r .is the Veishya from the Sudra, while the 
 barber and sh(.em-''l:v.f nave but little in general beside their humanity. 
 N. w, in l!' sore, is the well-known caste of Julgars (gold-washers), not 
 very numerous at present, perhaps, yet well known to the commonest 
 r}ot, thus showhig how general the calling must have been at one time. 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 3'3 
 
 They are found to be in some numbers in the vicinity of known auriferous 
 localities throughout Mysore, and their presence is, in a measure, indica- 
 tive of the richness of the reefs there found. One other fact which goes 
 far to prove that gold was commonly found in the country is to be seen 
 in the geographical nomenclature of the province. Scattered all over 
 this area arc rivers, hills, towns, villages, and even whole districts, whose 
 names are made up of a prefix, meaning gold, and a distinguishing 
 terminal. It is not to be expected that so important a mineral as gold 
 would have escaped the attention of the various races who have at 
 different periods conquered the country, and that it did not may be 
 learned trom the fact that there are Sanskrit, Tamil, and Kanada expres- 
 sions, meaning gold, to designate places from whence this mineral was 
 obtained. Thus the Sanskrit for gold is suvarna and hemma. So there 
 arc the rivers Suvarna-mukhi ("gold-face") in the Kolar district, and 
 Suvarna-vati ("gold-feature") in Chamraj nuggar, and the village of 
 Suvarna in the Honnali taluq, Shemoga ; Hemavati, a tributary of the 
 Cavery, and Hemagiri (" gold hill "), a large bund across this river in the 
 Narsipur taluq. In Kanada, gold is honna anJ ^J„l,^,..- and we have 
 Honnu-Hole, Honnali, Honnavalli, Honni Kambli, Bhatta Honavar, and 
 Chinnagherri. In Tamil, we have Ponaar, Yowoox—pon being Tamil for 
 gold. 
 
 The early classical writers all have references to Indian gold. 
 
 Strabo says (B. xv. c. i. § 30), " It is said that in the territory of 
 Sopeithes there is a mountain composed of fossil salt, sufficient for the 
 whole of India. Valuable mines also both of gold and silver are situated, 
 it is said, not far off among other mountains, according to the testimony 
 of Gorgus, the miner of Alexander. The Indians, unacquainted with 
 mining and smelting, are ignorant of theu" own wealth." And (B. xv. c. i. 
 § 34), " The Seres " (whose country and capital still preserve the name of 
 Serhend) " make no use of gold nor silver, although they have mines of 
 those metals." And (B. xv. c. i. § 44), "This writer" (Nearchus) "says 
 that he saw skins of the myrmeces, or ants, which dig up gold, as large as 
 the skins of leopards. Mcgasthenes, however, speaking of the myrmeces, 
 says, among the Dcrda;, a populous nation of the Indians living towards 
 the cast and among the mountains, there was a mountain plain of about 
 3000 studia in circumference; that below this plain were mines containing 
 gold, which the myrmeces, in size not less than foxes, dig up. They are 
 exrossively fleet, and subsist on what they catch. In winter they dig 
 J-.oles, and pile up the earth in heaps, like moles, at the mouth of the 
 openings. . . . The gold-dust which they obtain requires little preparation 
 by fire. The neighbouring people go after it by stealth, with beasts of 
 burden ; for if it is done openly, the myrmeces fight furiously, pursuing 
 those that run away, and if they seize them, kill them and the beasts. 
 
 % '^m 
 
314 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 In order to prevent discovery, they place in various parts pieces of the 
 flesh of wild beasts, and when the myrmeces are dispersed in various 
 directions, they take away the gold-dust, and, not being acquainted with 
 the mode of smelting it, dispose of it in its rude state at any price to 
 merchants." And (B. xv, c. i. § 69), " They say, that some of the gold- 
 digging myrmeces, ants, have wings ; and that the rivers, like those of 
 Iberia [Armenia] bring down gold-dust." 
 
 The tradition of the gold-digging ants is elucidated when dealing with 
 Thibet (see p. 465). 
 
 Pliny also (B. xi. c. 36 § 31) alludes to "the horns of an Indian ant, 
 suspended in the temple of Hercules, at Erythrae," which " have been 
 looked upon as quite miraculous for their size. This ant excavates gold 
 from holes, in a country in the north of India, the inhabitants of which 
 are known as the Dardae. It has the colour of a cat, and is in size as 
 large as an Egyptian wolf This gold, which it extracts in the winter, 
 is taken by the Indians during the heats of summer, while the ants are 
 compelled, by the excessive warmth, to hide themselves in their holes. 
 Still, however, on being aroused by catching the scent of the Indians, 
 they sally forth, and frequently tear them to pieces, though provided 
 with the swiftest camels for the purpose of flight ; so great is their 
 fleetness, combined with their ferocity and their passion for gold." 
 
 Herodotus too makes frequent allusion to gold in India, indicating, 
 as Rawlinson shows, that the whole of the region of Central Asia is in 
 the highest degree auriferous. The ranges of the Hindoo-Koosh, Belur- 
 Tagh, Mus-Tagh, and Altai all abound with this precious metal. In the 
 Altai mountains, rude traces of ancient mining have been found. 
 Bokhara and Thibet are especially renowned for their productiveness. 
 
 With regard to the ants, Herodotus has the following (Thalia, iii. 
 102-5): — "But there are other Indians, at no great distance from the 
 city of Caspatyrus and the country of Pactyica : they lie north of the 
 rest of the Indians, and resemble closely, in their mode of life, the 
 Bactrian people. These are the most warlike of the Indians, and arc 
 the people that are sent to procure the gold. In the vicinity of their 
 territory the land is desert, being covered with sand : in these sandy 
 tracts, accordingly, are found pismires of a size between the dog and the 
 fox, specimens of which are seen ;n the menagerie of the Persian king, 
 which have been caught, and imported from that country. These 
 pismires, accordingly, burrow under ground ; and, in excavating their 
 habitations, throw up hillocks of sand, just the same and in the same 
 manner, as the ants do in Hellas : they are likewise very similar to our 
 own pismires : the sand that they throw up contains abundance of gold- 
 dust. For the purpose of collecting this sand, therefore, the Indians arc 
 despatched to the desert. Each man harnesses together three camels ; 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 315 
 
 
 two males fastt. ed by traces on the off and near sides, and one female 
 in the middle. The Indian rides the female camel, taking care to choose 
 one that has lately dropped her young ; for their female camels are not 
 inferior in speed to the horse, and, besides, are stronger, and much better 
 adapted to carry burthens. The Indians, therefore, provided each with 
 a yoke of the above kind, proceed in quest of the gold ; having arranged 
 so, as to be able to commence collecting the sand at the time when the 
 sun is most violent ; because, during the parchmg heat, the pismires keep 
 out of sight, under ground. When the Indians are come to the proper 
 place, they fill with sand the leather-bags they have brought with them, 
 and then retire at the most rapid pace they can : for the pismires, accord- 
 ing to the Persians, detect the strangers by the smell, and forthwith 
 enter upon a pursuit : the fleetness of the camels exceeds that of all 
 other animals ; for if the Indians did not get a good way a-head of the 
 pismires, while those animals are collecting, not one of the men would 
 escape. They add, that the male camels would not only flag, being 
 inferior in velocity to the female, but would not pull together ; while the 
 female, mindful of the young she has left, does not allow the males to 
 tarry behind. Such, according to the Persians, is the manner in which 
 the Indians obtain most of their gold : the other sort of gold is not so 
 abundant, and is dug up in the country." 
 
 Bengal. — Bankura district.-^Gold is reported to have been obtained 
 in very small quantities in the sands of the Dalkissur at Bankura, and 
 the statement is not improbably correct. The absence of any record as 
 to the occurrence of gold in •'■he districts comprised in the Bhagulpur 
 division is very remarkable, as prinid facie the character of the geology 
 in several of them would justify suspicions of its presence. 
 
 Midnapur district. — In the Midnapur district were 21 professional 
 gold-washers according to the census returns. There is no published 
 record of the actual spots where washing is practised ; but they must be 
 situated in the beds of the Kasai [Cossye] river and its tributaries. 
 Throughout the greater part of the district, deposits of alluvium and laterite 
 prevail ; but the older crystalline and the sub-metamorphic rocks are 
 exposed on the western frontier, which adjoins Manbhum and Singhbhum. 
 
 In the year 1855, a sample of gold-dust from Midnapur, which was 
 forwarded by Lieut. W. D. Short, Executive Engineer, was examined by 
 Piddington, who discovered in it some particles of a yellowish-white 
 mineral, which was " malleable and tough, would not amalgamate with 
 mercury, and was excessively difificult of solution in boiling aqua regia, 
 though it certainly contained gold." He was inclined to believe that it 
 might be a sulphuret '^ ,^old, an unknown mineral, but thought he 
 detected a trace of platinum. Further and larger specimens which he 
 applied for do not appear to have been received. 
 
 . 1 
 
 ■I 
 
 '>>;J'i 
 
3i6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Bombay. — Within the limits of the Bombay Presidency, the districts 
 of Belgaum, Dharwar, and Kaladgi in the Southern Mahratta Country, 
 and the province of Kattywar, include all the localities wherein gold- 
 bearing rocks are reported to exist. 
 
 Belgaum district. — Gold-dust within the limits of this district is 
 reported to have been found in small quantities at or near the villages 
 of Belowuddi, Byl Hongul, and Murgur. The rocks are chloritic schists 
 and dioritcs, with thin veins and nests of quartz, reefs being rare, or 
 concealed, if present, by surface soil. 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 Sketch-map of Indian Gold-fields. 
 
 Lieut. Aytoun obtained gold in the streams near Belowuddi, 15° 42' 
 30" N., 74" 59' E., but it appears to occur in very small quantity. Foote 
 failed to find any trace of gold there, and he was told that the Julgars 
 had not been there for 10 years, so that it is evident they do not think 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 317 
 
 much of its capabilities. The gold is supposed to have been dcived 
 from a quartz reef traversing the chloritic schists and diorite. 
 
 At Byl Hongul (15° 50' N., 74° ^9' E.), or rather near two small 
 villages, Chikop and Murkombi of the map, a few miles to the north, 
 Aytoun obtained gold by washing, and the stream between these places 
 was one ordinarily visited by the Julgars ; but Foote was informed by 
 the local officials that gold was unknown there. He mentions finding 
 one quartz reef in which there were no sulphides or other likely indica- 
 tions of the presence of gold. 
 
 Foote was told by a native official that near the village of Murgur, 
 15° 53' N., 75" E., Rs. 150 to 200 (15 to 20/.) worth was obtained by the 
 Julgars. The rocks which are believed to contain the gold are said to be 
 probably the same as those at Kappatgode. Gold is reported to occur 
 also in the streams near Sogul, 4 miles S.E. of Murgur. 
 
 Dharwar district. — In this district, gold has been found at Chik 
 Mulgund [Moolgoondj, Surtur [Soortoor], Dambal [Damul], Dhoni, and 
 the Hurti river near Guduk. All the available information regarding 
 the auriferous tracts of Dharwar, Belgaum, and Kaladgi are contained in 
 papers by Capt. Newbold, Lieut. Aytoun, and R. B. Foote of the 
 Geological Survey. A letter by Scholt to the Times of India, also 
 contains some information on the subject. Foote's paper, besides 
 recording his own observations, gives a synopsis of what was written by 
 the other authorities. A map of the neighbourhood of Dambal is 
 published with this paper. 
 
 Foote considers that the metamorphic rocks of the known gold- 
 bearing area belong to three distinct groups or series, each characterized 
 by certain lithological peculiarities. He distinguishes them by the 
 following local names, namely, Dhoni, Kappatgode, and Surtu r. The 
 Dhoni group consists of a hcmatitic schist, accompanied by chloritic; 
 hornblendic, and micaceous schists. It also includes several beds of 
 white and grey limestone, which ma^'^ prove a valuable source of lime. 
 Above this group comes the one called Kappatgode, the members of 
 which form the Kappatgode Hill. They consist likewise of hematitic 
 schists, with which are associated argillaceous schists, and the prevailing 
 colour has changed from green to reddish-buff or mottled whitish. The 
 third or Surtur group consists of hornblendic and chloritic schists, which 
 are intimately associated with a massive diorite.^ Two other groups or 
 series of granitic rocks in tlic neighbourhood, which do not appear to be 
 auriferous, have had the names Gulduck and Mulgund conferred upon 
 them, from the names of the villages near which they are found. 
 ^ Quartz reefs occur in all these series, bu* it is only in the streams 
 '^ arising from the S urtur series, according to the natives, that auriferous 
 sands occur ; and the richest of all, that called Surtur, lies entirely within 
 
 '1 ".v; 
 
 ^T«i 
 
 y 
 
i 
 
 I ! 
 
 318 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the area occupied by the chloritic schists and diorite. With few 
 exceptions, the quartz reefs in the Surtur series at their outcrops have 
 been broken up by gold-seekers. Most of these reefs run parallel to the 
 bedding, but in the other series they often occur cutting across it. 
 
 In the Kappatgodc series, is a reef called Hati Kati [Huttee Kuttee], 
 in the debris from which, where it had been broken into by gold-seekers, 
 Foote found a trace of visible gold. Pyrites altered into limonite, and 
 thin veins of chlorite, occur in the quartz. Three rude sinkings and 
 some shallow trenching indicate that mining by natives was carried on 
 to some extent here. A shaft sunk on the east side of the reef is 
 supposed to have been the work of a Gold Company which was started 
 during the Bombay share mania. A similar shaft near the village of 
 Dhoni (15° if 30" N., 75° 47' E.) is known to have been the work of this 
 Company. Australian nuggets are said to have done duty as sami)les 
 of the results of these operations. The Hati Kati reef is 5 ft. thick ; it 
 dips 40° to 50° E., and the strike is N. by W. to S. by E. 
 
 Sulphides of the metals which commonly accompany gold were only 
 found in the Hati Kati and two parallel reefs, but much of the quartz in 
 the different reefs i'- what is called " mouse-eaten " by Australian 
 miners — an indication of the former presence of foreign minerals. 
 Samples of quartz selected by Foote were assayed in the laboratories 
 at the Mint and the Geological Survey, but did not prove to contain 
 gold. Even were there evidence of the presence of a greater amount of 
 gold, the inaccessibility of this locality, and the scarcity of fuel and 
 water, are serious drawbacks. There are only two or three families of 
 gold-washers or Julgars in the neighbourhood. They use a sort of box 
 made of light planks, which is 3 to 4 ft. long, 20 in. wide, and 9 in. deep, 
 for the first and rough part of the washings. This box or trough 
 corresponds to che Australian cradle. The sand is then removed to a 
 dish or tray in which it is panned off. The irci-sand with gold is further 
 washed in a half coconut-shell, and the final residue is treated with 
 mercury. Scholt speaks in high terms of the care taken by these men, 
 which he says surpasses that of the Chinese in Australia ; but Foote 
 considers the process wasteful, particularly in consequence of the short- 
 ness of the washing-box. The earnings of these men during the season 
 varies from Rs. 5 to 50 (10s. to 5/.). 
 
 Scholt formed a very unfavourable, but apparently perfectly just, 
 opinion as to the value of the alluvial deposits. The supply is very 
 scanty, the stratum not exceeding 5 in. in depth, the bed-rock being 
 apparent everywhere ; 12 days' work at Surtur (15° 14' 30" N., 75° 43' E.) 
 yielded him only Rs. 2 to 3 (4 to 6s.) worth of gold. 
 
 Lieut. Aytoun, however, states that near Dambal (15° 17' 30" N., 75° 
 50' E.) he sank a shaft in the alluvium to a depth of 7 ft., and found gold 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 319 
 
 at all depths ; and Lc Souef, who had had Australian experience, also 
 states that he obtained gold from shafts. He took a more favourable 
 view of the place than Scholt, but his statements are somewhat vague. 
 
 In Capt. Ncwbold's time, the outturn from the Hurti, Surtur, and 
 Dhoni streams was estimated at 200 oz. per annum ; but, either in 
 consequence of the yield of gold having diminished, or other more lucra- 
 tive employment having become available to the Julgars, their numbers 
 have much decreased, and the outturn is probably not now one-tenth of 
 what it was. Capt. Newbold mentions that the Julgars understand the 
 ancient Hindu method of purifying the gold and improving its touch ; 
 and says that gold used to be found at Chik Mulgund (14° 35' N., 
 75° 27' E.), in the Kor [Kod] taluq. 
 
 ^> iiladgi district. — Foote mentions a report, the accuracy of which he 
 *■ ■^r. to doubt, of auriferous sands being found in the streams at 
 
 r ' .. 1(i6°3'N.. 75°52'E.). 
 
 Kat. war. — Gold-dust in small quantities is said to be found in the 
 Sourekha {Soozvurti seekta, Sans. = gold-dust), a river which rises in the 
 Girnar hills, but which is not marked on the maps. The Girnar hills 
 have a height of 3666 ft., and are said to be formed of granite with quartz 
 veins. It seems to be doubtful, however, whether there are any old 
 crystalline rocks in these hills. So far as is known, the rocks are volcanic, 
 of the Deccan trap period. Capt. McMurdo is said to have stated that 
 gold was also found in the river Aji, which passes Rajkot. 
 
 Central Provmces. — Auriferous sands occur in most parts of the 
 Central Provinces, where there are exposures of the older crystalline 
 rocks. The census returns of 1872 gave the total number of persons 
 whose trade is gold-washing at 215. Out of the four divisions under 
 which the districts are classified, the Narbada division alone returns no 
 gold-washers. The other divisions contribute as follows : Nagpur, 1 39 ; 
 Jabalpur, 52; Chatisgarh, 12. The Upper Godavari district, which is 
 classed separately, and one of the districts included in the JaLaipur 
 division, have no gold-washers, the latter being Mandla — a fact easily 
 connected with its geology. The rocks are chiefly trappean ; but it may 
 be that even in this district towards the south, where traversed by the 
 Bunjar river, gold-bearing sands occur, since samples of gold from the 
 bed of that river are now in the Nagpur Museum, but whether obtained 
 within the limits of Mandla or Balaghat is not stated. As regards the 
 Upper Godavari district, gold-washing does take place there, wherever 
 the washers come from. 
 
 Chatisgarh division. — The census returns only give 10 persons as 
 being employed as professional gold-washers in Sambalpur. This is not 
 improbably an under-estimate. The head-quarters of the principal colony 
 are at Jhunan, on the Mahanadi, about 9 miles N.W. of Sambalpur. 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 
 1 
 
 i.jii aajfc.j , 
 
 i|^H§; 
 
 "fH^I 
 
 "^1 
 
 'viJ 
 
 llo^ 
 
320 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i^ 
 
 Most of the early accounts of Sambalpur diamonds refer also to the fact 
 of the Mahanadi and several of its tributaries containing auriferous 
 sands. Although the actual localities in the Sambalpur districts where 
 gold-washing is carried on are numerous, Ball confines his remarks on 
 the subject to two localities where gold-washing was witnessed by him. 
 These are Sambalpur town on the Mahanadi, and the village of Tahud 
 on the Ebe [lb]. 
 
 Close to Sambalpur town (21° 28' N., 84° 2' E.) the banks and bed of 
 the river contain gold. In Col. Ouseley's time, it used to be found as 
 far down as Sonpur. The various tributaries of the Mahanadi which 
 traverse the metamorphic rocks are all probably more or less gold- 
 bearing. The early writers did not recognize the probability of the gold 
 and diamonds being derived from different sources. As both were found 
 together in the bed of the Mahanadi, they were supposed to come from 
 the same rocks. The diamonds are traceable back to the Lower 
 Vindhyan rocks ; while the gold, though possibly in part coming from 
 the same, is chiefly derived from the metamorphics. At Jhunan, on the 
 Mahanadi, there is a small colony of gold-washers, who travel to the 
 different localities when the water falls after the rains. Fig. 8, after 
 Ouscley, illustrates the gold-washer's art as prosecuted at Heera- 
 Khoond [Hfra-Khuda], an island in the Mahanadi, between Sambalpur 
 and Sonpur. 
 
 Near Tahud, on the Ebe river, a party of the above washers were 
 seen encamped and at work by Ball. The spots where they were then 
 washing were within the area occupied by rocks of Talchir age ; but 
 whether the gold had been proximately derived from these, or had been 
 brought down from the neighbouring metamorphic area, it was impossible 
 to decide. There is of course no prinid facie improbability in these 
 Talchir rocks containing gold ; on the contrary, the boulder bed, con- 
 taining as it does such a large proportion of materials directly derived 
 from the metamorphic rocks, might naturally be expected to include gold. 
 The occurrence of gold in the sandstones of the Talchir field has already 
 been mentioned, and similar cases will be found in reference to still 
 younger deposits on future pages. In Australia, a conglomerate bed of 
 Carboniferous age is known to be auriferous. 
 
 According to the census, there are but two gold-washers in the 
 Bilaspur district. The only recorded locality where gold is known to 
 occur is in the Jonk [Jong] river, near Sonakhan (21° 25' N., 82° 38' E.). 
 Whether this place owes its name to the fact of there having been a 
 gold-mine there is not known, but Capt. Wilkinson is the authority for 
 saying that the Jonk river in this vicinity is auriferous. Although it is 
 believed that Sonakhan itself is on the margin of the Lower Vindhyan 
 rocks of the Chatisgarh basin, it is known that a considerable portion of 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 331 
 
 the course of the Jonk south of Sonakhan is throuf;h metamorphic rocks. 
 The sources of the river, however, are situated in the outlying tract of 
 Lower Vindhyan rocks near Nowagarh. 
 
 There were 12 gold-washers in the Raipur district in 1872. It is not 
 known in what parts their operations are principally carried on. Capt. 
 Wilkinson states that gold is procurable in the Mahanadi at Raj 00. 
 The only place of similar name on the Mahanadi is Rajim (20" 58' N., 
 8l° 56' E.), which is situated on Lower Vindhyan rocks. It is possible 
 that the gold may have reached the Mahanadi by its tributary the Pairi, 
 which passes through metamorphic rocks 12 miles off in Nowagarh, 
 though that would be rather far for it to travel. 
 
 In the Bhandara district are only 3 professional gold-washers. Gold- 
 bearing sands occur in streams near Ambagarh (21° 26' 30" N., 79° 43' 
 30" E.) and Thirora. The Sonnala is mentioned also as gold-bearing ; 
 but as it does not appear on the maps, it may be one of the above. 
 According to Wilkinson, the Maroo stream, in Amborah pargana, used 
 
 Fir.. 8. 
 
 
 (iOLD-WASIIlNG AT liEERA KlIOONn. 
 
 to produce gold. As there was formerly a pargana called Ambagarh, it 
 is probable that was the place meant. An unnamed tributary of the 
 Wainganga, near Thirora (21° 24' 30" N., 79" 59' E.), is said to contain 
 auriferous sands. 
 
 In the Central Provinces Gazetteer, it is stated that the gold of the 
 
 
 'J 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
322 
 
 GEOGRArillCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Bhandara district is somewhat impure, only bringing Rs. lo to 12 (20 to 
 24s.) per to/a (180 gr.). Mercury is employed in separating the particles 
 from the sand. The geology of Bliandara has not yet been fully 
 ascertained ; but the older metamorphic rocks are known to occur there, 
 as also some sandstones, &c., of Lower Vindhyan age. 
 
 According to the census of 1872, there are only 6 professional gold- 
 washers in the Chanda district. The search for gold is carried on, it is 
 believed, in the eastern parts of the area, where metamorphic rocks 
 prevail ; but there are no published details as to the actual streams in 
 which it is found. 
 
 The census return of 1872 gives the number of gold-washers living 
 in the Balaghat district as being one only ; but as gold is known to be 
 washed in several places, it is probable that either the gold-washers of 
 Nagpur, who are returned as numbering 103, annually migrate into 
 Balaghat, or the actual washers have some other trade under which they 
 have been classed. The auriferous streams of this district are situated 
 in the Lanji (21" 30' N., 80" 36' E.) and Dhansua parganas. The rocks 
 belong to the older metamorphic series. It is in two of the principal 
 rivers of the Lanji pargana, namely, the Son and Deo, that the auriferous 
 sands occur. As being gold-producing, these, especially the first (which 
 probably owes its name to the fact), have long been known. Capt. 
 Jenkins, Wilkinson, Hislop, and Hunter, all allude to the gold-sands 
 near Lanji. And it is probably in consequt of the mention of it in 
 the paper by the last-mentioned authorities that this locality has received 
 more notice in European works than many others in India. There are 
 gold-bearing sands also in some parts of the Bunjar river. 
 
 According to the Central Provinces Gazetteer, gold is obtained in the 
 Sonabera stream, near the Panchera (21° 55' N., 80° 16' E.) ghat, in the 
 Dhansua pargana. And other authorities state that gold is found in the 
 Nahr river, in the neighbourhood of Mau (22^ 13' N., 80° 10' E.). 
 
 Jabalpur district. — In this district were 14 professional gold-washers 
 in 1872. Beyond this, and the fact that a sample of gold-dust said to be 
 from Jabalpur was exhibited in the Indian Museum at South Kensington, 
 there appears to be no record of the industry in this district. 
 
 Nagpur district. — The gold-washers of this district are more numer- 
 ous than in any other in the Central Provinces. They number 103. It 
 is probable that they carry on their operations chiefly in the adjoining 
 districts, though some of them may find sufficient gold in the streams 
 which traverse the metamorphic rocks of their own. 
 
 Sagar and Damoh districts. — In Sagar and Damoh are 19 and 7 
 gold-washers respectively, but it is not on record that gold is found in 
 either district. 
 
 Seoni district. — Within the limits of this district, the sands of the 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 3^3 
 
 Parqudhur stream produce gold. It rises in the Konye hills, and falls 
 into the Wainganga. The washers, of whom there are 12, consider it 
 unlucky to earn more than 4 annas (6(i,) a day. 
 
 Upper Godavari district. — Gold is said to be found in two localities 
 in the bed of the Godavari "'"er within the limits of this district, namely, 
 near Bhadrachellum and at Marigudem [Mariguram]. 
 
 Gold is washed for at the point where the Kinarsani river falls into 
 the Godavari, on the Hyderabad side below Bhadrachellum (17" 40' 30" N., 
 80° 51' 45" E.)- The rocks belong ♦o the metamorphic or older 
 crystalline series ; but the Gondwana and Kadapah scries are also 
 represented close by. 
 
 The precious metal is washed for near the mouth of a small stream, 
 which, coming from the Nizam's territory, falls into the Godavari opposite 
 Marigudem (18° 17' N., 80° 36' 30" E.), in the Naggar taluk. It is washed 
 by people called Sonjharis ("gold-seekers"), not Sonjerries, as the name 
 is sometimes written, who come periodically for the purpose. They 
 begin operations in August or September, or whenever the river has 
 fallen sufficiently to lay bare certain gravel banks, in which the gold 
 occurs in minute grains. The gold is of superior quality to that of some 
 other localities, being valued at Rs. 16 a tola (4/. $s. 4^/. an oz.). The 
 rocks of this neighbourhood are Gondwanas belonging to the Kamthi 
 group, so this gold has possibly a " doubly derivative " origin. 
 
 The Bastar state, which is attached to the Upper Godavari district, 
 does not return any gold-washers in the census tables ; but gold-washing 
 is nevertheless carried on there, according to the Central Provinces 
 Gazetteer, close to Pratappur [Partabpur], 19° 59' 30" N., 80° 47' 30" E,, 
 and at the junction of the Kutri [Kuthari] and Indravati rivers, i.e. near 
 the village of Bharamgarh (19^ 25' N., 80° 39' 30" E.). The rocks of this 
 portion of Bastar, it may be presumed, belong to the metamorphic series ; 
 but they have not as yet been examined by any geologist. 
 
 Wardha district. — In this district are 26 gold-washers, but there is 
 no information available as to the precise localities where their operations 
 are carried on. 
 
 Chutia Nagpiir. — The Chutia Nagpur province includes the greater 
 portion of the hilly region on the south-west frontier of Bengal. It is 
 sub-divided into the following 4 British districts and 7 tributary states : 
 Hazaribagh, Lohardaga, Manbhum, Singhbhum ; Bonai, Chang Bhakar, 
 Gangpur, Jashpur, Korea, Sirguja, and Udepur. From the characters of 
 the rock found in each of these sub-divisions respectively, it is not im- 
 probable that gold occurs in all of them. Whether because it is less abun- 
 dant in some, as is probable, or because it has never been properly searched 
 for, the fact is certain that in others there is a greater attraction for the 
 indigenous gold-seekers. Judged by this standard, which is the only one 
 
 Y 2 
 
 
 iHK9 
 
 ' \,' M 
 
 ilSliSn 
 
 ■wm^ 
 
 \ ■'! 
 
 m 
 
 'k^Sk 
 
 ' :;|li 
 
 ■WM 
 
 i!S -'1 
 
324 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 at present available, the richest tracts are situated in Manbhum, Singh- 
 bhuni, Gangpur, Jashpur, and Udcpur. There is no record of gold-washing 
 being carried on in Chang Bhakar and Korea, and though gold is 
 enumerated in Col. Ouselcy's list of the products of Sirguja, it is not 
 sought for there at present. 
 
 That these, or some of them, may yet be the scene of extensive 
 operations, should the gold-mining in Southern India be successful, is 
 very possible. The indications afforded by the alluvial deposits, of 
 sources of gold existing in the rocks over several large areas, are perhaps 
 quite as striking in their way as those which have led to the starting of 
 the gold-mining industry in Southern India. Quartz or reef mining and 
 crushing, however, can scarcely be said to have been tried in this area, 
 but one solitary and not very extensive attempt having been made. 
 
 Bonai state. — Gold occurs and is washed for in the bed of the 
 Brahmini, in Bonai (Bonai town, 21° 49' N., 85" i' E.). 
 
 Gangpur state. — Within the limits of this state, gold-washhig takes 
 place in the bed of the Ebe and in those of .some of its tributaries, more 
 particularly in the Icha, as is indicated on the topographical survey map 
 (22° 6' 30" N., 83° 55' 30" E.). This gold-bearing region adjoins those 
 described in Jashpur and Udepur. 
 
 Surgeon Breton, in reference to the diamonds of this region, states 
 that there were gold-mines in Gangpur and Jashpur just large enough 
 for a man to descend, but of considerable extent below. In the Gangpur 
 mine, an account of which was to be submitted, large pieces of pure gold 
 were stated to have been found. 
 
 Hazaribagh district. — There does not appear to be any published 
 record of gold having been found in this area, and properly speaking it 
 ought not to be included in this list. But it is impossible not to believe, 
 says Ball, that properly conducted operations would reveal its presence. 
 
 Jashpur state. — Col. Ouseley, when forwarding to the Government 
 specimens of gold for assay, specifically mentions the village of Pharsaba- 
 hal (22° 30' N., 83° 55' 33" E.) as the locality whence they were derived. 
 Other authorities are less precise, and indeed it is not quite clear whether 
 portions of the following remarks refer to Jashpur or to Udepur. 
 
 Robinson ( 1 849) speaks of shafts sunk to depths varying from 20 to 
 60 ft., and which are very close to one another, as the people ar^ afraid 
 to run galleries. In places, the ground resembles a gigantic rabbit-warren. 
 Sometimes these old gold-bearing alluvial deposits crop out in the banks 
 of the rivers. Besides washing for the gold in the ordinary wooden dishes, 
 the people here arrange small water-courses before the rains, so as to 
 catch the soil, in which a large proportion of gold is found ; these are 
 cleared out from time to time. Robinson writes that the late Raja of 
 Jashpur, Ram Singh, had worked these mines with success ; but owing 
 to an accident in one of the shafts, by which a number of people lost their 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 325 
 
 lives, operations ceased. His son, the then Raja, considered such work 
 beneath his dignity. Robinson states that the Government at the next 
 settlement (in 1850) intended to reserve the mineral rights to themselves, 
 and he purposed applying for a lease, having no doubt that he would be 
 able to get one for a good term of years, believing that these mines must 
 pay splendidly. 
 
 Col. Dalton gives a very full account of the operations of the Jhoras 
 or gold-washers of Jashpur. They find it more profitable to work the 
 ancient deposits than to wash the sands of the river-beds. On both 
 sides of the ICbe [lb] river arc tracts, at some distance from the banks, 
 which arc honeycombed with shafts sunk by successive generations of 
 gold-seekers. These shafts are 10 to 30 ft. deep. The gold-bearing 
 stratum is a layer of pebbles and fragments of quartz, which underlies 
 red soil and vegetable humus. The stuff selected is of a dirty- 
 drab or reddish colour, with occasional balls of decomposed felspar, 
 which latter arc regarded as the surest indication of the presence of 
 gold. The decomposed granitic rock upon which this layer reposes is 
 not generally washed, but Col. Dalton found that it was likewise 
 auriferous, though in a less degree. Five shafts were in operation, one 
 family to each, as the women and children assist, and each family has 
 its duin or washing-dish. Accidents occasionally happen from the 
 falling in of the shafts. The yield is very uncertain. The outturn from 
 the 5 shafts obtained during 4 hours in Col. Dalton's presence would not 
 have given more than \ a)iiia {^</.) a head to those emplu^v-^d; but 
 occasionally as uii^ch as i^- tola (90 gr.), or say Rs. 6 or/ (12 to I.4.J.' worth 
 of gold was obtained, according to the statements of the washers. No 
 mercury was used, only the visible gold being saved. The particles were 
 angular and not worn by attrition. As is commonly the case, these 
 men were much indebted to the money-lenders, one being pointed out as 
 owing Rs. 1000 (100/.). 
 
 Fror Pharsabahal, which is about 4 miles to the west of the Ebe, 
 Col. Ouseley forwarded Rs. 1 1 weight of gold obtained from mines. 
 Each village is bound to pay a certain weight of gold annually to the 
 Raja, the heads of villages (Tikadars) buying from the Jhoras and 
 paying for it in rice. The following reports on all the gold forwarded by 
 Col. Ouseley were issued by the Mint Master, Col. W. N, Forbes : — 
 
 Quanthy received. 
 
 I 
 
 O 
 10 
 
 Pure Contunts. 
 
 Rase 
 alloys. 
 
 Silver. 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 4'047 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 GjM. 
 
 In 100 parts. 
 
 8-062 87-891 
 
 7-031 92-969 
 
 12-079 88-021 
 
 Assay, 
 
 3 J Ws. 
 \\ Kt. 
 3J Ws. 
 
 Iiitrin.sic pro- 
 duce in to/as 
 
 or new 
 standard of 
 gold mohur. 
 
 95-888 
 
 loi -420 
 
 96-023 
 
Ill 
 
 
 M 
 
 M I 
 
 326 
 
 GEOGPA.PHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Mint Keeister. 
 No. 
 
 1S47. 
 27th August, 545 
 
 Description. 
 
 A gokl ingot from 
 gold lumps and 
 dust, 
 
 Tale. 
 
 Weight in i 
 to/as. 
 
 Assay. 
 
 12 O 3 
 
 12 O 3 
 
 I J: Rs. 
 Gold inohiin. 
 
 Co.'s Rs. 
 
 Assay produce in 
 gold wo/titrs. 
 
 12 4 4 
 12 4 4 
 
 Of 
 
 181 I o 
 
 A few years ago, the Geologic"! Gurvey Museum received from Col. 
 Dalton a nugget which was obtained in Jashpur. It weighed on receipt 
 221 "87 gr., and after cleaning, igg'6 gr. On assay, 13'562 gr. gave — 
 
 Gold chloride 
 
 Silver ,, 
 
 12836 
 >'J 93 
 
 }^ 
 
 per cent. 
 
 Gold 
 Silver 
 
 94-64 
 515 
 
 W79 
 
 The specific gravity was 1 5 ' 24. The facts just given and those 
 mentioned with reference to the states of Gangpur and Udepur, establish 
 beyond a possibility of doubt the existence of an ancient alluvial gold- 
 bearing deposit at intervals throughout a tract not far short of 2000 sq. 
 miles in area. A considerable portion of this area is hilly, the rocks, so 
 far as they are known, belonging to the metamorphic series ; but since 
 there is evidence that diamonds have been found in the Ebe river, it may 
 be that an outlier of the Vindhyan series exists there. To the west 
 and south of this highland tract are Gondwana rocks, including the coal- 
 measures of the extensive Raigarh and Hingir field ; outliers of the 
 Dcccan trap occur to the north-east. The principal rivers of tnis tract 
 are the Mand and Ebe, with nu. lerous tributaries. As there is always 
 water in the Ebe, it is possibl'^ that some system of hydraulic mining 
 might be applicable. Be that as it may, there cannot but be gold- 
 bearing reefs from which all this gold has been derived. 
 
 Lohardaga district. — The Kanchi river, in Lohardaga, cont?ins gold- 
 bearing sands, which are derived probably from the same series of rocks 
 as those included in the adjoining auriferous tract of Mrnbhum and 
 Singhbhum. There are reports of gold having been found in the Sonai 
 river, on the frontiers of the Palamow sub-clvision ; but there are no 
 published notices on the subject. 
 
 Manbhum district. — The localities where gold-bearing sands exist in 
 Manbhum are very numerous ; indeed in the southern half of the district 
 arc probably few streams in which gold, if searched for, would not be 
 found. 
 
 By the systematic application of the operations of 2 gold-washers 
 during a period of 3 months throughout this southern tract, Ball was 
 enabled to define the area in which the gold was most abundant. This 
 
;;S-j>S' 
 
 ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 327 
 
 
 result not only a^»eed with the traditional knowledge possessed by the 
 gold-washers, but it was found that the area in which gold was com- 
 paratively most abundant corresponded precisely with a tract in which a 
 particular series of rocks occurred. These rocks, consisting chiefly of 
 magnesian and mica-schists, slates, and quaitzitcs, are included in the 
 sub-metamorphic series ; but although gold was most abundant in the 
 superficial deposits within this area, those of the other portions of the 
 district, where metamorphic rocks are alone present, did nc prove quite 
 barren : in fact, the largest piece of gold found, and which weighed 
 I "9 gr., was obtained in deposits derived from granitic gneiss rocks, near 
 the village of Biiagmundi. 
 
 The boundary between these two formations has an east to west 
 course, which roughly corresponds to the position of the 23° 5' parallel 
 of north latitude. Otherwise, rnd more nearly, it may be said to 
 coincide with a line drawn wrvn Simlapal on the east through Bara 
 Bazaar to a point a little north of Ichagarh on the west, and so on into 
 the Chutia Nagpur highlands. South of this line, the sub-metamorphic 
 rocks almost exclusively prevail ; and beyond the Manbhum frontiers 
 they continue into Singhbhum and Lohardaga, where they maintain the 
 same characters as regards their comparative richness in gold. 
 
 During the period above alluded to, a record was kept of the daily 
 results and of the natuie of the rocks in wliich the washings were made. 
 The following abstract will suffice for comparison of the productiveness of 
 the two formations. 
 
 Sub-metamorphic Rocks. 
 
 Number of days onwhichi 
 washing's were made / 
 Unsuccessful days 
 Total f,old in gi 
 
 Daily average d '.to 
 
 Jan. 
 
 31 
 
 i 
 
 2 ' 3 
 
 17-68 ; 4-65 
 
 o'S7 
 
 M.irch. 
 
 Total 
 
 2 
 
 7-6 
 
 2 9 = I3-6 per cent. 
 
 2-45 : 32-38. 
 
 Daily average for whole period 
 32-38 
 
 ISTrtamori'uic Rocks 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Number of days on which) 
 waiiiings were made / 
 Unsuccessful days 
 Total gold in gr 
 
 Daily average ditto . . 
 
 Tot.il. 
 
 22 = 66 per cent. 
 
 5-48. 
 
 D.iily average for whole period 
 
 5-48 
 = ^-^ = o-i6gr. 
 
 33 "^ 
 
 Comparing the results by the number of successful days, it may be 
 
 «.■ 
 
 ■ if 
 
 m^ 
 
328 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DTSTRIiiUTION. 
 
 I! 
 
 M » 
 
 said that, for gold-producing, the sub-metamorphic rocks are to the 
 metamorphics as (lOO— 13 "6 =) 86 "4 to (100 — 66 =) 34, or 2-5 : i ; 
 comparing by daily average, the proportions become 0*49 :0" 16, or 3 : i. 
 It may therefore be concluded that the sub-mctamorphics are between 
 2^ and 3 times as productive of gold as the metamorphics ; so that, as 
 the gold-washers only find a subsistence from washing in the sub- 
 nietamorphic area, it is obvious that it would not pay them to work in 
 that occupied by the metamorphics. 
 
 The actual amount of gold found was, it will be observed, very small, 
 but the washers were often working on strange ground ; and moreover 
 they generally had to make a march of some miles before arriving at the 
 scene of their operations, to which must be added also that their day's 
 wage being certain, they generally contented themselves with a very 
 limited amount of physical exertion. 
 
 The rivers which contain most gold in this area are the Subanarekha 
 and its tributaries, the Karkari and Bamni, on the west of the area, and 
 the Kasai and its tributaries, the Tutko and Kowari, on the east. 
 Besides these, many of the streams in the neighbourhood of the Dalma 
 hill range and in the Supur pargana might be enumerated. 
 
 In Supur, near the village of Namra (22° 54' 30" N., 86° 36' E.), is an 
 excavation supposed to have been a gold-mine, and it is so indicated on 
 the map. The natives had some rather vague tradition of images of 
 gold and silver bulls having been found there. Close by, gold is said to 
 be found in scrapings from the roads, which are washed on a small scale 
 by the Dhoras or Dokhras (= Jhoras) during the rains. 
 
 Gold-washing was tried by a European a few years ago on the 
 Karkari river, near Ichagarh (23" 2' 15" N., 86" E.), the chief town of 
 Patkum, but with what measure of success is not known. The process 
 of gold-washing in practice in Manbhum is identical with that in Singh- 
 bhum, and need not, therefore, be separately described, 
 
 Singhbhum district. — In Singlibhum, gold occurs in very much the 
 same manner as 't does in ManShum, the gold-bearing rocks being in 
 unbroken connection throughout, and forming one united tract, with thi.s 
 difference, that in Singhbhum, so far as is certainly known, the sub- 
 metamorphic rocks alone contain gold. The.se rocks surround a trap- 
 traversed area of old granitic gneisses, which are probably older than the 
 general metamorphic rocks of Manbhum ; these latter arc also represented 
 in the western highlands of Singhbhum, where they, too, are possibly 
 auriferous, but to a less extent than the sub-mctamorphics. 
 
 In i\Ianbhum, quartz reefs are not abundant in the sub-metamorphic 
 rocks, and the washings seemed to point to the magnesian schists and 
 certain bluish quartzites as being the sources of the gold. In Singhbhum, 
 especially to the north and west o^ Chaibassa, quartz reefs are abundant 
 
:mm 
 
 i 
 
 ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 329 
 
 in some earthy shales and slates, and it seems probable that they may 
 prove to contain gold. The only nugget seen by Ball in Singhbhum was 
 in a quartz matrix, and gold is said to have been obtained by quartz 
 crushing at Landu. 
 
 The most noteworthy places where gold has been found in Singhbhum 
 are Kamcrara and the Kapargadi ghat in Dhalbhum, Landu in Seraikela, 
 Asantoria in Kharsawan, Sonapet, Porahat, and Dhipa ii Sarunda. 
 
 Before giving the known details regarding these localities, it may be 
 well to describe the gold-washers and their operations, it being under- 
 stood that they apply equally to those of Manbhum, and indeed, with 
 local modifications, to all throughout the greater part of Peninsular India. 
 The class who more particularly follow the trade of gold-washing 
 belong to a tribe of Gonds known as Jhoras, Dhoias, Dokras, Toras, or 
 Jharas, according to locality. The name Jhora is said to be derived 
 {■covajhori, a small stream, but Dliora may be derived from dhona, to 
 wash. In the case of these people, both sexes engage in the pursuit ; 
 but the Ghasis, a local tribe of unknown origin, also occasionally wash 
 for gold. Among them the men only, while among certain Kol or 
 Munda tribes to the west of Singhbhum the women wash for gold, and 
 their male relatives regard the work as an unworthy occupation for their 
 sex. The methods employed by these different tribes appear to b?" 
 identical in all essentials. P2ach occupies a distinct tract, and poaching on 
 one another's favourite streams is not indulged in to any great extent. 
 
 The wooden dish used for washing measures on an average about 
 28 by 18 in. for the men, smaller ones being used by the women and 
 children among the Jhoras. The d'sh is hollowed somewhat eccentrically 
 to a maximum depth of 2^ in. A scraper formed of a flattened iron 
 hook, set in a handle, is used to collect the auriferous sand and gravel 
 which accumulates in the angles formed by the rocks in the beds of the 
 streams. The dish when filled is placed in shallow water, and the 
 operator working with his hands soon separates and throws aside all 
 the coarser gravel and stones, while the agitation of the w^ater serves to 
 carry away all the mud and lighter portions. The dish is then balanced 
 on the palm of the left hand, and oscillated to and fro with the right ; 
 this serves to throw off the greater portion of the remaining gravel, and 
 the process is completed by a circular motion, which is communicated to 
 the water in the hollow of the dish, by which even the smallest particles 
 of foreign matter are separated, and the final result is a residue of black 
 iron-sand in which the specks of gold are readily apparent ; but as 
 mercury is not empioycd in this part of the country, all the very small 
 and invi:.ibi gold is lost. Fig. 9 ^••ill enable the reader to realize the 
 appearance presented by these gold-washers when pursuing their trade, 
 and Fig. 10 illustrates their apparatus. 
 
 ■i, 
 
 Lib } 
 
 % 
 
 )!!■ 
 
 W.i, 
 
330 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The daily earnings of the gold-washers are small, but might, no 
 doubt, be increased, if it were not that they are always satisfied when 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 
 14^ 
 
 Gold-washers of Singhbhum. 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 Dish and Scraper used !n Singhbhum. 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 331 
 
 enough gold has been found for procuring the day's subsistence. Col* 
 Haughton (1854) stated that the Ghasis could always reckon on earning 
 3 to 4 pice (g to \d.) per diem ; he was assured that a vigorous man often 
 got as much as 12 annas (u. 6d.), which, as the ordinary rate of field 
 labour was about i pice {\d.), must be considered a very large sum. 
 Robinson found, in a trial which he made at Rabkob, in Udepur, that 
 men to whom he paid i anna {\\d.) could produce for him 3 to 4 annas 
 (4^ to Qd) worth of gold. Col. Dalton states that the washers them- 
 selves regard it as a very poor trade, simply yielding they say pet bhur 
 ("bellyful "). Dr. Stcehr, in his paper on Singhbhum, recorded that he 
 found the average daily earning to be about 25 centimes (2\d). The 
 men met with by Ball, stated that they could earn about I anna (ii<3^.) 
 a day, and occasionally 3 to 4 annas (4^ to 6^.). 
 
 According to Col. Haughton, gold has been found in the bed of the 
 Subanarekha at Kamerara (22° 15' N., 86° 43' 30" E.), which is on the 
 eastern margin of tne rocky tract. He states his belief that the sands 
 of this river continue to contain gold from thence to the sea. A nugget 
 of gold shewn to Ball when in Singhbhum was said to have been found 
 close to the pass on the Midnapur road through the Kapargadi hills 
 (22° 39' N., 86° 23' E.). 
 
 At Landu (22° 43' 30" N., 86° 15' E.) and various other places, the 
 copper ores were found to be auriferous to a small extent. A Mr. 
 Emerson was employed by the Singhbhum Copper Company specially 
 to investigate the gold resources of the country. He is said to have 
 crushed a quantity of quartz, but there is no available record as to the 
 results which he obtained. 
 
 At Asantoria [AssuntuUea], 22° 44' N., 85° 51' E., gold is said by 
 Col. Haughton to occur in situ ; but it appears from the context that it 
 is not to be understood that it was actually found in the rock there, but 
 the locality being higher than the neighbourhood it was concluded that 
 the matrix was close by. Dr. StcEhr mentions gold-washings at Baritopa, 
 in the neighbourhood of Kharsawan. 
 
 Sonapct (22° S3' N., 85° 44' 30" E.), or the "mother of gold," is the 
 valley of the Sonai river to the north-west of Kharsawan. All writers 
 refer to it as containing more gold than other parts of the district. Some 
 years before 1854, nuggets were found there, according to Col. Haughton, 
 but the finder never divulged the secret of the exact spot. 
 
 Col. Haughton alludes to a tradition of a regular gold-mine having 
 been driven into the side of a hill in the jungles of Porahat (2'''' 36' N., 
 85° 30' E.). No trace of this mine remains at present. Gold-w -Jung is 
 carried on in the streams of Porahat by the women only of the Munda 
 inhabitants. 
 
 In Sarunda, which is a hilly elevated tract in Singhbhum, intervening 
 
 %i5 
 
 ! i 
 
 \\ 
 
 )l 
 
 \ • 
 
 m 
 
 }':m 
 
 mi 
 
 
 Si 
 
332 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Uh 
 
 i; j 
 
 between the main area of Singhbhum and Gangpur, gold is washed for 
 to some extent. Its occurrence in Anandapur and at Arabhanga is 
 recorded by Col. Haughton. The latter name does not appear on the 
 map, but close to the former, at Dhipa, gold-washing was witnessed by 
 Ball. 
 
 The bed of the Kocl river near Dhipa (22° 26' N., 85' 15' E.) yields a 
 small ainount of gold. The pay-dirt was scraped out from the nooks 
 and crevices of some protruding rocks. Both sub-mctamorphic and 
 mctamorphic rocks occur in this region. Col. Haughton on his map 
 represents the beds of the Kocl, Karo, Sunk, and the Brahmini, which is 
 formed by the junction of the three, as gold-bearing, and they are so no 
 doubt to some extent. 
 
 Udepur state. — Some of the early accounts of the washings and the 
 assays of gold from them do not very clearly distinguish between those 
 of Rabkob (25° 28' 30" N., 83" 17' E.) and Jashpur, which are separated 
 from one another by about 40 miles. 
 
 Col. Ouseley was the first to call attention to these washings, which 
 he did in a report to Government, dated 1847 ; there were then only three 
 families of gold-washers at Rabkob, and at the localities mentioned 
 below there were no resident washers, and the guid was said to be of 
 inferior quality to that from Rabkob. It was sold at Rs. lO to 12 (20 to 
 24^.) a fo/a (180 gr.). Although these workings are spoken of as mines, 
 and went to considerable depths, as in Jashpur, they were not in the 
 original matrix rock, but in dctrital deposits from the metamorphic 
 rocks. The first samples of dust yielded, on assay by Dodd, gold, 
 91 "667; silver, 3-646; alloy, 4*687= 100. Col. Ouseley remarked that 
 this dust had less the appearance of having been worn and flattened 
 than had that usually washed from the sands. 
 
 In 1849, Robinson took a lease of the village, with liberty to work 
 the mines, from Government, and left a European agent to conduct 
 operations, who, however, was afterwards compelled to leave in conse- 
 quence of fever. Indeed, it may be added, the unhealthiness of this 
 region must always prove a drawback to operations under European 
 management. The gold obtained Vv'as sold for Rs. 14^ {2gs. 3^.) per fo/a 
 (180 gr.) in the Calcutta bazaar, that being the value put upon it at the 
 Mint. 
 
 In 1865, this locality was visited by Col. Dalton, Commissioner of 
 the division, who has written that the production of gold was restricted 
 by the number of washers, there bc'ng only six families of them. These 
 people were at work in pits similar to those in Jashpur. The produce of 
 a day's washing for each dui/i o: dish was only 3 gr., which led Col. 
 Dalton to suppose some deception had been practised, as the Raja of 
 Sirguja, who contemplated making a monopoly of the industry, was with 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 333 
 
 him. Judging from experience in Singhbhum, however, this amount 
 was probably rather above than below the average earnings. 
 
 The other localities in Udepur mentioned by Col. Ousclcy as being 
 gold-producing are — 
 
 Kamiiar, on tlip Korija river^ 22° 35' N., S3" 18' 15" E. 
 
 Bairagi, 1 on the ' ( 22" 42' 15" N., 83" 21' 30" E. 
 
 Salka, I Sangul I 22" 43' 20" N., 83° 22' 30" E. 
 
 KllANDRAjAH, ' river I 22° 43' 43" N., 83° 26' 30" E. 
 
 Bakaruma, on the Bhnrari river, 22^ 31' 45" N., 83° 29' E. 
 Jamargi, on the Maini river, 22° 34' 30'' N., 83" 48' E. 
 
 Hyderabad or Nir:aiiC s Territory. — The occurrence of gold-dust in the 
 bed of the Godavari has long been known, and mention of it is found in 
 several works published about the beginning of this century. 
 
 According to Dr. Walker, there was a gold-mine about the year 1790 
 near the village of Goodloor [Godalorc], near Mungapet, where the 
 Kummamet and Rangheer Circars meet, which had been profitably 
 worked by the Paluncha Raja. At the time of his visit, he could hear 
 nothing locally of this mine, but learnt that washing had been carried on 
 comparatively recently in the streams which feed the Godavari from the 
 south. It was the custom to place bunds across the stream, and, after 
 the rains had ceased, to wash the sand so arrested. The washers 
 belonged to a peripatetic race, who were employed by a rich Bania. 
 Owing to an excessive rent charged by the Raja, operations ceased and 
 had not been resumed. 
 
 In the account on p. 323 of the gold-washings of the Upper Godavari 
 district of the Central Provinces, the gold alluded to is really brought 
 into the Godavari by streams in Hyderabad territory, and in fact this 
 Godalore must have been near to and derived its gold from the same 
 sources as Marigudem [Mariguram]. As there are no ciystalline rocks 
 in the neighbourhood, it is improbable that there ever was a real mine 
 here. The gold must have been " doubly derivative " from Kamthi 
 rocks. It is perhaps therefore needless to add that gold in quantity is 
 not likely to be found in this locality. 
 
 Madras. — The gold-fields of Madras have recently attracted much 
 public interest and a large amount of capital. Very interesting are the 
 speculations which have arisen in connection with the discovery of 
 ancient mines in these regions. That there were formerly large hoards 
 of gold in the possession of the ruling dynasties of Southern India has 
 long been known to be the case. Incredible accounts exist of the vast 
 amounts of bullion which were carried away by the Moslem armies of 
 the 14th century, and they were naturally enough put down as being the 
 product merely of Oriental exaggeration. Pliny, in A.D. j"], referred to the 
 country of the Nareae as containing numerous mines of gold and silver ; 
 
334 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i 
 
 and that by the NareJE the Nairs of Malabar were meant is now an 
 established fact. Dr. Burnell has, as the result of his translation of the 
 Tanjore temple inscription, come to the conclusion that in the luh 
 century gold existed in extraordinary abundance in Southern India. 
 The arguments used by Eastwick {Gentlcinans Magazine, Jan, 1880) 
 seem conclusive that the Ophir of Solomon was situated on the west coast 
 of India, and that from thence went the ivory, apes, peacocks, and gold, 
 all of which could not have been obtained from any one country to the 
 west of India. 
 
 Coupled with the testimony as to the abundance of gold in the 
 country, which is of a most varied kind, there is to be taken into con- 
 sideration the fact that Brough Smyth and Oliver Pegler, as well as 
 many others, have discovered numerous and extensive ancient mines, 
 which, though they had not escaped the notice of early explorers towards 
 the beginning of the century, have now been brought more prominently 
 forward than they ever were before. Gold is known to exist in the 
 following provinces and districts of Madras : Bcllary, Madura, Malabar, 
 Mysore, Salem, Travancore, and VVynaad. Its occurrence in Vizagapatam 
 seems to be as yet unprovcn. 
 
 Bcllary district. — Dr. Balfour states that there is a report to the effect 
 that gold was found in streams near Camvehully, and at a hill bearing 
 the name Jageracully, Goodda, &c. The Bellary Manual, by J. Kelsall, 
 does not, however, contain any reference to the real or supposed existence 
 of gold among the minerals found in the district. 
 
 Madura district. — In the district of Madura, gold is found, according 
 to J. H. Nelson, in two localities, namely, in Palakanuth and in the 
 sands of the Veigei river. Sir W. Ainslie (1813) states that an auriferous 
 zinc-blende was discovered in some part of Madura by Mainwaring. 
 
 Gold is washed out of the detritus of the granitic rocks which form 
 the Palani hills near Palakanuth (10° 27' 30" N., yf 50" E.). Water is 
 scarce, and the work is carried on in a small way, barely affording a 
 subsistence to the washers. D. Muzzy is the original authority for these 
 statements. He suggested deep mining in the soil as being likely to 
 give better results. 
 
 Lieut. Nicolson is said to have seen the gold-sands of Polygonuth, 
 45 miles from Dindigul ; whether by this Palakanuth is intended is 
 doubtful, since it is only about 12 miles from Dindigul. 
 
 On the Veigei river (10° N., 78" E.) gold-washings take place. The 
 gold is supposed, like that of Palakanuth, to come from the crystalline 
 rocks of the Palani [Palni] hills, The people who search for the gold are 
 called Aruppukarans. 
 
 Malabar and the Wynaad. — The VVynaad forms a terrace of moun- 
 tain-land intermediate in position between the low country of Malabar 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 335 
 
 and the lofty plateau of the Nilgiri mountains. It is separated into 
 three portions, which arc locally known as North, South, and South-East 
 Wynaad. Although the south-eastern division of the Wynaad, in which 
 the principal gold-tracts are situated, is now included in the Nilgiri 
 district, it will be more convenient here, with reference to the earliest 
 notices, to treat of it as belonging to the Malabar district, in which it was 
 formerly included. 
 
 Probably the first allusion to the existence of gold in this region, 
 since the time of Pliny, is to be found in the report of a joint commission 
 from Bengal and Bombay, which was appointed to report upon the 
 condition of the Malabar province in the years 1792-93. Allusion is 
 made in the report to the fact that the Raja of Nilambar claimed a 
 royalty on all gold found in his territory. In 1793, too, some steps 
 were taken by Duncan, Governor of Bombay, to ascertain the value and 
 extent of the gold-mines of this region. Mention of the fact that gold 
 was worked here is made in Dr. Buchanan's ' Journey.' He alludes to 
 the existence of gold-mines at Malabar in the year 1801, and states that 
 a Nair who had the exclusive right to mine, paid a small annual tribute 
 for the privilege. Owing to the disturbed state of the country, Dr. 
 Buchanan could not visit the locality. 
 
 In the year 1802, Sir W. Ainslie recorded several localities in India 
 where gold was then known to occur : among these, Nilambar, the 
 Wynaad, and the sand of the Beypur river at Calicut are included. 
 After the lapse of a quarter of a century, or in 1827, S. Young placed 
 on record that fine specimens of native gold had been found to the west 
 of the Nilgiris in the beds of rivers. 
 
 In 1830, F. H. Barber was examined before the Lords Committee on 
 East Indian affairs. He stated that gold was not only obtained in 
 Coimbatore, but throughout the tract of country lying west and south of 
 the Nilg^iri and Kunda mountains. He had often witnessed the process 
 of gold-washing, and had bought the gold as it was extracted. He 
 estimated the area over which the soil was impregnated with gold at 
 2000 square miles. The largest nugget he had seen weighed about half 
 a guinea. The persons employed in washing were the slaves of the 
 proprietors. He attributed the non-improvement in the method of 
 searching to the jealousy of the proprietors. The Government derived a 
 revenue from assessing the puttis or trays used to wash the gold, but he 
 did not know its amount. He was sure that the proprietors would be 
 willing to sell their lands at such a rate as would make it worth the 
 while of people of capital to take it ; but the Government would not 
 allow Europeans to go into the interior without special permission. 
 There were about 100,000 slaves in Malabar ; they were bought and 
 sold like cattle, the value of a man being from Rs. 5 to 20 (10 to 40^-.). 
 
 "' 
 
 !i I 
 
 *■: \ 
 
 'PI 
 
. 
 
 H 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 ; t' 
 
 
 ' 
 
 i' 
 
 33^ 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 In some cases, their sole clothing was a plantain-leaf, and their wretched 
 appearance suggested baboons rather than men. They were originally 
 often kidnapped children, stolen at night from their free parents. 
 
 In 1831, Sheffield, Collector of Malabar, forwarded a report to 
 Government on the localities where gold was known to occur, and on 
 the methods of mining practised by the natives. lie had previously for 
 some time purchased gold from these sources on behalf of the Govern- 
 ment. In the same year, Lieut. Nicolson was appointed to prospect for 
 gold-fields, and to purchase on behalf of Government. His reports were 
 on the whole sanguine as to the extent of the mines and the possibility 
 of their being worked profitably by the British, and he suggested that 
 stamping-mills with engine-power should be set up at Coopal. He 
 proposed that a committee should meet there, as a sight of the mines 
 would do more than anything he could write to ensure conviction as to 
 their value. There are frequent references to the jealousy shown by the 
 natives in reference to his researches and inquiries. The Moplahs 
 refused to take service under him at Rs. 5 (los.) a month, as they said 
 they would have to work daily for him, while the gold they could find in 
 one day sometimes enabled them to live in idleness for a week. At 
 Nilambar, the mines were worked by Korumba slaves, who were sub- 
 jected to horrible cruelties if the gold they found was deficient in 
 quantity. 
 
 The report was accompanied by a map showing the positions of the 
 mines, on which it is stated that the largest were at Coopal and 
 Carembat. After receipt of the Report of a Committee in 1833, which 
 condemned working ,in the low country of Malabar as a European 
 industry, the Governor in Council came to the conclusion that it would 
 be inexpedient to work the mines, and Lieut. Nicolson returned to 
 military duty. 
 
 Reports and letters by the Collector of Malabar in 1857 and i85<S 
 directed attention, after another period of a quarter of a century, to these 
 gold-mines, which extended for a distance of 30 or 40 miles along the 
 western faces of the ghats, and in some places to their summits. The 
 taxes payable by the Rajas for the right to mine had fallen into 
 arrears ; apparently many of the older miners and their descendants had 
 migrated to the coffee-plantations of the Western VVynaad. 
 
 In the year 1865, according to Brough Smyth, among those who 
 were attracted to the Wynaad were H. L. Sterne and G. E. Withers, 
 both of whom had had experience of Australian gold-mining. Soon after, 
 the enterprise of J. W. Minchin led to the erection of machinery to 
 crush the quartz at the Skull reef. Other applicants for the right to 
 mine on their estates then came forward. It would be impossible in 
 this account to give the details of these earliest efforts to put the matter 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 337 
 
 to a practical test, or of those which followed in 1875 and 1S76. Their 
 want of success has been fully described by Hrou^h Smyth. Early in 
 187s, W. Kin;^, Deputy Superintendent of the Geological Survey, visited 
 the VVynaad, and soon after his report and map were published. 
 
 The principal rocks of the area are granites, gneisses, and other forms 
 of metamorphic rocks, which are traversed by numerous (juartz reefs. 
 The gold he describes as occurring originally in the reefs or large lodes 
 of quartz, in the leaders or spurs from them, and in the casing rock. In 
 the leaders and casing, the gold is generally visible, either segregated in 
 the interstices of the quartz, or included in the pyrites or the cubes of the 
 same altered into limonite. Invisible gold also occurs with pyrolusitc. 
 In the reefs, the gold is generally fine. 
 
 The quartz reefs are without exception white at the outcrop, ^ that 
 it is impossible to say from a surface inspection whether tl.^y are 
 auriferous or not. This is the case with the Skull reef of the Alpha 
 Company. The prevailing direction of these reefs is from N.N.W. to 
 S.S.E. ; but owing to the irregularity and the occasional flatness of the 
 underlie, it is not always easy to trace them individually, though the 
 Monarch reef appeared to be traceable for 9 miles. 
 
 Brough Smyth's report on the Wynaad gold-fields gives an account 
 of his explorations during the years 1879 and 1880. In the tract to 
 which he gave his particular attention, and which covers 500 square 
 miles, 200 outcrops, not necessarily distinct reefs, were counted ; they 
 are stated to be more numerous, proportionately richer and wider, than 
 in almost any portion of Australia. As had previously been pointed out 
 by King, there are no deep leads or accumulations of drifts, such as 
 characterize the Australian fields. The ancient mines indicate different 
 degrees of knowledge in the miner's art. They consisted of — (i) quarry- 
 ing on the outcrops of veins, (2) vertical shafts, (3) adits, (4) vertical 
 shafts with adits, (5) shafts on underlie. Among these, the most remark- 
 able are the vertical shafts ; even when in solid quartz, they are some- 
 times 70 ft. deep, with smooth and quite plumb sides. What the tools 
 were which enabled the miners to produce such work in hard dense 
 quartz no one appears to be able to suggest. The fragments of stone 
 obtained from these various mines were pounded with hand-mullers, the 
 pounding-places being still seen, and the pounded stone was then, it is 
 believed, washed in a wooden dish and treated with mercury. 
 
 Brough Smyth compared the present condition of the country to an 
 abandoned Australian washing, it being covered over with tailings, 
 owing to the industry of the Korumbas. Even yet, however, streaks of 
 fine gold may generally be found on washing a few dishes of the surface 
 soil ; and " in the vicinity of the reefs, rather heavy gold is got by 
 sluicing, and, if a suitable spot be selected, the native miners will obtain, 
 
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 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WIST MAIN STRUT 
 
 wnsTH.N.Y. Msao 
 
 (716) 172-4503 
 

338 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 even by their rude methods, sufficient gold to remunerate the;n for their 
 labour." 
 
 The assays of quartz available at the time, and which had been made 
 by himself, by Tween in the laboratory of the Geological Survey office, 
 and by other analysts, numbered 137, of which the following is an 
 abstract : — 
 
 
 No. of Samples 
 ass-iycd by 
 
 AverApe 
 
 yield of Gold 
 
 per ton. 
 
 
 Name of Reef. 
 
 .5 
 >\ 
 
 eg 
 
 CO 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 c2 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Alpha Company's works. 
 Skull reef workings 
 
 Wright's level .. .. 
 
 Prince of Wales' reef . . 
 
 Cavern reef 
 
 Korumba reef 
 
 Bear „ 
 
 Hamslade , 
 
 Dawson's ,, 
 Karambaut , 
 
 7 
 
 II 
 
 6 
 
 '3 
 I 
 
 4 
 I 
 3 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 I 
 8 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 6 
 17 
 18 
 
 6 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 S 
 3 
 4 
 
 or., dwt. gr. 
 
 9 16 
 
 3 3 10 
 
 18 9 I 
 
 3 12 
 
 18 21 
 
 1 3 I 
 II 18 
 
 6 13 
 12 9 
 12 15 
 
 I out of the 17 cases had no gold. 
 Out of the 18, 2 showed fine specks of 
 gold and i assay was lost 
 
 Out of the 9, 1 had traces of gold. 
 Out of the 8, I had no gold and I had 
 \ a few minute specks. 
 Out of 5, I had minute particles of gold. 
 
 Out of 4, I had specks of gold. 
 
 
 SO 
 
 40 
 
 90 
 
 2 13 2 
 
 
 If from the above, an exceptional sample frc*^ Wright's level, which 
 gave 204i o^- P*^"" ton, be omitted, and also picked specimens from the 
 same workings which gave 25^ oz. per ton, there remain 88 samples 
 yielding an average of i oz. 8 dwt. 22 gr. per ton. 
 
 As to the quality of the gold, it has been found to be unequal, that 
 from the soils (alluvial) being finest. 
 
 Two samples of surface-gold obtained by King were assayed in 
 Calcutta and yielded — 
 
 No. I. No. a. 
 
 Gold 93'oo 90*90 
 
 Silver 7-00 8*67 
 
 loooo 99"S7 
 
 The average of 6 assays of reef-gold gave — 
 
 Gold 86-86 
 
 Silver 10*96 
 
 Dross 2"i8 
 
 lOO'OO 
 
 The very important question of ni'neral rights is now believed to be 
 on a more satisfactoiy footing, the Government having determined to 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 339 
 
 make the terms of the mining leases as simple and liberal is possible. 
 It is not proposed to levy any royalty or other tax on the industry for 
 the present, because it is deemed most important to attract capital to the 
 gold-fields. The pioneers will have to buy their experience in many 
 directirns, and it is undesirable that the first ventures should be 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 Brough Smyth, in his special report to Government, discussed the 
 cause of failure of the Alpha Company. The machinery and the 
 management were both unsuited to the requirements of an economical 
 system ; yet, in spite of these, the gold obtained was, from 779^ tons, 
 2 dwt. 9 gr. and, from 32,266 tons, 10 dwt. 12 gr. per ton. In his con- 
 cluding remarks, he speaks with confidence as to the future of the 
 industry, and says that failure can only result from want of care and 
 forethought, as the resources are large. 
 
 The following estimate of the cost of working a company, by Ryan, 
 is stated to be based on actual experience ; but no means of confirming 
 its accuracy or otherwise are available, and all the figures relating to 
 cost will necessarily vary in every instance. 
 
 It being assumed that a concession of value cannot be now obtained 
 at a less cost than 60,000/., the following is taken to represent the first 
 year's expenditure ; — 
 
 Price paid for concession 60,000 
 
 Cost of machinery, 100 stamp-heads at 200/. each .. 20,000 
 
 ♦ One year's working expenses 12,000 
 
 Contingencies, law charges, &c .. ■ 8,000 
 
 Total amount of capital ;£'ioo,ooo 
 
 Taking the value of gold at 3/. 15^. an oz., the return from 25,000 tons 
 of ore, containing 3 to 10 dwt. of gold per ton, would be as stated below ; 
 the cost of production is assumed at 9^. 6d. per ton. 
 
 
 Total. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Cost of 
 production. 
 
 Profit. 
 
 Percentage 
 
 on capital 
 
 of 100,000/, 
 
 
 
 
 ai. 
 
 £ s. 
 
 £ 
 
 £ s. 
 
 
 If yield 
 
 is 3 
 
 [Iwt. per ton 
 
 3.7SO 
 
 14,062 10 
 
 ii|87S 
 
 2,187 10 
 
 fi^ 
 
 
 4 
 
 >» n •• 
 
 5,000 
 
 18,750 
 
 "1875 
 
 6,875 
 
 687 
 
 
 "> 
 
 »i It '• 
 
 6,250 
 
 23.437 
 
 11,875 
 
 1 1 , 562 
 
 1156 
 
 
 6 
 
 II II 
 
 7,500 
 
 28,125 
 
 11,875 
 
 16,250 
 
 1625 
 
 
 7 
 
 II II •' 
 
 8,750 
 
 32,812 10 
 
 11,875 
 
 20,937 
 
 20 93 
 
 
 8 
 
 II 11 •• 
 
 10,000 
 
 37,500 
 
 I'. 875 
 
 25,625 
 
 25-62 
 
 
 9 
 
 II If •• 
 
 11,250 
 
 42,187 
 
 11,875 
 
 30,312 
 
 30- 3« 
 
 
 10 
 
 11 II " 
 
 12,500 
 
 46,87s 
 
 ni875 
 
 35,000 
 
 3500 
 
 Mysore province. — In the year 1802, Capt. Warren, then engaged in 
 the suivey of the eastern frontiers of Mysore, in the Kolar district, 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 hearing of a rumour that gold had been found atthe Yerra Baterine Hill, 
 instituted inquiries which led to the discovery that there were gold- 
 washings near the village of Wurigam [Urigam, Ooregaum], and actual 
 mining at Marcurpam, the quartz which was taken out being pounded 
 into dust by women, and then washed. 
 
 An Amildar informed him that Tipu had formerly sent a Brahmin to 
 work the mines, but as the cost equalled the outturn, they were given up. 
 But the rayats said that this Brahmin had never personally visited the 
 mines. He mentions that in 1800 he had been told in the village of 
 Cargury. on the Poni-aur, that in prosperous years, when there was an 
 ample liurvcst, grains of gold were sometimes found in the cars of paddy 
 growing below a tank. This sounds like a metaphor and suggests chaff. 
 Capt. Warren regarded it as a fabrication at first, but subsequently, his 
 attention having been drawn to the existence of gold at the other 
 localities, he proved its presence here by the aid of washers from Wuri- 
 gam, and thought there might have been something in the story. Paddy, 
 however, has not ears like wheat or barley, and it seems incredible that 
 the rising plant should be able to carry up grains of gold from the soil. 
 It would appear from his descriptions that the laterite is auriferous, a 
 very probable contingency where it is of detrital character. Over an 
 extended area, about the Manigatta, Wullur, and Yeldur Hills, from 
 Budikote to Ramasamudra, Capt. Warren proved the presence of gold 
 in the surfa ;e soil and in the beds of rivers. The people who washed 
 were Dherus or Pariahs, and he seems to think that agriculture was for 
 tbem a more profitable profession. 
 
 The description of two mines then follows, one at Kembly, 30 ft. deep 
 and with a gallery of 50 ft. ; the other west of Surunpally, which was 
 45 ft. deep and 56 ft. in extent. It is evident from the sections given 
 that these were not in solid rock ; but masses of quartz in an ochreous 
 matrix were taken out to be crushed. Hcyne alludes to Warren's 
 researches, but speaks of the gold as being only found in small quai Mties. 
 Specimens of gold in situ from this region appear to have been collected 
 from time to time by Capt. Arthur, Lieut. Puckle, and Dr. Orr. Owing 
 to accidents in these deep alluvial mines. Gen. Sir Mark Cubbin, when 
 Commissioner of Mysore, is said to have prohibited any more being sunk. 
 Recently it has been asserted that Tipu had a mint for gold coin in the 
 neighbourhood of Ooregaum. If he had, it is strange that Capt. Warren 
 did not refer to it. 
 
 The recent growth of the gold-industry in this province can only be 
 gathered, in part, from the following statements in successive Adminis- 
 tration Reports. In 1868, it was stated that alluvial gold was occasion- 
 ally found near Betmangla, but in too small quantities to repay labour. 
 In 1870, it is said that washers earn 4 atnias {6d.) a day by washing at 
 
I 
 
 ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 341 
 
 the foot of the Hemagiri Hill, in the Huliyurdurga taluk of tl'j Nandidrug 
 division. In 1872-73, 41b. of gold was found in the Bctmangla taluk. 
 In 1873-74, 61b. of gold was obtained in Kolar, and an opinion is 
 expressed that a proper system of working would prove the existence of 
 a considerable quantity of gold in certain districts. In 1874-75, 3 lb. of 
 gold was obtained in Kolar, and 20 rupees' (2/.) worth in the Honnali 
 taluk of the Shemoga district. Permission to prospect for gold and other 
 metals was granted to Lavelle for 3 years. Leases for 20 years would 
 be granted to him for blocks not exceeding 2 .square miles each in extent, 
 and 10 in number. The report for 1875-76 states that the terms >( the 
 leases had been modified, and that prospecting was progressing. In 
 1876-77, th',' Urigam [Ooregaum] Company is referred to as not then 
 having conmenced operations. 
 
 In the reports for 1877-78 and 1878-79, there is no Information, and 
 in the table on mines and quarries the statistics of iron, stone, and gold 
 are lumped together. In the last report (1879-80), gold is not alluded 
 to, except in a similar table, though it is stated that iron and potstonc 
 are the only minerals worked in the province. 
 
 Some information on the gold of Mysore will be found in the 
 Gazetteer of Mysore and Coorg, but most of the facts are derived from 
 the sources of information given above. It is stated, however, that 
 platinum has been found with the gold in the washings^ and that the 
 experimental crushing of some quartz was reported to have given a 
 return of 6 oz. of gold to the ton. 
 
 It is known that the rocks of Kolar, and probably of the whole of 
 Mysore, belong to the metamorphic or crystalline series ; but there has 
 not yet been any detailed geological survey. It is stated that there are 
 numerous quartz reefs, and that ij tons of quartz, crushed on the 
 property of one of the companies, yielded 2 oz. 8 dwt. of gold per ton, 
 the silver alloy in the gold being 7J per cent. 
 
 If this rate of production, or perhaps even half of it, should continue, 
 says Ball, it is possible that those among the half-dozen companies 
 which have recently been started in Mysore, whose management is good 
 and whose preliminary expenditure has not been too heavy, have a 
 profitable career before them. The climate, at the average elevation of 
 3800 ft, is said to be equal to that at Bangalore ; there is a line of 
 railway close by, and labour and water are abundant. 
 
 Salem district. — Heyne refers to some gold-min^ which were at 
 Suttergul, near Pangumpilly, in the year 1802. He was prevented from 
 visiting them, owing to a rebellion. They appear to have been either on 
 the borders of Mysore, or in the Salem district ; probably the latter, but 
 the names are not on modern maps. They were perhaps not far from 
 Royacottah. 
 
 '1 
 
 |.i i 
 
 
342 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 According tvO Capt. Campbell, gold used to be found at the base of a 
 hill called Kanjah Mallia, on the road from Salem to Sankerrydrug. 
 After the rains, a number of people washed for it in the streams. The 
 earnings of a washer never exceeded 8 annas (is.). 
 
 Travancore state. — The excitement caused by the recent operations 
 in the Wynaad has led to attention being directed to adjoining areas in 
 Southern India where crystalline rocks occur, and in which it was 
 thought auriferous reefs might possibly be found. Among these areas, 
 the Travancore state has to some extent been p^-o spected, and in Wyld's 
 map of the gold-bearing regions of Southern Jr.did, it is represented as 
 an auriferous tract, — upon what authority, says Bali, is not stated, but it 
 may be claimed for this discovery, if true, that it is also new. Travancore 
 docs not appear in any of the early accounts as a gold-producing region, 
 and the trade of the gold-washer seems to be there unknown. 
 
 W. King has recently (i88i) reported on the subject to the Travancore 
 Government. He states that the so-called quartz reefs of Peermeid 
 and the adjoining country are not really reefs, but are the outcrops of 
 beds of quartzite including felspar, which run with the gneiss ; only in 
 one case is the outcrop sufficiently large to promise a good tonnage of 
 stone. Although a close assay has detected traces of gold, the amount 
 would not justify the application of the term " auriferous quartz." In 
 the Annamalais, King did not observe any reefs so far as he had 
 examined the area ; and throughout the northern parts of Travancore, he 
 saw nothing to justify a hope that regular auriferous rocks would be 
 found. 
 
 A sample from one of these outcrops, which was assayed in Madras, 
 was only about 2 lb. in weight, so that the amount of gold per ton (2 dwt. 
 I gr.) was calculated from the yrVtrth. Until a number of assays of large 
 samples have been made, no safe conclusions can be arrived at as to the 
 average amount of gold contained in this quartz rock. King states that 
 an expert was engaged on behalf of one of the Gold Companies in 
 exploring the southern part of the province, and that it was expected 
 that the question would soon be settled for that area. 
 
 Nepal, Darjiling, and Sikkim. — Although gold is not known to be 
 washed for in Nepal, Sikkim, or Darjiling, there is reason for believing 
 that it exists in these areas under similar conditions to those prevailing 
 in the N.W. Himalayas. 
 
 In an account of the mineral productions of Nepal, by B. Hodgson, 
 gold is not mentioned ; and in a description of the process of refining 
 gold in Nepal, Dr. Campbell states that the gold which is subjected to 
 this process is imported from Thibet, to the value of 2 lakhs (20,000/.) per 
 annum. The fact that there is no published record of the occurrence of 
 gold in Nepal is doubtless due to the notoriously scanty information 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 343 
 
 which we possess regarding the minerals of that country. Mineral 
 productions are precisely what Native Governments arc most particular 
 to conceal ; but we are not left to hypothesis alone for arriving at the 
 conclusion that gold does exist, since, in one of the British districts at 
 the foot of the hills, it is actually washed for; ard though, politically 
 speaking, it may be incorrect, yet, from the geological point of view, it 
 will be most convenient to describe this source of jjold here. 
 
 A number of rivers and streams which take their rise in the outer 
 ranges of Tertiary (Siwalik) rocks, on the borders of the Champaran 
 district and Nepal, are known to be auriferous, and gold-washing takes 
 place annually, at the commencement and termination of the rains, in 
 the Pachnad, Hurha, Balwi [Dhar], Acbni and Kapan rivers. 
 
 In the Statistical Account of Bengal, from which this information is 
 derived, the opinion of a Revenue Surveyor is quoted without a suggestion 
 of dissent to the effect that since the streams rise in these outer hills, 
 the drainage of Nepal being cut off" by a high range, and since the 
 former have a rugged and precipitous aspect, therefore veins of gold 
 might be found which would amply recoup the Government for any 
 outlay it might incur in working them. That veins of gold occur in these 
 rocks is, however, in Ball's opinion, most improbable. The gold included 
 in them is almost certain to be of detrital origin, and, like the materials 
 generally of which the beds are formed, it was brought down from the 
 higher ranges of crystalline rocks inside, which, therefore, contain the 
 veins or other original matrix. The gold-washers of Champaran belong 
 to a race called Tharu, and are, it is said, evidently of Mongolian origin, 
 having similar features to those of the Mechs and Kacharis of Assam 
 and the Bhutan Duars. Their earnings, it is believed, vary from 4 atmas 
 to a rupee {6d. to 2s.), which gives a higher average than in almost any 
 other part of India ; it is possibly an over-estimate. 
 
 On the other hand, the gold must be of very inferior quality, if it be 
 true, as is stated, that it only fetches Rs. 1 2 (24J.), or three-fourths of the 
 ordinary price, per tola (180 gr.). Nuggets of gold are said to occur there 
 sometimes in stones which bear the imprint of fossil shells. It is probable 
 that this supposed form of the gold is only iron-pyrites. During the 
 time the revenue survey was in progress, the amount of gold collected 
 was very much less than it had been formerly, when, according to report, 
 the Raja of Ramnagar collected several thousand rupees' worth annually. 
 
 In a somewhat speculative paper published in 1848, Dr. Irvine starts 
 the hypothesis from a priori considerations, that gold and the ores of 
 other metals probably occur in the rocks forming the hills near or rather 
 above Darjiling ; that such is the case, has been proved with reference to 
 the latter, and the discovery of traces of gold-dust in the streams would, 
 says Ball, only be the fulfilment of a most reasonable anticipation. 
 
 
 4' 
 
344 
 
 GEOGRAPUICAL DISTRIHUTION. 
 
 North-west Provinces. — Gold-bearing sands occur in some of the 
 rivers of Kumaun and Garhwal, and, as in the case of the Punjab, in 
 some of those which take their rise in the outer ranges of hills formed of 
 Tertiary rocks. Several of the rivers in the Moradabad district used 
 formerly to be washed, as described below, if they be not still. The 
 earnings of the washers, as stated to Capt. Herbert, did not exceed 
 2 annas {id!) per man, but he thought this an undcr-cstimate. Other 
 authorities put them at 3 to 4 annas (4^ to 6^.). The industry was a 
 source of revenue to the Gurkha Government ; but when the country 
 became British territory, the smallness of the sum caused it to be remitted 
 by the Commissioner. In the Moradabad district, in 1833, according to 
 Ravenshaw, the gold-washers or Nariyas of Kot Kadir paid Rs. 50 (5/.) 
 a month, and those at Barapura Rs. 30 (3/.), to the zemindar. On the 
 washers in the Dhela river, a tax of Rs. 2 "8 (5J.) was levied* for each 
 washing-trough (called locally katouti), which was paid to the Govern- 
 ment. The use of mercury was known to these washers, as it was in the 
 Punjab. 
 
 Garhwal. — The Alakananda river and its tributary, the Pindar, contain 
 auriferous sands. Moorcroft describes the process of washing as it was 
 carried on in the year 18 19, and Capt. Herbert states that he obtained a 
 speck of gold in granite at Kedernath, near one of the sources of the 
 Alakananda. The whole courses of these two rivers are situated within 
 the limits of the crystalline rocks. The Ganges, where it traverses the 
 outer zone of Tertiary rocks in Chandi taluk, also contains gold, which 
 is possibly locally derived, though some of it may come from the higher 
 ranges, as no doubt all did originally. 
 
 Both the Benigunga and Sona have short courses in the outer hills, 
 till they join the Ramgunga in the Path Dhun : the gold found in them 
 is probably all " doubly derivative." 
 
 Gorakhpur. — Small particles of gold are found mixed with the sands 
 of the Great Gandak ; and those sands are sometimes washed to find the 
 precious metal. But the particles are far fewer than higher up-stream, in 
 the Nepal Tarai ; and Lumsden reckons that to recover Rs. 10 (20^.) 
 worth of gold must cost the sand-washers of Sidhua-Jobna almost double 
 that amount in time and labour. 
 
 Moradaoad district. — In a paper by E. T. Ravenshaw (1833), an 
 account is given of the gold found in the tributaries of the Ramgunga, 
 along the northern frontiers of the Moradabad district. The river in 
 which gold-dust is most abundant is the Koh, which flows a few miles to 
 the east of Naginah, and falls into the Ramgunga, 4 or 5 miles below 
 Sheakdi (.' Sheikdih). Four parties of gold-washers, locally called 
 Nariyas, used to carry on their operations at Kot Kadir, 12 miles from 
 Kotdwar, whence the Koh issues from the hills ; at Barapura ; at Lakher 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 345 
 
 ghdt, on the Ramgunga ; and at Amangarh, on the Phikanadi, a tributary 
 of the Ramgunga. 
 
 In the Dhela, between Sheonathpur and the hills, lo miles farther 
 east, gold was sought for in the rains by Nariyas, who lived at Kheloroli, 
 7 miles north of Kasipur. The gold from this river was said to be of 
 better quality than that from any of the others. No gold was known to 
 exist in the rivers farther east in this district, and its presence in the 
 rivers of the Bareilly district had not been ascertained. 
 
 Orissa. — Within the limits of the province of Orissa, gold-washing is 
 or has been carried on in the Native states of Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Pal 
 Lahara, and Talchir. It is a poor pursuit, as in so many other parts of 
 the country, but the fact is interesting as affording evidence of the 
 existence of gold. 
 
 Stirling alludes to a report that gold is found in some of the streams 
 of Dhenkanal ; and in the Statistical Account of Bengal, washing for it 
 is said to take place in them to a small extent. There was no washing 
 going on there in the early part of the cold season of 1875-76, when 
 Ball passed through the state. The rocks chiefly belong to the older 
 metamorphic series, but there are also some Gondwanas. 
 
 The evidence of gold-washing being practised in Keonjhar (21° 37' 
 30" N., 85° 34' 15" E.) is identical with that given for Dhenkanal. There 
 is reason for believing that in Keonjhar both metamorphic and sub- 
 mctamorphic rocks occur. 
 
 In the Brahmini river, where it traverses Pal Lahara (21° 22' N., 
 85° 11' E.), gold-washing is carried on somewhat more actively than in the 
 before-named states. Farther north, in the bed of the Brahmini, in the 
 Bonai state of Chutia Nagpur, there are also gold-washings, as noted on 
 p. 324. 
 
 Within tlie limits of the Talchir state (20° 57' N., 85° 13' 30" E.),gold 
 has been washed for to a small extent in the Brahmini and its tributaries, 
 especially in the Tikaria and the Ouli. In the former case, it is probably 
 directly derived from metamorphic rocks ; but in the latter, it must 
 have a " doubly derivative " origin, since the Ouli flows through coal- 
 measure Gondwana rocks, namely, Kamthis and Barakars. 
 
 Punjab. — It has been not unfrequently stated that all the rivers of 
 the Punjab, the Ravi alone excepted, contain auriferous sands. Probably 
 there are some others which might be excluded from so general a state- 
 ment ; but the fact remains that the rivers and streams of the province, 
 whether rising in the distant ranges of crystalline rocks forming the axis 
 of the Himdlayas, or merely having their sources in the outer and lower 
 ranges of hills formed of detrital Tertiary formations, do as a general 
 rule contain gold. In the latter cases, the gold must have a " doubly 
 
 „^i^' 
 
 
346 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 derivative " origin, and no veins, or other original deposits of it, can be 
 expected to occur. 
 
 The practice of gold-washing in the Punjab is probably of considerable 
 antiquity ; formerly it afforded a source of revenue, and, under the Sikh 
 Government, the tax amounted to one-fourth of the gross produce. As 
 in most other parts of India, the possible revenue from this source has 
 dwindled down to very small proportions, or has become wholly extinct ; 
 in the year 1 860-61, it was Rs. 444 (44/.) and in 1861-62 it was Rs. 530 
 (53^-)- The fact of gold being obtained by washing in the rivers of 
 Subah Lahore is mentioned in the " Ain-i-Akbari. " The chronicler, or 
 rather his translator, as Ball observes, includes brass in the list of metals 
 which were thus obtained I 
 
 The following account contains the most important authentic informa- 
 tion on the subject of Punjab gold, the districts in which it is found being 
 Bannu, Peshawur, Hazara, Rawalpindi, Jhilam, Aniballa, and certain 
 Native States. 
 
 Amballa district. — Specimens of gold from the Markunda river, near 
 Karrar, were exhibited at the Lahore exhibition. In Balfour's Cyclo- 
 pa'dia, it is stated that gold has been found in large quantities between 
 Amballa and Kalka, but the original authority for the statement is not 
 mentioned. 
 
 Gold-washing, as carried on in the year 1835 in the river Gumti 
 (30° 34' 30" N., Tf 13' 75" E.), which was so called after two villages bearing 
 that name, and situated on its banks, was described by Lieut. Cautley. 
 From the description given, though it does not exactly coincide with the 
 relative posiilons of the places mentioned, it would seem that Gumta of 
 the modern maps, which is to the west of Nahan, was the locality referred 
 to. The Gumta [Gumti] stream is parallel to the Markunda. The 
 washers, of whom there were only a few, carried on their operations with 
 a large trough and sieve, as elsewhere, and employed mercury for the 
 final process. The gold was said to be very fine. 
 
 A royalty of i masha (Rs. 192= 19/. 4J.) was levied by the Raja of 
 Nahan. The daily earnings from one trough worked by two men varied 
 from 2 annas to Rs. 2 (3</. to 4^.). A hope was expressed that the gold 
 would prove as abundant as the Siwalik fossils, which about that time 
 were first discovered. 
 
 Bannu [Bunnoo] district. — At Kalabagh and other points on the 
 Indus below it, gold-dust is washed for, the annual value of the produce 
 being estimated at Rs. 200 (20/.). Whether this gold is derived from the 
 Tertiary rocks, as is that which is obtained in the streams and rivers 
 from the Salt-range in the Jhilam district, or has come from the older 
 rocks higher up the valley, may be an open question. 
 
 Hazara district. — The bed of the Indus in this district also yields 
 
ASIA : INDIA. 
 
 347 
 
 gold-dust, the quality, and therefore the value, of which is the same as of 
 that obtained within the limits of the J'cshawur district. The most 
 prolific portion of the Indus is said to be that which traverses Dardistan. 
 
 Gurgaon district. — But one locality, Sona [Sohna] (28" 14' N., 
 yy° 7' E.), is known in this district where gold has been found. It is 
 possible that this place may owe its name to the fact. When examining 
 the schists of the Arvali series, Hacket was informed that small quantities 
 of gold are found, after the rains, in the streams which take their rise in 
 the hills close by. 
 
 Jhilam dist.ict.— The gold- washings of the Salt-range arc nearly all 
 included in the Jhilam district. They are situated in the beds of streams 
 and rivers which take their rise in the sandstones of Tertiary age, the 
 gold apparently coming from beds of the lower Siwalik group. It has 
 thus a " doubly derivative " origin, as in these beds it is, like the rest of 
 the materials of which they are formed, merely detrital matter from the 
 old crystalline rocks of the Himalayas. Much of the gold is invisible or 
 nearly so, and would be lost but for the employment of mercury. In the 
 year 1850, 158 cradles were worked, and the tax upon these amounted to 
 Rs. 525 (52/. loj.). 
 
 In 1 848, Dr. Fleming was informed, according to Baden-Powell, that 
 the production of gold was as follows : — 
 
 1844 .. 
 
 . . 409 tolas. 
 
 184s .. 
 
 .. 272 „ 
 
 1846 . . 
 
 .. 332 „ 
 
 101 3 tolas X 16 = say 1620/. i6j. 
 
 n 
 
 The Bunjar river, near the eastern end of the hills, is specially men- 
 tioned by Wynne as producing gold, and from it, westwards up to the 
 Indus, many of the streams which rise en the northern flanks of the range 
 contain gold. 
 
 Kangra district. — In this district, gold is found in the Bias river, near 
 Haripur, and also in Spiti, Kulu, and Lahul. 
 
 In a paper by Capt. Abbott, the process of gold-washing in the Bias 
 river is described and illustrated. The gold occurs apparently in still 
 finer particles than elsewhere, being literally dust. It is impossible to 
 say what may be the proximate derivation of this gold, as the river 
 traverses both Tertiary and old crystalline rocks. Since gold occurs at 
 Shamsi, higher up the valley in Kulu, it originally probably all came 
 from that neighbourhood. Traces of gold occur in the argentiferous 
 galenas of Kulu, and the sands of several streams in the same district are 
 believed to be auriferous. Gold is obtained in the larger rivers of Lahul 
 
348 
 
 GEOGRAI'IIICAL IMSTRinUTlON. 
 
 and Zangskar, but the outturn is small ; it is mostly taken to Hindustan. 
 In Kunawar, according to Gcrrard, small tiuantitics of gold arc found in 
 the streams. The position of Kunawar is in the valley of the .Sutlej, to 
 the north of liisahir [Bashahr], on the frontiers of Chine.:e Tartary. 
 Granite and other crystalline rocks are found there, and from these, or 
 rather from the quartz veins which traverse them, the gold has probably 
 been derived. 
 
 Peshawur district. — In the Indus above Attock, and in the Kabul 
 river, gold-dust occurs, though not in great abundance. There arc about 
 1 50 men who wash during the cold and hot seasons ; for the rest of the 
 year, they follow their regular avocation as boatmen. They often receive 
 advances from those who purchase the gold, which is valued at Rs. 15 
 (30J.) a tola (i8ogr.). Each man obtains on an average 2 to 2\ tolas 
 (360 to 450 gr.) of gold, which, from the time spent in its collection, would 
 yield a daily wage of about 2 annas (yl). 
 
 Rawalpindi district. — The .sands of the Indus at Attock (33° 52' 30" 
 N., 72" 15' 30" E.) are also washed for gold. Dr. Jameson (1843) stated 
 that about 3CX) individuals used then to engage annually in the search 
 for gold between Attock and Kalabagh. The washing was effected with 
 the aid of a large wooden trough. Mercury was used, and the gold 
 obtained was sold for Rs. 16 (32^.) per to/a (180 gr.), one-fourth of which 
 was claimed by the Sikh Government. The actual earnings of the men 
 were estimated to be 3 to 4 annas (4^ to 6d.) a day. 
 
 Patiala state. — In the Native state of Patiala, gold is washed for 
 by the Sonjbirs in the bed of a small mountain stream, according to 
 Dr. Balfour. 
 
 Rajpntana. — According to Dr. Irvine, gold-dust u.sed to be found in 
 the sands of the Luni and Khari rivers. The search, however, does not 
 appear to be carried on at present. These rivers traverse rocks of the 
 Arvali scries and gneiss. The actual source of the gold is unknown. As 
 rough indexes of position, Raipur on the Luni (26° 3" N., 74° 5' E.) and 
 Sagramgarh on the Khari (25° 52' N., 74° 29' 30" E.) may be mentioned. 
 
 Japan. — The most extensive account of gold in Japan is given by 
 Henry S. Munro, from whom the following extracts are taken. 
 
 According to Japanese historians, gold was first found in Japan in the 
 year 749 A.D., about 80 years after the discovery of silver, which statement 
 Munro considers open to great doubt, as gold is often brought to view 
 in grains or nuggets by the natural action of running streams, and easily 
 obtained by gravel washing, while silver rarely occurs native, and 
 requires a metallurgical process for its separation. 
 
 During the 90 years in which the Portuguese exported gold from 
 Japan in such large quantities, the gold-mines must have been taxed to 
 their utmost to keep up the supply. This export averaged 3^ million 
 
/ «€*> 
 
 ii 
 
 ASIA : JAPAN. 
 
 349 
 
 dollars (666,666/.) a year; and v/ith the most ample allowance for the 
 supply derived from the hoarded gold of centuries of non-intercourse, 
 the -annual yield of the mines must certainly have been more than 
 $2,coo,ooo (400,000/.). It is also probable that the mines reached their 
 maximum production during this time ; for so great a demand must of 
 necessity have stimulated the supply. Indeed, partial confirmation of 
 this supposition is found in the ste.idy increase for a long period of the 
 amount exported, which at one time reached the sum of $12,000,000 
 (2,400,000/.) for a single year. 
 
 From present knowledge of the character of Japanese gold-deposits, 
 it is evident that this great yield was obtained from placer-workings. 
 These, being shallow and of small extent, were quickly exhausted ; and 
 the attention of the miners was then turned to the quartz veins, which 
 thereafter yielded small but more constant returns. When, however, the 
 imperial edict of \6j ut a stop to the exportation of bullion, this 
 exhaustion of the placer ^ had hardly begun to show itself; for the 
 annual exportation of I'-c Dutch between 1649 and 1671 averaged nearly 
 $3,000,000 (600,000/.), — bill little less than that of the Portuguese in the 
 previous century. 
 
 The yield of gold in 1874 is estimated by J. G. H. Godfrey at 100 knn 
 (about 12,1 50 oz. troy). This shows that there has been a great falling off 
 in the production ; 12,000 oz. are worth but about $250,000 (50,000/) — a 
 very small proportion to the annual export of former times. 
 
 Gold occurs in about one-half of the Icen and /// of Japan ; but in 
 most cases the deposits are not now worked. The records of the Mining 
 OflRce show that permits were granted in 1874 for the working of 58 
 gold-mines. Of these, Munro could learn of but 6, worked solely for 
 gold, which produced notable amounts of bullion ; i nd of the 6, 3 
 together produced, in that year, but 50 oz. Most of the gold now comes 
 from mines worked for silver. Mines producing gold alone are, as a 
 rule, not worth working. 
 
 Gold occurs in Japan in quartz veins and placer deposits, as well as 
 in association with silver and other ores. The placer deposits are 
 generally of fluviatile origin, and the gravel beds arc thin and of limited 
 extent. They are often found covering the terraces of the river valleys. 
 These placer-deposits are uniformly poor. The richest gravel found in 
 Yesso yielded less than 7c. (3i</.) to the cub. yd., while the average of 
 even the best field was only sJc. {2%d.). From information gathered 
 fiom various sources, he infers that this is about the usual richness of 
 similar deposits — even the most celebrated — in other parts of the 
 country. 
 
 The quartz veins, as a rule, are also very poor. Rich quartz is found 
 only in small and thin deposits. The usual yield is about I to \ oz. to 
 
 I 
 
350 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the ton. In exceptional cases, the yield may be as much as $90 to 100 
 (18 to 20/.) ; but the veins are then so thin that the extraction of the ore 
 becomes very expensive. 
 
 The methods employed in the separation of gold from the quartz of 
 the veins and from the gravel of the placer deposits are exceedingly in- 
 teresting. The method of extraction is, in either case, purely mechanical. 
 The gold-bearing quartz is first crushed, and then ground with water, 
 repeatedly and in small quantities, between heavy millstones moved by 
 hand, until reduced to an impalpable slime. This, as it issues from the 
 mill, is largely diluted with water, and conducted over a series of short 
 and narrow boards covered with numerous diagonal saw-cuts. These 
 boards, which collect the gold and other heavy metals very perfectly, 
 are frequently cleaned in a tank ; and the concentrated material so 
 collected is washed with great care and skill on the board or batea of the 
 gold-washers. 
 
 According to careful experiments made by Carlyle while in charge of 
 one of the Government gold-mines, this process extracts, at the first 
 working of the ore, 65 per cent, of the assay value, and the re-working of 
 the slimes yields an additional 1 5 to 20 per cent. Before the material is 
 considered by the Japanese to be exhausted, it is treated a third time by 
 the same process, bringing the proportion of gold saved to fully 90 per 
 cent, of the assa>- value. 
 
 The method of washing employed in the working of the gravel 
 deposits is briefly as follows. Ditches are cut from convenient streams 
 in such a way that the water flows over the bed-rock through the gravel 
 deposit. A certain quantity of gravel is brought into the ditch by under- 
 mining the bank. The larger stones are carefully washed by hand and 
 thrown out of the ditch, and the smaller ones are separated with the aid 
 of proper tools. The rapid current at the same time washes out the 
 clay and fine sand, leaving a bed of fine gravel only in the ditch. When 
 this has reached a thickness of about i ft., 2 or 3 small straw mats are 
 placed side by side in the bottom of the ditch near the head of the 
 working ; and the gravel, a little at a time, is hoed carefully over them. 
 As the gravel is swept over the surface of the mats by the force of the 
 current, the heavy gold and the iron-sand sink between the thick twisted 
 strands of straw, and so are retained. From time to time, the mats are 
 moved a few ft. down stream, and the new material exposed by their 
 removal is hoed over their surface in the same manner until finally all 
 the gravel has thus been several times subjected to treatment. 
 
 During the operation, the mats, as they become charged with gold, 
 are taken from the stream and others are substituted. The concentrated 
 material collected by the mats is finally washed with great care on the 
 ita [washing-board], for the separation of the gold. 
 
ASIA : JAPAN. 
 
 351 
 
 Gold-fields of Yesso. — A description of some of the Yesso gold-fields, 
 condensed from Munro's report to the Government, will serve to illus- 
 trate the general character of the placer deposits of Japan. Gold- 
 bearing gravel is found on the island in many of the river-valleys, 
 apparently divided in every case from the metamorphic strata of the 
 immediate vicinity. These deposits in each of the more important fields 
 are found in the wider portion of the valley, where the river passes 
 through some soft and easily eroded formation, and where a large 
 reservoir has thus been formed to receive the gravel. Where the valley 
 is wholly in metamorphic strata, it is, as a rule, quite narrow, and the 
 deposits of gravel, though perhaps not poor, are of little value, because 
 of limited extent. Again, where in the gold-regions the valley is entirely 
 within the limit of the soft strata, the gravel will be composed chiefly of 
 fragments of sandstone and shale, and will contain little or no gold. 
 
 These auriferous gravels everywhere afibrd unmistakable evidence of 
 having been deposited in running water ; and the direction of the old 
 current, which can usually be determined by the position of flat stones in 
 the beds, coincides, as a rule, with the general course of the present 
 river-valleys. 
 
 The most important gold-field of Yesso is in the upper valley of the 
 Toshibets river, in the province of Iburi. The river here passes through 
 the Toshibets series of clay rocks and tufas, and the valley is wide and 
 deep. The gold occurs in the river gravel, and the deposits extend for a 
 distance of 5 or 6 miles along the valley. The hills on either side are 
 800 to 900 ft. high, and 1000 to 1200 ft. above the sea. 
 
 The bottom of the valley lies in 3 or sometimes 4 terraces, which are 
 about 12, 40, 85, and 260 ft. respectively above the level of the stream. 
 Each of these terraces is underlaid by clay rock, and represents a former 
 bottom of the valley. They are covered by beds of gold-bearing river 
 gravel, which are usually 9 to 12, but sometimes as much as 30 or 40 ft. 
 in thickness. The gravel in turn is covered by yellow sand and loamy 
 silt, usually only a few ft. in thickness, but in the case of the highest 
 terrace fully 50 ft. 
 
 The gold is found to be concentrated in the lower layers of the gravel 
 beds and next the bed-rock. This concentration is probably due to the 
 repeated stirring and rewashing of the gravel as the old river shifted its 
 bed from one side of the valley to the other. The richness of the gravel 
 also increases very perceptibly on ascending the stream, indicating the 
 probable source of the gold. Numerous tests were made in different 
 parts of the field by a modification of the Japanese method of gold- 
 washing. In each case, several cub. yd. of gravel were treated. These 
 tests yielded i to 2 gr. of gold per cub. yd. of gravel washed. The 
 average value of the gravel for the whole field would seem to be about 
 
352 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 is 
 
 3|c. (lid.) per cub. yd., and for the upper and more productive part of 
 the valley, perhaps 5fc. {2^d.), 
 
 On the Musa river, in Oshima province, is another large gold-field, 
 similar to that of the Toshibets, but much poorer. The upper valley of 
 the river is in metamorphic strata, and is quite narrow and deep, the hills 
 on either side being several thousand ft. high. The lower valley is in the 
 soft strata of the Toshibets and Chingkombe groups — clay rocks and 
 shales — and is quite wide, and surrounded by low hills. The transition 
 from the narrow ravine to the broad valley is very abrupt, and marks 
 sharply the line of junction between the hard and soft strata. 
 
 The gold-field comprises the upper 5 or 6 miles of th« broader portion 
 of the valley. The gravel covers the terraces and the bottom of the 
 valley in regular beds averaging 8 ft. in thickness, varying between 5 and 
 13 ft. in different localities. As on the Toshibets, the gravel beds are 
 everywhere covered with sand and silt, 3 to 10 ft. thick. The gravel is 
 composed of pebbles of metamorphic rock ; and from its composition, 
 seems to have been derived from the similar metamorphic rocks of the 
 upper valley. 
 
 The results obtained from the washing of over 100 tons of gravel, 
 from many different localities, show the field to be very poor. The rich- 
 ness of the gravel varies between 0*13 and 0*5 gr. to the cub. yd.; 
 though in one case it reached 2j gr. Omitting this exceptional result, 
 the gravel steadily decreases in value from the upper end of the valley 
 to the lower. The average richness is about ^ gr. per cub. yd. 
 
 Near Esashi and Matsumai, in Oshima province, and near Kudo, in 
 Shiribeshi province, are small gold-fields, but these are even poorer thaa 
 the Musa field. Near Uragawa, in H'taka province, and extending 
 thence to the Tokachi river, in Tokachi province, is a large gravel forma- 
 tion, probably covering an area of over 100 square miles, which in some 
 places contains gold, but in ii'jfinitesimal quantity. 
 
 The remains of old workings are to be seen in all these localities, 
 and it would seem that in former times the Musa and the Toshibets 
 fields must have been extensively worked. Indeed, there is a tradition 
 that about the year 1205, a party of several hundred miners from 
 Chikuzcn, a province of Kiushiu, came to Yesso, while the island was 
 still in the nands of the barbarous and warlike Ainos, and worked the 
 gold-deposits of the Musa valley and other places in the vicinity. From 
 data obtained in surveying the Musa field, it appears that these old gold- 
 washers must have obtained about $21,000 (4200/.) worth of gold from 
 that locality alone, and, as they remained on the island 13 years before 
 they were massacred by the Ainos, they must have secured quite large 
 amounts of the precious metal. 
 
 From the extent of the old workings on the Toshibets, this field also 
 
ASIA : TAI'AN. 
 
 353 
 
 must, in former times, have yielded much gold ; but there is, in this case, 
 neither record nor tradition of the old workers. The Toshibcts field was, 
 however, worked in a small way about 1 2 years ago by the government of 
 the Sh6gun. A few men only were employed, and the total yield was 
 quite insignificant and hardly paid the expense of working. 
 
 Kanaba Gold-mines (Okuzo, Akita k6ri, Akita ken). — At the time 
 of Munro's visit, these mines were under the direction of Robert G. 
 Carlyle, an engineer of the Mining Office. Since the death of Carlyle, 
 they have been under the superintendence of R. J. Frecheville, of the 
 same office. 
 
 These gold-mines have been worked for many centuries, and hundreds 
 of tunnels and adits penetrate the hills in every direction. A number of 
 these old workings have been re-opened and surveyed. Tunnels over 
 2 liiiles in length have been found, and drifts and stopes innumerable, — all 
 driven with imperfect tools, before the time of gunpowder ; and affording, 
 especially in the carefully dressed walls and squared corners of some of 
 the larger tunnels, evidence of slow and patient labour. One of these 
 tunnels is said to have been the scene of a desperate fight between the 
 rival miners of 2 provinces, whose workings, driven from opposite sides 
 of the mountain, met in this place. The connecting winze was after- 
 wards blocked up, and has been only recently re-opened, for ventilation. 
 
 The gold occurs in small veins, traversing a porphyritic rock. The 
 veins vary in thickness from 3 ft. to a mere fiieet. The gold is associated 
 with copper- and iron-pyrites, blende and galena. The thin veins contain 
 the richest ore, while the larger veins are usually too poor to be worked. 
 The large veins hold copper and lead ; but neither are they rich enough 
 in these metals to be worked. These large fissures are quite regular: 
 run N. and S., and dip 45° to 70° W. They are usually filled with de- 
 composed porphyry, often in the form of a plastic clay. The copper-ore 
 occurs in local deposits of limited extent, near the foot-wall. 
 
 The large veins intersect and cut off the smaller gold-bearing veins, 
 these latter being either branches of the main fissures, or faulted to a 
 considerable extent by them. Carlyle was inclined to adopt the former 
 view. 1 here seems to be little parallelism between these gold-veins, 
 though the general direction is about E. and W. 
 
 The average richness of the ore, as hand-picked and prepared for 
 treatment by the Japanese process, is about $90 (18/.) per ton (con- 
 taining 4*4 oz. of gold) ; 40 miners produce of such ore only about \ ton 
 a day. Including all expenses, the cost of mining reaches nearly $38 
 (7/. i8x. 4</.) per ton of 2000 lb. 
 
 A lo-stamp mill, of the California pattern, with a capacity of 1 5 tons of 
 ore per day, has been erected by the Mining Office. In working the mine 
 on the scale necessary to supply this mill, the cost of getting out the ore 
 
 m 
 
 il 
 
354 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 i 
 
 will be greatly reduced ; but, at the same time, it will be impossible for 
 the miners to select, as heretofore, the best places, and the richest 
 mineral. The average richness of the ore mined will not probably be 
 more than $20 (4/.) per ton, if indeed it reaches that figure. The cost 
 of treatment by the Japanese process is but $8 65 c. (l6s.) per ton of 
 2CX)0 lb., and by the stamp mill will probably be much less, so that the 
 question is whether the cost of mining, now so large, can be reduced 
 to a figure that will permit a profit. The sclution of this problem will 
 perhaps determine whether any of the gold-deposits of the country can 
 be worked with profit ; for this Okuzo mine, though perhaps not the 
 richest, is better than the average of Japanese gold-mines. 
 
 Yamagano Gold-mines (Kuwabara k6ri, Kagashima ken). — These 
 mines ar owned and worked by a private corporation, the Satsuma 
 Mining Company. A 1 5-stamp mill, built in France, is being erected 
 here under the superintendence of a Japanese machinist from the Ikuno 
 mines. The mill will be run by a large turbine, and will treat 24 tons of 
 ore per diem. 
 
 There are several mining districts in this vicinity. The mines of 
 Nagano, in the neighbourhood of the mill, are at present flooded, and 
 work has been suspended, during the completion of a new drainage 
 tunnel. This, with its branches, it is said will be about 2^ miles in 
 length, and will require 30 years for its construction. The mines which 
 will be drained by this tunnel are reported to be very rich. 
 
 In the meantime, the supply of ore is drawn from the mines of 
 Yamagano and Musoyama. The gold occurs in quartz veins traversing 
 a stratified tufa rock. This tufa, which is quite soft, alternates with a 
 hard, dark-blue crystalline quartzite, and in the vicinity are beds of 
 sandstone and shale. Both the quartzite and the shales contain in places 
 prints of maples and other deciduous trees. The strike and dip of the 
 gold-bearing veins correspond usually with the strike and dip of the 
 stratified rocks, and they are apparently bedded veins, though without 
 doubt true fissures. The general direction is E. and W., the dip S. 
 
 At Yamagano, the veins are rarely more than iV ft. in thickness, and 
 when thicker, arc too poor to work. The average yield of the ore is 
 about i^ff oz. or $6 {26s.) to the ton of 2000 lb., which, it is said, does 
 not pay expens";s. 
 
 At Musoyama, is a vein 5 to 6 ft. thick, filled for the most part with 
 fragments of wall-rock, cemented by thin scams of gold-bearing quartz. 
 The yield of this ore is nearly ^ oz. gold, or $9 70 c.(40.f. S</.) to the ton. 
 As the vein is so exposed that it can be quarried in the open air, 25 
 workmen, mostl; boys, produce 6 tons of ore per diem. At another mine, 
 Yamanokamiyama, small quantities of ore are obtained, which is said 
 to yield I '58 oz., or $28 8oc. (6Q to the ton. 
 
ASIA : JAPAN. 
 
 355 
 
 At both Yamagano and Musoyama, arc large deposits of gravel con- 
 taining gold-quartz. These deposits arc washed for g(jld, and the quartz 
 is picked out by hand ; i cub. yd. yields about 1 1 c. (Sh^-) worth of gold 
 by washing; and the quartz picked out, when crushed and treated by the 
 Japanese process, yie'ds about as much more. 
 
 Sado Gold and Silver mines. — The mines of the island of Sado are 
 said to be the richest and most valuable in Japan. They have been 
 worked for more than looo years, and formerly yielded much gold. The 
 bullion produced at present is mostly silver, gold occurring in small pro- 
 portions only. 
 
 From a short account of the principal mines given by Gubbins, of the 
 British Legation, in a paper read before the Asiatic Society, in April, 
 1875, the following details are extracted. 
 
 The mines are situated near Aikawa, towards the southern extremity 
 of the island. The old workings, which are very extensive, are of the 
 most primitive kind, and the mines have for the most part been 
 abandoned for want of means to control the water. About 60 years ago, 
 300 miners are said to have lost their lives by a sudden flooding of one 
 of the principal mines, perhaps caused by the accidental tapping of a 
 large body of water collected in some older working. 
 
 Of the character of the deposits, the richness of the ores, and the 
 nature of the work now going on, Gubbins gives no information. He 
 mentions a little episode, however, which illustrates the difficulty some- 
 times attending the introduction of labour-saving r lachincry and new 
 methods of working. It seems that a few years ago a tramway was 
 constructed to bring the ore from the mines to the works. Its use, how- 
 ever, has recently been discontinued, because of difficulties of working, 
 frequent accidents, &c. ; and it proves better policy and quite as econo- 
 mical to employ women at 4c. (21/.) a day to carry the ore on their 
 backs. 
 
 Th" principal problem at present is to drain the mines, and put them 
 in proper working order. It is estimated that it will take 5 years and a 
 considerable outlay of capital to accomplish this. There is, however, ore 
 enough on hand to keep the new smelting works running for 2 years. In 
 the meantime, for various reasons, the mines are being worked at a loss. 
 This is in part due to the unproductive work now carried on, and in part 
 to the Japanese system of administration. In i year, bullion to the 
 amount of $60,000 (12,000/.) was sent to Tokio from the mines ; but the 
 expenses (in part capital invented ?) for the same period were $75,000 
 (15,000/.). 
 
 The ore occurs n 2 large veins running N. and S. These veins 
 divide into a number of smaller branches, which alone were worked in 
 former times. Of the many old adits, but 6 are in working order : these 
 
 li 
 
356 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 h 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 follow veins 3 to 20 ft. thick. The ore contains gold, silver, copper, lead, 
 and in some places antimony. 
 
 It is proposed to sink 3 shafts, 2 for hoisting the ore and one for 
 pumping and hoisting combined. One shaft is to have a depth of 
 668 ft., with 4 horizontal galleries 2CX)0 ft. long, at intervals of 100 ft. 
 Another shaft will be 902 ft. deep, with 3 galleries 2500 ft. long. The 
 whole work will be completed within 1 2 years. It has been estimated 
 that 300,000 tons of ore will be obtained in this time, and in the 3 years 
 following an average of 60,000 tons a year. 
 
 At present the whole of the ore mined cannot be treated, as the 
 smelting-works are incomplete. In 1873, fully 60,000 tons remained 
 from the working of former years, and during the same year an additional 
 amount of 1867 tons was produced. Of this, but 1217 tons were treated, 
 producing 24,549 oz. of silver and 592 "27 oz. of gold, which would be 
 worth about $40,000 (8000/.). The ore would thus seem to average 
 nearly $33 'ol. lys. 6d.) per ton, and to be rather argentiferous than 
 auriferous. 
 
 Consul Ensden, reporting from Hakodadi in 1 874, says it has always 
 been surmised there was gold in this island, but the spot was unknown, 
 and it was strenuously denied by the officials. A visitor to Hakodadi, 
 on his way to Tagholin vid this island, told the consul that he came 
 across a party, consisting of 4 Japanese <<a6. 5 Ainos, busy washing gold 
 on Government account. This was at Tofui, in the Tokeby [Birs] 
 district, about 160 ri from here, on the eastern coast. The gold is found 
 .for miles along the beach, which is covered with thick layers of black 
 auriferous sand. The simple process consists in taking up a small basket 
 of sand, washing its contents by the seaside, and collecting the gold, 
 which is prevented from running off by a small sieve at the bottom of 
 each basket. Specimens of gold taken at different places were all 
 equally fine and rich. 
 
 J. G. H. Godfrey (1878) states that most of the river-sands, and 
 chiefly those of the northern part of Nippon, contain grains of metallic 
 gold ; but it was only in former times, when wages were considerably 
 lower than at present, that these sands paid for washing. River-sands 
 of a better quality are occasionally worked by farmers in the province of 
 Koshiu during the quiet season. 
 
 Numerous lodes and deposits containing gold are found in the 
 rhyolitic formation, and in several instances they are cut off by dykes of 
 basalt or dokrite. As a general rule, these lodes or deposits are of 
 rather limited extent ; but some of them, as the quartz veins of Sado 
 (prov. Sado), Ikuno (prov. Tajima), and Innai (prov. Uzen), are of con- 
 siderable size, continue to great depths, and have proved productive for 
 a number of years. 
 
.'SI A : JAPAN. 
 
 357 
 
 Most of the gold produced in Japan is derived from auriferous silver- 
 ores ; it occurs by itself in the metallic state, and in sufficient quantity to 
 be collected by a washing process only in a few localities. The most 
 important auriferous quartz veins occur in the provinces of Koshiu, Ugo, 
 and Satsuma. 
 
 At Homura (prov. Koshiu) numerous thin quartz veins of very limited 
 extent are found interbedded in a hard clay-slate. The metallic gold is 
 here associated with small quantities of arsenical and iron-pyrites, 
 blende, and galena. Owing to the hardness of the containing-rock, 
 underground mining has been prosecuted only on a very small scale, and 
 the work has been confined chiefly to the washing of the alluvial deposits 
 in the proximity of the mines. The ground in the neighbourhood of the 
 quartz veins is much broken up, and consequently rapidly disintegrated 
 by atmospheric influences. 
 
 At Ooguzu (prov. Ugo) a quartz vein about 2 ft. wide, running 
 nearly N. to S. and dipping 60° W., and numerous cross-veins of smaller 
 size, bearing N.E. to S.W., occur in a greenish soft clay-stone porphyry 
 (probably decomposed rhyolite). 
 
 The metallic gold is here associated with copper- and iron-pyrites. 
 A dark-greyish mineral, probably sylvanite, often accompanies the 
 metallic gold. These veins have been mined for many years past, and 
 the gold is collected by stamping the ore and subsequent washing and 
 amalgamation. 
 
 At Serigano and Yamagano (prov. Satsuma) numerous quartz veins 
 of greatly varying thickness, running E. to W. and dipping slightly N.^ 
 are found in a rock resembling decomposed propylite. Usually the gold 
 occurs therein alloyed with silver ; and this alloy sometimes partially 
 fills out cavities in the vein-stuff with thin foils studded over with small 
 cubical crystals of the same alloy. 
 
 Most of the auriferous quartz-veins in Japan are very irregular in 
 their character and very changeable as regards their yield. 
 
 A volume published by the Kaitakushi, Japan, gives the following 
 very interesting and full details of the mode of gold-washing, previously 
 (p. 350), mentioned in general terms. A prospector wished to test some 
 auriferous gravel. The common pan was tried, but the gravel, though 
 washed in small quantities at a time, yielded on some occasions little or 
 no gold, on others it gave very promising results from poorer looking 
 samples. The cradle was tried, but did not recover nearly so much gold 
 as the Japanese method. A sluice could not be used, as it would take 
 too long to construct, and would be too cumbersome to move to 
 different parts of the field in order to test it. The long-tom, though 
 inferior to a sluice, as its shortness causes much waste of fine gold, is 
 nevertheless better than the cradle, and was therefore selected for a trial 
 
35« 
 
 GliCKJUAI'llICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I '' 
 
 i 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 afj[c'iinst the Japanese method. The experiments were made under con- 
 ditions the least favourable to the torn, the gravel being poor and the 
 gold fine. The results were surprisingly discreditable to the tom. In 
 one case, washing with a limited supply of water, one cubic metre of 
 gravel yielded 30 • 8 milligrammes of gold by the native process, and only 
 2 '6 milligrammes or about iV P^rt by the tom. In a more favourable 
 locality, treating 3 cubic metres of gravel in each case, the former gave 
 at the rate of 68 milligrammes per cm., the latter but 18, or \. In 
 suitable spots and with more practised workmen, undoubtedly much 
 better results might be obtained, but the experiments sufficed to show 
 that for prospecting in poor gravels the Japanese method was certainly 
 the better as well as the more convenient. It requires but few tools, 
 viz. : — a tsjirn or pick for occasional use in loosening tlie gravel ; two or 
 three specially shaped kiia or hoes, for working the gravel in the stream 
 or washing-ditch ; a joren, or scoop-shaped bamboo basket for re- 
 moving the coarse gravel ; two or three nekosa, or straw mats, specially 
 made for collecting the gold ; and an ita or board, slightly warped and 
 dish-shaped, used as a pan, for separating the gold from the concentrated 
 sand. To these were added a masu, or measuring-box made to hold 
 exactly 1^ cm., and provided with a board floor to ensure accuracy ; also 
 a couple of shovels were used for filling and emptying this box. 
 
 To test the gravel of any desired locality, a place was selected on a 
 small stream, combining if possible, the following conditions: — 
 
 1st. — An exposure of the bed-rock below the gravel at least 6 in. or 
 I ft. higher than the level of the stream. 
 
 2nd. — The whole thickness of the gravel-bed accessible. 
 
 3rd. — A velocity of at least i^ to 2 ft. per second, either in the 
 stream itself, or produced in a washing-ditch 1 5 to 20 ft. long by a dam 
 or other expedient. 
 
 4th. — Sufficient water for washing : 60 to 80 cub. ft. per minute is the 
 most convenient quantity, but much less may be made to do. 
 
 A suitable place having been found, the bank is cleared of grass, roots, 
 and soil for a width of about 3 ft. and from the bed-rock to the top 
 of the bank, exposing the whole thickness of the gravel bed. The 
 measuring-box is then placed in position on the bank of the stream and 
 filled with gravel, only boulders of exceptional size being omitted. In 
 the meantime the gold-washers form a washing-ditch by cleaning the 
 bed of the stream for a width of 2 to 3 ft. and a length of 15 to 20 ft. 
 When the stream is large, it is divided, only the volume of water requisite 
 for washing being admitted to the ditch. In thus dividing a stream, care 
 must be taken that the stones of the partition-wall are so placed that all 
 leakage of water shall be from the main stream into the ditch, and that 
 there may be no flow in the opposite direction, otherwise much of the 
 
ASIA : JAPAN. 
 
 359 
 
 measured gravel with its gold will be lost. These preparations completed, 
 the gravel is shovelled from the measuring-box into the head of the 
 washing-ditch, and the box is refilled with gravel. At the same time 
 the men wash and throw out the large stones by hand, and separate the 
 smaller stones from the gravel with the jonn and kiia. The rapid 
 current washes out all the clay and fine sand, leaving only the fine gravel 
 in the stream. Riffles are built of flat stones across the lower end of the 
 ditch, to arrest the gravel and to prevent any gold being carried down- 
 stream. When 4 to 6 boxes of gravel have been shovelled into the 
 water, forming a bed of fine gravel about i ft. thick the washing on mats 
 begins. Two or three mats, each i ft. wide by 2 ft. long, slightly 
 narrower at the lower ends, are placed side by side across the stream 
 about 2 ft. below the upper end of the gravel. The upper edges of these 
 mats are buried a little in the gravel and held in position by the foot of 
 the gold-washer, usually one man to each mat, the number of men being 
 regulated by the width of the stream. These men now carefully hoe the 
 gravel to the head of the mats, so that it shall be carried over their 
 surface by the force of the current. The heavy gold and iron-sand sink 
 between the thick twisted strands of straw forming the mat, while the 
 lighter gravel passes down-stream. The lower ends of the mats are lifted 
 from time to time and folded over the upper portion, to transfer the gold 
 to the head of the mat and to keep the lower part clean. When all the 
 gravel in front of the mats has been hoed over their surface, the men 
 move them about 2 ft. down stream, and begin to work in a similar 
 manner on the new portion of gravel thus exposed. Finally, after 25 to 
 30 minutes' work, the mats are removed one by one from the bottom of 
 the stream, folded in both directions under water to transfer the material 
 to the middle, and then bent into the shape of a trough and " jugged " 
 with a longitudinal motion under the water to separate the lighter sand 
 and gravel which still remains. One of the mats is then held in the 
 stream, between the ankles of the gold-washer, and folded lengthwise as 
 a trough, through which the water is allowed to flow quietly. A second 
 mat is then seized by the ends, inverted and folded transversely, the fold 
 being allowed to dip just below the water in the trough of the mat 
 below. The mats are so woven that this folding opens the crevices 
 between the large transverse strands, allowing the gold and iron-sand to 
 be washed out by the water. By alternately raising each end of the mat 
 while depressing the other, the whole surface is successively washed by 
 the stream, and the various strands of the mat being opened and loosened 
 by the folding, the gold and iron-sand are very completely transferred to 
 the lower mat. In a similar way the concentrated material from all the 
 mats is collected on one, and from this is finally transferred to the shallow 
 wooden washing-board. This last transfer is made with great care in a 
 
I 
 
 ': 
 -' 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 360 
 
 GEOGKAPHICAL DISTRIUUTION. 
 
 quiet pool of water, in which place the final concentration on the board is 
 effected. The separation of the gold from the iron-sand on this board 
 requires great skill and caution. The board is first floated on the water, 
 and by a few oscillations, the material is washed to the centre. Then it 
 is raised from the water with a number of smart longitudinal jerks, the 
 effect of which is to bring the heavier material to the end next the gold- 
 washer, while the lighter sand flows off gradually with the water at the 
 lower end. The board is now brought to the surface of the water, the 
 lower end dipping a little below, and with one or two gentle swings, it is 
 again covered with water, while a small quantity of the light sand is 
 washed from the lower end. The board is then raised with the same 
 dextrous shakes as before, the washing being conducted with great care, 
 and but little iron-sand being allowed to pass off each time. Af»<:r 5 or 
 6 minutes, most of the gold will have been brought to the head of the 
 board, the light-yellow grains showing very distinctly in the black sand. 
 The gold may be brought more clearly into view by allowing a little 
 water to trickle down the inclined board, which washes off the black sand 
 and leaves the gold exposed. The first portion of gold, with some of the 
 adjoining iron-sand, being removed, the remaining sand is washed a few 
 times, usually yielding one or two grains in addition. Finally, the gold, 
 and the small quantity of iron-sand taken from the board at the same 
 time, having been dried, is submitted to a careful separation by blowing, 
 the iron-sand is carried off, and the gold remains ready for weighing. 
 In this last separation, a small magnet is sometimes of assistance for 
 removing the large grains of iron-sand, too heavy to be blown away. 
 
 Kashmir. — There is reason to believe that gold used to be sought for 
 in parts of Kashmir proper ; but notices concerning it are very scanty. 
 The ' Ain-i-Akbari ' says that gold was found in a river called Padmatti, 
 and at Puckely and Gulkut (? Gilgit), which came from the country of 
 the Dards. The principal localities where gold-washing is carried on in 
 the territory of the Raja of Kashmir are apparently situated in Ladak. 
 Dr. Bellew mentions having seen an old deserted mine in auriferous 
 sands at Kargil (34° 34' N., 76° 10' 30" E.), which has been abandoned 
 since some of the workers were killed by a portion falling in. 
 
 Ladak. — According to Cunningham (1854), gold-washing in the 
 beds of the Indus and Shayock was carried on only by Mahomedans 
 from Balti, as the Buddhists of Ladak had long been prohibited from 
 the seaich, probably with the object of preventing their neglect of 
 agriculture. 
 
 Lydckkcr recently visited a locality named Kio (34° N., 7y° 18' E.), 
 on the Markha river, where operations were being vigorously carried on. 
 The gold is believed to be derived from certain veins of yellow quartz, 
 which are very abundant in the Carboniferous limestone of that neigh- 
 
ASIA : KASHMIR, LADAK, MALAY PENINSLM.A. 
 
 361 
 
 
 bourhood. In Ladak, a common form of pickaxe used by the miners 
 consists of the horn of the wild sheep (Oris Vigttci) tipped with iron ; this 
 is mounted in a wooden handle, and is said to be an efficient implement. 
 
 A remarkable method of obtaining gold, which was formerly, if not 
 now, practised in these regions, is to peg down the skins of animals with 
 the hair on them in the beds of auriferous streams. The hair, pre-'/ 
 sumably set against the current, acts the part of the modern miner's / 
 blanket, arresting the small particles of gold, which can be collected by/, 
 drying and shaking the skins. Thus, it is said, the gold was gathered 7 
 at Puckely. And the same practice is r'-^orted to have been anciently \ 
 in vogue in Savoy. 
 
 Malay Peninsula. — One of the earliest modern writers on the 
 Malay Peninsula was Lieut. J. T. Newbold (1833-39). Describing the 
 gold-mine at Battang Moring, on one of the many so-called Mounts 
 Ophir [Gunong Ledang], he says the mine is situated on the flat marshy 
 ground at the foot of the slope on which the Chinese house stands ; in 
 length it measures about 10 yd., by 4 in breadth, and 6 or 7 ft. in depth. 
 It is filled with muddy water, which is drained off by a simple bamboo 
 hydraulic apparatus, somewhat resembling the Indian pnkotah. The 
 miners descend for the purpose of digging out the metallic earth, by 
 means of rude ladders formed of the notched trunks of trees. The 
 process is extremely simple. Having dug out a quantity of the earth, 
 which consists of coarse sand, greyish clay and white pebbles, among 
 which crystals of quartz are found, and greenish stones, t.e miner places 
 it in a shallow funnel-shaped vessel of wood, and carries it to a stream 
 of water, conducted by 2 narrow channels close to the mine. 
 
 The water, falling from a height of about i ft., washes away the 
 lighter earthy ^ articles and clay, assisted by the rotatory motion of the 
 miner's hand. This done, he carefully picks out the stones and other 
 refuse too large for the water to carry off, whilst the gold-dust in minute 
 portions, sinks to the narrow bottom of the vessel, from which it is 
 extracted, carefully washed, and laid by to be made up into small bags 
 each containing one bougkal {\\ oz. troy). 
 
 The gold of " Ophir," though small in quantity, is as fine as that 
 of Pahang in quality, being estimated at 90 touch. The earth is 
 probably the debris of the granite forming the summit, the white masses 
 appearing to be felspar in a decomposed state ; the crystals are quartz, 
 and the small grains in the earth are also quartz. The Chinese showed 
 Newbold a specimen of a stratum of clay of a greenish-grey colour, 
 beneath which gold is never found. The Chinese affirm that one mine 
 does not produce monthly more than i tael {\\ oz.) of gold. This is 
 probably designedly underrated. A tribute is exacted from each 
 individual of $i (4^. 2d) monthly for the privilege of mining here, by 
 
 \ 
 
 A 
 
 i'-'l 
 
 I, ;< 
 
 
362 
 
 GIXKiKArmCAI, IJiSTklliL'TION. 
 
 the petty M;ilny chiefs, who levy it in person every 2 months, and in 
 reality are little better than banditti. 
 
 Newbold {^ivcs the following list on the authority of the head Chinese 
 miner at Moung, as the names of the places around Mount Ophir (for 
 the gold is always procured at the foot), where mines have been 
 established : — liattang Moung, Kcdanon, Rcjang, Kaddam, Tanong, 
 Paecdalum, Ikrinjin, Tcrring, Kayo Arro, Kamoyan, Jongi, Dcddani, 
 Poggi Haru, Chundagon, Ayer Kuning, and Ayer Chamhi. He was 
 aho informed that formerly nearly looo Chinese worked in these mines. 
 
 The gold of the Peninsula, according to Ncwbold's rough estimate, 
 amounts to 19,800 oz. annually. It is chiefly got at Ulii Pahang, 
 Tringanu, Kalantan, Johole, Gominchi, and Jcllye ; Reccan, Battang 
 Moring, and other places at the foot of Mount Ophir. He says that 
 Pahang is celebrated for the quantity and quality of its gold. From the 
 jealousy of the chiefs, the mines have never been accessible to Europeans. 
 Gray, a trader who crossed from Malacca to Pahang, ascertained that 
 the gold-mines were about I month's pull from the village of Jellye up 
 the river liraugh, one of the tributaries to the Pahang stream, and 40 
 days' pull from Pahang. The total produce of these mines exceeds 
 300 lb. troy, annually. C " ' dust is found a short distance from the left 
 bank of the river at Bukit i a, a low hill covered with forest, at the 
 foot of which are gold-mintj formerly worked by Malays, who were 
 compelled to quit them through the exactions of the petty chiefs. 
 
 Capt. Hamilton (1727) speaks of lumps of gold weighing 5 or 6 oz. 
 which he saw taken from the Pahang, and states that the natives do not 
 dive below 3 fathoms, though most gold would be found in the deeper 
 parts, which reach 10 fathoms. 
 
 The following account of the gold-mines at Chimendras was drawn 
 up by Newbold from native information. 
 
 Bukit Chimendras is a hill situated at Gominchi, a territory subject 
 to the Panghiilu of Johole, bordering on the eastern frontier of Naning. 
 It is covered and surrounded by an uninhabited forest of great extent, 
 intersected by numerous rivulets, which have their sources on the hill. 
 
 Veins of quartzose rock run over it at various depths (generally 12 
 to 20 ft.) below the surface, forming the matrix, in which the gold is 
 found in small broken streaks. The rock is enclosed in a bed of white 
 clay, indurated more or less, termed napal. 
 
 The method pursued by the Chinese and Malays for separating the 
 metal from its matrix, resembles that adopted by the Hungarian miners, 
 only that the process of amalgamation is not practised by the former for 
 this purpose. 
 
 The Malay miners, as soon as the precise spot and minute have been 
 determined by their diviners, Pawangs, or other charlatans supposed to 
 
ASIA : MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 363 
 
 be skilled in cHscoverintj the hidden treasures of the earth, commence 
 clearing the ground of trees, brushwood, &c., and then proceed to 
 remove the roots and vegetable soil, by means of bilioiiji^s and choiikolcs 
 (the Malayan adze and spade), until the bed of napal is laid bare. These 
 implements are now put aside, and a heavy sort of iron crow-bar {f>erJong) 
 is employed. 
 
 The first layer of ttapal is soft and whitish ; the second has a reddish 
 tint. The last is a black incrustation resembling brick in hardness, and 
 hence called by the natives /rtw^Z/vV <///«//; this is commonly 2 fingers' 
 breadth in thickness, and, being removed, discovers the white vein of 
 rock, the matrix of the gold, and termed beting. It is generally between 
 3 and 4 ft. in diameter ; underneath lies a bed of whitish earth, below 
 which gold is never found. 
 
 The next process is that of breaking up the beting, for which purpose 
 also the perjong is used. From the extreme hardness of the rock, this 
 operation is very laborious and tedious. The coarse pieces are pounded 
 in a sort of large mortar, cut from the quartz rock. The pulverized stone 
 is then passed through sieves {kisye) of ratan, and carried in small 
 baskets to a running stream, where the smaller stony particles are 
 washed away, while the gold-dust, with the grosser pieces, sinks to the 
 bottom of the conical vessel, in which it is subjected to the action of the 
 stream. 
 
 The refuse is picked out, and the gold-dust is again carefully washed 
 and collected in a coco-nut shell, or leaf of thcpalas tree {Btiteaf ^ndosa), 
 and conveyed to the bongsal, where it is dried by means of a red-hot 
 piece of charcoal being repeatedly passed over its surface. After the 
 adherent finer particles of the sand have been removed, it is weighed into 
 quantities, generally of i tael ( i \ oz.) each, which are carefully folded up 
 in small pieces of cloth. These packets constitute the bongkals of 
 commerce, which are frequently current instead of coin. 
 
 Besides Chimendras and Taon, Newbold did not hear of any place on 
 the Peninsula where gold is obtained from the solid rock. At Pahang 
 and Jellye, the gold-dust is procured in the same manner as that in the 
 mines at the foot of Mount Ophir. The mines at Reccan are estimated 
 to produce annually about 20 catties (60 lb. troy) of gold-dust. 
 
 The Panghiilu of Gominchi first levied a tenth on the produce of 
 these mines ; but in consequence of large quantities of gold-dust being 
 secretly carried off before the tenth had been levied, he substituted a sort 
 of poll-tax, amounting to a miam (52 gr.) of gold per annum, from each 
 person working at the mines. The Panghiilu of Johole is in the habit of 
 sending 5 or 6 buffaloes a year to the mines, receiving for every head of 
 cattle 2 taels {2\ oz.) of gold. These heavy drawbacks have caused the 
 mines to become unprofitable to the speculators, and almost deserted. 
 
 
 i?l^ 
 
 t i 
 
364 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The former of these imposts could readily be endured ; but the latter 
 exaction destroys all hope of reasonable profit. 
 
 The following is an estimate of the various degrees of purity of gold- 
 dust produced in the Peninsula. It will be necessary to premise that 
 mutu is a term denoting the degrees of fineness for gold, of which there 
 are 10, as fixed by the native assayers. Gold of 10 muUi is equal, therefore, 
 to gold of 24 carats ; gold not reaching 8 mutic is called vias muda 
 ["young gold "] ; and gold from 8 to 10 uiutu, mas tuah [" old gold "] : — ■ 
 
 Gold of Reccan 9 J mutu 
 
 Mount Ophir 9J ,, 
 
 Chimendras and Taon .. .. 9i ,< 
 
 I'ahang 
 
 J«"y« loi 
 
 Tiinganu ' 
 
 Kalantan 
 
 ,i 
 
 From Kalantan, gold of 10 mutu is sometimes obtained. 
 
 The assayers of gold are generally Chuliahs or Klings, who acquire by 
 constant practice the power of determining to the fraction of a viiitu the 
 purity of any specimen of gold-dust. As they would be perhaps liable 
 to imposition were this the only trial to which they subjected the metal, 
 they have recourse to the batUi-uji or touchstone. This is a roughish 
 black stone, apparently basalt, brought from continental India, and 
 generally set in a small frame of bronze or brass. 
 
 The assaying needles are commonly 20 to 24 in number, ranged on a 
 string, and alloyed in known proportions of copper and silver, marked on 
 the surface, from 3 to gj mutu. The needle and gold to be assayed are 
 rubbed on the touchstone in parallel streaks in the usual manner ; a 
 lump of the adhesive wax called lilin kalulut is then applied to the 
 surface of the touchstone, which brings off the two thin laminae of 
 gold. 
 
 The difference between the two is more visible on the wax (which is 
 coloured black for this purpose with a fine charcoal made from the 
 plantain-leaf) than on the stone. This is the reason the native assayers 
 give for the removal of the streaks of gold from the stone to the wax, 
 though to Newbold no difference was perceptible ; possibly the following 
 may better serve to explain the practice of the natives in this particular. 
 
 The impressions of gold, which would be lost on the stone, go on 
 accumulating in the wax ; a ball of it, which his native informant had used 
 for the last 30 years, he supposed to contain above 2 taels {2\ oz.) of gold. 
 The metal is separated from the wax by means of heat, applied gradually, 
 in such proportions as barely to cause the wax to pass off in the form of 
 smoke : the residuum is then subjected to the process of amalgamation. 
 Half the gold thus obtained is bestowed in alms upon the poor, or on 
 
ASIA : MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 365 
 
 religious offerings at the shrine of some favoured saint or wall, generally 
 that of Miran Sahib, in Nagore, on the coast of Coromandel. 
 
 The calculation of a Malay, long employed in the mines at Chimendras, 
 makes the average quantity of gold yielded from 40 lb. of the pulverized 
 stone 24 gr. of pure metal. Lumps of virgin gold weighing 5 to 6 taels 
 (5 1 to 6J oz.) have been found in the alluvial soil here and at Taon. In 
 Jellye, a mass 'veighing upwards of i catty {2'g^ lb.) has been discovered. 
 
 According to Moor (1837), the territory of Pahang extends from 
 Sadile in lat. 2° 15' to Kamamang in lat. 4° 15' ; the gold-yield amounts to 
 about 2 piculs (266^ lb.) yearly. Tringanu, the next state on the 
 E. coast, extends from Kamamang to the river Basut ; its production of 
 gold is considerable. Kalantan extends from the river Basut to that of 
 Banara, and produces much gold. It is said there are 15,000 Chinese 
 engaged in gold-mining in the above 3 states, and that they annually 
 produce 420,000 Spanish dollars' worth. 
 
 Cameron (1865) records that a Capt. Playfair, when repairing a road 
 at Malacca, discovered in a small recess which formed part of the old 
 Portuguese Government buildings, 40 or 50 earthenware pots, mostly 
 broken, but those which were whole were full of quicksilver, showing 
 that gold was formerly largely obtained, to require so much quicksilver — 
 over a ton weight. When gold was discovered in Australia, Europeans 
 as well as Chinese spread themselves over the jungled valleys around 
 Mount Oplur, with the hope of striking 3ome rich lead. No such lead 
 could be found ; but it is worthy of remark that in almost every spot 
 wh''h was tiied, geld in small quantities was procured. 
 
 bickmore observes (1868) that in the Malay Peninsula, gold " has 
 always been more highly valued than tin, and it is therefore, by all 
 means probable that it was an article of commerce, and was exported to 
 India as early as tin, or at least 500 years before Solomon commenced 
 building his splendid temple." 
 
 Col. Yule (1875), after mentioning that gold is a staple export of 
 Kalantan, Tringanu, and Pahang, notices that Barbosa says gold was so 
 abundant in Malacca that it was reckoned by bahars of 4 cwt. ; and 
 though Logan has estimated the present produce of the whole Peninsula 
 at only 20,ooo oz., Hamilton, at the beginning of last century, says 
 Pahang alone in some years exported above 8 cwt. 
 
 Leech (1880), speaking of the country drained by the tributaries on the 
 E. (left) bank of the Perak river, says gold is known to exist in the Plus, 
 being found with the stream tin. Tapa is the place of embarkation for a 
 number of tin-mines worked by Chinese, where much gold is also found. 
 Bidor is reached in I day's journey S.E. through the gold-fields. The 
 gold is very pale, and of inferior quality. 
 
 Daly (1882), from a place called Klubi, surveyed a track, all through 
 
 •;; V ,i,,i TJ 
 
366 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 dense jungle, that led to the Chindrass gold-mines, near Mount Ophir. 
 Here the Malays still wash out gold-dust excavated from gravel 
 deposits ; and they sink short shafts, out of which they get small blocks 
 of stone, which they rudely crush with pestle and mortar, and wash out 
 at a neighbouring stream. The deepest shaft was only lOO ft., and a lode 
 had not yet been discovered. The gold is only found in detached 
 leaders and saddles. 
 
 Gold was the principal metal met with by him in Pahang, though 
 tin-mines similar to those in Selangor are worked with profit. The gold 
 is found in alluvions, and washed out by Chinese and Malays in a rude 
 manner. No attempt has yet been made to work gold in quartz, nor 
 has any European machineiy for either crushing or pumping purposes as 
 yet been introduced. Daly was informed that there were 6000 Chinese 
 working alluvial gold-mines in different parts of the interior. Some 
 Chinamen whom he met said that they had to pay exorbitant royalties to 
 petty rajahs in the far interior, and that they were so "squeei:ed" by 
 successive rajahs on their way t(3 the coast, that they derived but little 
 profit from their hard-earned and risky labour. At that time, all the gold 
 was supposed to be sold to the Bandaharah of Pahang, who paid a 
 standard value according to his own estimation, or rather inclination. 
 
 Moluccas. — The northern part of the island of Bachian is of sedi- 
 mentary origin of various ages, and gold has been washed since 1774, 
 according to Bickmore ( 1 868). 
 
 Persia. — According to Strabo (B. xv. c. ii. § 14, Bohn's ed. iii. 128), 
 Onesicritus says that a river in Carmania brings down gold-dust. 
 
 . The mining engineer from Berlin, who was sent in 1877 to examine 
 into the reported existence of a rich gold-vein at Zcngan, found 
 auriferous quartz, but no decided vein or deposit. 
 
 Philippines. — Pigafetta (1519-22) was informed by the king that 
 gold was found in Mindanao in lumps as large as a walnut, and even as 
 an ^gS) mingled with the earth, that they used a sieve for sifting it, and 
 that all his vessels, and even many of the ornaments of his house, were 
 of this metal. Sonnerat likewise speaks of Mindanao as an island 
 abounding in gold. Pigafetta also believes gold to be abundant in 
 Massana, from the light esteem in which it is held. 
 
 According to Bowring(i859), the gold of the Philippines is produced 
 Hy washing and digging. In several of the provinces, it is found in the 
 rivers, and natives are engaged in washing their deposits. The most 
 remarkable and profitable of the gold-mines v>. ^ed by the Indians are 
 those of Tulbin and Suyuc. They break the rock with hammers, and 
 crush it between two small millstones, washing the fragments in water, by 
 which the gold is separated. They melt it in small shells, and it is worth 
 generally $8 to 10 (^^s. ^d. to 4U. Zd.) an oz., but its fineness seldom 
 
ASIA : MOLUCCAS, PERSIA, THILIPPINES. 
 
 3^7 
 
 exceeds 16 carats. It is found in quartz, but the nuggets are rarely of 
 any considerable size. The inhabitants of Caraga cut, in the top of a 
 mountain, a basin of considerable size, and conduct water to it through 
 canals made of the wild palm ; they dig up the soil while the basin is 
 filling, which is opened suddenly, and exhibits for working any existing 
 stratification of gold ; these operations are continued till the pits get 
 filled with inroads of earth, when they are abandoned ; generally, when a 
 depth has been reached which produces the most advantageous returns, 
 the rush of waters conveys away much of the metal which would other- 
 wise be deposited and collected. Gold is also found in the alluvial 
 deposits, which are ground between stones, thrown into water, and the 
 metal sinks to the bottom. The rivers of Caraballo, Camarines, and 
 Misamis, and the mountains of Caraga and Zebu, are the most pro- 
 ductive. Many Indian families support themselves by washinj the river 
 sands, and in the time of heavy rains, gold is found in the streets of some 
 of the pueblos when the floods have passed. There can be no doubt of 
 the existence of much gold in the islands, but principally in the parts 
 inhabited by the independent tribes. The Sociedad Exploradora was in 
 Bowring's day engaged in working gold-mines and washing auriferous 
 sands in the province of New Ecija. Gold-dust is the instrument of 
 exchange in the interior of Mindanao, and is carried about in bags for 
 the ordinary purposes of life. The Spaniards say that the province of 
 Caraga (in Mindanao) is the richest of the Philippines ; it is certainly 
 one of the least explored. A Frenchman had been engaged in working 
 the gold-mines ; but Bowring did not learn with what success. 
 
 Jagor (1873), speaking of Longos, North Camarines, says that the 
 soil is composed of rubbish, decomposed fragments of crystalline rock, 
 rich in broken pieces of quartz. The workmen make holes in the ground 
 2j ft. long, 2\ broad, and 20 ft. deep. At 3 ft. below the surface, the 
 rock is generally found to contain gold, the value increasing down to 
 18 ft. of depth, and then again diminishing, though the proportions are 
 very uncertain, and there is much fruitless search. The rock is carried 
 out of the holes in baskets on ladders of bamboo, and the water in small 
 pails ; but in the rainy season, the holes cannot possibly be kept free 
 from water, as they are situated on the slope of a mountain, and are 
 filled quicker than they can be emptied. The want of apparatus for 
 discharging water also accounts for the fact that the pits are not dug 
 deeper. The breaking of the auriferous rock is effected with 2 stones, 
 one of which serves as anvil, and the other as hammer. The former, 
 which is slightly hollowed in the centre, is laid flat upon the ground ; and 
 the latter, 4 x 8 x 8 in. in dimensions, and therefore of about 25 lb. weight, 
 is made fast with rattan to the top of a slender young tree, which lies in 
 a sloping position in a fork, and at its opposite end is firmly fixed in the 
 
 )m 
 
 \ !| 
 
 t*;!«T 
 
368 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ground. The workman, with a jerk, forces the stone that serves for 
 hammer down upon the auriferous rock, and allows it to be again carried 
 upwards by the elasticity of the young tree. The rock is ground in an 
 arrastra. 
 
 The washing-out of the mud (from the arrastra) is done by women. 
 They kneel before a small wooden gutter filled with water up to the 
 brim, and provided with boards, sloping downwards, in front of the 
 space assigned to each woman ; the gutter being cut out at these places 
 in a corresponding manner, so that a very slender stream of water flows 
 evenly across its whole breadth downwards over the board. With her 
 hand, the workwoman distributes the auriferous mud over the board, 
 which, at the lower edge, is provided with a cross piece ; and, when the 
 light sand is washed away, there remains a stratum consisting chiefly of 
 iron, flint, and ore, which is taken up from time to time with a flat piece 
 of board, and laid on one side ; and at the end of the day's work, it is 
 washed out in a flat wooden dish — batea — and for the last time in a 
 coco-nut shell ; when, if they are lucky, a fine, yellow dust shows itself on 
 the edge. In only one out of several experiments made in the Berlin 
 Mining College, did gold-sand contain o"oi4 per cent, of gold ; and, in 
 one experiment on the heavy sand remaining on the mud-board, no gold 
 was found. 
 
 During the last washing, the slimy juice of the gogo plant {Entada 
 Purscethd) is added to the water, the fine, heavy sand remaining 
 suspended therein for a longer time than in pvare water, and thus being 
 more easily separated from the gold-dust. It is further to be mentioned 
 that the refuse from the pits is washed at the upper end of the water- 
 gutter, so that the sand adhering to the stoner. intended for pounding 
 may deposit its gold in the gutter or on the washing-board. In order to 
 melt the gold thus obt 'ned into a lump, in which form it is bought by 
 the dealers, it is poured into a small heart-shell ( Cardinm sp.), and, after 
 being covered with a handful of charcoal, placed in a potsherd, when a 
 woman blows through a narrow bamboo cane on the kindled coals, and 
 in one minute the work is completed. A small nugget obtained in this 
 manner, tested at the Berlin Mining College, consisted of: — Gold, 77*4 ; 
 silver, 19 "O ; iron, 0*5 ; flint earth, 3*0 ; loss, O" I. 
 
 The result of many inquiries shows the profit per head to be on an 
 average not more than ij r. daily. Further to the S.W. from here, on 
 Mt. Malaguit, are seen the ruins of a Spanish Mining Co. ; a heap of 
 rubbish, a pit 50 ft. deep, a large house fallen to ruin, and a stream-work 
 4 ft. broad and 6 ft. high. The mountain consists of gneiss much 
 decomposed, with quartz veins in the stream-work, with the exception 
 of the bands of quartz, which are of almost pure clay earth with sand. 
 
 The gold is commonly 15 to 16 carats, worth about $12 (50i'.) per oz. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 569 
 
 In Mt. Dallas, gold was mined by a Spanish Co., and is still by the 
 Indians. Gemelli Carreri was informed by the Governor of Manilla (in 
 Morga's time) that gold to the value of $200,000 (40,000/.) was collected 
 annually without the help of either fire or quicksilver, and that Paracali 
 (N. Camarines) in particular, was rich in gold. The produce now is very 
 small, as well on account of the incompleteness of the mode of procedure, 
 as of the irregularity of labour. 
 
 Russia in Asia. — The first discovery of gold in Russia was made 
 in 1737, when a peasant named Taras Antonof came upon it near Voitsk, 
 a village in the district of Kem, in the government of Archangel, not far 
 from where the river Vyg flows out of the lake of the same name. The 
 following year, the Imperial Senate issued an ukase or edict, allowing 
 private persons to work the ore. Little, however, was done here, and the 
 mine was abandoned in 1794, richer fields having in the meantime been 
 opened farther east. Lured onward by reports of fabulous wealth, a 
 band of Cossack adventurers, led by that " illustrious brigand " Yermak, 
 laid the foundations of a new empire for the Czars beyond the Urals. 
 But it was not till more than a century and a half later that the first- 
 fruits of their exploit became apparent, and the mineral wealth of 
 Siberia began to be developed. In 1745, 22 years after the foundation 
 of Ekaterinbirg, now the most important and thriving centre of the 
 Ural mining industry, gold was found on the banks of the Beriozofsk, 
 a tributary of the Isset, on which Ekaterinburg is situate. Between 
 1754 and 1847, upwards of a million tons' weight of ore-stuff were 
 raised and washed at Beriozofsk, yielding 26,015 lb. of gold, in the pro- 
 portion of I lb. of metal in 40 tons of ore, a result small as compared 
 with other gold-fields in more distant parts of Siberia and elsewhere, 
 but considerable when compared with the low cost of labour and the 
 primitive machinery in use. 
 
 The rapid development of the gold-industiy in Russia during the 
 last 20 years has been due to a variety of causes. Amongst these have 
 been the great demand that has sprung up in both hemispheres for the 
 precious metal as a means of converting the currency, the very in- 
 adequate supply to meet the requirements of all those states desirous of 
 placing their finances on a sound footing, and the immense importance 
 to Russia herself of bringing into circulation the vast stores of wealth 
 hidden beneath her tundras and foi'ests. These considerations induced 
 the Russian government to throw open to individual enterprise the 
 gold-fields scattered over a vast territory. But in the earlier days, only a 
 few privileged persons participated with the government in the industry. 
 The Stroganofs, the Demidofs, and the Yakovlefs laid the foundations 
 of the Russian mining industry, ar.d earned by their immense wealth a 
 world-wide reputation. Their ancestors, born of the humbler ranks, 
 
 2 B 
 
 I 1 
 
370 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 received grants from earlier Czars of extensive tracts, with exclusive 
 rights over the minerals. The Demidofs were the first to take advantage 
 of the permission, conceded only in 1859, to wash the alluvia ; 442 lb. of 
 gold were annually obtained by them between 1859-63, and as much 
 more in the surrounding district. Neviansk too is remarkable for its 
 leaning tower, said to have been erected by Yakovlef for smelting silver- 
 ore obtained from his mines in the Altai — a process illegal in those days, 
 and obliged to be conducted secretly.* Almost due south of Ekaterin- 
 burg, in the district of Zlataust (golden mouth), famed for its steel- 
 cannon foundry and small-arms factory, in the government of Ufa, are 
 the gold-fields of Miask, in the valley of the river Miass. The auriferous 
 tract here extends over 1700 sq. versts (1060 sq. miles) and occupies a 
 belt 100 versts (60 miles) long by 20 to 30 (12 to 18 miles) wide. It is 
 bounded on the east by the Ilmen hills, a ridge running parallel with the 
 Ural, of which it forms an arm, remarkable for a variety of rare minerals 
 found among its rocks. On the south, some detached hills, connecting 
 the Ilmen with the main axis of the range, form the water-parting 
 between the head-waters of the Miass flowing north, and those of another 
 
 ^ tributary of the Tobol — the Ui — flowing south. Silurian limestones and 
 
 f I schists, penetrated and in some places metamorphosed by granites, 
 
 porphyries, serpentine, and other igneous rocks, characterize this region. 
 
 The schists, both argillaceous and talcose, overlie granite and limestone 
 
 ' rocks, and are veined with berezite and auriferous quartz. The limestone 
 is in places raised and rent asunder by diorite and serpentine masses, 
 and these mainly compose the valley of the Miass, and distinct ridges, 
 such as Nurali, Kumatch and Aushkul, whilst the Ilmen hills are mostly 
 formed of granite, containing many rare and beautiful minerals. Down 
 the eastern slopes of the main axis of the Ural and the western slopes of 
 the Ilmen, flow numerous tributary streams, all remarkably auriferous. 
 The valley in which they meet is covered with superficial detritus rich 
 in gold. 
 
 Miask became known towards the end of the eighteenth century, when 
 Ilarion Ivanovitch Luginin erected smelting furnaces here, and called his 
 works Petropavlofsk, after the two saints Peter and Paul, who have long 
 been believed to watch over the destinies of Russia. In 1798, these 
 works were transferred to Government, and the very n'^xt year gold was 
 discovered and machinery erected to wash it. At first, operations were 
 confined to quartz, and the quantity of gold obtained was insignificant ; 
 but in 1823, attention was drawn to alluvial deposits, and these produced 
 50 to 6\puds annually, or about a ton on an average. This gold-field 
 was divided into squares, having each a superficies of i sq. verst (f mile) 
 
 * The gold-fields of Ekaterinburg, as well as those of Miask, though on the Asiatic slope of 
 the Ural, are included for administrative purposes in European Russia. 
 
 »>/ 
 
 ( 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 371 
 
 and distinguished by a separate name. In 1863, 292 of these were 
 worked, with the following results : — 
 
 Earth and sand washed 
 Workmen employed .. 
 
 Gold obtained 
 
 1861. 
 
 500,000 tons. 
 
 1760 
 
 cwt. lb. 
 118 9 
 
 1861. 
 300,000 tons. 
 1 801 
 
 cwt. lb. 
 109 36 
 
 1863. 
 
 250,000 Jons. 
 1086 
 
 cwt lb. 
 
 156 8 
 
 In 1876, the Miask gold-fields again became private property, and their 
 productiveness largely increased. When passing through Ekaterinburg 
 in 1 880, the writer fell in with the managing ciirector of the company work- 
 ing the Miask mines. He had with him a number of nuggets, the largest 
 of which weighed within 5 solotniks * of J lb. Some showed distinctly the 
 crystallization of the gold, others again took curious shapes, giving them 
 a value to collectors apart from their intrinsic worth. Each nugget was 
 accompanied by an official document, issued by the department of mines 
 in Ekaterinburg, describing its weight and appearance, and stating that 
 the Government duty of 20 per cent, had been paid upon it. The 
 Miask gold-fields produced in 1879, 130 puds (4680 lb.) of gold, proving 
 that they fully maintain their reputation of being the richest in the Ural, 
 These three of the principal localities in which gold is found in the Ural 
 have been mentioned because the writer happens to have personally 
 become acquainted with them ; but there are many others to which 
 allusion will be made in the sequel. Suffice it to say here that the 
 whole eastern slope of the Ural, both north and south of Ekaterinburg, 
 is generally auriferous ; whilst the western slope, abounding in copper 
 and other minerals, is destitute of gold. With this general remark, the 
 reader is referred to the sequel for the most recent information that it 
 has been possible to collect on the gold-production of Russia. 
 
 In the S.E. corner of the government of Tomsk, between 48° and 
 52^° N., and 80° and 90° E., on the confines of Western Siberia with the 
 Chinese empire, lies the mountainous and picturesque region of Altai. 
 With an area of 48,000 sq. miles, its vertical elevation averages 4000 to 
 4500 ft., whilst its passes often rise 1000 ft. higher, and the loftiest peak 
 (Bieluha) attains 11,000 ft. above sea-level. In its mineral and vegetable 
 wealth second to none, this tract may literally be termed a " golden 
 region." Its very name, derived from the Mongol altyn [" gold "], and 
 corresponding with its Chinese nomenclature In-shan ["golden moun- 
 tains "], shows how universally its wealth was known. 
 
 The word altai with its variants altytt, altnn, altan, altangana, &c., is 
 
 * There are 96 zolotniks in the Russian lb., which is equal to 14 oz. 7 dr. Eng. avoirdupois. 
 The Russian pud, or 40 lb. of that country, is consequently equal to 36 lb. 2 oz. Eng. avoirdupois, 
 or say 36 lb. 
 
 2 r 2 
 
 Ji- 
 
372 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 generally indicative of gold iu some form. The Tartar altyn found its 
 way into Russian coinage, and represented the value of 3 kopecks silver * 
 (about id.). An altinnik is i kopeck ; a piati-altin {lit. fifth altin) is a 
 vulgar name for a i$-kopeck coin. In Asia, a/fyn occupies a conspicuous 
 place in the nomenclature of mountains, passes, &c. The great range 
 of mountains discovered by Prjevalsky south of Lake Lob is entitled 
 Altyn-tagh ; the name is also applied to the Khingan range of the 
 Chinese ; and the writer fell in with it on his way to Kuldja, at the pass 
 of Altyn Immel or "Golden Saddle, " over which lies a good road across 
 a long spur of the Semiretchian Ala-tau. The popular legend concerning 
 it is that Jinghiz Khan's saddle is buried there. However this may be, 
 it is probable that the rocks are auriferous. At all events, the writer 
 came upon gold-impregnated reefs on the right bank of the Hi, not very 
 far off, and specimens he broke off there were taken by General Kauf- 
 mann for analysis at Tashkend. 
 
 Gold-mining in the Altai is no longer in its former prosperous condi- 
 tion. New and richer fields in the far east have attracted miners away, 
 and the production of gold has fallen to about one-tenth of what it was 
 some 20 years ago. The Altai mining district with its works, mines, 
 gold-fields and volosts or communes of peasants, comprised in the 
 districts of Barnaul and Bysk and the circuit of Tomsk, all in the 
 government of this name, belong to the Imperial Cabinet, i. e. form part 
 of the private estates of the Russian crown. They are under the super- 
 vision of the governor of Tomsk, who is also director-in-chief of the 
 Altai mines, whilst an officer of mining engineers, residing at Barnaul, 
 • assumes the immediate control. The mining localities are situate in 
 the Altai mountains, south of Barnaul, known as the Zm^inogorskyf 
 district, in the Salair ridge ; and in the Kuznetsk Ala-tau, to the N. and 
 N.W. of the town of Kuznetsk, separated by a wide low-lying plain, 
 upon which, 380 ft. above the river Obi, stands the town of Barnaul, the 
 administrative centre. The minerals are chiefly silver, lead, copper, and 
 a little iron. The ore is smelted at one copper, five silver, and two iron 
 works. Between 1745 and i860, the production reached 4,176,000 lb. of 
 silver ; and between 1830, when auriferous alluvium was discovered, and 
 i860, 32,400 lb. of gold, with a total annual value of about 2,000,000 
 rubles (250,000/.), one-fourth of this, or 500,000 rubles (62,500/.), being 
 credited to gold. These results were obtained at the cost of 830,000 
 rubles (103,750/), besides the labour of 180,000 peasants, who discharged 
 work at the mines instead of paying a capitation tax, estimated to 
 produce 1,200,000 rubles (150,000/.) at 6^ rubles {i6s. id.) per head. 
 
 • "Silver" as distinguished from "banco" : a "banco" ruble, now obsolete, was ^ oi a. 
 silver ruble, and practically there is no such thing as a silver ruble. 
 
 t The first gold obtained from silver ore was run out at the Zmeinogorsky works in 1745. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 373 
 
 The gold-fields are situate along the western slopes of the Kuznetsk 
 Ala-tau, and in the Salair ridge,* and are divided into the following 
 groups: — (i) Salairskaia, on the rivers Berdi and Ini, including the 
 Ycgoricfsky, Salairsky, Ursky and Mungaisky workings ; (2) Taidonskaia, 
 on the Taidon, and northwards as far as Uspensky mine, in the 
 Kuznetsk Ala-tau ; (3) Tcrsinskaia, on the three Tersi rivers, affluents of 
 the Tom, including the Tersinsky and Pezassky mines ; (4) Miasskaia, 
 on the Miass, a tributary of the Tom, with the Tsarevo-Nikolaiefsky 
 mines ; (5) Kondomskaia, on the Kondom, also a tributary of the Tom, 
 with the Spassky mine, and (6) the group of workings on the river 
 Lebed (Swan), an affluent of the Bi, north of lake Teletsky. 
 
 Mining enterprise in the Altai may be said to date from a very early 
 period, when a people now completely lost sight of, but known to anti- 
 quarians under the names Chud or Chudak,t inhabited this region. 
 Their copper and stone implements have been found ; but with the use 
 of iron, they appear to have been unacquainted. In 1723, a party of 
 Demidofs miners prospecting for minerals came upon old Chud workings 
 at the S.W. end of lake Kolivan, a discovery which led to the despatch 
 of artizans and overseers from Neviansk. In 1726, the first works were 
 established on the Loktefka, an affluent of the Aley, and were named 
 Kolivansky. Soon afterwards, the famous Zmeinogorsky silver-mine was 
 discovered on the Zm^iofka, a tributary of the Korboliha. In 1737, 
 Demidof invited two foreigners, Christian and Junghals, to smelt ore 
 and reported to his government on the result of his work. Eventually 
 (in 1747) the Kolivan- Voskresensky works became the property of the 
 Crown, and were placed under a director-in-chief appointed by Govern- 
 ment. At the same time, certain villages were assigned to the works, 
 and their inhabitants were compelled to labour, receiving in return 
 commutation of the capitation tax. In 1830, alluvial auriferous deposits 
 were discovered along the Fomiha, a tributary of the Suengu, belonging 
 to the Upper Obi river system. From this time, private enterprise began 
 to give a new impetus to gold-mining in Siberia. As will be seen 
 presently, it has almost monopolized the production, except in a few 
 places where Government continues its works. Before leaving the Altai, 
 it may be worth mentioning that extensive coal-fields have been 
 
 * The Salair ridge is not marked under this name on some maps (e. g. that issued to the 
 oflficers of the Siberian Staff Corps, corrected to 1868). It is a low spur of the Altai thrown 
 up in a N.W. direction into the circuits or arrondissements of Kuznetsk, Tomsk, and Bar- 
 naul. It divides the valley of the Tom from that of the Obi, and disappears altogether in the 
 Barabinsk steppe. It is about 170 miles long and 40 wide, and resembles externally the Ural 
 range, having more the character of an elevated plain with steep slopes on the N.E., and 
 gentle gradients on the S.W., than a chain of hills. The Salair ridge presents some interesting 
 features to the geologist, both in the rocks of which it is composed, representing three distinct 
 formations, and in the fossils found in its coal-measures near Bachatsk. 
 
 t The popular application of the word is to a funny fellow, an eccentric person, &c. 
 
 :■ t 
 
 I' iv it4 
 
374 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 discovered there, which will ensure a future of great prosperity to this 
 country, long after silver and gold are worked out. 
 
 Next to the Altai and marching with it on the S.W., the Semi- 
 palatinsk region claims attention. Hither, in the early part of the 
 eighteenth century, Bukholtz led his Cossacks, ever the vanguard of 
 Russian explorers. Advancing up the Irtish, he erected forts to protect 
 his communications. Yamishevo, the chief of these fortified places, now 
 a post station a few miles from the town of Semipalatinsk, was the rallying 
 point of early Russian settlers in the new country. Bukholtz told the 
 Kalmuks, in those days a powerful people, that he was commissioned to 
 search for minerals, but that this need not interfere with the good 
 relations subsisting between their respective states. His successor 
 Likhariof was instructed to obtain accurate information about the gold of 
 Yarkand, discover roads leading thither, and learn if possible what rivers 
 joined the Daria (i. e. Amu-Daria) and entered the Aral Sea. Since then, 
 various efforts have been made to develop the gold-fields, with but 
 indifferent success. According to the official report of the Lieut. Governor 
 of Semipalatinsk for 1878, gold was obtained in that year in 22 localities 
 in his province.* The writer learned, however, that mining industry was 
 generally very backward, the chief entrepreneur, Popoff, having lately 
 died and left his affairs in an embarrassed state. Want of enterprise and 
 technical knowledge are among the principal difficulties to be encountered, 
 for Kirghiz labour is abundant and cheap, whilst transport may also be 
 obtained throughout the steppe. 
 
 Western Turkestan, the latest of Russia's acquisitions in Asia, 
 abounds in gold. From the earliest times recorded in history, Bokhara 
 was renowned for its productiveness of this metal, and the Oxus through- 
 out its course was said to be auriferous. But from experiments made by 
 Russians, it appears doubtful if the gold of Turkestan can be successfully 
 extracted. The Chinese, with their habitual skill and industry, made it 
 pay ; and when they were turned out of the country, the Sarts, a mixed 
 Tadjik and Uzbek race of sedentary habits, following their example, 
 took up the work of washing alluvial soil for gold, with results and in a 
 manner to be described farther on. But Eastern people set a different 
 value on time to that prevalent in Europe and the North American con- 
 tinent. The food they are content to live upon, their hours of labour, 
 and the smallness of their earnings too, are wholly unsuited to the 
 western European or even the Russian. 
 
 The gold-districts lie on both sides of the Semirdtchian Ala-tau, as 
 that chain of mountains is called which divides the lake country of 
 Semiretchia from its chief river the Hi. Issuing by three sources from 
 the mountains to the east of Lepsa, the Tentek flows a deep, rapid river 
 
 * In 1865, according to Tatarinof, Semipalatinsk produced only 6J lb, of gold. 
 
ASIA: RUSSIA. 
 
 375 
 
 over auriferous deposits. In his review of the Turkestan gold-fields, 
 Tatarinof, a local geologist of eminence, says that the Chinese washed 
 alluvium at Kizil-togoi,* near the sources of the Tentek, and it was plenti- 
 fully scattered along the whole course of this river. But when Kuznetsof, 
 the late well-known postal contractor and distiller of vodka, tried his 
 luck at the diggings after the Chinese had been driven out, he invariably 
 lost heavily. Thus, in 1868, he washed for gold at Kizil-togoi, obtaining 
 onXy ^\h. ti^solotniks as the result of a summer's work, costing more 
 than would purchase 20 lb. of gold. In the following year, 1869, he 
 removed to Argaiti, and tried some extensive Chinese diggings, traces of 
 which are still visible. Here he obtained in 100 puds (3600 lb.) of 
 sand and gravel, a minimum of 30 gr. and a maximum of 98 gr., the 
 whole produce of one summer's work amounting to only i lb. and a few 
 zolotniks, with a considerable expenditure. These poor results obtained 
 by Kuznetsof as compared with the success of the Chinese in the same 
 localities, notwithstanding the low rate he paid for labour, indicate that 
 the only way of working these gold-fields advantageously is to throw 
 them open to all. In this way, numbers of the poorer class of natives 
 would be attracted, who might earn a livelihood for themselves, and 
 benefit the state by increased production of gold. By these means, and 
 by sweeping away some irksome formalities, the desired end would be 
 attained. 
 
 In the Syr-Darian oblast or governorship, including south rn and south- 
 western Turkestan, the gold-question is even more doubtful than in the 
 more northerly Semiretchian districts. Tatarinof says, " Hardly had our 
 troops under Maj.-Gen. Chernaief, entered Kokand, than reports of its 
 prodigious wealth flew from ear to ear." Severtsef, the well-known 
 geologist, who was present with the active forces in the field in the 
 summer of 1864, was told of a gold-mine in Kokand on the Kukreii. 
 Thither he repaired, and upon investigation, came to the conclusion that 
 a whole system of alluvial deposits of gold were situate near the sources 
 of the Tersi. Gold-miners rushed thither in quest of the El Dorado, 
 and to the Chirchik, where it was reported that natives literally raked 
 up the gold by the handful. All these stories proved to be highly 
 coloured. Gold there certainly was, and men earned a living by getting 
 it ; but it was quite a mistake to suppose that it would pay the Russian 
 miner to live in these countries, enduring all kinds of privations and 
 hardships, in order to obtain an infinitesimal quantity of the precious 
 metal, which is plentifully scattered over Siberia. But it was necessary 
 to make a trial, and prospecting parties under the auspices of Kolesnikof, 
 Pervushin, and Kulibin, visited the localities said to contain gold. They 
 
 * Kizil-togoi [tugai] signifies " red flat," doubtless an allusion to the bright-red colour of 
 the sand on the banks of the Tentek. 
 
il^i 
 
 GE()CRAI'IIICA[, DISTRIIIUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 established the fact of the presence of gold on the river systems of the 
 Chirchik, Talas, and Tersi, however thinly distributed. As to there 
 being a system of alluvial deposits on the last-named of these ri\'ers, that 
 is doubtful, and it was a mistake to assert that placer-gold was found 
 here. No doubt the locality is auriferous : so are the rivers in the 
 Caucasus ; yet not one has been found to yield enough gold to pay the 
 expense of obtaining it. Auriferous tracts are alike as far as external 
 characteristics go : the difference lies in the percentage of gold. S^'vertsef 
 mentioned having come across accumulations of sand, which had already 
 been washed for gold, and contained on an average l^ gr. in lOO puds 
 (3600 lb.). But this proved nothing, because the process of washing 
 employed by natives is of a rough and ready kind, the object being, not 
 to obtain a large proportion of gold from a given quantity of soil, but 
 that each man may do the best he can for himself With more elaborate 
 aijpliances, a still larger percentage of gold may be left in the sand after 
 washing. The i^ gr. in 100 puds may therefore either imply clean 
 washing, for which natives are not in general remarkable, or. what is 
 more probable, poor ore. When miners work for themselves in an 
 unsy.stcmatic way, without taking into account the value of their labour, 
 they can afford to wash very poor alluvium, containing probably but 
 little more gold than the refuse they cast aside. Were the detritus 
 rich, considerably more gold would be left in the sand after washing. 
 But rich deposits have not yet been met with in Turkestan. Kolesnikof's 
 miners penetrated in 1866 to the valley of the Chirchik, paying for their 
 rash enterprise by the loss of one of their party, who was taken prisoner, 
 and bringing back with them a few pieces of gold, the results obtained 
 being so infinitesimal as to make it impossible to determine the per- 
 centage. Kulibin, an experienced gold-miner, himself director of gold- 
 mining companies, and well acquainted with the gold-fields of Siberia, 
 was also attracted by reports of fabulous wealth in Turkestan, and 
 resolved to try his luck there, embarking a small capital in the enter- 
 prise. When on the point of leaving Turkestan for ever, after winding 
 up his affairs, he was seen by Tatarinof, who asked how it had fared 
 with him. Producing from his waistcoat-pocket a small bit of paper 
 containing a little fine gold-dust, Kulibin said that was all he had 
 obtained as the result of a summer's work on the Tersi. The writer's 
 personal experience confirms this. One of his fellow-passengers, a 
 mining entrepreneur, on board a steamer on the Irtish, gave a similar 
 account of his attempts to work the gold-fields in the Kuldja 
 region. 
 
 Hence it would appear that no alluvial detritus worth working has 
 been discovered in Turkestan, though experience was not wanting to 
 guide the prospecting parties in their quest. Nevertheless, there is 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 377 
 
 ground for belief that with greater energy, more perseverance, and 
 additional capital, Turkestan may in the future become a gold-producing 
 country. From the circumstance that the mountains which serve as a 
 watershed between the Chirchik and the Tersi on the one side, and the 
 Chirchik and the Talas on the other, are mainly composed of mcta- 
 morphic schists, veined with diorite, syenite, and quartz of a yellowish 
 colour, and that alluvial gold has been discovered along the Tersi and 
 Chirchik, it is probable that the matrix is also to be found in these 
 mountains. Owing to the extreme steepness of the fall in these river- 
 valleys, as, for instance, for i8o miles of the Chirchik, from the mouth of 
 its tributary the Kara Kispak to Tashkend, where the difference in level 
 is 5000 ft,, the detritus has not formed regular strata, but is scattered 
 through the valley ; many of the affluents of the Chirchik are even 
 more abrupt in their courses, and in their valleys it is hopeless to 
 search for gold. Some, however, particularly on the northern slope, 
 are more gradual, and p jssibly contain beds of alluvium that m?y be 
 advantageously worked. 
 
 Of the mining entrepreneurs who started to prospect for gold in 
 Turkestan, Kolcsnikof is the only one to persevere in the work. He is 
 firmly convinced that he will be rewarded in time, arguing from the fact 
 that gold occurs in all parts of the Chirchik, even at its mouth in the 
 Syr-Daria at Chinaz, in such minute quantities, however, and so widely 
 distributed, as not to repay the cost of obtaining. The cause of this is 
 obvious : the native gold-rocks are situate far away from the mouth of 
 the Chirchik, near its headwaters. The larger particles of gold swept 
 down by the current, owing to greater specific weight, settle down in 
 the upper parts of the valley ; none but finer, lighter grains are carried 
 down stream for a greater distance, and a little gold-dust is all that 
 reaches the mouth of the Chirchik, or finds its way into the Syr-Daria, 
 which may also be reckoned among the auriferous rivers of Turkestan. 
 
 Rich placer-gold is only found in localities where the incline is not 
 too great, or where the current of a river slackens so as to form wide flats. 
 In these places, gold may be deposited as sand or gravel, but there are 
 few such on the Chirchik. 
 
 The Chirchik or Chatkal is one of the most picturesque valleys in the 
 whole of Turkestan. In its lower part, it expands to considerable width, 
 and is remarkably fertile. Here it is cut up by irrigation trenches, and 
 is covered with vegetation, deservedly earning its name of "the Granary 
 of Tashkend." Even in its lower course, the current is rapid, though 
 nothing like its upper and central stream. Narrower parts of the 
 Chirchik valley are full of huge orratic blocks, through which the river 
 has cut a deep channel ; these rocks have lain here for untold ages, and 
 attest the comparatively far greater volume the »-<ver once had. Together 
 
 >«.;#, 
 
 '■^t 
 

 378 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 with these disrupted masses, the Chiichik must likewise have borne 
 along in its rapid current gold-detritus. This, rs already noted (p, 374), 
 was formerly worked by Chinese, and afterwa'.ds by Sart miners. Some 
 of their workings were 700 ft. above the levcji of the river ; and though 
 obliged to carry wat«vr up this great height in vessels, they appear to 
 have made it answer, and prosecuted the work assiduously. 
 
 Their system of washing differs from that of most countries, and 
 may be said to 'jossess originality, though of a primitive kind. In 1713, 
 Prince Gagarin, then Governor of Siberia, reported at Moscow that gold 
 was obtained in LiUle Bokhara by inhabitants of Yarkand, who caught 
 it in blankets, carpets, and cloths.* The same method is continued by 
 natives of Central Asia to the present day. 
 
 There are very many old gold-workings in the Chirchik valley, but 
 none of them appears to have been particularly rich. However, it is 
 impossible to say what may be contained in the lower strata until deep 
 borings have been made. This has not yet been done, because wherever 
 attempts were made to bore below the level of the river, work had to be 
 discontinued, owing to flooding ; and hand-pumps, the only available 
 means of overcoming this difficulty, were wholly inadequate to get rid 
 of the water. 
 
 Notwithstanding and despite of all these failures, Tatarinof is of 
 opinion that the gold-industry of Turkestan has a future. 
 
 Yeniseisk Gold-fields, (a) Northern system. — The Yeniseisk gold- 
 fields date only from the year 1832, when gold was discovered in the 
 governmental circuit of Atchinsk, on the tributaries of the Chorny or 
 Black Yuss, but in very small quantities. In 1035, alluvial washings 
 were opened in the Minusinsk district, along the tributaries of the Tuba 
 and Mana, the richest of all being on the Amila, an affluent of the Tuba. 
 Exploring parties then crossed the watershed to the basin of the Biriussa, 
 and discovered there in 1830 a rich stratum of auriferous alluvion on the 
 river Horma. But the most remunerative of all the deposits in the 
 Yenisei district were found in 1839, over a vast area between the rivers 
 Yenisei, lower Angara, and Podkamenny Tungussk? The first-men- 
 tioned of these gold-fields, comprised in the Atchinsk and Minusinsk 
 circaits, yielded, in 1861, 2872 lb. of gold in about 10^ million tons of 
 ore-stuff, 62 workings being in actual operation on the Amila and Kezir, 
 tributaries of the Tuba, on the Sisima and both the Yuss rivers. The 
 next auriferous tract lies on the upper streams of the Kan and Agul ; 
 but this gold-field, being closely connected with that of Biriussa, will be 
 treated of when speaking of the production in the government of Irkutsk, 
 of v/hich it properly forms part. The third and most important, that in 
 
 * About the same time the Turkoman elder Hodja Neffez arrived from the eastern littoral 
 of the Caspian, and told of the golden sand borne down by the waters of the Oxus 
 
■f^t, 
 
 ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 379 
 
 the Yeniseisk district, produced, in 1861, 21,750 lb. of gold in 5 J million 
 tons of alluvium washed, or three-fifths of the total production of Eastern 
 Siberia in that year. Some interesting particulars relating to this tract 
 were supplied to the Rus<iian Geographical Society by Latkin, who was 
 himself engaged in this industry. From these, it appears that the region 
 in question is divided into a northern an d southern system, each of which 
 comprises a wide extent of country. The northern Yeniseisk gold- 
 system includes the whole area between 59° 15' and 62° N., and between 
 87° 35' and 96° 20' E. of Greenwich. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. 
 by the Podkamenny Tungusska, on the W. by the Yenisei, on the S. and 
 S.W. by the Great Pit river, whilst on the E. it has no definite limits. 
 This iract is for the most part very hilly, ridges of hills rising everywhere, 
 though of no great elevation. Hoffmann found the highest point of the 
 Chiriata ridge to be 2460 ft. above the level of the Yenisei at Yermak's 
 residence, and a second peak, Kalaminskaya, 2495 ft. ; but Latkin 
 mention other and higher points, such as Ponimba, on the summit of 
 which, snow lies at the end of June, whilst in the deep clefts of this 
 mountain it sometimes remains unthawed all the year round. These 
 hills have no general direction, but may be described as independent 
 groups, radiating from centres, containi ig the sources of many of the 
 rivers, and often running parallel with the valleys. Another feature is 
 the occurrence of isolated rounded cones standing apart from the ridge 
 to which they presumably belong, forming welcome breaks in the acenery 
 of the Yeniseisk gold-fields. 
 
 The prevailing geological formations are metamorphic schists, more 
 or less tilted ; clay-slates predominate, and are characterized by large 
 quantities of mica, with occasional crystals, sulphur-pyrites, hiastolite, 
 hornblende, felspar, and quartz. Some of these slates have been so 
 metamorphosed as to be micaceous, lying occasionally as independent 
 belts, but are mostly associated with the clay. Granites, gneiss, more 
 rarely red or grey sandstone, and limestone are the other rocks met with 
 here. The ..uriferous deposits contain bismuth, magnetic iron-sand, and 
 titanic iron, the last-named invariably found in ill the washings. In 
 some places garnets lend a reddish tinge to the detritus ; in others 
 again this is quite black, as on the Aktolik and Ogne rivulet. Bismuth 
 occurs on the Sevaglikon. In general, the Northern Yeniseisk system 
 differs but slighly from the Southern, save in the more frequent occur- 
 rence of gneiss rocks and limestone terraces, and a greater variety of 
 crystals. In the group of mountains at the sources of the Veguda and 
 Ponimba are the highest points in this district ; mount Polkan, visible at 
 a great distance, is the loftiest among them. Besides the Chiriata, three 
 other groups of hills divide the several river-systems, and are also of 
 considerable absolute elevation. 
 
38o 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 All rivers in the Northern Yeniseisk gold-field partake of the character 
 of iTiountain torrents. In spring, after heavy rains, they rise suddenly, 
 overtlow their banks, and cause injury to the miners; in summer, many 
 of the imall ones dry up, and gold-washing has for a time to cease. But 
 this rarer/ happens, losses more often resulting from floods than from 
 scarcity of water. 
 
 The principal rivers are the Podkamenny Tungusska, with its tri- 
 butaries the Chapa and Teya, its tributary the Yenashimo, the Great 
 Pit, and lastl) the Yenisei, the least important as far as gold is con- 
 cerned, though i-ecelving the drainage of the whole district. The T6ya 
 and its feeder the Yenashimo are the most auriferous rivers of the 
 Northern Yeniseisk system. 
 
 The T^ya rises by two sources in the before-mentioned mountain 
 group; after receiving the Tirida on the right, it forms a good-sized 
 river about lOO ft. in breadth, and, below its confluence with the Nogoti, 
 it increases to 150 ft. or thereabouts. It ic ?ho joined by the Noiba, 
 and two rivulets, the Bruce-Lanytch and Madura, togethe ■'.•Hh other 
 small brooks and streams, two of which are called V ' - .earning 
 springs "), because all the winter they remain unfrozen, and a cloud of 
 i»team hangs over them. Above the Nogotd, the Kurdpa, by some 
 considered to be the parent stream, is the largest left affluent of the 
 Teya, while on the right below the Tirida it is joined by the Agdila, 
 Nemchana, and lesser Ogne. About 7 miles below the mouth of the 
 Noiba the Yenashimo joins the Teya, and some distance farther down 
 the Jochimo, after which the now deep and navigable Teya falls into the 
 Velme. The T6ya has been little explored, and the gold, though dis- 
 tributed throughout its valley, is not worth working ; it will therefore be 
 unnecessary to speak further of it, beyond remarking that as far as 
 it is known the principal formation is clay-slate, wholly unchanged in 
 places, in others metamorphosed i-ito mica-slate. On the heights sepa- 
 rating the sources ot the Nogotd from those of the T6ya, as wc" :vr 
 between this river and the Yenashimo, are beds of gneiss, conta"" 
 quantities of mica and pierced by occasional veins of quartz. But smce 
 the T^ya flows for about 100 miles of its course through the impenetrable 
 taig^a, where it is only known to natives, there are doubtless other for- 
 mations common to the whole northern system, such as limestone and 
 sandstone, especially as these rocks were observed by Hoffmann on 
 Yermak's road, the first for several miles along the Teya, and near the 
 mouths of the lesser Ogne, the latter near the mouth of the Noiba. 
 
 Hoffmann found the limestone on the Teya to be cryst.?!line, 
 also composed of thin layers, hard and brittle, of a light-grey r-rU.ur, 
 containing sometimes calcspar. This is quite the character of the =;u e 
 stone along the lesser Ogne, where it is found in large masses, filling 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 381 
 
 the narrow valley with boulders and disrupted blocks, and contracting 
 it into a defile near its mouth. The same kind of limestone is imbedded 
 in the central and lower parts of the Noiba valley. The rivers Tun- 
 gusska, Velme, and Teya, according to reliable reports, are navigable in 
 flat-bottomed boats. The Noiba is about 27 miles long, and flows from 
 the range dividing the valley of the Uvolga, a tributary of the Nogota, 
 from thr.t of the OUonokon, an affluent of the Chapa. The Noiba has 
 also two sources, a right and a left one, the former being the longer and 
 more auriferous of the two. It is joined too by numerous springs and 
 dry gullies, two of which, the Doktorofsky and Kuznetsofsky, are 
 remarkable. The width of the Noiba from the confluence of its head 
 streams is 70 ft., and lower down 100 to 140 ft ; its general direction is 
 N.N.E. In spring, it inundates its valley for some distance, at other 
 seasons it is shallow ; whilst in winter, remarkable ice-cones form in it, 
 caused by springs which force iheii way to the surface. Its valley is 700 
 to 1000 ft. wide, but near the Riskofsky placer it flows between steep banks, 
 and has hardly any level ground ; towards its mouth the valley widens 
 again to ^ mile. The first discovery of gold on the Noiba was made 
 in 1842; but after several unsuccessful attempts to wash it, the placers 
 were abandoned, and not re-opened till 1854, by Sidorof, and 3ince 1861 
 they have been worked by Benardaki. The detritus on the Noiba in the 
 upper and central parts of its valley is mostly clay-slate, wholly meta- 
 morphosed in places i ito mica-slate, having a strong resemblance to 
 gneiss ; many boulders, pieces of quartz, slate and limestone occur, 
 however, in this part of the valley. Lower down, especially where it 
 contracts, light-grey limestone is the prevailing formation ; and, near its 
 mouth, sandstone. Hence there are three distinct formations on the 
 Noiba, which bisect it in a diagonal line from S.W. to N.L. 
 
 The auriferous stratum frequently lies in the bed of the river, or close 
 alongside, with a breadth of iOO to 300 ft, and a thickness of I ft. 2 in. 
 to 8 ft. It consists of greyish and reddish-brown or light-red clay, very 
 friable (and therefore easily washed), with large quantities of stones. 
 Between 1861 and 1865, the Benardakis obtained no less than 2700 lb. of 
 gold, working 3 and 4 claims simultaneously ; but notwithstanding the 
 satisfactory yield, they were losers. At the other placers on the Noiba 
 and its springs, 396 lb. of gold were taken up to 1865, making altogether 
 3096 lb. It is probable that a more careful and artistic mode of 
 conducting operations would be remunerative ; but no great develop- 
 ment can take place here in the future, owing to the variable character of 
 the detritus, and the difficulty in obtaining it. The worst in this respect, 
 though at the same time the richest of these placers, is the Riskofsky ; 
 for the others are easier, and one in particular, owned by Benardaki, is 
 convenient to work and constant in its production. The overlying peat 
 
 m 
 
 m' 
 
 I, 1' 
 
"! 
 
 |i 
 
 382 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 varies in thickness from 7 to 14 ft., but rarely exceeds 10 ft. It is very 
 full of stones, and consists of reddish-brown and light-grey rich clay, with 
 fluviatile deposits. Some 400,000 tons of detritus have been washed at 
 the Noiba diggings. 
 
 The Lesser Ogne, an insignificant rivulet, joins the Teya on the right, 
 with a course about 5 miles long, remarkable for its steep fall and narrow 
 valley. The Ogne was discovered in 1844, and two placer-mines were 
 worked on it. One of these was remarkable for the depth and variable 
 position of the drift, exceeding in some places 33 ft, under 14 ft. of 
 peat ; while in others, the peat lay directly upon the subsoil of the 
 auriferous alluvium, which in such cases formed an extremely thin belt. 
 In width, the detritus was between 35 and 100 ft, and consisted mostly 
 of limestone, similar to that of the neighbouring hills. In substance 
 it was adhesive, or, as the Siberians term it, "meaty," consisting of 
 reddish and buff-coloured rich clay, full of fragments of limestone and 
 quciit/ The Ogne detritus was first worked in 1850, and abandoned, 
 prou or ever, in 1861, after producing 2232 lb. of gold. The 
 
 Americu system of working was tried here, but failed. 
 
 The other tributaries of the Teya are nearly all deficient in gold, with 
 the exception of one small brook, which yielded about 36 lb. from 
 1856 to 1859. 
 
 The Chapa — a large tributary of the Velme — rises by two sources, in 
 the range of hills separating the head-waters of the Gariofka and Tiss, 
 in all probability a continuation of those 'vhich give birth to the Noiba. 
 The Chapa has not been explored ; of its feeders, the Ninchami, 
 Chingasan, and Almanokon (with its tributary the Diubkosh), are the 
 most remarkable. Nor has its detritus been thoroughly examined, so 
 that the basin of the Chapa, its afifluent the Chingasan excepted, is 
 to this day a terra incognita. 
 
 The only auriferous deposits of any value hitherto found, are situated 
 in the valley of the Chingasan, but here only on a spring which joins it 
 on the left, not far from its confluence with the Chapa. In other places 
 locatea by the gold-seekers, it proved only slightly auriferous ; but even 
 these were not fully explored, and now the basin of the Chapa is wholly 
 abandoned by parties of gold-seekers, though there can be no doubt 
 of gold being in other places besides that one spring. The Chingasan 
 was discovered and claimed in 1842 and 1843, but work only began in 
 1847, and continued to 1853, to the extent above-mentioned atone mine. 
 The total production was 541 lb. from 90,000 tons of sand washed. 
 
 The Yenashimo is the chief tributary of the Teya, and rises in the 
 great watershed. Its general direction is from S. to N., and N.W. in its 
 lower course, with an approximate length of 70 miles. On the right, it is 
 joined by the Bezimianka ("nameless rivulet") and by the following 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 383 
 
 auriferous brooks : the Lesser Gurakhta, Kalami, Ditin, Diubkosh, Ogne, 
 Ollonokon, Greater and Lesser Kv">lichikana, besides numerous springs and 
 gullies. Its left affluents are insignificant, and, with a single exception, 
 not auriferous. The valley of the Yenashimo is almost looo yd. wide in 
 places, whilst in others it narrows and forms rapids, as between the 
 mouths of the Ditin and Diubkosh ; the stream itself is 70 to 200 ft. 
 broad, and 350 ft. lower down. The chief formations on the Yenashimo 
 are clay and micaceouc schists, with here and there, above and below the 
 Kalami and Ditin, fragments of gneiss and granite ; below the mouth of 
 the Ogne, but only for a short distance, limestone rocks are met with ; 
 and towards the mouth of the Yenashimo, sandstones associated with 
 grey, hard clay-schists. The detritus in the Yenashimo valley is 
 very friable, but nowhere particularly rich in gold, except below the 
 mouth of the Ogne. The average thickness of the alluvial deposit does 
 not exceed 8 ft, and its breadth varies from 200 to 700 ft, though 
 in places it reaches 1400 ft., for instance at Benardaki's mines. At the 
 sources and in central parts of this river, as well as towards its mouth, 
 the detritus is unproductive, variable, and, at its sources, lies in 
 nests ; but on the other hand, it is coarse-grained, and large pellets 
 with small nuggets are frequent, though in other parts of the valley 
 scarce. The detritus on the Yenashimo was first more thoroughly 
 explored in 1851 ; in 1852 work was commenced, and up to 1864, at two 
 of the principal placers, 12,420 lb. and 5430 lb. were produced 
 respectively. The second of these, however, owned by Benardaki, 
 resulted in heavy losses to this firm, who have the reputation of being 
 the most enterprising and at the same time the most unfortunate in the 
 Siberian mining world. At other diggings along the Yenashimo valley, 
 8804 lb. of precious metal were obtained up to 1864, in 24 claims, worked 
 "a different years, but within the same period, for a total quantity 
 of 5 million tons of sand washed on the Yenashimo and its smaller 
 tributaries. 
 
 Having as far as possible described the deposits in the valley of the 
 Yenashimo, attention will now be given m its chief tributaries, which 
 from the very beginning attracted the g jld-seekers. The Kalami, the 
 largest and richest of them, rises by two sources in the Sevaglikon- 
 Aktolik watershed range. Its length is about 22 miles ; its general 
 direction from its sources is N.E. to S.W., then from S.E. to N.W., and 
 finally, before it debouches, it takes a somewhat sudden turn to the W. 
 Its valley, as far as the mouth of the Sevaglikon, is not over 700 ft wide, 
 but from this point to Ust Kalami mine, it is 2800 ft. in width, whilst 
 towards its mouth it contracts considerably, and is not over 350 ft The 
 discovery of the Kalami detritus dates from 1840, and 2 years afterwards 
 work was commenced. The Kalami is joined on the right by the 
 
 < ^k 
 
 'i^i 
 
 pi 
 
 b^ 
 
384 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 il 
 
 r 
 
 Nikolaiefsky spring, Sevaglikon ii'"ulet, and Kuznetsofsky spring, on 
 the left, by the greater Gurakhta, with scarcely any gold. The structure 
 of the rocks and character of the detritus in the valley of the Kalami 
 vary much. From its mouth to where the valley widens, gneiss pre- 
 dominates ; beyond, are hard and highly metamorphosed clay-schists. 
 From the embouchures of the Gurakhta and Sevaglikon, clay-schists give 
 place to mica-schists, which afterwards prevail nearly the whole length 
 of the Sevaglikon and Kalami valleys ; whilst on the Gurakhta, with rare 
 exceptions where clay-schists are exposed, red and grey-red granites, 
 coarse-grained and composed of grey quartz, black mica and red felspar 
 are seen. Belts of these granites lie not only along the Gurakhta, with 
 its small feeder, but also across this river, and extend as far as the pass in 
 the valley of the Eruda. Mica-schist, however, nowhere lies in con- 
 tinuous masses, but is associated with clay-schists, in which is also a 
 quantity of mica. The layers of clay- and mica-schists, are often 
 traversed by veins of white and yellowish quartz, which is particularly 
 plentiful at the sources of the Kalami, as well as on the low ridge 
 separating Nikolaiefsky and Danilofsky springs ; fragments and boulders 
 of quartz, however, are met with everywhere, and help to form the 
 detritus. The subsoil of the Kalami valley consists of mica-clay or clay- 
 schists, inclined at a steep angle, or standing in vertical ridges. In upper 
 parts of the valley, the auriferous drift is from 2 ft. 4 in. to 7 ft. thick, and 
 consists of yellowish and buff-coloured arenaceous clay, with a number of 
 schistose and quartz pebbles imbedded in it; in central and lower parts, 
 it is 4 ft. 8 in. to 8 ft. thick (though sometimes, especially on the hill- 
 slopes, it does not exceed 3 ft), and is composed of grey argillaceous 
 sand, with a greenish tinge, very friable and easily washed, and also 
 containl.ig many boulders, fragments and pebbles of quartz, and, near 
 the mouth of the Gurakhta, granite. The nearer this debris lies to the 
 mouth of the Kalami, the more gneiss it contains. Some of the granitic 
 and quartz blocks attain great size near the embouchure of the Gurakhta, 
 and many of the latter are veined with gold. The peat strata too vary 
 in thickness from 2 ft. 4 in. to 9 ft. 4 in., being thinner in the upper valley 
 and thicker towards the mouth. In width, the alluvial deposits on the 
 Kalami correspond with its valley, — in the higher parts, 70 to 210 ft. ; 
 along Nikolaiefsky spring, up to 350 ft. ; whilst below the mouth of the 
 Gurakhta, looo to 2000 ft. and upwards. Here the productiveness is 
 much less than in the central parts, where, particularly near the mouth 
 of the Sevaglikon, the richness of the ore-stuff was remarkable. The 
 same thing occurs on the upper valley, where the yield is much greater 
 towards the sources than lower down. Of all the placers on the Kalami, 
 the Narkizofsky, owned by the Zotofs, is pre-eminent, as well for the width 
 of the debris, as for the extent of the works. Here, up to 1864, 14,760 lb. 
 

 ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 385 
 
 of gold were obtained. Another highly productive digging was the 
 Nikolaiefsky, on the spring of the same name, worked by the Golubkofs, 
 which had yielded up to the same year, 10,735 ^b. ; and a third, the 
 Viktorofsky, belonging to the Basilefskys, from which 14,580 lb. were 
 taken. The other placers on the Kalami were of less importance. At 
 all the 19 mines in this valley, exclusive of those on the Sevaglikon, 
 59,508 lb. of gold were obtained from 8 million tons of sand washed, 
 between 1842 and 1864. Work, however, still continued down to the date 
 of Latkin's article (1869), and 5 placers were then in operation. The 
 insignificant Sevaglikon, a right tributary of the Kalami, is one of the 
 richest in this gold-producing country. It flows from the N.W. side of 
 the Sevaglikon watershed range, with a general N.E. to S.W. direction, 
 and a length of 8 miles. A small nameless rivulet and two auriferous 
 brooks join it on the right, whilst on the left two small streams swell its 
 waters. Its geology and detritus are nearly the same as those on the 
 Kalami. But the richest debris begins from the point where a dry 
 ravine opens into its valley. Higher up, the detritus is generally poor. 
 Gold too was found on the sloping flank of a hill on its left bank, where 
 huge lumps of white and yellowish quart?, are seen in great numbers. 
 This was the site of the once famous mines of Solovief and Rezanof The 
 detritus on the Sevaglikon was discovered in 1840 by Prehn and Jtiidief, 
 agents for two firms of entrepreneurs. In 1841, work was commenced, 
 and though much of the drift is exhausted and worked out, it still 
 continues to be remunerative, and there are doubtless yet undeveloped 
 sources, an instance in point having recently occurred at the placer of 
 Basilefsky and Malievinsky. Among the rarer treasures, mention should 
 not be omitted of a greenstone hammer found in the detritus at the head 
 of the above-mentioned dry ravine. And it is worth noticing that the 
 auriferous stratum, composed of arenaceous buff-coloured clay, 2 ft. 4 in. 
 to 3 ft. 6 in. thick, lies very near the surface, having only 2 to 3 ft. of soil 
 above it, and extends in an almost imperceptible depression to the crest 
 of the Sevaglikon dividing ridge, one of the works being actually on the 
 ridge.* This remarkable high position of the auriferous alluvium is 
 unique in the taiga, if the Preobrajenie mine, owned by Karpinsky, 
 also on a dry ravine opening on the right into the Yenashimo valley, 
 I mile below the mouth of the Ogne, be not a similar instance, though on 
 a smaller scale. However, as only 36 lb. in all of precious metal were 
 obtained here, it may probably have been a cavity or " nest " of ore 
 derived from the breaking up of a vein of quartz, an abundance of which, 
 in large blocks too, is met with. The most remarkable of the mines on 
 the Sevaglikon were those of the Zotofs, which produced up to 1864, 
 34,920 lb. of gold ; and in some years, as much as 3600 lb. were taken in 
 
 ♦ Cf. V "-chison's ' Geology of the Ural,' vol. i. p. 489. 
 
 2 C 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 Mti 
 
 
386 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 lii 
 
 the course of the summer. Next to these stood the Otradny, with 
 21,960 lb. obtained between 1841 and 1856. From 1856 to 1864, this 
 placer was not worked, under the supposition that it was exhausted. 
 But in 1864, new beds of detritus were discovered, with a rich yield of 
 gold, and in that year 360 lb. were washed with 80 labourers. Soloviefs 
 placer produced 15,840 lb. up to 1864, when it was abandoned. At 
 Golubkofs, 10,008 lb. were obtained between 1843 and 1864; at 
 Rezanofs, now closed, 6480 lb. from 1845 to 1852 ; at Krasilnikofs, 
 14,256 lb. from 1843 to 1863; and at all the placers in the Sevaglikon 
 valley, 119,268 lb. for about 10 million tons of detritus washed. 
 Reckoning the nett value of the gold, exclusive of taxes and rates, at 
 10,500 rubles per 36 lb., the total amount obtained by the miners in the 
 Sevaglikon valley was 40,000,000 ricbles (say 5,000,000/.). 
 
 One mile below the estuary of the Kalami, the Yenashimo is joined 
 by the Ditin, and 7 miles lower down by the Diubkosh. Both these 
 streams flow from the Chiriata ridge with a general direction of N.E. to 
 S.W., and courses of 13 miles and 10 miles respectively. Their 
 tributaries are insignificant and their valleys of nearly equal breadth, 
 under 700 ft. in the higher, and 1000 ft. in their central and lower parts, 
 whilst the Ditin contracts towards its mouth to form a rocky glen. 
 Their geology and detritus, as well as those of the surrounding hills and 
 the Chiriata range, are nearly identical, — clay-schists, black in colour. 
 In their lower valleys, however, these schists, in the case of the former, 
 become gneiss ; and in the Diubkosh valley, below the first spring, 
 reddish-grey granite, loose and apparently weather-worn. At the sources 
 of these streams and along the tributary springs, boulders of white and 
 yellow, oily quartz full of mica are found in large numbers ; but the 
 schists are somewhat metamorphosed, and have become porous, and 
 crystals of sulphur-pyrites and hiastoHte occur in them, together with 
 small fragments of talc-schist. The alluvium is generally stony, and 
 consists of sandy clays of various shades, with numerous fragments of 
 quartz and schists imbedded in them. On the Ditin, sorrc of the clay is 
 compact, and rich yellowish-grey and red in colour. Neither of these 
 rivulets is particularly auriferous, and they have never been worked on a 
 large scale, except at the placers of Shestof and Astashof The detritus 
 is between 150 and 350 ft. wide, 5 to 7 ft. deep, and overlaid by peat 12 
 to 14 ft. in thickness. Up to 1864, the placers yielded 4608 lb. of gold 
 obtained on the Ditin, and 6408 lb. on the Diubkosh, for 2, 150,000 tons of 
 ore-stuff washed. At present, they produce on a more moderate scale. 
 
 The Ogne, another affluent of the Yenashimo, rises in the spurs of the 
 Chiriata range, between the sources of the Diubkosh and Ollonokon. 
 Its direction is at first N.W. and afterwards S.W. ; its length is about 
 1 1 miles. It is joined by two or three brooks and springs on the right 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 387 
 
 and left, the Ogne itself having two sources. The formations are clay- 
 scnists ; but from the mouth of Sosulinsky spring to the estuary of the 
 Ogne, white and light-grey, hard and brittle limestone is the characteristic 
 rock. This limestone, which is destitute of fossils, occasionally lies in 
 horizontal beds, but is mostly inclined at angles of 25° to 55°. It 
 crosses the Ogne in a slanting direction, and, not far from its mouth, 
 passes into the Yenashimo valley, here much pent up by hills. Cliffs, 
 huge boulders, and fragments of it close the entrance to the Tukolonghi 
 valley, and form a bit of wild, picturesque scenery. In upper parts of 
 the Ogne and along its tributary brooks, quartz in boulders and 
 fragments is so plentiful that whole beds of various colours occur, and 
 the most auriferous detritus is full of it. At Gavrilof placer, the tailings 
 composed of black magnetic iron-sand contain not unfrequently crystals 
 of garnet and zircon. This gold is coarse-grained, in round pellets of high 
 specific weight, and very free from alloy. Occasional pieces of it weigh 
 upwards of i lb., and the quartz contains gold in crystals, veins, and 
 sprays. On the whole, the Ogne detritus was highly auriferous, easily 
 worked, and unusually thick, measuring at one placer — the Gavrilof — 
 70 ft. with a breadth of 700 ft, whilst in other parts the width was 
 between 140 and 350 ft, and from 4 ft 8 in. to 7 ft thick. This 
 remarkable depression at the Gavrilof mine is almost worked out though 
 it is said that a layer 14 ft thick still remains, but not so rich ; most of 
 the detritus on the Ogne is now nearly exhausted, though not long ago, 
 upwards of 1000 men were employed at the Gavrilof placer, and 
 3600 lb. of gold were obtained during the summer. The Ogne detritus 
 was first worked in 1845, and in 1851 it yielded largely. Up to 1864, 
 the Gavrilof placer produced 27,720 lb. ; and the total quantity during 
 the whole time at lO placers amounted to 49,788 lb. for 7i million 
 tons washed. At present only 3 mines are worked, though some of those 
 closed might even now prove remunerative. 
 
 The OUonokon rivulet flows into the Yenashimo on the right, 
 8 miles below the Ogne. It rises in the same range of hills, and its 
 general direction is from N.E. to S.W., with a course 12 miles long. Its 
 valley is between 700 ?nd iockd ft wide. The formations are mostly 
 metamorphic clay-schists, hard, black, and in places micaceous. Among 
 the schistous debris are crystals of sulphur-pyrites, hiastolite, and 
 quartz. At Lhe mouth of the river, the detritus is only 140 ft. wide ; but 
 higher up, it expands to 350 ft and upwards, with an average thickness 
 of 7 ft under peat 8 to 10 ft. thick. The alluvium is compact clay, very 
 rich in places, though not to be compared with the neighbouring Ogne. 
 The OUonokon was discovered in 1841, first worked in 1845, and is at 
 present abandoned, though some of the placers might still be profitably 
 worked. The total yield of gold at 6 diggings was 5764 lb. for 8oo,cx)0 
 
 2 C 2 
 
 
 v;^i 
 
 \m 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
V 
 
 388 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 tons of ore-stuff washed. The other tributaries of the Yenashimo arc of 
 no importance to the gold-industry, with the exception of one spring, 
 which produced 337 lb. of the precious metal in 43,000 tons of detritus. 
 In concluding this description of the Yen.ashimo basin, it is worth 
 mentioning that in some of its detritus, fossil remains of mammoth and 
 rhinoceros have been found, and they would perhaps be less rare were 
 the overseers and labourers at the mines acquainted with them. 
 
 Of the other tributaries of the T^ya, which are nearly all up to the 
 present time in no way remarkable, allusion will only be made to the more 
 auriferous, for Instance the Jochimo, which rises on the N.W. slope of the 
 range serving as a watershed to the Great Pit and Velme rivers. The 
 Jochimo, though not inferior in size to the Yenashimo, has not hitherto 
 attracted miners. Its left tributary, the Nemunia, receives the waters of 
 the Dulijmo, with a little gold, and the Koto, with more, but so thinly dis- 
 tributed and under such masses of peat as to be considcicd unremunerative. 
 The formations on the Koto and surrounding hills are clay-schists. 
 
 The Olinchimo, a left affluent of the Teya, was discovered by a party 
 of Grigorofs gold-seekers in 1857. As soon as it became known that 
 gold had been found on it, miners rushed thither, and soon claimed the 
 whole river ; but they were disappointed, and, with the exception of 
 Grigorof, who for some time worked his claim, they soon abandoned it. 
 The Olinchimo, however, is doubtless more auriferous than either of the 
 two preceding rivers ; but its distance from the Yenashimo diggings — 
 some 50 miles or more — the want of roads, and the dearness of supplies, 
 stopped explorations and work. It is even probable that Grigorof has 
 discontinued work, though this is not certain. In 1861, he obtained 351 lb. 
 of gold, with an average yield of 79 gr. in 100 puds (3600 lb.), for 
 70,000 tons of sand washed. 
 
 Having considered the system of the Podkamenny Tungusska, or 
 rather of the T^ya, attention will now be turned to that of the Great Pit, 
 only the right side of which belongs to the northern Yeniseisk system. 
 The sources of the Great Pit are not accurately known, but probably, as 
 the Tungusses say, they are not far from those of the Podkamenny 
 Tungusska and of the Velme. The length of the Pit is between 200 and 
 270 miles, according to the various computations, for nothing is known 
 positively of its upper course, and the miners' maps are very inaccurate. 
 Of the right affluents of the Great Pit within the northern system, those 
 only will be mentioned here which from their length or some other 
 feature are important. Such are the Chirimba, the Tavrikul, 23 miles 
 lower down, the Ponimba, 3 miles farther, the Veguda, the Brianka, the 
 Lendakha, the Lesser and Greater Kaitba, the Yalami, the Kamenka, and 
 the Tocnilny, remarkable for its coarse-grained red sandstone, of which 
 indifferent grindstones and whetstones are made. 
 
ASIA : RUS)^'*, 
 
 389 
 
 The rl\rulet Chirimba, or rather the river, flows from the great dividing- 
 range with a direction at first from S.E. to N.W., then S.W. to N.E., and, 
 after receiving its chief tributary the Vangasha, N.VV. to S.E. On the 
 right, the Chirimba is joined by the Eruda, a stream of considerable size, 
 though deficient in gold ; then by the Vangasha, the most auriferous of 
 its feeders ; and afterwards by the brooks Tavrik, Pedun, Morok, and 
 Kogai or Trinity spring, where red sandstone crops up. On the left, the 
 small but a little auriferous Kalmir and others unite with the Chirimba. 
 Clay-slates are the dominant formation in these valleys and on the 
 surrounding hills, though in many places, especially below the Vangasha, 
 boulders and fragments of granite, similar to that on the Gurakhta, are 
 met with. In all probability, were these valleys better explored, more 
 granite would be seen, especially as the granitic Ayaktinsky ridge crosses 
 the Pit at the mouth of t' Ayakta, and continues between the Chirimba 
 and Tavrikul. Outcrops of these rocks have also been noticed on the 
 Kadra, an affluent of the Ponimba, and many springs flowing into the 
 Chirimba on the right, blocks and fragments of it filling some of their 
 valleys. 
 
 The valley of the Chirimba is nearly everywhere upwards of 700 ft. 
 wide, and widens in places to 500 yd. Meadow-land abounds, whence 
 the gold-miners derive their supplies of hay. The river channel Is about 
 1 50 ft. wide to the mouth of the Vangasha, and twice this lower down ; yet 
 the Chirimba is shallower than its tributaries the Eruda and Vangasha. 
 Gold is feebly distributed in the valley of the Chirimba, though it is im- 
 possible to say what further explorations may produce there and in the 
 Eruda valley. The Vangasha, a right tributary of the Chirimba, rises on 
 the eastern slope of a spur of hills detached from the Chiriata range, and 
 has a general direction from N. to S. It receives on the right the Uksigli, 
 then the celebrated Aktolik, and below this the Kokoko, Shevandak, 
 Akchedil, Akchelik, with many other smaller streams. Its left tributaries 
 are insignificant, and so little auriferous that they may be passed over. 
 The Vangasha is only 100 ft. wide as far as the mouths of the Shevandak 
 and Kogni, but the nearer to its estuary, the wider it becomes, attaining 
 a breadth of more than 200 ft. in places. Deeper than the Chirimba, 
 it is nevertheless fordable everywhere in summer, but not in spring, when 
 it inundates its valley. Like most of the taiga rivers, the Vangasha has 
 a winding course. The detritus in its valley, which is throughout wide, 
 consists for the most part of clay-slate, — friable, and therefore easily 
 washed. In the lower beds of alluvium, the slates stand edgewise, and 
 most of the gold is found between their flakes and in fissures. Round 
 lumps of brown iron ore occur among the debris, but auriferous quartz is 
 more rare than on the Aktolik, Ogne, and Kalami. The deposits and 
 overlying peat are of the usual depth, — 5 to 8 ft. in the former case, 6 to 
 
 y\ 
 
 I 
 
 \i 
 
 Hi 
 
 ail 
 
 l-l 
 
 h !» 1 
 
 ['4 
 
 \l iil 
 
 4"'ft 
 
390 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 iS 
 
 ; iiiii 
 
 10 ft. in the latter, with a breadth of 700 to 1400 ft. This detritus was 
 discovered in 1839 by the Zotofs, but not worked till 1847. In all proba- 
 bility, the Vangasha valley derives its gold from the AKtolik, for above 
 the confluence of these streams not a placer has been opened, and a few 
 iiii'.cs below this point the detritus was not found worth working, and only 
 became richer close to the Aktolik. Nine placers were worked in the 
 valley of the Vangasha ; of these, the richest was owned by the Princess 
 Madatova, and rented by her to Mme. Rodstvennaia, who obtained 
 a good deal of gold here in 1865-66. Another, belonging to the Golubkofs 
 was one of the largest in the northern system ; whilst the Uspensky 
 of the Astashofs was one of the best. At the first of these, 2880 lb. of 
 gold were produced between the years 1864 and 1867; at the second, 
 21,276 lb. from 1849 to 1864 ; and at the third, 1 165 lb. from 1850 to 1858. 
 All the other placers yielded together, up to 1865, 5973 lb. 
 
 The Aktolik, an affluent of the Vangasha, rises from two sources in 
 the Sevaglikon dividing ridge, one flowing down the N.W. flank, the other 
 the S. W. of this range. From their confluence, the Aktolik flows S.E., its 
 length being less than 9 miles. The detritus is again of the clay-schistose 
 nature so prevalent in these gold-fields ; on its left source, however, are 
 mica-schists pierced by veins of white quartz and felspar, inclined steeply 
 to the N.W., whereas on the right source they dip to the S.W. ; in central 
 parts of the valley, hard clay-schists prevail, without at* of mica. The 
 alluvium (4 to 6 ft. thick) is argillaceous greensand, tole compact, and 
 
 full of schistose fragments and boulders mixed with quartz, and overlaid by 
 • peaty deposits. Almost exactly similar is the detritus on the left source, 
 except that here a yellowish oily quartz encrusted with gold is met with. 
 In lower parts of the valley, the alluvium is greenish sandy clay, also 
 mixed with quartz and clay-schists 5 to 7 ft. thick, under peat 7 to 12 ft. 
 thick. The Aktolik auriferous beds were discovered by Zotofs gold- 
 seekers in 1839. Since 1841, they have been worked at il placers ; the 
 richest of these, if not in the whole of Siberia, was the Platonof mine, 
 belonging to the Golubkofs. Between 1841 and 1864, 40,788 lb. of gold 
 were produced here, the average yield being 1 1 zolotniks (724 gr.), though, 
 in p"'rf:s of the detritus, it was I lb. and even more of precious metal in 
 100 puds (36001b.) of sand. In 1847-48-49, large works were conducted 
 here, employing between 1500 and 2000 men ; the quantity washed in 
 each of these years being 5976 lb., 7848 lb., and 6120 lb. In 1857, the 
 quantity again rose to 4725 lb. ; but the Platonof placer is nearly 
 worked out, and in 1 862 the work had dwindled to very small proportions, 
 288 lb. of gold only having been extracted in that year. Second to the 
 Platonof in the richness of its detritus and yield of gold, was the Olga 
 placer, owned by Basilefsky and Malievinsky, on both sources of the 
 Aktolik. The largest production in any one year was 3420 lb. in 1849, 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 391 
 
 and the total from 1845 to 1864 was 13,2801b. A third remarkably 
 auriferous placer was the Constantinofsky of the Zotofs, which yielded 
 25,712 lb. between 1 841 and 1864. A fourth, Soloviefs Holy-Trinity 
 placer, produced 6255 lb. between 1843 and 1864. Altogether, 95,724 lb. 
 of gold were washed on the Aktolik up to 1864, out of6J million tons of 
 sand, clay, and detritus. For this quantity, after deducting rates and 
 taxes, and assuming the value at 10,500 rubles per 36 lb., the mining 
 proprietors should have received 27,920,000 nibles (3,490,000/.), and of this, 
 Golubkofs share would have been 1 1,896,000 rubles (1,487,000/.). Of other 
 streams in the Pit basin, the Ponimba, Tavrikul, and Vcguda are the 
 principal, but no rich alluvium has been hitherto discovered in their 
 valleys. Three small placers were worked on the Tavrikul by 
 Benardaki, Chernosvitof, and Isaief, but they produced altogether only 
 396 lb. of gold from 1861 to 1865. Blasting was necessary here to 
 remove encumbering masses of metamorphic schists, closely resembling 
 gneiss, and boulders of quartz and granite. The detritus, however, proved 
 poor and unremunerative. The other placers on the Tavrikul have now 
 been completely worked out, and give no hopes for the future. 
 
 The Ponimba, 70 miles long, receives the Kadra and numerous 
 smaller brooks and springs, and flows through a valley much hemmed in 
 by hills in a general S.E. and S.S.E. direction. Gold was only found ': the 
 sources of the tributary streams, where the detritus lies in a narrow belt 
 30 to 100 ft. in width, and 4 to 8 ft. in depth. Work commenced here 
 lately on an insigniiicant scale ; and the poorness of the yield, combined 
 with dear labour, made it improbable that any extensions would follow. 
 The Kamero, an affluent of the Veguda, is also auriferous ; but here too 
 the alluvium is narrow, variable, and below the average, yielding only 
 30 to 40 gr. Altogether the diggings on the Ponimba, its tributaries, and 
 the Kamero yielded, to 1864, 432 lb. The other right afiluents of the 
 Great Pit are in no way remarkable, and require no further mention. 
 
 The Yenisei is joined by a number of rivulets and springs flowing 
 from the northern gold-field, but it will be only necessary to name a few 
 of the more important. Descending this river from the estuary of the 
 Great Pit, the large stream of the Ki, with its affluent the Severny 
 [northern], flows into it ; lower down, near the residence of Lopatin's 
 Co., the unimportant Viatka ; below the village of Nazimof, near the 
 residences of various companies known under the name of Yermak, the 
 Tiss, along the bank of which lies Yermak's road to the northern gold- 
 field ; beyond, the Gariofka and Otroikha. All these have been hitherto 
 little explored, except the Tiss and Gariofka. 
 
 From Hoffmann's descriptions, gneiss rocks are seen along the Tiss 
 for about 30 miles from its mouth, then red and lighter-coloured sand- 
 stone conglomerate with a mottled appearance ; 20 miles farther, gneiss 
 
 i 
 
 
 \:y. 
 
 
^ 
 
 l'[ 
 
 ill 
 
 392 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 again reappears, with a dip of 30° N.E., containing felspar, hornblende, 
 quartz, and mica. These outcrops also occur on the Volokovo, where clay- 
 slate predominates ; whilst on the Nogatd, tributary of the Teya, he 
 found fine-grained greenstone. The Tiss is 700 ft. wide in one part ; its 
 banks are marshy, though not without meadow-land. The Gariofka has 
 been only recently thoroughly examined, though discovered as far back 
 as 1843, without, however, leading to any important results. At one 
 mine only has gold been obtained in any quantity, viz. at the 
 Voskresensky mine of the merchant Chechurof. This yielded 998 lb. 
 between 1858 and 1864. The remaining placers on this river produced 
 79 lb. altogether. 
 
 The climate of the northern system is rigorous ; 'v'nter continues for 
 7 months, and frosts are extremely severe for d?.ys together. The 
 coldest months are November, December, January, and February ; the 
 hottest, June and July. Sledge travelling sometimes begins at the end 
 of September, or early in October, and towards the end of this month the 
 rivers are congealed. In the begmning of winter, snowstorms are of 
 common occurrence, and continue for days together, obliterating roads 
 and stopping communications between the mines. The first Ihaws 
 begin in April, but the snow does not disappear before the beginning of 
 May, and on the higher hills not before June, whilst on some of the 
 highest it remains unmelted up to the end of this month. Regular 
 summer weather b gins ear'y in June, and continues to the middle of 
 August. Rainless summers are not unfrequent, whilst there are years 
 when it rains incessantly all summer through. In winter, snow lies 5 ft. 
 thick on the ground, and in parts of the forest drifts to a depth of 8 ft. 
 
 The natives are Tungusses of nomadizing habits. Their type i- more 
 distinctly Mongolian than farther south, thoi'gh even here signs of 
 intermixture with Russians are becoanng evident. I^ is uncertain how 
 numerous they may be, for they are so continually moving that no census 
 can be taken. But disease and the extinction of furred animals are 
 diminishing their numbers, and obliging them to seek more northern 
 regions. Their encampments are often to be seen on the tatga, some- 
 times close to the mines, or wherever reindeer-moss is abundant. A few 
 serve as guides to the gold-seekers. One well-known character, Anton 
 by name, now in the receipt of a pension, led to the discovery of the rich 
 placer-gold on the Sevaglikon and Aktolik. 
 
 Roads and ways of communication in the northern Yeniseisk gold- 
 field are bad, owing to the unsystematic way of repairing them by the 
 miners ; and notwithstanding the larger yield of gold and greater number 
 of hands employed, they are much worse than those in the southern 
 system. The principal road to the diggings from inhabited centres is 
 that which starts from the village of Lifantieva, on the right bank of the 
 

 ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 393 
 
 Yenisei, opposite the town of Yeniseisk. It was made recently, anu is 
 available for whcv^-traffic throughout, though the risk of a breakdown 
 may be anticipated. The old road from Lifantieva may also be driven 
 over for 30 miles ; then it is necessary to take to boats, and proceed up 
 the ?it river for two stages, as far as Briansk. Hence one may continue 
 in carriages. Besides these, there are four other roads, named after four 
 of the principal mining companies, and leading to and from their works, 
 viz. Zotofs, from their former residence opposite the village of Pogadaief; 
 L opatin's, irom the former establishment of that firm ; Rezanofs, from 
 the village of Ust Pit ; and Yermak's, from the well-known centre of the 
 several important companies under this name. These roads are only prac- 
 ticable for equipages during winter ; in summer, the journey must be 
 made on horseback ; and of the 6 mentioned, none are good, a fact 
 attributable to the rivalry between the different companies, as w ell as to 
 negligence on the part of contractors. The distance from Yeniseisk to 
 Zotofs works on the Sevaglikon by tie new road is 130 miles, or there- 
 abouts, whilst by the old road it is 1 50 miles. This distance is divided 
 into 6 stages, and a ferry across the Pit. At each of the 6 stations 
 post-horses are kept, and the traveller must provide himself with a road- 
 pass at Yeniseisk. The verstage is 5 kopecks {\\d) per horse. The 
 stations are well maintained, and the who'ie journey from Yeniseisk to the 
 diggings may be accomplished in 36 hours in winter, and 2 to 2\ days in 
 summer. Two roads lead from the northern to the southern system, 
 which will be described hereafter. By the old and new Lifantieva roads 
 the traffic in winter is great, as well as along that known as Yermak's : 
 the supplies for the mining population all pass by one or other of thcje 
 lines of communication. Those who use the roads pay a tax of 5 kopecks 
 (i^rt?.) for each /«</ (36 lb.) transported. This was formerly levied in kind, 
 but has now been commuted into a money payment, and defrays the cost 
 of repairs. 
 
 The extent of the northern system, along a line drawn from the 
 estuary of the Pit * > the Jochimo, is about 170 miles ; and from the 
 mouth of the Chirimba to that of the Jochimo, i. e. .rom S.E. to N.W., 
 about 135 miles. Here, since mining operations were first commenced to 
 1864, 517 claims have been allotted ; of I'^ese, 133 had been worked, iiid 
 403,506 lb. of gold ob:ained, for 43^ million tons of detritus washed. At 
 present, 40 to 50 niines are worked, and 8500 to 9000 men employed, 
 besides servants, women, and children. In earlier times, when these gold- 
 fields were at their .".cnith, i. e. between 1845 and i860, 12,000 or 15,000 
 hands were annually employed. Many of the placers are worked out, 
 others are more or less exhausted, and those still at work are less pro- 
 ductive than they were. Nowadays, 20 or 30 per cent, profit 's con- 
 sidcrRo .:'''od, a placer which pays 50 per cent, is unusual, and 100 or 
 
 I 
 
 I' I 
 
In I! 
 
 Ii 1 
 
 394 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 200 per cent, are things of the past. That the decline in prosperity is 
 marked, the following figures will prove : — 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average 
 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 Placers in 
 
 Hands 
 
 Pi eduction 
 
 yield from 
 
 
 
 work. 
 
 employed. 
 
 of gold. 
 
 100 /uds of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 detritus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 
 
 i860 
 
 30 
 
 10,237 
 
 15.309 
 
 83 
 
 
 
 1861 
 
 42 
 
 9.975 
 
 14,325 
 
 69 
 
 
 
 1862 
 
 SO 
 
 11,778 
 
 13.574 
 
 Sii 
 
 
 
 1863 
 
 S3 
 
 9,269 
 
 14.185 
 
 66J 
 
 
 
 1864 
 
 55 
 
 10,995 
 
 12,564 
 
 1 
 
 The returns for 1865 and 1866 were not accessible when Latkin 
 wrote his report ; but it is probable that the number of mines and produc- 
 tion remained stationary in both those years, whilst the average number 
 of men employed did not exceed 9000. It is evident, therefore, that 
 although more claims were worked, the number of workmen remained 
 stationary, and the quantity of gold gradually' decreased ; and were a 
 comparison to be made with earlier years before i860,* this diminution 
 would be still more apparent. The gold-industry, under altered condi- 
 tions of supply, is entering a new phase, when to be successfully con- 
 tinued it must be subdivided. 
 
 In 1868, the mining companies made large reductions in their 
 establishments, consequent upon the dearness of supplies and the 
 continuation of a high tax on their industry, a modification in which had 
 been in vain expected for 5 years. The number of hands engaged for 
 the northern gold-fields did not exceed 3000 in that year, and about the 
 same number in the southern field. Meanwhile smaller capitalists tided 
 over the crisis, owing to their being more favourably circumstanced as 
 regards taxation. These changes made themselves felt by a falling off in 
 the supply of gold by 6768 lb. less even than 1867. 
 
 Gold-washing processes and machinery will be fully described at the 
 end of this section, but it may be worth while mentioning that all im- 
 provements in the methods adopted in Siberia were first tried and per- 
 fected in the northern Yeniseisk system by large proprietors or managers 
 of mines, e. g. Golubkof, Benardaki, Zotof, and Rezanof, all of whom 
 employed thousands of labourers and extracted many thousands of lb. 
 weight of gold. 
 
 The average thickness of the overlying peaty strata does not exceed 
 8 ft. ; but in some localities, it is as much as 16 ft, and in others 
 43 ft., e. g. on the rivers Ogne, Ogniofka, Yenashimo, and on Danilof 
 spring. In others again, it is only 3 to 5 ft, and even less, e. g. at 
 Magdalene placer, on a spring uniting with the Sevaglikon. The 
 
 * The production of gold iu the preceding decade was upwards of 18,000 11). 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 395 
 
 auriferous beds also vary in depth, averaging between 5 and 8 ft. ; at 
 Rdsanofs placer, however, on the Ogne, they ar , 80 ft. thick. Their 
 width often depends on the size of the stream along which they are 
 situated; thus on the Kalami, Sevaglikon, Vangasha, Ogne, and 
 Yenashimo, they measured 700 to 1400 and even 1700 ft. across. 
 
 The scale of operations at the northern placers is usually much 
 larger than at the southern, and 4- and even 8-barrel machines are not 
 uncommon. Among the latest improvements to be noticed, are the 
 8-barrel machine at Golubkof's Uspensky mine, with tramway and 
 trucks for bringing the detritus to the machine, worked by an endless 
 rope. The same arrangement is more fully developed at Rdzanof's 
 Gavrilof mine, devices which have effected a great economy in manual 
 labour and horse-power. In pumps too, the northern gold-field is a long 
 way ahead of the southern, and in the use of Archimedean screws, and 
 chetki or double-action pumps. An enterprising mining proprietor, 
 Lopatin, endeavoured to apply a dredging-machine, similar to those in 
 use at the Suez Canal, to his works, but failed completely after sustaining 
 heavy losses. 
 
 Every well-ordered mine is provided with a hospital, apothecary's 
 shop, and medical attendants. The larger establishments have ex- 
 ceedingly good hospitals, and are supplied with medicines from Moscow 
 and St. Petersburg. They have surgical instruments in case of accidents. 
 Their medical staff comprises two »' /ctors and a midwife. Sickness 
 occurs in spring and autumn, and in a cold damp summer. Epidemic 
 diseases hardly ever visit the mining districts. The mortality is 
 usually small — I to 2 per cent, during the year. The climate, notwith- 
 standing its sev ty, is on the whole favourable to health, and children 
 thrive remarkably, in it. Accidents of a serious nature, from landslips, 
 falling stones, frost-bite, and drowning, though ' f annual occurrence, are 
 few in number, for the W( ik is generally conducted with due regard to 
 care, and the workpeople are w<u mly clad. Three churches and six clergy 
 are supported by the mining establishments. The police is under an 
 ispravnik or district inspector. Two or three government topographers 
 reside at the mines, and allot and define claims ; and a head inspector 
 visits the districts once in the summer, and about which time a 
 staff-officer of gensd'armes appears on the scene. Wages are rather 
 higher in the northern than in the sout' rn districts. The brandy 
 or vodka traffic has lately been on the ii use, owing to its surreptitious 
 introduction by routes insufficiently guarded. Of course its promoters 
 make large profits by the sale of spirits, and by an illicit traffic with gold, 
 which they receive from the miners, and dispose of to Tartars, Jews, and 
 Russians in the towns, Yeniseisk being notorious for its secret dealers 
 in gold. 
 
 
396 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 "'i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 h < 
 
 Mining operations usually begin early in May, and continue to the 
 loth (22nd) September, which is the general settling-day. After this, most 
 of the workpeople usually return to their homes, a few only remaining for 
 the winter. These work on to the ist (13th) March, when they also 
 receive their accounts and either return to their homes, or renew their 
 contracts for the summer. 
 
 The treatment of the men was anything but humane a few years ago. 
 They were punished with great severity, and treated more like the brute 
 creation than human beings. Now a wiser spirit has been infused into 
 these dealings, and the mining labourer, though he may be a penal 
 settler, is nevertheless regarded as a man, an improvement doubtless due, 
 in part, to the abolition of corporal punishment. Desertions, formerly 
 very frequent, are now fewer, and the men enjoy better health, owing to 
 the shortening of the hours of labour ; their moral character has also 
 improved. But the recollection of the cruelties practised, particularly by 
 one large company, will not soon be effaced. 
 
 The northern system was discovered in 1839, though in the previous 
 year gold-seekers had crossed the Great Pit from the southern system. 
 In 1S39, the famous deposits on the Aklotik and Vangasha were found, 
 and the next few years saw a rapid development in gold-mining. It was 
 not long before all the streams in the northern system were wholly 
 or partially explored and claimed by parties of miners, who flocked in 
 numbers to the district, as soon as the first brilliant discoveries had been 
 made known. Every one v/ho could afford to fit out a band of pro- 
 spectors joined in the rush, or took a share in somebody's venture. 
 Of course, a few were disappointed ; but by far the greater number 
 succeeded in finding good and profitable "lluvions. In this way, the rich 
 firms of Zotof, Golubkoi', ooiovief, Malievinsky, Basilefsky, Astashof, 
 R6zanof, Gorokof, Krasilnikcf, and others less wealthy and celebrated, 
 were established. But mining enterprise received a check when 
 Government refused to grant certificates to enable private persons to 
 search for gold. Privileges conferred as marks of imperial favour now 
 took their place, and the development of the gold industry was stopped 
 till 1853. In that year private persons were again allowed <"o prospect 
 and wash for gold. Of the companies receiving Government grants, the 
 most notable were those of Prince Orlof, Princess Madatova, Princess 
 Gortchakof, Princess Troubetskoy, Patkul, Maksimovitch, and a few 
 others. About this period of Governmetit grants much litigation arose 
 in the northern gold-field, many of the suits lasting for years, and 
 causing heavy losses and expenditure. Of the more recent discoveries, 
 that of the Yenashimo and Noiba detritus, by Sidorof, was the most 
 remarkable, for these rivers had b f;n previously prospected and 
 abandoned as unprofitable. Now the iNovo-Mariinsky mine of Grigorof 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA, 
 
 397 
 
 and Sidorof, and the small one belonging to Mme. Rodstvennaia, have 
 again restored to the northern Yeniseisk gold-fields some of their pristine 
 glory, and recalled the good old time. The most noted companies, both 
 in the production of gold and in the number of mines worked, were those 
 of Golubkof, Zotof, Astashof, Irigorof, Rezanof, and Benardaki, and 
 these, with the exception of the last, have continued to occupy a leading 
 place; but from 1863, work considerably diminished, and will soon in 
 all probability still further decrease, many continuing to work on a much 
 smaller scale than before. 
 
 The gold obtained in the northern system is generally fine-grained 
 and flaky, as though it had been subjected to much attrition ; in some 
 places, however, e. g. on the Ogne (Upper Yenashimo basin), the gold Vi 
 coarse-grained and of high standard (go to 92^). Here it is rare to me ;t 
 with gold covered with a thin crust of oxide of iron, as not unfrequently 
 occurs in the southern system. Upon the whole, the gold in the northern 
 system is not of high quality, except that found in the Ogne, and is 
 mixed with much silver alloy ; moreover, it often varies in quality in 
 different parts of the same river, but in general it is worst in the upper 
 part of the river valleys. Thus, at the sources of the Kalami, the gold 
 contains 87^ per cent, of pure metal, 8^ of silver, and I alloy ; whilst in the 
 central and lower parts of this river-bed, it contains 88^ to 89J of pure 
 metal, 6J to 7J of silver, and ^ alloy ; the same difference is found on 
 other rivers. The Ogne gold contains 92 to 925 of pure metal, only 3 
 to § of silver, and ^ alloy. 
 
 Yeniseisk Gold-fields, (d) Southern system. — The southern half of 
 the hilly region of Yenisei is included between 58° 1 5' and 60° 20' N., and 
 between 140° 20' and 141° 20' E. It is bounded by the rivers Yenisei, 
 Upper Tungusska [Angyra], and Great Pit, and comprises the auriferous 
 basins of the Uderey, Great Murojnaia, ar»d left affluents of the Pit. On 
 the E. and N.E., the tract under notice has no definite boundaries. 
 
 In its geology and leading tonographical features, the Southern 
 Yeniseisk region is very similar to the northern. The hills are of no great 
 elevation, the more prominent peaks, like Podgaleshmy, barely exceeding 
 1800 ft. above sea-level. As no systematic measurements, however, have 
 been taken, there are no positive data for fixing the heights. Here, as 
 in the northern system, are no regular mountain ranges, and the hills 
 mostly follow the valleys of the rivers. Occasionally they are grouped 
 together, and serve as watersheds, for instance, at the sources of the 
 Uderey, Great Murojnaia, Lesser Penchenga, and Tatar. 
 
 The rocks are the same metamorphic schists, so often mentioned, 
 inclined at angles varying from 20° to 70°, and now and then rising up in 
 tall naked cliffs. Subsidiary to these schists, and frequently associated 
 with them, are the granites and intruding igneous rocks, such as 
 
 1!,?" 
 
 ft; |m 
 
 Ifc' 
 
 
i 
 
 ll i' 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 398 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 porphyries and diorites ; whilst limestones and sandstones are also 
 conspicuous. Thus, at the sources of the Indigla, a tributary of the 
 Tatar, at the head-waters of this latter stream, on the Lesser and Greater 
 
 Fig. II. 
 
 Sketch-Map of Yeniseisk Go.d-fields. 
 
 Penchenga, and alongside the Sukhoi (dry) Pit, granites are met with. 
 Again, in that tract included between the Greater Penchenga, Great Pit, 
 the Taktagaika, Untuguna, Ayakta, and Kuntuyakicha, granites and 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 399 
 
 mica-schists are the dominant rocks, forming a peculiar loose debris 
 unlike any other in the southern system. 
 
 Outcrops of granite too are met with in other localities, e. g. along 
 the banks of the Great Pit and its feeders, as well as in the range 
 dividing the Great Penchenga from the Gorbilka. On the Upper 
 Podgaleshnaia, and the Tala, a tributary of the Great Murojnaia, diorites 
 and fine and coarse-grained greenstones occur allied with metamorphic 
 schists and penetrated by crystals of hiastolite. On the Tala affluent 
 of the Rybnaia (Fish) river, white limestones appear among the clay- 
 schists, standing forth in rugged cliffs. Among the debris of these 
 schists, and on the hills, are strewn quantities of quartz, in blocks and 
 fragments of all sizes, white and yellowish in colour, with a tendency to 
 splinter, and containing mica. Occasionally the quartz lies in thick 
 veins, as at the estuaries of the Taktulaiefka and Lesser Peskino, where 
 they are conspicuous on the sides of the rocks bordering the valley, and 
 in parts of the Great Pit. Besides quartz, the detritus contains, on the 
 Great Murojnaia, an abundance of rounded lumps and cube-shaped crystals 
 of brown iron ore, as well as fragments and whole layers of conglomerate, 
 consisting of pieces of slate, quartz, and brown iron-ore imbedded in 
 ferruginous clay. Much of this conglomerate is found in the lower 
 non-auriferous alluvia overlying the gold-strata, at several placers in the 
 Great Murojnaia Valley, about midway between its sources and mouth, 
 forming a bed 2 to 7 ft. thick, and offering a serious obstacle to mining 
 operations. Similar conglomerate also occurs in other localities along 
 this river, and its tributary the Tala ; also at Gromof s placer on the 
 Uderey. Among other minerals in this detritus, are crystals of sulphur- 
 pyrites, copper-pyrites (rare), crystals of stavrolite, at one placer on the 
 Murojnaia nests of copper-ore, even native copper, and at another on 
 Seraphim brook dark-red and yellowish-brown ferruginous ochre. At 
 Spassky placer on the Mamon, and at that of Constantine-Helen on the 
 Great Murojnaia, silver-lead ore was found in nests, but no systematic 
 searches have been hitherto made for these ores. The detritus further 
 contained talc, talcose, micaceous, chloritic, and grauwacke schists. On 
 the Oslianka were gritty sandstones suitable for whetstones, after wiiich 
 this rivulet takes its name. 
 
 The experiments conducted by Hoffmann and more recently by 
 Makerofsky in crushing slates are said to have resulted in obtaining gold- 
 dust, but there are doubts if this be really the case. At all events, trials 
 made by Latkin and Bakshevitch produced none. Had these slates 
 contained gold, in the rich proportion too of 3 to 5 zolotniks, as said by 
 Hoffmann, mining proprietors would have set up machinery and turned 
 their attention to crushing, since whole hills are composed of nothing but 
 clay-slate. But nobody has ever derived the slightest advantage from 
 
 1 
 
 m\ 
 
>'W, 
 
 400 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Hoffman's discovery, not even the R^zanofs, at wh-'-e placer it was made, 
 and the very idea of such a thing being possible has ceased to exist. 
 In detritus largely composed of granitic and mica-slate fragments, are 
 occasionally found lumps and pieces of felspar, porphyry, diorite, 
 crystals of garnet, almandine, black tourmaline, and rock-crystal. Besides 
 these, magnetic iron-ore enters into the composition more or less of all 
 this detritus, as well as iron-manganese and titanic iron. In the Great 
 Penchenga valley, notably at Rezanofs Ivanofsky placer, the pay-dirt 
 from the washing-boxes contained a quantity of grains of tin-ore ; and on 
 a brook joining the Great Murojnaia, native copper was mixed with gold. 
 The hard subsoil or bed underlying the detritus is mostly composed of 
 metamorphic clay-schists ; but in those localities where granites are the 
 prevailing rocks, close-grained decomposed granite underlies the debris 
 cropping out here and there in reefs of crumbling granite and felspathic 
 quartzose porphyry. 
 
 The most remarkable and highest points in the southern system are 
 Mt. Goletz, at the sources of the Upper Podgaleshnaia ; Mt. Pijktun, on 
 the Great Penchenga ; the water-dividing range between the Uderey, 
 Tatarka, Lesser Penchenga, and Great Murojnaia ; also that between the 
 Great Penchenga, Sukhoi (dry) Pit and the streams flowing directly into 
 the Yenisei ; the long hill between the Tala and Lesser Shaargan ; the 
 Osinovy range, between the river Krivliajnaia and the Great Shaargan ; 
 Nemtsofsky ridge, between the Shaulkan and Great Shaargan, so called 
 after a German doctor Lessing who worked ' placer at the foot of this 
 "hill Mt. Zimoveisky, between the Shalokit and Dulijmo rivers, on the 
 road to the northern system ; and Mt. Ayaktinsky, between the sources 
 of the Ollonokon and Ayakta, or the Ayaktinsky group. All rivers and 
 rivulets of the southern system have the character of mountain torrents, 
 with extremely steep fall (about ^ in. to 7 in. per fathom of 7 ft.) ; their 
 current is therefore very rapid, and during heavy rains they rise quickly, 
 and although, owing to the steepness of their valleys, they do not 
 inundate a wide extent of country, they nevertheless occasion heavy 
 losses, particularly in spring, destroying dams, weirs, bridges, and other 
 mining works. During summer droughts, they become very shallow, and 
 in some places there is not water enough to turn the machinery, causing 
 enormous loss to the mining proprietors, who are obliged to reduce the 
 scale of their operations, owing to the stoppage of their washing-machines. 
 Three of the river basins of the southern system are important, both for 
 the mines situated on them and for the richness of their detritus ; and 
 four others rank as secondary in the gold-industry. The most import- 
 ant river basin is that of the Kamenka [Uderey], (2) the Great Murojnaia, 
 and (3) the Great Pit ; the secondary rivers are : (i) the Tatarka, (2) the 
 Rybnaia, (3) the Lesser Murojnaia, and (4) the Yenisei, including its 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 401 
 
 affluents Dvortsovaia and Zirianka — unimportant streams with poor 
 detritus not worth the washing. 
 
 The Udcrey, discovered in 1839, is considered to be one of the 
 principal auriferous rivers of the southern system. It flows out of the 
 central group of hills, which gives rise to all the principal rivers in this 
 system : the Great Murojnaia, Lesser Penchcnga, and Tatarka. The 
 valley of the Uderey, from its sources t'^ the mouth of the Great Shaargan, 
 has a S.E. direction, except where it forms small elbows near the river 
 Taktulaiefka. Between the Great Shaargan and Shalokit rivers, the 
 Uderey turns sharply to the N.E. ; from the estuary of the Shalokit to 
 that of the Uromka, it resumes its S.E. direction, and lower down falls 
 into the Kamenka, a tributary of the Angara. The Uderey is 70 miles 
 long. At first of insignificant breadth, it afterwards increases to about 
 100 ft. near the Mamon, and below this to 140 ft. and upwards. Its 
 valley is open throughout, except immediately above the mouth of the 
 Taktulaiefka, where it is much contracted by hills ; nowhere, however, 
 does it exceed f mile in width. The land is swampy, and mostly covered 
 with bushes and dwarf trees ; some good grass-land, however, is to be 
 found along it. The Uderey rises by three sources, one of which was 
 formerly celebrated for its rich and widely disseminated gold-alluvia. 
 This was the site of the well-known Uspensky mine of the Rdzanofs, 
 which produced between 1841 and 1864, 14,814 lb. of gold. It is now 
 nearly exhausted, and the affairs of its proprietors are in confusion, not- 
 withstanding the 4,500,000 rubles' (562,500/.) worth of gold they have 
 raised. 
 
 Another placer, the Voskresensky, owned by Benardaki, R^zanof, 
 and Schogolef, was also famed for its wealth, having yielded up to 1864, 
 4572 lb. of the precious metal. The detritus here was 700 to 1000 ft. 
 wide, whilst the overlying strata did not exceed 8 ft. in thickness, and in 
 places even less, so that on removing the tundra moss, the auriferous 
 deposits were almost immediately disclosed ; their depth averaged 
 between 8 and 14 ft. These deposits were mostly composed of clay, 
 containing fragments and boulders of clay-schist and quartz ; the lower- 
 most series, however, containing but little clay, were probably formed of 
 the underlying schistose rocks, disposed in the usual slanting position, 
 with cubic crystals of brown ironstone. The northernmost parts of this 
 valley were especially remarkable for the compact character of the 
 stratum, which had therefore to be washed in bowls. The scarcity of 
 water consequent on the drainage of the marsh-land at the sources of 
 this river, necessitated the introduction of steam power. The other 
 placers on this rivulet yielded in all 585 lb. On the central of the three 
 head streams of the Uderey, was situated the Mitrofanof placer of 
 Benardaki, Schogolef, and Rezanof, whence 4176 lb. were raised ; whilst 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 on the left, was the Innokcnty of the Miasnikofs, famed for its nuggets 
 and variable detritus, which yielded 3366 lb. to 1864, and is now 
 abandoned. At the confluence of these two streams, and lower down, 
 lay the once rich though small Nikolaief placer of the Astashofs, which 
 produced from 1851 to i860, 4122 lb. of gold, and is also not worked at 
 present. Below the point where the head-waters of the Uderey unite, 
 the detritus alters a good deal, becoming a narrow belt not exceeding 
 170 ft. in width, with a poor yield of gold, and this continues to the 
 Gromof mine of the Popofs, below which it does not repay the cost of 
 washing. The other placers on the Upper Uderey yielded in all 1872 lb. 
 of gold to 1864 ; but as no thorough explorations have been made here, 
 it is impossible to say what their real value may be. Below the 
 Taktulaiefka, the Uderey is joined by another stream, the Taktagaika, 
 on the lei't. Here were situated two placers, with only a moderate 
 quantity of gold, sufficient, however, to be profitably worked ; from one 
 of them, 2268 lb. had been raised up to 1864 ; and from the other, 306 lb. 
 between 1862-64. Below the Taktagaika, several smaller rivulets fall 
 into the Uderey on the left. On the right bank, however, this river is 
 joined by the Shaulkan, with a course of 10 miles, and rich detritus 
 between 3 and 8 ft. thick. The alluvium, which has been successfully 
 worked at several placers, is clay, grey, pale-yellow, dark-brown, and 
 greenish in colour, containing quantities of shingle and fragments of 
 slate and quartz, beneath peat 5 to 12 ft. thick. Here was a rich digging 
 of the Astashofs, the Stepanof, which yielded between 1844 and 1864, 
 4680 lb. 
 
 This was the residence of the Government mining inspector of 
 the southern system, and here were the houses of the medical staff, so that 
 the Stepanof placer was considered as the capital or centre of the southern 
 Yeniseisk gold-field. Metamorphic clay-slates are again the dominant 
 rocks. In the Shaulkan valley, moreover, traces were discovered of 
 lateral moraines in the long parallel rows of schistose boulders disposed 
 along it. Another highly auriferous affluent of the Uderey is the Great 
 Shaargan, flowing from the range which parts the feeders of the Angara 
 from those of the Uderey. About two-thirds of the way down its course, 
 it receives the Lesser Shaargan, discovered in 1838 by the Rezanofs, and 
 noted for its rich detritus. The Great Shaargan is about 13 miles, the 
 Lesser 7 miles long. On the former, the most remunerative placers were 
 tho.sc owned by Dondukof-Korsakof, Patkul, and Schogolef; the others 
 were less productive. The yield of all these placers, 8 in number, 
 however, was only 4536 lb. up to 1864, and at present they are mostly 
 closed. On the Lesser Shaargan, is the noted Petropavlof placer of the 
 Rezanofs. This annually gave 14401b. of gold between 1840 and 1850, 
 but it has now dwindled to almost insignificance, after having produced 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 403 
 
 19.6921b. from 1839 to 1864. The next in importance was the Blago- 
 datny of the Bunakof Company, afterwards Rezanof's, from which 
 3 141 lb. were raised up to 1864. The total obtained from all the placers 
 on both Shaarjjans was 33,6241b. from 4,600,000 tons of alluvium washed. 
 
 Still lower, the Uderey receives the Shalokit, upon which were two 
 placers; one of these contributed 1908 lb. in the 7 years 1857-64; the other, 
 909 lb. between 1861 and 1864. The diggings on the Uromka, another in- 
 significant right affluent of the Uderey, produced 1 17 lb. up to 1864. It is 
 only from the mouth of the Great Shaargan that the Uderey begins to be 
 auriferous ; thus, at the Borissoglcbsk claim of the Co. Popof, and at the 
 Alexandrof of Yakovlef and Astashof a good quantity of gold has been 
 found, but these placers have not yet been worked. On the left, the 
 Lesser and Greater Peskino fall into the Uderey. On the Greater 
 Peskino, only 6i miles long, was the famous Spassky mine, belonging to 
 Miasnikof's Company, from which were raised between 1840 and 1864, 
 26,928 lb. of gold. This was nearly worked out, and operations were con- 
 tinued only on a small scale. The other 6 placers on this rivulet yielded 
 altogether 9720 lb., making a total of 36,648 lb. from the Great Peskino, 
 The lesser rivulet of this name produced 1044 lb. ; and the detritus washed 
 on both streams amounted to 3 million tons. Below the two Peskino 
 rivulets, several small streams join the Uderey ; but with the exception 
 of two, the Mamon and Ishimba, gold is thinly distributed through them. 
 The valley of the Mamon has a length of about 15 miles, with a general 
 direction from N.W. to E. ; its detritus yielded a fair quantity of gold, 
 especially at the Blagoveschensk placer of Jakobsen and Bcnardaki, and 
 the Sergiefsky of the Princess Gortchakof The Mamon alluvial deposits 
 were discovered in 1839, and were first worked in 1845. The stratum is 
 friable, and forms a belt 280 to 500 ft. wide, with a thickness of 6 to 7 ft. 
 The prevailing formations here and in the surrounding mountains were 
 metamorphic clay-schists. Among the more remarkable discoveries, 
 mention should not be omitted here of a nest of silver-lead ore at the 
 Spassky placer of Krasilnikof and Popof The gold raised on the 
 Mamon from the commencement of operations to 1864 amounted to 
 11,880 lb. The former rich placers are now exhausted, but work has 
 been resumed at 5 claims, employing 700 men. 
 
 The Ishimba rises in the same group of hills as the Mamon, and 
 receives a number of auriferous brooks, at which washings are still 
 continued, though on a small scale, and with slender hopes of any marked 
 improvement in the future. They can only be developed by cheap 
 labour, for the yield is poor — scarcely o /er 30 doilias (20^ gr.) per 36001b. 
 The other tributaries of the Uderey are either unexplored or deficient in 
 gold, and though it is impossible to see far into the future, it is neverthe- 
 less probable that the detritus in the valley of the Uderey will never be 
 
 2 D 2 
 
404 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 worth workinfj, except at the estuaries of the rivulets, c. g. the Pcskino 
 streams, the Uromka, Great Shaargan, and Taktagaika. The valleys of 
 the Uderey and its affluents produced up to 1864, 140,0001b. of gold 
 from 17,800,000 tons of alluvium, washed in all kinds of apparatus, 
 from hand-bowls and buddies to the barrels now in such general use. 
 
 The Great Murojnaia flows in the southern Yeniseisk gold-field from a 
 group of hills which serve to divide all the principal streams, such as the 
 Tatarka, Penchenga, and Uderey. The valley of the Murojnaia is about 
 70 miles long ; its general direction is at first N.W. to S.E., then N.E. to 
 S.W., and afterwards S. Its right affluents, taking them in their order, 
 are Talaia, Upper Podgaleshnaia, Chumbukli, Bezimiannaia [nameless], 
 and Chikil ; its left, the Borovaia, Bezimiannaia [nameless], a left 
 source, and the Tiurcpina. From a width of 7 ft. near its source, it 
 increases to 140 ft. in the lower reaches. Its valley, 2800ft. wide in places, 
 contracts lower down, and the river flows between precipitous wall.<5, 
 leaving but a narrow strip of bank on either side. On the upper course, 
 the detritus is very compact, but from the mouth of the Talaia it is more 
 friable ; in width, it varies from 350 to 700 ft., with a depth of 5 to 10 ft. 
 
 On the Talaia, however, the auriferous stratum is 140 ft. thick, though 
 poor in gold, about 50 to 60 doilias (34 to 54^ gr.), with an occasional 
 richer seam. The richest placers on the Murojnaia were situated on its 
 head-waters. These were celebrated for the large number of nuggets 
 found there, some of which weighed over 10 lb. At two of these clpims, 
 worked by the Schogolefo, 23,868 lb. were raised between 1841 anc' l8'>|; 
 and at two others, during the same period, 28,5121b. It shoula be 
 mentioned that the style of work was in former times so bad, that the 
 waste sands, peat, and gravel have been found to contain on re-washing a 
 fair proportion of gold. But these placers are not nearly so productive 
 as they were. Another, the Iliinsky claim of the Shushlaiefs, was no 
 less remarkable for the deep overlying peaty strata, 55 ft. thick in places, 
 than for the rich but uncertain detritus found below it, 5 to 10 and 16 ft. 
 thick. Here, between 1850 and 1863, 75241b. of gold were washed. At 
 another placer, situated in a narrow valley at the foot of the Podgalesh- 
 naia hills, which contain Mt. Goletz, the highest peak of the southern 
 system, a bed of copper-ore was discovered ; whilst at a third, the 
 Spassky, on the Borovaia rivulet, a tributary of the Murojnaia, shafts 
 were sunk, but in such an irregular fashion that the placer has suffered 
 from this mode of work. The detritus here was particularly clayey 
 compact, and so difficult to wash that it had to be crushed in bowls, the 
 usual method of treating alluvium of this kind. The Spassky placer 
 yielded" between 1844 and 1854,32401b. of gold. The other diggings on 
 the Murojnaia and its affluents produced 9180 lb. between 1844 and 1864, 
 28 claims having been worked during the whole of that period. Their 
 
 ■t 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 405 
 
 number is now reduced to 8, employing 1500 men, who raise annually 
 1800 lb. of gold. The total quantity obtained on the Murojnaia and 
 its affluents was 74,124 lb. froi.. about 10 million tons of alluvium 
 washed. 
 
 The auriferous deposits on the head-waters of the Great Murojnaia 
 and the Borovaia consist of a rich clay, yellowish and red in colour, with 
 little of the schistose ddbris, but an abundance of boulders of quartz, 
 some exceeding 30 cwt. in weight, of a white and bluish-white colour, 
 the yellow being apparently distinct. The most remarkable of these 
 quartz deposits were found on a spring joining the Borovaia, and near 
 the union of the head-waters of the Great Murojnaia. Lower down, from 
 the mouth of the Borovaia to that of the Talaia, the alluvia are yellowish- 
 grey clay, with fragments of talc-schist, dioritc, and quartz. Below the 
 Talaia is less clay, the upper strata consisting of fluviatilc deposits and 
 shingle, with schistose fragments, brown iron-ore and quartz, together 
 with occasional fragments and pebbles of talcose and chloritic slates and 
 diorites. The lower layers are composed of disintegrating clay-schists, 
 inclined at a steep angle, and crossing the valley from N.W. to S.E. 
 The subsoil or bed is of similar schists, less decomposed, however, and 
 devoid of gold. Calcspar was reported to have been met with at one 
 locality. 
 
 The Great Pit is the administrative boundary between the northern 
 and southern systems. It rises in all probability in the hills which 
 divide the affluents of the Central or Podkamennaia Tungusska. Its 
 general direction is S.W., but from the mouth of the Kaitba, it turns S., 
 from that of the Sukhoi [dry] Pit N.E., and from the estuary of the 
 Kamenka has again a S.W. course to its confluence with the Yenisei, 
 near the village of Ust Pit. Its length has been estimated at 230 miles, 
 and its width, from the confluence of its head-waters to the Chirimba, at 
 not over 100 to 140 ft. ; below this point, however, it increases to 280 ft. 
 and in places to 560 ft., whilst below its junction with the Brianka it 
 measures upwards of 700 ft. across, and is navigable all the summer for 
 laden boats. The Pit is in fact the means of transporting supplies to the 
 Ust Briansk wharf, and in some years 36,000 cwt. pass this way. Boats 
 with a light draught of water, yet capable of carrying 5 to 8 tons, can ply 
 as high up as the mouth of the Kadra, where Latkin's warehouses are 
 situated. Below the Brianka, the Pit is only fordable after a very dry 
 season ; above, are practicable fords in dry weather. But the Pit is 
 liable to sudden freshets, and its current is so extremely rapid at flood 
 time that it is difficult to cross even by the ferries. The valley of the 
 Pit is very beautiful, and as much as ^ mile wide ; parts of it, however, are 
 not over 700 ft, and others not o\ or 350 ft., where the river flows through 
 a gorge, as it does near the Ayakta and Tavrikul, with a velocity of 10 
 
 !i 11^ 
 
 
 i : 
 
 1^:1^ 
 
 :'. 'iii 
 
 1^ IB 
 
4o6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 miles per hour, forming rapids, and contracting its channel to no more 
 than 140 ft. 
 
 There are some good grass-lands along the Pit, which Government 
 rents to private individuals or to the gold-miners. The banks are 
 hilly, and occasionally wild and picturesque. The formations arc, so 
 far as external appearanc>,s indicate, the same metamorphic and espe- 
 cially clay-schists ; but no geologist has surveyed this valley, and its 
 upper parts are hardly known, few persons having been there. The right 
 affluents of the Pit have been mentioned in the description of the 
 northern system (see pp. 37S-97) ; on the left, it receives the Gorbilka, with 
 a course of about 70 miles, fed by two auriferous brooks, the Buruma and 
 Tujimo. On these, washing operations were at one time carried on, but 
 are now discontinued, the detritus being too poor. Seven miles below 
 the Gorb;'ka, the Pit is joined by the Penchenga, a fine stream flowing 
 from the central group of hills, in which all the principal rivers of the 
 southern system take the!' .ise. After uniting its head-waters, the 
 Penchenga takes a N.E, course, but on meeting with the Morkol, it turns 
 N.^V,, and flows in this direction as far as its confluence with the 
 OUonokon. Here the Penchenga again flows N.E. to the mouth of the 
 Eno, whence it continues in a N.W. direction to the Great Pit. The 
 Penchenga is about 50 miles long, and its valley is 1000 to upwards of 
 2000 ft. broad, with scenery of remarkable beauty. Here and there an 
 expanse of grass-land gives the gold-miners the opportunity of laying 
 in a stock of hay. The river itself is about ;5 ft. wide in its central 
 parts, but, after receiving its tributary, the Lesser Penchenga, increases to 
 100, and lower dow^n to 200 ft. Its depth is 2 to 3 ft. and upwards, 
 though it is eveiywhcre fordable except during floods. Small light 
 boats navigate the Penchenga all summer through, and in May large craft 
 might pass up. A number of auriferous streams fall into the Penchenga : 
 those on the right are the Bezimianka, Ivanofka, and Lesser Penchenga, 
 with the Lesser Morkol, Chilcha, Eno, Kiuna, and Rino ; on the left, are 
 the Beltagan, Tempo, three OUonokons, and the good-sized Kognia. 
 
 The Greater lower OUonokon rises in the A}akta group, and flows at 
 first S.W., then S.S.W., for ) miles, with a channel not exceeding 7 ft. in 
 width. Its valley is 40 to 700 it. wide. The detritus and surrounding 
 hills arc chief' composed of rnctamorphic schists. The auriferous 
 dcpo'^it:: ibrni a belt T, to J 2 ft. thick, and 56 to 175 ft. wide, and arc of a 
 compact kind. The OUonokon was discovered in 1840 by the Demidofs^ 
 and at first worked by them; but in 1859 the place passed into the 
 hanus of Latkin. Up to 1865, 3636 lb. of gold had been raised here 
 600,000 tons of allu/ium having been washed. In some fragments of 
 talc- and mica-schists composing Lhis detritus, crystals of stavrolite had 
 been found, not only here but elsewhere. The valleys of the Great 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 407 
 
 Penchcnga have not yet been worked for gold, the yield being considered 
 too poor ; but on lateral brooks, washing operations were at one time 
 carried on. Mctamorphic schists are the prevailing formations, but at 
 the sources of this river, and near the mouth of the Kognia, coarse 
 granites, grey and reddish in colour, have intruded through the slates. 
 The detritus on the lateral brooks is loose, and lies in a belt lOO to 200 ft. 
 wide and 4 to 8 ft. thick. Claims have been worked, but not con- 
 tinuously, in these localities; up to 1864, 29521b. of gold were obtained, 
 and it may be possible under favourable conditions to proceed with the 
 work on a small scale. The Lesser Penchenga, a tributary of the afore- 
 said river, is 27 miles long, and remarkably picturesque ; but it is not 
 famous for its gold, though at two localities the detritus has been worked. 
 
 Below the confluence of the Great Penchenga with the Pit, the 
 American system of washing has been successfully practised at Latkin's 
 claim on the Untuguna rivulet. 
 
 The Ayakta, another small rivulet 7 miles long, rising in the 
 Ayaktinsky hills lying between the right bank of the Penchenga and 
 the left of the Pit, has been worked since 1855 by Latkin. Here the 
 detritus is so loose as to be easily washed in American sluice-boxes. 
 This is in fact the only place in the whole Yeniseisk circuit wlicre work 
 is conducted on a 'arge scale without any other apparatus than the 
 American. On the Ayakta, 1440 lb. of gdd were obtained between 
 1855 and 1864. 1^'rom the group of hills which gives rise to the Ayakta, 
 7 rivulets flow in different directions, viz. the Ayakta, its left tributary 
 the Kuntuyakicha, the Untuguna, Taktagaika, two Ollonokons, and the 
 Lower Sevaglikon. In the case of the last 3, the detritus is schistose ; 
 in that of the first 4, granitic. The Ayakta alluvia contain almandines, 
 rubies (but not of fine water), tourmalines, and an abundance of zircon ; 
 300,000 ♦■ons of ore-stuff have been washed in the Ayakta valley. All 
 the othi.:- feeders of the Great Pit are very deficient in gold, and are not 
 worth working. Along its banks, however, for some distance passes a 
 high road, which connects the town of Yeniseisk with the diggings. In 
 some parts, it is only practicable for horsemen, whilst in others, wheeled 
 equipages may drive along it. It is this road and the fine grass-lands 
 which lie in its valley that lend importance to the Great Pit, rather 
 than its gold, which is too sparsely disseminated to be of value. 
 
 Besides the tributaries of the Pit already mentioned, gold was 
 obtained in the following localities and quantities up to 1865 : — On the 
 Untuguna, 252 lb. ; on the Tavrikul, 360 lb. ; on the Kadra, 54 lb. ; on 
 the Kamero, 198 lb. ; on the Ponimba, 216 lb. ; on the tributaries of the 
 Gorbilka : the Buruma and Tujimo, 144 lb. ; altogether, 1224 lb. Along 
 the Lcs.ser Murojnaia, no washings have taken place, thougii gold is 
 known to e.xist, in such small quantities, however, as not to be worth the 
 
 f i 
 
 
4o8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 .abour of obtaining. This river is 45 miles long, and flows into the 
 Angara. The Rybnaia (fish river), an affluent of the Angara, rises in a 
 small group of hills, which contains the sources of the Lesser Shaargan, 
 Great Talaia, Udorvuga, and its tributaries the OsHanka and Dashkina. 
 Along the 3 last-named, auriferous deposits have been discovered. The 
 Rybnaia flows S.S.W., then S.W., afterwards S.E., and finally, before 
 joining the Angara, S.W. At its estuary, stands the village of Motigin, 
 on the high right bank of the Angara, which owes its importance to the 
 newly-erected warehouses for storing grain floated down the Angara 
 from the government of Irkutsk. Motigin has four shops of a per- 
 manent character for the retail of all kinds of commodities, and a dozen 
 wholesale and retail spirit stores, though the place does not contain 
 more than 25 houses. When the season is over at the diggings, and the 
 workmen are returning to their homes, the drinking taverns are nearly 
 doubled in number, and ten or a dozen calico-print shops spring into 
 existence. The transport of grain, however, has fallen off, compared to 
 what it used to be in former years, when 40 laden barks on an average, 
 with 3200 tons of merchandize, annually passed this way. The Rybnaia 
 is joined on the right by the auriferous Great Talaia, fed by the Lesser 
 Talaia, lower down by the Krivliajnaia with a poor detritus, and by the 
 Mostovaia ; its left affluents are of no importance. The placers on the 
 Talaia rivulets were discovered in 1838 by the Rezanofs, and yielded to 
 1864, 1332 lb. of gold from 330,000 tons of sand washed. The workings 
 here had been almost closed, but in 1867-68 were reopened by Dr. 
 Viliamofsky, lessee of Rezanof. The other placers on the Rybnaia and 
 its tributaries may be passed over. The only road to the southern 
 diggings practicable throughout the summer for carriages lay up the 
 Rybnaia, and was kept in repair by the mining community. There are 
 two stations on it, and a winter track also passes this way to the sources 
 of the Shaargan. The Rybnaia is 35 to 100 ft. wide, and is crossed by 
 4 bridges. Besides the usual clay-slates, limestone cliffs make their 
 appearance on the Great Talaia ; but these contain no fossils, have no 
 regular stratification, and the rock does not combine with acids. Lime- 
 stone debris containing sulphur-pyrites, lumps and boulders of white and 
 yellow micaceous quartz, and fragments of hard clay-slate n. ' '. up the 
 detritus in the Greai' Talaia valley. 
 
 The Tatarka (70 miles), a tributary of the Angara, rises by two 
 .sources in the same range of hills as do the Udcrey and two Fenchengas. 
 It receives on the left the following auriferous rivulets : Bezimiannaia, 
 Indigla, Podgalcshnaia, and Mostovaia, with its tributary the Lujka; on 
 the right, it is joined by several unimportant brooks. The detritus on 
 the Tatarka, though discovered in 1839, was only fully explored in 1854. 
 It is friable, mostly granitic, and contains only a small quantity of gold. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 409 
 
 Two placers located by the Astashofs were worked here from 1856 to 
 1864, and produced in that period 698 lb., the proportion being 44 doilias 
 (30 gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 There are no navigable rivers, strictly speaking, in the southern 
 system, with the exception of those flowing round its borders : the 
 Angara, Yenisei, and Great Pit ; but several, such as the Uderey, Greater 
 and Lesser Murojnaia, Tatarka, and Great Penchenga, are navigable in 
 light boats as far as about half-way up their streams. The water is clear 
 and good, except where gold-washing operations are carried on. The 
 climate is severe, though rather less so than in the northern system, 
 and the same influences are beginning to affect it. 
 
 A rhiim^ of the southern system shows it to be 1 20 miles from north to 
 south. From its first discovery to 1864, 542 claims have been allotted ; 
 of these, 123 have been constantly worked; 224,784 lb. of gold were 
 obtained, and 31^ million tons of ore-stuff washed, equal to 1,576,141 cub. 
 fathoms, exclusive of those diggings only located for a couple of summers, 
 which are not worth mentioning. 
 
 Taking the production of the southern system by rivers, it may 
 be estimated as follows : — 
 
 
 Gre'\t Pit .. .. 
 Grciit Murojnaia 
 Tatarka .. .. 
 Rybnaia . . 
 Uderey 
 
 Sands washed. 
 
 Gold raised. 
 
 Average yield per 3600 lb. 
 
 Basin of the 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 Do. 
 
 tons. 
 2,000,000 
 
 10,000,000 
 250,000 
 350,000 
 
 18,000,000 
 
 lb. 
 9,611 
 
 74.124 
 699 
 
 1342 
 138,960 
 
 doil. zol. doil. , 
 
 67 to I 13 
 
 I 28 
 44 
 61 
 
 from 89 to 2 II 
 
 On p. 442 are given later statistics of these gold-fields, which have 
 occupied so important a place in the gold-industry of Siberia, and 
 continue down to the present day to contribute largely to its production. 
 
 The following table gives the production of the Yeniseisk circuit from 
 1834 to 1874: — 
 
 
 Alluvium, 
 washed. 
 
 Average yield. 
 
 Gold obtained. 
 
 Average per 
 year. 
 
 Average number 
 of men 
 engaged. 
 
 
 million tons. 
 
 zol. doil. 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 1834-8 
 
 01 
 
 3 
 
 1,778 
 
 
 • • 
 
 1839-40 
 
 o-o8 
 
 2 90J 
 
 1.367 
 
 684 
 
 , , 
 
 1841-45 
 
 4-0 
 
 4 9f 
 
 94.384 
 
 18,877 
 
 11-983 
 
 1846-50 
 
 12-4 
 
 2 48I 
 
 192,512 
 
 38,502 
 
 J7'734 
 
 I85I-SS 
 
 22 '2 
 
 I 9J 
 
 143,680 
 
 28,736 
 
 20-069 
 
 1856-60 
 
 25-6 
 
 93J 
 
 146,642 
 
 29,330 
 
 21-625 
 
 i86r-6. 
 
 30-0 
 
 56I 
 
 100,400 
 
 20,080 
 
 i6-osi 
 
 18C6-70 
 
 20-3 
 
 54* 
 
 70,241 
 
 14,049 
 
 15-190 
 
 1871-73 
 
 ir8 
 
 605 
 
 43.414 
 
 14,470 
 
 13-118 
 
 1874 
 
 3-6 
 
 S5i 
 
 12,212 
 
 12,212 
 
 •• 
 
 
 i30'o8 
 
 I 6 
 
 806,630 
 
 
 
I 
 
 410 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 It appears from this that the richest detritus was worked in 1846-50; 
 from 1846, the annual production rose to nearly 20,000 lb.; from 1861, 
 there was a falling off both in the quantity of gold raised and per- 
 centage of metal. The industry assumed smaller proportions, and it was 
 expected that gold-washings on a smaller scale would take the place of 
 the great operations of former times, unless vein-mining were to restore 
 the enterprise to something like its past glory, and develop the vast 
 stores of wealth believed to be still hidden in the Yeniseisk circuit. 
 
 On the Angara, and streams flowing into Lake Baikal, gold-washing 
 has been pursued with breaks since 1839; but in 1867, owing to the 
 poorness of the detritus, it was discontinued. The total quantity of 
 sand washed amounted to 300,000 tons, with an average yield of 33i^/. 
 per 3600 lb., and 586 lb. of gold were obtained. 
 
 Atchinsk atid Minusinsk. — The foregoing detailed account of the 
 Yenisei gold-fields, divided into northern and southern .systems, by no 
 means comprises the whole area in the government of Yeniseisk in 
 which gold is known to exist. To the south,, lie the circuits of Atchinsk 
 and Minusinsk, which though comparatively small, cover a vast extent 
 of territory, and have for many years contributed to the gold-production 
 of Siberia. The placers here are situated on the head-waters of the 
 Yenisei, between spurs of the Sayan range, along the rivers Black and 
 White Yuss, Sisima, Algiaka, Amila, Saiba, Kezir, and Bliamika. The 
 Atchinsk deposits, though poorer in gold, are more extensive and have 
 been less worked than those of Minusinsk. They were first discovered 
 on the Black Yuss in 1832, and in the following year on the White Yuss, 
 the richest of all being on the Serali Yuss. The total production up to 
 1859 in Atchinsk, was 12,018 lb. ; for later statistics, reference has been 
 made to Bogoliubsky's work. 
 
 Minusinsk includes the southernmost parts of the government of 
 Yeniseisk, where the Sayan range, throwing up heights between 6000 
 and 7000 ft, divides it from Chinese Mongolia, a tract of wild plains or 
 steppes intersected by low ridges of naked hills and dotted with lakes. 
 The great river Yenisei, after cutting its channel through the mountains, 
 debouches in the plains, and flows due north, dividing the circuit of 
 Minusinsk into two unequal parts. Of the rocks, crystalline formations, 
 such as granites, protogene, syenite, diabase, diorite, porphyry, and 
 metaphyrc, are conspicuous, not only in the more elevated tracts, but 
 also in the lower spurs, cropping out along the banks of the Yenisei, 
 wherever this river has eroded its banks. Not less frequent arc the talc- 
 .schists of the Sayan range, and the more widely distributed sedimentary 
 rocks : schists, limestones, sandstones, and conglomerates, all Palaeozoic 
 (of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods). Gold is found on the 
 Upper Amila and northern slope of the Sayan range; it is collected by 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 411 
 
 Russians on the Chinese side in the district of the river Sistikema, 
 along the rivulets Chorny (Black) and Agiana ; on the Jj injur, 
 Kundusuk, Tinkhet, Kyna, Bez, and Kopa ; on the Kezir, and its 
 right affluents the Shinda, Chibejeka and Jcbb ; on the Sisima, and 
 two Saiba rivulets ; on the eastern flanks of the Alatau, the left affluents 
 of Abakan, and the right tributaries of the White Yuss. Moreover 
 Minusinsk is of importance to the gold-industry, owir.g to its highly 
 fertile soil ; the corn grown here supplies its own mining districts, and 
 the more distant gold-fields on the Yenisei, whither it is sent in barks. 
 There were 58 placers in actual work in Minusinsk in 1862, but only 
 32 in the following year. During the 15 years 1845-59, 25,713 lb. 
 were raised, an average of 16 16 lb. per annum. The following is 
 based on Bogoliubsky's calculations of the production of gold in 
 Atchinsk and Minusinsl:: — 
 
 AUuviiira 
 washed. 
 
 1834-55 
 1856-60 
 1861-65 
 1866-70 
 
 1871-73 
 1874 
 
 million tons. 
 lO'O 
 
 7-0 
 S-o 
 
 4"9 
 2-8 
 0-73 
 
 Gold raised. 
 
 lb. 
 
 32.724 
 
 16,143 
 
 11,948 
 
 9.071 
 
 5.213 
 
 1,791 
 
 Average 
 per nnn. 
 
 Men employed. 
 
 30-43 
 
 76 , 890 
 
 1488 
 
 3230 
 2389 
 1814 
 1737 
 
 I79t 
 
 1876 
 
 19.069 
 
 13.158 
 
 9.763 
 
 6,385 
 
 Quantity 
 
 washed per 
 
 man. 
 
 cub. faths. 
 
 22*87 
 24-40 
 30-24 
 27-25 
 
 The average yield for the v\'hole period was 41 doilias (27*88 gr.) per 
 3600 lb. of soil washed, — an infinitesimal quantity. 
 
 Kansk and Nijuaidinsk. — Next to the Atchinsk and Minusinsk 
 gold-fields, those of Kansk, in the government of Yeniseisk, and of 
 Nijneudinsk, in the government of Irkutsk, have to be considered. The 
 Kansk okrug or circuit occupies the S.E. corner of the Yeniseisk 
 government, and is bordered on the S. by the same Sayan range already 
 mentioned, spurs o'' '.he Sayan filling a large part of it. The longest of 
 these, the Biriussa, enters Nijneudinsk between the head-waters of the Ud 
 and Biriussa, with an absolute elevation of 6500 ft., and stretches away 
 to the N.E. for a great distance. Another ramification of the Sayan 
 chain divides the waters of the Biriussa and Usolka from those of the 
 Kan. Thi.s river, navigable in its lower course, waters the southern and 
 western parts of the circuit, and flows from the town of Kansk to its 
 es' uaiy in the Yenisei through highly fertile tracts. The N.W. border 
 of Kansk is formed for 80 miles by the Yenisei, and the Tasaieva 
 [Lower Ud] intersects it on the north, receiving as its chief tributary the 
 Biriussa, which flows for £,^0 miles through the district. The geology 
 
 ' '1 
 
 Ml il 
 
 :tlii 
 
 ElMi 
 
 pi 
 
412 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 \[ 
 
 i'^ 
 
 
 has been but little studied. In its southernmost parts, crystalline rocks, 
 viz. granites, syenites, and porphyries, prevail. These have uplifted the 
 clay-schists of the Sayan and Biriussa hills. In the valleys of the Kan 
 and Biriussa, greenstone protrudes through metamorphic limestones and 
 talc-schists, and in northern parts of the circuit, sandstones and Car- 
 boniferous rocks underlie limestones of the Triassic formation. The gold 
 is mostly found in clay-schists on the head-waters of the Kan and Agul ; 
 in the Nijneudinsk circuit, it is distributed on the Biriussa, and its 
 affluents, the lesser Biriussa, Horma and others. 
 
 The following table will show the production of the Kansk and 
 Nijneudinsk circuits to 1874: — 
 
 
 
 Alluvium 
 
 Average yield 
 
 Quantity of 
 
 Average for 
 
 
 
 
 washed. 
 
 of gold. 
 
 gold raised. 
 
 the year. 
 
 
 
 
 million tons. 
 
 zol. gr. 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 
 
 1838-40 
 
 0-27 
 
 3 54 
 
 4,926 
 
 1642 
 
 
 
 I84I-4S 
 
 I"7 
 
 2 251 
 
 22,405 
 
 4481 
 
 
 
 1846-50 
 
 1*4 
 
 I 4i 
 
 8,78s 
 
 1760 
 
 
 
 1851-55 
 
 '■^ 
 
 71 
 
 6,592 
 
 I318 
 
 
 
 1856-60 
 
 1-8 
 
 63J 
 
 7.034 
 
 1407 
 
 
 
 1861-65 
 
 2'0 
 
 44 
 
 5.545 
 
 1 109 
 
 
 
 1866-70 
 
 I 64 
 
 4ii 
 
 4,198 
 
 840 
 
 
 
 1871-73 
 
 0*42 
 
 65i 
 
 1,702 
 
 540 
 
 
 
 1874 
 
 0-I7 
 
 57 
 
 609 
 
 609 
 
 
 
 
 10-9 
 
 92f 
 
 61,796 
 
 
 
 This shows an increase in the quantity of the work done up to 1865, 
 due to a more systematic method of work, and a diminution from 1871, 
 both in the work done and the gold obtained ; whilst the percentage of 
 gold to alluvium had dwindled in 1874 to about one-sixth of what it had 
 been in 1838-40. 
 
 Verkneudinsk. — The j;old-field of Verkneudinsk, in the government 
 of Irkutsk, S.E. of lake Baikal, lies on the Chita, a tributary of the 
 Selenga, which falls into lake Baikal ; and in the valleys of the S.W. 
 slopes of the Yablounovoi range, near Mongolia ; but the detritus is 
 not remarkably rich. Gold-washing began in Verkhneudinsk in 1849. 
 The total produced to 1874 was 17,640 lb., with a yearly average of 
 678 lb. In 1 877, the production was 480 lb. To the northward lie 
 highly auriferous tracts, in the basin of the Lena. The first in order, 
 proceeding from south to north, is in the Verkho-Lensk circuit, on the 
 upper waters of the Lena, a region abounding with every necessary of 
 life, dense forests and ample supply of water ; moreover, it is near 
 inhabited districts. The detritus here has oni/ been worked since 1867 
 at one placer, which has yielded up to 1874, 326^ lb. of gold from 
 100,000 tons of alluvium washed. The quantity raised in 1877 had 
 fallen to 4 lb., but the work had not been pursued continuously. 
 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 413 
 
 Bargtizinsk. — The Barguzinsk circuit in Trans-Baikalia contains the 
 head-waters of many auriferous streams flowing into the Vitim, a right 
 tributary of the Lena. These deposits are as yet imperfectly known ; 
 probably much more gold will be discovered. The following shows the 
 results of washings in Barguzinsk : — 
 
 
 
 Alluvium 
 
 Average yield 
 
 Gold raised. 
 
 Average for 
 
 Number of men 
 
 
 
 washed. 
 
 per 3600 lb. 
 
 the year. 
 
 employed. 
 
 
 
 
 million tons. 
 
 zol. doil. 
 
 lb. 
 
 lb. 
 
 
 
 
 I8S4-S 
 
 o-og 
 
 41 
 
 246 
 
 123 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 1856-60 
 
 0-7 
 
 I 24 
 
 S,i8i 
 
 1036 
 
 SS6 
 
 
 
 1861-65 
 
 2-2 
 
 I 47 
 
 19,142 
 
 .3828 
 
 2297 
 
 
 
 1866-70 
 
 2'0 
 
 I 26 
 
 IS. 239 
 
 3048 
 
 1826 
 
 
 
 1871-73 
 
 1-09 
 
 94f 
 
 6,372 
 
 2124 
 
 1386 
 
 
 
 1874 
 
 0-23 
 
 1 2| 
 
 1,416 
 
 1416 
 
 •• 
 
 
 
 
 631 
 
 I 25} 
 
 47,596 
 
 
 
 
 In 1877, the quantity of gold raised in the Barguzinsk circuit 
 amounted to 983 lb. 
 
 Olekniinsk. — The placers in the Olekminsk circuit of the Yakutsk 
 oblast are situated in the basins of the Vitim and Olekma (both of them 
 right tributaries of the Lena), a tract characterized by extremes of 
 climate, and a soil which does not admit of cultivation and which is 
 therefore incapable of supporting man. Its mineral resources, however, 
 make up for its natural disadvantages, and have transformed what other- 
 wise would have remained a barren and inhospitable region into the 
 busiest centre of the gold-mining industry of Siberia. Here the opera- 
 tions of gold-washing are conducted on a large scale, and require a 
 proportionate outlay of capital. Enterprising mining owners run 
 steamers down the Lena and its main affluents for the transport of 
 supplies, labourers, and merchandise of all kinds for the diggings. 
 Owing to the frozen state of the ground, which ren.a'ns unthawed all the 
 year round, and the depth of the detritus, much of it being 70 ft. below 
 the surface, the work is mostly underground. 
 
 The following figures show the results of the Olekminsk gold-field 
 from 1 849, the year when they were opened : — 
 
 1849-50 
 
 1851-55 
 1856-60 
 1861-65 
 1866-70 
 
 1871-73 
 1874 
 
 Alluvium 
 washed. 
 
 million tons. 
 
 o'ooi5 
 
 0-53 
 4-2 
 
 5-23 
 6-8 
 
 4'0 
 1-03 
 
 21*7 
 
 Average yield 
 per 3600 lb. 
 
 doil. 
 64f 
 34 
 
 24i 
 46f 
 86f 
 
 93t 
 
 Gold raised. 
 
 Average annual 
 production. 
 
 lb. 
 
 7 
 
 7,299 
 
 31,350 
 
 36,518 
 
 75,849 
 71,484 
 22,252 
 
 244.759 
 
 lb. 
 3* 
 1,469 
 6,270 
 
 7,303 
 15,170 
 23.828 
 22,252 
 
 Average annual 
 number of 
 
 4509 
 
 4255 
 4278 
 
 5447 
 6558 
 
 'Hi 
 
414 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 It is expected that ere long the Lena gold-fields will produce annually 
 36,000 lb. ; indeed the production for 1877 was not far short of this, 
 34,397 lb. having been raised from the placers in the Lena basin in that 
 year, or considerably over ^ of the whole supply of the year, estimated at 
 90,078 lb. 
 
 The Gold-fields on the Amur.— Between 1857 and i860, Anosof 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 ao 32 94- 96 98 WO 
 
 10Z 
 
 104. 106 108 no 
 
 explored the gold-deposits 
 on the Amur and its tribu- 
 taries, while Basuin under- 
 took those on the Ussuri. 
 In 1870, Bogoliubsky was 
 deputed by Korsakof, 
 governor-general of Eastern 
 Siberia, to report on the 
 mineral resources of 
 Amur country, and 
 following information 
 mainly derived from 
 published works. 
 
 The Amur, both in Russian and Chinese territory, is auriferous. Its 
 head-waters, the Shilka and Argun, within the circuit of Nerchinsk, 
 contain large quantities of gold, as do also its left tributaries, which have 
 their sources in the Stanovoi range, forming a continuation of the 
 
 Sketch-map of Amur Gold-fields. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA, 
 
 415 
 
 Yablonnoi. It was the chief object of the Trans-Baikalian expedition of 
 1849, ostensibly sent to define the boundary with China, to discover the 
 placers in the Amur country. Two mining engineers, Nieglitsky and 
 Koranko, with some Nerchinsk workmen, accompanied the expedition. 
 On entering the slopes of Amazar, gold was discovered on the river Tiksan 
 [upper Amazar], and traces of it on the northern side of the range in the 
 Yakutsk circuit, on ti butaries of the Utam, an affluent of the Gonama ; 
 descending the basin of the Z6hya, gold was found on its tributary the 
 Kapuri at the depth of 7 ft. from the surface, but in extremely small 
 quantities, — 20 doilias (13^ gr.) per \oo pud: (3600 lb.). Another detach- 
 ment of this expedition under Koranko, while following a spur of high- 
 land running parallel with the Ud, came upon gold on the river Ugakan, 
 an affluent of the Shevli falling into the Ud. Traces of the precious metal 
 were further discovered in the rivers discharging into the Sea of Okhotsk, 
 between the mouths of the Ud and Tugur ; and upon the annexation of 
 the Amur country under the auspices of Count Muraviefi'-Amursky, all 
 the chief affluents of the Amur were examined by parties of explorers, 
 under the direction of mining engineer Anosof in 1858-60. Gold was 
 also reported to exist in Chinese territory, on tributaries of the Argun, 
 Sungari, and Suifun. In 1866, private individuals were allowed to search 
 for it in the Amursky and Primorsky (maritime) districts. Following is 
 a resume of the localities in which gold has been discovered either by 
 Government or by private persons in the basin of the Amur and along 
 the Sea of Japan. The chief tributaries of the Amur explored under the 
 directions of Anosof are : — left tributaries : Urushi, Oldoi, Burinda, 
 Zehya, Zavitaya, Burehya, Bidjan and Kur ; right tributaries : the Ussuri, 
 with the system of lake Hanka ; and the rivers emptying into the Sea 
 of Japan. 
 
 1st Group. — Left tributaries of the Amur : — 
 
 («) Affluents of the Amazar in the Nerchinsk district : the Lesser 
 Amazar and its tributaries the Tomirol, Kavikta, and Amgun. Left 
 tributaries of the Amazar : Jalinda, Dador, Vassiliefka, Mogocha, with 
 the Ilynika, Greater and Lesser Mogocha, the Greater Chichatka, 
 with its affluent the Kulla. 
 
 {b) In the Amursky district, the following have been prospected : 
 
 (i) The Urka, with its left tributaries the Urulmutti and Omudichi. 
 
 (2) The Urushi, with 3 locations worked since 1870, yielding 28 lb. 
 per annum, but liable to inundation. 
 
 (3) The Oldoi, 100 versts (60 miles) from its mouth, divides into the 
 Upper or Greater Oldoi, flowing from N. to S. and rising in some lofty 
 peaks of the Stanovoi range, near the Larba (belonging to the basin of 
 the Olekma) ; and the Lesser Oldoi flowing from N.E. to S.W., rising in 
 the Yankan range. The Greater Oldoi receives on the right the river 
 
 ii.fli 
 
 J 
 
4i6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Mongoli, with 6 locations. In one boring, about | lb. of gold was found, 
 and the precious metal apparently lay in nests, but the remoteness of 
 these workings made them unprofitable to work ; the river Molodan, with 
 its feeders the Modolakan and Udikit, both discovered by Anosof, with 
 an average yield of I to i ^^ zolotniks (65 to 90 gr.), but the gold is in 
 nests, and the belt of alluvium is narrow ; the Sivagli and the Shckshaun, 
 with 2 locations. Gold is more abundant on the Lesser Oldoi. Here 
 Anosof found in the Yankan a knot of auriferous rocks from which 
 radiate belts of alluvial deposits along the rivers Krestofka (falling into 
 the Oldoi), the Ura and Gilni, right affluents of the Zehya. The Krestofka 
 falls into the Lesser Oldoi on the left, after receiving its right tributary 
 the Yankan, upon a feeder of which, the Baldijak, are two placers. There 
 arc 4 locations on the Yankan ; 2 of these, worked by the Upper Amur 
 Company, yielded in 1871-76, 5400 lb., in the proportion of 2 zolotniks 
 59 J doilias (170 gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 (4) The river Never, with its affluent the Uldigichi, with 6 locations. 
 
 (5) The Assejina, with 2 locations on each of its tributaries, the 
 Burgali and Depak. 
 
 (6) The Burgali, with 4 placers, yielding on an average about 
 I zolotnik (65 gr.) per \oo puds (3600 lb.). 
 
 (7) The Z^hya has a con re of upwards of 1300 miles, and receives 
 numerous streams flowing fio.u the Stanovoi range and its spurs, which 
 are liable to sudden floods, when the snows melt in the mountains, and 
 during the rainy season in summer. The Zehya has been very insuffi- 
 ciently explored, and but {g\\ borings have been made, though, judging 
 from the discoveries of the Trans-Baikal expedition (in 1849), it is 
 expected that much gold will be found along its northern affluents. 
 
 The right affluents of the Z^hya, between Blagoveschensk and the 
 mouth of the Ur, passing through Tertiary formations, are not auriferous 
 so far as they are known. It is along the upper right tributaries of this 
 river, which have their sources in the Yankan, Tukuringir, and Gilni 
 ranges, that most of the gold has been found. The left feeders are but 
 little known ; but the general rule is — the nearer to the mountains, the 
 better the chance of the gold-seeker, e. g. the Djagdu, Burehya, Lesser 
 Hingan, and Ud chains. 
 
 A. Right tributaries of the Zehya : 
 
 (i) The Ur or Urkan : auriferous detritus was discovered on its upper 
 right tributary, the Ingagli, which gave 20 zolotniks 8 doilias (1321 gr.) 
 per 3600 lb. ; and the Jalinda, upon which 20 locations have been claimed 
 by the Upper Amur Co. Between 1868 and 1876, the Jalinda diggings 
 yielded 35,124 lb. of gold, with an average yield of 2 zolotniks 26 doilias 
 (149 gr.) per 3600 lb. The Jalinda works arc considered the best in the 
 country, and not half the gold is exhausted. The other diggings on the 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 417 
 
 Ur are not rich. The detritus on the Jalinda h'es on beds of diorite, 
 whilst on some of the neighbouring hills syenite and granites crop out, 
 and fart'.- "r south, argillaceous and talcosc schists, associated with lime- 
 stones, are the prevailing formation. 
 
 (2) The Gilni : the following right affluents of this river are reported 
 to yield gold, — the Mogota and Tanda, with 5 localities ; the Jcltulak, 
 with 4, yielding as mi;ch as 3 zolotniks 12 doilias (205 gr.) per 36001b. of 
 sand, and extending for 12 miles in length. 
 
 (3) The lesser tributaries of the Zdhya, between the Gilni and the 
 Brianta, are auriferous, tlviugh to what extent is unknown ; their names 
 are : the Ulenkit-Ulaghir, Jakda-Ulaghir, Ushakda-Ulaghir, Kongamun- 
 Ulaghir, Mogota, Ugana, and Dambikeh. 
 
 (4) The Brianta is joined on the right by the Ilikana, along which 
 and its feeders, several localities were discovered in 1873, with an average 
 yield of i zolotnik 60 doilias (108 gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 (5) The Bomnak, with 5 localities, extending 17 miles in length, but 
 too poor and remote to repay the cost of working. 
 
 B. Left affluents of the Zehya : 
 
 (i) The Kupuri has poor detritus at its mouth, but higher up on its 
 left affluent, 'the Kinlianjaku, alluvium was found by Anosof, yielding 
 \\zoloUiiks (99 gr.) per 3600 lb. Below the Kupuri was no gold as far as 
 the Siliniji, excepting a few traces of the precious metal on the Megu. 
 
 (2) The Siliniji has several series of deposits on its rigiit tributaries ; 
 these are — 
 
 (a) The Mara, with 12 localities on its left feeder the Burunda giving 
 traces of gold. 
 
 (b) The lower Mina, with its tributaries : the Tiksiana, 4 localities, 
 average yield, 21 doilias (i4igr.) per 36001b; Melannir, with 3 localities, 
 18 doilias (i2jgr.) per 36001b. ; Usiakannir, with 2 localities, 24 doilias 
 (16} gr.) per 36001b; altogether, on Lower Mina, 11 localities, 33 miles 
 long ; average, 19^ doilias (13 gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 (c) The Inkan, with its feeders : the Begin, 3 localities, Sabas, 2 
 localities, and one on the Inkan itself ; in all, 6 localities on the Inkan ; 
 length, 20 miles ; average yield, 18 gr. 
 
 (d) Upper Mina, with its feeders : right source of the Upper Mina and 
 its affluent the Nika, 4 localities, 12 miles, yield 24 doilias (16^ gr.), 
 Bakadja, 2 localities ; Murtijak, a spring unnamed, and on the left 
 Lukachok, Bagalannak, altogether 1 2 localities, 30 miles ; average yield, 2 1 j 
 doilias (15 gr.); making a total on both Mina rivers and Inkan of 29 
 localities, 87 miles, average breadth \ vcrst {\ mile), yield, 20 doilias {it, gr.). 
 The placers on the Siliniji are but little explored, and only one, viz. that 
 on the Bakadja, is worked. This yielded in 1875 432 lb. of gold, and the 
 further development of this gold-field will depend on future explorations. 
 
 2 E 
 
 li:' 
 
 I 'i i if i 
 • St?,' 
 
4i8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 Traces of the metal were discovered near the sources of the Siliniji, on the 
 Macrgin, in 4 localities, with an average yield of 94J doilias (64 gr.). 
 
 (8) The Burdhya. Very rich deposits were discovered on the Niman 
 falling into the Burehya on the right, and its feeders, the Olga, Toen- 
 Olga, Elan-Bira, Topko-Bira, and Utchugei ; also on the Elga and the 
 left affluents of the Olga, e. g. one locality on the Agda, 89 doilias (6oi gr.) 
 per 3600 lb. ; another on the Konaka, 3 zolotniks 61 doilias {2^0 gr.) ; one 
 on the Olga, 38 zolotniks 72 doilias (300 gr.) ; traces of gold on the Salara. 
 The Olga is joined on the right by the Olgakana, and its left tributaries, 
 the Utchugei and Artik ; in all, 60 auriferous localities were reported, 
 and further searches have yet to be made on the Niman. 
 
 Below the confluence of the Burehya with the Amur, exploring parties 
 under Anosof and Basuin found detritus with traces of gold in a defile 
 in the Hingan mountains, on the river Zimoveinoye ; but none on the 
 Dichuna and Bidjan, and only traces of it on the Kukana, a left tributary 
 of the Unma, an affluent of the Kur. 
 
 (9) The Amgun and its tributaries rise in the lesser Hingan range, but 
 exploration has not penetrated far here, owing to the thinness of the 
 population, chiefly composed of Nigidaltsi, Shamageri and Giliaks. The 
 valley of the Amgun is mostly of recent geological formation, sandstones 
 lying near its head-waters, and granites from its source to the Kerbi. A 
 left tributary of the Amgun, the Herpuchi, is, however, known to be 
 auriferous, and gold has been washed from the detritus on the Talmak, 
 one of its right tributaries. The placers here are owned by Tintinkofif, 
 Benardaki, and Periaslavtsef, and 132 lb. of gold are annually produced 
 at the mines of Tintinkoff, who has a claim on the Hon, a left feeder of 
 the Herpuchi, with poor detritus. But on the Upper Hon, 3 miles from 
 the Giliak village of the same name, there is a locality from which gold is 
 obtained in the rich proportion of 10 zolotniks (658 gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 (10) The lake system of the Amur. 
 
 Below the lesser Hingan range, especially from Khabarofka down- 
 wards, the Amur flows through lowlands, and only enters the hilly 
 country between Lophiisky and the mouth of the Amgun, where it is 
 crossed by the spurs of the Sihotu-alin. Along the whole extent of low- 
 lying land are scattered lakes, all more or less closely connected by 
 channels with the river, e. g. the Jaghini [Shamagher], Ehvoron, Sargu, 
 Bolon, Udil, Chan, Oriol, Chilika, Kizi, Kada, Chlia, and others ; in some 
 of these lakes, gold has been found. 
 
 (a) Lake Sargu, near Malmijsky village, is joined by the Beh?.', with 
 detritus yielding \\ zolotniks (99 gr.) per 3600 lb., located by Sumkin : 
 and the Kupchul, 12 miles from the lake, with detritus averaging 
 2 zolotniks 58 doilias (171 gr.) per 3600 lb., located by Cherdimof 
 
 (b) Lake Udil, below Soplinsek and above the mouth of the Amgun, 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 419 
 
 30 miles from the Giliak village of Joloka, is joined by the Alokeha, 
 with detritus averaging 58 doilias (39^ gr.) per 3600 lb. ; and by the 
 Bitki, with its affluent the Balakai, both located by Luri. 
 
 (c) Lake Chilika is joined by the Kirgichan, with traces of gold. 
 
 2nd Group : right affluent of the Amur ; system of the Ussuri and 
 lake Hanka. 
 
 The Upper Ussuri was prospected by Basuin in 1861-62, but no gold 
 was found, except on the Imma, where 8 borings were sunk, in one of 
 which a nugget was found. But these searches were not extensive 
 enough, because they did not reach the Sihotu-alin mountains, and they 
 were moreover made under exceptionally unfavourable conditions, owing 
 to the thinly settled population at that time, and the dearnos.s of neces- 
 saries of life. The forests and marshes too are impenetrable in the winter 
 months, owing to the depth of snow. Hence traces of gold were dis- 
 covered only on two tributaries of lake Hanka, in some abandoned 
 diggings surreptitiously worked by the Chinese. 
 
 3rd Group : the littoral of the Pacific. 
 
 (a) The sea coast of Okhotsk and Tatarsky Gulf. Between Udsky 
 Bay and De Castries Straits, the coast-line of the Pacific is upwards of 
 1000 versts (725 miles) long, and is watered by numerous rivers, the 
 chief of which are the Ud, Tugur, and A.iuur. It is a belt of territory 
 indented with rocky bays, with steep precipitous cliffs abutting on the 
 sea, and here and there a shelving sandy slip subject to frequent 
 inundations by flood and tide. The population is scarce, consisting of 
 fish-eating Giliaks, who drive their dog-slcdgcs throiigh the deep snow 
 in winter, and in summer urge their light birch-bark skiffs, so-called 
 omorotchi, from island to island. Communications are thus kept up 
 without great difficulty; specially easy is that from the Tugur to Ukakyt, 
 near Burukunsky chapel, on the Agnekan, a left affluent of the Nemilen, 
 flowing into the Amgun on the left. This Wtjs the route followed by 
 Cossacks and hunters to the scenes of their early triumphs on the Amur 
 in the latter half of the eighteenth century. In 185 T, detachments of the 
 Trans-Baikal expedition explored the shores of che Sea of Okhotsk, and 
 discovered traces of gold along the rivulets discharging into that sea, 
 between the mouths of the Ud and Tugur. Koranko, who took part in 
 this expedition, ascended the Ud from Udsk to the Shevli in a skiff, and 
 found traces of gold on the Ugakan, a tributary of the Shevli. In 1872, 
 4 placers were located here by Anosof, and traces of gold were also 
 found north of Nikolaiefsk, on the Greater and Lesser Iskai, and on the 
 Shilho, an affluent of the Mindu. 
 
 (b) Shores of the Sea of Japan as far as the frontier of Corea. 
 
 That tract of country lying between De Castries Bay and Plastun 
 has never been prospected for gold. At Cape Zolotoi (Golden), visited 
 
 2 E 2 
 
 1 ' \ 
 
 m 
 
 iiiii 
 
''It. 
 
 , 
 
 ill 
 
 « 
 
 iy '!' 
 
 420 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 by the Russians for the first time in 1874, gold was found, and probably 
 the mineral wealth of the whole region will repay a careful survey. In 
 the southern maritime districts, gold was found in old Chinese and 
 Manchu workings, the industry having been carried on by the former 
 people in contravention of the law. It seems, however, that the yield 
 was extremely poor. In 1873, claims were started at several localities 
 along the bays ; but owing to insufficient data, it is difficult to judge of 
 the richness of the detritus. The following is a list of allotted placer;? : 
 
 (i) On the Tu-su-uga, and its tributary the Sio-su-su-ta-sio-si-hor, 
 one claim yielded 55 doilias (37-! gr.) per 3600 lb. 
 
 (;?) Ta-A-ai-tsa Baj', between Ostrof Gulf and Shallow Bay, is joined 
 by the Su-du-ho ; into its tributary the Sian-su-tsz-ho, falls on the left 
 the Chin-tin-kan, with a claim of 37 doilias (25 gr.) per 3600 lb. The 
 Sian-su-tsz-iio has 4 claims of 25 to 40 doilias (17 to 27^ gr.). 
 
 (3) The Ching-cheng-su-ai has one claim of 40 doilias (27^ gr.), 
 
 (4) America Bay is joined by the Suchan : its tributaries arc the 
 Eldogu [Erdogu], into which flows the Eldogoga, with i claim 20 miles 
 from the Chinese village of Pinsan, yielding 80 doilias (54^ gr.) per 
 3600 lb. The Shu-su-ho has another claim of 68 doilias (46^ gr.) ; the 
 Suchan, with its afifluent the Great Sicha, has a claim of 2 zolotniks 
 48 doilias (164 gr.) per 3600 lb. ; the Shisa, falling into the Suchan, has 
 a claim of i aolotiiik ^ doilias {OS gr.) per 3600 lb., 17 miles from the 
 village of Pinsan. The Fonga, a left tributary of the Suchou, has I claim 
 yielding 30 doilias (20^ gr.). 
 
 (5) Nahodka Bay ; i claim on the Finsk, of 40 doilias (66 gr.). 
 
 (6) Vostok Gulf, to the west of America Bay, is joined by 
 
 (a) The Udmi, with its tributary the Chin-san-sahoi ; into the latter 
 flows Sadingo brook, with a claim averaging only 20 doilias (13^ gr.). 
 
 (b) The Ta-Udmi, with its left affluent the Singak, with its tributary 
 the Meskokh, with 2 claims on each. 
 
 (7) Strelok Straits receive the waters cf the Sevciza, on the left 
 source of which i claim has been opened, w th 20 doilias (13^ gr.) ; the 
 Tian-tundza with one claim, of .17 doilias (18^ gr.), the Kogotun falling 
 into Abrek Bay, with t'.vo placers, averaging 20 to 30 doilias (13^ to 
 20^ gr.), and a third on a spring flowing into it. 
 
 The Tin-ha or Chen-hen, upon which Anosof discovered abandoned 
 workings, with a yield of i zolotnik (66 gr.) per 3600 lb. The belt of 
 detritus extends for 20 miles, and has been quite recently worked by 
 Chinese. The alluvium continues to the si.d, and probably lies beneath it. 
 
 (8) Ussuri Gulf is joined by 
 
 The Shitakha, with its tributaries the Pinkan, fed by the Tin-ho, upon 
 which there is a claim. The Endologa joins the Shitakha from the left, 
 an,l was prospected t)y I3asuin, who also explored the Kongonza, where 
 
ASIA : Rl'SSIA. 
 
 421 
 
 I I 
 
 liH- 
 
 he found traces of gold formerly worked ; the Tsimaha, with its aftliiciU 
 the Shitun and I'estsi ; the Maiha or Maeh-ho, with its right tributary 
 the Suidengu, with a claim about 20 miles from the village of Shkotovo, 
 containing gold in small cjuantities. 
 
 (9) Amursky Gulf receives a nameless river with i claim averaging 
 30 doilias (2oi gr.) ; the Suifun : this river rises in Manchuria, in the 
 Chang-pe-ghan mountains, near the Turn. Mi-ula and the rivers debouching 
 into lake Hanka. Near its sources, Chinese engage, it is reported, in 
 the contraband industry ; of 3 placers opened within Russian territory, 
 on the Potaheza, a tributary of the Suifun, Lansky owns one averaging 
 70 doilias (47^ gr.) ; 2 others on a branch of the Potaheza, called after 
 the Mantsi, yield 55 and 50 doilias (37^ and 34 gr.) respectively ; and a 
 fourth, below he confluence of the Hubutu-Ulatu, on the Manchurian 
 border, ha? ,■ daim of i zolotnik 54(^A'///r?i' (102J gr.). The other streams 
 flowing into Amursky Gulf, viz. the Ili-ho, Ambo-bcllu [Amba-bira], and 
 Manguhai, were surveyed by Lopatin, but no gold was discovered. The 
 Yanchi-ho falling into Expedition Bay of Gulf Possiet contains traces 
 of gold. 
 
 (10) Lslands. 
 
 Between gulfs Olga and Amursky, at a short distance from the coast, 
 are the islands A.skold, i'utiatin, and Petroff, containing alluvial deposits. 
 These moreover evidently cross Strelok Straits from the Tsimaha to the 
 islands in the Sea of Japan. 
 
 (a) A.skold Island is separated from the continent by Strelok Straits. 
 In 1868, some Mantsi inhabiting the maritime districts washed gold on 
 this island, and 5J lb. of the precious metal was taken from them ; 300 
 of these people worked in 5 trenches or dykes 14 ft. wide, and in 6 pits 10 ft. 
 deep, in the direction of the sea coast. They had built t'.iemselves huts, 
 and washed the sand in 5 hand-buddies. From Basuin's report, the 
 aurifeious stratum appears to lie close to the shore, and even under the 
 sea ; and Lopatin found it to extend along the south side of the island, 
 where it was met witl; in Naiesdnik (rider) Bay, and along a dry gully 
 leading from it. The stratum was in one place 5 to 10 ft. thick, and 
 contained i gr. of gold in \o puds {},6o lb.) of .sand, without any overlying 
 peat. Oth'jr borings showed a thinner stratum, and a smaller proportion 
 of the precious metal. 
 
 (b) Putiatin Island lies north of Askold Island, and was surveyed by 
 Easuin rn 1868, when he found some old Chinese workings so completely 
 overgrown with grass and bushes that they were scarcely visible. A 
 chain of hills runs across this island, which is 2 miles wide ; 300 >d. 
 from their foot, at the confluence of .some springs, lies a narrow belt of 
 auriferous sand, under a thick layer of peat. The Mantsi reported there 
 were other diggings in the south of the island, which f(M-nis a link in tlie 
 
 ii.i 
 
 
422 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 chain of hills extending from the mainland southward to Askold Island. 
 On the S.W. slope, a claim has been located for a distance of loooyd. in 
 Tulbo-bai ravine, yielding i doilia (o'68 gr.) per lOO lb. 
 
 (c) Petroff Island lies near Ta-vai-tsa and Cape Ostrofny, and has 
 one claim. 
 
 (d) Russky (Russian) or Dundas Island, opposite Golden Horn Bay, 
 is reported to be auriferous. 
 
 General Summary. — The gold industry in the Amur country was first 
 commenced by the Upper Amursky Company, and has been successfully 
 developed along the Zehya, Burchya, and Amgun rivers. Its importance, 
 long checked by the scantiness of the population, promises in the future 
 to become great ; but the necessaries of life have all at present to be 
 brought from Trans-Baikalia, whence they are transported on rafts and in 
 boats down the Shilka and Argun to the residence or dcp6t of the 
 Upper Amur mining districts, § mile from the village of Rainovo, on 
 the Amur. Here is a landing place and telegraph station, and hence 
 supplies are carried in winter on camels to the diggings of the Upper 
 Amur Co., distant 70 miles. Between 1868, when this Co. first 
 started, and 1875, their production averaged annually 15060 lb. of gold, 
 10 diggings being worked on the rivers Ura and Oldoi by about 2000 men. 
 The belt of alluvium is 7 ft. thick, and the overlying peat varies between 
 7 and 10 ft. Each of their double-barrelled machines washes 80 cub. 
 fathoms per diem, and there are besides 6 stands. 
 
 The gold-fields of the Amur basin lie \v, Trans-Baikalia, the 
 Amur and maritime provinces. Those on the vpper Amur, and its 
 tributaries the Shilka and Argun, are included in the Nerch'nsk circuit ; 
 farther cast, on the central Amur, as far as Kharabofka, they .-e com- 
 prised in the Amursky circuit ; the remainder, on the lowci Amur 
 and its affluents, to^^ether with the littoral of the Pacific from Corea to 
 Cape Chukotsky, are included in the Primorsky or maritime circuit, 
 and are distributed over the whole province. These placers are of 
 comparatively recent dis':overy, but they promise to become at a future 
 day of great importance to the gold-industry, owing to the navigability 
 of the rivers, and their easy access from the sea. They are situate in 
 the mountainous tract margining the basin of the Amur on all sides, 
 as well as in the littoral range of Sihotu-alin. The gold is disseminated 
 along the courses of the chief affluents of the Amur, in numerous though 
 not particularly rich beds of detritus, and is easily worked. Some of the 
 alluvium lies actually on the sea-coast, e. g. on the islands in the sea of 
 Japan, in Str^lok Bay, and along the shore of the Sea of Okhot.sk. The 
 detritus of the Amur is generally not thicker than about 18 ft, but on 
 the other hand it is sometimes nearly a mile in width. The proportions 
 of p.\at and aetr tus are equal, and it may be said generally that a thin 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 423 
 
 layer of vegetable mould barely covers the auriferous deposits. This 
 leads to the inference that the disintegration of the rocks and dissemina- 
 tion of the gold were the result of very violent physical changes assisted 
 by the steep fall of the rivulets and summer floods. 
 
 The gold-mines of Nerchinsk lie in the spurs of the Yablounovoi 
 range, from the borders of Mongolia and Manchuria to the confluence of 
 the Shilka and Argun. Many of the streams in the Nerchinsk circuit 
 abound in gold of various richness, from hardly perceptible traces to 
 zolotiiiks (r zolotnik = 65*83 gr.) of it. The constantly frozen state of 
 the soil has doubtless prevented the detritus from being washed away by 
 the rivers ; had it been otherwise, and the climate warmer, all the gold 
 would have been carried down to the Eastern Ocean, and such has 
 doubtless been the case in former times on a great scale. The modern 
 auriferous detritus is therefore a remnant of the ancient placers. The 
 depth of these deposits is not great. 
 
 Government began the search for gold in 1830 ; wa.shing commenced 
 in 1832. The following quantities were obtained at the Government 
 placers : — 
 
 Washing years. 
 
 1832-35 
 1836-40 
 1841-45 
 1846-50 
 
 1851-55 
 1856-60 
 1861-65 
 1866-70 
 
 1871-73 
 1874 
 
 Alluvium 
 washed. 
 
 million tons. 
 O'OI 
 
 o-o8 
 024 
 
 0-73 
 1-8 
 
 2*2 
 3-26 
 
 4'4 
 3'o 
 0-85 
 
 i6-5 
 
 Contents per 
 3600 lb. 
 
 dwt. 
 
 li 
 
 2j 
 
 3i 
 3i 
 4} 
 
 2i 
 2i 
 2i 
 
 2* 
 2j 
 
 2i 
 
 Gold raised. ' ™,?' 
 
 lb. 
 
 34 
 
 447 
 
 2,184 
 
 6,484 
 
 19,881 
 
 12,279 
 
 17,645 
 
 25,718 
 
 16,414 
 
 5,481 
 
 106,567 
 
 lb. 
 8i 
 89 
 437 
 1298 
 
 3976 
 2456 
 
 3529 
 5 143 
 5471 
 5481 
 
 Up to 1863, gold-mining was done by .serfs attached to the mining 
 districts ; from that date, by free labour, by which a larger quantity was 
 produced. 
 
 In the Nerchinsk circuit is a va.st extent of auriferous detritus lying 
 idle owing to the poor yield of gold, rendering it impossible for private 
 Ciiterprise to wash with the high taxes now levied. Experience has 
 shown the unprofitableness of washing detritus which yields less than 
 ^ :ioloUnk (2 dwt.) per 3600 lb. The total quantity of auriferous deposit.s, 
 reckoning them at ^bout 1300 miles in area, 350 ft. wide, and 7 ft. thick, 
 is 50,000,000 cubic fathoms, estimated 10 contain 940,000 lb. of gold. 
 
 The private placers of the Nerchinsk circuit occupy the area from the 
 Yablounovoi range to the Mongolian frontier on the east, to the Argun, 
 
 ^' nr 
 
 ^' HK 
 
 1 On 
 
 ' i 
 
 ill 
 
 I ■% 
 
 1 -a 
 
 < >t^ 
 
424 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 i ■' 
 
 along the tributaries of the Urunhnngiii and Central Borzeya, the 
 Unda, Onon, and Shilka, the Kuenga, the Ncrcha, Urum, and Chacha- 
 Government monopolized the gold-industry only till 1864, when private 
 enterprise was admitted in certain parts of the district with successful 
 results, and it is anticipated that when the whole of Nerchinsk is thrown 
 open to private enterprise, the annual production will reach 18,000 lb. 
 
 The quantity now raised, 11,700 lb., must be considered small for so 
 large and highly auriferous a tract as Nerchinsk. Various causes are 
 assigned for this small production, droughts and flood, damages to 
 hydraulic and other works by heavy rains in July and August. Permis- 
 sion too is much needed to seek for gold on the Achinga, Akna, Baldja, 
 Kirkuna, and Kyr, still reserved for the Imperial private purse. Were 
 these and other localities offered to individual enterprise, much of the 
 poorer detritus now lying idle might be made to produce something. 
 
 The gold-fields on the Amur are situated on its tributaries the Zehya 
 and Burchya, in spurs of the Stanovoi and Burchya ranges. They present 
 no remarkable or distinctive features, but may generally be described as 
 large deposits not very rich in gold, which has been continuously dis- 
 seminated along the valleys and low-lying lands bordering on the Amur. 
 Up to 1875, claims were .sent in to the mining authorities for 1000 running 
 miles of placers. Some of the detritus on the Burchya [Niman], Selimdja, 
 Jalinda, and Zehya, is nearly a mile wide, so that the auriferous localities 
 claimed represent an area of 1000 sq. miles. It is estimated that if ^^th 
 of this be worked, it should produce 585,936 lb. The rate of production 
 in 1871-75 was 6048 lb. per annum at 6 placers, and the quantity raised 
 by each individual labourer was 8 lb. 
 
 In quantity of work done and gold produced, the Upper Amur Co. 
 surpasses all others in Siberia. 
 
 The sea-coast of the Eastern Ocean, from the borders of Corea to the 
 mouth of the Ud, in the Sea of Okhotsk, is aurifcrou.s. There is doubtless 
 gold too farther north, along the sea-board of Okhotsk and Bchring seas 
 to Cape Chukotsky, on the islands which stud these seas, and in Kam- 
 chatka. But in 1 87 1, there was a great dearth of the necessaries of life 
 in these regions, and this diminished the supply of gold. Up to 1874, 
 400 lb. had been raised ; in that year, the only placers worked, viz. those 
 on the Amgun, were neglected probably for the same reason. In 1875 
 and 1876, searching parties prosecuted their work in several localities 
 along the Sea of Japan ; and in 1877, washing was commenced on 
 Askold Island. The same year, the production of gold in the maritime 
 province reached 461 lb. 
 
 According to an estimate by Bogoliub.sky, the basin of the Amur con- 
 tains 250,000,000 cub. fathoms of auriferous soil, from which 5,859,3801b. 
 of ""old may be raised ; under more favourable conditions, however, this 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 425 
 
 quantity may be largely exceeded. Between 1832 and 1875, the quantity 
 
 of gold raised in the Amur basin was as follows : — 
 
 lb. 
 106,560 
 
 Okrug (circuit) of Nerchinsk, private estates of the Tzar 
 
 Do do 
 
 Do Amur 
 
 Do Maritime province 
 
 private enterprise 
 
 48,054 
 
 34.500 
 400 
 
 189,514 
 
 in; 
 
 From 1 86 1, gold-washing in the basin of the Amur took a new start, 
 and has proceeded satisfactorily ever since ; whilst on the eastern sea- 
 board, the field for the development of minerals is wide. Kamchatka, 
 Saghalien, the Shan tar and Kurile islands, are nearly inaccessible, and 
 their gold-fields cannot for the present be explored ; but with the 
 sett'ement of the maritime province by an agricultural and industrial 
 population, an abundant supply of the necessaries of life will be assured,, 
 and the treasure lavishly scattered along the shores of the Great Ocean 
 will become available. 
 
 In 1875, gold-washing was begun on the Siliniji by the Central 
 Amur Co., and about 412 lb. was obtained. In the same year, operations 
 were also commenced on the Burehya, Niman, and Olga ; but no returns 
 are available for that year. In 1871, Tintinkoff opened his diggings along 
 the Herpuchi and Talmak, obtaining on an average 144 lb. per annum in 
 1874-75. Altogether, the basin of the Amur had yielded up to 1875, 
 41,760 lb. of gold, valued at 1 5,080,000 metallic rubles, or about 2,500,000/., 
 but this is exclusive of the production on the Shilka, in the Nerchinsk 
 district, which alone amounted to 16,380 lb. to 1875, making a grand 
 total of 58,140 lb., worth about 3,500,000/. This represents the profits 
 derived from the Amur country, and is some return for the outlay in 
 acquiring and settling it ; but it is confidently anticipated that the future 
 will yield far more brilliant results, and it is worth while estimating what 
 there may be, by assuming the auriferous alluvial deposits to extend 
 1000 miles in length, with an average width of 350 ft. and a depth of 5 ft, 
 yielding a proportion of \ zolotnik (16J gr.) per 3600 lb.; say, cubic 
 contents of detritus, 25,000,000 ft. of sand, producing 5,953,630 lb., value 
 2 milliards of rubles silver, or, in round numbers, 350,000,000/ Of course, 
 while the duty remains so high and other conditions so unfavourable, it 
 is impossible to work areas returning a low prooortion of gold. But tne 
 time will come when the country will be openc! up and inhabited by a 
 settled population. When agriculture and industry thrive, it is possible 
 that these estimates may be largely surpassed, for it should be remem- 
 bered that only one-half the basin of the Amur is as yet explored. 
 
 The Ural Gold-fields.— The "Arctic Ural" extends from the 6ist 
 
 111 
 
 
 tis 
 
h :l 
 
 426 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DI? -IBUTION. 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 CI 
 
 rr 
 
 
 
 Bo§od0fidL 
 
 VEHKHOTUBlE 
 
 Vs di«|^%iiaiuik 
 
 iKATiniABuRa 
 
 57 
 
 SiBorili 
 
 parallel northwards for looo versts (about 670 miles) to the shores of the 
 glacial ocean. It is for the most part densely forested, almost impassable, 
 and characterized by an extremely severe climate. This tract was 
 explored by the so-called "Northern Expedition," in 1830-43,* and gold 
 was discovered on the head-waters of the rivers Petchora, Vishera, Shigor, 
 and Vychegda, which rise in the Ural, and along the basin of the 
 
 northern Sosva, where the Pai-hoi range 
 begins. From experiments then made, the 
 average yield was found to be about i zolotnik 
 (66 gr.) per 100 puds (3600 lb.) of sand and 
 earth. But the region is so remote, inac- 
 cessible, and devoid of the necessaries of life, 
 that miners cannot venture into it, and its 
 gold is therefore practically useless. The 
 following remarks concern the better known 
 colonized parts of the Ural range, southward 
 from the 60th parallel of N. lat. nearly to 
 Orenburg. When Murchison, Count Keyser- 
 ling, and De Verneuil explored this country 
 in 1 84 1, and published their great work on 
 its geology, gold-mining was in its early 
 stage of development, the alluvial deposits 
 were only beginning to be worked, and 
 washing was entirely done by hand, with the 
 assistance of horses and oxen. In the 40 
 years that have elapsed since then, many 
 remarkable changes have taken place, to 
 which allusion will be made in the following 
 pages, and it is probable that no part of 
 Russia can show so much progress as the 
 towns, zavods (ironworks), and mining centres 
 in the Ural do at the present day. 
 
 The Ural gold-mines and placers are of 
 two kinds, those belonging to Government, 
 and those owned by private individuals. To 
 the former category belong the Bogoslofsk, 
 Goro Blagodat, Ekaterinburg, and Zlataust 
 groups ; in die latter, are included all gold-washings and -diggings 
 belonging to private companies and individuals, situate on both flanks of 
 the range, but mostly on the eastern [Asiatic] side, in the governments 
 of Perm, Orenburg, and Ufa, as well as in the Uralsk territory. 
 
 * Also by Murchison's associate, Count Keyserling, in 1843, who discovered a north- 
 westerly ramification of the Ural, the so-called " Timan " range. 
 
 TTnaHin F 
 
 IS. 
 
 
 
 tUBROOVO 
 
 "^■sii" 
 
 «-«>' ik,^ 
 
 Ural Gold-field. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 427 
 
 A. The Government gold-fields, — (i) Bogoslofsk is the northernmost 
 of the Government mining establishments in the Ural. It was formerly 
 noted for its production of iron and copper, but this source of prosperity 
 declined so materially that in 1837 the works would have been closed, 
 had not rich gold-alluvions been discovered. Sir R. Murchison says 
 that the Peschanka gold-mine, near Bogoslofsk, had yielded from its 
 discovery in 1829 to 1840, i.e. in 11 years, 250 /««?!$• (9000 lb.) of gold. 
 According to another writer, 112 placers had been opened to 1849, and 
 the annual washings averaged 1 500 lb., with a proportion of ^ zolotnik 
 (44 gr.) to 36001b. of sand. The gold lies along the Lozva and Sosva, 
 tributaries of the Tavda, an affluent of the Tobol, and is associated with 
 diorite, serpentine, and sulphur-pyrites. Murchison found the chief under- 
 lying rock to be greenstone, and the richest alluvions lay immediately upon 
 it. No quartz veins have been found here, the gold grains being simply 
 collected by washing the finer sandy gravel. " The inspection of this 
 locality," says Murchison, " led us to believe that the gold had been dififused- 
 through the subjacent rock, and that the auriferous epoch, or the close of 
 it, was marked by the scouring and denudation of the surfaces of the rock 
 so impregnated." The following details of production are borrowed 
 from Bogoliubsky's work : 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 1823-60 
 1861-65 
 1866-70 
 
 1871-73 
 1874 
 
 Gold raised. 
 
 Average 
 
 annual 
 
 quantity. 
 
 puds. 
 1328-3 
 
 ii4"6 
 
 II2'92S 
 64-4 
 
 I4'92S 
 
 Puds, 
 
 34-95 
 
 22'9 
 22-6 
 21 "275 
 14-925 
 
 1635-150 
 
 Average for 
 the year. 
 
 lb. 
 
 1262 
 
 826 
 
 814 
 
 773 
 541 
 
 The falling off in the production after i860 is attributed to the 
 impoverishment of the placers owing to the removal of the richest sands, 
 the enfranchisement of the mining population, and the introduction of 
 acrord-arbeit* 
 
 The Bogoslofsk mining district is now rented from the Government by 
 Bachmakof and Co., who have also undertaken the copper-mines there. 
 An approximate calculation has been made by Bogoliubsky of the supply 
 of gold in the 200 placers of the Bogoslofsk district. These he estimates 
 at 1000 versts (725 miles) in length, with a breadth of 350 ft, a depth of 
 7ft., and contents of 25,000,000 cub. fathoms, yielding 13,020 puds 
 
 * The accord-arbcit, which might be compared with piece-work as distinguished from time- 
 work, should increase the production and not diminish it.— M. 
 
428 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (468,7201b.) of gold, in the proportion of 2 zolotniks (131^ gr.) per cub. 
 fathom of sand. Deducting the quantities extracted before 1875, the 
 remainder is 11,385 /^f^j (409,8601b.), and supposing half that quantity 
 to be ultimately obtained, the value of the Bogoslofsk placers may be 
 represented by the sum of 12,392,000/. 
 
 (2) TIjc next Government mining district is Goro Blagodat, nearly 
 due south of Bogoslofsk, on the same side of the main axis of the Ural, in 
 the government of Perm. This district, which also comprises some large 
 iron-foundries and gun-factories, first came into notice with the discovery, 
 in 1730, of the rich hill of Blagodat (i. e. bountiful) famed for its magnetic 
 iron-ore, and not less memorable for the tragic event connected with the 
 early settlement of the Russians in this country, mentioned by Murchison. 
 The Kushvin.sky gold-diggings in this district brought the Government 
 an annual revenue of 105,803 rubles (13,225/.). What has been done there 
 more recently it is impossible to say, for since the admission of private 
 enterprise in 1861, nothing is known of the results, no returns are 
 published, and there is a complete absence of information about it, which 
 is all the more surprising because the region is believed to be particularly 
 rich in minerals, and covers an area of about 2 million acres, including 
 the main axis of the Ural and its branches. Moreover, the position of 
 this gold-field, the proximity of numerous Government and private iron- 
 works, make it much easier to supply with all necessary instruments and 
 machines than the Bogoslofsk okrug, which is out of the way and ill- 
 provided with communications. 
 
 (3) The Ekaterinburg group occupies the central Ural, and is impor- 
 tant, no less from the town after which it takes its name, than for the 
 zavods or works in the vicinity. Besides, it is easily accessible, being on 
 the great Siberian highway, and for the last few years it has been con- 
 nected with European Russia by a railroad. Within 2 hours' drive of 
 Ekaterinburg, are the gold-mines of Beriozofsk, discovered in 1745, on 
 the Beriozoflca rivulet, a feeder of the Pyshma, by a peasant, Dorothy 
 Markot". In those days, gold-washing was not understood, and attention 
 was therefore exclusively turned towards quartz-crushing. In this way, 
 16 lb, of gold was obtained to 1754. Not till 18 14, was an atttempt made 
 to wash the alluvions. Murchison visited Beriozofka mines in 1841, by 
 which time 679 puds (24,444 lb.) of gold had altogether been obtained 
 from 52,000,000 puds (8,300,000 tons) of ore-stuff. He says they are 
 interesting to the geologist and mineralogist, in offering the only sub- 
 terranean shafts in all this region, by which gold is still extracted from 
 the parent rock. The chief fundamental rocks are talcose and chloritic 
 schists and clay-slates, like those which prevail around Ekaterinburg, and 
 these have been cut through by bands of a felspathic rock, called beresite, 
 which Rose considers to be a decomposed granite — a continuation, in fact. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 429 
 
 of the granites of the Shartash lake and Ekaterinburg. The writer 
 descended this mine in 1861 by a lateral gallery, and saw the process of 
 extracting the alluvium by a shaft only 28 ft. deep. The soil or gravel 
 was poor, much poorer than that formerly worked, yielding only about a 
 third of a zolotnik instead of 2 to 2j zolotniks as formerly. Murchison 
 mentions the maximum depth reached in his time as 28 fathoms (196 ft.), 
 but these deeper borings were closed in 1 861, owing to water, which made 
 its way in from lake Shartash. Up to that year (1861), but little 
 improvement had taken place in the art of washing the alluvium and 
 quartz crushing ; the machinery was of the rudest kind, and economy of 
 labour did not appear to be studied, though steam power had certainly 
 been introduced, and thus 10,000 puds (360,000 lb.) of ore-stuff were 
 washed per diem. But the director said that a second and even third 
 washing produced better results than the first. In Hoffmann's time ( 1 843), 
 it took 28 million puds of sand to produce the annual quantity of 30 
 puds of gold which was formerly obtained from 6 to 8 million puds. 
 From 18 14 to 1874, 2201 ptids (79,236 lb.) of gold had been extracted from 
 these mines. But the Ekaterinburg washings were eclipsed by those of 
 Eastern Siberia, where superior energy and enterprise made up for 
 remoteness and other disadvantages. Beriozofsk has, within the last few 
 years, with other Government establishments of the kind, passed into 
 private hands, and is said to be doing well, its production having risen to 
 2 1 60 lb. p^r annum. This gold, however, is mixed with a large quantity 
 of alloy, in the proportion of about 12 per cent. There is said to be 
 enough alluvium to last for many years in the valleys which join the 
 Pyshma, Reft, and Isset. 
 
 (4) In the southern Ural lies the highly metalliferous region of 
 Zlataust (golden mouth), amidst ridges of hills, some of which rise to a 
 height of several thousand feet. Zlataust itself (the town and the works) 
 lies in 55° 11' N. lat, and Tf 26' E, long., 1230 ft. above sea-level, 
 surrounded on all sides by hills wooded to their summits. In 1863, the 
 population here numbered 25,708 males, mostly employed in the Govern- 
 ment works. The gold-alluvium is found along the lateral streams which 
 feed the Miass, a river flowing from S. to N. in a valley bounded on the 
 W. by the main crest of the Ural, and on the E. by the Ilmen ridge, 
 remarkable for the minerals and precious stones found there. The Miask 
 diggings have been from the first among the richest in the Ural, both in 
 the quantity of the gold found there and in nuggets. The largest of 
 these weighed 79 lb., was found at the Tsarevo Alexandrofsk digging ; 
 it may now be seen at the museum of the mining corps at St. Peters- 
 burg. After the discovery of the Miask placers in 1823, their produc- 
 tion rose so rapidly, that in 1827, C>\puds (2304 lb.) were extracted from, 
 them. Between this and 1849, the annual yield averaged about 50 puds 
 
 ill I 
 
430 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 J- 
 
 If » ;( 
 
 V. 
 
 V 
 
 (1800 lb.), and remained stationary at this for 10 years ; but in 1859, it 
 suddenly fell to ly^T puds (12 13 lb.). 
 
 Rcf^nlatlons and Statistics. — A serious decline in the prosperity of 
 the Miask works induced Government to try an innovation in the mode 
 of working them ; as this has exercised a great influence on the 
 gold-industry in Russia, and is still generally practised, it will be 
 necessary to say something about it. Up to this time, the workmen at 
 the mines, both Government and private, had their tasks allotted to them 
 by overseers or steigcrs, as they were called after the German. These 
 overseers were responsible for the conduct of the work, and were 
 entrusted with the supervision of the men, who were paid for their 
 hibour by the day. Finding this system did not answer, and that the 
 production of gold unaccountably declined, it was decided to adopt the 
 system of piece-work, that is to say, leaving the men to work the 
 diggings as they pleased, and to give them a small share in the gold 
 washed, irrespective of the amount of work done and the time they took 
 about it. This was called staratelskaya rabota, i. e. " zealous work " (the 
 word staratsa meaning to strive or endeavour), and bore some analogy 
 to the accord-arbeit in agricultural holdings in northern Germany, whence 
 the idea was apparently borrowed. This system, useful as it doubtless 
 was in its results, was not without its disadvantages. And these have 
 always been and are still strongly urged against it. Admitted that 
 the production of gold was increased, and that the work done both in 
 the aggregate and by each individual labourer was vastly in excess of 
 anything previously heard of or thought possible, and this with the rudest 
 implements and the most primitive machinery, it was found on the 
 other hand that it led to an unsystematic working of the placers. The 
 appearance presented by these after a gang of volunteers had been 
 washing was that of confused heaps and holes, which rendered them 
 useless afterwards, though the alluvium may not nearly have been ex- 
 hausted. The steigcrs who conducted the preliminary work of boring 
 were tempted to conceal the position of the best alluvium, in order that 
 they might work them with the accord-arbeit, in whose gains they took 
 care to reserve a share for themselves. It encouraged gold-stealing, 
 owing to the impossibility of exercising sufficient control over the men, 
 who were often scattered over a wide area, washing in small gangs, or 
 each man for himself. It fostered negligence on the part of the over- 
 seers and immorality among the men, yet in spite of this, no better plan 
 could at the time be devised for restoring prosperity to the diggings, 
 which had become an important element of national wealth. Wlien the 
 Ural placers were first discovered, the search for gold was restricted to 
 owners of aavods or copper- and iron-works, who were allowed to pro- 
 spect for the precious metal on their estates. But as reports of a much 
 
 m 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 431 
 
 wider extent of fi^old-fields received confirmation, it became doubtful if 
 tlie exclusiveness hitherto adopted were really beneficial. On the one 
 side, it was said that great evils might result from a large influx of gold 
 in districts so thinly populated as most parts of Siberia; it was feared 
 that artizans and labourers, of whom there was already a dearth, might 
 be only too ready to leave their employers and seek' their fortunes at the 
 diggings, thus depriving the Government of the hands necessary for 
 carrying on their work. Moreover, it was alleged that the gold-fields 
 would be wastefully worked by numerically weak gangs of miners, and 
 that a contraband trade would spring into existence. 
 
 By those who held these views, Governm'""t was advised not to 
 surrender its hold over the minerals, but to keei- .nem until such time as 
 they would be indispensable for the state. On the other hand, it was 
 contended that labour was not so scarce as was alleged, that the iron- 
 works and coal-mines in the Ural and Siberia might take care of 
 themselves, and that only a small proportion of the working classes was 
 employed at the private gold-digging.s. It was pointed out that private 
 enterprise and capital had already done much for the gold-industry, and 
 would probably do a great deal more towards developing it, and that the 
 interference of the state did more harm than good. These views found 
 an able exponent in an anonymous writer, who is generally believed to 
 have been no less a personage than Count Canerine, minister of state. 
 He exposed the fallacy of endeavouring to hamper by Government 
 restrictions a new branch of industry. What, he asked, are these gold- 
 alluvia, these masses of earth and sand, but disintegrated fragments of 
 rocks drifted by streams of water into the valleys and widely disseminated. 
 The process which had formed them was still at work, distributing the 
 precious metal over a still wider area, and impoverishing the detritus. 
 By reserving the washings for future use, the state would be the loser, not 
 the gainer, and every effort should be made to utilize them with all 
 possible speed. These arguments prevailed, and in 1826 permission was 
 given to every Russian subject recommended by the minister of finance 
 to prospect for gold. In this way, the merchants Rezantsof, Rezanof, 
 Cherepanof, and Verkhodanof were allowed to prospect the Crown lands 
 in the governments of Viatka and Tobolsk. In 1827, the merchants 
 Korobkof, A. Popof, and W. Popof, received like concessions for the govern- 
 ment of Viatka, Siberia, and Omsk, as well as the governments of 
 Archangel and Vologda, whilst councillor Prince Galitsin was allowed 
 to explore those of Irkutsk and Yeni.seisk. In 1828, permits were given 
 to merchants Kuznetsof for Irkutsk, and another Kuznetsof for 
 Kunghur, Balandin for Tomsk, Irkutsk, and Yeniseisk. In 1829, the 
 Semipalatinsk merchant Popof received like privileges for W. Siberia, 
 including the districts round Omsk. Thus, by 1838, 200 persons who 
 
 %^ 
 
 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
 1.0 
 
 LiM2A |25 
 
 ■so "^^ MH 
 
 «Bi 122 
 
 1.1 
 
 Its 
 
 14.0 
 
 
 
 1 1:25 II U ,,.6 
 
 
 < 
 
 6" 
 
 ► 
 
 Pho1iogra4)hic 
 
 Sciences 
 
 Corporation 
 
 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 
 
 (716) •73-4503 
 

 ^ 
 
432 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 had meanwhile found a corresponding number of placers embarked in the 
 industry. Private gold-workings in Siberia were at first taxed, like those 
 in the Ural, with an ad valorem duty of 0'I5, levied in kind, besides 4 
 rubies (lOj.) per lb. * or 0'Oi2i of the value for maintaining a staff of 
 police at the diggings. This was modified in 1838 by a Government edict 
 revising the administration of the Siberian gold-workings. 
 
 The discovery of extraordinarily rich workings on the Uderey, in the 
 government of Yeniseisk, in 60° 5' to 61° N. lat, and 95° 5' long. E. of 
 Paris, barely 3 years after the publication of this edict, led to a thorough 
 change in the system. From December 1 840, the washings on the Uderey 
 were taxed with 0*24, in all other parts of Eastern and Western Siberia 
 with 0'20, of the value of the extracted gold, besides the 4 rtibles per lb. 
 already mentioned, raising the total amount of the tax to 0*2521 and 
 0"2i2i respectively for these two classes of diggings. The only excep- 
 tion allowed was in favour of those persons who had commenced boring, 
 and who might continue 3 years longer under the old rates. This 
 increase was apparently justified on the ground that there had been no 
 engagement by the Government to make the 0'I5 or strictly speaking 
 the 16 "2 tax perpetual. With the lower rate, expectations had been far 
 surpassed, and large private fortunes had been realized. Nothing, 
 therefore, could be said against a higher tax, and the authorities overlooked 
 the twofold consideration that the profit derived from any branch of 
 industry is by no means to be measured by the direct revenue •*♦" brings 
 to the treasury, and that this immediate gain seldom grows in proportion 
 with the rate at which it is collected, for soon afterwards they appear to have 
 entertained the proposal to increase still further the duty. Thus, in 1843, 
 the permission was granted to prospect for gold in the Verkneudinsk 
 district of the government of Irkutsk with a new imposition of o* 30 of the 
 value obtained ; and at the same time, in order to control more effectually 
 the industry, a sliding scale of police duties was instituted, to be levied 
 at each individual working, of 
 
 5 rubles per lb. on diggings which produced from 2 to S puds of alloyed gold. 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 
 
 S .-. 10 » 
 over 10 ,, 
 
 The /[-ruble duty was henceforward only leviable at washings where the 
 annual production was under 2 puds, and the 4 classes of diggings were 
 then regulated as follows ; — 
 
 of the gold obtained. 
 
 0-3121 
 
 0-3151 
 0-3211 and 
 
 0-3241 
 
 Not satisfied with this increase, the Government was induced to 
 
 • I lb. of iilloyed gold was then worth 330-7 rubles. 
 
ASIA : RU.S.SIA. 
 
 433 
 
 enxertain proposals for acquiring a still larger share in the profits. Two 
 individuals, said to have been Germans holding high rank in the Govern- 
 ment service in Siberia, offered to undertake the working of two of the 
 Government washings, returning 50 per cent, to Government. This 
 extraordinarily zealous proposal referred to theOlgaand Platonof placers, 
 whose exact position and approximate value were not stated. Apparently 
 it was not accepted ; but it led to the elaboration of a scheme introducing 
 important fiscal changes in the administration of the Siberian gold-fields, 
 which was submitted to a commission presided over by the Duke of 
 Leuchtenberg. After 4 years' deliberations, during which a vast amount 
 of material was collected, the principle was adopted of a movable tax, 
 increasing in proportion with the aggregate contents of each individual 
 placer. This was admitted tc' be most equitable in theory, but in practice 
 the difficulties in the way of applying it were overwhelming. The very 
 large staff of Government inspectors, without whom not even an approxi- 
 mate estimate of the value of the diggings could be formed, and the 
 dissatisfaction it would cause to the proprietors, were disadvantages 
 which far outweighed the benefits of such a system. But since it 
 appeared that the larger diggings, or those which produced most gold, 
 were beyond comparison more profitable than the smaller, it was 
 decided to adjust the taxation in as equitable a manner as possible, 
 keeping in view the interests of the state. Hence, therefore, the principle 
 hrtherto adopted was adhered to, the gradations alone were altered, and 
 the scale of duties was raised. From the 14th April, 1849, a measure of 
 the highest importance received the imperial assent ; private gold- 
 washings in Western and Eastern Siberia, including Trans-Baikalia, and 
 the Kirghiz steppe, were to be henceforward taxed as follows : — 
 
 Annual output. 
 
 Principal tax on the gross results. 
 
 Police tax 
 per lb. of 
 the result 
 in rubles 
 gold. 
 
 4 
 
 Total tax on the 
 
 yield per n />ud 
 
 of alloyed gold in 
 
 silver rubles. 
 
 I pud to 2 puds of alloyed gold. 
 
 0-05 
 
 n 826-2 
 
 2 
 
 . 5 » 
 
 
 o-io 
 
 5 
 
 « 1528-8 
 
 S 
 
 , 10 
 
 
 0-15 
 
 6 
 
 « 2231-4 
 
 10 , 
 
 . 15 
 
 
 fo-i7 for the first \opuds\ 
 \o-25 „ remainder / 
 
 7 
 
 [n 359S-4 
 \- 10582-4 
 
 «s 
 
 , 20 „ 
 
 
 |o-2i for the first \l puds\ 
 \0-28 ,, remainder / 
 
 7 
 
 in 3992-2 
 \- 13889-1 
 
 20 
 
 , 25 M 
 
 
 |o-23 for the first 20/m/r^ 
 \0-30 ,, remainder / 
 
 8 
 
 /« 4298-0 
 \- 18519-8 
 
 as 
 
 . 30 ,> 
 
 
 (0-25 for the first 25 puds\ 
 \o-32 „ remainder ) 
 
 8 
 
 {n 4562-6 
 \- 23148-0 
 
 30 
 
 . 40 „ 
 
 
 (0-28 for the first yi pitds\ 
 to'33 1. remainder / 
 
 9 
 
 [h 4736-0 
 \- 19842-0 
 
 40 
 
 ,. SO » 
 
 
 I0-30 for the first «fipuds\ 
 \o"34 It remainder 1 
 
 9 
 
 [n 4868-4 
 - 21164-8 
 
 abov 
 
 e 50 „ 
 
 
 |o-32 for the first fp puds\ 
 vO"3S >i remainder / 
 
 10 
 
 {n 5041-8 
 \- 19842-0 
 
 2 F 
 
 
 1 
 
434 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The result of this impost was still further to increase the revenue of 
 the state from each washing, and almost double it in the case of some of 
 the larger diggings ; whilst those which produced less than l/«</of gold 
 paid 3CX> rubles^ whether their production amounted to 36 lb. or only i lb., 
 and, on the other hand, lessees of Government placers paid besides an 
 additional 0"0l, 0"02, O"03, 0*04, and 0*05 on the value of the gold 
 raised, according to the category they fell under. 
 
 The third phase which the Siberian gold-tax entered in 1 849 had been 
 in operation but 5 years, when it was found that the industry was seriously 
 diminishing, that many of the placers, from having been originally classed 
 in the highest category, had fallen to those below, and that in fact the 
 Government was killing the goose which laid the golden eggs, instead of 
 merely plucking it. Adjutant-General Annenkof, in his report on his 
 tour of inspection of the Siberian diggings in 1850, called attention to the 
 fact of the constant diminution of profits, caused entirely by the high 
 duties levied. By the end of 1853, most of the diggings \vere producing 
 a less quantity. It became necessary, therefore, for Government to 
 remodel their fiscal arrangements, if they did not wish altogether to 
 extinguish this industry. Accordingly, in 1854, finance minister Brok 
 introduced a new measure, to be applied in the first instance tentatively 
 for 3 years in the East and W^est Siberian washings, as well as in the 
 Kirghiz steppe. This was a graduated scale, beginning at 0*05 for those 
 diggings in which the annual production was under 2 puds, and rising to 
 0"20 where the quantity was 10 ///dff and upwards, with a police tax 
 graduated in the same way from 4 rubles per lb. to lO rubles, and a slight 
 additional tax of 0'02 and 0*04 payable by lessees of Government 
 workings. Three years' trial of this measure gave most satisfactory 
 results, the production having risen in as marked a degree as it had fallen 
 under the former system ; thus the quantity produced in Siberia : — 
 
 In 1855 amounted to iwopuds and the duty 2,745,909 rubles. 
 „ 1856 „ 1177 •> » 2,862,168 „ 
 
 .. >8S7 „ I27S .. .. 3.152.565 .1 
 
 Whereas with the higher scale it had fallen : — 
 
 In 1851 to 103s /«t/j— duty levied 3,024,865 riti/es. 
 „ 1852 „ 900 „ „ „ 2,416,231 „ 
 
 „ 1853 „ 878 „ „ „ 2,377,351 „ 
 
 A result the more remarkable, because the richest placers were 
 exhausted in 1846-47-48. Indeed \ig6puds of gold had been extracted 
 in 1847 out of only 228 million/«^j of ore-stuff, whilst in 1857, 127^ puds 
 were washed from 560 million ///^j of ore-stuff. These figures showed 
 that although the sand was 2\ times poorer in 1857 than in 1847, only 
 tV less gold was produced. Amends had now been made for the 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 435 
 
 excessive taxation of former years, but further steps in this direction 
 were considered desirable, in order to develop an industry whose 
 importance was becoming every year more apparent, as a means of 
 rendering convertible the Russian currency, more especially as about 
 this time a dearth set in of the necessaries of life in Siberia, and the price 
 of labour consequently rose. These views were expressed in the law of 
 August 4, 1854, which, while preserving the rates hitherto levied, altered 
 the scale on which they took effect ; thus, whereas formerly the owner 
 of a placer which produced upwards of 2 puds, though only a fraction 
 over, was liable to pay o* 10 on his whole production, and, in like manner, 
 if he came under the second category, and his production exceeded the 
 limit to the slightest extent, he became amenable to a duty of O" 15 on 
 the whole quantity raised, 'vlining proprietors were careful not to incur 
 the higher rate of duty by an excess of production beyond the limits 
 imposed by law for the particular category under which they were taxed. 
 To remove this disadvantage, and at the same time to facilitate the 
 working of poorer sands, the finance minister now decided as to the 
 first class of washings to apply the lowest rate to the first two puds and 
 the O" 10 only upon any excess up to i puds, and in the same way in the 
 third class of washings, to charge the O' 10 duty on the first 5 puds, and the 
 maximum rate of O' 15 only on the surplus. The rise to 0'20 and the 
 \o-rnble poundage were altogether abolished, as were also the additional 
 o*02 and 0*04 on the yield of Government placers worked by private 
 persons. 
 
 The so-called Siberian committee upheld the view that the reduction 
 of the duty had restored the gold-industry to its former compass, for on 
 the 14th April, 1858, they passed the fifth gold-tax based on the foregoing. 
 According to this, private gold-washings in Western and Eastern Siberia, 
 the outskirts of Semipalatinsk, and the Kirghiz steppe, had to pay : — 
 
 '!;; ja 
 
 On an annual 
 production of 
 
 Principal tax on gross 
 production. 
 
 r^ to 2 puds 
 over S „ 
 
 0*05 
 
 |0" 5 for the first 2 /Wj^ 
 
 \o' 10 for anything above) 
 
 jo'io for the first S /«</j^ 
 
 \o*lS for the remainder/ 
 
 Police tax Tot.il amount of 
 
 per lb. of duiyon«/«r/ 
 
 extriicted gold of gold in 
 
 in rubles gold. | rtibles silver. 
 
 826-2 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 n 
 
 (- 
 
 1569-9 
 1322-8 
 2313-8 
 3307-0 
 
 These rater- applied to all washings leased from the Governm.ent in 
 Siberia and in the Ural, as well as in the government of Orenburg and the 
 Cossack lands. In Bashkir territory, the maximum duty was fixed at 
 o* 10 whether or no the production exceeded $piids\ whilst in the Vcrkneu- 
 dinsk gold-field, part of the principal tax belonged to the cabinet of 
 
 2 F 2 
 
 :!ii: 
 
 'lilt " 
 
 
436 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 H.I.M., or, as we should say, to the privy purse. The only exception was 
 in the Caucasus and in Trans-Caucasia, where the tax of 1854 remained 
 in force. 
 
 Summarizing, ther, the whole period during which the gold-industry 
 has existed in Russia, from 181 2 to 1874, Bogoliubsky estimates that 
 ^ of the gold raised belonged to the state and J to individuals, who paid 
 about 100 million rubles on all the gold obtained, so that 32 per cent, of 
 the production fell to the share of the Government. 
 
 When private enterprise was first admitted, in 181 2, a lO-per cent, 
 tax was imposed. In 1838, a graduated scale of 10 different rates, 
 ranging from 5 to 35 per cent, according to the yield of gold, was 
 instituted. This was found too onerous by the miners, and was replaced 
 in 1854 by another which divided the diggings for the purposes of 
 taxation into 4 classes with rates varying from 5 to 20 per cent, on the 
 whole quantity raised. But even this was found excessive, so exhausted 
 had the workings become ; and in 1870, a 3-rate tax of 5, 10, and 15 per 
 cent, was confirmed, and this was finally modified in 1876, in order to 
 encourage the industry, which had begun to show symptoms of decline. 
 
 From the commencement of the gold-industry to 1 860, 893 persons 
 were concerned in the management of washings, of whom, 478 belonged 
 to the class of hereditary and personal nobility, 415 to the mercantile 
 and hereditary honorary burgher class. These persons superintended 
 the working of 2202 placers, of which : — 
 
 703 were in E. Siberia. 
 
 48s 
 
 
 w. „ 
 
 241 
 
 
 Kirghiz territory. 
 
 313 
 
 
 the government of Orenburg. 
 
 25s 
 
 
 » >. Perm. 
 
 205 
 
 
 the governments of Great Russia. 
 
 In 1 860, the number of existing placers was increased by 883, situate 
 as follows : — 
 
 167 in E. Siberia. 
 19 ,, W. „ 
 
 3 ,, Kirghiz lands. 
 3 ,, estates of Ural iron-works. 
 63 ,, lands of Cossacks and Ttptiars in the government of Orenburg. 
 628 ,, private and Government lands in the government of Perm. 
 
 The striking increase in the government of Perm is explained by the 
 circumstance that the Crown lands in the Verkhoturiye and other districts 
 were then first made accessible to private enterprise, and numbers of gold- 
 seekers were attracted thither by reports of rich finds. 
 
 In i860, the maximum yield of any single placer was again, as in 
 former years, in the Northern Yenisei gold-field, at th^ Gavrilof washing 
 
'r i 
 
 ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 437 
 
 of the merchant Rezanof, which produced in that year 102 '575 p'.ids 
 (3692*7 lb.) of alloyed gold, or y i, puds \\\oxq than the maximum attained 
 in 1842 at the Spassky placer of the merchant Miasnikof, on a tributary 
 of the Uderey, which had not been exceeded for a long time. The 
 following table shows the annual production of all the Russian gold- 
 washings, and the amount of duty levied from them. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Alloyed gold obtained in Russia from 
 
 «. 1^1 
 
 Duty levica from 
 
 
 
 lota]. 
 
 privile works 
 
 
 Governmrnt works. 
 
 Private works. 
 puds. 
 
 
 in silver rublts. 
 
 
 puds. 
 
 puds. 
 
 
 1814 
 
 16-0866 
 
 ,, 
 
 i6-o866 
 
 ^, 
 
 1815 
 
 142263 
 
 .. 
 
 14-2263 
 
 ,, 
 
 1816 
 
 IS -7963 
 
 .. 
 
 15-7963 
 
 ,, 
 
 1817 
 
 181761 
 
 ., 
 
 18-1761 
 
 ,, 
 
 1818 
 
 16-6627 
 
 ,. 
 
 16-6627 
 
 ■ • 
 
 1819 
 
 I3*7989 
 18 3933 
 
 0-4284 
 
 14-2273 
 
 709 
 
 1820 
 
 1-2255 
 
 19-6188 
 
 2,027 
 
 182I 
 
 20-4643 
 
 7-2406 
 
 27-7049 
 
 11,975 
 
 47.548 
 
 1822 
 
 25 '0543 
 
 28-7489 
 
 53-8032 
 
 1823 
 
 36-4159 
 
 69-2514 
 
 105-6673 
 
 136,716 
 
 1824 
 
 53-4368 
 
 152-3963 
 
 205-8331 
 
 252.331 
 
 1825 
 
 65-7386 
 
 171-6895 
 
 237-4281 
 
 333.462 
 
 1826 
 
 69 6834 
 
 161-5761 
 
 231-2595 
 
 317.240 
 
 1827 
 
 89-5678 
 
 192-2627 
 
 281-8305 
 
 379.031 
 
 1828 
 
 87-4466 
 
 203-404S 
 
 290-8514 
 
 400,709 
 
 1829 
 
 100-9103 
 
 188-7803 
 
 289-6906 
 
 369,578 
 
 1830 
 
 151-1973 
 
 2090012 
 
 360-1985 
 
 404.779 
 
 1831 
 
 161-8293 
 
 206-0170 
 
 367-8463 
 
 396,234 
 
 1832 
 
 170-3090 
 
 216-1142 
 
 386-4^32 
 
 417,168 
 
 1833 
 
 148-3428 
 
 230-3427 
 
 378-6855 
 
 442.513 
 
 1834 
 
 150-2298 
 
 224-9109 
 
 375-1407 
 
 446,269 
 
 183s 
 
 153-1193 
 
 233-0855 
 
 386-2048 
 
 465.753 
 
 1836 
 
 I SO 0558 
 
 248-7066 
 
 398-7617 
 
 498,625 
 
 1837 
 
 157-0579 
 
 28s - 5032 
 
 442-5611 
 
 586,212 
 
 1838 
 
 160-0909 
 
 333-0386 
 
 493-1295 
 
 679,767 
 
 1839 
 
 166-3836 
 
 329-4245 
 
 495-8081 
 
 666,625 
 
 1840 
 
 167-9110 
 
 390-0750 
 
 557-9860 
 
 798,679 
 
 184I 
 
 160-7742 
 
 485-6243 
 
 646-3985 
 
 1,009,764 
 
 1842 
 
 171-6151 
 
 737-4615 
 
 909-0766 
 
 1.570,527 
 
 1843 
 
 177-8643 
 
 1063-4286 
 
 1241-2929 
 
 2,488,642 
 
 1844 
 
 184-4787 
 
 1095-4430 
 
 1279-9217 
 
 2,562,753 
 
 184s 
 
 176-6189 
 
 1130-5817 
 
 1307-2006 
 
 2,644,614 
 
 1846 
 
 187-6133 
 
 1424-0489 
 
 161 I -6622 
 
 3,468,749 
 
 1847 
 
 188-8633 
 
 1568-3365 
 
 1757-1998 
 
 3.919. 161 
 
 1848 
 
 195-1617 
 
 1489-5546 
 
 1684- 7163 
 
 3,674,667 
 
 1849 
 
 193-7409 
 
 1394-3861 
 
 1588-1270 
 
 4,836,275 
 3,603,388 
 
 1850 
 
 241-1302 
 
 1212-6807 
 
 1453-8109 
 
 185 1 
 
 234-7118 
 
 1239-3585 
 
 1474-0703 
 
 3,413,243 
 
 1852 
 
 244-7853 
 
 II21-9764 
 
 1366-7617 
 
 2.845,370 
 
 1853 
 
 267-2554 
 
 1096-1559 
 
 1363-4113 
 
 2,815,994 
 
 1854 
 
 306-2966 
 
 1290-3738 
 
 1596-6704 
 
 3,227,088 
 
 185s 
 
 264-8303 
 
 1384-5136 
 
 J649-3439 
 
 3,283,528 
 
 1856 
 
 241-2873 
 
 1414-1980 
 
 1655-4853 
 
 3,210,802 
 
 1857 
 
 236-0542 
 
 1497-5423 
 
 1733-5965 
 
 3,472,513 
 
 1858 
 
 248-3876 
 
 1439-2186 
 
 1687-6062 
 
 2,489,986 
 
 1859 
 
 210-7042 
 
 '331-1405 
 
 1541-8447 
 
 2,283,385 
 
 i860 
 
 214-4992 
 
 1242-9005 
 
 1457-3997 
 
 2,043,270 
 
 m 
 47 years 
 
 6745-0567 
 
 28742-1479 
 
 35487-2046 
 
 66,917,669 
 
 m 
 
 % 
 
 ii 
 
 !■ ., 
 
 I ''a 
 
 Note.— The pud may be taken at 36 lb., the rnbU at 2t. 6d. 
 
438 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The considerable differences between these figures and those issued 
 by the minister of finance cannot be explained. A comparison of the 
 amount of duty received with the value of the metal raised will illustrate 
 the effects of the consecutive systems of duty adopted on the gold- 
 industry, and the direct results to the imperial treasury. The total pro- 
 duction is derived from three chief sources of production, — Siberia, the 
 Ural, the Orenburg and Perm private gold-vvashings. The t^vo kinds 
 of duty levied, viz. that in kind, or by the weight of the gold produced, 
 and the police tax paid in coin, are added tOj^ether in the fifth column, 
 the values being reduced to silver rubles. The quotients for the successive 
 years given in the fifth column of the table are derived from the numbers 
 in the third column, taking the average profit by the state from the 
 alloyed gold obtained at private works. 
 
 It appears then that i pttd (36 lb.) of alloyed gold brought the state 
 on an average — 
 
 In 1820 . 
 
 . 1654 ruhla (value about is. fxi. each) 
 
 1830 . 
 
 • 1942 
 
 
 183s . 
 
 . 1936 
 
 
 1840 
 
 . 1998 
 
 
 184s . 
 
 . 1626 
 
 
 1850 . 
 
 • 2339 
 
 
 1858 . 
 
 . 2971 
 
 
 . >73o 
 
 
 i860 . 
 
 • 1644 
 
 
 The impost on the private gold-industry therefore in the 3 years 
 1858-59-60 returned nearly to the very moderate value it represented at 
 first, the decline in the production for these 3 years, as seen in the third 
 column, being attributed to the increasing dearness of the necessaries of 
 life and labour in Siberia. But the gold-mining industry had as yet 
 attained a very low development, for during 1 860, the works in Siberia 
 were entirely without steam machinery, whilst in the Ural private wash- 
 ings, only 4 steam-engines were in use. All works owned by private 
 individuals for that year employed : — 
 
 In W. and E. Siberia 
 ,, the Ural 
 
 Total .. .. 
 
 Men. 
 
 3«.796 
 20,352 
 
 52,148 
 
 Women. 
 
 919 
 2181 
 
 3100 
 
 Horses and 
 oxen. 
 
 8.75' 
 8.339 
 
 17,090 
 
 Steam- 
 engines. 
 
 O 
 
 A 
 
 The following summary of statistics is taken <"rom a translation by 
 Koopman (published in the Mining Record) of Koppen's review of the 
 ' Mining Industry in Russia from i860 to 1877.' 
 
 " Gold production in Russia was started by the Government in 1745. 
 In that year the first gold and silver were obtained on the Schlangenberg 
 in the Altai, and sent to St. Petersburg. In the same year, 1745, gold 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 439 
 
 was also first found in the 'Voitzkisch mine (govt. Archangel) The 
 year 1745 was finally made remarkable in the history of Russian mining 
 by a third discovery which laid the foundation for all the later gold 
 wealth of Russia. This was the discovery of the gold mine of Beriosofsk 
 in the neighbourhood of Ekaterinburg, which sent its first gold to 
 St. Petersburg in 1745, namely: 16 lb. 59 so/oiniks and 54 doilias of 
 bullion. 
 
 " The most important effect upon the gold production was wrought 
 by the abandonment of the Ukas, May 28, 18 1 2, in consequence of which 
 private citizens wore permitted to take up gold and silver mining on their 
 own account. The working of the gold-washings, or the so-called gold- 
 dust, was first granted to citizens in the year 18 19, and then only to the 
 owners of mining or smelting works. Newjansk on the Ural is where 
 the first gold was washed by private enterprise, and until the year 1828, 
 private gold production confined itself to the district of the Ural 
 mountain range. Later, gold production began to extend generally, 
 reaching further and further eastward into Siberia, and now gold is 
 obtained in all West and East Siberia, in the governments of Perm and 
 Orenburg, and in the Kurghiz steppes. There the Government until very 
 lately, had gold-washings on the Ural; the Government of his majesty 
 the Tsar now works the gold in the Altai and Nerchinsk mountain 
 district, and, finally, private citizens in all the above-mentioned regions 
 are engaged in gold production. 
 
 " From the crown and private washings was obtained in 1814-1859, 
 in gold alloy : — 
 
 lb. 
 28} 
 
 8 
 z%l 
 
 5 
 
 32i 
 28 
 
 3oi 
 16} 
 25i 
 
 I9i 
 23il 
 24 
 33i 
 
 " Since the year i860, which I have taken for the beginning of my 
 review, there has been obtained in gold-dust from the washings belonging 
 to the crown, to the cabinet of his majesty the Tsar, and to citizens : — 
 
 years. 
 
 pud. 
 
 lb. 
 
 Years. 
 
 pud. 
 
 lb. 
 
 Years. 
 
 pud. 
 
 1814 . 
 
 . 16 
 
 3l 
 
 1830 .. 
 
 360 
 
 8 
 
 184s . 
 
 . 161 1 
 
 1815 . 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 183I . 
 
 367 
 
 331 
 
 1846 . 
 
 • 1757 
 
 1816 . 
 
 • 15 
 
 32 
 
 1832 • 
 
 378 
 
 27i 
 
 1847 . 
 
 . 1684 
 
 1817 . 
 
 . 18 
 
 7 
 
 1833 • 
 
 375 
 
 5J 
 
 1848 . 
 
 . 1588 
 
 1818 . 
 
 . 16 
 
 26J 
 
 I8{4 . 
 
 386 
 
 8i 
 
 1849 . 
 
 • J453 
 
 1819 . 
 
 • 14 
 
 9 
 
 18 }5 . 
 
 398 
 
 3oi 
 
 1850 . 
 
 . 1474 
 
 1820 . 
 
 . 19 
 
 24? 
 
 1836 . 
 
 442 
 
 22i 
 
 1851 . 
 
 . 1366 
 
 182I . 
 
 ■ 27 
 
 28i 
 
 1837 . 
 
 493 
 
 5 
 
 1852 . 
 
 . 1363 
 
 1822 . 
 
 • 53 
 
 32 
 
 1838 . 
 
 • 495 
 
 32i 
 
 1853 . 
 
 . 1596 
 
 1823 . 
 
 . 105 
 
 26J 
 
 1839 . 
 
 . 557 
 
 39i 
 
 1854 . 
 
 . 1649 
 
 1824 , 
 
 . 205 
 
 33i 
 
 1840 . 
 
 . 646 
 
 16 
 
 1855 . 
 
 ■ 1655 
 
 182s , 
 
 • 237 
 
 17 
 
 1841 . 
 
 . 909 
 
 3 
 
 i8s6 . 
 
 • 1733 
 
 1826 . 
 
 . 231 
 
 10 
 
 1842 . 
 
 . 1 241 
 
 Hi 
 
 1857 . 
 
 . 1687 
 
 1827 . 
 
 . 281 
 
 33i 
 
 1843 • 
 
 . 1279 
 
 26} 
 
 1858 . 
 
 ■ 1541 
 
 1828 . 
 
 . 290 
 
 34 
 
 1844 . 
 
 ■ 1307 
 
 8 
 
 1859 . 
 
 
 1829 . 
 
 . 289 
 
 27i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Years. 
 
 pud. 
 
 lb. 
 
 Years. 
 
 pud. 
 
 lb. 
 
 Vears. 
 
 P'ld. 
 
 lb. 
 
 i860 . 
 
 ■ 149 1 
 
 I7J 
 
 1866 . 
 
 . 1659 
 
 19* 
 
 1872 . 
 
 , 2308 
 
 12 
 
 1861 . 
 
 . 1456 
 
 4i 
 
 1867 . 
 
 . 1649 
 
 244 
 
 1873 . 
 
 2024 
 
 38* 
 
 1862 . 
 
 1460 
 
 29 
 
 1868 . 
 
 . 171I 
 
 i6i 
 
 1874 . 
 
 . 2028 
 
 4 
 
 1863 . 
 
 . 1459 
 
 '9 
 
 1869 . 
 
 . 2028 
 
 31* 
 
 ;i;i : 
 
 • 1995 
 
 29 
 
 1864 . 
 
 • 1397 
 
 37 
 
 1870 . 
 
 . 2162 
 
 27* 
 
 . 2094 
 
 3 
 
 1865 . 
 
 . 1576 
 
 71 
 
 1871 . 
 
 . 2400 
 
 36i 
 
 1877 . 
 
 2502 
 
 6 
 
440 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 " From the above figures it may be seen that before i860, the out- 
 put of gold was the richest in the years 1847 and 1857, amounting to 
 more than \yoo puds, 
 
 "From the year 1857 began a falling off in the gold yield, which 
 amounted in i860 to only 1491 puds, and in 1864 even fell below 
 1400 pi(ds. In the seven years following, gold production made a swift 
 advance and rose almost \ooo puds ; in the next four years it sank again 
 to below 2000 puds, and not till the last two years, 1876 and 1877, was a 
 rapid rise again noticeable, when the height of 2$oo puds was reached. 
 
 " Scanning the above tables more closely, we note at once that the 
 recorded shrinkage in the total gold yield of Russia, depended altogether 
 upon the output of private washings. The fall in gold production at that 
 time was chiefly due to weather-conditions ; that is, either to drought 
 which caused a lack of water at the washings, or to excessive rain, 
 in conse>^uence of which the rivers overflowed, preventing a rich yield 
 from the gold-bearing sands ; and finally, not seldom, both these obstruc- 
 tions falling in the course of a summer, first drought and then continued 
 rain, brought work at the gold-washings to a standstill. Moreover, the 
 following must be accepted as causes which influenced the lessening of 
 the gold yield ; the utter exhaustion, not only of separate rich washings 
 but also of the whole district, and the failure of many owners. 
 
 " Temporary rises in the gold yield were brought about by chance 
 discoveries of exceedingly rich gold-diggings. The sudden rise in figure 
 of the gold-dust obtained in the last two years depends partly upon the 
 increac the percentage of gold duty, established in 1876, though 
 
 chiefly the high value of our coin, since as is known, for all gold 
 
 delivered .'it the mint, accouiit was made in half imperials, these being 
 reckoned at their face value. 
 
 " According to districts, the gold obtained in Russia is divided as 
 follows ; — 
 
 Gold Yield in Russia (in puds.) 
 
 
 Year. 
 
 Ural. 
 
 West Siberia. 
 
 East Siberia. 
 
 Finland 
 private. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 Crown 
 washings. 
 
 Private 
 washings. 
 
 Altai 
 
 Mt. 
 
 district. 
 
 Private 
 washings. 
 
 Ner- 
 chinsk 
 
 Mt. 
 district. 
 
 Private 
 washings. 
 
 
 
 i860 
 IcS62 
 1867 
 1872 
 1877 
 
 I Hi 
 
 96J 
 
 9'i 
 
 129i 
 
 »3 
 
 214i 
 I96i 
 302 J 
 283 
 392J 
 
 33i 
 
 20 
 233 
 
 iii 
 
 38i 
 42* 
 86|{ 
 
 ,76 
 
 1 30 J 
 
 7Sf 
 
 833 
 
 142J 
 
 »53* 
 142? 
 
 iohS 
 102 1* 
 
 1003* 
 1519* 
 
 I8II 
 
 1 
 
 H91J 
 H6o| 
 1649J 
 2308* 
 2502 
 
 
 " From this table it may be seen that : — 
 
 I, At the crown washings on the Ural, the gold production had well- 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 441 
 
 nigh stopped. In the year 1 876, only 63 puds of gold were obtained herv'?, 
 and in the year after barely \ I puds. This sudden change arose from 
 the fact that in the year 1876, the crown washings of Miask were given 
 over to private citizens. 
 
 2. The figures of the gold yield at the Ural private washings, which 
 made 2S6 puds in 1876, rise at once in 1877 to 1^2}^ puds, through the 
 addition of the yield from the washings of Miask. 
 
 3. In the Altai district the gold product shows a continual falling off, 
 and hardly amounts to \ 2 puds in 1877, that is, it has become reduced to 
 one-third in the last eighteen years. 
 
 4. Quite the contrary do we find in the gold-washings of citizens in 
 West Siberia, where the gold yield slowly but steadily rises, and has 
 increased three and a half times in the course of eighteen years. 
 
 5. In the Nerchinsk mountain district, the gold yield doubled from 
 i860 to 1872, and in the last year amounted to i^^puds. Since 1872 
 it has again fallen a little. 
 
 6. The private washings of East Siberia furnish the greatest 
 amount of gold, and entirely govern the rise in the total gold yield of 
 Russia. While, in the last eighteen years, the washings worked by 
 private citizens in East Siberia have increased their production by about 
 800 puds ; all the remaining gold-washings were only in a condition to 
 raise their output of gold to 200 puds. From i860 to 1877, the gold 
 yield of the private washings in East Siberia, increased about 80 per 
 cent. 
 
 7. Finally, it is to be noticed that gold production began in Finland 
 in 1870, and reached its highest point in the year following, when the 
 figures of the gold here obtained made only 3 puds 18 lb. From the year 
 1872, the gold yield of Finland gradually sinks, and in 1877 comes to 
 less than 20 lb. 
 
 "If we consider the year 1877, we see that the percentage of gold 
 yield is shared by the different districts, as follows : — The private washings 
 of East Siberia furnished 72*4 percent, of the total yield; the private 
 washings of the Ural 1 5 "66 per cent. ; the Nerchinsk mountain district 
 5 • 7 per cent. ; the private washings of West Siberia 5 • 2 per cent. ; the 
 Ural crown washings 0"S2 per cent, and finally the Altai mountain 
 district 0*43 per cent. 
 
 "As the private washings of East Siberia furnish at most three- 
 quarters of all the gold obtained in Russia, we give in the table on page 
 442 a statement of the yield in the different districts of that Territory. 
 
 " In the district of Yeniseisk, which was once distinguished for its gold 
 wealth, the yield began to lessen in the 50's, and from 1 860 to 1 877 it 
 diminished during the whole period. Especially strong is this falling off 
 in the northern part of the district, which furnished in i860, 42$ puds. 
 
442 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 about 42 per cent, of all the gold obtained in the whole of East Siberia. 
 In the year 1877, only 158^ puds were obtained here, that is, not more 
 than 8 '75 per cent, of the total gold yield of East Siberia. 
 
 Gold Yikld in East SinERiA (in puds). 
 
 Year. 
 
 i860 
 1862 
 1867 
 1872 
 1877 
 
 Government of Veniteisk. 
 
 Yeniseisk 
 district. 
 
 
 425f 
 376J 
 
 324i 
 246J 
 158J 
 
 I 
 
 e 
 
 3 
 
 9, 
 
 188} 
 i8ii 
 119 
 
 l62| 
 
 167I 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 «s 
 21 
 
 IS? 
 20 
 
 .9 
 
 48} 
 
 49* 
 
 29J 
 37i 
 
 I I 
 1 I 
 
 
 3ii 
 29J 
 26i 
 
 I2if 
 
 37i 
 
 'SJ 
 16 
 
 •3 
 12J 
 
 Transbaikat. 
 
 •C 
 
 « 
 
 I 
 
 85J 
 
 54J 
 6oi 
 27} 
 
 
 losif 
 177 
 
 227? 
 
 •a 
 
 :3 
 
 9 
 Is 
 
 
 
 199J 
 
 217 
 
 267 
 
 630J 
 
 928 
 
 t 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 196 
 172 
 
 4} 
 I2I 
 
 " In the other districts belonging to the basin of the Yenisei, such as 
 Atchinsk, Minusinsk and Kansk in the government of Yeniseisk, and 
 Nijneudinsk in the government of Irkutsk, the mass of gold produced is 
 in the main not large, and has suffered no special change during the last 
 eighteen years. 
 
 "As concerns the Transbaikal, it is plain that in the district of 
 Verkneudinsk and Barguzinsk, the gold yield continually diminishes. 
 In the latter of these two districts, the total gold product amounted in 1877 
 to not more than 2'j\puds, which is about one-fifth of that yielded in the 
 year 1862 {\i\% puds). 
 
 " In the district of Nerchinsk, private citizens were first permitted 
 to work the gold-washings in the year 1864, and here in 1865, began a 
 gold yield (32 puds), which, very swiftly rising, reached the sum of 227! 
 puds in the year 1877, that is, increased sevenfold in twelve years. 
 
 " In the district of Vercko-Lensk, gold production has been in 
 operation since the year 1867, and in extremely narrow compass, goes on 
 without interruption. 
 
 " Undeniably, the richest and most productive gold-washings are 
 found in the basin of the Lena and its tributaries, the Vitim and the 
 Olekma in the Olekminsk district, in the government of Yakutsk. In the 
 year 1 860, the amount of gold produced in this district came to less than 
 200 puds; in 1877, 928 pitds were obtained here, that is the yield 
 increased more than four and a half times. 
 
 " In the Amur district, gold production was granted to citizens in the 
 
 '■^'^^ 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 443 
 
 year 1866, but the yield began in 1868 with a sum of '^o puds. In the 
 next year (1869), the yield is doubled, and from that rises generally, and 
 in tho year 1872, reaches the figure of igC />iids. In the years following, 
 the yield suffers bu*^ little shrinkage and varies between 150/wr/j (1874) 
 and \Ti puds (1875). 
 
 " In the coast region of East Siberia, gold production began in 1872, 
 continues with interruption, and makes but slow development, which must 
 be ascribed to the lack of skilled labour and the dearth of necessities. 
 
 "Finally, it must be observed, that in the year 1877, gold production 
 began again in the districts of Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk, in the govern- 
 ment of Yeniseisk, ^ puds 24 lb. of gold being yielded by the former, and 
 7 lb. by the latter." 
 
 Apparatus employed on Fiussian Gold-fields. — The apparatus employed 
 by the Siberian gold-seekers for washing auriferous sands is of several 
 forms. In operating that shown in Fig. 14, described by VVarington 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 p n n p II I « n D g (|_ 
 
 jLXJULJLiLi-iL-^:^ 
 
 fe ^TT^^ 
 
 Russian Gold-washing Apparatus. 
 
 Smyth, 8 or 10 men may be employed. The sieve or grating, firmly 
 fixed, is 3i ft. sq. The tye, into which the fine sand is carried by an 
 inclined plane, is 16 ft. long x 2\ ft. wide, with an inclination varying 
 according to the more or less loose nature of the sand, from 24 in. to 16 
 in., and having its bottom curved in the arc of a circle. Above the tye, 
 and placed in the direction of its length, is a wooden axis turning in 
 
444 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 gudgeons, and having fixed to it on the under side as many arms as the 
 tye has compartments, each of which arms is fitted with a number of 
 claws or blunt knives ; and by an alternating motion given to the axis 
 by 2 men holdinp- a line attached to it, the claws pass backward and 
 forward in an arc, and keep the sediment in continual agitation. The 
 partitions in the bottom are ribs 2 in. high and 2j in. wide, held by 
 screw-bolts and nuts ; and are removed every now and then for washing 
 out the concentrated auriferous sand, the more frequently as the sands 
 are the richer in gold. 
 
 Agt^'s machine, used at Alexandrof, is shown in Fig. i S : a, trun- 
 cated cone of perforated sheet iron, fixed by an iron frame c to horizontal 
 axis b, which is made to revolve by a water-wheel about 30 times in a 
 minute ; d, opening at which the cylinder is charged ; i, opening at 
 which large pebbles roll out over the board /; e^ inclined plane by 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 Agte's Gold-washing Apparatus. 
 
 which the sand that passes through the sieve is carried down to the tye or 
 long trough g, the plan of which is a truncated cone, and whose bottom 
 is concave ; h, axis above the tye, to which are affixed arms carrying iron 
 knives to stir the sediment, and making 20 to 25 oscillations per minute. 
 Phillips describes a similar machine for horse-power, used in the Urals, 
 and shown in Fig. \6\ a, sheet-iron cylinder pierced with J-in. holes, and 
 strengthened on the inside by an iron trellis. The cone, which may be 
 about 8 ft. in length, and has a moan diameter of 3 ft. 6 in., is larger at 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 445 
 
 one extremity than at the other, and is fixed on a spindle capable of 
 being set in rapid motion by means of a train of wheels worked by a 
 hotse-whim. The auriferous sands are brought in waggons running on 
 iron rails to the hopper <-, whence they fall into the movable cylinder 
 through the aperture formed by its smaller circumference. At the back 
 of the arrangement is a double pump d, set in motion by a crank on the 
 shaft, which communicates motion from the whim to the cylinder a. 
 This pump raises water into the cistern e^ whence it is conducted hy 4 
 iron pipes into the cylinder a. These pipes enter the cavity of the drum 
 through the two open ends, and are so arranged with regard to length as 
 
 I*! i 
 
 Fig, 16. 
 
 Ural Gold-washing ArrARATUs. 
 
 to afford a nearly equal supply of water throughout its whole capacity. 
 When set in motion, the perforated cylinder makes 30 to 35 revolutions 
 a minute, and consequently throws, by its centrifugal action, the water 
 and finer particles of sand and gravel through the numerous perforations 
 which it contains ; whilst the pebbles and other fragments which are too 
 large to pass through the holes, are carried off through. the larger end of 
 the cylinder, and then fall into a box (not shown). This receptacle will 
 contain any nuggets which may have been present in the sands ; and as, 
 by passing through the cylinder, they will have been washed perfectly 
 clean, they may now be readily seen and picked out. The sand and 
 water after having escaped through the aperture- in the drum, fall on the 
 inclined platform f, which is provided with numerous horizontal bars, for 
 the purpose of separating the heavier from the lighter portions. From 
 this platform, the current flows on to the concave table //, also provided 
 with checks, in the form of wooden bars nailed across at distances of 
 about 3 ft. from each other. The sands which have arrived at this part 
 
446 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 of the table are now kept constantly agitated by the wooden pen- 
 dulums / k, provided at their lower extremities 'vith frames made to suit 
 the concavity of the table, and fitted with flattened teeth, like those used 
 in harrows. These pendulums are made to swing by means of the rods 
 /, driven by the crank g, and are so arranged as to move constantly in 
 opposite directions. In this way the operation is continued, until a 
 considerable accumulation of rich auriferous sand has taken place in the 
 upper part of the tables, where, being retained by the horizontal slips of 
 wood, it remains; whilst the lighter matters are carried off by the 
 current of water to the lower end of the table //, whence they are either 
 made to pass over a fresh series of tables, or if, as usually is the case, . 
 they are found to be sufficiently impoverished, they are allowed to run 
 entirely away. 
 
 Another apparatus, described by Capt. Razguildeyew, is shown in 
 Fig. 17. Its description is as follows : — A, upper ring, across which are 
 suspended the iron harrows a b c d e f\ it performs a rotatory motion 
 by means of the two lever arms g It, on the tramway L M N O. B, 
 grinding floor or sieve ; it is a little concave in the centre, and is formed 
 of plates of cast iron joined together : for greater lightness, it might 
 perhaps be made of wood covered with sheet iron. C, lower stage of 
 the apparatus, on which the disintegrated sand can fall from the sieve ; 
 then the sand, borne by water, falls on the washing-tables in n op, which 
 effect the concentration of the auriferous matters, qr s t are reservoirs, 
 for the dirty water and sand. From these reservoirs the sands are 
 either (according to their assay) finally thrown away, or re-washed on a 
 table. D, horsewalk. E, opening for exit of pebbles and gravel. F, 
 auxiliary table for final washing pebbles. It is placed under the sieve to 
 avoid transport ; they should fall of themselves upon the table, and there 
 be carefully washed. The dirty water from this table passes over 
 another one adjacent G, on which- finally the minutest particles of gold 
 are deposited. K, general receptacle or box of cast iron fixed to the 
 iron spindle/. The water from this reservoir is spread by the iron pipes 
 i I arranged so as to wet the sands. This same water passes over the 
 washing-tables and thence into the settling-reservoirs. L, sludge-channel 
 for the sands. The apparatus employs 6 horses and washes 10,000 to 
 1 2,000 /«</r (of 36 lb.) per 24 hours. 
 
 Tatarinoff gives the following description of the washing operations, 
 as conducted throughout Central Asia. A framework of light willow 
 poles, with a convexity of about 35° to the horizontal plane, takes the 
 place of the usual washing-box. Upon this framework, firmly fixed in 
 the ground, is stretched a blanket or carpet to catch the auriferous 
 alluvium. In order to retain the gold, which has of course a greater 
 specific weight, thick horsehair ropes are sewn along the whole length of 
 
ASIA: RUSSIA. 
 
 447 
 
 the blanket. The frame being now ready, a bag-full of ore-stuff is 
 emptied into it ; water is then poured on and stirred with a small stick, 
 whilst stones are flung aside. 
 
 Frc. 17. 
 
 Russian Gold-washing Apparatus. 
 
 When 3 to 4 cwt. of alluvial soil have been treated in this way, the 
 men proceed to collect the sediment adhering to the blanket. For this 
 
448 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 purpose, the blanket is taken off the frame, folded in several thicknesses, 
 and subjected to another washing in the following way : — A wooden 
 bowl or trough, large enough to contain the folded blanket, is placed in 
 a small bay of the river where the current is slack. The workman then 
 removes the blanket, fold by fold, and washes it, allowing the sediment 
 to collect at the bottom of the trough. Having accomplished this, he 
 takes the bowl in his hands, and moves it rap' dly with sudden jerks to 
 right and left, splashing the water and the lighter soil over the sides. 
 From time to time more water is added, and the work is continued for 
 several hours without intermission. As the gold in the bowl gradually 
 detaches itself from the particles of sand mixed with it, the movements 
 of the workman become more and more artistic and careful, his whole 
 object being to leave noth' ig but pure gold, however small the quantity, 
 in his bowl. When this has been obtained, he dips a finger into the 
 water, and flicks a drop or two into the bowl, pouring them out together 
 with the gold into a separate porcelain cup. This finishes his day's work. 
 
 The process at Beriozofsk, in the Ural, as seen by the writer, is carried 
 on in a circular wooden frame or box, some lO ft. in diameter, with a 
 perforated iron bottom, and open at the top, and in which revolves a 
 heavy 4-handled iron rake, driven by steam-power. Into this box, 
 barrow-loads of ore-stuff from the mine are continually emptied. The 
 clay or sand mixed with water is sifted in this way, the lighter particles 
 being carried away, the heavier dropping through the metal sieve. After 
 a second washing, the gold is finally separated from any remaining 
 adherent particles of soil by hand. For this purpose, skilful and ex- 
 perienced workmen stand on a flight of broad wooden steps, over which 
 flows a thin stream of water, clear as crystal. After manipulating the 
 auriferous sand for a long time, the workman at last produces an in- 
 significant quantity of fine gold-dust in the palm of his hand. In this 
 way, 10,000 puds (about 160 tons) of ore-stuff daily pass through the 
 Beriozofsk works. So imperfect, however, is the process, that the director 
 stated that a second or even a third washing, an interval of 2 or 3 years 
 having elapsed, yielded better results than the first.* The percentage of 
 gold at Beriozofsk in 1861 was very small — only 30 gr. in \oo puds — 
 whilst in former years as much as 2 and 2\ zolotniks (131^ to 164^ gr.) 
 had been obtained. Across the fiame, branches or sticks are set at close 
 intervals ; the whole apparatus stands 4 ft. 6 in. high by i ft. 2 in. wide. 
 
 The American method of gold-washing, and its adaptation in the 
 Yenisei gold-fields.f — The American or Pakulef system of working and 
 
 • This fact implies, perhaps, not so mi'^h imperfection in the process, as the presence of 
 pyrites, which, being oxidized by the exposure during a considerable length of time, gave rp 
 the gold on further treatment. 
 
 t This section should be read in connection with Chapters TTI., IV., and V. 
 
\l'v 
 
 ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 449 
 
 washing gold consists in throwing the auriferous soil into long wooden 
 troughs or boxes ("sluices"), averaging 12J ft. long, inclined upon wooden 
 frames, and joined one to the other. Into these a powerful stream of 
 water is admitted, which washes the shingle or peat, carrying off the 
 earthy parts and small pebbles into a trench or wooden well placed 
 below. The gold should sink to the bottom, and be retained there by 
 perforated wooden boards, while the larger stones are thrown aside by 
 workmen with iron forks or rakes. The only difference between peat 
 and detritus washing is that in the latter case one end of the vat rests 
 on the shingly wall of the placer, and water is laid on by troughs ; 
 whereas in removing the peat, the boxes are immediately below it, and 
 water is supplied from a trench. 
 
 This mode of washing is very general in America and Australia, and 
 ti ough Pakulef, its introducer into Siberia, claims to have been its 
 originator in Ca ifornia, and describes it, there are grounds for believing 
 that it existed in America before his time. As long ago as 1850, alluvium 
 was washed in California in rockers, long-toms, and sluices, and the last 
 were nothing more than wooden troughs or boxes fixed on a slope, and 
 paved with stones, fastened to the bottom by laths and planks. Pakulef 
 probably saw them at work, and successfully adapted them in his vats or 
 boxes, substituting woodwork or riffles for the stone pavement* 
 
 The first adaptation of this method to Siberian diggings was made 
 by Lavrofsky, in 1858, at a claim located by Zotof, of which he was 
 manager, and the trial then made was apparently so successful thi c it 
 raised hopes and expectations impossible to realize, and led to a warm 
 controversy between the innovators and conservatives. It was finally 
 decided *o have a grand trial of the American method, in order to set 
 the vexed question at rest. Works were accordingly arranged by 
 Lavrofsky at three large placers of the Zotofs, where 1800 men were 
 employed. After a year, the results were counted up, and showed a 
 great diminution in the quantity of gold as compared with the average 
 yield of former years. Lavrofsky obtained only 6^ puds (2412 lb.), 
 instead of the usual 100 puds (3600 lb.) to 120 puds (4320 lb.). This 
 fatal blow to the innovators was due to over-confidence on their part, 
 and a neglect to take local circumstances into consideration. They had 
 only themselves to blame. Latkin, who was present at these trials, 
 attributed their failure to the unfavourable character of the alluvium, 
 the inexperience of the men, who were moreover too numerous, and 
 their careless, ignorant way of setting about their work. One serious 
 
 * In Baron Riehthofeu's work on the metal productions of Califcmia there is not the slightest 
 allusion to a Russian invention or to the Rus i riffles mentioned by Pakulef in his pamphlet, 
 and claimed as his own invention, though doubtless so important a method of washing gold, and 
 one in such general use, would not have escape ' the notice of so good an observer, had it been, 
 in existence at the time, and had P.ikulef been recognized as its inventor. 
 
 2 G 
 
45° 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 mistake was in attempting too much, by washing the detritus and re- 
 moving the peat with the same apparatus. But whatever the errors, 
 after repeated unsatisfactory trials, the thing fell into disrepute, and 
 was thought badly of. Latkin, however, achieved a complete success in 
 experimenting on waste heaps of sand at his Uspensky mine on the 
 Kuntuyakicha ; here the American system was undeniably good, and at 
 other placers, notably those of Golubkof's heirs, equally good results 
 were obtained. At the same time, an adaptation of it at the Uspensky 
 placer to part of the work only, viz. washing alluvium, was successful, 
 and a brilliant future was predicted for it, particularly when much-needed 
 reforms in legislation had been carried out, and the gold-industry was 
 thrown open to the multitude instead of being reserved for the privileged 
 few. The history of Latkin's trials with the American system, or ameri- 
 kanka, as it soon came to be known among miners, is that of the invention 
 itself in Siberia. From i860 to 1866, he alone used it, and, as a still 
 further proof of its success, it may be mentioned that during this period 
 the annual sum paid to Lwrofsky for the right of working with it 
 amounted in the aggregate to 12,000 rubles (1500/.). The general con- 
 clusion arrived at by Latkin was that the American system was advan- 
 tageous wherever the fall or slope was sufficiently steep, and the detritus 
 not too compact or stony ; that the loss or waste in gold was trifling, 
 notwithstanding all that had been said to the contrary ; and that its 
 defects were such as were common to all systems of gold " ashing. Good 
 supervision by trustworthy and well-paid overseers is of course as in- 
 dispensable as it is with the buddies ; but even with the strictest watch, 
 it is as impossible to put a stop to gold-stealing as it is to every other 
 kind of theft. 
 
 Latkin's first trials of the American method were completely success- 
 ful, partly no doubt owing to the looseness of the debris, and partly 
 because sufficient gravel was ready for washing ; the peat had not to 
 be removed, the incline was sufficiently steep, and there were not too 
 many hands in the works. As soon as success was assured, a second 
 apparatus was put up, and then the noise and creaking of the barrel- 
 machines ceased, and the cost of labour was reduced by one half. Next 
 an attempt was made on the peat. Even this was successful ; a cubic 
 fathom of it could be removed for the cost of a labourer's wage for 
 i^ day without horses. But it should be mentioned that the peat in 
 this instance was exceptionally light, and free from stones and boulders ; 
 had it been otherwise, the cost would have been 2 days' labour, or even 
 a little more. Upon the whole, experience proved that the best plan 
 was to keep the two operations distinct, and to wash the auriferous soil 
 with the amerikauka, removing the overlying peat with carts and 
 wheelbarrows. 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 451 
 
 The following years, 1860-61, proved still more the profitableness of 
 the American method, as applied in the Siberian gold-fields, for these 
 were years of scarcity and high prices, both for man and beast. At one 
 placer alone, the saving in forage in 1862 amounted to 6500r«(^/(£'j (800/.), 
 and the cost of each individual labourer fell to 267 rubles (33/.), inclusive 
 of the payment of 10 rubles (2 5 J.) per man to Lavrofsky as royalty for 
 the right of using his patent. In 1861 and 1862, Latkin successfully 
 worked four diggings on the American system, with good results, though 
 at one the alluvium was very strong, and contained a compact kind of 
 clay in its upper strata ; at another, slates with adhering portions of clay 
 caused some difficulty. At these two placers it was found expedient to 
 supplement the amerikanka with buddies. Any portions that remained 
 unwashed passed into the buddies, and were there subjected to a second 
 sifting. But the detritus soon became more friable at one digging, and 
 buddies were dispensed with ; at the other, they were continued through- 
 out the summer. Buddie washing is a simple arrangement. The usual 
 buddle contains 3 rows of vats, and is therefore 6 to 7 ft. wide, so as to 
 contain .stony detritus which would not find room in those of ordinary 
 dimensions (21 in.). The length of the buddling-box containing the 
 iron sieves is also 6 to 7 ft, and the inclined platform which receives the 
 auriferous sediment after it has dropped through the holes in the sieve is 
 about 12 ft. long, with a breadth corresponding to that of the box, and a 
 slope of I in 4 or i in 5. The buddle can be moved on wooden rollers, 
 or even without them, to any part of the digging. To one of these, two 
 or at most three lengths of troughs are fastened, the lower end opening 
 into the side of the buddling-box, so that the whole of the detritus to be 
 washed with the stones and water slides straight on to the sieve, where 
 it is finally sifted by the rakes of the workmen, and disintegrated. The 
 shingle is then pushed to either side of the box down wooden hatchways, 
 through which it falls on to the waste heaps, whilst the gold sediment 
 and water pass through the sieves to the sluice or inclined platform, on 
 which are wooden laths or a framework or grooves to catch the gold. 
 The sediment is then carried down the incline by the stream to a wooden 
 well at its foot, whence it filters away into the tail-race, at which stand 
 workmen with spades to throw it up on either side. The shingle, if there 
 should be much, is removed in barrows ; but if little, it remains on the 
 surface. 
 
 When the detritus is hard or compact, separate workmen stand on 
 either side of the American troughs with forks or rakes, to follow the 
 sand and shingle to the buddling-box. It is remarkable that by the 
 time the detritus, however hard, reaches the buddle, it has parted with 
 most of its gold, which remains in the troughs under the wooden riffles, 
 
 2 G 2 
 
452 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and only 25 per cent, in extremely difficult alluvium, or 20 per cent, on 
 the average, is collected on the buddling-platform. Of course, where the 
 detritus is loose or gravelly, all the gold remains in the first or second 
 trough, very little, if any, in the third ; and, when there are four lengths, 
 or, as occasionally happens, five or six, placed in irregular lines, the last 
 contain absolutely no gold. This is the best proof of the small waste 
 with the American troughs. Latkin's experiments on waste heaps of 
 sands which had passed through the avterikanka resulted in an infini- 
 tesimal quantity of gold, — less than 30 doilias (20 gr.) in 240 tons of 
 sand, a little more than this in the shingle, but the average waste may 
 be set down as not more than 2 doilias {\\ gr.) in 3600 lb., or J to ^ of 
 the minimum loss with the old machines. 
 
 The day labour with the combined American and buddle process was 
 reckoned to be as follows : — Very hard, stony detritus required 4 or 5 
 days per cub. fathom ; medium and not very stony, 3 or 3^ days ; gravel 
 and small shingle, 2 or 2\ days; sands already washed, i^ day. From 
 this, the advantage of the American method as compared with horses 
 and machinery will be evident. Only in the first case would the ex- 
 penditure in labour equal or even exceed machine washing. 
 
 The following will give a general idea of the gain effected by this 
 method of working. At Latkin's Alex^iefsky placer, on the Untuguna, 
 worked during the bad harvest years 1861-62 (1863 alone having been 
 better), the uppermost layers were stony and clayey, the middle stratum 
 friable but stony, and the lowermost very loose. The financing was 
 generally on the cash system, though partly on credit, and the average 
 taken for the three years came to 234 rubles (29/.) per man employed. 
 At two other neighbouring placers, belonging to the same owners, worked 
 in the old fashion, the average was 257 rubles (32/.), a convincing proof 
 of the superiority of the American method. And t'.c work is not at all 
 difificult for the men ; the usual hours are from 5 A.M. to 4 or 5 p.m., 
 allowing 2 hours for meals and rest. But some expert hands finish their 
 work by 3 P.M., without knocking off. They are paid by the cubic 
 fathom. Those who fill the boxes work in pairs, and receive at the rate 
 of 80 kopecks (2j.) for the first fathom, called " the master's," and double 
 this for any more, such extra quantity being termed staratelsky. Every 
 labourer may therefore earn i ruble 20 kopecks (3^.) per diem, though 
 some fail to get through their second fathom. Good workmen, however, 
 always accomplish their task. Those on the so-called tail-race earn less, 
 — under 50 kopecks (iSd.) on ordinary days, and 80 kopecks (2s.) on holi- 
 days ; but their work is lighter and simpler, consisting in merely keeping 
 the trench clear by throwing out the washed sands as they are brought 
 down from the lowest trough. These men, who have to be continually 
 
ASIA : RUSSIA. 
 
 453 
 
 in wet and damp, wear boots of raw, undressed hide over wading 
 stockings. When the alluvium happens to be very gravelly or sandy, 
 the trenches are liable to become choked up ; but this difficulty is over- 
 come by increasing the number of hands. Of course, with the American 
 style of working, the subsoil or bed on which the detritus rests becomes 
 covered over with waste sand and shingle, and ought therefore to be 
 thoroughly cleared of alluvium in the progress of the work. Besides the 
 tail-races, of which there should be one for every 4 or 5 rows of troughs, 
 draining ditches have to be dug, to prevent the beds of alluvium from 
 becoming flooded, and stopping the work. Of course, there must also 
 be a main drain, to receive the discharge of the whole digging. Pumps 
 cannot be used with the American method, one of its chief disadvantages, 
 because it renders it inapplicable to those placers which cannot be drained 
 in the usual way. The lines or rows of troughs are lengthened or moved 
 according to the daily progress of the work, vvhich in a great measure 
 depends on the thickness of the auriferous stratum. Very long Hues 
 require too many troughs, and necessitate extra labour to prevent them 
 from silting up. The usual plan is to move them once a week, and this 
 is done with the smallest possible sacrifice of time, so that the task set 
 to the men on such days is only ^ to f cub. fathom less than on ordinary 
 work -days. As soon as the washing is over, the grey sediment containing 
 the gold is collected from the troughs, and the final process of sifting it 
 is effected in hand-bowls by special workmen, of whom there arc usually 
 2 in each digging ; but if there should not be more than 5 rows of 
 troughs, one is sufficient. All the troughs are then taken off their sup- 
 ports, including the broad one at the tail end, in which all the others 
 unite, and the whole apparatus is moved nearer the gravel wall of the 
 placer, where they are again set up, the straight lines in the centre 
 having 2 or 3 lengths each, the crooked or side lines 3 or 4. On alternate 
 days, as the stratum is worked away, a length is added to each row, and 
 so on, till those in the centre are 5 lengths long, or the distance from the 
 tail is too great, or the reservoir which supplies the water for washing is 
 too close. This reservoir is usually filled by damming the stream, or 
 connecting with it by means of small aqueducts. In 1866, the American 
 method was introduced at the Petropavlofsk placer, situated on a spring 
 in a more remote part of the Yenisei gold-fields where the detritus was 
 strong and clayey. It took here 3^ days on an average to wash i cub- 
 fathom, but the system was found to work satisfactorily, and has been 
 continued ever since, the aggregate cost averaging 270 or 280 rubles (34 
 to 35/.) per man for the whole year. Attempts were made to work two 
 placers on the Murojnaia in 1866-67 with the American method, but 
 they failed owing to the slope in this river valley being too gradual ; 
 
 % 
 
454 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I cub. fathom cost here 3J to 4J days' labour. As to the wood for 
 manufacturing the troughs, red pine is the best, because it is lighter than 
 larch, but any wood will answer the purpose. Should the timber not be 
 thick enough to saw into wide planks, the bottom of the box may be 
 made of two, and the sides of single deals, securely fastened together 
 with 4 or 5 I -in. nails ; for the props or stands, the outer slabs of the 
 tree answer as well as anything. The tail-trough is 4 ft. 8 in. or more in 
 width, by 1 2 ft. long, and has a flooring of laths to catch any gold that 
 may chance to pass. 
 
 It will be interesting to glance at the results of working on the 
 American system. 
 
 At the Uspensky and Rojdestvensky placers, 1 10 men assisted by 
 17 horses washed 40,000 tons of detritus and obtained 135 lb. of gold. 
 The proportions of detritus and peat were as 2 to 5 ; the average yield 
 of gold was 65 doilias (44J gr.) per 3600 lb. In 1864, at the same 
 placers, 190 men and 25 horses washed 62,000 tons and obtained 213 lb. 
 of gold, with an average of 54 doilias (36I gr.), and a proportion of 
 alluvium to peat as 2 to 4 ; and in 1865, 165 men and 28 horses washed 
 61,000 tons and obtained 220J lb. of gold, with an average yield of 
 58 doilias (394 gr.), and a proportion of 4 to 7. At the Alex^iefsky 
 placer, in 1863, 90 men with 15 horses washed 30,000 tons, and obtained 
 81 lb. of gold, the average yield being 42 doilias (28^ gr.) per 3600 lb., 
 and the proportion of detritus to peat as 2 to 5. At the Sovremionny 
 placer, in 1865, 90 men and 20 horses washed 22,600 tons, and obtained 
 105^ lb. of gold, with an average of 73 doilias (49J gr.), and a proportion 
 of detritus to peat as i to 3. These figures speak for themselves, and 
 show that it was possible to increase the amount of work, notwithstanding 
 unfavourable conditions in the proportion of detritus to peat. 
 
 The cost of working the Uspensky and Rojdestvensky placers was 
 266 nibles (33/.) per man all round ; whilst that of other placers located 
 by Latkin came to 270 rubles (34/.), a wide difference, if it be remembered 
 first that 10 rubles (25J.) per man were paid for the privilege of using the 
 American system, and secondly that supplies and forage were 30 to 35 
 kopecks {gd. to lO^d.) per pud (36 lb.) dearer. The saving may therefore 
 be reckoned at 30 and even 40 rubles (75^'. to \oos.) per man. All this 
 proves the advantage of the American method of washing in many 
 localities, particularly with small gangs of men, and there can be no 
 doubt that if the industry were thrown open to all classes, many placers 
 would be worked upon it, because the capital required is small, the risk 
 consequently less, and therefore the margin for profit might also be less 
 than under the old costly and venturesome system, where the miner had 
 often to advance a large sum 8 months before he got any return, and 
 
ASIA : SUMATRA. 
 
 455 
 
 sometimes lost instead of gaining in the end, especially if he worked on 
 borrowed capital, for which he paid a high rate of interest. A placer 
 can be worked on the American system with gangs of 20, 40, 50, 60, 70, 
 and up to 100 men, with 10 to 20 horses to remove the peat and for 
 other work. The capital required would not be more than 5000 to 
 14,000 rubles (625 to 1750/.). If the layer of detritus were thick enough, 
 say half the depth of the peat, the placer might still be profitably worked, 
 even though the average yield were only 40 doilias (27J gr.). Of course, 
 the smaller the yield, and the thicher the peat, the more 'abour is neces- 
 sary ; on the other hand, the thinner the peat, and the more favourable 
 the detritus, the more advantageously can the digging be worked. Thus, 
 with equal proportions of peat and detritus, a digging which yielded only 
 32 doilias (2i| gr.) might still be profitably worked, especially if the 
 detritus were of a loose, easily-washed kind, and water were abundant. 
 If the detritus exceed the peat in thickness, the American system will 
 wash alluvium containing only 24 doilias (16^ gr.) per 3600 lb., whereas 
 with the old method such a poor digging could not have been worked, 
 unless the peat were exceptionally thin, and the detritus very loose and 
 of great thickness. 
 
 Some additional fragmentary remarks on the Russian gold-fields 
 will be found in the works of the following authors (quoted in the 
 Bibliography) : — Atkinson, Chappe, Cottrell, Gmelin, Grant, Lansdell, 
 Murchison, Ravenstein, Rose, Smyth, Strahlenberg ; also in the three 
 periodical publications below: — 'Annuaire du Journal des mines de 
 Russie ' (continued as ' Gorny Journal '), ' Bulletin Acad^mie Imp^riale 
 des Sciences,' and Erman's * Archive von Russland.' 
 
 Sumatra. — Tavemier (1678) relates that in the island of " Achen or 
 Sumatra, after the rainy season, when the torrents are wasted, they find 
 veins of gold in the flints, which the waters wash down from the moun- 
 tains that lie towards the N.E. Upon the W. side of the island, when 
 the Hollanders come to lade their pepper, the natives bring them great 
 store of gold, but very coarse metal." And in Asiatick Researches (1788), 
 it is recorded that " the country of Limong, 70 to 80 miles inland, produces 
 the finest gold and gold-dust on that island. The gold is found in a 
 species of earth composed of a clayish red loam. On digging the earth, 
 it is found to consist of strata of irregular-shaped stone of a mouldering 
 nature, mixed with a red clay, and hard pebbles mixed with a pale-red 
 clay, of a more dense consistency than that of the first stratum." But 
 the most extended account is given by Marsden (18 12), whose work 
 will now be drawn upon at some length. 
 
 He says that besides vegetable products Sumatra affords many 
 others, the chief of which is gold. This is found mostly in the central 
 
456 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 parts of the island, none (or with few exceptions) being observed to the 
 southward of Limun [Limong], a branch of Jambi river, nor to the 
 northward of Nalabu, from which port Achin is principally supplied. 
 Menangkabau has always been esteemed the richest seat of it ; and this 
 consideration probably induced the Dutch to establish their head factory 
 at Padang, in the immediate neighbourhood of that kingdom. Colonies 
 of Malays from thence have settled themselves in almost all the districts 
 where gold is procured, and appear to be the only persons who dig for 
 it in mines, or collect it in streams ; the proper inhabitants or villagers 
 confining their attention to the raising of provisions, with which they 
 supply those who search for the metal. Such, at least, appears to be the 
 case in Limun, Hatang Asei, and Pakalang Jambi, where a considerable 
 gold-trade is carried on. 
 
 It has been generally understood at the English settlements, that 
 earth taken up from the beds of rivers, or loosened from the adjacent 
 banks, and washed by means of rivulets diverted towards the newly- 
 opened ground, turnishes the greater proportion of the gold found in the 
 island, and that the natives arc not accustomed to venture upon any 
 excavation that deserves the name of mir'ng ; but our possession of the 
 settlements that belonged to the Dutch bled us to form juster 
 notions on the subject, and the following i. .ount, obtained from well- 
 informed persons on the spot, will show the methods pursued in both 
 processes, and the degree of enterprise and skill employed by the 
 workmen. 
 
 In the districts situated inland of Padang, which is the principal mart 
 for this article, little is collected otherwise than from mines {tambang), 
 by people whose profession it is to work them, and who are known by 
 the appellation oi orang giilla. 
 
 The metal brought down for sale is for the most part of 2 sorts, dis- 
 tinguished by the terms avias supayang and avias sungei-abu, from the 
 names of places where they are respectively procured. The former is 
 what we usually call rock-gold, consisting of pieces of quartz more or 
 less intermixed with veins of gold, generally of fine quality, running 
 through it in all directions, and forming beautiful masses, which, being 
 admired by Europeans, are sometimes sold by weight as if the whole 
 were solid metal. The mines yielding this sort are commonly situated 
 at the foot of a mountain, and the shafts are driven horizontally, to the 
 extent of 8 to 20 fathoms. The gold to which siingei-abu gives name, is, 
 on the contrary, found in the state of smooth, solid lumps, in shape like 
 gravel, and of various sizes, the largest lump that Marsden saw weighing 
 9 oz. IS gr., and one in his possession weighed 8 gr. less than 9 oz. 
 This sort is also called anias richin or smooth gold, and appears to owe 
 
ASIA : SUMATRA. 
 
 457 
 
 that quality to its having been exposed, in some prior state of the soil 
 or conformation of the earth, to the action of running water, and 
 deprived of its sharp and rough edges by attrition. This form of gravel 
 is the most common in which gold is discovered. Gold-dust or avias 
 urei is collected either in the channels of brooks running over ground 
 rich in the metal, in standing pools of water occasioned by heavy rains, 
 or in a number of holes dug in a situation to which a small rapid stream 
 can be directed. 
 
 The tools employed in working the mines are an iron crow 3 ft. in 
 length, called tabah, a shovel called chaugknl, and a heavy iron mallet or 
 hammer, the head of which is 18 in. in length and as thick as a man's 
 leg, with a handle in the middle. With these, they beat the lumps of 
 rock till they arc reduced to powder, and the pounded mass is then put 
 into a sledge or tray 5 or 6 ft. long and ij broad, in the form of a boat, 
 and thence named Indu. To this vessel, a rope of ijn is attached, by 
 which they draw it, when loaded, out of the horizontal mine, to the 
 nearest place where they can meet with a supply of water, which alone 
 is employed to separate the gold from the pulverized quartz. 
 
 In the perpendicular mines, the smooth or gravel gold is often found 
 near the surface, but in small quantities, improving as the workmen 
 advance, and again often vanishing suddenly. This they say is most 
 likely to be the case, when, after pursuing a poor vein, they suddenly 
 come to large lumps. When they have dug to the depth of 4, 6, or 
 sometimes 8 fathoms (which they do at a venture, the surface not afford- 
 ing any indications on which they can depend), they work horizontally, 
 supporting the shaft with timbers ; but to persons acquainted with the berg- 
 tverken of Germany or Hungary, these pits would hardly appear to 
 merit the appellation of mines. In Sumatra, however, as in Siberia, the 
 hills yield their gold by slightly working them. Sand is commonly met 
 with at the depth of 3 or 4 fathoms, and beneath this a stratum of napal 
 or steatite, which is considered as a sign that the metal is near ; but the 
 least fallible mark is a red stone, called battt kawi, lying in detached 
 pieces. It is mostly found in red and white clay, and often adhering to 
 small stones, as well as in homogeneous lumps. The gold is separated 
 from the clay by means of water poured on a hollow board, in the 
 management of which the persons employed are remarkably expert. 
 
 In these perpendicular mines, the water is drawn off by hand in pails 
 or buckets. In the horizontal, they make 2 shafts or entries in a direc- 
 tion parallel to each other, as far as they mean to extend the work, and 
 there connect them by a cross-trench. One of these, by a difference in 
 their respective levels, serves as a drain to carry off the water, whilst the 
 other is kept dry. They work in parties of 4 or 5 to 40 or 50 in number, 
 
 i 
 
458 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the proprietor of the ground receiving J the produce, and the entre- 
 preneurs the other ; and it does not appear that the prince receives any 
 established royalty. The hill people afifect a kind of independence or 
 equality, which they express by the term of sama rata. 
 
 It may well be imagined that mines of this description are very 
 numerous, and, in the common estimation of the natives, they amount to 
 no fewer than 1 200 in the dominions of Menangkabau. A considerable 
 proportion of their produce (perhaps J) never comes into the hands of 
 Europeans, but is conveyed to the eastern side of the island ; and yet 
 Marsden was assured on good authority, that 10,000 to 12,000 oz. have 
 annually been received, on public and private account, at Padang alone ; 
 at Nalabu, about 2000 ; Nattal, 800 ; and Moco-moco, 600. The quality 
 of the gold collected in the Padang districts is inferior to that purchased 
 at Nattal and Moco-moco, in consequence of the practice of blending to- 
 gether the unequal produce of such a variety of mines, which in other 
 parts it is customary to keep distinct. The gold from the former is of 
 the fineness of 19 to 21, and from the latter places is generally of 22 to 
 23 carats. The finest that passed through Marsden's hands was 23 
 carats \\ gr., assayed at the Tower of London. Gold of an inferior touch, 
 called amas imida, from the paleness of its colour, is found in the same 
 countries where the other is produced. Marsden had some assayed 
 which was 2 carats 3 gr. worse than standard, and contained an alloy of 
 silver, but not in a proportion to be affected by acids. He saw gold 
 brought from Mampawah, in Borneo, which was in the state of a fine, 
 uniform powder, high-coloured, and in its degree of fineness not exceed- 
 ing 15 or 16 carats. The natives suppose these differences to proceed 
 from an original essential inferiority of the metal, not possessing the 
 art of separating it from the silver or copper. In this island, it is 
 never found in the state of ore, but is always completely metallic. 
 A very little pale gold is now and then found in the Lampong 
 country. 
 
 Of those who dig for it, the most intelligent, distinguished by the 
 name of sudagar or merchants, are entrusted by the rest with their 
 collections, and carry the gold to the places of trade on the great eastern 
 rivers, or to the settlements on the west coast, where they barter it for 
 iron (of which large quantities are consumed in tools for working the 
 mines), opium, and the fine piece-goods of Madras and Bengal, with 
 which they return, heavily loaded, to their country. In some parts of 
 the journey they have the convenience of water carriage, on lakes and 
 rivers ; but in others they carry on their backs a weight of about 80 lb., 
 through woods, over streams, and across mountains, in parties generally of 
 100 or more, who have frequent occasion to defend their property against 
 
 
ASIA : SUMATRA. 
 
 459 
 
 i the entre- 
 
 the spirit of plunder and extortion, which prevails among the poorer 
 nations, through whose districts they are obliged to pass. 
 
 It has generally been thought surprising that the European Companies 
 who have so long had establishments in Sumatra, should nc>t have con- 
 sidered it an object to work these mines upon a regular system, with 
 proper machinery, and under competent inspection ; but the attempt has 
 in fact been made, and experience and calculation may have taught them 
 that it is not a scheme likely to be attended with success, owing, among 
 other causes, to the dearness of labour, and the necessity it would 
 occasion for keeping up a force in distant parts of the country, for the 
 protection of the persons engaged and the property collected. Euro- 
 peans cannot be employed upon such work in that climate, and the 
 natives are unfit for (nor would they submit to) the laborious exertion 
 required to render the undertaking profitable. A detailed, and in many 
 respects interesting, account of the workings of a gold-mine at Sileda, 
 with a plate representing a section of the mine, is given by Elias Hesse, 
 who, in the year 1682, accompanied the Bergh-Hoofdman, Benj. Olitzsch, 
 and a party of miners from Saxony, scnt out by the Dutch East 
 India Company for that purpose. The superintendent, with most of his 
 people, lost their lives, and the undertaking failed. It is said at Padang 
 that the ore proved to be uncommonly poor. Many years later, trial 
 was made of a vein running close to that settlement ; but the returns not 
 being adequate to the expense, it was let to farm, and in a few years fell 
 into such low repute as to be at length disposed of by public auction, at 
 a rent of 2 Spanish dollars. Following is an extract of a letter from 
 Jas. Moore, a servant of the Corr.pany, dated from Padang, in 1778 : 
 " They have lately opened a vein of gold in the country inland of this 
 place, from whicl. the governor at one time received 150 Hah (200 oz.). 
 He !ias procured a map to be made of a particular part of the gold- 
 country, which points out the different places where they work for it ; and 
 also the situation of 2 1 Malay forts, all inhabited and in repair. These 
 districts are extremely populous, compared to the more southern part of 
 the island. Tir.ey collect and export annually to Batavia, about 2500 
 tials of gold frc -"i this place : the quantity never exceeds 3000 tials, nor 
 falls short of 2000." This refers to the public export on the Company's 
 account. The English Company also, having intelligence of a mine said 
 to be discovered near Fort Marlborough, gave orders for its being worked ; 
 but if it ever existed, no trace remained in Marsden's time. 
 
 Thomas Barnes, who journeyed from Moco-moco to Pakalang Jambi 
 in 1 8 18, generally corroborates Marsden. Crawfurd (1820), who mainly 
 summarizes from the records of others, gives the following table of 
 Archipelago gold imported into Calcutta : — 
 
 Ml 
 
 \ 
 
 i I 
 
460 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 Table exhibiting the Quantities and Value of the Gold of the Indian Archipelago, 
 
 imrorted into calcutta. 
 
 Year. 
 
 From the west coast of Sumatra. 
 
 From Borneo and the rest of the 
 Archipel.igo. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Piiro 
 gold. 
 
 Value at 4/. 51. an oz. 
 
 Pure gold. 
 
 Value at 4/. %s. an oz. 
 
 Pure gol \. 
 
 Value at 4/. Sf. an oj. 
 
 
 OJ. 
 
 8 c. 
 
 C 
 
 oz. 
 
 8 A & 
 
 s. 
 
 oz. 
 
 8 
 
 £ 
 
 1801 
 
 2,451 
 
 46,296 67 
 
 10,416 15 
 
 23,764 
 
 448,87s 56,100,997 
 
 
 
 26,215 
 
 495,172 22 
 
 111,413 15 
 
 1802 
 
 692 
 
 13,071 u 
 
 2,941 
 
 9,844 
 
 185,942 221 41,837 
 
 
 
 10,536 
 
 199.013 33 44,778 
 
 1803 
 
 1,008 
 
 19,040 
 
 4,284 
 
 7,795 
 
 147,238 89 33,128 
 
 15 
 
 8.803 
 
 t66,278 89 
 
 37.412 15 
 
 1804 
 
 r;8o 
 
 io,95S 56i 2.465 
 
 8,791 
 
 166,052 22 37,361 
 
 >S 
 
 9.371 
 
 177,007 78 
 
 39,826 15 
 
 1810 
 
 4.538 
 
 85,717 78 
 
 19,286 10 
 
 11,863 
 
 224,078 89 50,417 
 
 15 
 
 16,401 
 
 309.796 67 
 
 69,704 5 
 
 1811 
 
 611 
 
 11,541 II 
 
 2,596 15 
 
 5,910 
 
 111,633 33 25,117 
 
 10 
 
 6,521 
 
 123,174 44 
 
 27,714 5 
 
 1812 
 
 10,570 
 
 199,655 56 44.922 10 
 
 16,322 
 
 308,304 44 69,368 
 
 10 
 
 26,892 
 
 507,960 
 
 114,291 
 
 1813 
 
 6,374 
 
 120,397 78| 27,089 10 
 
 19,540 
 
 369,088 89 83,045 
 
 
 
 25,914 
 
 489,486 67 
 
 110,134 10 
 
 1814 
 
 7,206 
 
 136, "3 33j 30,625 10 
 
 8,336 
 
 157,457 78J 35.428 
 
 
 
 15,542 
 
 293.571 II 
 
 66,053 10 
 
 Total 
 
 34.030 
 
 642,788 89 144,627 10 
 
 112,165 2,118,672 22476,701 
 
 5 
 
 146,195 
 
 2,761,461 11 
 
 621,328 15 
 
 Aver- 
 age. 
 
 3,781^ 
 
 71,420 99 16,069 14 
 
 I 2, 462 J 
 
 235,408 2 52,966 
 
 16 
 
 i6,243f 
 
 306,829 1 
 
 69,036 10 
 
 To this he adds the annexed comparative table : — 
 
 Table exhibiting the Estimated Annual Amount of the Gold of the Indian 
 Archipelago, compared with that of other Countries. 
 
 I Pure gold. 
 
 Value at J[,^ is. an oz- 
 
 Exports from the east and west coasts 
 
 of Sumatra oz. 25,080 
 
 Produce of .A.chin 10,450 
 
 oz. 
 
 35,530 
 88,362 
 
 30,973 
 
 8 
 
 671,125 
 
 1,669,058 
 
 585,045 
 
 {. 
 
 Total estimated produce of Sumatra 
 
 Estimated produce of the mines of Montradak in 
 
 Borneo 
 
 Produce of all other parts of the Archipelago, 
 
 estimated at one-fifth of the whole 
 
 151,003 
 375.538 
 131,635 
 
 Total annual produce of the Archipelago . . 
 
 154,865 
 
 2,925,228 658,176 
 
 Moor (1837) says that gold is the only metal which is found in abun- 
 dance in Sumatra, and this is confined to the mountains in the interior 
 or the valleys at their feet. The gold of Jambi and Indragerie is 
 brought from the mountains of Menc.ngkabau, and the little exported 
 from Siak and Dili from the hilly countries of the Battaks. The greater 
 part of this finds its way to the western coast of Padang, Bencoolen, 
 Nattal, and other places. 
 
 According to Bickmore (1868), in the vicinity of Mount hir (0° i' 
 10" N., 100° E.) gold has been obtained for centuries. The quantity 
 procured in .Sumatra is wholly unknown, but, judging from what is used 
 in ornaments, it must be considerable. It is always bought and sold in 
 the form of " dust," and has never been coined for money in any part of 
 
ASIA : THIBET. 
 
 461 
 
 the Archipelago, except at Achin. On the way to Kotanopan he passed 
 along a large foaming brook, in which the opsiener of that district assured 
 him the natives were accustomed to wash for gold. And after entering 
 the S. end of the valley of Mandeling, he was repeatedly informed that 
 the natives obtained gold by washing in the vicinity. At Fort Elout, the 
 Resident showed him a nugget as large as a pigeon's egg, which a native 
 had just found in a neighbouring stream, where they had certainly been 
 at work for centuries. In the mountains west of Ran only is the gold 
 taken from the rock. 
 
 Col. Yule (1875) says Sumatra was long famous for its produce of 
 gold. The export is estimated by Crawfurd at 35,53002. ; but no doubt 
 it was much more when the native states were in a condition of greater 
 wealth and civilization, as they undoubtedly were some centuries ago. 
 Valentyn says that in some years Achin had exported 80 bahars, equiva- 
 lent to 32,000 or 36,000 lb., but this figure is discredited by Yule in the 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica (i. 96). 
 
 The interesting report (1880) of John Munday, on the gold-mines of 
 the west coast of Sumatra, was referred to in the Alifimg Journal, 1. 732 ; 
 and a review of ancient allusions to gold in Sumatra and of the geology 
 of the island is given by Verbeek (1878-9), in a pamphlet published at 
 Batavia, and summarized in Annales de V Extreme Orient, i. 185-92. 
 Veth's new work, quoted in the Bibliography, may also be consulted. 
 
 Thibet. — Thibet has for ages been remarkable among auriferous 
 'countries by rea.son of the tradition concerning the existence of gold- 
 digging ants. This fable was perpetuated by Herodotus, Strabo, Megas- 
 thenes, Arrian, Ktesias, Photios, and other ancient writers, and has been 
 the subject of much learned discussion, till satisfactorily explained by 
 Sir Henry Rawlinson and Prof Schiern, independently yet in parallel 
 terms. 
 
 Megasthenes gives the following account of these ants. Among the 
 Derdai, a great tribe of Indians, who inhabit the mountains on the 
 eastern borders, there is an elevated plateau, about 3000 stadia in circuit. 
 Beneath the surface there are mines of gold, and here accordingly are 
 found the ants which dig for that metal. They are not inferior in size to 
 wild foxes. They run with amazing speed, and live by the produce of 
 the chase. The time when they dig is winter. They throw up heaps of 
 earth, as moles do, at the mouth of the mines. The gold-dust has to be 
 subjected to a little boiling. The people of the neighbourhood, coming 
 secretly with beasts of burden, carry this off. If they came openly, the 
 ants would attack them, and pursue them if they fled, and would destroy 
 both them and their cattle. So to effect the robbery without being 
 observed, they lay down in several different places pieces of the flesh of 
 wild beasts, and when the ants are by this device dispersed, they carry off 
 
 { \\ 
 
 !? 
 
462 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the gold-dust. The Derdai are the Dardae of Pliny, the Daradrai of 
 Ptolemy, the Daradas of Sanskrit literature, and the Dards of to-day. 
 The plateau mentioned is the table-land of Chojotol. 
 
 Phdtios relates that gold is also a product of India. It is not found 
 in rivers, and washed from the sands, like the gold of the river Pakt61os ; 
 but is found on those many high-towering mountains, which are in- 
 habited by the " griffins," a race of four-footed birds, about as large as 
 wolves, having legs and claws like those of the lion, and covered all over 
 the body with black feathers, except only on the breast, where they 
 are red. On account of those birds, the gold with which the mountains 
 abound is difficult to be got. 
 
 Ktesias says that the " gryphon," an Indian animal, is, so far as he 
 can learn, four-footed like the lion, and has claws of enormous strength, 
 closely resembling his. It is described as having feathers on its back, 
 and these black, while the breast feathers are red, and those of the wing 
 white. Its neck is variegated with feathers of a bright blue ; its beak 
 is like an eagle's ; and its head like the representations which artists give 
 of it in paintings and sculptures. Its eyes are said to be fiery red, and it 
 builds its nest upon the mountains, and, as it is impossible to catch these 
 birds when full grown, they are caught when quite young. The 
 Baktrians, who are next neighbours to the Indians, give out that these 
 birds guard the gold found in the regions which they haunt, and that 
 they dig it out of the ground, and build their nests with it, and that the 
 Indians carry off as much of it as falls to the ground. The Indians 
 however, deny that the " gryphons " guard the gold, alleging, what is 
 highly probable, that gold is a thing " '•yphons " have no use for ; but 
 they admit that when these birds see them coming to gather the gold, 
 they become alarmed for their young, and attack the intruders. Nor do 
 they resist man only, but beasts of whatever kind, gaining an easy victory 
 over all, except only the elephant and the lion, for which they are no 
 match. The " gryphons " then, being so formidable, the natives of these 
 countries go not to gather gold in the day-time, but set out under cover 
 of night, when they are least likely to be detected. Now the auriferous 
 region which the " gryphons " inhabit is a frightful desert, and those who 
 make a raid upon the gold, select a moonless night, and set out armed, 
 the expedition being 1 000 or even 2000 strong. They take with them 
 mattocks for digging the gold, and sacks in which to carry it away. If 
 they are unobserved by the " gryphons," they have a double share of 
 good luck, for they not only escape with their lives, but bear a freight of 
 gold in triumph home, where the metal having been purified by those 
 who are skilful in smelting ores, they are recompensed with overflowing 
 wealth for all the hazards of the enterprise. Should they, on the other 
 '•and, be detected in the act of theft, certain death would be their fate. 
 
ASIA : THIBET. 
 
 463 
 
 Ktesias learned by inquiry that they did not return home till after an 
 absence of 3 or 4 years. 
 
 Hccren identifies Herodotus' pismires, " Indians living near the 
 Caspatyras and the country of Pactyica," with the desert of Gobi, remark- 
 ing that the desert streams which run to the east and lose themselves in 
 the sand or in inland seas, all carry down a quantity of gold-sand, while 
 the lofty mountains which limit the desert are rich in veins of gold. 
 
 Capt. Turner (1806) alludes to the finding of gold-dust in the beds of 
 rivers, generally attached to small pieces of stone, with every appearance 
 of having been part of a larger mass. 
 
 Moorcroft (18 16), who travelled to Lake Manasarovara, in Hundes 
 [Un-des], a province of Little Thibet, found that the hills (which are 
 stated to be rich in gold) near Mehal, on the head-waters of the river 
 Sutlej, are granite of mixed colours, the red predominating, with 
 horizontal strata of quartz and small fibrous veins of a white material 
 like agate, descending perpendicularly ; where the rock has been 
 exposed to the weather, its surface is broken into small pieces, having 
 little more cohesion than clay burnt in the sun. This decomposition is 
 effected, he supposes, in consequence of the different materials of which 
 the mass is composed, not being intimately united, and water entering 
 the fissures, where it congeals, and bursts the structure. The gold here 
 is separated by washing. The plain is stony, about J mile in breadth 
 and length, bounded partly by heights, and partly by the Sutlej. It is 
 full of shallow pits, made by persons who have dug for gold-dust, and 
 left heaps of stones by the sides of the excavations. At 306 paces, he 
 ascended to another flat, which has likewise been dug. At 1835 paces, he 
 reached a small flat where has been cultivation, and saw caves of gold- 
 mines in the rock to the left, now deserted. At 5975 paces, he reached 
 a house near which are two gold-mines with tunnels under the surface. 
 Heretofore the excavations were perpendicular. The earth is dug out 
 and carried to the brook to be washed. At 555 1 paces, the valley narrows 
 to 600 yd. ; surrounding hills are said to contain gold, which is some- 
 times found in lumps of considerable size. 
 
 Lieut. Strachey (1846), another traveller in this region, found that the 
 principal gold-mines, Sar Chaka, were farmed by a Sarpiin, who paid to 
 the Lhasa treasury 17,000 ;7c/^(?j (1700/.) per annum, and had 170 miners 
 at work, to whom he sent supplies from Pruang, as the country was 
 barren. These mines are worked in shafts and galleries underground ; 
 the gold is found in the pure native state in quartz. It undergoes no 
 other process than washing and sifting, before it enters the market, and 
 after that requires little or no refining. The metal is sometimes found in 
 large masses ; the Lama of Gangri is said '.o have one weighing 5 nega, 
 i. e. nearly i seer (2 lb. i oz.), and there are problematical stories of other 
 
 'I 
 
464 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 masses, of such supernatural size and shape that the Lamas pronounced, 
 them spiritually dangerous, and insisted on their being consigned to 
 earth again. 
 
 According to Capt. Montgomerie (1865-67), 4 miles N. of Lhasa is a 
 hill called Toti-phu, in which gold exists, and also near the monasteries 
 Debang and Ramoche ; but it is not worked. Gold is, however, worked 
 to a very slight extent near the monasteries by the priests ; but should 
 they, in their search, discover a nugget of large size, it is immediately re- 
 placed in the earth, under the impression that the large nuggets have life, 
 and germinate in time, producing the small lumps, which they are privi- 
 leged to search for. To the N.E. of Lhasa, and i^ month's journey from 
 it, at Sarka or Thok, gold is extracted in large quantities, there being no 
 prohibition as to working it. 
 
 Col. Walker (1867-8) believes from previous information that gold 
 was first discovered to be abundant at Thok-Jalung about 8 or 9 years 
 ago. The Pundit found the part of the gold-field that was being worked 
 to be a great excavation, 10 to 200 paces in width and 25 ft. in depth, 
 access to the bottom being by means of steps and slopes, the earth as 
 dug out being thrown upon either side. The excavation was about a 
 mile long. The digging is carried on with a long-handled kind of spade, 
 and occasionally with an iron hoe. A very small stream runs through 
 the gold-field, and is put to good use for washing the gold out of the soil. 
 The diggers dam up the water and leave a sloping channel for it to 
 escape by. A cloth is spread at the bottom of the channel, and kept 
 down by a number of stones, so as to make the bottom uneven. One 
 man brings earth from the excavation and sprinkles it over the channel, 
 whilst another man drives water down the channel by means of a leather 
 bag. The water carries the lighter soil right away, but the pieces of gold 
 fall into the uneven places, and are easily collected in th:^ cloth by lifting 
 up the stones. The yield of gold seems to be large, and the finds occa- 
 sionally very heavy — the Pundit saw i nugget of about 2 lb. weight (75 
 tolahs). The diggers say they can recognize the soil that contains gold 
 at once ; but judging from the large number of gold-fields that have been 
 used at one time around Thok-Jalung, and are now more or less aban- 
 doned, the Thibetan gold-diggings seem to be quite as capricious as those 
 of California or Australia. From what the Pundit heard, there is a whole 
 string of gold-fields extending all the way from Lhasa to Rudok, along 
 the route which must run close to the northern watershed of the Brahma- 
 putra, probably in the depression to the north of it. The gold-fields are 
 carefully watched by the Lhasa authorities ; a gold commissioner, called 
 Sarpiin, superintends the whole of them, and each field has a .separate 
 n ^r. Any individual is allowed to dig, provided he pays the annual 
 tax of I sarshoo weight of gold, which is about \ tolali or | oz. The 
 
ASIA : THIBET. 
 
 465 
 
 Pundit says that in all his travels he never experienced such intense cold 
 as he did at Thok-Jalung, owing, as he thought, to the high cold wind 
 that was always blowing, more than to the great elevation, viz. 16,330 ft. 
 above the sea. The tents of the diggers arc always pitched in pits 7 or 
 8 ft. below the surface of the ground, so as to keep out the wind. Spite 
 of the cold, the diggers prefer working in the \v-intcr, and the number of 
 their tents, which in summer amount^^ to 300, rises to nearly 600 in winter. 
 They prefer the winter, as the frozen soil then stands well, and is not 
 likely to trouble them much by falling in. 
 
 A later (1868-9) report of the Trigonometrical Survey says that the 
 district Jung Phaiyu-Pooyu contains several gold-fields, and has a Sarpon 
 or gold commissioner of its own. Whilst marching from Rudok to Thok- 
 Jalung, the Pundit heard minute descriptions of no less than 7 separate 
 gold-fields, viz. : — Thok-Sarkong, Thok-Dikla, Thok-Ragyok, Thok- 
 Thasang, Thok-Maroobhoob, Gunjee-Thok, and Thok-Nianmo, besides 
 those of Thok-Sarlung and Thok-Jalung, which he actually visited, and 
 those of Phaiyu-Pooyu, of which he heard vaguely. The Pundit under- 
 stands the word Thok to mean a mine. In marching S. from Thok- 
 Jalung, the Pundit appears to have left the gold-bearing rocks, and from 
 the information he received, the line of gold-fields is continued more to 
 the N. ; but it is evident that this part of Thibet contains an inexhaust- 
 ible supply of gold. Thok-Sarlung at one time had been the chief gold- 
 field of the district, but had been in a great measure abandoned on the 
 discovery of the Thok-Jalung gold-field. 
 
 Sir Henry Rawlinson's remarks (Pa/l Ma/l Gazette, Mar. 16, 1869; 
 Indian Antiquary, iv. 225) on these reports of the Pundit's researches and 
 travels are as follows : — " Now, then, for the first time, we have an expla- 
 nation of the circumstances under which so large a quantity of gold is, as 
 is well known to be the case, exported to the west from Khotan, and finds 
 its way into India from Thibet ; and it is probable that the search for 
 gold in this region has been going on from a very remote antiquity, since 
 no one can read the ex-Pundit's account of Thibetan miners living in 
 tents some 7 or 8 ft. below the surface of the ground, and collecting the 
 excavated earth in heaps previous to washing the gold out of the soil, 
 without being reminded of the description which Herodotus gives of the 
 ants in the lands of the Indians bordering on Caspatyrus (or Kashmir) 
 which made their dwellings underground, and threw up sand-heaps as 
 they burrowed, the sand which they threw up being full of gold. " 
 
 Prof Schiern points out that the tradition was mentioned in writings 
 of the middle ages, and those by Arabian authors. It survived among 
 the Turks. Strabo and Albertus Magnus treated the whole story as a 
 fiction. Xivrey supposed that the animals had become extinct, owing to 
 the auri sacra fames. Major Rennell supposed that the dwellers in 
 
 2 H 
 
466 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTTQN. 
 
 mounds were termites [white ants]. Humboldt's observations in Mexico 
 on the habit of certain ants to carry about shining particles of hyalith 
 was quoted by those who believed that the animals were really ants. 
 Other authorities suggested that they were marmots, jackals, foxes, or 
 hya;nas. Pliny having stated that horns of the Indian ant were preserved 
 in the Temple of Hercules at Erythrae, Samuel Wahl, who maintained 
 the hyaena theory, proved equal to the difficulty by suggesting that the 
 horns might have been a histis natnra:. Prof. Schiern ingeniously argues 
 that the horns had been taken from the skins of animals which formed 
 the garments of the miners. It .seems possible, however, that they were 
 samples of the pickaxes made of sheeps' horns, which, as is mentioned 
 on p. 361, are used to the present day by the miners in Ladak. 
 
 Prof. Schiorn further points out that ancient writers say that the ants 
 chiefly worked in winter, and connects this with the statement of the 
 Pundit quoted on p. 465. In conclusion, he writes : — " For us, the story par- 
 takes no longer of the marvellous. The gold-digging ants were originally 
 neither real ants, as the ancients supposed, nor, as many eminent men of 
 learning have supposed, larger animals mistaken for ants on account of 
 their subterranean habits, but men of flesh and blood, and these men 
 Thibetan miners, whose mode of life and dress were in the remotest 
 antiquity exactly what they arc at the present day. " 
 
 Cooper (1870) found at i day's journey from Lithang, on the road to 
 the Taso Mountains, vast masses of quartz and granite scattered over the 
 sterile surface. A thousand tiny streams trickled across his path, in the 
 sands of which, as the hoofs of his cattle ploughed them up, he saw 
 abundance of scaly gold. But gold, like all else of a yellow colour, in 
 Thibet is sacred to the grand Lama ; at least, so the 2 spies informed 
 him, and he was forbidden even to take up a handful of the golden sand. 
 
 Col. Yule (1875) says that gold is stated still to be very plentiful in 
 the mountain called Gulan-Sigong, to the N.W. of Yunnan, adjoining the 
 great Eastern branch of the Irawadi, and the Chinese traders go there to 
 barter for it. 
 
 Capt. Trotter (1877), i" giving an account of the Pundit's journey to 
 Great Thibet from Lch in Ladak to Lhasa, says the Pundit found that the 
 gold-fields of Thok-Daurakpa, in this portion of Thibet, were of much 
 less importance than those he had visited at Thok-Jalung, in Western 
 Thibet, on a former exploration. At Thok-Daurakpa, the diggers 
 mostly dwell in caves excavated in the earth. These habitations, which 
 are locally termed phi'ikpd, are 32 in number, and contain 5 to 25 
 individuals in each, according to the wealth of the proprietors, who do 
 not appear to select these buildings from choice, but rather from neces- 
 sity, caused by the proximity of the Khampa robbers, who have a habit 
 of cutting down first the tents and then the owners. These underground 
 
ASIA : THIBET. 
 
 467 
 
 caves arc naturally far more secure than tents would be, and one man 
 well armed could defend one of them against a large number of assailants. 
 Besides these caves, there were also some 7 or 8 tents belonging to 
 travelling merchants and recent arrivals. The diggers were mostly 
 Changpas, from the Ndkchdng district, to the E. and S.E.of the gold-fields ; 
 but there were also others from Western Thibet and from Janglach^, a 
 large town on the Brahmaputra, S or 6 days west of Shigdtzd. 
 
 The proprietors of each phhkpd have also their own gold-pit (while 
 at Thok-Jalung the whole of the diggers work in one large excavation), 
 in which they work in the day-time only. One or two men are 
 generally employed in quarrying the stone in which the gold is found. 
 The pieces of stone are lifted up in baskets to the brink of the pit, and 
 are there pounded into small fragments, which are deposited on a cloth, 
 which is arranged on a slight slope, and kept down by a number of stones, 
 so as to make the surface uneven. Water is then poured over it, and 
 carries away the lighter portion of the soil, leaving the gold in the uneven 
 receptacles that have been made for it. The largest piece of gold seen 
 by the Pundit at Daurakpa was about i oz. in weight. Unfortunately 
 for the diggers, water is not found within a mile of the gold-fields, and 
 has to be brought that distance in skins on donkeys, which are specially 
 kept for the purpose. 
 
 The gold of Thok-Daurdkpa is said to be whiter and of better quality 
 than what is found further west. It is, however, more difficult to obtain, 
 both on account of the soil, or rather rock, in which it is found being much 
 more difficult to break up than the softer soil of Thok-Jalung, and on 
 account of the distance from which the water has to be brought. At 
 Jalung a stream runs through the gold-fields. The Pundit believes that 
 there are enormous tracts of land where gold is to be obtained by 
 digging, but where the absence of water would render the working of 
 them unremunerative. 
 
 The Thok-Daurdkpa and Thok-Jalung gold-fields are under the same 
 Sarpon, who makes the round of all the Thibetan gold-fields once a year 
 to collect the taxes. 
 
 It would appear that the importance and value of the Thibetan gold- 
 fields have been considerably overrated. The Pundit states that, besides 
 the half-dozen places where gold-digging is now carried on in the 
 neighbourhood of Thok-Jalung, the only other gold-fields now being 
 worked in Northern Thibet are at Thok-Daurakpa, and two other places, of 
 even less importance, at Tang Jung and Sarka Shydr, both of which are 
 about 6 days' journey farther east. He believes that nearly the whole of 
 the gold collected in Western Thibet finds its way to Gartokh, and 
 ultimately through the Kumauni merchants to Hindustan. He estimates 
 the value of gold brought annually into Gartokh at about 80,000 rupees 
 
 2 H 2 
 
 % I 
 
468 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (8000/.). The gold-diggers at Daurdkpa dispose of rrtost of their gold 
 cither to the Khainpas of Garchcthol on the west, or the Champas of 
 Nakchangpontod on the east, in exchange for the products of their herds 
 and flocks. The rest of the gold is taken by merchants who bring tea 
 from Lhasa and from China. 
 
 Markham (1879) says there arc many gold-mines in the provinces 
 of U, Tzang, Chang, Takpo, Kombo, and Kham. 
 
 According to Col. Lewin (1879), the gold-fields of Thibet extend along 
 the base of the S. watershed of the Brahmaputra, and the gold-digger; 
 come chiefly from the country round Shigdtz6. The mountainous region 
 south of Su-chow was explored by Col. Prjevalsky to a considerable 
 extent, and many abandoned gold-diggings were met with. 
 
 On Dr. Kegel's journey (i 881) from Sigoshur, southwards up the course 
 of the Tallik to the ravine whence it issues as a torrent, and then along 
 a mountain track, several neglected mines, formerly yielding gold and 
 silver, as it was reported, were passed. 
 
 Trans-Caucasus. — Koth flanks of the Caucasus range, from Stavropol 
 and the Terek on the north to Transcaucasia, Turkey and Persia on the 
 south, contain gold. Wherever metamorphic rocks have been upheaved 
 and transmuted by igneous action, there the precious mineral should be 
 sought. But little progress has been made in gold-prospecting in the 
 Caucasus since the time when Jason and his Argonauts went to Colchis 
 (near the modern Rion) in search of the golden fleece. The country has 
 had too troublous a history to admit of peaceful pursuits. The Caucasus 
 is the borderland of Asia and Europe, and was the gateway and barrier, 
 often the battlefield, of the nations who passed to and fro. The inroads 
 of Scyths, Persians, Parthians, Arabs, Russ, Turks, and mountain tribes 
 uprooted the first germs of civilization derived from the ancient kingdom 
 of Armenia and the Graeco-Roman world. Russia, indeed, succeeded, 
 but only after a protracted struggle, in subduing this naturally rich and 
 fertile country. Under circumstances such as these, it could not be 
 expected that mining enterprise should flourish. As early as 1820, gold 
 was discovered in the government of Stavropol, by the Jesuit father 
 Gandry, who obtained it secretly on the left bank of the Terek, opposite 
 the town of Mozdok. Information having been lodged against him, he 
 was banished from Russia in 1 828, and carried his secret with him. In 
 1833, however, a mining engineer of the name of FoUendorf was com- 
 missioned to investigate the gold, and he found alluvium .on the banks of 
 the Terek, 2 miles from the town, containing gold in the proportion of 
 ^ zol. per 3600 lb., under a layer of peat, sand, and clay, 5 to 8 ft. thick. 
 Deeper borings were stopped by water, and FoUendorf was prevented by 
 illness from extending his explorations above the mouth of the Malka 
 and the town of Mozdok. Were careful investigations to be made in 
 
ASIA : TRANS-CAUCASUS, 
 
 469 
 
 this direction, gold would doubtless be found in considerable quantities. 
 But military operations prevented these works from being prosecuted 
 there or in any part of the Caucasus, and it is only within the last 
 few years that gold-seeking may be pursued without hindrance in the 
 government of Stavropol, and on the Terek and Kuban. In the fifth 
 decade of the present century, the well-known mining entrepreneur, 
 chamberlain Astashof, received permission to prospect for gold in the 
 Caucasus. He formed an exploring party, which he intrusted to the 
 leadership of Ivanitzky the Second. But their investigations only resulted 
 in the discovery of traces of gold on the Miskalga, and a poor detritus 
 on the Akstafa, where ancient workings were found, from which were 
 taken a piece of gold beaten out flat, some wire, a silver coin, a lump of 
 scoria, and particles of wood. To what people these ancient workings in 
 the Caucasus are attributable is uncertain ; probably Armenians long 
 ago knew of and worked the gold-mines. 
 
 In 1865, by permission of the Grand Duke Michael, Viceroy of the 
 Caucasus, General Klemanof explored the deposits on the tributaries of 
 the Kur. He found gold, though in small quantities, 22 miles from the 
 village of Delijan, at Karaklis station, on the Bambak, a right tributary 
 of the Khram, which joins the Kur on the right, and on the streams 
 which take their sources on the highlands on which lake Kokcha lies, such 
 as the Hassan-su, Tanz, Shamkhor, Ganja-chai, Terter and Karbakha. 
 Besides which there is gold in Grusia or Georgia and Imeritia. In 1875, 
 mining engineer Prince Tsulukidze discovered auriferous alluvium on 
 the Dambluda, on the estate of the Dambluda works, with an average of 
 \ to I J ::ol. per 3600 lb. This was the first important discovery of gold 
 in the Caucasus. Lastly the gold found at the mouth of the Rion 
 doubtless came from the headwaters of this river. In the central 
 Caucasus, no gold-seekers have yet ventured to prospect, for that country 
 is inhabited by wild, predatory tribes. 
 
 From the preceding, it is evident that the rivers flowing into the 
 Caspian and Black Seas contain the source of much future wealth to 
 Russia, for though the first explorations were unsuccessful, they proved 
 conclusively the presence of gold derived from parent rocks where the 
 detritus is probably much richer, because the gold there is less widely 
 disseminated. When the spurs and chains, especially knots of mountains, 
 come to be thoroughly examined, it will be found that the Kuma, Terek, 
 and Kuban on the northern flank, the Kur, Araxes, and Rion on the 
 southern slope of the range, flow through a region abounding in copper, 
 iron, and silver, and not destitute of gold. But to develop this country it 
 will be necessary to import labour from the Ural, where the population is 
 industrious and experienced in mining, for the inhabitants of the Caucasus 
 share that universal Eastern vice of idleness. 
 
 I' 
 
470 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Col. Montcith, in 1833, ascended the Rion or Phasis, some distance to 
 look at the gold-mines ; but only found some shafts and furnaces, with 
 signs of copper. If gold ever existed, he thinks it must have been on 
 the Quirilla, and not on the Rion. These two rivers join 12 miles below 
 Kautais, from whence they take the name of Phasis or Rion. 
 
 Strabo (Bk. xi. c. ii. § 19, Bohn's Library, ii. 229) observes that the 
 Soancs occupy the heights of Caucasus above Dioscurias (on the Cau- 
 casian coast of the Black Sea, near Colchis, and some distance N. of 
 the river Phasis), In their country, the winter torrents are said to 
 bring down even gold, which the barbarians collect in troughs pierced 
 with holes, and lined with fleeces ; and hence the fable of the golden 
 fleece. 
 
 Turkestan.— According to VV. H. Johnson (1867), gold is chiefly 
 found in the beds of the streams which issue from the Kiun-Lun range, 
 and in very large quantities about Karangotak, Kiria, and Chira. It is 
 said that 3000 men are daily employed in the gold-fields. The ordinary 
 value of gold in Khotan is Rs. 9 to 10(18 to 20s.) per to/a (180 gr.), while 
 in Kashmir the same quantity sells for Rs. 17 to 18 (34 to 36^.) : this 
 circumstance alone will show how abundant gold is, and how large a 
 quantity there must be at the present time in the country. 
 
 Fio. 18. 
 
 Sketch-mai' of Turkestan Gold-fields. 
 
 Lloyd (1867) says the neighbourhood of Khinka lake is rich in 
 minerals, gold, silver, platinum, lead, and coal being found there. The 
 ManchGs frequently bring small parcels of gold of fine quality to the 
 
ASIA : TURKESTAN. 
 
 471 
 
 
 settlement for sale, but they rate the market vaUie of the precious metal 
 too high to enable the merchants to purchase much of it. 
 
 Williamson (1869) states that j^old is found in many places towards 
 the south of the promontory in greater or lesser quantities ; but the most 
 famous district is that on the E. coast of Manchuria, to the N. of the 
 Py-li river. Here he passed over gold-diggings and a gold-producing 
 country, about 40 miles in length by 10 broad. He also heard of gold 
 at Kinchau (39'^ 10' N., I2I° 36' E.), which mc:y be interpreted the 
 "gold-district city." 
 
 Hayward (1870) asserts that the Karakash river skirts the edge of a 
 vast tract of uninhabited country, and the gold found in that river is said 
 to be washed up from the buried treasures in the Takld Makdn desert. 
 Gold is found in the N. slopes of the Kiun-Lun, and extensive gold- 
 washings occur on the banks of the rivers E. of Khotan. The country 
 adjacent to Khotan-Daria and the Karakash furnishes a moderate 
 supply. 
 
 Shaw (1871) says gold is not allowed to be taken away from Khotan 
 by private individuals, as it is a Government monopoly in the mining 
 country. Khotan is famous for its gold, of which there are several mines 
 under the mountains near Kiria, to the E. of Khotan. This gold-field 
 probably is connected with that to the E. of Rudok and Gartokh, which 
 has lately been visited by one of Major Montgomcric's Pundits. Gold is 
 reported to exist in the mountains between these two scenes of mining 
 operations. At Kiria, the shafts are sunk to some depth to reach the 
 auriferous beds, of which the earth is brought up to the surface, and there 
 washed in cradles. The produce is a kind of coarse " gravel " of gold, 
 consisting of dust mixed with smaller or larger nodules or lumps, none 
 of them, however, being bigger than a broad-bean, and of irregular 
 shapes. 
 
 Delmar Morgan (1872) observes with regard to Palladius' expedition 
 in Girin [Chuen-chang], that the trade in gold, found in the N. spurs of 
 the Chang-p6-shan mountains, although contraband and punishable by 
 law, is extensively carried on by the Tsziu-fehi (" golden gold-miners "), 
 whose organized bands completely defy the vigilance of the Girin 
 officials. 
 
 Lockhart ( 1 872) found at the lake of Khinka a great quantity of gold 
 brought down by the rivers, and also at Cape Nicolaif When, during 
 the Russian war, soldiers landed on the coast, the inhabitants brought 
 pieces of gold in exchange for empty bottles. 
 
 Shaw (1872) says gold-seekers seem to play an important part in 
 these regions ; for he lately heard of something resembling a Californian 
 or Australian rush of diggers in the heart of Asia. There is a newly- 
 found gold-field, named Kappa, some 25 days E. of Kiria, to which 
 
472 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 during 
 
 the last 
 
 looo diggers have already flocked from all parts 
 year. 
 
 The Russian traveller Prjevalsky (1875-78) observes that, like most 
 other countries, Russia has had its romantic El Dorado, which was the 
 country of Little Bukharia, and especially the neighbourhrod of Yar- 
 kand, and Khotan, reported to be rich in gold-deposits. He sent 
 specimens of the gold-dust which had been taken to Tobolsk for sale. 
 At I day's journey from Kiria, gold is obtained in the mountains, and 
 other gold-mines are situated 5 days' march from Cherchen, near the 
 sources of the Cherchen-Daria. The quantity of gold annually produced 
 in these mines is said to be about 19 cwt., which finds its way into Yakub 
 Beg's treasury. Shaw learned that 6 days' journey in an E. and S. direc- 
 tion from Cherchen was a range of mountains resorted to by gold-seekers. 
 The region where the river Ayulla joins the Kaitanak is auriferous, and 
 Printz found a party of gold-seekers prospecting the locality, but gold at 
 that time had not been discovered. From the Chagrin-gol Prjevalsky 
 ascended the valley of the Yarlin-gol, and passed several gold-washings 
 abandoned on account of the Dungan insurrection ; all the streams in the 
 mountains of Kansu are said to abound in the precious ore. The mineral 
 wealth of the mountains of Kansu consists in its coal-fields and gold, 
 which, according to the natives, is found in almost every mountain 
 stream. The natural wealth of the Urumchi district is considerable. 
 In the mountains south of Manas, alluvial gold is found everywhere. 
 
 Col. Gordon (1876) found a great desire to keep Khotan secluded, 
 on account of its gold-fields, which contribute largely to the state t'-easury. 
 About the end of his stay at Kashgar the distant governors began to 
 arrive, according to custom, with the annual imperial revenue and offer- 
 ings from their provinces, followed by Niaz Beg of Khotan, who led in 
 2 ambas {carts), each carrying l $00 Jbigs (equal to about 1 800 lb.) of 
 gold and silver. 
 
 According to Dr. Cayley, the gold-fields of Khotan are practically 
 inexhaustible, and the gold is obtained from them without any labour or 
 difficulty. 
 
 Capt. Trotter (1878) states that the inhabitants of Kiria go W. 
 towards the Yurung-Kash [Ilchi] river (near Khotan or Ilchi) for gold. 
 
 Finally, Major Clarke (1880) remarks that it was thought at one time 
 that gold-mining v.-ould become an industry, and that Kuldja was 
 destined to be the El Dorado of Central Asia ; but these expectations 
 do not appear to be any nearer realization now than they were in the 
 time of Peter the Great. Mouchketoff, the Russian Government geologist, 
 who has been engaged for some time in mining explorations in Central 
 Asia, reports that gold is Icund in small quantities in the auriferous sands 
 of the basins of the Hi, the Tekess, and the Zerafshan (the latter name 
 
ASIA : TURKEY. 
 
 473 
 
 signifies " gold-bearing "). In the Hi basin, gold is only found in its 
 right affluents, which issue from the syenitic-granite spurs of the Dzun- 
 garia Ala-tagh ; whilst in the upper waters, or left affluents, which 
 abrade the schistose rocks of the Kara-tagh, there is no gold. Exploring 
 parties of Russian officers, botanists, ard others, are being constantly 
 heard of penetrating into China and Thibet, in the hope perhaps of 
 finding the long-sought El Dorado farther eastward. 
 
 Mouchketoff' s pamphlet, from which is borrowed the sketch-map of 
 the Turkestan gold-fields, may also be consulted. 
 
 Turkey in Asia. — The auriferous wealth of ancient Asia Minor is 
 attested by all the old writers. 
 
 Herodotus (Bk. vii. c. 28), speaking of the wealth of Pythius, says 
 "and of gold four millions of Daric staters, wanting seven thousand." 
 Rawlinson (iv. 30) in a note gives an account of the value of the different 
 staters, and says the Persian Daric was a gold coin very like the stater ; 
 it weighed about 123 '7 gr., and wa= consequently worth not quite 22s. 
 (say i/. \s. ioi</.). Pythius, therefore, according to the statement of 
 Herodotus, possessed gold coin to the value of 4,339,546/. Again 
 (Ter^ysichore, v. loi), Herodotus mentions "the Pactolus, a strean which, 
 bringing down gold-dust from Tmolus." On this subject, Rawlinson 
 (iii. 301, Bk. v. c. ici) says two small streams descei.d from Tmolus, 
 one on each side of the ruins of Sardis : " the western, which comes 
 down the broader valley, and passes by the Ionic temple of Cybele, has 
 generally been considered as the gold-bearing Pactolus (Hamilton's 
 ' Asia Minor,' i. 146-7.) " Like most gold-fields, that of the PacLolus, so 
 celebrated at an early period (Soph. Phil. 393 ; Strabo, xiii. 897 [c. iv. 
 § 5]), was soon exhausted. By the time of Augustus, it had ceased to 
 produce gold (atrabo, xiii. 897). 
 
 Strabo (Bk, xi. c. xiv. § 9, Bohn's edition ii. 271) mentions mines of 
 gold in the Hyspiratis (Groskurd proposes Syspiritis), near Caballa. 
 And (Bk. xiii. c. i. § 23, Bohn ii. 353) says : " In the Tread, above the 
 territory of Abydos, is Astyra, which now belongs to the Abydcni — a 
 city in ruins, but it was foiincrly an indcoendent place, and had gold- 
 mines, which are now nearly exhausted, like those in Mount Tmolus, 
 near the Pactolus." Also (Bk. xiii. c. iv. § S, Bohn ii. 403), " The Pactolus 
 flows from the Tmolus [modern Bouz-dagh]. It anciently brought 
 down a large quantity of gold-dust, whence, it is said, the proverbial 
 wealth of Croesus and his ancestors obtained renown. No gold-dust is 
 found at present." 
 
 Ainsworth (1838) found gold disseminated in the sandy matters 
 resulting from the disintegration of diorites in the hills of Khutcl, and 
 in the syenitic granite on the banks of the Divrigi river, in the Dumbu- 
 Dagh. 
 
 '\\ 
 
474 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, 
 
 Hamilton (1842) says that in the reign of Justinian, the gold-mines 
 of Trcbizond became a subject of dispute between the Greeks and 
 Chosroes I. He givv,''s a long account of the auriferous silver-mines at 
 Gumischkhana [Gumur^hane], which produce annually 250 to 300 dr. 
 of gold. 
 
 Tchihatchef (1864), .ifter quoting Scylax, Herodotus, Sophocles, 
 Virgil, Juvenal, Silvius Italicus, and Seneca, as to the auriferous sands 
 of the Pactolus, and remarkiig that already in Strabo's time its 
 reputation had declined, exphins this apparent exhaustion of the 
 gold by supposing either that the stream which formerly washed the 
 gold from its matrix in Mount Tmo.us has dried up, or that its course 
 has been obstructed, and he believes that judicious search would be 
 rewarded. 
 
 Farley (1872) remarks that Pliny tells us that, in his time, the riches 
 of ancient Cyprus arose, to a considerable extent, from its copper-mines, 
 the most productive of which were those of Tamasus, in the centre of the 
 island. Soli, on the north coast, and Amathos and Cyrium, on the south. 
 Gold and silver vvsre found in these mines. The mines of Balgar-Dagh, 
 on the slopes of the Taurus, are exceedingly rich, the ores containing 2 r 
 per cent, of lead, giving 428 gr. of silver and 4 gr. of gold per 108 oz. 
 The yield at present is trifling, but the mines are capable, under im- 
 proved management and with good niachinery, of producing 12,000 tons 
 annually, while the cost of extraction is estimated at only 24^. per ton. 
 
 This section may be concluded with the following extract from the 
 report of Consul Wrench for 1 880 : — 
 
 " It may appear a bold prediction to make that this country will 
 become at no distant period noted for its gold-mines ; but as it was well 
 known in ancient times as an auriferous region, there is some basis for 
 belief in the possibility of its ancient reputation being revived in this 
 respect. The Messrs. Calvert, who have from the outset been connected 
 with the discovery of mines in Turkey, turned their attention to gold- 
 mines in the Levant many years ago, and have now acquired the most 
 extensive knowledge possessed by any one on the subject. They 
 describe this country as one vast series of auriferous deposits. An 
 analysis of a selected sample of ore, which, to unpractised eyes appears 
 but a poor lead-ore, from one of their mines, by Johnson and Sons, 
 assayers to the Bank of England, gives the following result : — 
 
 
 Per cent. 
 1-23 
 
 3>'27 
 
 9-80 
 
 . ,. (?)irio 
 
 Copper 0*50 
 
 Oxide of iron , , . . ' 2 • 40 
 
 Gold . 
 Silver 
 V.inc . 
 i.ead . 
 
 Per cent. 
 
 Sulphur i3'oo 
 
 Carbonate of lime .. 2'00 
 
 Oxygen, &c 3-50 
 
 Silica 25*20 
 
 Total . 
 
 IOO"CXJ 
 
ASIA : TURKEY. 475 
 
 " The yield of the ore per ton, should this sample prove an average 
 one, is therefore : — 
 
 £ s. d. 
 
 Gold, 401 oz. 16 dwt,, at 4/. 1,607 4 o 
 
 Silver, 10,214 oz, 17 dwt., at 4^. 6</. 2,298 6 10 
 
 Total /3.905 10 10 
 
 " And in other places, ores of the same class, some of them associated 
 with tellurium, have been met with, worth 2000/. to 6500/. per ton. 
 Hitherto but one concession for an argentiferous gold-mine in Turkey 
 has been granted, and the Calverts, as discoverers, are the concession- 
 naires. This mine is situated near Serdjiller, about 12 miles from the 
 Dardanelles, and it is no doubt that of Astyra, which the ancients said 
 was worked by King Priam of Troy. In company with Calvert and 
 W. L. Stoney, C.E., I visited this mine, and a brief description of what I 
 observed may be interesting. 
 
 "The Serdjiller gold-mine consists of a quartz reef 40 to 60 ft. wide, 
 projecting several ft. above the surface, like a wall, for nearly half a mile 
 in length, and extending from the summit' of a mountain of mica-schist 
 and syenite 1 500 ft. high, right down its side to the valley below. There 
 are several ancient galleries in this reef. From the top of the reef near 
 the summit, I struck off some pieces of quartz, which, though not a 
 particle of the precious metal v.as visible to the naked eye, on being 
 assayed in London by Claudct, assaycr o the Bank of England, proved 
 to be of the remarkable richness of 8 oz. 3 dwt. 10 gr. of gold per ton of 
 ore. On the summit are the ruins called Kald-Tath (Castle Stone), so 
 called from a prehistoric fortress constructed of rough blocks of quartz. 
 Another sample from this mine pro . ed on assay by Johnson and Sons to 
 be still richer, for the yield was 43 oz. 10 dwt. of gold per ton of ore. 
 Other samples ranged from I oz. 13 dwt. down to 19 dwt. 10 gr. of gold 
 per ton of ore, together with a nearly equal quantity of silver, and the 
 reef appears auriferous throughout. 
 
 " Stoney was much struck with the size and richness of the reef, and 
 he attaches great value to this mine, not only on that account, but from 
 the unusual facilities for working, as it can be commenced as an open 
 quarry with a natural drainage, and an inclined plane for lowering the 
 ore to the base of the hills, where water-power is available for crushing; 
 and also from its proximity to a seaport, to which a good level road 
 leads. The property is about 1000 acres in extent. The quartz reef 
 cropping out at the surface is found to increase to lOO ft. in width in the 
 ancient galleries. Besides this one, I understand that further exploration 
 has resulted in establishing the fact that other quartz reefs converge, 
 towards Kald-Tath, from different parts of the mountain. 
 
476 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 " It is highly desirable that the mining regulations of Turkey be 
 revised, and the formalities simplified, for at present they are extremely 
 vexatious, and open the door to corruption and abuses, to the detriment 
 of those who have honestly acquired mining rights. If mining " claims " 
 and rights were as properly defined and placed on the same footing as 
 all other rights of real property, it would be a step in the right direction ; 
 for in respect of real property, original official title-deeds are delivered 
 without delay, whereas in the case of mining rights, pending the grant 
 of a firman of concession — a tedious process lasting through several 
 years — the only original official documents delivered consist of a " pro- 
 specting" licence, and a receipt for the application for concession; 
 neither of which is procurable until after many formalities, and a long 
 lapse of time, and which after all do not by any means constitute as 
 satisfactory a security for the holder as the original official title-deeds 
 delivered for other descriptions of real property. The discoverer of a mine 
 is often deprived f his rights by designing persons, and this because 
 there is no provisioii mining law for the protection of his title by 
 
 official certificate." 
 
 AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The quantity of gold raised in the Australasian colonies since 185 1 is 
 shown in the following table : — 
 
 
 Prior to 1878. 
 
 During 1878. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Colony. 
 
 Estimated 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Estimated 
 Quantity. 
 
 Vtilue. 
 
 Estim.-Jted 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Victoria 
 
 New South Wales .. 
 Queensland 
 South Australia 
 
 oz. 1 £ 
 47,283,377 i8y,i33,so8 
 8,693,368 32,i9.3>'9i 
 2,617,500 9,675.419 
 
 46,356^ 184,767 
 
 oz. 
 775,272 
 117,978 
 283,592 
 
 10,747 
 
 £ 
 
 3,101,088 
 
 423,184 
 
 1,052,490 
 
 42,650 
 
 oz. 
 
 48,058,649 
 
 8,811,346 
 
 2,901,092 
 
 57.«o3 
 
 £ 
 
 192,234.596 
 32,616.37s 
 
 10,727,909 
 
 227,^17 
 
 Total of Australia 
 
 Tasmania 
 
 New Zealand . , 
 
 58,640,601 
 
 45,751 
 8,648,996 
 
 231,186,885 
 
 180,600 
 33,765,194 
 
 1,187,589 
 
 25,249 
 310,486 
 
 4,619,412 
 
 100,000 
 1,240,079 
 
 59,828,190 
 
 71,000 
 8,959,482 
 
 235,806,297 
 280600 
 
 35,005,273 
 
 Total of Australasia 
 
 67,335,348265,132,679 1,523,324 
 
 1 1 
 
 5,959,491 
 
 68,8s8,672'27i,o92,i7o 
 
 New Caledonia. — The most detailed account of gold in New 
 Caledonia is given by Heurtcau (1876). The first discovery of gold was 
 made in 1863, in the eastern slope of the mica-schist range bordering the 
 N.E. coast of the island, in the Poebo country. In the end of 1870, four 
 miners, exploring the valley of the Diahot, encountered rich outcrops in 
 the Manghine hill on the left bank, for which they obtained a concession. 
 
u 
 
liO 
 
 IM 106 167 168 ]68 170 IH 172 173 174 174 176 177 178 179 1*0 
 
 ■mo* KEL!. * SSic. LITH 46.KL.vr, ?r toVeMT (SARBSN 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW CALEDONIA, NEW GUINEA. 
 
 477 
 
 This remains the only payable auriferous ground yet discovered, though 
 colours have been got in the streams flowing from the mica-schist range 
 to the sea, in the Pc "jo and Oubatche countries. The concession, known 
 as Fern Hill, had yielded to the month of September, 1873, 1200 tons of 
 quartz, from which had been extracted 4663 oz. of gold, valued at 
 ^7.756/. The vein strikes N. 25° E., dips vertically, and varies in width 
 from 1 5 in. to 5 ft. It consists of a number of thin veins of quartz 
 traversing a schistose mass. Various other outcrops of copper-ores con- 
 taining some gold are met with, but not of sufficient importance to be 
 considered gold-ores. The gold occurs native in grains in the quartz, 
 and disseminated through the neighbouring schist. The metal contains 
 7i per cent of silver. In working, it has been found that the free gold 
 disappears in depth, and the vein-stuff becomes a mixture of common 
 and magnetic iron-pyrites, so poorly auriferous that the workings have 
 been suspended. 
 
 G. Milner Stephen (1872) writes to Sir R. Murchison that gold has 
 been discovered on the banks of the river Bond^ on the N.E. coast of 
 New Caledonia ; 2^ tons of the auriferous drift were brought to Sydney, 
 and found to be highly charged with very fine, almost invisible gold-dust, 
 to an extent of 16 oz. to the ton. 
 
 The exports from Noumea were 53^ oz. in the last quarter of 1879. 
 
 New Guinea. — A report by C. S. Wilkinson on auriferous speci- 
 mens from New Guinea was published in the annual report of the 
 Department of Mines, New South Wales, for the year 1878, from which 
 the following information is extracted. 
 
 The discovery of gold by the Rev. Mr. Lawes and Andrew Goldie was 
 in confirmation of what had been anticipated from an examination of 
 the rock specimens already obtained from New Guinea by the Hon. W. 
 Macleay, during his voyage of exploration in the Chevert, and by 
 D'Albertis on the Fly river. Some of the specimens in Macleay's 
 collection were described by Wilkinson in a paper read before the 
 Linnaean Society of New Soutli Wales on the 28th February, 1876 ; but 
 he purposely refrained from making allusion to the probable occurrence 
 of gold-bearing deposits in New Guinea, lest miners might be induced to 
 rush to that inhospitable country, where at present the lives of Europeans 
 would, from well-known causes, be greatly endangered. 
 
 For the same reason, he was also silent regarding the geological 
 indications of gold-bearing formations, as shown by the collection of 
 rocks obtained by D'Albertis on the Fly river. Amongst these speci- 
 mens were stone tomahawks formed from altered sandstone (probably 
 Silurian) and greenstone or diorite, containing in some instances iron- 
 pyrites. This greenstone, in association with the Silurian and Devo- 
 nian beds, is the main source of the auriferous deposits on some of the 
 
 /•' 
 
478 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 principal gold-fields in New South Wales, and it is therefore suggestive 
 of the occurrence of gold in New Guinea. At the same time there is 
 no reason to expect that richer deposits will be found there than are indi- 
 cated by the auriferous formations in New South Wales, where is such a 
 vast tract of known gold-bearing country open for profitable mining 
 enterprise. This fact is worth the careful consideration of those intend- 
 ing gold-seekers who may be fascinated by the distant prospect, and to 
 whom Lawes has given earnest and timely warning against rashly pro- 
 ceeding to Port Moresby, where he is " quite sure great misery and loss 
 of life must ensue if there is any influx of Europeans during the wet 
 season." 
 
 The samples of quartz and auriferous black sand, sent from New 
 Guinea by Goldie, and submitted for examination by Mason Bros., of 
 Pitt Street, are as follows : — 
 
 The black sand consisted almost entirely of small crystalline grains 
 of magnetic oxide of iron and specular iron, with a few small pebbles cf 
 limonite, brown oxide of iron, and numerous prismatic and octahedral 
 crystals of zircon, the edges of the crystals not being in the least degree 
 waterworn. There were also a few scales of yellow mica and a little 
 quartz sand. 
 
 The sample weighed y^ oz., and yielded 5*75 gr. of gold. But this 
 yield affords no certain evidence of the richness of the actual wash-dirt, 
 in the absence of any information as to the number of dishes or quantity 
 of dirt from which Goldie washed this sample of auriferous sand. The 
 gold is light and scaly, and some of it as fine as dust. 
 
 The quartz consisted of broken pieces of very waterworn pebbles or 
 boulders, and showed freeiy small masses of pale yellow mundic or iron- 
 pyiites, but no gold to the naked eye. It, however, yielded on assay at 
 the rate of only 2 dwt. of gold and silver to the ton, the gold being in 
 excess of the silver. 
 
 The few but interesting specimens obtained by Lawes give an insight 
 into the geological character of the country lying E. of Redscar Bay and 
 Port Moresby. The fragments of slate sandstone, quartz, greenstone, 
 and jasperoid rocks, indistinguishable from specimens of the Silurian 
 series from some of the gold-fields of New South Wales, lead to the 
 inference that the lofty Mount Owen Stanley, Mount Astrolabe, and 
 intervening ranges, are to a great extent, if not wholly, composed of 
 these rocks, and are gold-bearing. The auriferous character of this part 
 of New Guinea was suspected by Wilkinson after examining in 1876 
 the rock samples collected by Hon. Wm. Macleay from Hall's Sound. 
 But there is now evidence of the actual discovery of gold by Lawes in 
 the Kupaloloko river, and by Goldie in the Goldie river. One of the 
 samples, from the bed of che Kupaloloko, near Mount Vetura, which 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 479 
 
 contained much magnetic iron-sand, gave an average assay of 3 dwt. of 
 gold per ton, the sample having been subjected to no washing or other 
 reduction in bulk, and representing the mass as it occurred. The 
 Kupaloloko runs parallel with the Goldie farther E. ; both discharge 
 into the Laloke river. There is nothing to warrant the belief 
 that the deposits are richer than is ordinarily the case in New South 
 Wales. 
 
 On the S. side of Fairfax Harbour, from the hill under which the 
 Basilisk lay, a considerable quantity of gold-quartz was taken by 
 Capt. Moresby's party in 1874; and at Pitt Bay, at the E. end of 
 Moresby Island, one piece of auriferous quartz was got from the bed of 
 a stream, but a second could not be found. 
 
 New South Wales. — New South Wales abounds in minerals. 
 According to competent authorities he auriferous districts of this 
 colony are far larger than those of an> other in Australia, and as rich as 
 the richest, if not more so. Up to 1871, only alluvial washings were 
 carried on, and the wealth lying in quartz reefs was comparatively 
 neglected. There were then upwards of 16,000 miners engaged. Since 
 the veins have been worked and quartz-mining has come into operation, 
 there has been an extension in this direction, and the results have, in a 
 few instances, been unexpectedly rich. The Emu Creek gold-field alone 
 sent by escort to Sydney, from October, 1866, to September, 1871, 
 182,061 oz. of gold. From 2 mines on Hawkins' Hill, the yield in 
 6 months was gold to the value of 162,850/., after paying escort fees and 
 mint charges. 
 
 The proclaimed gold-fields extend with short intervals the entire 
 length of the colony, with a breadth of 200 miles. It is highly probable 
 that rich and extensive gold-fields will be discovered for many years to 
 come. There are immense tracts in the interior which have not yet been 
 prospected. In many miles of country, the rocks that belong to a golden 
 area yet remain in their original condition, and will so remain till some 
 fortunate adventurer stumbles by accident on a tangible encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 All the great gold-fields of the west are within 2 days' journey of the 
 capital, and there is not any mining settlement which may not be easily 
 reached. The gold-mining centres present the appearance of orderly 
 and thriving townships, with schools, churches, journals, shops, and 
 places of amusement. The authority to dig or mine for gold is given to 
 all who apply for it. It costs only ioj. a year, and entitles its possessor 
 to take up ground upon any gold-field to the extent of 60 ft. by 60 ft. to 
 1 14 ft. by 1 14 ft., according to the class of mining pursued upon the 
 particular field. If a man wants to open a quartz mine, he can take up 
 50 ft. along the line of reef, with a breadth of 100 yd. on each side. His 
 
48o 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 miner's right also entitles him to occupy ^ acre of land for his dwelling, 
 and to an electoral vote. A man may take up as many claims as he 
 likes, if he will work them. Sluicing claims extend to lO acres. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 Ui' ttS* Mtf* US' MC' Wl 
 
 fSC' W liV »JJ* 
 
 Sketch-map of New South Wales Gold-fields. 
 
 The yield of gold in New South Wales is thus stated by Reid for the 
 years 1851-1875 : — 
 
 Year. £ 
 
 1851-55 •• •• 61338.257 
 
 1856-60 5,192,326 
 
 1861-65 8,606,291 
 
 1866-70 5,069,802 
 
 1871-75 6,207,265 
 
 Total 
 
 ;f3i,4i3,94i 018,436,114-502. 
 
 Year. 02. £ f. d. 
 
 1871 323,609-79 1,250,484 15 II 
 
 1872 425,129-71 1,643,581 16 II 
 
 1873 36i,784'7i 1,395.175 8 7 
 
 1874 270,823-31 1,040,328 13 6 
 
 1875 230,882-50 877,693 18 o 
 
 The quantity of gold won in 1877 is stated at 121,923 oz. 12 dwt. 
 15 gr., value 456,973^- ^l^- ^od 
 
 \ 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 481 
 
 The statistics of the gold-exports for 1869- 1878 are thus given by 
 the Registrar-General : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 1869 .. 
 
 1870 .. 
 
 1871 ,. 
 
 1872 .. 
 1873 ., 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 or., 
 642,358 
 
 410,547 
 S-?S.492 
 543,430 
 665,676 
 
 Value. 
 
 Year. 
 
 £ 
 2,403.869 
 
 '.SS5>736 
 
 2.074,937 
 2,111,231 
 
 2.590,145 
 
 1874 . 
 
 i«75 ■ 
 1876 . 
 
 i»77 . 
 1878 , 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 0'. 
 482,076 
 
 552-592 
 
 4<o,33o 
 468,51s 
 436,766 
 
 £ 
 1,875,081 
 2,097,740 
 
 i,5«9,854 
 1,824,188 
 
 •.699,953 
 
 The official statistics of the gold-exports for 1864- 1879 are : — 
 
 1864. 
 
 1865. 
 
 1866. I 1867. 
 
 Gold: 
 Coin .. 
 
 Dust and Bar 
 
 /Boxes SS3 512 634' 453 
 
 \ ;C 2,647,516 2,325,844 2,815,437 2,041,383 
 Oz.| 78,169 115,126 134,659 136.348 
 £\ 304,955 44',oo6 531,983 544,661 
 
 i868. 
 
 414 
 
 I86g.* 
 
 500 
 
 1870." 
 
 1871.' 
 
 296 
 
 401 
 
 1,771,005 2,184,612 1,206,569 1,724.088 
 
 98,668 
 382,616 
 
 '49,0951 I78,5>3' 156,382 
 578,260 672,254 601,250 
 
 187a." 
 
 Gold; 
 Coin .. 
 
 1873.* 
 
 Dust 
 
 and Bar | 
 
 oxes' 387 490 
 
 / 1,656,131 2,151,168 
 
 Oz. 186,730' 200,134 
 
 ;^1 73i>'20 773,439 
 
 1874.' 
 
 397 
 
 1,710.888 
 
 '^^,231 
 
 2jj,i94 
 
 1875.' 
 
 461 
 
 2,082,591 
 
 3,102 
 
 11,914 
 
 1876.* 
 
 «877-t 
 
 1878.+ 
 
 i879.t 
 
 370 418 400 214 
 
 1.575,876 1,816,495 1,653,911 695,303 
 
 19,178 12,696 36,059 5,s89 
 
 76,84? 51,940, 138,620 22,840 
 
 * Exclusive of exports overland, amounting to 2,355,718/. in 1869, ».'37.273'. in 1870, 3,460,266/. in 1871, 
 
 41,478/. in 1873. not stated in 1873, 3,388.231/. in 1B74, 4,217,912/. in 1875, and 3,957,980/. in 1876. 
 
 t Inclusive of exports overland, amounting to 3,7^2,580/. in 1877, 3.677.122/. in 1878, and 4,103,935/. in 1879. 
 
 The quantity and value of gold raised at New South Wales prior to 
 1st January, 1881, with approximate area of the deposits, and the 
 formations in which they chiefly occur are thus given : — 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 oz. 
 
 9.07s. 552"4S 
 
 Value. 
 
 £ 
 33.777,344 
 
 Approximate Area. 
 
 Square miles. 
 35.500 
 
 Formations in which chiefly found. 
 
 (Cainozoic, Palteozoic, Granite, 
 ( Porphyry, Serpentine, Diorite. 
 
 The following table shows the quantity and proportion of gold 
 obtained from certain parcels of wash-dirt, puddled, sluiced, &c., during 
 the year 1880, as ascertained by the wardens of the gold-fields : — 
 
 District. 
 
 Bathurst 
 
 Mudgee 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 Southern 
 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 tons. 
 21,361 
 3,090 
 
 33-443 
 230,790 
 
 3,500 
 
 292,184 
 
 Average yield of 
 Gold per ton. 
 
 Total yield of Gold. 
 
 oz. dwt. 
 
 o 3 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 o 
 
 2 
 
 gr. 
 
 18-74 
 
 i6'oo 
 
 3-82 
 
 4*34 
 18-85 
 
 oz. 
 
 4.038 
 1,030 
 8,626 
 
 2,091 
 
 487 
 
 dwt. 
 
 ft. 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 I 273 16,273 17 20 
 
 2 I 
 
'^ai;. 
 
 1 1 
 
 482 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Annexed are similar details concerning parcels of quartz : — 
 
 District. 
 
 Hatluirst 
 
 T.anib.iioora i«ricl Turoii 
 
 Mudsjee 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 Southoin 
 
 Tuimit and Adelong 
 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 New England and Clarence . 
 Hunter and Macleay ... 
 
 Quartz crubhcd. 
 
 tons 
 
 5.8" 
 4,183 
 2,420 
 
 3.023 
 2,102 
 2,528 
 
 2,447 
 66 
 
 cwt. qr. 
 O O 
 
 10 
 O 
 
 10 O 
 O O 
 
 10 
 O 
 
 5 
 
 2,082 15 
 
 24,664 10 o 
 
 Average yicM of 
 Gold per ton. 
 
 oz. dwt. 
 
 5 
 
 IS 
 
 f) 
 
 12 
 o 
 4 
 
 17 
 3 
 
 IS 
 
 gr- 
 
 I" '99 
 6-72 
 
 17-25 
 
 I2'28 
 0-28 
 
 4'«3 
 
 1-85 
 
 IO"23 
 
 21-88 
 
 o IS 17-54 
 
 Total yield of Gold. 
 
 oz. 
 
 1,597 
 3,196 
 1,176 
 1,892 
 
 2j!C3 
 
 3,055 
 2,089 
 
 475 
 3,813 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 18 7 
 13 
 
 4 
 o 
 
 '5 
 
 5 
 
 19 
 
 8 
 2 
 7 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 18 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 19 
 
 19,400 
 
 The summary on p. 483, compiled from mining registrars' reports, 
 shows approximately the number of miners employed in gold-mining, 
 the quantity of gold won, the area of ground worked, and the value of 
 machinery, in New South Wales, during 1880. 
 
 The table on p. 484 shows the width, dip, and strike of quartz reefs in 
 some of the deepest mines in the colony, being worked during i88o, and 
 the average yield of gold per ton. 
 
 A clear and succinct view of the prcs'^nt condition of the gold- 
 industry of New South Wales may be gained from the following 
 summary of the last (1881; reports furnished by the Wardens and 
 Mining Registrars. The chief fields will be separately described 
 afterwards. 
 
 Scarcity of water has been experienced in the Bathurst, Tambaroora 
 and Turon, Lachlan, Mudgce, Southern, and Peel and Uralla districts. 
 From most of the older gold-fields, a large proportion of the miners were 
 drawn away by the discovery of gold at Temora and at MoiiUcal, and 
 the same thing is now happening with reg:ird tc the recent discovery of 
 gold at Mount Browne, in the extreme N.W. corner of the colony. 
 These discoveries arc doubtless beneficial in the long run, but their 
 immediate effect is frequently a reduction in the output of gold. This 
 has been in a marked degree the effect of the rush to the Temora gold- 
 field, because many miners abandoned claims that were yielding a 
 moderate return, on some of the older gold-fields ; and, owing to the 
 scarcity of water at Temora, even those whose claims cortain payable 
 deposits have not been able to reap the reward of their enterprise and 
 industry. Fortunately the coarse character of the gold has enabled some 
 of the claimholders to extract a comparatively large quantity of gold 
 without washin^; ; but had a plentiful supply of water been available, 
 there can be no doubt, not only that Temora would by thi.s time have 
 proved a rich and extensive gold-field, but the quantity of gold realized 
 
AUSTRALASIA: NEW SOUTH \VAI,i;S, 
 
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484 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES, 
 
 485 
 
 
 from the earth raised during the year would have more than compensated 
 for the reduced yield consequent upon the abandonment of claims on the 
 older fields. The quantity of wash-dirt stacked ready for washing as 
 soon as water is obtained is estimated by the Warden at 65,000 loads, 
 and by the Mining Registrar at 50,113 loads, calculated to contain 
 30,010 oz. of gold. There are 97 payable claims on the field, and the 
 quartz reefs which ha\c not yet been much worked show some very rich 
 stone — one line is 2 ft. wide, and one 4 ft, but there is no machinery on 
 the ground. 
 
 As regards the discovery of gold at Montreal, close to the sea-coast, 
 and on the S.E. side of the Dromedary mountain, Warden Keightley 
 says — " The field contains a rich deposit of free gold which has been 
 subject to the action of the sea, reducing it to a water-worn condition, 
 but evidently washed back by the sea and ranged in two terraces about 
 high-water level. . . . Experience has shown that ground considered 
 valueless during the rush is now being proved highly auriferous, and the 
 run has been traced to the west through terraces, and is now being found 
 under lake Wallaga." He has not yet succeeded in tracing any con- 
 nection between this deposit and that at the Gulf gold-field, or that otj 
 Mount Dromedary. He says there are now over 30 claims on payable 
 gold, some half-dozen exceedingly rich, producing from several dwt. to 
 over 3 lb. weight of clean gold to the dish ; 8 ordinary buckets of wash 
 tested, taken off the bed-rock, gave the handsome yield of 7 lb. 7 oz. 
 of gold. 
 
 At Corunna, 14 miles N. of Montreal, similar deposits of black sand 
 containing gold have been found; also at Wagonga ; while S. of 
 Montreal, at a place called Nelson, gold is being found in payable quan- 
 tities, but of a coarser descr on. 
 
 A shaft has been sunk i.y means of water-tight boxes in Wallaga 
 lake, about 150 ft. from the margin. The shaft was bottomed at about 
 28 ft. on payable gold. At the Waniiol rush, near Junee, some 600 
 miners are on the ground; but no rich fiuls have \ t been reported. 
 The rush to Mount Wcrong did not produce very salisfa< tory results; 
 but this was due to want of a more extensive search, especially under the 
 basalt. In the Carcoar district, some very promi'^ing reefs have during 
 the year been discovered and worked at Milburn Creek ; the reefs so far 
 as opened up are said to show rich stone throughout. On Crudine Creek, 
 in the Tambaroora and Turon district, some sluicin ■ und has been 
 opened, and a large extent is likely to prove payabK > i Upper Bingera, 
 in the Peel and Uralla district, some rich ground has been opened on 
 the wet lead. One party is said to have realized 20/. per man per week 
 for several weeks. 
 
 On the older gold-fields very satisfactory progress has been made 
 
 1*^ 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
 it . 
 
486 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIUUTION. 
 
 M ' 
 
 I'i 
 
 during the year, allowance being made for the effects of the drought and 
 the rushes to new fields. The Warden at Carcoar reports that the 
 Brown's Creek Co., one of the most important in the colony, treated 
 20,531 tons for an average of 3 dwt. if gr. per ton, being a higher 
 average than was obtained in 1878 or 1879. He also reports that a com- 
 pany was formed to work a large reef on the Belubula river by water- 
 power — 1294 tons yielded 3 dwt. per ton, — and states that there are 
 several localities on the banks of the river where large but comparatively 
 poor reefs could be advantageously worked by water-powci. The 
 Mining Registrar reports the finding of rich quartz at Caloola. 
 
 The Warden at Copeland calls attention to the large reefs at Cobark, 
 which he says average ^ oz. per ton, are easily worked, and the stone 
 could, by means of an adit, be inexpensively conveyed to a battery, and 
 he adds that a battery of 30 heads could be worked by water-power. In 
 his opinion (and his experience is very extensive), this locality and the 
 Kcrriput present excellent openings for the investment of capital under 
 good management. He reports that many of the mines at Copeland are 
 idle : this is probably due to the rush to newer fields, as there can be no 
 doubt that the reefs in this locality would pay well if properly worked, 
 and it is scarcely likely that they will be allowed to remain long 
 unworkcd. The return furnished by the Mining Registrar at Copeland 
 shows that the stone raised during 1880, so far as the results can be 
 obtained, averaged 2 oz. i dwt. per ton, or less by 1642 oz. than for 1879 ; 
 but the decrease in the number of miners is so much greater that the 
 average yield per miner is greater in 1880 than in 1879. At one claim 
 there were 400 tons of quartz at grass at the end of the year which could 
 not be crushed for want of water. The machinery on the field has in- 
 creased and improved, though there are localities en*-':ciy without 
 machinery, which cannot be developed fui want of it. The Warden 
 also reports that the reefs at Little River, Dungog, have given good 
 returns. 
 
 The Warden at Braidwood reports that the attempt to extract the 
 gold from the pyritous veins at Major's Creek has resulted in failure, not- 
 withstanding the large outlay of capital. This is deeply to be regretted, 
 as these veins have been proved to contain a large quantity of gold. So 
 far the only process by which the gviVl can be extracted from these veins 
 is a chlorine process in use in Victoria ; but the cost of carriage of the 
 material to the works is so great that the margin left barely covers the 
 cost of raising the stone. There appears to be a prospect of the quartz 
 reefs at Little River, in the Braidwood district, being efficiently worked. 
 
 The Mining Registrar at Orange reports that the pyritous reefs at 
 Lucknow, near Orange, are proving richer, wider, and more permanent 
 at 385 ft. than near the surface ; but the material Ii s to be sent to 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 487 
 
 England for treatment. Pyrites sent by the Reform Co. to England for 
 sale during the last 9 months of the year realized 4149/. The Mining 
 Registrar at Araluen says the reefs there have been proved to contain 
 gold in payable quantities ; but, owing to a mixture of base metals, it 
 cannot be extracted by any process known in the district. At Yalwal, 
 in the Shoalhavcn district, though the quart^z reefs cover a wide extent 
 of country, prospecting is confined to a very small area. The reefs at 
 work appear to give good returns. The quartz at the Eclipse mine is 
 said to yield ij to 4J oz. per ton ; at the Pinnacle mine, the average is 
 I J oz. per ton ; at the Pioneer, with a reef averaging 6 ft. wide, the yield 
 per ton is 19 dwt. 18 gr. ; at the Homeward Bound, the average is i oz. 
 per ton. 
 
 The extensive works in course of construction for the purpose of 
 bringing water to hydraulic the numerous dykes of granite containing 
 payable gold at Poverty Point, in the Clarence district, arc not yet com- 
 pleted ; but the Warden says that when complete, a large yield of gold 
 may be anticipated, as the water will have a pressure of 50 ft. — quite 
 sufficient to break down and reduce the soft granite, an almost unlimited 
 extent of which is known to be auriferous. If this undertaking prove 
 successful, there is a probability that the similar deposit at Wilson's 
 Downfall, referred to by Geological Surveyor Pittman, will also be 
 worked. 
 
 In the Cobar district, reefs have been opened up at Tindayrie and at 
 Honeybogle, which promise to prove payable ; but work has been 
 suspended at the latter place, in consequence of a dispute as to the 
 ownership of the land. Prospecting is said to be carried on with success 
 at Rock Holes, in the same district. 
 
 Warden Browne, of the Mudgee district, and who has recently been 
 removed to Dubbo, in submitting his last report, points ou<- that nearly 
 a score of tons of gold have been won with rude applicL'iccs, chiefly from 
 alluvial deposits, within the comparatively small area worked, and that 
 it is scarcely likely that the whole district, comprising several hundred 
 square miles, has been completely denuded of the precious metal. From 
 his report, it appears that prospecting has been retarded by the drought ; 
 but some deep claims at Home Rule, which are paying veil, have 
 established the existence of a defined lead trending in the direction of 
 the Britannia lead, and thence probably making for the main channel 
 or gutter formed by the junction of the Star and Black leads. He also 
 reports fair progress by the prospectors on the Black lead, and expresses 
 an opinion that much payable ground might be opened at the Canadian, 
 if powerful steam machinery were employed to drain the lower levels ; 
 he likewise reports the erection of machineiy to work on a large scale the 
 extensive deposits of cement at Tallawang ; and further, the discovery of 
 
 
 
488 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 payable gold on the private property of the Hon, G. H. Cox, on the S. 
 bank of the Cudgegong and at Bara Creek, and indications of payable 
 gold being found in an extensive flat within the Havilah estate. 
 
 The Mining Registrar at Windeyer reports the finding of nuggets 
 varying from 5 to 1 1 oz, on the Upper Meroo. 
 
 The following table, furnished by the Master of the Mint, shows the 
 quantities of gold brought by escort and otherwise into the Royal Mint 
 at Sydney during the years 1 879 and 1 880 : — 
 
 District. 
 
 1879- 
 
 iSSo. 
 
 Bathurst 
 
 Tambaroora and Turon 
 
 Mudgee 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 Southern 
 
 Tumut and Adelong 
 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 New England and Clarence 
 
 Hunter and Macleay 
 
 Not within a Mining District 
 
 Localities unknown 
 
 oz. 
 
 10,141-22 
 
 15.365-25 
 17,879-82 
 
 6,457-79 
 
 8,361-04 
 
 13.582-38 
 3.305-17 
 
 8.853-49 
 
 22,953-72 
 
 oz. 
 15.025-76 
 12,392-30 
 
 15.837-84 
 
 8,661-14 
 
 12,649-33 
 
 16,245-34 
 3,676-64 
 1,188-00 
 8,667-00 
 1,101-48 
 
 21,224-69 
 
 
 106,899-88 
 
 116,669-52 
 
 The following table, furnished by the Collector of Customs, shows the 
 quantity or estimated quantity and the value of the gold exported during 
 the year 1880: — 
 
 Dust. 
 
 Auriferous Quartz. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Value, 
 
 oz. 
 81 
 
 304 
 
 pkgs. 
 185 
 
 2513 cwt, 
 pyrites. 
 
 6902 
 
 oz. 
 I931 
 
 7206 
 
 Hitherto, the returns so furnished have been deemed the most reliable 
 sources from which to ascertain the quantity of gold won in the colony, 
 and, in the absence of complete returns from all the mines in the colony, 
 these tables taken together perhaps still furnish the most reliable infor- 
 mation on the subject, though it may fairly be assumed that since the 
 export-duty on gold has been removed, all the gold sent out of the 
 colony is not recorded at the Custom House. It is at any rate a fact 
 that, since the ist of October, 1879, when the Act to abolish the export- 
 duty on gold came into force, the quantity of gold entered at the Custom 
 House is very much less than before that date. It will also be seen that 
 the returns furnished by the Mining Registrars, as set forth in the fol- 
 lowing table, give as the result of the year's operations a larger 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 489 
 
 quantity of gold than the returns of the Mint and Custom House taken 
 together : — 
 
 Bathurst 
 
 Tambaroora and Turon . . 
 
 Mudgee 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 Southern 
 
 Tumut and Adelong 
 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 New England and Clarence . 
 Hunter and Macleay 
 Not within a Mining District 
 Localities unknown 
 
 Mint. 
 
 oz. 
 15,026 
 12,392 
 
 15-838 
 
 8,661 
 
 12,649 
 
 16,245 
 
 3,677 
 1,188 
 8,667 
 1,101 
 21,225 
 
 Mining 
 Registrars. 
 
 oz. 
 11,006 
 13.946 
 20,092 
 18,558 
 19.338 
 18,276 
 7,089 
 3,219 
 
 9,445 
 103 
 
 Excess. 
 
 Deficiency. 
 
 4,020 
 
 998 
 21,225 
 
 26,243 
 
 The quantity returned by the Mining Registrars exceeds the quantity sent tol 
 the Mint by J 
 
 1,554 
 4,254 
 9.897 
 6,689 
 2,031 
 3,412 
 2,031 
 778 
 
 30,646 
 26,243 
 
 4,403 
 
 The Mining Registrars endeavour to make their returns complete ; 
 but it is evident that they cannot reach all the mines in their respective 
 districts, and therefore it is possible that the output of gold for the year 
 1880 is considerably in excess of the yield quoted. However, taking 
 the returns of the Mint and Custom House as the most reliable — and 
 they may be said to be thoroughly reliable to the extent that all the 
 gold therein accounted for is the produce of the colony — the output of 
 gold for 1880 exceeds that of 1879 by 8950 oz., valued at 34,324/. 
 
 The following table shows the results obtained from the treatment 
 of certain parcels of wash-dirt during the years 1879 and 1880 re- 
 spectively. Unfortunately, returns have been procured in each year 
 from relatively few claims, and, for purposes of comparison, are of little 
 value, because the wash dirt is not all treated by the same process; 
 and whereas a very small quantity of gold per ton will pay for sluicing, 
 a much larger yield is necessary to make wash-dirt (which requires to be 
 puddled) pay expenses : — 
 
 1879- 
 
 District. 
 
 Quatititjr. 
 
 Average per ton. 
 
 Yield of Gold. 
 
 Bathurst 
 
 Tambaroora and Turon 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 Southern 
 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 Not in a Mining District 
 
 tons. 
 29,911 
 
 475 
 18,054 
 
 18,772 
 
 1,300 
 
 185 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 3 16-45 
 9 7-32 
 4 9-29 
 13-87 
 
 17-35 
 
 4 20-75 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 5,512 
 
 221 
 
 3,960 10 6 
 
 542 9 6 
 
 502 
 
 45 
 
 
 68,697 
 
 3 334 
 
 10,782 19 12 
 
490 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 1880. 
 
 District. 
 
 Bathurst .. .. 
 
 Mudgec 
 Laclilan .. 
 Southern . . 
 Peel and Uralla 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 tons. 
 
 21,361 
 
 3.090 
 
 33.443 
 230,790 
 
 3.500 
 
 Average per ton. 
 
 Yield of Gold. 
 
 oz. dwt 
 
 o 3 
 
 ■ gr. 
 
 18-74 
 
 i6*oo 
 
 3-82 
 
 4'34 
 18-85 
 
 oz. dwt. (jr. 
 
 4,038 8 O 
 1 ,030 O O 
 8,626 19 8 
 
 2,091 O 12 
 
 487 10 O 
 
 292,184 
 
 I 2-73 I 16,273 17 20 
 
 The returns for 1 879 included a very much smaller quantity of earth 
 that had been sluiced than the returns for 1880, consequently the average 
 yield for 1880 is much smaller than for 1879. 
 
 It is greatly to be hoped that miners will in time overcome their 
 antipathy to furnish details of their operations, and that in consequence 
 the Mining Registrars will be able to obtain such complete returns as 
 will admit of a proper comparison, not only between the operations of 
 two or more years, but also of the results by the several modes of treat- 
 ment of alluvions. Such a statement would be of the greatest value for 
 statistical purposes, and would furnish the best indication of the worth of 
 auriferous deposits. 
 
 The following table shows the results obtained from some quartz 
 reefs during the years 1879-80. The returns furnished for 1880 are more 
 complete than those for the preceding year, but the average yield is very 
 much lower. The lowest average is from the Bathurst district ; this is 
 due to the fact that in that district some very large reefs are worked for 
 a comparatively small yield. The average yield, though smaller than 
 that of the previous year, is far from unsatisfactory, coi.aidering the 
 quantity of stone treated. It is to be hoped that in future large quartz 
 reefs will receive more attention from capitalists, because, though they 
 cannot be profitably worked by the individual miner, they might with the 
 aid of skill and capital be made to yield a very handsome profit, if worked 
 with economy upon a large scale : — 
 
 1879. 
 
 1880. 
 
 District. 
 
 Quantity. 
 
 Average per 
 ton. 
 
 Yield of Gold. 
 
 Q"-'!'y- peTt^ 
 
 Yield of Gold. 
 
 
 tons cwt. joz. dwt. gr. 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 tons 
 
 cwt. 
 
 oz.dwt. gr. 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 liathurst . . . . 
 
 653 |0 9 14-22 
 
 313 4 
 
 S,8ii 
 
 
 
 5 11-99 
 
 1,597 18 7 
 
 Tambaroora andj 
 Turon . . / 
 
 3,220 10 IS 14-92 
 
 2,515 9 14 
 
 4,183 
 
 10 
 
 15 6-72 
 
 3,196 4 13 
 
 Muiigee 
 
 1,746 16 3-99 
 
 1,411 6 12 
 
 2,420 
 
 |o 9 17-25 
 
 1,176 
 
 Lachlan 
 
 2,201 10 p 13 13-45 
 
 1,492 13 19 
 
 3.023 
 
 10 
 
 12 12-48 
 
 1,892 15 
 
 Southern . . 
 
 1,198 15 12 13-14 
 
 777 16 
 
 2,102 
 
 
 
 I 0-28 
 
 2,103 5 
 
 Tumut&Adelong 2,992 18 i 5 1-12 
 
 3,811 7 n 
 
 2,528 
 
 10 
 
 I 4 4-13 
 
 3,055 19 18 
 
 Peel and Uralla 796 01 7 10-76 
 
 1,092 9 
 
 2,447 
 
 
 
 017 1-85 
 
 2,089 8 
 
 ""Z.^^ % 550 |x :6-33 
 
 568 14 6 
 
 66 
 
 5 
 
 7 3 io'23 
 
 475 2 
 
 Hunter &Macleay 
 
 3,125 10 2 17 2-19 
 
 8,864 18 I 
 
 2,082 
 
 'S 
 
 I IS 21-88 
 
 3,813 7 19 
 
 
 16,464 3 I 5 7-81 
 
 20,847 18 IS 
 
 24,664 
 
 10 
 
 IS 17-54 
 
 10,400 9 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 491 
 
 From the returns furnished by the Mining Registrars, it would appear 
 that the number of gold-miners in the colony in 1880 was 13,430, in- 
 cluding Chinese, which is a very large increase upon the number in 1879. 
 Of this number, 1 1,403 were engaged in alluvial, and 2027 in quartz 
 mining ; while in 1879, the numbers were, alluvial 6476 and quartz 1826. 
 It is quite possible that the increase is not in fact sc great as it appears ; 
 but there can be little doubt that a large number of persons from outside 
 the colony, or who were following other pursuits wi<"hin it, were attracted 
 to the Temora and Montreal gold-fields. While no great increase in the 
 number of quartz miners has taken place, the number of alluvial miners 
 has increased in every district except Tambaroora and Turon. The 
 increase in the yield of gold when compared with the increase in the 
 number of miners is small ; consequently, in dividing* the gold won by 
 the number of miners, the average of their earnings appears exceedingly 
 small, thus : — 118,600 oz. divided amongst 13,430 miners, gives less than 
 9 oz. per man for the year's work. The facts are, however, — (i) That the 
 increase in the number of miners did not take place till the latter half of 
 the year ; (2) at new rushes, a considerable number of miners are engaged 
 in looking about or in unproductive labour ; (3) a very large portion of 
 the wash-dirt raised at Temora during 1 880 could not be treated for want 
 of water. Making due allowance for these special circumstances, the 
 average has probably been quite as good as that of previous years ; and 
 taking into account the new discoveries made, and the extent of new 
 ground prospected during the year 1880, the result of the year's opera- 
 tions may fairly be regarded as satisfactory, and on the whole gives 
 proiiTise of considerable improvement in this branch of mining. 
 
 The new finds will doubtless give employment to a large number of 
 operative miners, and if capitalists could be induced to undertake the 
 systematic working of the deposits on the older gold-fields, which present 
 ample scope for the profitable employment of capital under skilful and 
 economic management, the gold-fields of this colony would probably take 
 a position second to none in the world; 
 
 Barrington [Back Creek'] gold-field. — Following is an abstract of 
 Wilkinson's report (Dec. 30, 1878) on the Back Creek [Barrington] 
 gold-field and the adjacent country. 
 
 This gold-field is situated about 10 miles W. from the town of 
 Gloucester, and is at present defined by a strip of country 3 miles wide 
 extending N. from the Barrington river to the Bowman river. Back 
 Creek, where the principal gold-workings occur, takes its rise within this 
 area, amidst steep ranges, which attain an elevation of 800 to 1500 ft. 
 above the Barrington and Bowman rivers. These ranges are covered 
 with a thick forest ot box, cedar, gum, mahogany, and other timber 
 useful for mining and building purposes, together with a dense under- 
 growth of scrub, vines, and ferns, resembling the luxuriant vegetation of 
 
 til 
 
 1 
 
 If 
 
 •ifi 
 
 i IB 
 
492 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the Illawarra district and of Gippsland, Victoria, so that the miners 
 have had no slight difficulty to contend with in clearing and forming 
 dray-roads from their mines to the crushing-machines and the township. 
 The township is situated near the junction of the two main branches 
 (called right and left) of Back Creek, but it is being rapidly extended up 
 the left branch. There is very little level ground suitable for building 
 upon, owing to the steep declivity of the hills, reaching in places to the 
 bank of the creek. A township has therefore been recently surveyed on 
 more suitable ground, about a mile below the junction of the right and 
 left branches, but the former locality being nearer to the reefs, all the 
 houses of business are there at present, and the building allotments 
 nmmand a high price. 
 
 On this gold-field, 20 distinct lines of gold-bearing reefs have been 
 proved. On nearly all of these, the claimholders or leaseholders are either 
 raising stone for crushing, or further prospecting the reefs, while waiting 
 an opportunity for the crushing of the quartz already raised. In some of 
 the claims, other gold-bearing veins have been discovered ; for instance, 
 there are 3 on the Hidden Treasure or Town and Country line, whilst on 
 the Rose and Thistle line, at the head of the right branch, there are 5 or 
 6 sets of veins, from some of which rich specimens have been obtained. 
 
 The Mountain Maid reef, from which 235 tons have been crushed, 
 yielding over 15 oz. of gold per ton, averages about 14 in. thick, but 
 varies from 4 in. to 26 in. ; it has been opened for about 160 ft. along 
 its course, which strikes from E. 15° N. to N.E., underlying slightly to 
 the S.E. The strata of hard shale and sandstone which it traverses dip 
 S. 20° E. at 25°. The deepest shaft is 100 ft. The reef is accompanied 
 in places by a breccia vein, enclosing angular pieces of the bounding 
 walls ; it contains much pyrites and a little gold, and appears to have 
 been formed subsequently to the rich vein, for some specimens show 
 one vein intersecting the other. I'he Rainbow reef is on the same line, 
 •arther N.E. In the prospecting-claim, at a depth of 50 ft., the reef 
 occurs in a channel 2 ft. wide, within which the reef splits irregularly 
 into several veins, separated by partings of black shale, and forms again. 
 Its strike is E. 43° N., slightly underlying to the S.E., and the strata 
 it traverses dip S. 35° E. at 12''. The Hidden Treasure reef (Cameron 
 and party's), on the Town and Country line of reef, is being worked by 
 a tunnel. It varies from 6 in. to 6 ft. thick, averaging 3 ft, and under- 
 lies to the S.W. at an angle of 45°. It traverses indurated shales and 
 sandstones dipping S. 22° W. at 20". On the hanging-wall, in places 
 occurs a casing of unctuous clay, and the face of the quartz in contact 
 with it has a highly polished surface ; 100 tons from this reef yielded 
 3 oz. per ton. About 1 50 tons, showing gold freely, now await crushing. 
 The Centennial reef lies farther to the N.W., and also dips to the S.W. 
 
1 1 
 
 AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 493 
 
 It is said to average 2 ft. 6 in. thick, varying from 6 in. to 6 ft. Two 
 shafts have been sunk on it to depths of 50 and 90 ft. It occurs almost 
 on the .summit of the watershed, at the head of the left branch, and 
 about 8cxD ft. above the level of the township ; 147 tons crushed yielded 
 nearly 2 oz. per ton, and about 400 tons of similar stone arc now ready 
 for crushing. Between this reef and the Hidden Treasure, on the same 
 line, are other claims on smaller gold-bearing veins, 4 of which have 
 been discovered, 2 to 20 in. thick. One of these, the Town and Country 
 reef (Harris and party's), was llie first reef opened on this gold-field. 
 In another claim on the Centennial line, the Golden Crown (Lukey, 
 Young, and party's), the reef is 5 to 20 in. wide, and dips with the strata 
 S. 35° VV. at 42" ; 48 tons yielded 2 to S oz. per ton. A shaft has been 
 sunk upon it for 70 ft. The Anderson line of reef strikes almost E. and 
 W. ; it runs in lenticular shoots of quartz from a few inches up to 
 2 ft. 6 in. thick ; 84 tons crushed from one claim on it, the Lady 
 Belmore, yielded 2 to 4 oz. per ton. There are other claims at work on 
 this reef Both the crushing-machines on this creek at the time of his 
 visit were idle, owing to the scarcity of water ; this shows the necessity 
 for early provision being made for the conservation of an adequate 
 supply of water for crushing purposes. 
 
 Miller's reef and the Rose and Thistle reef at the head of the right 
 branch are chiefly in hard metamorphic conglomerate. In Doust's claim, 
 on the latter reef, the quartz averages 8 in. thick, and looks promising ; 
 it contains a little galena. In May, Robinson, and Smith's claim, the 
 average thickness of the stone is 7 in., but it is sometimes even i ft. 
 thick. From another vein in this claim, he was informed that 179 oz. 
 were " dollied " (crushed by hand) from about 6 cwt. of stone ; and in 
 the adjoining claim, 75 oz. were got from one bucketful of stuff. The 
 reefs in the prospectors' claim on the Lady Matilda line, and Cripps 
 & Co.'s on the Rose and Thistle line, are in indurated shale ; in the 
 former, the reef varies from a few inches to 3 ft. thick, running in 
 irregular shoots, and dipping generally with the shales from S. at 35° to 
 S. 22° W. at 21°. A trial crushing of l^ ton gave 3 oz. of gold ; about 
 1 20 tons of quartz are ready for crushing. A short distance farther E. 
 is the Royal Bengal Tiger reef, which strikes in quite a different direction 
 to the last, viz. N. 25° E. ; it has been opened to a depth of 40 ft. Other 
 reefs have been found in this locality. The quartz raised from the 
 various reefs at the head of the right branch is awaiting the completion 
 of the battery which Williams & Co. are erecting on the creek. The 
 stone whicl he saw in some of the heaps shows gold freely, and it is 
 expected will give good results. 
 
 The Morning Star line of reef is near the Back Creek township. In 
 Fallon's claim, No. i west, it dips N. 30° W. at about 43°. Two very 
 
 ■ iWi 
 
494 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIHUTION. 
 
 
 ferruginous veins, 2 in. thick each and 3 ft. apart, were followed in an E. 
 direction for a .short distance, when they united and became 10 to [5 in. 
 thick ; 16 tons from this reef gave 2.V oz. per ton, and the stone at grass 
 is expected to give a much richer yield. In Baird and Slade's 3-acre 
 lea.se, No. i east, the reef is 6 to 16 in. thick, striking E. 10" N., with 
 underlie northerly; it has been opened to a depth of 90 ft; 18 tons 
 cru.shed yielded 2 oz. per ton. The Melbourne reef lies to the .south 
 of the Rainbow line ; it averages 8 or 9 in. in thickness, and strikes 
 N. 20° E., underlying E. The owners, Massey and Reid, showed some 
 rich specimens from the claim ; one small piece weighing about 4 oz. 
 consisted almost entirely of fibrous filaments and crystals of gold, partly 
 encrusted with oxide of iron, evidently derived from the decomposition 
 of pyrites. About i^ mile S. of the township, on the Church and School 
 lands, is the Mechanics leef, which crosses the summit of the high 
 range between Back Creek and the Barrington river, at about 1000 ft. 
 above the river. It strikes E. 35° N., underlying a little to the S.E., 
 and averages 2 ft. thick, but varies from 6 in. to 2 ft. 6 in. In the No. i 
 claim south, the shaft is down 140 ft., which is as yet the deepest shaft 
 on this gold-field. Like the Mountain Maid reef, this reef is accom- 
 panied by a brecciated vein containing angular fragments of sandstone 
 and shale, with calcite and much iron-pyrites, and also a little gold. The 
 country consists of hard sandstones and shale, dipping E. 4° S. at 31° ; 
 348 tons of quartz from this reef yielded 2 oz. 13 dwt. per ton. A good 
 road has been formed for the carriage of the quartz from the reef to 
 Watt and DriscoH's crushing-machine at the Rainbow. Other reefs 
 being worked are not mentioned, but the preceding will suffice to show 
 the main features of the reefs on this gold-field. 
 
 Parcels of quartz crushed at Watt and DriscoH's machine, at the 
 Rainbow reef gave : — 
 
 N.iiiie of Reef. 
 
 Prospectors' claim, Rainbow Reef 
 
 No. I, Rainbow Reef 
 
 Prospectors' claim. Lord of the Hills Reef . 
 
 No. I, Mechanics Reef 
 
 Prospectors' claim, Rainbow Reef 
 Prospectors' claim. Mechanics Reef 
 
 No. I. Lord of the Hills Reef 
 
 .Star of the South Reef 
 
 Sawyers' Reef 
 
 Mountain Maid Reef 
 
 No, I, Morning Star 
 
 Prospectors' claim, Morning Star Keef 
 
 No. I, Morning Star Reef 
 
 Prospectors' claim, Rainbow Reef 
 
 No. I, Rainbow Reef 
 
 Rosetta Reef 
 
 No. I, Mechanics Reef 
 
 Prospectors' claim, Rainbow Reef 
 Prospectors' claim, Mountain Maid Reef . 
 Prospectors' claim, Mechanics Reef 
 
 Crushed. 
 
 Yield per ton. 
 
 97 tons. 
 
 i} OZ., about. 
 
 58 ., 
 
 2 OZ. 
 
 10 „ 
 
 I oz. 
 
 135 .. 
 
 2 oz. 15 dwt., about. 
 
 21 „ 
 
 5 oz. 
 
 9 .. 
 
 Soz. 
 
 33 .. 
 
 IS dwt. about. 
 
 9 .. 
 
 i| oz. 
 
 12 „ 
 
 12 dwt. 
 
 82 „ 
 
 15 oz. 18 dwt. 
 
 iSi„ 
 
 2 oz. 
 
 19J.. 
 
 I J oz. 
 
 16 „ 
 
 2j oz. 
 
 56 „ 
 
 I oz. 
 
 23 „ 
 
 I J oz., about. 
 
 26 „ 
 
 18 dwt. 
 
 I29'8 dwt. 
 
 3 oz. 14 dwt. 
 
 15 tons. 
 
 6 oz. 
 
 153 ,. 
 
 15 oz. 15 dwt. 
 
 75 .. 
 
 I oz. 16 dwt. 
 
 V ' 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 495 
 
 Higher up the left branch is Hurley and Thomas's crushincf-battciy, 
 at which over 500 tons of quartz had been treated ; 3;g tons crushed 
 gave an average yield of about 2 oz. 12 J d'/t. per ton. 
 
 From these interesting particulars, it will b"* seen that 1244 tons of 
 quartz yielded about 6153 oz. of gold, the lowest yield being 12 dwt. per 
 ton from a small parcel of 12 tons of quartz, and the highest nearly 
 16 oz. per ton fron: 235 tons from the Mountain Maid claim. If we 
 disregard the latter as being exceptionally high, the average yield of all 
 the other crushings, viz. 1009 tons, will be at the rate of 2 oz. 8 dwt. Qgr. 
 per ton, which may be laken as about the general average yield of the 
 reefs on this gold-field. Wilkinson estimated that there were upwards 
 of 1500 tons of quartz raised awaiting crushing. 
 
 Alluvial gold was first discovered on Hack Creek in May 1876. 
 E. F. Pittman, geological .surveyor, in his accurate report on this gold-field, 
 states that the first gold-mining lease (quartz) was pegged out on 2Sth 
 November, 1876. At the beginning of the present year, the population 
 numbered about 250; since then it has inceased to about iioo, of whom 
 800 are miners. 
 
 The alluvium in the creek beds both of the right and left branches 
 has been worked for gold almost from their sources to their junction, with 
 payable but not rich results, though several fine nuggets have been 
 obtained — one of 8 oz. in weight found on the left branch, near the 
 Rainbow reef; and several, with one of 35 oz., in the creek near the 
 reefs at the head of the right branch. About 10 miles VV. from Hack 
 Creek, have been some old alluvial workings on the Burneal Creek, a 
 creek about 3 miles in length, which runs into the Harrington river 
 Here Thomas, Luke, and party discovered a quartz reef near the summit 
 of the range between the Burneal Creek and the Harrington river. The 
 reef traverses brown sandstone, shows gold freely with iron-pyrites and 
 galena ; it runs 6 to 12 in. thick, nearly vertical, and strikes E. 40° N. ; 
 it is being opened by a drive from its outcrop on the face of the steep 
 range. Several other quartz reefs have been found in the locality, but 
 as yet no gold has been seen in them; some of them will, however, 
 Wilkinson believes, be found auriferous. The formation of the country 
 is similar to that at Hack Creek, but apparently in a higher series of 
 strata, in which he found Crinoid stems, Strophomena, Spirifer, &c., and 
 other marine shells. These fossils occur in abundance in the rocks 
 cropping out in the creek near the homestead on the Cobark station. 
 About 4 miles farther S. a miner named Jackson has opened a reef 
 which Wilkinson had not time to visit ; it is said to average 15 in. thick 
 and to contain fine gold. Gold has been found in the alluvial on Mount 
 Moonie, 6 miles N. from the Cobark station, and also in the interveninf^ 
 country, so that there is every probability of auriferous reefs being found 
 throughout this locality, and between it and Hack Creek, especially in 
 
 m 
 
496 
 
 GEOGUAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the viciri'iy of the Two Creeks, near the Barrington, where payable 
 alluvial gold has been got. Several gold-bearing reefs are now being 
 opened near the Bowman river, about 5 miles N.W. from Back Creek, 
 There arc two parallel reefs within about 200 yd. of each other ; they 
 strike N. 40° E., underlying to the S.E. ; a third vein, the John Bright, 
 6 to 18 in. thick, occurs between them. The formation of the country is 
 hard blue sandstone and shale. There arc 6 claims at work, chiefly on 
 the Golden Spur reef, which in the prospectors' claim varies from 
 12 to 20 in. thick, the stone showing coarse gold. The other reef, the 
 Gladstone, was the first discovered, and worked to a depth of 50 ft. some 
 time ago by Selby, who abandoned it, until Hughes and Dyson, about 
 3 months ago, opened it again. There are now about 50 tons of gold- 
 bearing stone at grass. At present the gold is extracted by "dollying" 
 (crushing by hand with a wooden stamper suspended from the end of a 
 spring-pole). There arc good sites for a crushing-machine on the 
 Bowman river, within ^ rnilc from the reefs. The gullies on either side 
 of tlic reefs have been more or less wor'-cd lor alluvial gold, and, as it 
 has been obtained in them for some distance above the line of the reefs 
 already discoverct^ there is no doubt that other gold-bearing reefs exist 
 in the ranges lying *o the S. This country is worthy of being 
 prospected. 
 
 Wilkinson abo inspected the two reefs lately discovered about 4 
 miles W. from Dungog, and about 30 miles S. from Back Creek. One 
 of these, Gurr and party's, is on the Sugarloaf Range. This reef consists 
 of a network of veins in green chlorite rock, 12 to 18 in. thick, sometimes 
 making into solid quartz containing iron-pyrites. Some specimens, said 
 to have been taken from near the surface, showed gold freely ; the reef 
 strikes N. 20° W., and is nearly vertical. About i mile farther S., on a 
 spur from the main range, occurs another reef, about i ft. thick, in brown 
 sandstone ; it has only been oponed to a depth of about 4 ft. ; it was 
 said to contain gold, but he did not see any in vhc quartz. These reefs 
 arc in rock cf the same formation as those at Back Creek, and certainly 
 deservn prospecting. Alluvial gold has been found in the country between 
 Dung*^-^ and Bairington, and, as this tract of country is all more or loss 
 of the same geological formation, there Is every reason to believe that 
 many payable qmrtz reefs will be discovered in it, and prospecting 
 throughout the (listrict should be encouiaged. 
 
 As a rule, the lines of reef-, follow ihe strike of the strata ; but there 
 arc one or two cvcCinions, as in ihe ?,Inrning Star line, where their 
 ijoursr '■ almost in the direction of the dip of the .strata ; con.sequentIy 
 reefs are found running towards \'arious points of the compass. This 
 may be partly due to the hci that the strata (Upper Devonian) which 
 these reefs traverse have not been affected by cleavage as have been the 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 497 
 
 y 
 
 re 
 :ir 
 
 y 
 
 lis 
 
 older Silurian formations, which arc the principal rccf-bcarinir rocks on 
 some gold-fields. The fi.ssures which the quartz has filled opened 
 where the strata oficred least resistance to the contracting or other 
 forces causing the fractures ; and as these strata of shales, sandstones, 
 and conglomerates vary considerably in composition and hardnes.s, and 
 in the direction of their d'p, there is little difficulty in accounting for 
 the irregular reefs formed in them. Under these conditions, are found, 
 as might be expected, sets of reefs extending perhaps in one general 
 line, but each reef of irregular thickness and length — just as in the 
 splitting of a piece of cross-grained timber, which does not split in one 
 straight line, but opens in small cracks along the main line of fracture. 
 These considerations are of importance to the miner, as showing that 
 the thickness of the reefs cannot be relied upon for continuance in cither 
 length or depth, and that some reefs may even thin out altogether, but 
 will probably be connected by distinct joints with other similar veins 
 not far off ; and thus it is assured, that though the yields fiom individual 
 mines will fluctuate considerably at times, ycc on luv. whole the quartz- 
 mining industry in this gold-field may be regarded as of a permanent 
 character. Much will depend upon the systematic development of such 
 reefs. Their variable thickness and extent suggest the precaution of 
 providing in many instances a reserve fund for occasional prospecting, 
 and the advantage of the management of the mining operations being 
 under interested and local directors. These and other considerations 
 should not be disregarded, for by mismanagement, either of a company's 
 mine or of its funds, a good min':; may be brought to a standstill, many 
 incautious investoi s ruined, and th." development of the mining industry 
 retarded. Mo.st of the mines arc at present held and satisfactorily 
 worked by fionti fide miners, aided sometimes by others who :ire repre- 
 sented by wages men. In such private companies as these, where 
 the labour and capita' employed are mutually interested, the first de- 
 velopment of a mine is generally attended by the most satisfactory 
 results. 
 
 The water supply for Back Creek is very uncertain. In summer, the 
 creeks cea.se running, and the >upply has to be drawn from holes in the 
 allu\ium, the water from which is brackish and unwholesome. To remedy 
 this deficiency, much might be done temporarily by the residents them- 
 ',elves in making dams and tanks, for the construction of which the 
 conformation of the ground is suitable, though the bed-rock is often of 
 a very jointed nature, causing much lo.ss of water by infiltration ; but 
 by judicious selection of site for a dam, and b)' puddling, the loss might 
 readily be prevented. For the purpose of ascertaining whether a per- 
 manent sui)ply coukl be obtained for this gold-field, Wilkinson examined 
 the surrounding country, and found it must be sought for within the 
 
 2 K 
 
 
 3 ■» 
 
 M 
 
 ii 
 
 fw} 
 
 il',,, 
 
 ::* 
 
 ■ "r \ 
 
 ■A.' 
 
 I'l 
 
498 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 watershed of the Barrington river, as the Bowman stream is not 
 sufficient foi the purpose. 
 
 Two schemes present themselves : these are to obtain the water 
 either by pumping from some point on the Barrington river, or by 
 gravitation from the Arundel river. Either of these schemes might be 
 too costly for adojition until the requirements of the gold-field are more 
 fully developed ; but of the two, the former would probably be the less 
 expensive, for the Barrington river has such a rapid and^large stream 
 that any required water-power might be made available for pumping, so 
 that steam-power might be dispensed with. The nearest point of the 
 Barrington river to the Back Creek township is about 2^ miles distant, 
 in a S.W. direction, and a high range intervenes, the lowest gap in 
 which, at the head of Black Jack Gully, is about 800 ft. (aneroid 
 observation) above the Barrington river, while the confluence of Back 
 Creek and the Barrington river is about 500 ft. lower level than the 
 township. So that water would have either to be pumped up the valley 
 of Back Creek to a height of 500 ft, and for a distance of 5 miles, or 
 else for about i mile on to a range goo ft. high, whence it might descend 
 by gravitation to the township, a distance of 2 miles, or to any other 
 required part of the diggings. The gravitation scheme to bring water 
 from the Arundel river and its branch, the Dclgree Dclgree Creek, 
 above Cobark station, would necessitate the cutting a race between 30 
 and 40 miles in length through very rocky country ; and as payable 
 reefs are likely to be found in any part of this country, future discovery 
 may render the construction of this water-race advantageous to the 
 district. Wilkinson was informed that the Back Creek Progress Com- 
 mittee had applied for a small water reserve to be made on Duffer Gully. 
 He examined this gully, which is conveniently situated for the purpose. 
 This reserve should, he thinks, be made to include the ground for a 
 width of 5 chains on both sides of the bed of the gully, and for a distance 
 of ^ mile along it from its junction with the right branch. In this area, 
 a reservoir might be made at an elevation of loO ft. above the town, to 
 which the water might be conducted by a line of pipe about ^ mile in 
 length. 
 
 Kiandra gold-field, — Following is an abstract of Lamont Young's 
 report on the Kiandra gold t'eld, and a water-supply for the same, 
 dated 25 May, 1880. 
 
 Kiandra is situated on the table-land of Maneero, 5000 ft. above 
 sea-level, and close to the highest mountains in the colony : within a 
 radius of 16 miles, may be seen the sources of the Snowy river, the 
 Murrumbidgee, the Tumut, a large tributary of the latter, joini.ig it 
 175 miles from its source, and flowing for the first 35 miles in a diametri- 
 cally opposite direction, and finally some minor tributaries of the Murray 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 499 
 
 [Hume] river. Under these conditions, it may appear at first sight 
 strange that alluvial deposits of any extent should exist in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Kiandra, — deposits so extensive as to promise many years 
 of employment, and lying so high up in the surrounding hills that the 
 supply of water requisite to work them has but a small gathering-ground ; 
 indeed, were it not for some natural fcatrres hereafter to be enumerated, 
 any attempts to insticute hydraulic mining on a large scale would be 
 hopeless. 
 
 With the aid of a compensated aneroid. Young ascertained that a 
 fair amount of water, enough to supply 20 sluice-heads continuously, 
 could be obtained from the left-hand branch of the Tumut river ; two 
 gaps, however, were unfortunately found to occur between the source of 
 the water and the first diggings at which it would be available. These 
 gaps, known as the Snowvale and Russell's Corner respectively, arc too 
 deep to be bridged over with fluming, and the only way by which the 
 water could be taken across them would be by inverted siphons. The 
 lengdi of the race up to the Nine-mile diggings, the first place where 
 the water would be used, would be about 25 miles, and an additional 
 12 miles would be required to take water on to the New Chum Hill and 
 Township Hill deposits. Lett informed him that 100/. a mile would in 
 his opinion amply cover the cost of constructing this race ; and as this 
 gentleman had himself cut quite 20 miles of races in the neighbourhood, 
 his estimate may be taken as a fair one. Sullivan's surveys (sec p. 507) 
 will decide whether water can be brought from the Tumut river to work 
 the extensive deposits at Nine-mile, Four-mile, New Chum Hill, and 
 Township Hill diggings. Young is convinced that the above river is 
 the only source of a water-supply ; for though sites for dams exist in 
 the neighbourhood of the diggings, the amount of water they could 
 contain would be quite trifling compared with the demand. He, how- 
 ever, mentions that for one or two claims the present supply might be 
 supplemented : thus, a fair-sized dam could be made on the site of the 
 Three-mile diggings, which is practically worked out, and this water 
 used for the claims on New Chum Hill. There is also a good site for a 
 dam just behind Mount Tabletop, from which the water could be brought 
 on to the Empress claim. Near the end of this report (see p. 503) 
 is appended a short notice of each locality where digging is carried on. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of Kiandra, the country spreads out into large 
 fan-shaped flats, which drain through narrow outlets. This appearance is 
 very strikingly developed, and sometimes on a large scale, as in the exten- 
 sive flat above the ju '. l a\ of Bullock Head Creek with the Eucumbcne 
 river ; here the Eucumbcne drains through a deep narrow gap, the 
 damming of which would convert the flat above into a large lake. These 
 flats at their upper extremities appear but little inclined towards the 
 
 2 K 2 
 
 i 
 
 fw 
 
 
ill; 
 
 500 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 outlet, and are filled with a peaty kind of soil, in places becoming soft 
 bogs and quagmires ; over the whole grows a luxuriance of heaths, ferns, 
 and mosses. Just near the outlet a sudden and rapid fall of the surface 
 takes place, a small stream of water appears, and, after draining through 
 a little gorge, is again lost in a larger flat beyond, into which several 
 small flats drain. When once a stream of water of any size is formed, it 
 is seen to flow through deep narrow gullies and over a bed of pebbles. 
 As an examination of these appearances will explain some points con- 
 nected with the auriferous deposits of the neighbourhood, they will be 
 described more in detail. 
 
 These fan-shaped flats are the gathering-grounds of the snow, which 
 falls in great quantities during the winter months ; in them — thus pro- 
 tected during the cold season, and nourished during the spring and 
 autumn months by fogs — ferns, mosses, and heaths grow luxuriantly. 
 These, in the course of time, form spongy peats, which are the reservoirs 
 of the melted snow-waters, and from which a clear, steady stream drains 
 all through the summer, the slight brown tint of which clearly indicates 
 the peaty nature of the ground at its source. The semi-solid state of 
 the surface-soil in the liigh flats is o'ving to its being largely composed 
 of a porous mass of decaying vegetable matter, held together by the 
 stems and fibres of the plants that form it ; near the outlet, where the 
 drainage becomes confined, the flow of water naturally increases in 
 rapidity, and all soft decaying vegetable matter and soil are carried away 
 by the stream, hence the sudden fall at the outlet of the flats where the 
 peat-bog abruptly ends. When once a body of water is formed, so 
 constant is its bulk during the summer, and so considerable during the 
 spring, that a deep narrow gully is soon cut and maintained. The small 
 size of the pebbles that lie in the beds of the streams cannot owe their 
 appearance to the cause that usually produces it, namely grinding against 
 each other, since these streams, though rapid, are not considerable 
 enough to carry along the pebbles. The explanation in Young's opinion 
 is as follows : — The pebbles are of granite and slate, such being the 
 formations of the surrounding country, the highest points, as a rule, 
 being slate. During the intense cold that these rocks are exposed to 
 for the greater part of the year, they must, where unprotected by vege- 
 tation, be greatly affected by the frost, and not merely be broken off" in 
 blocks, but these latter themselves shattered and seamed with incipient 
 fractures ; when, therefore, the debris is carried by the melting snows or 
 by thunderstorms to lower levels, the whole readily fall in small frag- 
 ments. Where any very water-worn pebbles are met with, it may be 
 confidently affirmed that they have come out of the auriferous deposits 
 of the district, or neighbouring conglomerates. Quartz reefs occur in 
 both the granite and slate formations, and in two or three cases have 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 501 
 
 lie, 
 to 
 
 nre- 
 
 in 
 cnt 
 or 
 
 ig- 
 bc 
 
 iits 
 in 
 
 ive 
 
 yielded considerable amounts of gold : but the numerous discoveries of 
 gold during the time they were being worked, and the inclement winter 
 of the locality, caused them to be abandoned as soon as the rich surface 
 patches were worked out. Fragments of these quartz reefs are often to 
 be seen in the beds of the present streams. 
 
 The locality of these diggings, as it has been exposed to intense cold, 
 has also been the scene of the outbreak of subterraneous fire. Rising 
 into a lofty peak in Mount Tablctop, covering a great extent of country, 
 and, wherever exposed, the auriferous alluvial, occurs a great deposit of 
 basalt, marking in nature's most permanent outlines the course of an 
 ancient lava-flow. Whether Mount Tabletop was one of the spots where 
 the lava burst out, or the only one, has not yet been definitely settled. 
 From its elevated position above the rest of the basalt — from the 
 hollow in the too of the mountain — from the peculiar appearance, like 
 solidified streahis of basalt, shown in the steep sides on the N. and 
 N.E. — and from finding a piece of volcanic breccia on the summit — 
 Young is of opinion that the mountain marks the spot whence came 
 most of the basalt on the E. side of the Tumut river. When this out- 
 break filled the valley and flats of the surrounding country, the adjacent 
 hills must have been of a much greater altitude, since they are now, with 
 few exceptions, below the level of the basalt, which therefore forms an 
 elevated ridge, occasionally spreading into small table-lands. Buried 
 beneath this hard covering, lie the auriferous gravels, and it is only where 
 recent streams have cut narrow passages through it, or the surrounding 
 country has been denuded away from the sides of the flow, that the 
 alluvial deposits have been exposed. This latter process has occasionally 
 occurred on so large a scale that the basalt has been as it were undercut, 
 the alluvial below it being washed out, and great falls of basalt, often 
 columnar, have taken place. This is especially well seen where the 
 Eucumbene river skirts the basalt formation, some 3 miles below 
 Kiandra. 
 
 It has thus been owing to the denudation of the neighbouring 
 formations and the subsequent denudation of the fringe of the basalt 
 formation, that the underlying gold-drift has been washed out and down 
 the sides of the present hills, and it has in nearly every case b-^en in 
 tracing up some such little lead of gold that the digger has been led to 
 the discovery of the main deposit. Up to the present this main deposit 
 has been but slightly worked, that is in comparison to its extent, and a 
 notable feature that has been exposed is the presence of a deposit of 
 clay, more or less carbonaceous, and at times so highly so as to be 
 almost a peat. This deposit lies over the gold-drift, and, like the latter, 
 always has a slight dip into the hill, increasing in thickness as it gets 
 farther in. Two or three fine sections arc shown in the claims. The 
 
 u 
 
 -*:'v' 'ill 
 
 Mill;! 
 
 #.:t;i 
 •'■■■iflll 
 
 ^4 
 
 imm 
 
502 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 carbonaceous clay, as also the clay-seams above and below it, contain 
 plant-remains more or less perfectly preserved, and during Young's stay 
 in the locality, he dissected out some 200 specimens of leaves ; the 
 majority from their form and venation appear to be allied to the genus 
 Eucalyptus, but as yet the specimens have not been worked out. Some 
 of the wood preserved in the clay above the leaf-beds is remarkably 
 fresh-looking. In the sand-deposit that intervenes between the leaf- bed 
 and the coarser auriferous drift, as also in the latter, false bedding is 
 often to be seen. In the drift itself, an enormous quantity of very 
 rounded pebbles occur, and Young thinks there is little doubt that they 
 are the remains of conglomerates, similar to those at Lob's Hole, and 
 which, during the Post-Pliocene period, were broken up and washed, 
 together with the auriferous reefs of the neighbouring slates, into the 
 channels in which they are now found. Much of the auriferous quartz 
 was full of iron-pyrites, as shown by specimens found in the leads, and 
 this is doubtless the cause of the cement-bands and iron infiltration 
 markings in the finer drift. The bed-rock on which the deposits rest is 
 a Silurian slate, seamed with quartz veins and iron infiltration markings. 
 In one place, the Four-mile diggings, the drift rests on granite. In the 
 neighbourhood of Kiandra, arc several kinds of granite, some highly 
 hornblendic, with pink felspar ; another near the head of the Tumut river 
 with no hornblende but white felspar, the quartz predominating, and 
 of a gneissoid structure ; while a third variety, on which the township is 
 built, contains a quantity of zircon and iron-pyrites. 
 
 iM'om an examination of the sections in the different claims, and the 
 characteristic appearances described, it would appear that after the auri- 
 ferous alluvium, composed of the debris of slates, conglomerates, and gold- 
 bearing quartz reefs, had been spread out in the ancient water-channels, 
 a quantity of sediments were deposited Lliereon, and subsequently on 
 these latter a growth of ferns, mosses, and small shrubs, similar to the 
 deposits now forming, lived and died, thus giving rise to the carbonaceous 
 clays and earthy lignites, to which Young has given the name of leaf- 
 beds. These in their turn were covered by deposits of clay and sand, 
 and finally, over the whole, flowed and solidified a stream of lava. The 
 time which must have elapsed between the deposition of the auriferous 
 gravels and the present, when the then adjacent mountains have becoms 
 valleys, and the old river-bed, protected by its basalt capping, left high 
 up in the sides of the present hills, may appear, to persons unaccustomed 
 to reckon by geological time, very great ; and yet, considerable as it 
 may be, some of the wood in the leaf-beds retains its natural colour, and 
 thousands of the leaves still exhibit every vein that meshed ti-^ir surface. 
 To the geologist, this is a most interesting locality, and Young has little 
 doubt that if the area of the basalt formation were mapped out, some 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 503 
 
 valuable information as to the position of the auriferous deposits would 
 become apparent, that is to say, the direction and extent of the old river- 
 bed would be more or less clearly indicated. From the widely separated 
 localities in which the deposits have been found, there is evidently an 
 immense area available, the only payable method of working which, at 
 present known, is by hydraulic mining. 
 
 The following are the chief localities in which gold-mining has been 
 carried on : — 
 
 Nine-mile diggings. — The shallow ground in this locality has long 
 since been worked out. At the present time, it is being re-worked by 
 8 parties, who are only able to work during three months of the year, 
 :)wing chiefly to the want of water. This year ( 1 880) none of them had 
 
 "gh water to wash up. These diggings were very rich, and remark- 
 '"rom the presence of large blocks of a quartz breccia, containing 
 sUk ngular fragments. The cementing material is silica. 
 
 There is one large sluicing claim called the Empress. The wash is 
 composed of quartz pebbles in various stages of attrition, sandstone 
 pebbles highly water-worn, and large masses of jaspcroid quartz, evidently 
 derived from a neighbouring reef that has been intersected by the 
 tail-race of the claim. The following is a section of the deposits exposed 
 in the open cut : — 
 
 Ft. 
 Surface soil, gravel, and sand, in places thicker, and containing 
 
 blociis of basalt, derived from the ridge at tlic back 18 
 
 Clay 3 
 
 Clay containing steins of small trees 3! 
 
 Carbonaceous clay, containing lea", es, &c 4J 
 
 Clay 2j 
 
 " Wa»li " impregnated with oxide of iron 18 
 
 Clay 3J 
 
 Wash 30 
 
 Total thickness of deposit 83 
 
 mi 
 
 
 
 I 9i 
 
 The bed-rock is a Silurian slate, yellow in colour, and much decom- 
 posed. The stems of small trees contained in the second layer of clay 
 are all more or less flattened, and in various stages of decomposition, at 
 times the wood being almost of its natural colour, while occasionally 
 specimens occur converted into lignite, and exhibiting a fracture like 
 charcoal. Many of the wood specimens show joints. The most abun- 
 dant leaf found in the carbonaceous clay is apparently a variety oi Pteris 
 esculenta, which now grows abundantly in the locality. Similar leaves 
 were found in the Pliocene leads on the Gulgong gold-field. In places, this 
 leaf seems to form the bulk of the organic matter which is irregularly 
 distributed through the 4i-ft. clay band. Fresh fractures in the carbon- 
 aceous clay were decidedly conchoidal, reminding tlie observer of 
 
I 
 
 504 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 kerosene shale, but when exposed to the weather, it soon split up into 
 flakes hke ordinary shales, and whitened considerably. 
 
 Beyond a doubt, the shallow diggings in this locality have been due 
 to some of the thick deposit being washed out of the hillsides, while the 
 scarcity of water is the cause of there being only one claim in the deep 
 ground. Here, as in the other localities where the old lead is worked, 
 the party who first get the water have practically possession of all the 
 ground. The yield of the Empress claim is said to be 10/. a man per 
 week. 
 
 New Chum Hill diggings. — The Emperor claim consists of a large 
 open cut, and a tunnel 1200 ft. long, which was driven into the hill with 
 a view of striking the deep ground, in which, however, it has not 
 succeeded. Comparatively little wash has been removed from the 
 workings ; the yield was i J to 3J dwt. to the ton, after crushing the 
 wash in a battery. The latter was being removed at the time of Young's 
 visit, and the claim had not been worked for some time. 
 
 The Homeward Bound claim is a large open cut, and has been 
 worked continuously for 19 years. Sluicing operations can, however, 
 only be carried on for 10 to 12 weeks in the year; yield, 61. to 10/. a 
 man per week. 
 
 On the Scotchman's Tunnel claim, the present tunnel is 700 ft. long ; 
 one driven at a higher level was 1200 ft. long ; it, however, struck the 
 wash so high up that it has since been abandoned. The claim has been 
 worked continuously for 19 years. The bottom of the wash only is 
 removed, and is treated in the valley below the claim. An iron-pyrites 
 cement occurs in places at the bottom of the wash, and sticking in the 
 lower side of the cement are highly water-worn grains of gold. Trunks 
 of small trees converted into lignite are also met with. 
 
 The drift of New Chum Hill is composed of quartz pebbles of various 
 degrees of roundness, also very water-worn sandstone pebbles, sand, clay, 
 and included fragments of the slate bed-rock. The succession and 
 nature of the deposits vary somewhat from that seen in the Empress 
 claim. The following is the section shown in the Emperor claim : — 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Basalt ij 
 
 Clay 8 
 
 Carbonaceous clay, leaves, fern-stems, &c 8 
 
 Pipeclay 8 
 
 Sand 4 
 
 Clay (very fine, like fire-clay) ij 
 
 Clay S 
 
 Carbonaceous clay 35 
 
 Clay (very white and fine) 15 
 
 Wash-dirt 30 
 
 Total thickness of deposits 116 
 
AUSTRALASIA: NEW 301 TH WALES. 
 
 505 
 
 Bullock Head Creek. — This creek flows between New Chum Hill 
 and Township Hill, and was found to be very rich from below the 
 Emperor claim to its junction with the Eucumbene river ; it is now 
 supposed to be worked out. 
 
 Eucumbene river. — This stream flows past the E. extremity of New 
 Chum Hill ; it has been worked for 4 miles above its junction with 
 Bullock Head Creek, but it was richest at and below New Chum Hill. 
 The river has also been worked in places for 5 miles below the town of 
 Kiandra, that is 6 miles below the junction just mentioned. The river 
 here passes through a narrow gorge filled with huge boulders, and locally 
 known as the Rocky Caiion ; lower down the river, payable gold has 
 also been found. At the time of Young's visit, in one claim 3 miles 
 from the township, 4 men were working the bed of the river, having 
 diverted the water, and during one week realized 25 oz. The bed-rock 
 at this claim was a very highly hornblendic granite. 
 
 The river-slopes just below the township of Kiandra contain the 
 following rich patches of shallow alluvial and reefs : — (i) Whipstick 
 Flat, a very rich spot ; much of the gold was evidently derived from a 
 reef at the head of a flat, and which was itself worked ; just below the 
 reef, a 28-lb. nugget of gold with a few fragments of quartz sticking in it 
 was found. (2) Surface Hill : another very rich patch traversed by a 
 large quartz reef ; from the adjoining gully (Pollock's Gully), a great 
 quantity of gold was extracted, and numerous zircons were found in the 
 wash ; these appear to be derived from a hornblendic granite that crops 
 out at the township ; a portion of Surface Hill is of slate formation. 
 (3) Whipstick reef: worked down for 14 ft. from the surface, when the 
 yield falling off", it was abandoned ; the surface stone went 3 oz. 3 dwt. to 
 the ton, and the last crushing went only 1 8 dwt. ; the reef is in slate, and 
 the old working having fallen in. Young was unable to indicate its strike 
 and dip ; it appears, however, to form a half-circle at the spot where it 
 was worked, and is, he believes, a leader to the large reef on Surface 
 Hill, which has a strike N. 5° W., is 3 to 8 ft. wide, and dips W. at an 
 angle of 79° with the horizontal. (4) Charcoal reef: situated near 
 the Eucumbene river, on the opposite bank ; shaft was sunk 60 ft. deep, 
 and the yield is reported to have been 4 oz. to the ton ; the reef was in 
 slate, and 9 in. wide ; this last fact, coupled with the quantity of water 
 contained in the adjoining rocks, caused it to be abandoned. 
 
 Three-mile diggings. — The gold in this spot was derived from a large 
 reef and leaders known as the Three-mile reef. At the present time, 
 one party of Chinese and one European are fossicking in the old 
 ground. Large pieces of specular iron-ore and psilomelane occur in 
 the drift. 
 
 The Three-mile reef is in slate ; its strike is S. 20" W., dipping 
 
 m 
 
 111 
 
5o6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 N.W. but very slightly, being almost perpendicular ; it has a width of 
 2 to 3 ft. ; 500 tons were crushed, and yielded i o/. to the ton. The 
 reef was sunk on for 40 ft., and then stopcd away from the surface. It 
 has not been worked for 10 months, on account of the .shaft and workings 
 being flooded — the surrounding rocks contain a great deal of water. A 
 tunnel was put in 800 ft. to tap off the water, but was abandoned on 
 account of the hard nature of the rock met with. It was estimated that 
 300 ft. more would intersect the reef at a depth of 1 50 ft. from the 
 surface. A very rich leader was found adjoining this reef, and subse- 
 quently lost : 4 men extracted 1 500/. worth of gold from it in 4 weeks. 
 
 Township Hill diggings. — Both in this hill, which is opposite to New 
 Chum Hill, and in New Chum Hill itself, numerous shafts were sunk 
 through the basalt capping which overlies the wash ; in every case, how- 
 ever, the quantity of water met with prevented the shafts being bottomed. 
 One shaft, just above the town, was sunk through 12 ft. of basalt and 
 38 ft. into the alluvium, when it had to be abandoned. Opposite the 
 Emperor claim, the carbonaceous clay band is exposed in the hillside. 
 Here a company began a tunnel, with a view to striking the lowest 
 portion of the deposit, which at this spot dips rapidly into the hill. The 
 site chosen for the tunnel was rather low, and, after driving 500 ft, some 
 very hard rock was met with, and the venture thereupon abandoned. 
 
 Four-mile diggings. — These diggings ;> situated between Kiandra 
 and the Nine-mile, on the edge of the basalt formation. A long gully 
 that drains from the spot into the Eucumbcne river furnished a con- 
 siderable amount of gold, which was evidently derived from the deposit 
 under the basalt. The shallow workings are now abandoned, and one 
 party only are working the deep ground, the peculiarity of which is that 
 it rests partly on granite. 
 
 Eight-mile diggings. — Only one claim is being worked here ; the 
 ground has been opened in two places. The deposit was discovered by 
 a small lead being traced up the hillside. The carbonaceous clay and 
 clay bands occur as at the Nine-mile and other places. Comparatively 
 little work has been done on the spot, and as yet the thickness of the 
 wash-dirt is only 8 ft. ; the greater portion of this is mcjie or less cemented 
 by oxide of iron. The bed-rock is a Silurian slate, highly contorted, 
 seamed with quartz and iron veins, and occasionally very micaceous. 
 Old tree trunks with roots attached, and standing upright in the recent 
 alluvial deposits, have been found. The approximate yield of this claim, 
 which can only be worked during a few weeks in the year, is 4/. to 7/. per 
 man a week. 
 
 Fifteen-mile diggings. — Situated on the left bank of the Tumut 
 river, and in all respects a similar deposit to the last, the only peculiarity 
 being the occurrence of granite pebbles in the wash. It may be men- 
 
 f l! 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 507 
 
 tioncd also that some of the basalt of the locah'ty has a semi-columnar 
 structure. There is only one claim, but in the Tumut river, some 
 2 miles distant, a party of Chinese are working the river banks, which in 
 former days yiel'''"d enormous quantities of gold. The rocks of the 
 neighbourhood are slates, and occasional small veins of yellow copper- 
 ore are found in them, similar to those at Lob's Hole, but of less size. 
 
 In conclusion, Young states his conviction that very extensive and 
 payable deposits of auriferous alluvion occur in the neighbourhood of 
 Kiandra, and there is every indication that, should the gutter of the old 
 river-bed be struck at any of the localities mentioned, it would prove 
 exceedingly rich. 
 
 The report (dated June 10, 1S80) of Sullivan's surveys for bringing 
 water to the Kiandra diggings, alluded to on p. 499, may be summarized 
 as follows. 
 
 He selected as datum-level a point about 120 ft. above the level of 
 the wash in the Empress claim, the principal claim on the Nine-mile 
 diggings, because not only wou.d water from it be available for the 
 Nine-mile claims, but also for th'j other auriferous deposits in the 
 Kiandra district ; thence he ran a contour line following the main range 
 which separates the waters of the Tumut and the Eucumbene rivers. 
 At 9^ miles from the start, the range falls suddenly, and causes a small 
 break 550 links wide, across which the water may be brought by fluming, 
 as the break in the lowest part is only 30 ft. above the datum-point ; 30 
 chains farther on is Russell's Gap, which is below the level for a distance 
 of 370 chains, and at the lowest placi. i^ 292 ft. below the datum-point. 
 The range is then very low for a considerable distance, and 3 other gaps 
 occur at short intervals, — Harnett's, Barney's, and Snowvale Gaps. 
 After leaving the Snowvale, the range rises very rapidly, and, with the 
 exception of two small breaks, is much higher than the Nine-mile claims. 
 Owing to the lateness of the season, Sullivan could not fix a point on 
 Doubtful Creek which would allow sufficient fall to the claims ; but he 
 reached the creek a little lower clown, at a point 72 '67 ft. above datum- 
 point. The stream at this place is 12 to 15 ft. wide and nearly 3 ft. deep, 
 and has a fall of 80 ft. per mile. The valley through which it flows is 
 very swampy, and abounds in small brooklets, which seem to be fed by 
 the melting snow. 
 
 The total length of the race may be set down very approximately as 
 30 miles. The ground over which the water would be brought is, with 
 the exception of a small extent of basalt near the Nine-mile, entirely of 
 diorite and granite formation, and, where the latter occurs, is very porous ; 
 so that, unless it were puddled, or a very considerable fall given, it would 
 absorb the water very rapidly. Even if the main range were high enough 
 throughout to render piping unnecessary, a fall of less than 4 ft. per mile 
 
 11 
 
 w 
 
 Ml 
 
5o8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 would hardly be advisable, while even more might be allowed, as snow 
 frequently stops the races cut by the miners, which, though very much 
 smaller than the one in question, would have a much more rapid fall. 
 This would make the water-source at least I20 ft. higher than the datum- 
 point, and therefore 50 ft. higher than the point on the Doubtful reached 
 by him. 
 
 The whole amount of piping to be done would be about 1 1 miles, 
 chiefly embraced in the 4 gaps above mentioned ; and allowing a head of 
 only 8 ft. per mile to overcome friction, this would bring the source 
 nearly 50 ft. higher still, or 170 ft. above the datum-point, and conse- 
 quently li mile nearer the head of the stream than the place at which he 
 left off. This would naturally reduce the volume of water available, and 
 the chances of its being permanent in all scason.s, very much. He was 
 informed by some of the residents of Kiandra that the supply might, if 
 necessary, be augmented by cutting a canal from the Burrungubugge 
 river, which rises on the E. face of the main range, and about 2 miles 
 farther S. than the Doubtful, to the Snowvale Gap, where the two races 
 could meet. 
 
 Owing to the elevated position of the Nine-mile claims, he did not 
 see any gully or basin within a reasonable distance which could be con- 
 verted into a reservoir. The winter being so far advanced and the 
 weather exceedingly bad, he was unable to level from the Nine-mile to 
 Kiandra ; but from observations taken with the barometer on two occa- 
 sions, he estimates the latter place to be 550 ft. below the former; and 
 as the gap in the Dividing Range between these localities is 330 ft. below 
 the Nine-mile, a race could be constructed over it to Kiandra. The 
 number of men at present employed in mining in the vicinity of Kiandra 
 is very small, on account of the insufficient supply of water, derived 
 almost entirely from the melting snow, so that they are compelled to 
 work during the worst part of the year, almost the only time in which 
 the races are of use ; but there is no doubt that if hydraulic power were 
 available, there would be profitable work for thousands of miners, as in 
 fact the deep ground, which extends over many square miles, may be 
 said to be as yet untouched. 
 
 More recent details concerning the Nine-mile Creek and Now Chum 
 Hill portions of the Kiandra diggings are given by Fred. B. Gipps, in a 
 report dated May 9, 188 1, from which a few extracts may be taken. 
 
 The geological character of the country is chiefly associated with 
 granite and gneiss in the highest peaks and ridges, at times giving place 
 to or flanked by serpentine, and the Lower Silurian slates, at times ex- 
 changed for basalt, which, overflowing from its submerged vent, has 
 overspread the main dividing range of the Snowy and Murray river 
 watersheds, and their spurs for many miles. Underneath this cap of 
 
AUSTRALASIA ; NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 509 
 
 basalt, He the deep {^ravel-drifts which form the great mining wealth 
 of Kiandra, and would appear to be almost inexhaustible for many 
 generations. 
 
 The commencement of these drifts he traces to the Pliocene, or 
 ancient eroding period, which followed the great upheaval of the 
 mountain ranges. Then, as at the present time, different actions of the 
 elements, more especially intense cold, split up and disintegrated the 
 exposed masses of granite, slate, and serpentine, and the snows and 
 storm-waters conveyed them to the valley below, whilst abrasion in their 
 transfer and in the water-course gradually rounded them to their present 
 form. Those valleys near their sources gradually assumed the appear- 
 ance of large morasses, such as may be seen now on the western flank of 
 Snowvale Gap, whilst the narrow outlet in many instances became 
 choked, thus producing a lake, which, according to different seasons, was 
 alternately full of water, or almost dry, and being subject also to great 
 changes of temperature, and covered with dense vegetation, produced 
 those conditions which formed the lignite beds. Gold, originally derived 
 from granite, accumulated in thin flakes in the different water-courses, 
 afterwards by the metamorphic action of pressure combined with intense 
 heat (inducing hot springs with silica or magnesia in solution), it was dis- 
 seminated through the serpentine and schistose rocks. From these rocks, 
 it was again detached by erosion, and borne to its present gravel-beds. 
 
 The assumption that these drifts belong to one large river-bed 
 appears to him improbable, chiefly because of the irregularities of the 
 grade, and the varied character of the gravel-drift in different localities. 
 A careful observation rather inclines him to think that they are feeders 
 of the present river system, which have been first choked up as described, 
 and after\\'ards preserved in that position by the great flow of lava which 
 succeeded the Pliocene period. The flanks of the spurs which then 
 ' ounded these basins, or gravel-drifts composed of serpentine and the 
 Lower Silurian slates, having since been eroded away, have in their turn 
 become water-courses, whose ancient beds are now elevated into spurs 
 and ridges. 
 
 In considering the present and prospective value of the Nine-mile 
 Creek diggings, he is of opinion that the original valley trended from the 
 mountain towards Scott's Gully, following the course of the present ridge ; 
 and that the rich shallow alluvium in its immediate vicinity has been 
 distributed from its gravel-drift. Accordingly, there is every probability 
 of very rich gravel being discovered by continuing sluicing operations 
 towards Mount Tabletop, as this portion has been protected from erosion 
 by the flow of basalt on its southern flank. He compares it to the " blue 
 lead" and similar gravel-drifts near Placerville, and other portions of 
 California. 
 
 :ij 
 
 ■ 1. < r 
 I if 
 
 'ii£ 
 
 m 
 
 
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 m 
 
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 510 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The section of the centre portion of the drift is given by Gipps as 
 follows : — 
 
 Ft. 
 
 Dark-brown surface soil, mixed with floating boulders of basalt, and large blocks 
 
 of concretionary (juartz cement, containing gold 7 
 
 White and grey c'ay bands 20 
 
 J?rown-coloured lignite 18 
 
 Sand 3 
 
 Fine drift composed of small quartz and slate pebbles, seamed n'ith thin layers 
 
 of iron-stone cement, containing !:;()1(1 65 
 
 Coarse drift composed of big boulders -■'" m-.-ntz, jasper, and iron-stone ('lenoting 
 
 a swift large stream on the bottom of the original valley), containing gold .. 6 
 
 119 
 
 At base, Is a soft rott-^ti Silurian slate seamed with quartz and iron- 
 stone. This ir.casurcmcnt gives a total depth of 119 ft., of which 78 is 
 auriferous. 
 
 The drift taken as a whol-^ is of a very fa\-ourable character for 
 hydraulic sluicing. It has none of the great difficulties to be met with 
 in some deep leads, where occiu" two thick seams of basalt, which, when 
 undermined, tumble down in large blocks, occasionmg a great loss of 
 time to remove out of the way ; it appears to disintegrate easily, and, 
 with the exception of the lignite and a few of the heaviest of the 
 boulders, to be easily disposed of by the present limited method of 
 sluicing. With a water-supply of 6,000,000 gal. daily, under a pressure 
 of 140 ft. or 6o\ lb. per sq. in., he estimates that at least 1 500 cub. yd. 
 could be sluiced away per diem. Taking the yield per cub. yd. at only 
 10 gr., value is. 6c/., the yield per diem would be 1 12/. ]Os., amounting to 
 28,350/. per annum of 252 days which would allow 10 weeks for washing 
 up the tail-race, and for stoppages. The working expenses should not 
 exceed 2350/ The area sluiced away every year by this estimate would 
 amount to about 2^ acres. 
 
 The gravel in the New Chum diggings is coarsci- than that in the 
 Empress, and, being associated with serpentine rock, .shoe Id in Gipps' 
 opinion prove to be richer. The workings affording reliible data for 
 estimating the probable value of the gravel arc those of the Emperor 
 mine, where 1600 tons were crushed for a ret'un of 50 oz., 80 tons for a 
 return of 3 dwt. per ton, and 100 tons for a return cf 3 dwt. per ton. It 
 has been estimated thai, owing to the intense cold preventing the amal- 
 gamation of the gold and mercury, at least one-half of the gold from 
 the largest parcel was lost, and that the tailings realized as much more 
 as the actual return. Considering the circumstances under which the 
 crushing took place, when, owing to the intense cold, the mercury- 
 boxes and blank(>t-tables must have been quite ineffectual for saving 
 gold, and considering also that previous and later crushiiigs of 80 and 
 
 I'l 
 
4: 
 
 AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 511 
 
 ■ •' ' ' S 
 
 he 
 
 It 
 
 We 
 jhc 
 
 |y- 
 vs 
 
 Id 
 
 
 100 tons gtive an avcrac^c ot 3 dwt. per ton, Gipps believes that ho is not 
 exaggerating the value of the whole bank of drift, 115 ft. deep, in esti- 
 mating it at 10 gr. or is. Gd. per cub. yd. The water available for 
 hydraulic sluicing would not exceed an average of 4,000,000 gal. dail)', 
 which, with a pressure of 120 ft, would dispose of 800 cub. yd. per diem ; 
 this, at \s. 6d. per cub. yd., would yield 15,120/. per annum of 252 
 working days, allowing 10 weeks for cleaning up the tail-race, and for 
 stoppages. 
 
 In considering the different schemes for supplying the mines with 
 water fc- hydraulic sluicing, he concludes that the Empress mine, from 
 its great elevation, can only be supplied by a combination of ditch and 
 pipe conduits at a heavy expenditure. Doubtful Creek, rising in the 
 Bogany mountain, is the only large water-course available, from which, 
 in a direct line (S.), it i' about 14 miles distant. He computed its 
 delivery at 8,000,000 gal, daily. lie estimates that it will require a flow 
 of at least 10,000,000 gal. per diem at the source, to supply 6 at the 
 terminu,s, the balance being required to account for soakage, which, in 
 the open ditch through the rocky granite country, would be excessive. 
 Ho therefore recommends a storage reservoir in Doubtful Vallej^ which, 
 with a dam 50 ft. high and 550 ft. long, \^ ould impound nearly 500,000,000 
 gal. of water, thus ensuring a full supply all through the year, even for 
 the most prolonged drought. By cxtensi^-c surveys, he succeeded in 
 reducing the length of conduit from ''.o miles, as estimated by Sullivan 
 (see p. 507), to 22 miles, only 7 requiring pipes. 
 
 Lacldan district. — Warden Dalton, in the Annual Report of the 
 Depa. 'ment of Mines for 1877, refers to the neglected deep leads on the 
 Lachlan gold-fields, around Forbes, the gutters of the several leads 
 having all been hastily worked to the deep and wet ground and thee 
 abandoned. The smallness of the claims prevented the applicatioii of 
 th? m ichinery and plant necessary to enable the holders to contend widi 
 water, quicksands, and swelling schists with any prospect of success. 
 W'th nich imperfect appliances as were used in shallow and sound 
 ground, the miners had no thougiit of reef-wash or benches, and when 
 they had broken into the adjoining claim and sent up the last bucket of 
 wa,sh from the gutter, i y abandoned their holding. Besides, miners in 
 those days, who knew t'.iat they had wash before them that would yield 
 i^ oz. or I oz. of gold to the bucket, would not willingly lo.se time in 
 sending stuff to the surface thr'.t would not return more than i oz. to the 
 load. In ev-eiy instance, there was a strenuous effort made by each 
 party to get their share of the gutter worked out before that of the 
 adjoining shareholders, fearing that if these men were wcjrked out, and 
 abandoned the lead before they had secured the best of their wash-stuff, 
 they would lose it, as they knew that single-handed they could not cope 
 
 ^r I 
 
» 
 
 II 
 
 512 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 with the water and other obstacles that overlay the auriferous drift. 
 These difficulties, in an aggravated form, present themselves to small 
 co-operative companies without capital at the present day. The leads 
 are not exhausted — the reef-wash, benches, and tributaries are still 
 virgin ground — a channel in the oldci" Tertiary drift crosses the richest 
 portion of the gold-field, and must in ancient times have received the 
 local drainage, while the discovered leads were in all probability tributary 
 to it. Knowing all this, men hesitate to face ordinary mining difficulties 
 that are of common occurrence in other parts of the world, and are in- 
 variably overcome by skilful engineers and the application of capital. 
 
 As a proof of the hasty manner in which the Lachlan leads have 
 been run over, in the face of an accumulation of engineering difficulties, 
 it is only necessary to state the time occupied in the work. About 
 January 18^2, a few rich claims in the alluvial flats at the base of the 
 ridges on the N. bank of the Lachlan river had been discovered, and 
 were soon proved to be the head of the first lead worked in New 
 South Wales ; within 4 months, 28,000 persons were encamped where 
 Forbes now stands, and a modification of the frontage system had been 
 introduced. 
 
 The original discovery was named the North lead, and its continua- 
 tio'u to the river Lachlan the South lead, and upon the latter, at depths 
 o*" 1 10 to 150 ft. progressively, 82 claims consecutively struck payable 
 gold ; at the same time, patchy ard irregular leads were opened oii the 
 opposite or eastern side of the granite dyke, which, running N. and S., 
 appears to have altered, fractured, and silicified the Silurian grits, sand- 
 stones, limestones, and chloritic slates and shales interstratified upon its 
 flanks. The head of the North lead had been lost amongst the ridges, 
 where a iAmft had been sunk to a depth of between 300 and 400 ft., and 
 no bottom reached ; and by the 30th of June, 132,933 oz. 5 dwt. 3 gr. 
 of gold had been transmitted Ut the Mint by escort ; and up to the 31st 
 December, an additional quantity of I02,li0 oz. 11 dwt. 10 gr. was for- 
 warded to the same destination by the same means, making a total of 
 235,043 oz. 16 dwt. 13 gr. for the year. By Christmas Day, i8(32, the 
 population had decreased to 12,000. 
 
 During the ensuing half-year, ending on the 30th June, 1863, 
 50,818 oz. 19 dwt. 22 gr. of gold were forwarded to Sydney; and the 
 population on the Lachlan gold-fields was further reduced to 3500, 
 including those engaged in working auriferous quartz reefs on distant 
 outlying gold-fields. Dalton does not believe that at any time more 
 than one-sixth of the people were actually occupied in mining operations. 
 The remainder was made up of speculators, traders, mechanics, profes- 
 sional men, women and children, and camp followers. In Jure 1863, the 
 gold-fields of New Zca' r.d became the centre of attraction, and the 
 
 I 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 513 
 
 miners on the Lachlan, unable to resist the wealth of the Shotovcr, 
 migrated by thousands. It is thus evident that the Lachlan gold-fields 
 could not have been effectively worked in 18 months, and that, notwith- 
 standing the enormous yield of ^85,862 oz. 16 dwt. 15 gr. of gold within 
 that period, the deep leads could not have been tested. Not a single 
 lead has been traced to its termination, nor farrier than could be done 
 by unassisted manual labour. 
 
 The Madman's, Grasset's, and other very short but rich tributaries to 
 the most productive portion of the South lead, have been found to have 
 their source in an altered gritstone dyke or belt that extends due north 
 from the Britannia reef; some very rich patches of gold-bearing quartz 
 have been found in leaders or veins, interlaced with this altered rock, and 
 Devonian or Ui)pcr Silurian fossils in abundance have been also found in 
 a similar formation, but of a finer grain, in the vicinity. This grit, in 
 contact with granite, crops up on Thompson's Hill, 2 miles farther N., 
 and wherever it has been found on this gold-field, the yield has been 
 extremely rich ; that this dyke contains the gold is beyond doubt, as it 
 has been obtained from the rock in situ from several parts at long inter- 
 vals of distance. Situated not more than 300 yd. from the South lead, 
 on its W. bank, and nearly parallel to it, and having a N. strike, it has 
 not been followed. Some of the water along the line of strike ... is salt 
 as brine, while at the same level and at no great distance it is found pure 
 and fresh. 
 
 In a letter (Dec. 27, 1877) addressed to Dalton, Philip Davies states 
 that he is possessed of abundant evidence from reliable miners, as well as 
 his own observations, which convinces him that only an infinitej-imal part 
 of this ancient river-bed was worked in the early days— and owing to the 
 great amount of water there was to contend with, no mining has been 
 carried on to any extent ever since — and, with much confidence, gives it 
 as his opinion that the whole of il.? old workings on the South lead, 
 from its source to the place where it intersects the present Lachlan 
 river, would, by re-working by steam-power, turn out immeasurably 
 more gold than was realized in the time of its prosperity. He con^iiders 
 it of the greatest importance that the m'ning community should be 
 reminded that immense deposits of rich gold-bearing wash-dirt have 
 been discovered in Victoria on the sitles and ledges of deep leads. It is 
 well known that only a small proportion of the gold wen from the deep 
 alluvial mines of Ballarat was taken from what is termed the lead proper, 
 the "deepest channel"; but by far the greatest quantity of gold was 
 subscnuently found to have lodged on either side of the ancient river 
 banks — what is familiarly termed in the deep alluvial districts " reef- 
 wasii.' 
 
 As the deep leads of Forbes have already proved evenly rich, as well 
 
 •m 
 
 ■iff 
 
 m 
 
 
 '':■ 'IS! 
 
 '-'<fi 
 
 
 
 id 
 
 
5'4 
 
 GEOGUAl'IIICAI, DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ''' 
 
 mi 
 
 as regular and defined in their deposits of gold-bearing wash, in the deep 
 ground, it is quite fair to conclude that the banks of the deep leads will 
 be found to contain immense fields of gold-drift of like deposit, which 
 were entirely overlooked by the early miner ; indeed, the surrounding 
 geological features of Forbes strongly argue in favour of the existence of 
 such reef deposits, and particularly favoui chis theory as regards the west 
 bank of the South lead, because of its close proximity to the gritstone 
 dyke, where the well-known Britannia quartz lode exists. The detritus 
 from this auriferous band of rock has formed three tributary gutters to 
 the South lead, viz. — Madman's, Grassct's, ani.1 the Britannia. These 
 rich tributaries have only been imperfectly and partially worked, like the 
 main lead ; but he feels certain that the whole of the western bank of this 
 ancient river, as well as the banks of the tributaries, will yet produce 
 immense quantities of payable wash-dirt. 
 
 Mount Wcroiig. — This site of one of the recent gold discoveries was 
 reported on by Lamont Young, on October 2, 1880. His remarks are 
 substantially as follows : — 
 
 Mount Werong is situated in the parish of Werong, county of 
 Georgiana, close to the Main Dividing Range of the colony, which at this 
 locality forms the boundary between the counties of Georgiana and 
 Westmoreland. The summit of Mount Werong is the highest point in 
 the neighbourhood, and it has therefore been chosen as a station by the 
 Trigonometrical Survey, and a small reserve made round it. 
 
 The geological formations of the locality are slate, granite, and basalt, 
 the first-named composing the main mass of the country, and being 
 intruded by dykes and masses of granite, while the summit of Mount 
 Werong is compo.sed of basalt. Over the slaLe and granite formations, 
 and even in places situated on the top of the main range, is spread a 
 considerable amount of alluvion, composed chiefly of sand, clay, and 
 rounded quartz pebbles, the latter varying in diameter from 4 in, to \ in. 
 It is in this alluvion that the gold is found, and .so evenly distributed that 
 as good a prospect can often be got on the top or side of a ridge as in 
 the gully below it. The prospects hitherto washed have yielded from a 
 colour to \ gr. to the dish ; and sluicing has given in one locality a 
 return of 10 dwt. for 8 loads. 
 
 The gold as yet found is very fine, of a dark colour, and, examined 
 under the microscope, appears more or less water-worn, some pieces being 
 almost perfectly round. Associated with the gold are zircon (both white 
 and red), sapphire (blue and green), pleonaste, a black variety of spinel, 
 and quartz. One or two of the gold specks contained imbedded portions 
 of quartz. The prospectors, Murdock and party, showed him a portion of 
 a small quartz leader highly impregnated with iron-pyrites, but in which 
 no free gold could be seen. The specimen was found in the locality. 
 
a 
 and 
 in. 
 
 in 
 a 
 
 ncd 
 ing 
 lite 
 nel, 
 ons 
 [lof 
 lich 
 
 AUSTRALASIA : NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 515 
 
 A noticeable feature at Mount Werong arc the swamps and springs ; 
 and when considered in connection with the large rounded quartz pebbles 
 found at M'Kay's claim, the fact of the gold being water-worn, the 
 widely-scattered nature of the alluvion, and also that the highest ground 
 in the neighbourhood is an inconsiderable mass of basalt, the conclusion 
 indicated is that an old lead has existed in the locality, formerly covered 
 with basalt, which has since been removed by denudation, while the 
 contents of the lead have been spread over the adjacent country. Should 
 any portion of the gutter of this old lead be discovered intact, payable 
 gold will most likely be found. 
 
 The foUovving parties were working at the time of Young's visit : — 
 
 Munn's had washed 8 loads, with a yield of 10 dwt. ; bed-rock, 
 granite ; sinking, 2 to 17 ft, and very wet. 
 
 Creighton's had been i month on the diggings, and only got a few 
 colours ; sinking, 11 ft. ; bed-rock, granite ; ground very wet. 
 
 Prospectors are sluicing the bed of a gully ; bed-rock, slate, but 
 50 yd. uo it is granite ; alluvion, 2 to 5 ft. deep ; gold colours can be got 
 all over adjoining ridges. 
 
 M'Kay's claim is traversed by the surveyed line along the Main 
 Dividing Ridge ; sinking, 23 ft, but the deep ground has not yet been 
 struck ; bed-rock, granite ; 3 ft of wash, expected to yield ij dwt. to 
 the load. 
 
 Tallaivang gold-field. — During Wilkinson's examination of the 
 Tallawang gold-field reserve, in November 1876, he observed the im- 
 portant fact that the gold found in the Tertiary alluvial deposits at the 
 Old Tallawang and Clough's Gully diggings has chiefly been derived 
 from conglomerati-'s in the coal measures. These conglomerates are 
 associated with beds of sandstone and shales containing the fossil plant 
 characteristic of the New South Wales coal measures, the Glossoptcris. 
 At Clough's Gully, the conglomerate in situ is being worked, and yields 
 1 to 15 dwt of gold per ton, and nuggets weighing up to 5 oz. have been 
 obtained from it. Several hundreds of tons of the conglomerate (locally 
 termed " cement ") have been crushed ; but as the yield is said to have 
 been " patchy " or variable, work has been stopped, and the ground is 
 now held under lease. There are, however, a few miners still at work In 
 the adjacent claims, and Wilkinson took the opportunity of purchasing 
 from one of them a sample, weighing i oz., of the gold, which he was 
 crushing by hand out of the hard cement The gold is co.u-.^c in size, 
 remarkably scaly, and water-worn. R. M'Kay, of Clough's (yully, gave 
 him one small piece of the conglomerate showing coarse gold. This is 
 the first time that gold has been noticed to occur in payable quantity in 
 the coal measures in the colony : and it is not unworthy of remark that 
 this constitutes one of the most ancient auriferous " alluvial " deposits in 
 
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 'M 
 
 si 
 
 ;■■'■'■ il' 
 
 %%% 
 
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 I 
 
 
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 5^6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 the worlJ. It affords additional testimony to the researches of the 
 Rev. W. B, Clarke, who, many years ago, ascertained the occurrence of 
 gold in minute quantity in the Hawkesbury Rocks, at the North Shore, 
 Sydney, at Govett's Leap, and in the conglomerates of the coal measures 
 in the Southern district, in which latter formation Sir Thomas Mitchell 
 also found a speck of gold in a pebble of quartz. Gold is also stated to 
 occur in the coal measures at Peak Downs in Queensland ; near Hobart 
 Town, in Tasmania ; and in New Zealand. But apart from the scientific 
 interest attaching to the subject of the geological age of auriferous 
 alluvions, the fact that gold in payable quantity has been proved to 
 exist in the coal measures is one of considerable importance ; for it may 
 lead not only to the working of some of the conglomerate beds at the 
 Old Tallawang diggings, but also to the discovery of other similar auri- 
 ferous patches, which no doubt occur in the Tallawang gold-fields and in 
 other parts of the colony, where the same geological features are pre- 
 sented. Amongst a collection of the Tertiary vegetable fossils submitted 
 to Baron Ferd. von Midler, were discovered 7 genera and g species of 
 plants new to science. Most of these fossil fruits were found beneath 
 basalt, at a depth of iCo ft. from the sutTace, in No. 23 claim. Black 
 Lead, Gulgong. 
 
 TcDiora gold-field. — Lamont Young's report on this gold-field, dated 
 September 6, 1880, is mainly as follows. 
 
 The township of Temora is situated in the parish of Bundawarrah, 
 county of Bland, and between the Trigalong and Narraburra Creeks, the 
 first-named lying 2 miles to the W., and the second 5 miles to the E. 
 These creeks are merely depressions in the al'.uvial surface of the country, 
 and trees grow in the deepest portion of their channels ; at times, how- 
 ever, the banks are well defined, and the erection of a small dam will 
 throw the water back a considerable distance. 
 
 The principal geological formations in the district are Silurian slates 
 and conglomerates ; near the Temora sheep-station these rest against 
 granite, and at the township itself against a long hill of diorite (or 
 greenstone) running N. and S,, and adjoining the auriferous alluvion on 
 the E. To the N,E., E.,and S.E. of the diorite, is a belt of altered rocks, 
 and beyond these the slate formation. 
 
 The auriferous alluvion at Temora fills a deep and narrow valley 
 draining between the slates and the diorite in a N. direction. In both 
 these formations, are numerous quartz reefs, but gold has only been found 
 in those occurring in the diorite; reefs also occur in the altered rocks to 
 the E., and one or two of them have been reported gold-bearing. The 
 length of the lead known to be auriferous may be set down as 2\ miles ; 
 its character as far as it has been proved shows that the gold is chiefly 
 coarse, and irregularly distributed ; also that it is of a light colour, and 
 
 li 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 517 
 
 slates 
 
 valley 
 11 both 
 
 found 
 )ck.s to 
 The 
 
 miles ; 
 
 chiefly 
 
 as a rule very little water-worn. Near the upper township, the lead 
 divides into two branches, one crossing the dioritc in an E. direction, and 
 the other continuing to skirt it on the W. No gold discoveries of any 
 consequence have yet been reported in the alluvion to the S. of the 
 diorite ; but some rich surfacing has been got on the S.W. slope of the 
 diorite hill at the upper township, immediately below the Lady Mary, 
 Warnford's, and other reefs. These facts indicate that the reefs in the 
 diorite are the source of the alluvial gold that has been found as yet. 
 Young is therefore of opinion that the lead will only be payable in the 
 vicinity of the diorite, and that •'ich surfacing and leaders will be fcjund 
 near the Ironclad, Red Hill, Eldorado, Hidden Star, and other reefs. 
 These reefs may themselves be worth working, but he thinks will vary 
 considerably in width, extent, and gold-bearing qualities. Should other 
 outcrops of diorite be found in the district — and there is every likelihood 
 of such being the case — the old drainage-channels crossing them may be 
 expected to be auriferous in the immediate vicinity. There is one fact 
 which is favourable to the discovery of gold-bearing reefs in the slates 
 and conglomerates, namely, that it is in these very formations that the 
 valuable reefs of Barmedman occur, situated some 28 miles N. of Temora. 
 
 From such tests as have been applied, and by comparing the local 
 conditions with those of other and similar gold-fields, .such as Gulgong, 
 Forbes, &c., it may be anticipated that the alluvial deposits (so far 
 discovered) of Temora will be worked out in about 5 years, and that as a 
 reefing district it will furnish employment to miners for a considerably 
 longer period. 
 
 Such are the prospects of this gold-field, as indicated by its geological 
 features and the practical tests as yet applied ; but it is impossible to 
 form an estimate of the richness of its alluvial deposits until a few 
 thousand loads have been washed. At present, as stated in Warden 
 Sharpe's report, there is a considerable quantity (some 60,000 loads) of 
 wash-dirt on surface, but unfortunately no water with which to treat 
 it. This want of water prevents also the thorough prospecting of the 
 neighbouring country. 
 
 New Zealand. — Gold was discovered in New Zealand in 1842, less 
 than 3 years from the foundation of the colony, but it was not practi- 
 cally worked until 185?, when the mines at Coromandel first attracted 
 attention to the district of Cape Colvillc peninsula, which at the present 
 time forms the chief seat of true mining operations in New Zealand. 
 The yield from those mines has up to the present time been over four 
 and a half millions sterling, but is small when compared with the quantity 
 of alluvial gold obtained in the South Island, subsequent to 1861, at 
 which date the gold-fields of Otago became prominently known. 
 
 The principal quartz mines in the North arc in Coromandel and in 
 
 
 b.m 
 
 0f 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 m^ 
 
 if 
 
 !t",' 
 

 518 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIDUTION. 
 
 the Thames districts, about 30 miles apart. In these localities the reefs 
 have been " proved " to a depth of over 600 ft. below sea-level ; but the 
 best mines have as yet been principally confined to the decomposed and 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 Sketch-map of New Zealand Gold-fields (Middle Island). 
 
 comparatively superficial rock. Veins have been discovered, and gold 
 obtained, at all levels on the ranges, from the sea-level to an altitude of 
 2000 ft. The quantity of gold that has been obtained from some of these 
 quartz reefs is very great ; and for considerable distances the quartz has 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 519 
 
 yielded very uniformly, at the rate of 600 oz. to the ton ; such reefs are, 
 however, very exceptional in New Zealand, as elsewhere. 
 
 Auriferous reefs are also extensively worked in the schistose rocks of 
 Otago, and they occur at all altitudes, from sea-level to 7400 ft., the 
 most elevated gold-mine in the Australasian colonies being that opened 
 during 1878 on the summit of Advance Peak, near the Wakatipu lake. 
 
 Several promising reefs have also been found in the Westland gold- 
 fields, amongst which may be mentioned a reef of auriferous stibnite at 
 Langdon's Creek, near Grcymouth, which yields from a few oz. to 99 0/.. 
 of gold per ton ; but up to the present time, these reefs have not received 
 the attention they deserve, except at Rcefton and a few other localities. 
 The importance of Reefton as a well-established mining district may be 
 judged of from the fact that 9 mining companies there, during the single 
 year ending 3i.st of March, 1878, divided, as profit, the sum of 63,508/. 
 among the shareholders. 
 
 So far as this more permanent form of gold-mining is concerned, 
 there is every reason to feel confident that it is still in its infancy in this 
 colony, and that it only awaits the judicious application of capital for its 
 development to a vast extent. 
 
 Alluvial gold is chiefly found in the South Island, in the districts of 
 Otago, Westland, and Nelson, in which mining operations are carried on 
 over an area of almost 20,000 sq. miles. The auriferous sand, or gold- 
 drift, as it is usually termed, is of three distinct kinds : — 
 
 1. That which is found in the beds of rivers, and which is worked by 
 small parties of miners, as the process requires no large expenditure of 
 capital to effect the separation of the gold. 
 
 2. Immensely thick deposits of gri\ ?1 of more ancient date occupy 
 the wider valleys and the flat country, from which the gold can only be 
 obtained by means of considerable expenditure and large engineering 
 works for the purpose of bringing a supply of water for undermining and 
 working the auriferous deposits. This description of mining is of a more 
 permanent character than the former, and provision has been made by 
 the Colonial Government for assisting the miners by the construction of 
 water-races, which will supply the means of profitable employment to a 
 much larger number of persons than at present gain a livelihood. 
 
 Some of these deposits are of considerable age, the cements of 
 Tuapeka being certainly not younger than the lowest Tertiary deposits 
 of the colony. They occur in beds 300 to 500 ft. thick, and cover a con- 
 siderable area of country. This cement is treated in a different way to 
 ordinary alluvial deposits, being crushed and washed in the same manner 
 that a quartz reef is worked ; but, in consequence of the nature of the 
 deposit, about 150 tons of stone is thus put through the batteries in one 
 day. It consists of coarse gravels and silts cemented together, and 
 carrying variable quantities of gold, and was first found at the Blue Spur 
 
 II 
 
 m 
 
 ^vii 
 
 
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 !• 1 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 1 1 
 
,j 
 
 I 
 
 I ;li 
 
 ll 
 
 520 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIHUTION. 
 
 in Otago, and subsequently at a number cjf other places in the same 
 district ; at Charleston and elsewhere, on thcW. coast, auriferous cements 
 are also worked, but the localities first cited arc those which to the 
 present time have received the greatest attention. The yield of gold 
 from cement claims is small, but in consequence of the large amount of 
 material which can be operated upon, the value of such deposits is con- 
 siderable, and their extent guarantees that they will afford a remunerative 
 return to those who are working them for some time to come. 
 
 3. Along the sea-coast the continued wash of the waves produces a 
 shifting action on the sands which are brought down by the rivers and 
 drifted along the shore, thus producing fine deposits of gold, which, by 
 the aid of simple mechanical contrivances, afford employment to a large 
 number of diggers, who can labour without incurring the hardships and 
 privations which attend their occupations in the more inland districts. 
 
 The alluvial diggings at Collingwood were discovered in 1858 ; those 
 of Otago in 1861 ; and in 1864, the gold-fields near Hokitika proved a 
 great attraction to the mining population of New Zealand. In Otago, 
 the gold-drifts rest on the denuded surface of their parent rocks. The 
 auriferous gravels in the W. district, on the other hand, as a general rule, 
 rest on the surface of Tertiary rocks of marine origin, and they have a 
 general distribution parallel to whatever was the W. shore of the island 
 at the time of their deposit. 
 
 The richest alluvial diggings in Westland usually occur in places very 
 inaccessible for water-supply, the streams having cut their channels much 
 below the surface of the country, so that an organized system of irrigation 
 is necessary to obtain the required amount of water for gold washing. 
 
 The following is the composition of the New Zealand gold as 
 exported from various parts : — 
 
 Melted gold from West Coast, Hokitika, Westland : 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 Assay — Gold "9627 = Fine Gold 9 14 16 
 
 Silver '0363 
 
 Copper .. .. •0010 
 
 Weight, 10 oz. 2 dwt. 6 gr. 
 
 Melted gold from Thames District, province of Auckland : 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 Assay— Gold '6565 = Fine Gold 6 12 18 
 
 Silver "3390 = Silver 3 8 13 
 
 Copper .. .. '0045 
 
 Weight, 10 oz. 2 dwt. 6 gr. 
 
 Refined gold, as extracted by chlorine refining process, and as exported by the 
 
 Bank of New Zealand, Auckland : 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 Assay — Gold '9942 = Fine Gold 9 19 20 
 
 Silver -0058 
 
 Weight, 10 oz. I dwt. 
 
M 
 
 AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 i as 
 
 521 
 
 The }Told-yiclclin{T formations of New Zealand, as compared with 
 those of Australia, arc thus given by Dr. Hector: — 
 New Zealand. 
 
 Rccviif, alluvia. 
 rtioccne, shingle plains. 
 Lcnuer Miocene, Ross beds. 
 Crctaceo-Tcrtiary, coal formation. 
 
 ,, ,, propylite Ijrcccias. 
 
 Lower Carl'oiiifi'rous, Maitai slates. 
 (?) U/i/ief Dct'onian, Te Anau beds. 
 Upper Silurian, Batow river slates, 
 Loiver Silurian, hornblende rocks. 
 
 AUSTRAMA. 
 Newer gold-drift of Victoria. 
 Older golil-drifts and deep leads of V'ictoria. 
 
 Auriferous slates of Victoria. 
 
 The following observations arc gathered from James McKcrrow's 
 report on the gold-fields of New Zealand for i8Sl 
 
 On the gold-fields of New Zealand during the past ye (1880) there 
 has been more than usual activity. This has been most prominently dis- 
 played in the prospecting of new country, and in the increased area of 
 proved auriferous ground which has thereby become known. 
 
 Te Aroha and Coromandcl in Auckland province, Mohaka in 
 Hawke's Bay, Terawhiti in Wellington, Mount Arthur in Nelson, and 
 head of Lake Wakatipu in Otago province, are localities in which more 
 or less has been done in the discovery and testing of auriferous quartz 
 veins. As frequently happens in quartz mining, there were at first in 
 most of these cases greater expectations than subsequent experience has 
 yet realized. It requires an expenditure of much hard work, time, and 
 money before even the richest mine can be rendered productive. This 
 necessary outlay is being made at most of the places named. In the 
 alluvial mining districts of West Coast and Otago also, new ground has 
 been explored ; and in old ground, improved machinery and more 
 tunnels and sludge-channels have been brought to bear on deeper 
 deposits. 
 
 These prospectings and preliminary works have not been done to the 
 neglect of workings formerly opened out, as the increases under the 
 various heads of revenue show, as also the considerable increase in the 
 yield of gold in 1880 over 1879, in the following comparative state- 
 ment : — 
 
 
 1879. 
 
 1880. 1 Decrease. 
 
 Increase. 
 
 Auckland 
 Marll)orough .. 
 
 Nelson 
 
 West Coast . . . . 
 Otago 
 
 oz. 
 
 37,901 
 
 879 
 
 2,993 
 
 142,822 
 102,869 
 
 i. oz. 
 
 154,295 42,720 
 
 3,460 1,550 
 
 11,424 3,222 
 
 571,061 144,090 
 
 407,868 ! 113,666 
 
 176,416 
 
 5.650 
 
 12,223 
 
 575.258 
 457.705 
 
 :: 
 
 oz. 
 
 4,819 
 
 671 
 
 229 
 
 1,268 
 
 10,797 
 
 22,121 
 
 2,190 
 
 799 
 
 4,197 
 
 49,837 
 
 
 287,464 1,148,108 [305,248 1,227,252 j 
 
 17.784 
 
 79,144 
 
 
 Increas 
 
 e for 1880 
 
 . .. . 
 
 .. .. 
 
 ., .. 
 
 17,784 
 
 79-144 
 
 J 
 
 •'.^: 
 
 
 
 ■ 1 ,'1 
 ■ ■As 
 
 b'- ! 
 
 h' 
 
 m 
 
 J 
 

 ■> 
 
 IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-S) 
 
 1.0 
 
 I.I 
 
 115 
 
 ^ Uii ■2.2 
 ^ U£ 12.0 
 
 
 IJ& 
 
 
 1.25 III 1.4 III 1 ^ 
 
 = 111=^ lllll=*»= 
 
 
 < 
 
 6" 
 
 ► 
 
 Hiotographic 
 
 Sdraices 
 
 Corporation 
 
 1? tJVIST MAIN STRUT 
 
 VvtfBSTH.N.Y. USSO 
 
 (716)t72-4S03 
 
 
 ^^/- 
 
4^n 
 
 l/.A 
 
522 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DLSTRIBUTION. 
 
 Comparison of the quarters ended March 31, 1880 and 1881, shows, 
 on the other hand, a very great falling off for the first quarter of the 
 current year. As explained in former reports, the only criterion of the 
 yield of gold is in the quantity passed at the Custom-house for export. 
 This, of course, takes no account of what is used up in the colony, which 
 may be taken to vary from 10,000 to 20,000 oz. a year. Nor for so short 
 a period as 3 months, can any very reliable conclusion be come to as to 
 the actual yield of the gold-fields during that time, there being many 
 contingencies which affect the quantities sold by the miners and shipped 
 by the banks, which do not recur regularly within a 3 months' period, 
 but which adjust to a much better average for a period of 12 months. 
 
 
 1880. 
 
 1881. 
 
 Decrease. Inti-ea.se. 
 
 Auckland .. 
 Marlborough 
 
 Nelson 
 
 West Coast.. .. 
 Otago 
 
 01!. 
 11,787 
 215 
 1,096 
 
 33,6iS 
 32,589 
 
 & 
 
 47.403 
 
 850 
 
 4,129 
 
 134,426 
 
 13'. 400 
 
 oz. 
 
 6,151 
 
 250 
 23,822 
 
 20,418 
 
 23,779 
 
 1,000 
 
 95,286 
 
 82,167 
 
 oz. 
 5,636 
 215 
 846 
 
 9,793 
 12,171 
 
 23,624 
 850 
 
 3,129 
 39.140 
 49.233 
 
 " 
 
 
 79,302 ! 318,208 
 
 50.641 
 
 202,232 
 
 28,661 
 
 115,976 1 .. 
 
 Decrease for 3 months ended 31st March, i88i .. 
 
 28,661 
 
 115,976 
 
 " 
 
 Statement of Gold Exported and Value for the years, as under. 
 
 Year. 
 
 1857 
 1858 
 
 1859 
 i860 
 1861 
 1862 
 1863 
 1864 
 1865 
 1866 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 
 10,436 
 
 13,533 
 7,336 
 4,538 
 
 194.234 
 410,862 
 628,450 
 480,171 
 
 574,574 
 735,376 
 686,753 
 
 637.474 
 614,281 
 
 40,442 
 
 52,443 
 
 28,427 
 
 17,585 
 
 752,657 
 
 1,591.389 
 
 2,431,723 
 
 1,857,847 
 
 2,226,474 
 
 2,844,517 
 
 2,700,275 
 
 2,504,326 
 
 ,2,362,995 
 
 Year. 
 
 1870 
 1871 
 1872 
 
 1873 
 1874 
 
 187s 
 1876 
 
 1877 
 1878 
 
 1879 
 1880 
 1881 
 
 544.880 
 730,029 
 445.370 
 505,337 
 376,388 
 355,322 
 
 318,367 
 371.685 
 310,486 
 284,100 
 305,248 
 270,561 
 
 2,157,585 
 2,787,520 
 
 f. 730, 992 
 1,987,425 
 
 •,505,331 
 1,407.770 
 1.268.559 
 1,496.080 
 1,240,079 
 1. 134.641 
 1,227,252 
 1,080,790 
 
 9,815.791 38,435,124 
 
 The number of miners on March 31, 1881, was 15,063, and as the 
 number 12 months before that was 14,409, the mean number for the year 
 will be 14,736. The gold exported for the same period was valued at 
 1,111,276/. This docs not include the gold used up in the colony; but 
 excluding this uncertain quantity, and simply taking the export alone, 
 as was done in former years in striking the average earnings per man, it 
 will be found that this is 75/. 8j-. for the 12 months ended March 31, 
 1 88 1, For the 3 preceding similar period.s, going back, the average 
 earnings per man were respectively 81/. 2j., 75/. \os., and 97/. lOJ., or for 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 523 
 
 the 4 years — 31st of March, 1877, to 31st of March, 1881 — an average of 
 82/. ys. 6d. per man. In Victoria, the average for the 4 years ended 
 31st of December, 1880, is 80/. 15J. per man. 82/. 7s. 6d. a year, or 
 i/. I \s. 8d. a week, wo".ld be a low average wage for men residing in a 
 colonial town ; but the miners, more especially the alluvial miners (and 
 they greatly preponderate in number), reside in the vicinity of their 
 workings, rent free, and, if they choose, on a residence area of one acre. 
 On the W. coast and at the Thames, firewood is abundant ; and in 
 Otago, there are lignite deposits side by side with the gold. 
 
 Subject to regulations, there are more than 10,000,000 acres of Crown 
 lands over which the miners have the right to search and mine for gold, 
 and to occupy whatever portion they may select for mining or residence 
 purposes. For these privileges, there is the annual payment of i/. for 
 miners' right, i/. an acre of rent for ground held on mining lease ; also 
 registration fees of water-rights ard other mining property, which are 
 almost nominal ; and the gold export duty of 2s. an oz., which, although 
 not paid by the miners directly, is none the less so indirectly. These 
 various items amount to an average contribution per miner of about 3/. 
 a year, or a total of 49,000/. for the year. 
 
 The collection of this revenue and the expense of administration of 
 the gold-fields is at the sole charge of the Government, but the revenue 
 collected is paid over to the funds of the county within which it arises. 
 Many of the miners have entered into farms or have interests in cattle, 
 and still prosecute mining for a portion of the year at least. The search 
 for gold has been the occasion of leading men into the country, and the 
 result has supplied them with the means of settling it. There is a great 
 deal yet to be done in this way, more especially on the W. coast of the 
 Middle Island, where are extensive districts that, as they get opened up 
 by roads, will afford thrifty men the opportunity of settling down and 
 drawing on the auriferous deposits from time to time. All along the 
 coast-line, from Cape Farewell to Milford Sound, are to be found hardy 
 pioneers who, in pursuit of gold and adventure, have settled down in 
 some favourite spot, and in their independent mode of life find a charm 
 which more than compensates for its solitude and isolation. 
 
 Fully two-thirds of the year's return of gold was obtained from 
 alluvial mining, and the balance from quarts, and cement crushings. The 
 returns from these two classes of mining have maintained about the 
 same proportion for several years. The vast extent of the auriferous 
 gravels, extending as they do in the valleys and terraces over an area of 
 country of upwards of 10,000,000 acres, will maintain the pre-eminence 
 of this class of mining in New Zealand for many years to come. Water 
 for sluicing and washing the deposits is an indispensable requisite in 
 alluvial mining, and that is always attainable in abundance in the natural 
 
 ^1 
 
i 
 
 ;. I' 
 
 
 524 
 
 GEOGRArmCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 supplies of the country. The extent to which this has been avr.ilcd of is 
 manifest in the statistics, from which it appears that upwards of 5000 
 miles of water-races have been constructed by the miners, at an estimated 
 cost, with their attendant tail-races and dams, of nearly 800,000/. This 
 is exclusive of Government water-races and dams, which cost 450,000/. 
 
 Ground-sluicing is the favourite mode of alluvial mining, and, with a 
 plentiful supply of water and a good fall for tail-race, it is the most 
 profitable and certain in its results, even in ground that would be far too 
 poor to work by any other method. It is a most destructive process, for 
 the claim being once opCiied out to the depth of the layer of auriferous 
 drift, the water, with a head of 80 or 100 or more ft., is directed through 
 a hoze and nozzle against the face of the claim, which it cuts into, under- 
 mining hundreds of tons of stuff in a few hours, which keeps falling in 
 and is passed on in a muddy stream through the long line of tail-race, 
 where the particles of gold settle by their gravity. In this way the crust 
 of the earth is washed away to depths of from a few feet to over a 
 hundred. The value of gold obtained from a sluicing claim varies from 
 a few hundred pounds sterling to many thousand pounds per acre. 
 
 The magnitude of the sluicing operations soon destroys the natural 
 fall of the tail-race by the accumulation of spoil at its lower end. Many 
 expedients are had recourse to in order to overcome this difficulty. At 
 Oilman's Town, Kumara, where are 340 acres of proved payable auriferous 
 ground in one basin — being 2 miles of the ancient bed of the Teremakau 
 — advantage has been taken of the lower level of the present channel of 
 that river, by running tunnels from it through the intervening terrace 
 formation to a level below the auriferous deposits. Through these tunnels 
 the sludge flows in a rapid current from the claims, and is shot into the 
 deep bed of the Teremakau. There are several private tunnels in opera- 
 tion, and the Government has a tunnel sludge-channel of 87 chains in 
 length in course of construction, the lower half of which has been com- 
 pleted and timbered in a very substantial manner, and it can be availed 
 of as soon as the claim-holders have made their branch tunnels into it. 
 The section of this tunnel is 1 1 ft. by 7 ft. It may be compared, as in 
 reality it is, to a gigantic underground sewer. It will cost over 14,000/ 
 The open sludge-channel at Naseby is another large public work of this 
 class ; it is 8 miles long, and cost 23,492/ The conditions, however, for 
 disposal of tailings are rarely so favourable as at Kumara and Naseby, 
 especially at the former ; and sludge-channels become impracticable 
 where there is little fall. Recourse must then be had to the more ex- 
 pensive and laborious process of tracing the auriferous ground by tunnels, 
 and raising it up a shaft to a platform sufficiently high to allow of fall 
 lor the tailings after the stuff is washed. This plan is adopted with great 
 success at Orwell Creek, Ahaura. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 525 
 
 But the most ingenious expedient for overcoming the tailings diffi- 
 culty is in operation at Gabriel's Gully, Tuapeka. In that gully is an 
 accumulation of millions of tons of tailings from the earlier workings of 
 the famous B'.ue Spur. This mass of stuff, and portions of the original 
 ground on which it rests, have long been supposed to be payable if they 
 could onlj be put through the sluice-boxes in a wholesale manner. 
 There is plenty of water available, but not sufficient fall. The problem 
 seemed insoluble until J. R. Perry took it up. By his plan, the stuff is 
 forced up a pipe by a powerful jet of water let in from a nozzle at the 
 lower end of the pipe. This jet has a head of over 300 ft, and so great 
 is the suction induced by its ascent that as the stuff is fed into the lower 
 end of the pipe by a stream of water it is at once drawn in and rushes 
 up the pipe, and would be discharged at the top as from a catapult or 
 volcano but for an iron hood which serves the double purpose of breaking 
 any agglomerated nodules, and guiding the stuff within the sluice-boxes, 
 along which it is carried by the water, and is shot over at a convenient 
 distance from the workings. In this way the stuff, instead of being 
 washed bodily away down a sludge-channel, is simply turned over and 
 shifted a few hundred feet at most. A more detailed description of this 
 ingenious plan will be found in Chapter V. It is a great mechanical 
 success, and will pay, it is estimated, if the ground will only yield a few 
 grains of gold per ton. 
 
 As another instance of the skill and enterprise at work in the develop- 
 ment of the alluvial deposits, the dredging of the bed of the Clutha may 
 be cited. For many years dredging-machines have been at work on that 
 river. The principle and system 'f raising the stuff by a chain of buckets 
 in these machines are almost identical with that of harbour dredges. 
 They are moored on the river, the powerful current of which acting on 
 paddle-wheels supplies the motive power which drives the buckets. The 
 bed of the river being very rich in places, the dredging has proved profit- 
 able to many. But the dredger, depending on the current of the river 
 for power, can only work where that is strong. Another plan was to 
 have a punt or platform moored on the river, and by means of a large 
 scoop with a strong canvas bag attached stuff was raised by a lever ; 
 this was a very laborious process. Another plan was on the pneumatic- 
 tube principle employed in sinking cylinders for the piers of bridges. In 
 it, the miner was let down and worked on the bed of the river di'*c -t. 
 But there was too much time and expense involved in shifting the tube, 
 and this plan was soon abandoned. There was also a plan of submarine 
 boat on the principle of the diving-bell ; the boat and apparatus were 
 constructed, but the project fell through. The dredger principle is the 
 one approved by experience, and there are now four steam-dredgers to 
 be placed on the river. They, of course, will be independent of current. 
 
 n 
 
526 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and will be able to work on any part, and should put through a great 
 deal of stuflf! This is essential to success, because the river-bed has 
 become greatly filled : p with tailings from former workings, and that 
 waste has all to be lifted before the fertile ground on the original bed of 
 the river is reached. 
 
 It has been found at Charleston that the gold does not all settle in 
 the tail-race, but that on the union of the waters of several tail-races a 
 small percentage, well worth saving, floats away on the stream. This is 
 arrested by a series of blanket-tables placed across stream, like weirs, 
 thereby causing the water to flow over all the tables in succession. The 
 tables are washed in turn, and the gold streamed from the sand, and is 
 caught up by mercury. 
 
 On the coast-line, about 2 miles N. of Charleston, is a colony of 
 Shetlanders, who with their families have settled down in comfortable 
 homes along the edge of the forest, and whose working time is divided 
 between small farm cultivation and the washing of the fine gold from 
 the sea sands, which, after certain weathers, are easily got at and found 
 to be highly auriferous. These beach-claims are deemed valuable 
 property, are kept carefully registered, and as much as 250/. has been 
 paid for the transfer of the right to work a few square yards of what, to 
 a casual observer, would only appear a flat patch of barren sand. 
 
 The returns from quartz and cement mining for the 12 months 
 ended 31st of March, 1881, are — 
 
 Auckland- '"'"^i^T' 0.ot,oH. 
 
 Coromandel 720 .. 4)9^ 
 
 Thames 32.404 •• 53.154 
 
 West Coast — 
 
 Reefton 25,926 .. 17,802 
 
 Lyell 6,880 .. S.67S 
 
 Marlborough — 
 
 Havelock 600 .. 190 
 
 Otago — 
 
 Cromwell 4.SU .. 3.602 
 
 Arrow (Macetown) .. 4,896 .. 2,254 
 
 Skipper's 3,752 .. 91S 
 
 Hindon 766 .. 326 
 
 80, 455 .. 88,878 from quartz. 
 Lawrence .. .• 25,600 estimated from cement. 
 
 114,478 from quartz and cement. 
 
 The quantity of quartz crushed is 4000 tons greater than last year ; 
 this is entiiely due to the Alpine Co.'s mine, Lyell, which, after a great 
 deal of heavy preparatory work, iias been crushing regularly for some 
 time past. In the other districts, has been a slight fahing-off. For the 
 last 3 years, the returns from quartz mining have fluctuated very little, 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 527 
 
 the total tons crushed being the same annually within 4000 tors, and 
 the yield of gold within 9000 oz. These comparisons also bring out the 
 fact that for 3 years the quartz-crushings of Auckland yielded i oz. 
 10 dwt. to I oz. 17 dwt. per ton ; the W. coast, 13 to 18^ dwt. pe;- ton ; 
 and Otago, 10 to 18^ dwt. per ton. 
 
 Comparing the quartz-crushings of New Zealand with those of 
 Victoria, and taking the most recent annual returns, they are : New 
 Zealand, 80,455 tons, 88,878 oz., or I oz. 2 dwt. 2 gr. per ton ; Victoria, 
 968,883 tons, 466404 oz., or 9 dwt. 15 gr. per ton. 
 
 The average yield of quartz crushed in Victoria for the 6 years, 
 1874-80, was 10 dwt. per ton on the vast quantity of 5,619,776 tons. In 
 New Zealand, although the average yield of gold has always considerably 
 exceeded I oz. to the ton, yet quartz mining has not made such progress 
 as this statement might suggest. There is plenty of stone, but with the 
 higher price of labour, and the difficult nature of much of the country, 
 i oz. to the ton would not pay as in Victoria. The consequence is that 
 stone is left untouched that would pay well if in the other colony. There 
 are several ways in which quartz mining may be promoted in New 
 Zealand- The most obvious are, especially in mountainous districts, 
 (i) The opening of roads so that machinery and timber may be got on 
 to the ground with moderate expense ; (2) the granting of large areas in 
 exceptionally difficult circumstances. 
 
 The wisdom of granting large areas has been strikingly exemplified 
 in the history of the Alpine Co.'s mine, Lyell, already referred to. The 
 mine is situate up a wild bush gorge 6 or 7 miles distant from the 
 nearest point of the dray road ; it is high up on the mountain side, and 
 how to get machinery there and get the stone down to a site where the 
 stampers could be erected was a problem requiring much skill and 
 courage to solve. A large outlay was necessary, which the company 
 saw would have been folly to incur on a lease of no greater area than 
 the usual i6ig acres. The Government accordingly, 3 years ago, allowed 
 an extension of area to 50 acres, and since then, by a large expenditure 
 and much determination, the mine has become one of the most prolific 
 in the colony. About the same time, the Welcome Co., at Boatman's, 
 near Reefton, applied for an extension of area, so as to be enabled to 
 drive through to some back country ; after due inquiry, the application 
 was granted ; and the success of that mine, after a thorough and costly 
 blocking out of the lodes, has been very satisfactory to the fortunate 
 shareholders. There is plenty of stone in the colony, and similar success 
 seems to await other companies that have the skill, capital, and patience 
 to fairly test and open new ground. 
 
 In keeping with the policy of encouraging costly mining enterprises, 
 a company at Ross, Westland, 7 months ago, was granted a lease of 
 
 I 
 
it 
 
 528 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 ICX) acres, so as to warrant the heavy preliminary expenses of opening 
 out the deep leads there ; and likewise, the Rangitoto Silver Mining Co., 
 also near Ross, after having expended many thousand pounds in pro- 
 specting the ground, has been allowed to acquire the freehold of 500 
 acres, with the object of enabling the company to raise more capital 
 towards further development of the property. 
 
 Having dealt with the New Zealand gold-industry as a whole, some 
 details may now be given of the chief gold-fields, in alphabetic order. 
 
 Otago. — In 1875, Professor G. H. F. Ulrich presented to the Otago 
 Provincial Council, a most invaluable report on the auriferous quartz 
 reefs and crushing machines of the province of Otago, with remarks on 
 its auriferous drifts, which may be summarized in the following terms. 
 
 The Auriferous Reefs. — As introductory to the description of the 
 reefs, the following remarks on the nature of the country-rocks in which 
 the reefs occur, or gold has been found in matrix, will save frequent 
 repetitions. With the exception of those of the auriferous locality near 
 Portobello, specially considered farther on, the rocks consist throughout, 
 according to Ulrich's observations, and which are confirmed by Captain 
 Hutton the Provincial Geologist's more extensive and detailed geological 
 survey — of metamorphic schist, i. e. argillaceous mica-schist or phyllite, 
 changing from the E. towards the W. into real mica-schist, with sub- 
 ordinate bands of chlorite-schist, or chloritic mica-schist. The line or 
 boundary where this change takes place has with difficulty been traced 
 by Captain Hutton, but it appears that within the large district on the 
 W., occupied by mica-schist, exists at least one rather large area, viz. 
 the Carrick Range, where the rock conforms in all lithological respects 
 to true phyllite, and this range lies, according to Captain Hutton, within 
 the line of a main anticlinal axis, the existence of which he first esta- 
 blished. Whether this inlying patch of phyllite represents a remnant of 
 denudation of a once superincumbent general formation on the mica- 
 schist, or whether it simply constitutes an area where the metamorphic 
 action and change were of less intensity, remains a difficult problem, to 
 solve by future investigation. Only at two places within the extensive 
 metamorphic district Llrich obtained evidence of the existence of an 
 intrusive rock, viz. high up the Carrick Range, in small dyke-and- 
 knoblike protrusions of a dark " hornstone-porphyry," and at Alexandra 
 in several specimens of a similar porphyry, said to be derived from a 
 reef-like outcrop (no doubt a dyke) on the N. slope of the Old Man 
 Range. Captain Hutton, and Coleman of Alexandra, know of several 
 more dykes of this kind in other localities. Massive occurrences of 
 granite, such as characterize the neighbourhood of most of the Victorian 
 gold-fields, are, however, quite absent. 
 
 As a general rule, both the phyllite and mica-schist, but more 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 529 
 
 especially the latter, are rich in interlaminations of quartz, generally less 
 than i in. to near i in. thick, but sometimes assuming considerable 
 dimensions — i to 3 ft. in thickness — though with no regularity and 
 permanency in strike and dip. 
 
 These generally lenticular-shaped masses, and, as a specimen shown 
 Ulrich at Alexandra proved, also the small interlaminations of quartz, 
 have at several places been found auriferous, which led to their being 
 erroneously mistaken for true reefs or their leaders ; and a considerable 
 amount of money and labour has been wasted in their exploration. As 
 a case in point he notices the workings on the so-called Butcher's Gully 
 reef, near Alexandra. There, on a rocky, high table-land, consisting of 
 nearly flat-bedded mica-schist, full of quartz interlaminations, a fine 
 large shaft has been sunk 60 to 70 ft. deep, and furnished with a pump 
 worked by a water-wheel, which received its water-supply by means of a 
 long wooden flume from an extensive race on the neighbouring range. 
 Gold at the rate of 6 dwt. per ton is said to have been crushed from the 
 quprtz ; but as neither in the shaft nor in the stuff worked out of it, nor 
 in 'the surrounding country, any indications of a reef are visible, the 
 auriferous quartz found must, no doubt, have been derived from one or 
 several of the small interlaminations, and the prospects of the place 
 would, therefore, certainly not warrant further expense in more extensive 
 exploration. There are certain inferences to which the existence of 
 these auriferous quartz interlaminations leads, namely, that they may be 
 more frequent and more widely distributed than hitherto supposed, and 
 that the riches in gold of the drifts of the province are in some measure, 
 at least, due to their denudation. As regards the strike and dip of the 
 schists, they are subject to great changes throughout the country, the 
 former running through nearly all directions of the compass, and the 
 latter from horizontal to vertical, from one side to the other ; and these 
 variations are in some places, as for instance on the Carrick Range, so 
 frequent, and exist in such close proximity to each other as to render 
 the taking of any mean dip and strike quite a hopeless task. Therefore 
 in the subsequent descriptions of the reefs, Ulrich has in most instances 
 given merely the relative position of the latter to the country — i. c. 
 whether they traverse the rocks either in strike or in dip, or in both. On 
 the large scale, there exists, as already mentioned, according to Captain 
 Hutton's observations, a main anticlinal axis running nearly N. and S., 
 through the country, including the Carrick Rangp in its course, from 
 which axis the average dip of the rocks is on the one hand E., on the 
 other W. ; and in the latter direction, more especially between Arrow 
 and Skipper's Creek, a more than usual regularity obtains in the W. 
 dip, as seen in the ranges bounding the Arrow and Shotover rivers. 
 
 The auriferous reefs opened throughout the province differ very much 
 
 2 M 
 
i 
 
 li^ 
 
 II 
 
 530 
 
 GEOGRAI'IIICAL DISTKIHUTION. 
 
 both in structure and mode of development. Still, there arc some 
 districts, of which, though they lie rather far apart, the reefs show much 
 resemblance to each other in the above respects ; whilst a^^ain in other 
 districts, comparatively close together, the difference in the nature and 
 behaviour of the reefs is very great indeed. Taking advantage of these 
 alliances, in order to simplify the description, the reefs and other occur- 
 rences of gold in matrix may be grouped as follows : — 
 
 FlKST GrouI': The Saddle Hill reef, Green Island, near Duncdin ; 
 th'j reefs of Tokomairiro (Canada reef, &c.) ; the Gabriel's Gully reef, 
 near Lawrence ; the O P Q reef, Waipori. 
 
 Second Group: The reefs of Bcndigo, near Cromwell ; the Rough 
 Ridge reefs ; Conroy's Gully reef, near Alexandra. 
 
 Tiiiki:* Group: The reefs of the Carrick Range. 
 
 Fourth Group: The reefs of Arrow and Skipper's Creek. 
 
 Fifth Group : The reefs of Macrae's Flat and Shag Valley. 
 
 Sixth Group : Exceptional occurrences of gold in matrix — the so- 
 called Peninsula Quartz reef at Portobello. 
 
 I. Saddle Hill, Gabriel's Gully, O P Q, and Canada reefs are true lodes, 
 promising permanency in depth. They have well-defined foot- and 
 hanging-walls and clay casings or selvages, and cross the country 
 (phyllite) both in strike and dip, though the difference in angle, cither 
 in strike or dip, or sometimes in both, is generally not considerable. In 
 their ure, development, and mode of occurrence, they resemble 
 
 very ■: ^. a certain class of Victorian reefs, called " block reefs," the 
 typical characteristic of which is, that they are composed of generally a 
 number of blocks of quartz, either with contractions of the lode-fissures 
 between, or, which is the case here, alternating with blocks of " mullock " 
 — the latter term meaning gangue matter, consisting of country-rock 
 slipped into the lode-fissure, where, in course of time, it became more or 
 less mineralized, impregnated with pyrites, and traversed by small quartz 
 veins. These quartz and mullock blocks, which reach sometimes con- 
 siderable dimensions, extend hardly ever vertically downwards, but show 
 an endlong dip in strike within the fissures — N. or S., E. or W., as the 
 case may be — in the same reef invariably, in the reefs of the same district 
 generally, in the same direction. The feature may, in fact, be considered 
 as an oblique banded structure on the large scale. In the reefs under 
 notice, the thickness of the blocks reaches in some cases 1 2 ft, and their dip 
 in strike is generally at rather flat angles. According to experience, gold 
 occurs both in the quartz and mullock blocks ; but the former have hitherto 
 invariably been found the richest, and in them its distribution is mostly 
 not uniform throughout, but, as found in the Gabriel's Gully, for instance, 
 a rich small shoot dips at a flat angle across the block ; or, as in the 
 Canada, a number of narrow, richer runs, dipping in the line of the blocks, 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW /KALAND. 
 
 53» 
 
 arc separated by poorer (|iiartz ; or, as in the Waipori, a certain thickness 
 on the hanjjin^f- and foot- walls is richer than the centre, &r The 
 appearance of the quartz — and this appertains also to that of the reefs of 
 the other {groups — varies very much according to whether the stone comes 
 from the surface or from beneath the water-level. In the first case, it is 
 white, opaque, and mottled and striped with brown iron-ore, or ferruf^i- 
 nous slaty matter ; in the latter, it shows a bluish colour, is slijjhtly trans- 
 lucent and glassy, and full of blackish spots and seams of slaty matter, 
 which, as well as the quartz itself, arc more or less densely impregnated 
 with pyrites. With the exception of the O P Q, Waipori, which produced 
 from the old workings a very good average per ton, and promises richer 
 yields from the new ones, the other reefs of this group are rather poor 
 in gold, the yields ranging not much above 5 dwt. per ton throughout. 
 Still, considering the thickness and extent of the quartz blocks, the 
 facility with which they can generally be worked, and that sometimes 
 the intervening mullock is worth crushing, on account of thin rich 
 quartz seams traversing it, they ought to be profitable to work — i. e. on a 
 larger scale than has hitherto been the case — for at least several hundred 
 feet in depth ; more especially if attention is paid to the saving and 
 treatment of the pyrites ; and the truth of this opinion is in some measure 
 already shown by the results of the Canada, which, though worked by 
 shaft on a limited scale, produces from a depth of 80 ft., according to the 
 manager's statement, a small profit from an average yield of 5 dwt. of 
 gold per ton. 
 
 2. Ulrich's reasons for grouping the reefs of Bendigo, and the Rough 
 Ridge, Conroy's Gully reef, near Alexandra, together, are based less upon 
 their exhibiting unmistakable structural difierenccs from the reefs of the 
 other groups, than upon their similarity to each other in several respects, 
 touching mode of development and relation to the country. Their 
 thickness is, in the average, but small, ranging generally from i to 2 ft, 
 and exceeding rarely 4 ft., and as far as workings have proved, they do 
 not consist of solid quartz throughout, and but seldom so for any con- 
 siderable extent in strike and dip (Logan's). They represent, in fact, in 
 certain respects, " block reefs," though with this difierence from the true 
 reefs of this class, that blocks of quartz and mullock of irregular size and 
 outline are more or less irregularly intermixed, and do not, as those of 
 the latter do, dip at certain angles, and in the same direction in strike. 
 Most of the reefs of Bendigo show well-defined walls with clay casings, 
 strike nearly uniformly E. and W., are mostly traceable for long distances, 
 and — what constitutes them very " strong " ones in a mining sense, and 
 indicates permanency in depth — they traverse horizontal or very flat- 
 bedded mica-schist vertically, or at very steep angles. The reefs of the 
 Rough Ridge vary in strike, though not at large angles, and most are not 
 
 2 M 2 
 
 I 
 
532 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 I !J 
 
 \r 
 
 traceable far in strike. They are generally not so well defined as those 
 of Bcndigo, and seem liable to frequent irregularities in strike and dip, 
 contractions, and more especially to being faulted by slides ; but these 
 unfavourable features are apparently the results of surface disturbance 
 only, and may disappear in depth. It is not uncommon, both at Bendigo 
 and Rough Ridge, that reefs split in strike into branches, which, though 
 deviating at first from, assume gradually again the strike of the main reef, 
 and run thus pretty close and parallel to<'ether, some increasing to the 
 same or even a greater thickness than that shown by the latter. 
 
 Besides " leaders" that dip towards them, so-called " droppers," dipping 
 at generally flat angles away from them, have also been observed in some 
 of the reefs at both places. With regard to the mode of occurrence of 
 the gold, the comparatively superficial work done on most of the reefs 
 hardly permits to fotm a definite and generally applicabl'- opinion. 
 Judging, however, from those most extensively and deepest worked, it 
 would seem that the metal is accumulated in rich shoots of variable width, 
 that dip at rather steep angles in strike in the quartz blocks ; whilst the 
 portions intervening between the shoots, including the mullock patches, 
 arc poor, but generally rich enough, or of such limited extent as to render 
 it the most economical to work them with the rest, without resorting to 
 special selection. Excepting the yields from Logan's reef, as unusually 
 rich ones, those from the other reefs have been by no means low in the 
 average, as they ranged up to 2 oz. per ton, and from hardly a single 
 reef were they reported much below ^ oz. per ton. Considering this, 
 Ulrich was much astonished to see so many of the reefs and claims 
 neglected (at the Rough Ridge, over 20 claims were once worked, whilst 
 at present only a single one) ; but the reason was explained to him to 
 consist partly in the high prices charged for crushing, partly in expensive 
 cartage, and more especially in the want of enterprising miners, those 
 who worked the top having become afraid of the nard work and expense 
 required in contending with the water. With regard to the prospects of 
 the reefs in depth, he considers them, where the reefs are well defined, as 
 favourable, both as concerns persistency in auriferous character and 
 regularity in average size. But in speculating upon profits to be derived 
 from future working, several important points must not be left uncon- 
 sidered — namely, the comparatively small size of the reefs, expenses 
 connected with getting rid of the water, and greater difficulty in extract- 
 ing the gold from the quartz ; for below the water-level, which lies in 
 several of the reefs considerably higher than one would suppose from 
 their elevation above the nearest permanent surface water, the seamy 
 quartz is throughout very metalliferous ; in fact, it promises at greater 
 depth to become more highly charged with metallic sulphides (arsenical 
 and iron-pyrites, galena, zinc-blende, &c.) than in any of the reefs of 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND 
 
 533 
 
 the other districts examined. Timely attention to improvements in the 
 gold-saving applir-'.ces is therefore highly advisable. The expense of 
 working narrow reefs will, in depth, also considerably increase, in con- 
 sequence of the increasing hardness and closeness of the country, which 
 latter is comparatively more unfavourable to work on account of its 
 horizontal bedding. However, against this may be placed, as a perhaps 
 more than adequate set-off, the high dip of the reefs, which much 
 facilitates working, and what is of greater importance, that the hardness 
 of the rock in conjunction with its horizontal bedding renders the 
 supporting of the workings very cheap and simple. 
 
 3. The generality of the reefs of the Carrick Range present in several 
 respects quite distinctive characters from the reefs of the other groups. 
 They are peculiar clayey ferruginous " mullock reefs " or rather " quartz- 
 mullock reefs," so soft that they can , ostly be worked by pick, without 
 the aid of boring and blasting ; and the quartz, which apparently forms 
 no large percentage of their mass, v ..curs only in the shape of coarse 
 sand and small angular and slightly rounded pieces — such reaching or 
 surpassing the size of a fist being rather rare. Whether it represented 
 originally interlaminations in the mullock, or was formed in veins, is 
 uncertain, but a kind of banded s*- ucture in the line of dip of the reefs 
 speaks in favour of the latter. These reefs vary in thickness from less 
 than I ft. to over 6 ft. ; they strike in all directions across the country, 
 but arc only of short extent, and differ very much both in direction and 
 angle of underlie, the latter ranging from vertical to less than 20°. Some 
 of the reefs show also much irregularity in their course, for they expand 
 and contract, twist and curve in strike and dip in quite a peculiar manner, 
 and are, what is the case also with most of the others, frequently faulted 
 by slides and cross-courses, so that it requires very great attention and 
 perseverance on the part of the mining managers not to lose them. 
 Considering all these points in connection with the fact that the country 
 — a rather soft phyllite — is also very much disturbed, both in strike and 
 dip — steep and flat dips alternating and changing in direction within short 
 distances — it appears next to certain that not only the peculiar soft and 
 gravelly nature of the reefs, but also the exceptionally flat dips of some, 
 are not original, but due to strong pressure, friction, upheaval, &c. ; and 
 as the cause of these disturbances, appears most likely the intrusion of 
 the dark hornstone-porphyry, which, as mentioned at another place, occurs 
 in small knobs and dykes at several places on the range (near Carricktown). 
 Unfavourable as these features no doubt appear, touching straightforward 
 and uninterrupted working of the reefs in future, Ulrich feels no appre- 
 hension of the latter giving out suddenly or at a limited depth, for they 
 are in every respect true lodes, crossing the country both in strike and dip, 
 and showing most frequently the hanging-wall, less frequent the foot-wall. 
 
 '■i& ■* 
 
 M 
 
 *f*1 
 
 m 
 
 
 «ayji 
 
i 
 
 1 1 
 
 I ! 
 
 534 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and in some instances both walls well defined and separated from their 
 mass by clayey cisings, mostly polished and striated, representing the 
 so-called " slicken-sides," which afiford unmistakable proof of movements 
 of the walls of the reefs. 
 
 The gold, both in^the quartz and mullock, is very fine, and owing to 
 the soft and ferruginous nature of the stufif. specks can but very rarely be 
 seen during working. Judging from the crushings and occasional washing 
 of prospects, it occurs chiefly in shoots dipping in strike, less in irregular 
 patches, but seen also to be pretty generally distributed throughout the 
 whole extent of the reefs, as far as opened. The yields of most of the 
 reefs opened have in the average been very fair, as they ranged between 
 5^ and li oz. per ton. On account of its softness, the quartz mullock is 
 easily crushed, but the saving of the fine gold requires great attention ; 
 and as the supply of water, which the proper treatment of this kind of 
 stufif requires, is rather above the average, but has at the existing 
 machines been frequently much below it, and their saving appliances are 
 not the most suitable ones besides, Ulrich is sure a great deal of the gold 
 has been lost in the tailings. There is at the level of even the lowest 
 workings not much pyrites observable in the reefs : still the ferruginous 
 character of the mullock, as being no doubt a result of its decomposition, 
 points to its former presence in larger quantities, and it may with certainty 
 be expected to increase in abundance in depth. As regards the expense 
 of working the reef, the soft nature of both the mullock and country 
 renders it small in one respect, viz. that of exploitation proper ; in 
 another, however, viz. that of supporting the workings, rather large, on 
 account of the high price of timber, and the expense in this respect 
 increases of course, in order to avoid accidents and collapse, the flatter 
 the dip of the reefs. Fortunately there are on this field experienced 
 managers and miners, well able to cope with this diflftculty in the most 
 economic and practical manner. 
 
 4. The only reefs of the Arrow and Skipper's Creek group in course 
 of being worked, and of which Ulrich was able to examine the workings, 
 were Southberg's and the Nugget and Cornish, Skipper's Creek ; still, 
 from examination of the outcrops of some reefs at Arrow, and informa- 
 tion received about the character of a number of others once worked, 
 but since abandoned, in both districts, he was enabled to form the 
 following opinion on the general character of the group. These reefs 
 are true massive lodes, ranging from 4 to over 20 ft. in thickness, which 
 cut through the country both in strike and dip — the latter being generally 
 steep — and show more or less well-defined walls, with clay casings ; a 
 number are traceable for long distances — some for miles — in strike. In 
 point of composition and structure, they approach, however, far more 
 mullock reefs than true quartz reefs — they represent, in fact, fissures 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 535 
 
 partly filled with debris from the " country," full of interlaminated quartz, 
 partly occupied by bunches and veins, of variable size, of true reef-quartz. 
 The mullock seems in the larger reefs to be generally predominating, 
 and forms, in places where their width very much increases, by far the 
 greater part of their mass. In fact, experience tends to prove that the 
 thicker a reef is, or the wider it becomes, the more mullock it contains, 
 whilst, on the contrary, decreasing thickness is connected with a relative 
 increase in quartz, and the reefs become also better defined. The 
 bunches and veins of reef-quartz occur either on the hanging- or foot-walls, 
 or on both walls, rarely in the centre. They appear to dip shoot-like in 
 strike, and are generally pi yably or richly auriferous ; but the somewhat 
 mineralized mullock, with its interlaminations and fine cross-veins of 
 quartz, has also, in all the reefs opened, been found to contain gold 
 throughout, though generally only in payable quantity within the 1 ne of 
 the quartz shoots, or where the reefs much contract in size. The yields 
 have ranged from several dwt. to over 4 oz. of gold per ton, but the 
 average from the reefs at present worked is 10 to 16 dwt. per ton. Although 
 none of the reefs at Skipper's Creek has as yet been opened below per- 
 manent water-level, they are already highly charged — both quartz and 
 mullock — with pyrites, which seriously interferes with the satisfactory 
 saving of the generally fine gold during crushing. This led the Phoenix 
 Co., after F. Evans, the manager, had proved the payably auriferous 
 character of the ore as such, to erect in connection with their crushing 
 mill the necessary works for extracting the gold from the large quantity 
 of it saved on long blanket-strakes. The country is, with regard to most 
 reefs, very favourable for their being easily and cheaply worked, owing 
 to the highly precipitous nature of the mountains which they traverse, 
 and the deep valleys and gorges from which they can be opened, either 
 directly in strike, or by but short cross adits. Still there is at Skipper's 
 Creek one serious drawback to regular and systematic working, affecting 
 the most important of the reefs within certain depths, namely, although 
 the country-rock (mica-schist) appears on the large scale but little dis- 
 turbed in strike and dip, it is throughout highly fissile, and traversed by 
 numerous cracks and joints ; and these features combined, aided by per- 
 colation and freezing of water, have originated enormous slips from the 
 precipitous mountain sides — faults, in a certain sense — by which the 
 continuity of the reefs is completely broken. In fact, nowhere on the 
 slopes of those steep mountains can the miner be certain of having a reef 
 exactly in its original place or unshifted. These disturbances, which 
 render working dangerous and cause much expense in timbering, extend, 
 however, to within the level of the nearest gorges or valleys only ; below 
 this there is every probability of the lie of the reefs becoming less broken, 
 though the existence of smaller faults and other irregularities must there 
 
 
536 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 till 
 
 > 
 
 also be apprehended on account of the fissured nature of the country. 
 As regards the continuance of the gold in depth, Ulrich sees no reason to 
 doubt it, yet thinks it very likely that the doubtless increasing abundance 
 of pyrites may, as in Victoria — and this refers also to the reefs of all the 
 other groups — be connected with a corresponding decrease of fine, free 
 gold, in depth. 
 
 5. In point of definition and mode of occurrence, the reefs of Macrae's 
 Flat and Shag Valley, which he found all deserted, are, in Ulrich's 
 opinion, the least promising ones of the province. Judging from those 
 he could examine, and information obtained about a few others that have 
 been prospected, they represent either so-called " layer-lodes " (Duke of 
 Edinburgh reef, Macrae's Flat, Shag Valley Freehold Co. reef), or are 
 merely interlaminations between the beds of phyllite that form the 
 country in both districts. 
 
 Touching the layer-lodes, their general characteristics are, that they 
 strike and dip with the country, having the foot-wall (one and the same 
 country) generally pretty smooth throughout ; but the hanging-wall mostly 
 quite irregular, uneven, and traversed by leaders. They are, on account of 
 this mode of relation to the country, subject to all the changes in strike and 
 dip of the latter, and, if these are great, are liable to frequent alterations 
 in thickness, and can generally not be depended on for persistency in 
 depth. In the cases under notice, the stratification of the country is 
 fortunately pretty regular, and all points are therefore in favour of the 
 reefs being also more regular in course and thickness, and having a 
 better chance of persistency in depth, than is usually the case. Their 
 dip is rather flat (less than 45"), and they are 2 to 5 ft. thick in the 
 average, being composed of mullock and rather good-looking quartz ; 
 the latter generally predominating and occurring in bunches and veins, 
 mostly on the foot-wall, sometimes on the hanging-wall, or being 
 irregularly intermixed with the mullock. The gold occurs both in the 
 quartz and the mullock, though mainly in the former, and the yields have 
 ranged from a few dwt. up to 2 oz. per ton, but did not pay in the 
 average ; therefore the reefs were abandoned at a very shallow depth. 
 Considering that the gold did not run out, and that the reefs, as far as 
 opened, show a good thickness for considerable extent, in connection 
 with the circumstances under which they were worked, the advisability 
 of giving them another more extensive and systematic trial certainly 
 deserves consideration. With regard to the interlaminations, which 
 were considered to be reefs, and of which some are in places several ft. 
 thick, they conform in all respects to what was said about these bodies 
 in the beginning. That they are quite unreliable, concerning gold- 
 bearing character and extent in strike and dip, is proved by the fact that, 
 though several carried good gold (above I oz. per ton) near the surface. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 537 
 
 either their irregularity or impoverishment, or both cases combined, 
 rendered working soon unpayable, and they were deserted in consequence, 
 and do not invite renewed and more extensive prospecting. 
 
 6. The exceptional occurrences of gold in matrix, the so-called 
 Peninsula quartz reef at Portobello, which Ulrich inspected, in 
 company with Captain Hutton, the Provincial Geologist, do not, 
 though believed to do so, represent a quartz reef at all, but are, as 
 far as the superficial workings and the reported results of trials 
 allow one to judge, impregnations of gold in a finely divided state 
 through various kinds of rock that will be described farther on. In a 
 geological point of view, the auriferous locality and neighbourhood are 
 most interestino-. and would well deserve a special detailed topographical 
 and geological survey. True trachyte, trachyte-breccia, and tufa, and 
 indurated ash-beds, broken through by dykes, and irregular dyke-like 
 masses of basalt, compose principally, as it seems, that part of the 
 Peninsula, whilst sedimentary rocks — sandstone and limestone — the 
 geological relation of which requires yet to be determined, form 
 apparently a narrow strip between it and the mountain on which 
 Larnach's mansion is built. This mountain, consisting in its upper part 
 of trachyte and basalt intermixed, seems from half-way down its slope, 
 towards the base, to be composed of sandstone, which in a small quarry 
 is clearly seen to dip underneath the volcanic top rock. As regards the 
 places opened — 4 in number, in 3 of which gold has been proved by trial 
 crushings to exist, — they lie pretty nearly in a line (the supposed line of 
 reef) down the steep slope of a mountain, at that part composed of 
 greyish-white trachyte. Progressing from above downward, the place 
 highest up the slope consists of an old saw-pit, from which a short 
 prospecting drive has been put into the mountain. Quartz of a rather 
 concretionary character was here found in the shape of an irregular 
 bunch, enclosed within trachyte — the whole quantity lying around 
 amounting to about i ton. In this, no gold was seen, and no trial was 
 made of it ; but a specimen has been reserved for assay. The second 
 opening, about 100 ft. lower down hill, is a small shallow excavation in 
 trachyte, which is here full of siliceous segregations of irregular outline — 
 some nearly i ft. in diameter — of a quartzite-like character and bluish- 
 white colour ("bastard quartz," in miners' phrase), in which very fine 
 grains of pyrites can be seen in abundance. Of this stuff, of two trial 
 crushings, one of 2 cwt. gave 1 8 gr., the second of a ton yielded ^ oz., of 
 gold ; and Forbes and McAuley, the prospectors, aflfirmed that they 
 could wash a pretty fair prospect of fine gold from every tin dishful of 
 the small stuff excavated. In the third opening — a small open cutting, 
 some 60 ft. below the previous one — very close-grained white trachyte 
 was excavated, of which a trial crushing of a ton yielded 3 dwt. of gold. 
 
 i:: 
 
 
 Mi 
 
 li 
 
 ^ I 
 ii 
 
538 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 The fourth and last opening lies at the foot of the mountain, and consists 
 of a good shaft of 40 ft. in depth, with a small drive at the bottom. It 
 penetrated for the first 25 ft. through loose ground, and the last 15 ft. 
 through a decomposed cap into a hard coarsely crystalline rock, com- 
 posed of hornblende, triclinic felspar, and some quartz, and being more 
 or less densely impregnated with very fine grains of pyrites. This rock 
 continued also in the drive. Three trials were made, viz. two of the 
 hard rock of I ton and ^ ton, which yielded respectively 8 dwt. and 
 1 1 dwt. of gold ; and the third of i ton of the softer decomposed cap 
 rock, which gave, strangely enough, only 6 dwt. of gold, whilst generally, 
 decomposed portions of pyrites-bearing rock are richer than undecom- 
 posed ones. All the recorded trial crushings were executed at a good 
 battery in Victoria, and, in order to remove further doubt about the 
 genuineness of this strange auriferous character of the quartzose white 
 trachyte, and the rock from the shaft, several small parcels were most 
 carefully tried in Dunedin, and these all produced gold. Accepting the 
 auriferous character of the rocks, therefore, as satisfactorily proved, and 
 considering that between the places opened there exists virtually not a 
 feature such as would indicate a narrow auriferous zone or streak in their 
 line down the mountain side, whilst it would seem very improbable that 
 just by accident the auriferous portions of the rocks were opened and 
 exhausted, we must come to the conclusion that there is a great likeli- 
 hood of the gold being generally disseminated — richer and poorer in 
 places — through these peculiar varieties of rock as far as they extend. 
 As the matter stands, the average results of the washings from Nos. 2 
 and 4 workings are certainly such that, taking into account the facilities 
 the ground offers for mining, abundance of timber close by, &c., they 
 should render working on a large scale, with ample crushing machinery 
 near at hand, highly payable. Considering this, it would be really 
 deplorable if the still lingering doubts of the reliability of the results of 
 the trials made, i. e. whether the gold really came out of the stuff and 
 not out of the crushing-machine, were not definitely set at rest by a 
 further and more extensive t/ial, say of 10 to 15 tons from each of the 
 two good places. 
 
 Strange as the occurrence of gold in such matrix, and under such 
 circumstances, no doubt appears, it is in reality not without its alliances — 
 at least, in certain respects — both in another part of New Zealand and 
 in foreign countries. Captain Hutton, who is intimately acquainted 
 with the Thames gold-field, N' rth Island, recognized at once a certain 
 resemblance between the geological features of the locality under notice 
 and those of the Thames district. He thought the greyish-white 
 trachyte of the former looked much like the gold-bearing trachyte-tufa 
 of the Thames, though there, as well known, the gold is found in bunches 
 
n 
 
 AUSTRALASIA ! NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 539 
 
 and veins of genuine quartz, and does not occur finely disseminated 
 through the mass of the rock. The hard crystalline rock of No. 4 work- 
 ings, he also considered similar to a rock, of which dykes traverse the 
 original tufa of the Thames, but which itself had not been found 
 auriferous. As regards Ulrich's own experience touching this rock, he 
 thinks the latter bears considerable resemblance to certain trachytic rocks 
 (trachyte-greenstone) which he saw on a journey through Hungary and 
 from Transylvania, and which are there rich in auriferous silver and lead 
 lodes. But from comparative examinations of specimens, he can also 
 state that in mineral composition it is quite identical with, and in 
 appearance hardly distinguishable from, the quartzose diorite-greenstone 
 of some of th'. dykes which in Victoria traverse Upper Silurian rocks, 
 and are themselves traversed by generally highly auriferous quartz veins. 
 That the rock i.s, notwithstanding this latter close resemblance, of 
 volcanic origin, and represents in reality "trachyte-greenstone," there 
 can hardly be a doubt, however, on account of its mode of association 
 with the typical trachyte of the locality. For besides in the shaft, close 
 round which the greyish-white trachyte is plainly exposed, outcrops of it 
 (the greenstone) have also been found in several places in a neighbour- 
 ing gully which cuts through trachyte, and on the slope of the trachyte 
 range. According well with this opinion about its origin, and what it 
 lithologically represents, and further showing the importance of th' ; kind 
 of rock, is what the celebrated geologist Von Richthofen reports from 
 the Washoe county and other parts of America, namely, that the rock 
 there most prolific in gold and silver lodes is a volcanic rock of the 
 trachyte series, closely allied to diorite both in composition and 
 appearance, and for which he proposes the name " hornblende-propylite." 
 Considering all the foregoing observations in connection, there exists, 
 besides what we already know of their auriferous character as such, the 
 chance that any quartz reefs or veins found traversing the trachyte and 
 trachyte-greenstone in the locality under notice, or in fact wherever they 
 occur, may prove highly auriferous. And on this account, not only the 
 neighbourhood of the workings, but the whole of that part of the 
 Peninsula, is well worth a thorough prospecting, the shore line, showing 
 the rocks generally plainly exposed, offering in this respect special 
 advantages. 
 
 Prospecting for new Auriferous Reefj. — As regards the chances of 
 the occurrence of other auriferous reefs in the districts under notice, 
 Ulrich considers them to be .ery good. In the neighbourhood of 
 Saddle Hill reef, 4 good-looking, strong reefs crop out, which, as super- 
 ficial prospecting has already proved them to be slightly auriferous, 
 might likely yield payable stone on being tried at other points in 
 their lines of strike. But, besides this, there is, in his opinion, a very 
 
 1-^ 
 
540 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 
 good chance of the existence of an auriferous reef about the head of a 
 highly auriferous gully, worked abreast of the Saddle Hill reef, on the 
 right side of the main road leading from Dunedin to the Taieri. In the 
 neighbourhood of the Canada reef, Tokomairiro, the finding of rich 
 quartz specimens outside the lines of the reefs opened, coupled with that 
 of rich, nuggety gold in the N. branch of the Tokomairiro river, is 
 pretty good evidence of the occurrence of other auriferous reefs in that 
 district. That the Gabriel's Gully reef should be the only auriferous one 
 in the Tuapeka district is also very unlikely. And, touching the country 
 round Waipori, where no systematic prospecting seems to have been 
 carried on at all, he feels quite convinced that good reefs exist besides 
 the one in work — not only in the neighbourhood of the latter, but also 
 in the ranges on the opposite side of and about the head of the Waipori 
 river, — in order to account for the gold in the drift of the Waipori 
 Valley, the angular specimens of auriferous quartz, and the patches of 
 highly auriferous angular drift found here and there in the ranges. At 
 Bendigo, the Carrick Range, and Skipper's Creek, where the tracing of 
 auriferous gullies and quartz specimens led, he was told, to the dis- 
 covery of most of the principal reefs worked, though some showed by no 
 means plain outcrops at the surface, partly by reason of their muUocky 
 character, partly on account of being covered by aetritus or being 
 disturbed. And these features are the most serious obstacles the intel- 
 ligent prospector has to contend with in these districts, for that the latter 
 are promising fields for further discoveries of quartz reefs is plainly 
 indicated by numerous auriferous alluvial gullies and creeks, and the 
 occurrence of quartz specimens outside the drainage range of the known 
 lines of reefs. The recent discovery, by tracing specimens, of a new 
 reef in the Bendigo district, presents a case in point. The same reason- 
 ing, based upon similar data, applies more or less to all the other reefing 
 districts (Arrow, Rough Ridge, &c.). And not to them alone, but also 
 to the N. and S. slopes of the Old Man Range, and to the rich alluvial 
 diggings dotted along the edges of the Manuherikia, Idaburn, Upper 
 Taieri, and other main valleys, though the reefs that, in the latter cases, 
 supplied the gold to the drift would most likely lie in the ranges at the 
 heads of and bounding the permanent creeks and rivers, entering the 
 main valleys at, or in the neighbourhood of, the diggings. With regard 
 to accepting the occurrence of massive auriferous drift or of mere surface 
 at any place in rangy country as a promising indication of the existence 
 of auriferous quartz reefs in the neighbourhood, the prospector ought to 
 pay special attention, however, to one point, viz. to the nature of both 
 the drift and the gold, i. e. whether the pebbles and gold-specks are 
 water-worn or not. For, if the first is the case, the deposit may be a 
 remnant of a former terrace formation far transported from its original 
 
AUSTRALASIA: NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 541 
 
 source, whilst the more angular the stones, the more hackly and crystal- 
 line the gold-specks are, the nearer lies their place of derivation. There 
 is one district hitherto only known as an alluvial diggings, which, 
 according to information afforded to Ulrich by L. H. Preston, Jenkins, 
 McDougall, and Smith, of Arrow, presents first-class indications of being 
 a good reefing district. This refers to the Twelve-mile Creek diggings, 
 and mainly to the Great Barrier Range, in which the Arrow and Twelve- 
 mile Creek take their rise, and that forms the watershed between them 
 and the Shotover river, the position of the tract being pretty nearly in 
 the line of strike of the Skipper's Creek reefs. A big reef runs right 
 along the top of the range, and in the drift of the top part of the Twelve- 
 mile Creek, Scanlan's Gully, Specimen Point, and in that of Rodger's 
 Gully and Tobin's Point, at the head of the Arrow river, rich quartz 
 specimens were frequently found, and shown at the stores and banks of 
 Arrowtown ; whilst, at certain points in the Twelve-mile Creek, large 
 quartz specimens can be seen — one of nearly J ton in weight — showing 
 fine specks of gold all over. The gold obtained from Rodger's Gully 
 was generally so quartzose that it required careful crushing and separa- 
 tion of the quartz before it could be sold. Lower down country, about 
 i mile from the junction of the Twelve-mile Creek and Arrow river, a 
 mullock reef, full of quartz veins, appearing as a wall-like formation on 
 the mountain side, was cut through by a race, in which it proved to be 
 8 ft. thick, showing well-defined walls, and dipping nearly vertical. Its 
 promising appearance led a party of miners, some time ago, to prospect 
 it ; but, though gold was found in the stuff, they deserted the reef again, 
 and no work has been done on it since. Strong evidences of auriferous 
 reefs are said to abound in many other places on the Arrow river, and 
 over the Twelve-mile Hill, and only await the pick of the enterprising 
 prospector for their development. 
 
 Concluding with a general comparison between this province and 
 Victoria as to the facilities and chances of prospecting, Ulrich says that 
 this work — looking at it in a strictly mining point of view only — is here 
 much more difficult than in Victoria ; for, whilst there, reefs consist 
 mostly of massive white quartz, and are plainly exposed on the surface, 
 they are here more frequently of a mullocky character, and more or less 
 covered over by detrital matter. And there is besides one striking 
 difference between the two countries, namely, that whilst in Victoria reefs 
 abound all through the gold-fields, but, as the saying goes, 99 per cent, 
 prove barren, here they are comparatively very scarce, but with this 
 redeeming feature, that nearly every one hitherto found has proved to be 
 auriferous, and therefore we may fairly assign the same chance to any 
 new ones discovered in future. 
 
 Machinery and Appliances. — The number of crushing-machines 
 
 IP 
 
 w 
 
 m 
 
 
 m 
 
 i 
 
542 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 |; 
 
 p , 
 
 erected and in course of erection at the different gold-fields Ulrich 
 visited, amounts to 21, 18 of which — including 2 near completion — are 
 for quartz crushing, whilst the remaining 3 — including 2 in course of 
 erection — are for crushing the cement of the Blue Spur. 
 
 Speaking of the crushing machinery proper, all these machines are, 
 with but slight variations, constructed after the same model, viz. they 
 consist of batteries of revolving stamps, 4 and 5 in a battery, worked in 
 cast-iron coffers on false bottoms, and being partly fed by hand, and 
 partly supplied with self-feeding hoppers. As far as Ulrich could see, 
 they are all well and substantially erected, the comparative freedom from 
 jar of those found at work proving their stability, and that due care had 
 been bestowed upon the preparation of their foundations. At one or 
 two machines, the discs on the shanks were not quite in order, and the 
 wipers were too long ; but the managers knew of these defects, and were 
 going to repair them. On the, at one time in Victoria, much-discussed 
 question, whether round stamps are equal in crushing power to square 
 ones, Ulrich remarks that careful experiments under equal conditions 
 have proved that they are nearly, if not quite, as effective as the latter, 
 whilst their wear and tear, in consequence of the turning, is in the 
 average less. In the weight and lift of the stamps, and the speed at 
 which they were driven, there were considerable differences between the 
 machines, the weight ranging from 4 to 7 cwt, the lift from 5 to 8 in., 
 and the speed from 56 to 85 blows per minute. As regards the most 
 advantageous weight for stamps, opinions are still divided in Victoria ; 
 still, heavy stamps are, on account of greater efficiency on the generally 
 hard quartz, the most in use. In Ulrich's opinion, a medium of about 
 
 5 J to 6 cwt. would best suit the character of the stuff of most of the 
 Otago reefs, though for ^uch as consist principally of hard, more 01 less 
 solid quartz — as, for instance, Logan's reef, the Canada reef, &c. — stamps 
 up to 8 cwt. would, no doubt, be preferable. 
 
 Touching the height of drop and speed of the stamps, the former 
 should not be less than 7 in., and might advantageously be increased to 
 9 in., especially if the stamps are light ; whilst, touching the speed, it is 
 generally considered best at the rate of 75 to 80 blows per minute. On 
 the amount of stuff crushed during a certain time he could not obtain 
 any definite information ; but the figures given seemed to him rather low, 
 and in order, therefore, to show what ought to be done under certain 
 conditions, he mentions that at the Port Phillip Co., Clunes, stamps of 
 
 6 cwt, driven at a speed of 75 blows per minute, and with a drop of 8 
 to 9 in., crush in the average 2 tons 4 cwt. per 24 hours ; whilst others of 
 8 cwt, with the same fall and speed just given, are expected to reduce 
 each up to 5 tons per diem. Regarding the iron coffers, they seemed to 
 him rather, if not too shallow for both economic and effective working. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 543 
 
 They allowed hardly i in. of loose quartz to be put beneath the false 
 bed-plates, and it would, therefore, require the greatest care in the placing 
 of these plates, the feeding, &c., to prevent the plates from working 
 unevenly into the shallow gravel bed. In fact, he thinks it can hardly be 
 avoided that they (the plates) come frequently into contact with the iron 
 bottom, the result of which, of course, is, as the sound of the blows 
 already indicates, ineffective working and great wear and tear — some- 
 times even an unexpected breaking of the coffers. On this account, he 
 thinks it would certainly be advisable to have the latter about 2 in. 
 deeper, so as to allow a gravel bed of 3 in. beneath the false bottoms. 
 Considering that the office of these latter is not only the saving of the 
 coffers from wear and tear, but mainly to prevent the gold from being 
 smashed too fine, or " beaten dead," as it is called, they should be only of 
 the same size as the stamp-heads, in order to leave sufficient space around 
 them for the liberated gold-particles to get into the gravel out of each 
 of the stampers. 
 
 The provision of self-feeding hoppers — a great desideratum for saving 
 labour — has been neglected at a great number of the machines, and 
 would deserve early attention. Many practical quartz-crushers consider, 
 and no doubt rightly, that hand-feeding, if properly executed, Js more 
 effective ; still it is extremely doubtful whether, especially in the case of 
 small machines, the value of the increase in the quantity of stuff crushed 
 is equal to that of a man's labour ; in Ulrich's opinion, this labour is far 
 more profitably applied to attending upon the gold-saving appliances. 
 With only one or two exceptions, he found the great defect of the coffers 
 having only front discharge ; for it must stand to reason that, as it is, or 
 ought to be, the aim to get the finely crushed material quickly out of the 
 boxes, large escapes both in front and at the back are the most effective. 
 Of course, such a double-discharge arrangement necessitates a corre- 
 sponding increase in the quantity of water to be supplied per stamp- 
 head : a supply of 5 to 8 gal. per head per minute, regulated according to 
 the weight of the heads and the nature of the crushing-stuff, would, how- 
 ever, satisfy all requirements. The gauge of the gratings, varying at 
 the different machines from 122 to 144 holes per sq. in., is, bethinks, 
 scarcely well adapted to the nature of the stuff treated ; for as the 
 gold is mostly very fine, the gratings should be very fine also, in order 
 to ensure the necessary degree of reduction for a satisfactory liberation 
 of the gold-particles. Gratings with 169 to 196 holes per sq. in. would 
 certainly be safer. 
 
 As regards the gold-saving appliances in use, they consist, with the 
 exception of two machines, which have deep drop-ripples attached, of 
 amalgamated copper-plate tables, in some instances with improvements in 
 the arrangement of the ripples, and all, except the cement-crushing 
 
 ..,".»5 
 
 M 
 I 
 
544 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 r? 
 
 
 ¥ 
 
 f 
 
 machines, have various lengths of blanket-strakes succeeding. During 
 working, it is the regular custom to put mercury into the stamper- 
 boxes. For the treatment of the blanket-sand, serve the common 
 revolving barrel with shaking-table or tyes attached, dolly tubs, small 
 Berdan machines and simple tyes, though the latter inferior appliances at 
 a few machines only. Although generally well constructed and care- 
 fully attended to, as Ulrich found these appliances at the machines at 
 work, and as they respectively are, and were said to be at those at a 
 standstill, most of the managers he came into contact with were well 
 aware that they lost a considerable percentage of the gold, and in some 
 instances notable quantities of mercury besides. Considering this 
 general loss, which in some establishments was occasionally much in- 
 creased through an insufficient supply of, and the use of muddy water, 
 he attributes it mainly to 3 causes, viz. the use of amalgamated copper- 
 plates, too strong an inclination and insufficient length of the blanket- 
 strakes, and last, though not least, to the introduction of mercury into 
 the stamper-boxes. It would lead too far here to enter into a discussion 
 upon the merits or otherwise of copper-plate tables generally ; suffice 
 it to say that tables of the same pattern as those under notice were, at 
 one time, in high favour in Victoria, but careful trials soon proved their 
 inefficiency in many respects, and they have at all the principal crushing 
 establishments been long ago discarded in favour of more perfect 
 appliances, to be mentioned farther on. According to Kiistel and other 
 authorities on the subject, they have also suffered a similar fate long since 
 in California — the country where they were first introduced. The putting 
 of mercury into the boxes is no doubt a great improvement in case of 
 copper plates being used, but it is fundamentally detrimental in the 
 crushing of stuff so highly charged with pyrites as most of the Otago 
 reefs produce. For it is a well-known fact that pyrites generally, though 
 certain kinds more than others (and these abound in the latter reefs), 
 cause a flouring of the mercury and amalgam in the boxes, and for the 
 saving of such floured stuff no method has yet been discovered. On 
 this account, he strongly advises to abandon the practice, even in case 
 of copper plates being retained ; for the loss both in mercury and gold 
 caused by it alone is, perhaps, much larger than what would be sustained 
 by less efficient working of the plates through its disuse. He takes the 
 opportunity to remark, that he holds the practice of special harm with 
 regard to the cement-crushing machines at Blue Spur, on account of the 
 abundant occurrence in the bottom portions of that cement of secondary 
 pyrites, i. e. such formed in the drift, a kind that through easy decomposi- 
 tion is very prone strongly to flour the mercury. Considering also that 
 the generality of the gold crushed from the cement is dirty, i. e. more or 
 less coated with oxide of iron, or pyrites, and that therefore the copper- 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 545 
 
 plate tables (which he found only in use) have but a poor chance of 
 retaining it, he thinks the attachment of blankct-strakes, or perhaps 
 better of a well-constructed tail-race, would be found very profitable. 
 Touching the blanket-strakes, they are, at most machines, lo to 14 ft. in 
 length, and their inclination is seldom less than i^ in., and reaches 2 in. 
 per ft. : both figures which, considering that the supjjly of water is mostly 
 rather copious, are certainly not calculated to ensure a satisfactory saving 
 of the fine gold and amalgam escaping from the copper plates ; irre- 
 spective of that, at some machines, the blankets are not, or have not 
 been, washed frequently enough. 
 
 Having given his opinion on the point from whence at least the 
 greater percentage of the loss in gold and mercury proceeds, he recom- 
 mends the exchange of the present appliances and system for, or 
 respectively their modification according to, those for years successfully 
 in use at the Port Phillip Co.'s works, Clunes — an establishment which 
 in Victoria occupies the foremost place in satisfactory gold-extraction, 
 mainly because the practice there introduced of daily taking and assay- 
 ing samples of the tailings serves not only for controlling and guiding the 
 working of the appliances adopted, but in the case of any new invention 
 in gold-saving being tried, it affords also the best proof of the merits 
 or otherwise of the latter. The system of appliances used at Clunes 
 simply consists — starting from the battery — of 3 connected mercury- 
 troughs — the first with a lO-in. drop, the second with a Q-in., and the 
 third, or lowest, with an 8-in. drop — through which the material passes 
 in succession, to run next over 24 to 27 ft. of blanket-strakes, laid at a 
 pitch of only i ft. in 16, and ultimately to pass from the blankets through 
 another mercury-trough before it reaches the waste-channel. This last 
 trough is only cleared, however, at intervals of several months, whilst the 
 upper troughs are cleared every week. In order to keep any coarse stuff 
 from entering these latter, and also for even distribution of the material, 
 a perforated plate is fixed' right in front of the battery, through which 
 both back and front discharge pass on to an apron which leads it (the 
 material) into the first trough. An important part of each trough is the 
 splash-board, which, reaching down to within about one and a half inch 
 of the bottom (of the trough), near to the surface of the mercury, 
 compels the material, in its drop, to pass more or less through the latter 
 before rising over the lip of the trough. All the troughs are supplied 
 with tap-holes on one side, by means of which the mercury and 
 amalgam can be drawn off when required. The whole system will be 
 minutely described and illustrated in Chapter VI. As to the blanket- 
 strakes, their small inclination requires the supply of water to be up to 
 8 gal. per stamp-head per minute, according to the nature of the stuff, in 
 order to keep them free from sandy settlement. The rate at which the 
 
 2 N 
 
 
 m 
 
 
546 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIliUTION, 
 
 1 \ 
 
 blankets arc washed at Clunes is jjenerally the upper row every hour, the 
 second row every 2 hours ; and of the remaintnfj length of the strake? 
 the blankets of the upper half every 6, those of the lower half every 12 
 hours. Considering the nature of the stuff of the Otago reefs, Ulrich 
 thinks, however, that, partly because the more or less slimy stuff from 
 the mullock reefs renders the surface of the blankets quickly inactive, 
 partly on account of the great amount of pyrites contained in the quartz, 
 a more frequent changing of the blankets than the above is advisable. 
 
 Touching the treatment of the blanket-sand, the method in use at 
 most of the machines, viz. by revolving barrel and shaking-table, gives, 
 if properly carried out. the most satisfactory results, and deserves, there- 
 fore, general adoption. In the proper working of the barrel, upon which 
 depends most, certain rules require to be followed, however, and as he 
 had no opportunity of judging of the mode of operation at any of the 
 machines, he gives the following particulars on this head for comparison 
 and guidance. Assuming the barrel to be about 4 ft. long by 2 ft. in 
 diameter, it should be charged with 8 to 10 cwt. of damp sand, and 200 
 to 300 lb. of mercury, and set to revoK ''^^ about 8 hours at a speed of 
 14 to 16 rev. per minute. After this, it s. (d be filled with hot water 
 and set to revolve again for another 4 hour, at the rate of 5 or 6 rev. per 
 minute, when the operation is finished, and the charge — mercury first 
 — may be drawn off. Having been informed that at several of the 
 machines the practice is followed of putting round stones or pieces of 
 iron into the barrel, in order to grind the sand finer and aid the amalgama- 
 tion of the gold, Ulrich remarks that he considers this proceeding likely 
 to prove more harmful than advantageous, on account of the laige 
 quantity of pyrites generally present in the sand, which through the 
 grinding is very likely to sicken or flour the mercury and amalgam, and 
 this invariably is followed by a loss of mercury and gold afterwards. A 
 determination of the exact loss of mercury in this and the main gold- 
 saving process by carefully weighing the metal at short intervals, is not 
 practised, as far as he could glean, at any of the machines ; but as it is 
 of the greatest importance in testing the comparative efficiency of the 
 amalgamating appliances, it ought certainly not to be neglected in future. 
 
 Having noticed all the principal points touching the saving of gold 
 from the crushed material, it remains to draw attention to the saving and 
 treatment of the pyrites, which, as already mentioned, occurs in greater 
 or less abundance in most of the quartz reefs of the province. Although 
 small experiments have as yet been made of the pyrites of but a few of 
 the reefs, and trials on the large scale of that of only one reef (South- 
 berg's, Skipper's Creek) proving the payably auriferous character of the 
 ore, still he thinks there can hardly be a doubt, judging from Victorian 
 experience, that the pyrites of all the other auriferous reefs of the pro- 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 547 
 
 vincc is more or less payably auriferous also ; and it would be hif^hly 
 advisable, therefore, after the truth of this supposition has been established 
 by fire assays, to take early steps towards the concentration of and the 
 extraction of the gold from the ore. Both these operations are not, how- 
 ever, very easy ones ; but require for profitable and satisfactory execution, 
 much care, favourable natural conditions, and a considerable amount of 
 capital in the construction of the necessary works. The saving operation 
 has to be effected at each single crushing-mill, and for it the so-called 
 Borlase's buddle, with Munday's patent scrapers, is the most approved in 
 Victoria ; but where capital and favourable conditions are wanting for the 
 erection of these rather cumbrous machines, the use of a good length of 
 blanket-strakes — say 20 to 30 ft. — and careful attention to and more 
 frequent washing of the blankets than hitherto practised, would at least 
 save the greater quantity of the pyrites. With regard to the after treat- 
 ment of the latter for the extraction of the gold, roasting-furnaces and 
 certain kinds of amalgamators are required, the working of which has 
 to be specially learned. In fact, it may be said to constitute a special in- 
 dustry, which not every company or reef-owner might care or be able to 
 enter into. In Victoria, nearly all the larger companies have their own 
 pyrites- works ; but there are also special private establishments of the kind, 
 unconnected with crushing-mills, at which miners or companies can 
 either have their pyrites treated at a fixed rate per ton, or can sell it at a 
 certain reduction on its gold value, which latter is ascertained by careful 
 metallurgical sample assay. A similar course must be left for private 
 enterprise to follow in Otago. 
 
 In view of the fact that in the reefs of Victoria — and this, as already 
 stated, will most likely also happen in the reefs of Otago — the pyrites 
 generally increases in quantity in depth, whilst the free gold correspond- 
 ingly decreases, and that, moreover, the latter is the more difficult to 
 save the more pyrites the stuff contains, the pyrites question, as it is 
 called — referring to the best modes of concentration and after treatment 
 of the ore, sanitary precautions connected with the roasting, &c. — has 
 there for years been one of increasing importance, and the Government 
 appointed some time ago a Commission to fully investigate the subject 
 in all its bearings. The recently published report of this Commission 
 contains full information, with drawings of machinery, &c., on the best 
 methods of pyrites concentration, and gold extraction. Considering, in 
 conclusion, the general working effect of the crushing-machines through- 
 out the gold-fields of the province, there are two serious natural dis- 
 advantages under which all suffer, though some in a stronger degree 
 than others. He refers to the hard frost in winter, and the general low 
 temperature of the water throughout the greater part of the year. The 
 former compels the actual stoppage of the works for several months 
 
 2 N 2 
 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 ,;}'■ ! f 
 
 t* 
 
 
 i 
 
 1.' '-I 
 
548 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (5 or 6 months at Skipper's Creek) ; the latter affects the liveliness of the 
 mercury, and thereby impairs, as it were, its amalgamating power. 
 Against the first nothing can be done, and to ameliorate the second 
 difficulty the introduction of hot water into the coffers can only con- 
 veniently be practised at those machines driven by steam-engines. 
 However, he thinks that, whilst the introduction of long blanket-strakes 
 would prove a great safeguard against any loss of gold caused by im- 
 perfect amalgamation, the most rational way to meet the frost difficulty 
 would be to have all parts of the machinery sound and in best working 
 order, so as to guard against interruptions in crushing day and night 
 through the summer months, in oider to work up as v/ell the crushing- 
 material accumulated during winter stoppage, as also that concurrently 
 produced. 
 
 Auriferous Drifts. — On this head, Ulrich records some observations 
 that his time allowed him to make, whilst travelling between the different 
 quartz-mining centres. Not having seen enough, therefore, to attempt 
 any geological classification of the drifts, he simply separates them into 
 "newer" and "older," "upper" and "lower" drifts, as the case may be 
 — main divisions, the existence of which every one interested in the 
 matter will easily recognize on visiting the gold-fields. 
 
 Under the head of newer drift, belong all those extensive striking 
 terrace formations of shingle and sand, and a certain thickness, running 
 from a few to perhaps over lOO ft, of the flat stratum of similar material 
 on which they rest, accumulated in far-stretching, wide portions of the 
 present river-valleys, the original character of which as lake-basins has 
 long been recognized. The terrace formations of shingle, &c., resting on 
 the rock of the ranges, fringing the valleys, the drift occurring in the 
 smaller valleys or gullies between the ranges and the real drift, are also 
 here included. Besides the extensive sluicing operations which he saw 
 executed in this drift along the banks of the Molyneux, Kawarau, and 
 Shotover rivers, the really grand scale on which hydraulic sluicing is 
 carried on at Tinker's (Blue Duck Claim— manager M. J. Spratt) and 
 Drybread diggings excited most of his admiration. To give an idea of 
 the scale, he mentions that, at Drybread, Greenbank & Co. use 40 
 sluice-heads of water with a mean vertical pressure of 130 ft., lessened 
 about 25 ft. through friction in the pipes, and have 4500 ft. of iron piping, 
 besides an expensive stock of necessary appurtenances on the ground. 
 Although the stuff washed is very poor, still the enormous quantity 
 sluiced through in a short time, work being carried on day and night, 
 renders the operation highly profitable. Work like this is entirely 
 unknown in Victoria ; perhaps the only other place in the world where 
 it is practised being California. The thickness of the drift which rests 
 on the so-called " Maori bottom " surpassed, in some places, 30 ft, and 
 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 549 
 
 eliness of the 
 ating power. 
 e the second 
 an only con- 
 :eam-engines. 
 anket-strakes 
 lused by im- 
 rost difficulty 
 best working 
 ly and night 
 the crushing- 
 concurrently 
 
 observations 
 1 the different 
 e, to attempt 
 tes them into 
 case may be 
 rested in the 
 
 nsive striking 
 :ness, running 
 nilar material 
 ortions of the 
 <e-basins has 
 ic, resting on 
 :urring in the 
 drift, are also 
 ivhich he saw 
 ^awarau, and 
 ic sluicing is 
 
 Spratt) and 
 ve an idea of 
 
 Co. use 40 
 D ft., lessened 
 )f iron piping, 
 1 the ground, 
 ous quantity 
 ly and night, 
 is entirely 
 
 world where 
 which rests 
 es, 30 ft, and 
 
 considering this in connection with the promiscuc's way in which 
 patches of it are worked along the foot of the Dunston range, though the 
 generality are in front of, or near, the mouths of large pcmancnt creek- 
 valleys, one cannot help coming to the conclusion that the gold extends 
 all along the foot of that range, the richer accumulations existing most 
 probably in front of where the latter is most broken by rifts and gullies, 
 whilst towards the centre of the wide valleys it no doiibt decreases in 
 quantity, owing to causes to be explained farther on. And the same 
 chance, he believes, exists not only along the foot of the range on the 
 opposite side of the wide valley, but also round the edges of all the other 
 large old lake-basins. In fact, the resources of the province in this kind 
 of auriferous drift alone are practically inexhaustible, and their successful 
 development only requires more of the enterprise and energy, as dis- 
 played by Greenbank & Co., in rendering the splendid water resources 
 of the province available for hydraulic sluicing. As some of the places 
 which he considers very promising, and certainly desen'ing of the special 
 attention of the drift miner, he mention.s ue part of the old Clutha lake- 
 basin in the angle where the Bendigo Creek enters, and along the foot of 
 the range on which the Bendigo reefs occur. Also the extensive so-called 
 Miller's Flat, between Arrow and Queenstown, which, to all appearances, 
 represents an old channel of the Shotover river, and should, as such, be 
 very rich, judging from the splendid yields obtained from the river 
 workings higher up. Warden Beetham first drew his attention to this 
 dormant field, the high prospective mining value of which is believed in 
 by many miners ir» ihe district, .\nother very promising area he takes 
 to be the extension of Macrae's Flat towards the Taieri. river. 
 
 The older 'rift comprises all those enormous deposits of harder 
 gidvel and cement called "false bottom," "Maori bottom" — from its 
 brown colour,— upon which the newer drift rests in the extensive old 
 lake-basins of the Manuherikia, Upper Taieri, Clutha, and other river- 
 valleys. Also, the cement and gravel worked on the tops of the ranges 
 between Milton and Havelock, that remarkable cement deposit of the 
 Blue Spur near Lawrence, and the false bottom of Weatherstone and 
 Waitahuna Flats, which three latter, it must be borne in mind, repre- 
 sent also nothing else than lacustrine deposits, though small in surface 
 extent, yet of comparatively great depth. The character and relation of 
 all these deposits to the newer drift would at once suggest to any one 
 acquainted with the gold-fields of Victoria, the existence of runs or leads 
 in their deepest parts or gutters ; for, from the fact that they are all 
 composed of the same kind of rock material as the newer drift, there is 
 no reason why they should not be equally auriferous. But yet, on 
 comparing the relative conditions under which deposition of water-worn 
 matc.ial takes place in water-courses — river and creek channels — which 
 
 
 
550 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 latter the Victorian deep leads unmistakably represent, we find great 
 differences ; namely, whilst in a continuous water-course, with evenly 
 falling bottom, the current is steadily onward, deposition takes place all 
 along, and — leaving exceptions, caused by turns and local obstructions, 
 unconsidered — the heaviest material settles in the deepest part, it is not 
 so in a lake. There the current of the water of a river, or any smaller 
 water-course, on entering at one end, or any point round the circum- 
 ference of the lake, gets suddenly checked, either on account of the 
 surface expanse or the depth, or both combined, of the stagnant mass of 
 water, and the consequence is that the heaviest of the water-worn 
 material (including, with regard to both the newer and the older drifts, 
 most of the gold), settles along the side of the lake-basin, whilst towards 
 the centre of the latter there is gradually less finer material deposited. 
 And this process goes on till the basin is ultimately filled up, though 
 towards the other end or outlet of the lake the deposited material will 
 then consist of an increasing thickness of poor and light stuff at the 
 bottom, and a thinning stratum of heavy at the top. Of course the 
 more inlets or sources of supply the lake has, the more they vary in 
 strength, the more irregularly they are distributed around the margin of 
 the lake, and the nearer its outlet, the more irregularity will be observed 
 in the arrangement of heavy and light material towards the latter part 
 and the centre. For these reasons, therefore, the old deposits of the 
 lake-basins mentioned do not, in Ulrich's opinion, contain deep leads in 
 the true meaning of the term, but what he thinks very likely is, that a 
 certain width around the circumference of each deposit is auriferous and 
 payable, or, perhaps, richly so — (there may be more than one layer of 
 wash-dirt) — in front and near the mouths of old, or of those present 
 main water-courses, which seem also to have been the sources of supply 
 in olden times. And thus, these sides would, respecting the Manu- 
 herikia basin, for instance, conform with those of the present upper drift 
 workings (Tinker's, Drybread, St. Bathan's, &c.). Only in cases of very 
 circumscribed basins, there would be chance, especially if the inflowing 
 currents were strong and much charged with material, of coarse stuff 
 and gold being distributed all over the basins, though the heaviest stuff 
 and richest gold would likewise be deposited partly on the inlet sides, 
 partly on those rises on which the currents impinged ; and, if these were 
 steep, it would partly also slide down to the deepest parts of the basins. 
 Of this feature, the Blue Spur furnishes, in his opini , a striking 
 example. In a long, but very narrow basin, the gold might also be 
 carried by the current far down the centre, and if supplies came in at 
 places down the sides, such a trough might prove auriferous for its 
 whole or the greater part of its length, just according to the number and 
 position of these supply channels. In this respect, the valley of the 
 

 AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 551 
 
 Waipori (false bottom) offers, he thinks, by no means a bad chance. If 
 anything deserves the term "lead," it would be the old drift-filled 
 channels leading into or connecting two or more lake-basins lying in the 
 same line of drainage of the end channels leading towards the sea. Of 
 such leads, some have been wholly or partially removed by denudation 
 — they once existed over our heads ; for instance, that between the Blue 
 Spur and the false bottom of VVeatherstone Flat, and part of the one 
 that must have supplied the Blue Spur from the N.W., both which, 
 with the denudation of adjoining parts of the latter itself, respectively 
 furnished the gold to Gabriel's and Munroe's Gullies. The cement 
 deposit on the top of the ranges between Milton and Havelock may also 
 represent remnants of denudation of such a lead. However, he is 
 convinced there are some channels of this kind yet existing, which it 
 would be advisable to look for ; for instance, two — one connecting the 
 old drift-lakes of Weatherstone and Waitahuna flats, and the other 
 which fed the Blue Spur from beyond Munroe's Gully. In fact, he 
 thinks, there is even a likelihood of the existence of similar deposits in 
 that direction. From what he learned about the Cardrona workings, 
 they certainly seem to represent a true old lead, and so does also a 
 deposit which H. J. Cope kindly informed him of, namely, a succession 
 of cemented gravel hills, commencing at the Eight-mile diggings, 
 Arrow river, at a height of at least 5CK) ft. above Arrow, and dividing 
 into two branches — one terminating at Roaring Billy, the other at the 
 Arrow river, about one mile from Arrowtown. This lead has in places 
 been worked by adits, and found highly payable. In summing up his ob- 
 servations about the old drifts, Ulrich thinks it not only very promising 
 and advisable to prospect for the old channel between certain of the ^ 
 lake-basins mentioned, but also to test the false bottom of the lake-basins 
 themselves at the places previously indicated. The cheapest and most 
 convenient mode of effecting these trials would, no doubt, be by boring. 
 
 Thames. — The following notes are taken from the second report on 
 the Thames gold-fields, by Captain F. W. Hutton. The district in- 
 cluded in this report is a narrow strip of land on the right or E. bank 
 of the river Thames, and on the E. side of that part of the Hauraki Gulf 
 known as the Firth of the Thames. It is some 25 miles long, by 2 to 4 
 broad, the direction of the longer axis being about N. 18° W. Short- 
 land, the principal town, is distant from Auckland about 43 miles by 
 sea. At Puriri, the S. end of the district, the alluvial plain on this bank 
 of the Thames is about 3 miles broad, and it gradually narrows until it 
 comes to an apex at the Kuranui Creek, N. of Grahamstown. The 
 remainder of the country is hilly, the hills having generally very steep 
 slopes, and rising to about 2300 ft. near the head of the Karaka. The 
 sides of the hills are generally covered with slipped ground and vegetable 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 .4 
 
 ■'!,Si':,\\ 
 
 :.Hi 
 
 5 > 
 t 
 
 
552 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 soil ; very few precipitous places occur, and with the exception of the 
 beds of the streams or creeks, occasional landslips are the only natural 
 sections to be found. The most important of the creeks beginning from 
 the S. are the Puriri, the Kawaeranga, the Tararu, the Puru, the Waionau, 
 the Pohue, the Tapu, and the Mata. The first two run for the last few 
 miles of their course through alluvial flats ; but all the others are 
 mountain torrents almost to their mouths, their beds consisting of the 
 solid rock of the country, generally filled up with more or less rounded 
 boulders. Near the sea, the hills are covered with fern, but in the 
 valleys, and farther inland, by dense forest, which, however, is rapidly 
 disappearing in many localities before the axe of the miner. 
 
 Gold had been known to exist at Coromandel, a little N. of this 
 district, in 1852, and it had been regularly worked there since 1862. 
 Rumours had also long existed that gold was plentiful in the Thames 
 Valley, and several Maoris and Europeans had brought specimens to 
 Auckland at various times from 1865. In July 1867, a native chief 
 named Taipari, stimulated by the offer of the Provincial Government 
 of a reward of 5000/. for any one who should discover a payable gold- 
 field, employed several men, both Europeans and natives, to prospect his 
 land ; and gold was obtained by sluicing in the Karaka and Hape 
 creeks. This was taken to Auckland and shown to the Deputy Superin- 
 tendent and the Native Commissioner, and at the same time Taipari 
 offered to throw open his lands as a gold-field. Satisfactory arrange- 
 ments having been made with him, the result was that a block of land 
 from the Hape to the Pukehinau creeks, known as the Karaka block, 
 was proclaimed a gold-field on the ist August, 1867, and a town was 
 laid out at the mouth of the Kawaeranga, and named Shortland. 
 Parties at once set to work sluic '<^ on the Karaka, Waiotahi, and 
 Moanataiari, but with indifferent results; when, on the 17th August, 
 four men discovered the gold in situ in the Kuranui on the face of a 
 waterfall, on the spot now so well known as Hunt's reef This led to 
 further exploration for quartz veins, and in a month's time gold had 
 been found in about a dozen places. Further discoveries quickly 
 followed. Sluicing was abandoned, and quartz mining recognized as the 
 true industry of the field. So satisfactorily did this turn out, that, at 
 the end of December 1868, or 17 months after the first proclamation of 
 the field, not only had two other distinct districts, Tapu and Puriri, been 
 started, but about 1200 claims had been taken up near Shortland, 
 between 800 and 850 of which were then actually working, and probably 
 600 of the number had seen gold in greater or less quantities ; 27 
 crushing-machines were on the ground, and 13 others were going up. 
 The yield of gold had exceeded 83,000 oz., valued at more than 200,000/. ; 
 and the population numbered about 18,000 souls. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 553 
 
 • 's 
 
 Gold is now being worked at Puriri, — in the district between Short- 
 land and the Tararu, — and at Tapu. It has also been found in one or 
 two places between Tararu and Tapu ; and as the same geological 
 structure extends over the whole district, there is every probability of 
 its existing much more extensively than has yet been discovered. 
 
 The oldest rocks found in the district are a series of dark-blue, more 
 or less arenaceous, sub-metamorphosed slaty rocks of a fine grain, rather 
 closely jointed, but not cleaved. At Tapu, they strike E. I0° S., and 
 are nearly vertical, their dip oscillating to about 8o°, in some places to 
 the N., and in others to the S. They here consist of blue, rather friable 
 slates, interbedded with soft brown arenaceous slates, that weather white, 
 and hard green slates traversed by innumerable minute veins of compact 
 white quartz. Near Shortland, a small patch of blue and reddish-yellow 
 ribboned slates is seen on the beach a little N. of Tararu ; and again, up 
 the Waiohanga Creek. On the beach, the dip of the beds is 35° S.W. 
 These two are the only localities in the district in which this formation is 
 found. No fossils have as yet been found in these slates, and their age 
 is therefore uncertain. Judging, however, from the lithological charac- 
 ters, they appear to belong to the Maitai series of the South Island 
 (as described by Hochstetter). A few miles north of Hastings, on the 
 coast between the Mata and Waikowhau rivers, these rocks are cut by 
 several dykes, running within a few points E. or W. of N., or about at 
 right angles to the strike of the beds. These dykes are composed of 
 a coarsely crystallized diorite, generally of a dark-green colour, but 
 occasionally red, with white crystals of felspar (orthoclase ?), som'^times 
 more than tV in. long. They also contain as accessories small quantities 
 of magnetic iron and iron-pyrites. These dykes would be called 
 syenites by many geologists, although they contain no free quartz. 
 
 The patch of slates on the beach N. of Tararu dips towards a mass of 
 fine-grained yellowish-white felstone containing pyrites, which forms the 
 first point N. of the Tararu Creek. This felstone is not seen up the 
 Waiohanga Creek, and probably, therefore, it is an intrusive mass. In 
 the Tapu district, gold is found in lodes traversing these slates. Pyrites 
 also is abundant in some places, but it is not generallj' distributed 
 through these rocks. Quartz veins also are by no means so common as 
 in the trachytic tufa. 
 
 Gold is found both in the porphyry and in the softer blue tufa, but 
 more abundantly in the latter. This may perhaps be owing to the 
 greater hardness of the porphyry, and to the more perfect crystallization 
 of the pyrites contained in it, which prevent the water percolating freely 
 through the rock and decomposing the pyrites, and so liberating the gold 
 contained in it. The tufa formation is traversed by many dykes of 
 igneous rocks, generally more or less magiietic, some of which seem not 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 (111 
 
 ■:| 
 
 s.'SU 
 
 m 
 kii 
 
554 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 I ^J 
 
 to have reached the surface. These dykes may be divided into two 
 classes, viz. dolerites and greenstones. Besides these dykes, there are 
 several masses of what appear to be highly metamorphosed tufa traversing 
 the field. It is highly probable that these dykes influence considerably 
 t!ie direction of the quartz veins ; but it would be premature at present 
 to form any opinion as to what effect, if any, they may have on the 
 distribution of the gold, as neither the position of all the dykes nor the 
 richest parts of the field are as yet perfectly known. 
 ^ The alluvial deposits are of 4 kinds. The oldest is a loose, red, more 
 
 or less sandy clay, containing rounded boulders of dolerite. It occurs in 
 many places on the tops of the spurs that divide the creeks from one 
 another. On the ridge between the Karaka and the Waiotahi, above the 
 Hauraki Gold-mining Co.'s claim, it reaches an elevation of 1550 ft. 
 above the sea-level. It also, at Tapu, fills up some of the gullies on the 
 flanks of the spurs, as seen in the Hit or Miss and Marquis of Hastings 
 claims. It here contains many rolled agates and cornelians from the 
 tufa, and gold, which latter, curiously enough, is very little worn. The 
 boulder formation on the tops of the hills must have been formed when 
 the land was still under water ; but the alluvium in the gullies may 
 have another and more recent origin. 
 -> Next in age come the deposits of pumice-sand that underlie the town 
 of Shortland. A shaft, sunk just behind the town, after passing through 
 a marine formation of sand with broken shells about loft. thick, traversed 
 68 ft. of gravel composed of stones of tufa, dolerite, trachyte, quartz, and 
 occasionally rhyolite and obsidian. It then got into pumice-sand, after 
 penetrating which for 10 ft. it was abandoned. These two last beds are 
 evidently an old river-deposit, and must have been brought down the 
 valley of the Thames when the land was at least 100 ft. higher than at 
 present. 
 ^ The bed of sand with broken shells belongs to the third kind of alluvial 
 deposits. Up the bed of the Kawaeranga, it is seen to pass into two 
 beds, the lower of which is a stiff blue clay full of shells of Turbo (recent 
 species), Venus interviedias, Tellina alba, and a species of Mactra, which, 
 although very abundant in this deposit, is now either extinct or very rare 
 in the neighbouring seas. Upon this rests a bed, 3 ft. thick, of brown 
 clay, only the lower part of which contains shells. 
 ^ The fourth kind of alluvium is formed by landslips from the adjacent 
 hills; but between the Hape and Waiotahi, it assumes much more 
 important dimensions than landslips usually do. It consists of tufa 
 more or less decomposed into yellow, white, or pale-blue clays, containing 
 '"' 'Iders of tufa, dolerite, and quartz, which last are sometimes auriferous, 
 lielow the Royal Standard claim, on the Karaka Hill, at a depth of 30 ft, 
 kauri gum, pieces of wood, and rotten raupo {Typhd) have been found; 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND, 
 
 555 
 
 and nearer Shortland, at about the same depth, an old Maori paddle was , 
 dug out in sinking a shaft. " 
 
 It would thus appear that when the alluvium full of boulders found ' 
 on the tops of the hills was forming, the land was 1600 ft. lower than at ^ 
 present ; that it then gradually rose until it was at least 100 ft. higher ^ 
 than now ; and at that time the Thames ran farther N. than Shortland. ', 
 The land then sank to about 10 or 12 ft. lower than now, and subsequently: 
 has again risen to its present level. 
 
 Veins and Lodes. — The tufa formation is traversed by a large number 
 of quartz veins of all sizes, and running in all directions, — one in the 
 Portuguese claim, on the Karaka Hill, being quite horizontal. Although 
 there is no point of the compass to which veins may not be found 
 running, still there is a most decided tendency to a more or less N.E. and 
 S.W. direction. Out of nearly 200 veins observed in different parts of 
 the field, the bearings of 90 per cent, were in the quadrant between N. 
 and E., while only 10 per cent, were in the quadrant from E. to S. ; 
 N.E., N.N.E., and N. being the most favoured directions, and S.E. by S., 
 S.E., and E. by S. the least favoured. The fact that the three least 
 favoured directions are almost at right angles to the three most favoured 
 ones is sufficiently remarkable. The direction of the veins does not appear 
 to have any influence on the abundance or scarcity of the gold. They 
 vary in thickness from \ in. to 14 ft, and as a general rule the smaller 
 they are the more irregular is their bearing and dip. The thicker veins 
 are not so rich as the thinner ones. The larger veins are often laminated, 
 or divided into different layers of quartz by thin bands of clay, or " flucans." 
 The quartz is generally crystallized, the points of the crystals meeting in 
 the centre ; but it is also often compact, cavernous, or geodic. The 
 veins often contain chert, red and green jasper, and (more particularly at 
 Tapu) cornelian, chalcedony, and agate. Opal has not yet been found, 
 but may be expected to occur. The jasper is sometimes highly charged 
 with pyrites. Carbonate of lime, both as calcite and aragonite, and 
 carbonate of iron, are also found in some of the veins. In the Lady 
 Bowen claim at Tapu, a reef of pure white calcite, about 2 ft. thick, occurs. 
 Gold is found in the clayey casing of this reef, but not in the reef itself. 
 These carbonates have generally been introduced after the quartz. 
 
 Gold is found in every description of quartz, from the most tough and 
 flinty varieties to quite crystalline ; and is even reported to have been 
 found in red jasper. 
 
 Besides the veins, lodes or reefs of three different characters are 
 found in the district. The first occur only in the slates at Tapu, and 
 consist of a mass of soft, stiff, blue clay, generally i to 2 ft. thick, charged 
 with small nodules of quartz. A good example may be seen in the 
 Little Jessie claim at Tapu. The second kind is found in the tufa. 
 
 
 '.1 
 'J 4' 
 
 i 
 
 ■yt\ 
 
 li 
 
 
 11 
 
 %m 
 
 ':l!^| 
 
I 
 
 556 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 ■i i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 III 
 
 fill 
 
 II 
 
 I! ' 1 
 
 These lodes consist of a tufaceous gangue, thoroughly infiltrated with 
 silica, which also forms nodules, and small veins and strings of quartz 
 through it. The walls of these lodes are not easy to recognize, and the 
 amount of quartz contained in them varies very much. Examples are 
 found in the Golden Crown, Hunt's, and Middle Star reefs. The third 
 kind also occurs in the tufa. These are fissures filled up with fragments 
 of rock fallen into them, and cemented together by a siliceous matrix. 
 Such are Dixon's, No. i, and the Dawn of Hope reefs. 
 
 With the exception of iron-pyrites, which is abundant, the auriferous 
 veins and lodes are, as a rule, remarkably free from the ores of other 
 metals, small quantities of stibnite, blende, arsenical pyrites, and copper- 
 pyrites being the only ores found, and even of these the copper-pyrites 
 and blende are comparatively rare, and, as well as the stibnite, appear to 
 have been introduced subsequently to the gold. The gold is nearly 
 always found in, or associated with, quartz, although probably it also 
 occurs in places in the bed-rock, but encased in iron-pyrites. A scries 
 of analyses are necessary to determine this point. The gold in the 
 quartz may be conveniently arranged under two typical forms, which 
 may be regarded as the extremes of a series connected together by many 
 intermediate varieties. Often, however, the two forms may be combined 
 in one specimen. 
 
 The first form is when the gold is finely peppered, generally in small 
 grains, but sometimes in flakes, through amorphous quartz. In this case, 
 it is so intimately mixed up with the quartz that it is impossible to 
 doubt that the two were deposited simultaneously, and from the same 
 menstruum. In well-crystallized veins, this kind of gold is often seen to 
 be plentiful in the amorphous or semi-crystalline quartz at the base of 
 the crystals ; but as soon as the crystals of quartz begin to be regularly 
 formed, the gold ceases. This is the commonest form in which gold is 
 seen at Shortland, and it is found in all the best claims, both in the 
 quartz veins, and in the irregular nodules that occur so plentifully in the 
 " mullock reefs " or lodes. The nodules in these " mullock lodes " often 
 show no trace of gold on the outside, but when broken, are seen to be 
 thoroughly impregnated with it. The second form is where the gold 
 lies in fine threads or scales on the surface of the quartz without pene- 
 trating it. This is seen only in the smaller veins, generally where the 
 points of the two sets of quartz crystals, starting from either side of the 
 vein, approach so near as almost to touch each other. Here, entangled, 
 as it were, between the points of the crystals, most beautiful specimens of 
 leaf and filiform gold are found, while the quartz on either side is often 
 quite barren. In these cases, it is evident that the gold must have been 
 introduced after the deposition of quartz had ceased ; and as the veins in 
 which it is found are almost always not far from the surface, and the 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 557 
 
 quartz is generally stained red by the oxide of iron, there can be little 
 doubt that the gold is a Secondary deposit, and derived from the de- 
 composition of auriferous iron-pyrites. Many claims in which most 
 magnificent specimens of this form of gold have been found have not 
 paid for working, all the gold contained in the vein being apparently 
 visible to the naked eye ; while, when the gold is of the form first 
 mentioned, exceedingly good results are often obtained from stone in 
 which little or nothing can be seen. 
 
 It may be taken as a general rule applicable to the whole field, that 
 all the veins and lodes show more gold, and crush better, when taken 
 from the red iron-stained upper portions, and that, as they descend into 
 the blue undecomposed parts, the yield is less satisfactory, — not that they 
 contain a less quantity of gold, but because the undecomposed pyrites 
 contains a large percentage of it that cannot be got out by the ordinary 
 processes at present in use ; and also on account of the injurious effect 
 of the pyrites itself on the mercury, preventing it amalgamating with 
 some of the gold that is in a free state, and that would readily be 
 attracted by clean mercury. The pyrites also causes the mercury, when 
 used in the battery-boxes, to break up into very fine globules, which float 
 over the tables and cannot be caught, but which probably carry away 
 with them more or less gold. 
 
 The quality of the gold differs considerably in several parts of the 
 field, and even from the same claim it often varies a good deal. Out of 
 28 assays from various parts of the Shortland district, furnished by the 
 assayer of the Union Bank of Australia, the highest gave 19" S, and the 
 lowest 9*625 carats fine, both being from the Waiotahi Creek ; while, 
 from the Lord Derby claim, also on the Waiotahi, some stone yielded 
 nearly pure silver, being only 2*75 carats fine, and worth only gs. Sd. an 
 oz. The average of the 28 assays is 1 5 carats fine. 
 
 The following table gives the result of these assays separated into 
 districts, and although they are much too few to give any decided results, 
 they show an unmistakable tendency towards a poorer gold — that is one 
 containing more silver — as they go northwards : — 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Karaka 
 
 Waiotahi 
 
 Moanataiari 
 
 Kuranui 
 
 Ponga Flat 
 
 Head of Madman's Gully , 
 Tararu 
 
 Highest 
 
 Lowest 
 
 Average 
 
 Number of 
 
 Carats. 
 
 Carats. 
 
 Carats. 
 
 Assays. 
 
 16-094 
 
 16-062 
 
 16-078 
 
 2 
 
 19-500 
 
 9-625 
 
 16-094 
 
 4 
 
 17-594 
 
 14-687 
 
 iS'937 
 
 8 
 
 16-594 
 
 I3'937 
 
 15-000 
 
 8 
 
 16-656 
 
 I2-0OO 
 
 14-328 
 
 2 
 
 I4'03i 
 
 13656 
 
 13-781 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 13-968 
 
 I 
 
 The gold is very widely distributed through the district, although 
 certain parts appear at present to contain it in more considerable 
 
 I 
 11 
 
 m 
 
 ■pit ' 
 
 Ml 
 
 
 ^;i 
 
 m 
 
 
 « 
 
558 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 quantities than others ; but the mines have not yet been long enough 
 worked to pronounce with much certainty on this point. The fact before 
 mentioned, that probably 600 out of 1200 claims had seen gold, shows 
 well how widely it is distributed through the country, for it must be borne 
 in mind that, unlike most quartz-mining districts, the reefs here arc not 
 continuous for far, and that the greater part are but thin irregular veins, 
 so that the country was not taken up along lines of leads only, but 
 en masse, nearly the whole of the country between the Hape and Tararu 
 being pegged off. It follows from this that nearly one-half of the surface 
 of the country contains more or less gold in situ. Major Hcaphy had 31 
 assays made of quartz from the same number of veins from various 
 localities in the Opitomoko and Tararu creeks, all of which gave more 
 or less indications of gold. Two only showed a trace ; while the three 
 highest were 3 oz. 6 dwt., 3 oz. 10 dwt, and 3 oz. 18 dwt. to the ton 
 respectively, the average of the whole being i oz. 1 5 dwt. 8 gr. In none 
 of them could gold be seen with the naked eye. Out of the 1200 claims 
 that have been taken up in the Shortland district, about 1 50, or 1 2 per 
 cent, have found gold in sufficient quantity to justify the expectation 
 that they will turn out permanently payable mines, and as time goes on, 
 many more may be added to the number. As nearly the whole of the 
 Shortland district has been taken up, and more or less proved, it follows 
 that about an eighth of its surface, which is some 2000 acr^s, contains 
 payable auriferous quartz veins. 
 
 Of the time when the veins were first charged with gold, Hutton can 
 offer no opinion ; but there are one or two facts which make it appear 
 probable that gold is still in circulation through the rocks. In the Star 
 of the South No. 2 claim, at the foot of the Karaka Hill, irregular veins 
 of quartz occur at the junction of the face of the rock with the slipped 
 ground, and these veins contain gold, which must have been deposited, 
 together with the quartz, since the landslip took place. Again, in the 
 Niau claim, above the Hokianga, on the Karaka, open quartz veins are 
 seen partly filled with black humus that has filtered down from the 
 vegetable soil above, and this humus, on being carefully washed, yields 
 fine gold, which Hutton supposes had been precipitated from solution by 
 the organic matter of the humus. 
 
 Tapu district. — The Tapu Creek is situated about 12 miles N. of 
 Shortland, and in size about equals the Tararu. At its mouth, it forms 
 a small harbour, available for coasters and small steamers. On this 
 harbour the township of Hastings is situated. Rather more than 100 
 claims have been taken up in the district, and it has a population of about 
 500. The N. side of the stream is for the most part covered with bush, 
 and rises to a height of about 950 ft. above the sea. The S. side is almost 
 entirely fern, and does not attain to quite so great an elevation as the 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 559 
 
 other, the highest point in the Golden Horn claim being 880 ft. The N. 
 side is chiefly composed of the blue slates, nearly vertical, and with a 
 strike of E, 10° S. They attain an elevation at the Southern Cross and 
 Diggers' Rest claims of about 810 ft. and are capped by a horizontal 
 layer of white decomposed tufa, stained red in places. These slates cross 
 to the S. side of the creek, but are quickly cut off by two faults, one of 
 vvhich runs N.E. and S.W., and the other N.W. and S.E. The rest of 
 the district is composed of trachytic tufa and breccia. Hutton only .saw 
 one dyke in the dirtrict, which is situated on the beach on the N. side of 
 the harbour, ju.st where the alluvial sand joins the rock. It runs N.W. 
 and S.E., and is about 10 ft. thick, and composed of pale-green, nearly 
 compact greenstone, with occasional small crystals of hornblende. 
 
 Gold has been found in the Black Swan claim, about 6 miles up the 
 river, and recently in the ranges about 2 miles beyond the Panama Route 
 claim, but want of roads has kept these localities back. 
 
 One of the most remarkable features of this district is the occurrence 
 of considerable quantities of gold in the decomposed soil on the slopes of 
 the hills. This gold is usually flaky and free from quartz, but sometimes 
 attached to small portions of matrix. It is not at all water-worn. It is 
 probably due to the action of rain, which has slowly washed away the 
 rock, and reefs contained in it, as they decomposed, leaving the gold 
 behind, almost on the spot where it originally occurred. A puddling- 
 machine is in course of erection for washing the stuff from the sides of 
 the hill, and there are good reasons for hoping that it will be successful. 
 
 The gold varies much in quality, both from the slates and from the 
 tufa, and the best samples from the latter are purer than the worst from 
 the former ; but on the whole, the gold from the slates appears to be the 
 more valuable, as the following table will show : — 
 
 Locality. 
 
 Highest 
 Carats. 
 
 Lowest 
 Carats. 
 
 Average 
 Carats. 
 
 Number of 
 Assays. 
 
 Slates 
 Tufa 
 
 19 '34 
 i8-o6 
 
 I7'34 
 i7'3i 
 
 18-50 
 17-69 
 
 9 
 4 
 
 Puriri district. — The Puriri stream falls into the Thames about 8 
 miles above Shortland. It is navigable at high water for cutters for 
 nearly a mile, the tide rising about 6 ft. Above this, large boulders in 
 the stream form rapids, and prevent boats and canoes from going any 
 higher. The stream flows for its last 3 miles through an alluvial plain, 
 composed of reddish-yellow and green clays, containing many trunks of 
 trees, but with little or no pumice. At about 2 miles from the Thames, 
 the valley of the Puriri is a mile wide, bounded by low fern-covered 
 hills, composed of trachytic tufa. These hills are about 500 ft. high, and 
 continue at the same altitude for a mile, when they become covered 
 
 . 1' 1 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 :5" i 
 
 M 
 
 'I 
 
 it 
 
 1 ' 
 
56o 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRinUTION. 
 
 I 
 
 with bush, and rise abruptly to a height of 2000 ft. It is in these steeper 
 hills that the gold has been found. They, too, are composed of trachytic 
 tufa, containing large rounded boulders of dolciite and greenstone. 
 Ikhind, again, the ranges are still higher, and arc probably composed of 
 blue and pink slates, for boulders of these rocks are seen in the stream. 
 
 More or less gold can generally be found in the creek by washing ; 
 and the few pounds of quartz that have been taken to Shortland to 
 be crushed have given very satisfactory returns. The claims are in 
 decomposing ferruginous tufa, containing boulders of dolerite and dark- 
 green greenstone, or melaphyre. The general direction of the veins is 
 N.E. and N.N.E., but they appear to be highly irregular, and to break up 
 near the boulders. The gold is about 16 carats fine. 
 
 Permanency of the Mines. — The question of the permanency of the 
 mines is one of the greatest importance to the colony. The height of 
 the mines above the sea-level varies from a few ft. to about 1 8cx) ft. ; and 
 the present sea-level is more than 100 ft. above what it has been in, 
 geologically, quite recent times. The base of the tufa formation is of 
 varying height, as it rests upon the old denuded surface of the slates ; 
 but at Shortland, it is probably at some little distance below the sea- 
 level. Many of the lodes are of a most permanent character ; and in 
 those claims where only small irregular veins occur, they are so numerous 
 that when one is lost another is almost sure to be found, and so, in 
 Button's opinion, there is every probability of all the mines extending to 
 the base of the tufa formation. Whether they will or not pass into the 
 underlying slates remains to be proved ; but in one case at least (the 
 Tapu Gold-mining Co.'s reef), this is so, and it is therefore probable 
 that the other large reefs and lodes will do the same ; but not, perhaps, 
 the smaller branching veins, which are the effects only of the contraction 
 of the tufa. The few auriferous lodes found as yet in the slates, in 
 comparison with the number found in the tufa, is no argument against 
 their penetrating both formations, for the exposed surface of the tufa is 
 so much larger, and has been so much better explored than that of the 
 slates, that the result could not well hoLve been otherwise. 
 
 Some further general remarks aro contained in a subsequent report 
 by E. H. Davis, which concludes with the following summary. 
 
 The presence of gold in the reefs in payable quantities is not marked 
 by any distinct features, the manager of each claim having a different 
 reason for expecting a reef to turn out well or the contrary. Thus : — 
 (i) In Hunt's and the Kuranui mines, gold is expected when the reef 
 becomes rich in pyrites and the quartz more or less dislocated ; (2) in the 
 Long Drive, gold is expected when the reef besides having the ordinary 
 grey flucan, contains patches of a shiny-black greasy compound, which 
 stains the hands a permanent black ; (3) in the Golden Crown, it is 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 561 
 
 considered a good sign when the reef contains pyrites, is a dull-grey 
 colour, and is more or less mullocky ; (4) Manukau and Cure, the same ; 
 
 (5) Waiotahi, — ^quartz not too hard and compact, grey flucan and pyrites ; 
 
 (6) Dauntless and Sink to Rise, — reef slightly decomposed, with small 
 leaders of quartz running through it, the whole being a dirty white. 
 
 The managers arc all agreed on one point, viz. that they cannot, by 
 the experience they have had on this field, give a satisfactory reason for 
 expecting gold in the reefs, and also that they cannot tell yet if any 
 change has taken place below the water-level, as they have not done 
 much work at that depth. 
 
 Davis's own personal observations led him to the following con- 
 clusions : — (i) Pyrites in the matrix of the lodes is a sine quA non ; 
 
 (2) the hanging-wall or roof need not of necessity carry pyrites, but 
 rather the richness of the reef is increased by the diminution of pyrites 
 in the roof, provided the foot-wall is rich in them ; (3) leaders joining the 
 reef on the hanging-wall probably increase the yield of gold for a time : 
 leaders from the foot-uall, seldom ; (4) the direction of the leaders in the 
 tufa-sandstone has nothing whatever to do with the auriferous quality, 
 provided the leader runs more or less parallel with the direction of the 
 diorite-sandstone ; (5) the free gold will decrease with the depth of the 
 workings, but if the land has been elevated at some previous time for a 
 considerable period above its present level, and consequently the water- 
 level lower, the gold will probably continue down to that depth, but not 
 beyond it : the claims near the beach are already beginning to find 
 the reefs harder, the pyrites more solid, and the yield of gold less ; 
 (6) the leaders nearly all being formed by segregation, are particularly 
 amenable to atmospheri<j cigency in liberating the gold. 
 
 The processes in use in the Thames mining district, for the extrac- 
 tion of gold from the matrix, were the subject of a report by Professor 
 Skey, dated August 1 870. 
 
 In the course of inquiries relative to the mining prospects of the 
 district, it was found that great difference of opinion prevailed as to the 
 actual amount of gold that escapes with the tailings from the mills, and 
 that this and several collateral questions could only be determined by 
 experiment. For the purpose of making the required analyses, a small 
 laboratory was erected at Grahamstown. The points to which Skey's 
 attention was specially directed were as follows : — (i) The actual loss 
 of gold in the course of the extraction of the metal from the ore at the 
 different mills ; (2) the cause of this loss, and how far it can be remedied ; 
 
 (3) the manner of combination of the gold in different forms of matrix ; 
 
 (4) the effect of the use of sea-water, and water pumped from the mines, 
 upon the machinery employed. 
 
 The results of assays of tailings are shown in the annexed ruble : — ■ 
 
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 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
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 AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 563 
 
 Only one series of experiments was performed for ascertaining the 
 relative effects of the use of mineral, sea-, and rain-water, in the process of 
 amalgamation. Some tailings from the Inverness claim were used, and 
 were, as usual, well mixed before being divided off for the several experi- 
 ments. Every care was used to ensure the same conditions in working 
 with the various waters — the same head of water, speed of delivery, &c. 
 The mineral water was prepared by dissolving 6 gr. protosulphate of iron 
 (crystallized) in the gallon of water, prior to use, this being the most 
 common and prejudicial salt existing in the shaft-water of the various 
 companies. Results : — 
 
 Gold per ton . . 
 
 Rain-water. 
 
 Sea-water. 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 8 17 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 8 14 
 
 Mineral water. 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 6 I 
 
 1: 
 If 
 
 ''1 
 
 ■ ? !l 
 
 f 
 
 The following general results appear from Skey's experiments : — 
 
 1. The amount of gold-alloy separable by a.n almost exhaustive 
 amalgamative process from numerous samples of tailings taken quite 
 indiscriminately from this field has varied from a minimum o" i dwt. 
 14 gr., to a maximum of i oz. 19 dwt. 18 gr., as calculated upon a ton of 
 the sample ; while the assay yield has been 2 dwt. to . oz. 9 dwt. 2 gr. 
 of pure gold per ton for the same samples respectively. 
 
 2. The yield thus obtained does not bear any fixed or definite ratio 
 to that obtained in the first instance from the same stuff at the batteries. 
 
 3. In respect to quality, the gold given up to this re-amalgam:.tion is 
 generally poorer than that which has been taken at the mills by the first 
 amalgamation. 
 
 4. Roasting the stuff previous to amalgamation does not, as a rule, 
 raise the yield of gold-alloy ; but the gold so obtained is uniformly finer. 
 
 In making proper deductions from the results above summarized 
 in reierence to the actual loss of gold entailed by the present way of 
 milling, it is necessary to make allowance for the concentration of the 
 stuff in passing through thee mills. The amount of this is not a fixed 
 quantity, but varies with the kind of stuff, the degree of fineness to which 
 it is crushed, the volume and fall of water used, and mode of settling. 
 It would be difficult, therefore, to do more than make a vague allowance 
 for this loss ; and this is stated by several of the managers of the batteries 
 at 30 to 50 per cent, upon the stuff before crushing. The experiments 
 were confined to the testing of the actual loss in earthy matter incurred 
 by the mode of sampling, the greatest amounting to 45 • 3 per cent., while 
 the lowest was 20 per cent. On the whole, therefore, and considering 
 that the larger proportion of gold lost will remain with the coarser portions 
 of the earthy matter saved, it will be proper to reduce the fig'ies in the 
 
 2 (I 2 
 
 ■;i 
 
 
 4 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
564 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 fourth column, to about two-thirds of their value, in order to get an 
 approximation to the actual loss of gold upon the actual quantity of stuff 
 crushed. Subject to t!"ie reductions consequent upon making these allow- 
 ances, the loss of gold ^or many of these batteries amounts to 30 or 40 
 per cent, upon that cap?Me of being extracted by careful and prolonged 
 amalgamation, or to 35 and 45 per cent, on the quantity actually present 
 in the stone, as shown by assa)-. 
 
 Compared with the loss experienced on other gold-fields, where 
 amalgamation in the process us id, ':his does not appear excessively high. 
 Still, it is very unsatisfactory as regards our present gold-saving arrange- 
 ments, to know that we are frequeutly throwing away nearly as much of 
 the precious metal as is saved, and with a view to the reduction of these 
 losses, the main causes of this loss will now be considered. 
 
 The principal cause of loss may shortly be stated, for this and other 
 gold-fields where amalgamation is relied on, as the want of perfect 
 chemical contact between the gold-alloy and the mercury employed. 
 However much of this may be due to defects in mechanical arrangements 
 adopted for securing the gold, the result of Skey's investigations certain!-/ 
 shows that most of it is fairly attributable to causes of a chemical nature 
 and which the very best mechanical manipulation could but partly over- 
 come. These may best be discussed and explained, so far as possible 
 with our present imperfect knowledge, by dividing them into those 
 which especially relate to the mercury, and those which relate to the 
 gold-alloy. 
 
 I. Regarding the mercury employed for amalgamation. That this 
 substance generally sickens or " flours " when ground up with pyritous 
 rocks, is so well known and so frequently experienced by all managers of 
 batteries, that it would be superfluous to point out that the true chemical 
 contact sought is much impeded or even entirely prevented by such a 
 circumstance. But as several bodies naturally occurring in such rock are 
 capable of inducing this unfavoura' le state of the mercury, it may be 
 useful, with a view to the adoption of remedial measures, to explain what 
 is the general cause upon this gold-field. 
 
 Whatever has been affirmed about the metallic arsenides or sulphides, 
 sulphur and sulphuretted hydrogen, being frequently or directly active in 
 producing this flouring, Skey feels convinced that the greatest enemy to 
 oe contended with on this account upon this gold-field is protosulphate 
 of iron [green vitriol]. He does not know that these arsenides or sul- 
 phides exercise any direct effect upon mercury ; it is only the products 
 of thei decomposition which appear so to act. And this decomposition 
 is so slow compared with the ordinary speed of amalgamation, that ere it 
 has advanced far enough to practically effect the yield, the whole of the 
 
 i 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 56 = 
 
 $ 
 i 
 
 auriferous stuff would have been passed through the mill. As regards 
 t,;. Iphur and sulphuretted hydrogen, the former has not been identified at 
 the Thames in a free state ; and even if it were present, by reason of its 
 insolubility, and comparative non-volatility, its effects upon mercury would 
 be slow. The latter is, on the other hand, very rapid in its effects ; but 
 its existence is incompatible with the presence of sulphate of iron, a salt 
 pretty generally diffused in .veils and shafts, and porous pyritous rocks 
 occupying superficial -'tuations. Taking all this into consideration, 
 Skey inclines to th^; opinion, that not only in this, but in other gold- 
 fields, the greater part of the flouring or sickening of the mercury used 
 is due to the action of sulphate of iron. 
 
 Another obstacle to amalgamation is sulphate of copper [blue vitriol], 
 but it occurs far less frequently. The Silver Crown, the Golden Crown, 
 and Long Drive claims, and other claims around these, being the most 
 likely places for it. This salt, however, is not more to be dreaded than 
 the sulphate of iron ; indeed, where the copper salt occurs, the iron salt 
 will also occur, and in preponderating quantity. Both these salts act, 
 Skey believes, by forming subsulphates of mercury and iron or copper, 
 which persistently adhere to its surfaces. 
 
 2. Want of contact, owing to the composition and properties of the 
 gold-alloy itself In regard to the average composition of these alloys, 
 an analysis of 4 Thames specimens, from as many different localities, 
 showed that in 3 of them the metal antimony occurred in very sensible 
 quantity. Skey found by direct exp*. riment that antimony is not a metal 
 which readily amalgamates ; it is precty certain, therefore, that it would 
 communicate something of its negativeness in this respect to whatever 
 gold-alloy it might occur in ; indeed, he observed from his own ex- 
 periments, the very slow rate at which these kinds of alloys do amal- 
 gamate. Regarding the properties of these gold-alioys themselves i:i 
 more intimately affecting the chance of true chemical contact, a hitherto 
 quite unsuspected one has been discover'^d in the course of these 
 
 i 
 
 investigations. 
 
 It has become apparent that the surface of native or artificially pre- 
 pared gold, even of extreme fineness, energetically absorbs sulphur or 
 sulphuretted hydrogen. When these surfaces are so affected, they 
 absolutely fail to have such contact with mercury as to enable the metals 
 to amalgamate : at least such is the case at common temperatures ; but 
 they again do so readily when treated with cyanide of potassium, free 
 chromic acid, or chloride of lime. Raising their temperature to a red- 
 heat also renders them amalgamable, whether or not cooled before the 
 introduction to the mercury ; but the heat of boiling water does not 
 restore the affinity of the surface for mercury. 
 
 :1k 
 
 m 
 
566 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Several specimens of native gold from this district, and from others 
 where the gold is exceedingly pure, show no disposition to amalgamate 
 on contact with mercury, while others are only very partially affected. 
 Nor is it promoted or facilitated in any instance by giving them contact 
 for a lengthened time with boiling water. So that this non-amalgamation 
 cannot be referred to the intervention of bubbles of air adherent to their 
 surfaces. In these cases, as in those previously cited, contact with 
 solutions of cyanide of potassium renders them easily and quickly 
 amalgamable, and so also heating them, except where very cupreous, 
 when the oxide of copper forming by contact with air at high temperature, 
 acts as an invisible varnish. All the specimens chosen for experiment 
 were free from any discernible ferruginous or other stain. 
 
 Comparing the reaction of artificially sulphurized gold with that of 
 various specimens of native gold, leads to the assumption that in many 
 cases where the amalgamation of these specimens is slow, or does not 
 take place, the ob ' '^^le is sulphur, most probably existing in combina- 
 tion with gold as ai; rous sulphide. The bearing of these results 
 upon the subject una., .nvestigation is obviously important, as the 
 exercise of this hitherto unsuspected property of gold must have a very 
 prejudicial effect upon the amalgamation processes as practised in all 
 the reef workings. Sulphuretted hydrogen is too common a substance, 
 or at least the materials required for its generation are too widely 
 spread, to allow of the hope that any larger portion of the exposed 
 superficies of our native gold has not been affected by it to a greater 
 or less extent, and so rendered to a corresponding extent unamal- 
 gamable. 
 
 3. As the principal cause of the flouring [sickening] of mercury 
 upon these gold-fields is the presence of sulphate of iron in the reef- 
 stufif, and as this salt is freely soluble in water, one way of preventing 
 the mercury being affected in this manner is to wash the auriferous 
 stuff impregnated with this salt, prior to stamping. Whether such a 
 process could be profitably used is a question for experience to determine. 
 To a certain extent, \. lere good water is used for the stampers and tables, 
 the ill effects of the metallic sulphates present in the reefs are diminished. 
 The use of water for these purposes containing any notable quantity of 
 sulphates, acts even more prejudicially than the sulphates naturally 
 existing in the stuff itself, even were they never so abundant. The 
 greatest possible quantity of good water that the incline of the copper 
 plates will safely allow, should be employed, since the solution of these 
 metallic salts is thereby weakened, and so correspondingly less productive 
 of harm. 
 
 The yield of gold on the Thames gold-field for March 1871 was as 
 follows : — 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 567 
 
 Claim or Company. 
 
 Alburnia 
 
 All Nations ][ 
 
 Ashley (tribute) . . . , " . " 
 Alliance (Tapu) ,', 
 
 Berkeley Castle (tribute) ,. .".' 
 
 Better Luck 
 
 Bendigo Independent , , 
 
 British 
 
 Best Wrinkle ,. .. " 
 
 Beehive 
 
 Ballarat and Rising Sun . . .. 
 
 Caledonian 
 
 City of Glasgow and Black Angel 
 
 Christmas Box (Coromandel) 
 
 City of London 
 
 Coromandel, sundries 
 
 Candlelight, No. I 
 
 City of Dunedin 
 
 Count Von Bismarck (Coromandel) 
 
 Cock-a-Doodle 
 
 Cape of Good Hope 
 
 Clyde and Tyne ] 
 
 Crystal Palace [ 
 
 City of Hamburg ,\ 
 
 City of Dunedin Extended .. .. 
 
 Coulabah 
 
 Dixon's No. I 
 
 Eveline [\ 
 
 Excelsior (Coromandel) .. .. 
 
 Eldorado (tribute) 
 
 Golden Anchor 
 
 Golden Crov.'n 
 
 Giant (Coromandel) 
 
 Great Britain and Brunswick 
 
 Globe 
 
 Gibraltar 
 
 Harbour View (Coromandel) 
 
 Inverness (tribute) 
 
 Imperial Crown (tribute) .. .. 
 
 Indomitable 
 
 Junction " 
 
 Kuranui Creek (tribute) . . ., 
 
 Kuranui Company 
 
 Kerry 
 
 Lady Bird and Hand of Friendship 
 
 Last Chance 
 
 Little RepubHc (Coromandel) .. 
 
 Long Drivj \ 
 
 Moanatairi [ 
 
 McDonald's Lease ', 
 
 Morning Star [ 
 
 Montgomery Brothers 
 
 Multum in Parvo .... 
 
 Middle Star ['. [ 
 
 Manukau 
 
 Mary Ellen 
 
 Moa (tribute) \ 
 
 New May Moon 
 
 Nonpareil 
 
 Pride of York ' 
 
 
 Stone crushed. 
 
 tons cwt. 
 70 O 
 
 290 
 21 
 60 
 12 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 30 
 
 1,370 
 
 90 
 
 10 
 
 42 
 
 47 
 70 
 
 3 
 
 40 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 130 
 
 20 
 
 IS 
 
 62 
 
 iS 
 
 487 
 
 s 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 60 
 
 12 
 
 52 
 
 69 
 
 20 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 700 
 
 4 
 750 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 300 
 
 897 
 
 S2 
 80 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 30 
 o 
 
 41 
 60 
 
 34S 
 9 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 10 
 o 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 lb 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 10 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 6 
 o 
 
 lb. 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 o 100 
 o o 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 D 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 30 
 
 o 
 o 
 8 
 o 
 
 Amount of Gold. 
 
 15s 
 
 1,284 
 
 26 
 
 •33 
 
 6 
 9 
 
 23 
 
 8 
 
 37 
 
 6 
 
 103 
 
 *32,437 
 
 21 
 
 35 
 
 41 
 
 40 
 
 148 
 
 82 
 
 7 
 
 34 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 6 
 
 *I 
 
 II 
 
 213 
 *i3 
 
 80 
 
 146 
 
 18 
 
 910 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 61 
 71 
 
 174 
 
 207 
 4 
 
 340 
 108 
 
 545 
 I 
 
 277 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 842 
 
 944 
 
 3' 
 
 2F1 
 
 ii 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 147 
 
 9 
 
 18 
 
 "■127 
 
 869 
 
 20 
 
 dwt. 
 
 10 
 
 O 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 O 
 
 17 
 10 
 
 13 
 O 
 
 4 
 o 
 
 9 
 12 
 
 15 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 IS 
 17 
 
 o 
 
 9 
 o 
 
 14 
 13 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 4 
 o 
 6 
 o 
 o 
 
 IS 
 12 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 18 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 14 
 
 o 
 
 19 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 
 ID 
 
 o 
 
 18 
 
 o 
 
 12 
 16 
 
 gr. 
 O 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 12 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 O 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 12 
 O 
 O 
 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 12 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 12 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 12 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 6 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 o 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 -'.,!',.'« 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 •Means that the quantity stated is in melted gold. 
 S oz 2" wt'^jo's?. '''°" ■''" "'""''^^ ""■ '°" "" ""* "^"^^ ^"="""y '^"'^■""^ ''"""S the month of March of 
 
 tJ 
 
 ' 'I 
 
568 
 
 GLOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Claim or Company, 
 
 Poverty and Charleston 
 
 Providence (tribute) 
 
 Pride of Karaka (tribute) .. 
 
 Point Russell 
 
 Queen of Beauty 
 
 Red, White, and Blue .. 
 
 Royal Charter 
 
 Royal Oak (Coromandel) 
 
 Rover 
 
 Red Rose 
 
 Specimens at Spencer's 
 Sundries at Spencer's .. 
 Swedish Crown (Coromandel) 
 
 Shotover 
 
 Sundries 
 
 Tookey's (tribute) 
 
 Tweedside (tribute) 
 
 TapuGold 
 
 Tokatea (Coromandel) .. 
 
 Te Kooti 
 
 Una 
 
 Union 
 
 ValeofAvoca 
 
 Waitemata 
 
 Waiotahi (tribute) 
 
 West Coast 
 
 Wild Missouri 
 
 Total 
 
 February Returns 
 
 Increase in Ma;°ch 
 
 Stone crushed* 
 
 Amount 
 
 of Gold. 
 
 tons 
 
 cwt. 
 
 lb. 
 
 oz. dwt. 
 
 gr. 
 
 so 
 
 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 
 
 
 i8 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 SO 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 •45 
 
 II 
 
 2 
 
 8i 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 39 
 
 
 
 
 
 67 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 i6i 
 
 
 
 
 
 197 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 IS 
 
 
 
 
 
 51 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 ., 
 
 
 .^s 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 
 
 •34 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 
 
 
 
 190 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 , , 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 S9 
 
 
 
 
 
 84 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 130 
 
 
 
 
 
 721 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 IS 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 289 
 
 
 
 
 
 773 
 
 
 
 
 
 79 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 132 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 
 
 *97 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 3SO 
 
 
 
 
 
 291 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 8,790 
 
 13 
 
 9 
 
 45,200 
 
 II 
 
 8 
 
 7,074 
 
 2 
 
 70 
 
 30,749 
 
 lb 
 
 9 
 
 1,716 
 
 10 
 
 51 
 
 14,460 
 
 14 
 
 23 
 
 Westland. — S. Herbert Cox, in his report on the Westland district, 
 dated November i, 1875, divides the workings as follows: — (i) Reefs, 
 (2) cement workings, (3) alluvial workings, — {a) workings on slate bottom, 
 {b) workings in conglomerate formation, principally upon brown sandstone 
 bottom, but also on false bottoms at Ross, &c., {c) workings in glacial 
 drift, {d) workings in black sand beaches. 
 
 I. The reefs which are being worked to the best advantage are those 
 of the Inangahua, in the vicinity of Reefton. Their general strike is a 
 little W. of N., not differing greatly from that of the beds themselves. 
 To take the Wealth of Nations for an example. This mine is situate on 
 the S. side of the spur which forms the left bank of Murray Creek, and 
 is on the same line of reef as the Energetic Co., whose lease is on the 
 other side of the spur. The strike of this reef is in a direct line with 
 that which has been found at Rainy Creek, and which is now being 
 opened up. In the main workings of the Wealth of Nations the reef has 
 widened out to considerable size, and has proved uniformly good through- 
 out. A second reef has lately been found here, striking S. 10° E., and 
 dipping E. 10° N. This has been sunk on with an inclined shaft to a 
 depth of 60 ft., where it becomes vertical, and eventually takes a trend to 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 569 
 
 the W. If, then, the other lodes be taken as the true lodes of the 
 district, this is a counter-lode. As a rule, the reefs of this district do 
 better when standing in a more or less vertical position, the flatter ones 
 being generally the poorer ; but no record of mining operations appears 
 to have been kept. 
 
 In the Taipo Ranges, the reefs are occurring in the lower beds of the 
 Maitai series, which Cox believes to be identical with the auriferous series 
 of Reefton. Here they are striking N.E., and crushings have given as 
 much as 5 oz. 6 dwt. of gold per ton, but this, confessedly on the part of 
 one of the prospectors, was from picked specimens. In all the alluvial 
 workings upon a slate bottom, coarse and angular gold is found, fre- 
 quently attached to quartz, and this must of necessity have been derived 
 directly from reefs. Where gold has been so found, it is only necessary 
 to prospect carefully to find the reef Many reefs have been found, as at 
 Moonlight, &c., but they do not seem to have yielded gold in any 
 quantity from their first crushing, and consequently have been deserted, 
 and in many cases they have been left alone without being subjected to 
 even so small a test as one trial crushing, simply because gold cannot be 
 seen in hand specimens of the reef broken off. 
 
 2. Cement. — These beds, which consist of quartz gravels in a consoli- 
 dated condition, occur in connection with the coal series. They vary 
 from I to 6 ft. in thickness, and have their greatest development at 
 Cement Town, stretching from there to the head of Lanky's Gully. 
 They also appear associated with the coal measures at the Abbey Rocks, 
 but whether auriferous there is not known. They are undoubtedly a river 
 wash of the age of the coal with which they are associated, and the 
 occurrence of gold in them is both strange and interesting. The gold 
 appears in the lower portion of these beds, but whether as leads, or 
 pretty regularly disseminated over the whole area, can hardly be con- 
 sidered as satisfactorily settled at present. But a small quantity has 
 been worked, and the machinery used for crushing, &c., has been of the 
 most primitive character ; and, if attempts to work it up to the present 
 time have not been successful. Cox is inclined to think that it has hardly 
 had a fair trial. It is proposed to put a tunnel through the whole extent 
 of this bed from Lanky's Gully, with the view of determining the pro- 
 spect to be got throughout. 
 
 3. Alluvial Workings.— (rt) On the slate. — These require but little 
 attention ^n their own account. They occur in all gullies cut in the 
 auriferous series, and the gold is generally coarse, frequently associated 
 with quartz, and evinces having only travelled a short distance. 
 
 As a guide in the search after reefs, the gold found under these 
 conditions is valuable, it being the only class which points to the 
 immediate vicinity of a reef. Round Reefton, workings of this sort may 
 
 i ■! 
 
 m 
 
 i|i:| 
 
 i\4 
 
570 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 be seen in almost every gully. At Moonlight, coarse gold is also got, 
 and again in Black Ball Creek, at Bell Hill, Seven-mile Creek (in the 
 Taipo Ranges), Butcher's Creek (Kanieri), in some of the creeks sur- 
 rounding Mount Greenland, and in McDonald's Creek, at Lake 
 Mapourika. In none of these cases, except at Reefton and the Taipos, 
 have auriferous reefs been as yet found, although it is absolutely necessary 
 for them to be here for the gold in the creeks to be derived from. 
 
 (J?) In the Conglomerate Formation. — This heading comprises a very 
 large proportion of the sluicing claims of the district under consideration. 
 They are universally to be found in the gullies, every one of which has 
 been tried with better or worse results, as the case may be. The bottom 
 which has caught the gold throughout this formation is the brown sand- 
 stone, which the conglomerates overlie quite conformably, and through 
 which a colour of gold can be got at almost any point. It is, however, 
 only in the gullies, where these conglomerates have undergone a process 
 of natural sluicing, that the gold is sufficiently concentrated to pay for 
 extraction. 
 
 At Ross, the gold in this formation has frequently been worked more 
 upon terraces, and generally upon false bottoms, as many as d of these 
 occurring in the district. O'Connor has compiled a very valuable map 
 of this district, showing the elevation above sea-level of these various 
 bottoms at different points, with a view of settling disputes between the 
 various claims on the subject of drainage. It is, however, invaluable for 
 other reasons, giving much information which even now it would be 
 impossible to obtain, and in a few years still less opportunities will offer 
 for obtaining any history of the workings of a few years back. 
 
 (c) In the Glacial Drifts. — At places, as at Hokitika, the Greenstone, 
 &c., extensive and rich claims have been worked in these beds, tons of 
 gold having been obtained from them. These are principally interesting, 
 inasmuch as they must owe the origin of their gold, in all probability, to 
 the slates which occur beyond the metamorphic zone, or, in other words, 
 to the lower beds of the Maitai slates, of which the glacial drifts are 
 chiefly composed ; and they point to the occurrence of a far more 
 extensive tract of auriferous ground than that represented by the Taipo 
 Range, which is the only point at present at which auriferous reefs are 
 known in these beds. 
 
 {d) In the Elack Sand Beaches. — These sands are derived from 
 the crystals of magnetic iron, which occur disseminated through the 
 chloritic schists. Cox thought it possible that gold might occur 
 associated with these in situ, but Skey's analysis has proved that this is 
 not the case. The gold, then, must have been derived from the Maitai 
 slates, which are brought down in such immense quantities from the 
 glaciers. The diggers generally have an impression that the gold runs 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 571 
 
 in " leads " through the sand, but Cox believes this idea to be erroneous, 
 as there is no reason why it should occur in leads, and absolute observa- 
 tion tends far i..jre to make it appear that it has simply been deposited 
 in patches. 
 
 This section may suitably conclude with the following communication, 
 kindly made by Warden J. Allen, Picton, Marlborough, in response to 
 an application for information. 
 
 " I give you a rough hasty sketch of the rise, progress, and apparent 
 decline of these (Marlborough) gold-fields as follows : — 
 
 "My district comprises the following subdivisions, viz. the Peloras, 
 or as it is better known by the name of the Wakamarina gold-field, the 
 Queen Charlotte Sound gold-field, and the Wairau Valley gold-field. I 
 take the oldest first, the Wakamarina gold-field. This was the first gold- 
 field discovered in the county of Marlborough. Some time about the 
 year 1864 some prospectors found a deposit of gold on the banks of the 
 Wakamarina river. The finds were rich, the news soon spread, and in 
 a short time we had a considerable rush of miners and others to work the 
 ground. At first it might almost be described as a ' fossickers' gold- 
 field ' ; rich deposits of gold were found in the bed of the river and de- 
 posited in the crevices of the rocks in places forming the banks of this 
 river. The principal labour required was to scrape out the deposits of 
 gold from the crevices. As this supply became exhausted, practical 
 miners took up claims along the banks of the river and of the tributary 
 streams flowing into this river ; for a long time the claims proved 
 rich. 
 
 " The Wakamarina Valley, to which this gold-field has almost ex- 
 clusively been confined, is a narrow valley of about 1 5 miles in length, 
 with branch gullies opening out here and there on either side, out of 
 which gullies the various tributary streams flow into the Wakamarina 
 river. The country for the most part consists of steep precipitous 
 hills, with spurs more or less steep from the main range to the river. 
 Occasionally may be found a small extent of level land, or of com- 
 paratively level terraces. At the time of the first discovery of gold, the 
 whole of this country was covered with dense bush, and of course desti- 
 tute of roads. The work of searching for gold in country of this de- 
 scription was very heavy, and proved discouraging to all who were not 
 old hands, or working on good gold ; the consequence was that nine- 
 tenths of the population left the district on the discovery of a new and 
 more accessible gold-field on the west coast. 
 
 " I need not trouble you with any details of work from that time to the 
 present date. It would appear that you wish for information concerning 
 the work as at present carried on ; my report will therefore now be con- 
 fined to present operations. You ask for special reports concerning the 
 
 M 
 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
572 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Atmospheric Cylinder Co.'s work. I am sorry to say I can give you no 
 information about the matter, I have never seen the cylinders at work. 
 After conveying the machinery to the claim on the Wakamarina river 
 at a considerable cost, the directors disagreed amongst themselves, and 
 no further work has been done. The machinery remains unused on the 
 ground until better arrangements are made. I am inclined to think that 
 this kind of apparatus is not at all adapted to working in rapid gorges 
 of rivers ; it appears to be more suitable for prospecting river-beds and 
 wet claims. 
 
 " The whole of the Wakamarina district is to the present time an 
 alluvial gold-field. Parties have been out searching for reefs ; but although 
 several have been found in the ranges, no proper means have yet been 
 adopted to test their value. There is a great amount of risk and expense 
 connected with this work, and working miners arc not in a position to 
 incur this expense. It is simply a matter of time. There is no doubt that 
 good gold-bearing reefs will be found : it requires a judicious combina- 
 tion of honest practical men and capital to develop the resources of a 
 district like this. Probably it would require a large outlay of capital to 
 properly test the reefs ; as the country becomes gradually opened up, this 
 working expense will be proportionately diminished. Many small parties 
 of miners are at work, either sluicing on a small scale, or working ordinary 
 claims by the usual appliances of sluice-boxes, &c., and some of the 
 parties are doing well. The ground is patchy ; the gold is not evenly 
 distributed ; occasionally therefore good finds are reported. 
 
 "A company, called the Wakamarina Hydraulic Sluicing Co., are 
 about starting to work their ground. For some months past they have 
 been engaged in constructing water-races and a tail-race. They lease 
 ID acres of ground from Government not far from the river, and taking 
 up part of a terrace on which good gold has been found. A dyke runs 
 through their claim that they consider to be portion of the old river-bed. 
 This dyke is filled up with good-looking wash-dirt, amongst which they 
 hope to find payable gold. They intend to bring about 8 or lO heads of 
 water to work on their claim. I enclose you two photos., Nos. i and 2, 
 No. I is the tail-race. No. 2 the upper portion of their claim. The tail- 
 race is about 280 ft. long, average depth 32 ft., with a width at base of 
 2 ft. 6 in., mostly cut through a belt of solid rock. This belt of rock 
 appears to divide between the old and the new river-bed. The tail-race 
 has a good fall into the new river-bed, and had to be cut through this 
 belt of rock to get an outflow for water and tailings. The water-race 
 will be about 4 miles long and taken through rough bush country. The 
 gold is to be saved by the usual appliances of sluice-boxes. The ground 
 to be sluiced consists of a surface of clay, and below this coarse gravel 
 plentifully internu'xed with clay and large boulders. Should this company 
 
AUSTRALASIA : NEW ZEALAND. 
 
 573 
 
 be successful in their work, I have no doubt several other companies will 
 shortly be formed. 
 
 " I enclose you photo. No. 3 of Trent, Diamante & Co.'s river claim. 
 They propose to divert the course of the present stream of the river 
 Wakamarina for a distance of several chains, and to dra'n the portion of 
 the river-bed from which the stream is thus diverted by powerful Cali- 
 fornian pumps. They hope to find gold deposited at the bottom of the 
 river-bed. I am afraid their appliances are scarcely sufficient for the 
 work they have undertaken. The bed of the river is composed of shingle, 
 the bottom varying in depth according to the inequalities of the bed-rock. 
 In some places the bed-rock is washed nearly bare, in otncrs there would 
 be a considerable depth of shingle. The difficulty experienced will be 
 that the water manages to drain through the shingle, however carefully 
 they construct their dam, and of course 'Trains into their working from 
 adjacent hills. In rainy weather the 1 or rises very rapidly, and the 
 current is strong, carrying all before it not strong enough to resist its 
 power. I do not thmk under any circumstances this company will be 
 able to bottom their claim until next dry season. 
 
 " The only way now to work these alluvial diggings profitably is, 
 where water can be obtained at a reasonable cost, to form companies 
 ' strong in capital ' to work on an extensive scale. 
 
 "The next subdivision of my district, the Queen Charlotte Sound 
 gold-field, will not require a long description. This is a quartz-mining 
 district. On reference to the Admiralty chart of these sounds, you will 
 understand my description when I say that this gold-field extends on 
 the northern side of the Sound from Separation Inlet to Port Gore. At 
 only two places in this district are there any companies at work, viz. at 
 Ravensclifif, near Jackson's Head, and at a point bearing the local 
 appellation of Golden Point, nearly opposite to Picton Harbour. With 
 regard to the Ravensclifif company's claims, I can only refer you to their 
 report published in London ; you can, no doubt, obtain all further 
 information from their manager in London, No. 50, Old Bond Street. 
 
 " With regard to the Golden Point claims, there is little to report. 
 The result of their working to the present time has not been satisfactory. 
 The claims have changed hands two or three times. The present new 
 company appear determined to give the mine a fair trial. They are now 
 sinking a shaft about 250 or 300 ft. deep ; they then intend to drive, in 
 order to open up any reefs or gold-bearing leaders. Good stone has 
 been taken from a shaft when worked by the original company, but the 
 present company have abandoned this old shaft en account of obstruc- 
 tiori of water. They have steam pumping apparatus on the ground, and 
 whatever may be the result of their labours they deserve success. This 
 gold-field is situated many miles from the Wakamarina. 
 
 :l 
 
574 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIHUTION. 
 
 " The third subdivision of my district is situated in the VVairau 
 V.illey. A high range of precipitous hills divides this district from 
 the VVakamarina. The VVairau Valley is an alluvial gold-field, and 
 comparatively a new gold-field, although it has been a well-known fact 
 that gold has been found in some of the gullies on the north bank of 
 the river Wairau nearly twenty years ago. The present field extends 
 from Birch Hill Creek to Lambert's Gully, a distance of 15 or 20 miles. 
 Gold is found in almost all the gullies on the north bank of the river 
 Wairau. The small area of flat land and terraces extends from the 
 river bank to the spurs of the main range ; this is all open fern and grass 
 country ; on approaching the ranges the hills are covered with bush. The 
 gullies are all very narrow. Gold is fr ' rid in the beds of the different 
 streams and partly up the hillsides. Some of the claims have proved rich. 
 The gold is very patchy, and this country, like the Wakamarina, should 
 be worked by sluicing on a large scale. On the small flats near the 
 Wairau river, working is obstructed by water. The Wairau river-bed is 
 for the most part clean shingle, and of good depth : water would prevent 
 any miners from bottoming. The Wairau is a much larger river than the 
 Wakamarina. The ranges from Arm Chair Creek to the Kaituna, and 
 probably for a much greater distance, are of the same description as the 
 gold-bearing rocks of Otago. 
 
 " I forward you this mail, copy of Geological Map of New Zealand 
 and copy of the Mines Acts in force in this colony. 
 
 " You need not return the photos., map, or book ; I shall not w; 
 them again. I am sorry I have not more extensive workings to describe. 
 — I am, yours obediently, J. Allen, Warden." 
 
 Queensland. — The first discovery of gold in Queensland was made 
 at Cananoo, about 35 miles from Rockhampton. In 1867, the Queensland 
 Government offered rewards varying from 200/. to lOCX)/. for the discovery 
 of new and paying gold-fields in the colony. This led to the finding of 
 several early in the year, and, in September, of Gympie Creek, a locality 
 about 130 miles from Brisbane, where a nugget weighing 100 lb. and 
 valued at 4000/. was picked up near the surface. There are at present 
 upwards of 20 gold-fields in the colony, comprising, in the Northern 
 division : Broughton, Cape River, Cardwell, Charters Towers, Cloncurry, 
 Cdoktown, Etheridge, Gilbert, Hodgkinson, Normanby, Palmer River, 
 Ravenswood, Townsville, Western Creek ; Central division : Boyne, 
 Calliope, Peak Downs, Rockhampton ; Southern division : Brisbane, 
 Burnett, Gympie, Jimna, Kilkivan, Leyburn, Lucky Valley, Maryborough, 
 Nanango, Pikedale, Talgai, Tenningering, Warwick. 
 
 These fields embraced 662 distinct quartz reefs proved to be auri- 
 ferous, and 3100 sq. miles of auriferous alluvial and quartz ground worked 
 upon in 1876. In that year, the quantity of material crushed was 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 575 
 
 76,6344 tons, producing 123,038 oz. i dvvt. 18 gr. The average yield was 
 I oz. 12 dwt. 3 gr. of gold per ton ; the highest was 3 oz. 19 dwt. 17 gr. ; 
 the lowest, 3 dwt. 14 gr. The highest price of the gold was 4/ 2s. dd. an 
 oz., the lowest was 3/. 2s. The export of gold bars in that year to New 
 South Wales was 40,242 oz., value 143,764/. Gold-fields have been found 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 i39* »*T MJ 
 
 MT' t-M* *t9' tSfi* W Hi* 'U* 
 
 'J»* Jt»* «0' Wr» HI' MJ 
 
 Ma* »«■ W 'is* W 
 
 II 
 
 ■f 
 
 Sketch-map of Queensland Gold-fields. 
 
 here and there on each side of the main dividing range which separates 
 the eastern and western waters, and on the spurs of the range which 
 forms the watershed to the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
 
 The Queensland trophy at the Paris Exhibition of 1878 included an 
 obelisk representing 2,646,916 oz. of gold, value 10,587,664/., the export 
 
 liill. 
 
576 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 from the colony from 1868 to September 1877. The details of the 
 exports are officially stated as follows : — 
 
 
 1864. 
 
 i8fis. 
 
 1 
 iij66. 1 1867. 
 
 1868. 1869. 
 
 1870. 
 
 Gold Dust/^^' 
 
 22,037 
 83.292 
 
 25.339 
 92,93b 
 
 22.916 
 85,561 
 
 49,092 165,801 ! 138,221 
 189,248 i 593,516 523,045 
 
 136,773 
 489.539 
 
 
 1871. 
 
 1872. 
 
 1873. 1874. 
 
 1875. 
 
 1876. 
 
 1877. 
 
 Gold Dust/^^- 
 .. Bars{0^- 
 
 125.295 
 449,170 
 
 46,642 
 167.737 
 
 153,021 
 540,284 
 
 32,998 
 120,112 
 
 136,431 329.476 
 507,947 1,191,488 
 
 58,464 46,111 
 209,593 j 164,583 
 
 359,076 
 1,383,710 
 
 32-«39 
 114.723 
 
 334.534 
 1,284,165 
 
 40,242 
 143.764 
 
 385,576 
 1.452,396 
 
 44.528 
 ic8 -07 
 
 Charters Toivcrs gold-field. — The geology and mineral resources of 
 the Charters Towers gold-field, and the district betwei^n it and the coast, 
 were made the subject of a report by Robert L. Jack, in 1879. 
 
 Alluvium, recent. — In the gravel of the rivers on the seaward side of 
 the Coast Range, gold in small quantities has been found. During 
 January and February 1878, parties working on the Ross river, near the 
 Kennedy Hotel, were rewarded by the discovery of some little nuggets ; 
 but nothing took place desemng the name of a rush, and the place has 
 already been abandoned. Discredit has, as usual, been thrown on the 
 genuineness of the discovery, bui Jack se.^s no ground to question the 
 possibility of the occurrence of gold on the coast-side of the range, in 
 spite of several unsuccessful attempts on his own part, and a general 
 disbelief prevalent among practical miners. The gold at the Kennedy 
 Hotel was probably derived from Mount Stuart. 
 
 On the other side of the range, the case is different. Most of 
 the flats on the inland side of the range Iirvc yielded more or less 
 gold ; but the so-called alluvial workings of this region have been '\\\ 
 many cases mere washing of the gravel in the river-beds, taken by 
 preference from sheltered holes and crannies among the bed-rock. Some 
 narrow strips of alluvion on creeks to the S. of Charters Towers have 
 been very thoroughly explored, and have yielded gold in considerable 
 quantities. Among these are the Seventy-mile, a tributary of the 
 Broughton, and the streams among the mountains \y'\x\\\ between the 
 Seventy-mile Creek and the Clarke branch of the Broughton — viz. 
 Fenian Gully, Two-mile Gull}', Eight-mile Gully, iir. 
 
 In the last-named region, miners were working alluvion in 1S72, when 
 Charters Tow. rs attracted their attention, and induced them to make the 
 prospecting tour which resulted in the discovery of a new reefing district. 
 The European diggers shortly afterwards rushed in a body to Charters 
 Towers, and ihe Chinese flocked to the abandoned field in such numbers 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 577 
 
 that there are said to have been p\ one time 7000 of them at work on the 
 Two-mile Gully alone. The place at present has the appearance of 
 having been most thoroughly turned over, a great deal of surfacing 
 having been done in addition to the washing of the alluvion. At the 
 date of Jack's visit (14th December, 1878) less than half-a-dozcn men 
 were at work at alluvion in this range. They were meeting with mode- 
 rate success, although the difficulties of washing were very great at the 
 time. The dirt had to hi carried in bags, sometimes for ^ mile, and 
 washed with water raised by windlasses from shafts on abandoned reefs. 
 The method employed was generally to sink shafts to the bottom of the 
 alluvial gravel, and drive tunnels along the surface of the bed-rock. 
 When discussing the reefs and the palaeozoic strata containing them, there 
 will be opportunity of referring again to the surfacing operations. 
 
 Narrow alluvial flats on several small streams between the Two-ni;le 
 Gully and j Clarke branch of the Broughton, have also been pretty 
 thoroughly worked out. Alluvial diggings at Brooks, 8 miles S. of 
 Rishton, occupied, in 1872, 100 men, according to MacDonald's report. 
 
 Ever since the opening of the Charters Towers gold-field, a few miners 
 have been working alluvions on Mosman's, Sandy, and Gladstone creeks, 
 and their tributaries ; generally speaking, only the grav^i in the actual 
 beds of the rivers has been worked. The figures in the Warden's returns 
 are sufficient in themselves to show that after the first rush the reefs 
 alone were systematically worked, the alluvion being left to the casual 
 effijrts of the otherwise unemployed. In 1872, no less than 800 men 
 were working alluvions. In 1873 and 1874, the number was reported at 
 50. In 1875, it had dwindled to 30. Next year it rose to 160 ; and in 
 1877, it fell to 20. These figures, however, included men working at 
 deep leads of older date than the recent alluvial deposits. They indicate 
 on the whole, rather the fluctuations in the prosperity of other mining 
 districts than the richness of the alluvion in this. The difference between 
 the gold derived from quartz reefs on th'^ Charters Towers field and the 
 amount escorted must be divided between alluvial and tailings ; but it .s 
 now impossible to say in what proportions. 
 
 Some of the tributaries of the Little Star river, more "specially Dry 
 (Scrubby) Creek, have for a good mt. ly years attracted a few miners, 
 whose desultory labours have been fdrly, but seldom richly, rewarded. 
 One man was at work there as late as September 1878. The workings, 
 so far as could be traced, had all been in the beds of the creeks, where 
 the latter descended to the rolling downs out of a range of mountains 
 composed of quartzite, mica-schist, and hornblendic gneiss. With the 
 view of testing whether the gold was distributed farther to the W., two 
 experienced diggers bottomed in several places on a creek flowing 
 through country of tht: sa.ne character as that at the head of Scrubby 
 
 2 r 
 
 m 
 
 1;:: i 
 
578 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and Melon creeks, northward, into the Little Star river, about 3 miles 
 from its junction with the Great Star, and washed a considerable 
 quantity of the dirt, with a purely negative result. Water tc wash with 
 was, however, obtainable only with great difficulty at the time, so that a 
 thorough prospecting of the locality was out of the question. 
 
 Post-Tertiary. — About 2 miles S. of Millchester, the singular rock 
 known as the Little Red Bluff rises about 100 ft. above the level of the 
 downs. It has a flat top about ^ acre in extent, bounded by an escarp- 
 ment about 30 ft. in height. The rock of this escarpment is a grit or 
 sandstone, much stained with peroxide of iron ; its N.W. side has been 
 extensively quarried in terraces, and is said to have yielded some gold. 
 The " drift " of the Little Red Bluff, and of the deep lead in connection 
 with it, has been tried again and again for gold. Quite a rush to it took 
 place about 2 years ago, but without much success. The number of 
 shafts sunk attests, however, the earnestness with which success was for a 
 time believed in. From an examination of such shafts as remained open 
 at the date of his /isit, and of the wash-dirt, Jack arrived at the con- 
 clusion that comparatively few had reached the true bottom of porphyry 
 or granite, and that those who had done so were all near the N.W. end 
 of the lead, where the deposit is shallowest, and where the bottom could 
 be reached at a depth of only about 20 ft. Below the point where the 
 Imperial Creek leaves the deep lead, all the shafts appear to have been 
 sunk only to the base of the bed of white grit, th*^ underlying ferruginous 
 bed having evidently been treated as the bottom. The deep lead to the 
 S.E. of Millchester employed the energies of a large number of diggers 
 on the first rush to the new field in 1872, when a good many made con- 
 siderable hauls. This lead has more conspicuously paid than any other 
 alluvial working on the field. It deepens across the watershed into a 
 valley draining to the E. If, following the example set at Red Bluff, the 
 grit is to be regarded as a deep lead, it is needless to say that alluvial 
 mining in this district has hardly been begun. It would je advisable, 
 however, to confine operations in the first instance to leads in the vicinity 
 of known auriferous reefs. Gold is more likely to occur in such deposits 
 in hollows of the bed-rock, near the shores of the old lake or inland sea, 
 than in its interior. It may be well to quote as a warning Daintree's 
 observation, that " it is doubtful if any marine or extensive lacustrine 
 beds, except on their shingle margins, have produced, or are ever likely 
 to produce, remunerative workings of free gold, for the simple reason that 
 the majority of the sediments of which they are composed are derived 
 from formations, the greater part of which were non-auriferous." 
 
 Tertiary. — A great volcanic outburst, regarded by Daintree as " con- 
 temporaneous with the upper volcanic series of Victorian geologists," has 
 overspread with beds of basaltic lava an enormous area between the 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 579 
 
 Dividing Range and the upper portion of the Burdekin. There is no 
 evidence bearing on its age ; but if it be " pliocene tertiary " (according 
 to Daintree), the underlying 60 ft. of clayey strata must he either of 
 pliocene or older date. The geological parity existing between this and 
 the auriferous drifts of Victoria may some day lead to a systematic search 
 for the precious metal beU)u- the basaltic capping. 
 
 Pre-Devonian [Silurian] metamorphic. — The gold-mines of the district -^ 
 occur without exception inside the metamorphic region. It is worthy of 
 remark that the richest deposits occur in the most highly metamorphosed 
 rocks near their contact with the least metamorphosed rocks of the 
 district. The latter occur to the N. and W. of Charters Towers, their 
 boundary having been traced from the heads of the Broughton river, in 
 a sinuous line northward, to the Burdekin. They consist of quartzites 
 [hardened sandstones of quartz granules], greywackes [hardened sand- 
 stones of mixed quartz, felspar, and hornblende granules, with some 
 mica], slates, and shales. The slates do not differ from the shales in 
 mineral composition — mainly silicate of alumina, with a high percentage 
 of peroxide of iron — but simply in being intersected by cleavage planes. 
 Both the slates and the greywackes are, as a rule, highly impregnated 
 with iron, being in places " iron-masked " to such a degree that they 
 might almost be taken for weathered clay-band ironstones. The slates 
 strike, as a rule, N.W. and S.E. They dip at angles of 45° or more, both 
 N.E. and S.W. Indeed, there is every probability that the same strata 
 will be found repeated in a series of sharp folds. The cleavage planes of 
 the slate appear to strike in the same direction as the bedding-planes,^ 
 and to dip S.E. at about 30°. 
 
 Within the area of little metnmorphosed rocks, occur several quartz 
 reefs. Two of these, the Grea '.ritain, and the Rose, Shamrock and 
 Thistle, were being worked at the -late of Jack's visit. Both 111 .ibout 
 25° W. of N., and underlie N.N.E. The w.i kings in the Great Britain 
 mine were at a depth of about 60 ft. The undcrUe is about 60° ; country, 
 slate ; hanging-wall, distinct ; fojt-wall, never certain ; reef at least 7 ft. 
 wide, and contains a good deal of quartz (showing a little mii.idic and 
 some peroxide of iron) scattered through a gangue of slate or debris. 
 The Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle reef, both in strik and underlie, is 
 parallel to the course of the Great Britain. Crushings from the mines 
 have yielded 2 oz. 7 dwt. to the ton. The line of these rc< ("^ does not 
 coincide with the strike of the slates, forming with i' an angle of 
 about 20^ 
 
 In the course of the survey, the outcrops of several quartz reefs were 
 seen within the little metamorphosed area. One on the road from the 
 Great Britain mine to Charters Towers runs due N. and S. ; another on 
 the Hayman's road, on the point behind Plant's Mill which overlooks the 
 
 : 
 
 I 
 
 Si; 
 
 it 
 ill 
 
58o 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 town, runs E. and W. ; other two, in the N.W. corner of the area reserved 
 for homestead selections, run N.W. and S.E. (coincident with the strike 
 of the slates). The quartzite beds in some cases so much resemble vein 
 quartz, that prospectors have been induced to sink little shafts upon them. 
 A few yards N. of the old Townsville road, about a mile from Cockfield's, 
 a reef of white amorphous quartz, running 20° N. of E., stands at least 
 6 ft. out of the ground, with a breadth of about 20 ft. It is pretty free 
 of iron-pyrites, or any foreign admixture whatever, and in short is of the 
 character unfavourably regarded by the miners as a " buck-rccf " 
 
 The mountainous region whence Melon, Scrubby, and Dinner creeks, 
 and the north head of Cattle Creek, take their rise, is composed of horn- 
 blendic schists and gneisses, with some quartzite beds. From this 
 locality must have been derived the gold found in the alluvial deposits of 
 these creeks, where they emerge from the hills. Over the whole of this 
 area quartz reefs are numerous, and the soil is strewn with quartz frag- 
 ments. A thorough prospecting of the mountainous region, in search of 
 auriferous reefs, may yet lead to better results than the desultory working 
 in the dry beds of the creeks which have hitherto engaged the attention 
 of the few miners who have been employed on this field. 
 
 The porphyry range of the Pyramids [Seventy-mile] rises abruptly 
 from the undulating plain of granite near the watershed between the 
 Burdckin and Cape rivers. Alluvion was extensively worked in the 
 gullies of the range and in the streams surrounding its base. On the 
 discovery of Charters Towers field, a rush took place there, and the 
 Chinese occupied the abandoned Seventy-mile field in great numbers, to 
 leave it on the break-out of the Palmer diggings. A little reefing had 
 been done, but was stopped, as was till lately the fashion, on reaching 
 the water-level and mundic. It is likolv f-bn*- ..r.,.^ operations may be 
 resumed in such a manner as to test the question of the continuance of 
 the gold in the mundic. 
 
 A reef (called Swan's) worked to the water-level has recently been 
 taken up. It lies on the N.W. slope of a pyramidal mountain, and runs 
 W. 25° S., underlying at 40° to S. 25^ E. The principal shaft had struck 
 the reef at a depth of 60 ft., havin;:;^ passed through a diorite dyke. 
 Sinkings had been made in several places on the underlie along the out- 
 crop of the reef Samples from a " muHocky leader " of porphyry debris 
 and decomposed pyrites [" brownstone "] in one of these sinkings, are 
 said to have occasionally yielded at the rate of lOO oz. of gold to the ton. 
 Jack dug out two dishes of this, and obtained "colours" in both. The 
 " brownstone " is dark-grey pyrrhotite [magnetic pyrites] with sub-metallic 
 lustre (Fe, Ss = sulphur 39*5 -I- iron 60*5) coated with brown peroxide 
 of iron. Analysis failed to reveal the presence of arsenic, copper, or 
 nickel. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 581 
 
 "Surfacing" operations have seamed the hillside up to the line of 
 reef, but have stopped short there, the presumption being that they 
 ceased to pay at higher levels, the reef being, probably, the source of the 
 greater part of the gold. About 400 yd. E. of and nearly in a line with 
 Swan's reef, is another having a direction of W. 7° S., hading about 45° 
 to S. 7° E., and consisting mainly of angular 'cbris of porphyry, con- 
 taining quartz with pyrites, and red oxide of iron, about 4 ft. wide. 
 Some of the " brownstone " from the surface is said to have given 1 3 oz. 
 to tlic ton, but the workings were stopped on reaching the mundic, a 
 quantity of which lies around the shaft. 
 
 About 12 ft. below this reef, another 2 ft. in width occurs, containing 
 a good deal of pyritous quartz. The quartz from the bottom of the shaft 
 is white, and contains much pyrites and some zinc-blende. A tunnel has 
 been driven some 30 ft. into the hill about 300 yd. S. of Swan's reef No 
 reef appears to have been followed, the tunnel having been driven simply 
 into the decomposed porphyry, the softer and more ferruginous parts 
 (possibly so from the decomposition of auriferous pyrites) in the neigh- 
 bourhood of joints being taken out. It is a porphyry with reddish blebs 
 of quartz in a buff matrix of decomposed felspar. This stuff is said to 
 have crushed 2 oz. to the ton, the gold being in fine threads, a peculiarity 
 of gold much alloyed with silver. 
 
 The experience of the Charters Towers field having proved that the 
 gold continues in the mundic as well as in the " brownstone," the 
 Seventy-mile may yet deserve the attention of reefers. All the creeks 
 surrounding the mountain on which Swan's reef is situated, having 
 proved rich in alluvial gold, search is being made for reefs by surface 
 trenching and otherwise. 
 
 The Comstock [Stockholm] reef, one of the "outside" reefs of 
 Charters Towers, occurs in porphyry "country" (matrix of silicated 
 felspar, with large blebs of quartz), near the junction of the porphyry 
 with the slate. The reef is about 5 ft. wide, with an indistinct foot-wall. 
 The hade is steep, about 75° to E. 25° N. The present workings have 
 reached 135 ft. on the underlie. The ore now being raised is a good- 
 looking dark-blue mundic, said to be occasionally 4 to 6 ft. wide. It 
 contains a large percentage of zinc-blende, a good deal of iron-pyritJS in 
 minute crystals, a little copper-pyrites, and some galena. In one place, 
 at the surface of the reef, carbonate of copper is seen. The last crushing 
 gave 10 to 16 dwt. Some of the stone assayed at the rate of 9 to 10 oz. 
 of gold to the ton. 
 
 Two other reefs adjoin the Comstock to the E., the first bearing S. 
 35° E., and hading at 65° E. to 35° N., and the second bearing S. 5° W., 
 and hading E. 5° S. Both have been worked a little on the outcrop, in 
 the brownstone. 
 
 i 
 
 .Ml 
 
 1 
 
 .All 
 
 4 
 
 ( .1 
 
 Ml 
 
582 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Old Warrior is another of the "outside " reefs of the Towers field. It 
 occurs in a porphyry country on the W. side of a group situated 2 miles 
 S. of Millchester, comprising the Alexandra, Pacific, Washington, Sons 
 of Freedom, Imperial, and others. It strikes W.S.W., and hades at 33° 
 to N.N.W. In the only claim at present working the mundic has not 
 yet been reached. The brownstone yields 3 to 9 dwt. Claims on the E. 
 side of the road used to give 1 5 dwt. The reef is about 2 ft. wide, and 
 contains a good deal of selenite. The best gold is said to come from 
 the vicinity of the foot-wall. 
 
 Imperial reef lies to the S.E. of the Old Warrior, and has nearly the 
 same bearings. It shows a great breadth of quartz at surface, and is said 
 to have 4 ft. of stone below as a rule. There is a heavy influx of water, 
 requiring constant pumping with an engine. A 5-stamp battery has 
 recently been erected. 
 
 A large reef crosses the Bluff track, to the S.W. of the Imperial. It 
 is traceable for a considerable distance from W.N.W. to E.S.E. as a wide 
 vein of quartz, sometimes crystallized. It has been opened out a good 
 deal on its outcrop, and some trial crushings have been made, which are 
 said not to have been very encouraging. 
 
 Old Identity reef underlies to the N.W. at 30°. It varies from a few 
 inches in width to 4 ft, the gangue being quartz with some carbonate of 
 lime and some pyrites, also a little bismuth. Barytes occurs on joints in 
 the granite walls. In No. i claim, the shaft struck the reef at 60 ft. deep, 
 from which level 1 30 tons crushed at the rate of 4 oz. 8 dwt. to the ton. 
 In the prospecting claim, 2 oz. per ton are obtained. At the 130-ft. level 
 in No. I claim, the granite walls, saturated with water, have swelled out 
 with irresistible force. At the 130-ft. level, between No. I and No. 2 
 claims, the reef is cut by a fault (greasy wall), heading a little to the E., 
 and thrown down 6 ft. on the side of No. 2. Rich mundic occurs in 
 No. I claim, in the neighbourhood of the fault, frequently containing 
 visible gold. The reef divides into two or three veins on approaching the 
 fault, and the quartz is crystallized — a somewhat rare circumstance in 
 the reefs of this district. One quartz vein, 3 to 12 in. wide, runs down 
 into the slip, from which it appears that the main fissure had been first 
 filled with its vein, and that the silica and other materials had con- 
 solidated before they were broken through by another fissure, in which 
 similar materials were again deposited and consolidated. The supply of 
 vein materials in solution must, therefore, have been kept up for some 
 time. 
 
 At the 200-ft. level, a dyke of porphyry, nearly vertical, runs W. 20° 
 N. through the reef In No. i claim, it is 2 ft. 9 in. thick. It thickens in 
 No. 2 claim (to S.E.) and dies out in the prospecting claim (to N.W.), 
 where a clay scam is understood to represent it. Above the dyke, in 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 583 
 
 No. I claim, at least, the quartz is rich in gold. The dyke is traceable 
 at the surface for more than ^ mile, with a course on the whole E. and 
 W., and a maximum width of 25 ft. It dies out at the E. end (close to the 
 E. boundary of the township of Millchester) and is replaced by a quartz 
 reef in the same line. In No. i claim, it runs into, and seems to die out 
 in, the foot-wall. The influence of superficial agents of waste is felt 
 down to about 100 ft. Below that level, the granite is hard. The reef is 
 composed of " mullock " (angular debris of the material " country "), with 
 shoots of quartz, containing auriferous pyrites and some galena. The 
 shoots of quartz are said to run down the reef diagonally from S.W. 
 to N.E. 
 
 The Queen, another reef among the most important on the field, 
 situated between Millchester and Charters Towers, bears N.E. and 
 S.W., with an underlie of 30° to N.W. This bearing is quite abnormal 
 in the field — in fact, the Queen may be said to be a cross-course, situated 
 as it is in the middle of a cluster of reefs bearing N.W. and S.E. and 
 underlying to N.E. A vertical shaft cuts the reef at a depth of 208 ft. 
 At that depth a level was driven from the shaft 340 ft. to S.W., through 
 soft "mullock" (broken granite), between well-defined walls. Quartz 
 veins come in and die out in the gangue with apparently no regular 
 system. Specimens of what is considered " 2-oz. stone," taken from the 
 S.W. corner at this level, are of compact quartz, with joints and sides 
 coated with chlorite, and pretty well darkened throughout with galena 
 and iron-pyrites. 
 
 Sometimes the ores occur alternately in little veins or strings, some- 
 times in isolated aggregations, while at other times the crystals of both 
 are indiscriminately mixed. The quartz has the bluish tinge (due to 
 silicate of lead i*) which is, rightly or wrongly, believed on the field to 
 distinguish auriferous from " buck " quartz. Specimens picked out as 
 examples of stone estimated at " i^ oz." and " better than 2 oz." respec- 
 tively, differ from the last-described specimens, the former in having 
 quartz of a lighter bliic, veined with felspar, less galena, and more 
 steatite; the latter in having both the galena and the pyrites in finer 
 crystals disseminated indiscriminately throughout. Other specimens 
 from this level contain a little gypsum. In some, sphalerite (zinc-blende), 
 galena, and iron-pyrites arc associated. One piece of quartz was 
 amorphous except in the middle, where both sides of an open cleft were 
 lined with dog-tooth crystals, the spaces between the crystals being filled 
 up with gold. In another specimen, the gold occurs as an isolated 
 cluster of grains in a mass of milk-white amorphous quartz, of a kind 
 which would be apt to be regarded as " buck," but for the visible presence 
 of gold. 
 
 In the Queen, generally, the quartz veins penetrate the foot-wall, a 
 
 :.! r, I 
 
 m 
 
 Hi 
 
584 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 circumstance which is almost peculiar to this reef, and was understood to 
 indicate the presence of a parallel reef below. A drive was accordingly 
 made bearing S.S.E. from the end from the 340-ft. long level, ai -^ the 
 hanging-wall of another reef was reached, at a distance of 63 ft. A dyke 
 of porphyry, or perhaps more properly syenite, runs S.E. through the 
 "country," but has not been seen in the reef itself Small cubes of 
 pyrites occur throughout the matrix as well as in the quartz. During 
 12 months, 2273 tons of stone crushed gave 2286 oz. The gold averaged 
 3/. $s. per oz. 
 
 St. Patrick reef has a N.W. course, and underlies to the N.E. at an 
 angle of 28°. The block has a vertical engine-shaft of no ft, and an 
 underlie shaft measuring 580 ft. from the foot of the vertical shaft. For 
 70 or 80 ft. down the underlie from the foot of the prospecting shaft, the 
 granite country is soft, reddish, and decomposed. The brownstone in 
 the reef went down as far as the granite was decomposed, and gave place 
 to mundic at the point where the granite ceased to be influenced by 
 weathering. The brownstone here was only moderately rich, 2 oz. to the 
 ton at most ; but where the mundic was first struck, it yielded 5 oz. The 
 stone now averages 2 oz. The workings now reach the N.E. boundary 
 on the underlie. At the 3S0-ft. level, is a reef of quartz with mundic 
 6 ft. in width. The mundic in the mullock (broken granite) between the 
 walls does not carry gold in payable quantities. At the S.E. end of the 
 450-ft. level, a section shows a good " mundic reef," side by side with a 
 " buck reef" Such an experience may be accepted as a warning that, 
 although a reef may happen to present at its outcrop nothing but 
 " buck " stone, the whole reef is not necessarily of that charac<^°r. 
 
 St. Patrick has proved one of the richest reefs in the field, and is dis- 
 tinguished by an unusual width of gangue. 
 
 Mexican reef not only cuts through the granite, but also intersects, 
 nearly at right angles, a band of slate 3 to 4 ft. wide. The reef is some- 
 times as much as 15 ft. wide. The workings are now in the mundic at a 
 depth of 250 ft, and are found to be richer than in the brownstone. A 
 recent crushing gave 2 oz. 7 dwt The gold is said to be finer in grain in 
 the mundic than it was in the brownstone. The best stone is a dark 
 mixture of quartz and slaty debris, the quartz containing specks of 
 galena and some pyrites. 
 
 Rainbow reef runs about 20° W. of N., at the foot of the Towers Hill, 
 and hades at 38° to E. 20° N. It has an engine-shaft 220 ft deep, and 
 is being vigorously worked. The walls are usually less than 4 ft. apart, 
 and carry, on an average, 1 2 to 15 in. of quartz, generally whiter than is 
 the rule on the field. The quartz veins contain good mundic. The 
 mullock also contained mundic in the vicinity of the reef, but not good 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 585 
 
 enough to crush. An E. and W. diorite dyke cuts the recf> but does not 
 influence its bearing qualities. 
 
 North Australian reef has a course nearly parallel to that of the 
 Rainbow, with an underlie of 47° to N.N.E., and penetrates both the 
 syenite country of the Towers Hill and the granite country to the N.W. 
 The reef varies from I to 4^ ft. in width. At the date of Jack's visit, 
 the quartz vein in the reef was 8 in. wide. The mundic of this reef 
 Appears to be richer in galena than most of the others in the field. The 
 'ast crushing (of 360 tons) gave 3 oz. to the ton. A perpendicular dyke 
 of diorite, 5 ft. in width, running E. 1 5° S., cuts the reef, and is believed 
 to favourably affect the auriferous character of the mundic. There was 
 very good stone (3^ to 4 oz.) above the dyke at the 235-ft. level. Veins 
 of gypsum occur on the sides of the dyke. 
 
 Newton Butler reef lies about i^ mile S. of the Comstock, in granite 
 country. It is still in the brownstone. The present owners have 
 crushed as low as 18 dwt., and as high as 2^ oz. to the ton. 
 
 Warden reef district, on the N. of the Broughton, 5 miles from 
 Charters Towers, has recently been opened up. Reef A is down 30 ft. 
 in the brownstone. A trial crushing from the upper part of the shaft 
 gave 4 oz. to the ton. A little carbonate of copper is visible in the 
 brownstone. The reef averages i ft. wide. Reef B was just being 
 opened up from the surface at the time of Jack's visit. It averages z it. 
 6 in. wide, and contains a little pyrrhotite. As this mineral occurs in a 
 fresher condition than is usual in the brownstone, it is possible that the 
 weathering of this reef does not reach the customary depth, and that 
 the brownstone may shortly be expected to give place to mundic. 
 
 Generalities. — The rich gold-field of Charters Towers occupies the W. 
 edge of an area of granite and syenite, bordering on the little-altered 
 slates and grits of the Sandy Creek district. It was discovered in 1872 
 by H. Mosman, C. E. Clarke, and J. Eraser, who left the Seventy-mile 
 field to prospect the distant Towers. The first claim was laid off on the 
 25th March, 1872, and the district, including an area of 1700 sq. miles, 
 was proclaimed a gold-field on 31st August of that year. 
 
 It is only when the reefs have been laid down on the map that it 
 becomes apparent that they follow a definite system. They form a sort 
 of horseshoe bend, with its convex side to the S., and underlie towards 
 the centre of this curve at a low angle. At present, visible gold is a 
 rarity in the reefs ; but experience having shown what classes of stone 
 yield most when crushed, the miner is in no way dispirited even if he 
 never sees the "colour " in his workings. There is considerable monotony 
 in the underground operations, which present the same country, the same 
 gangue, and the same phenomena at and above the water-level. 
 
 A I 
 
 :i 
 
 III 
 
 t^; !i 
 
586 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 It appears to be undeniable that in the Charters Towers gold-field, 
 as in other auriferous-pyrites regions, it is to a certain extent true that 
 the surface of a reef is sometimes exceptionally rich in gold. The region 
 of " brovvnstone " (pyrrhotite and peroxide of iron) coincides with that 
 superficial part of the rock which is not permanently saturated with 
 water, and into which the atmosphere penetrates. A second region, 
 that of " mundic " (auriferous sulphides), is co-extensive, so far as is yet 
 known, with the zone of permanent saturation. The rainfall is under- 
 stood to circulate "chiefly within a film of the rocky crust not much 
 exceeding 2000 or 2500 ft." (Dr. Page). As, however, the lower limit of 
 saturation must vary according to the compactness of the rock and the 
 we''^ht of the water, it may be accepted as certain that this is an over- 
 esi .nate for a district of small rainfalls and hard granite rocks. In the 
 progress of denudation, the upper zone, which may be called the " zone 
 of intermittent saturation," must necessarily invade the lower zone, that 
 of " permanent saturation," while the lower limit of the latter will sink 
 deeper and deeper into the crust of the earth. 
 
 The brownstone is mundic which has undergone oxidation, the 
 pyrites being altered to pyrrhotite. As, however, there is no reason to 
 doubt that the gold exists in the mundic stone, it seems difficult to 
 account for its greater abundance in the superficial brownstone. The 
 explanation is this : — On the denudation and oxidation of the upper 
 portion of a reef, the gold mixed with the denuded sulphides is set free, 
 and is carried with the aid of rains and by virtue of its own high specific 
 gravity into the porous weathered upper part of the reef, which is next 
 in turn to undergo denudation ; and it may thus happen that the 
 "capping" of a reef is enriched with loose gold. Add to this that the 
 working of the surface is much easier than that of the deep levels, and 
 it will be seen how, in many cases, only the upper part of a reef may be 
 payable. 
 
 Gold disseminated through the granite rocks themselves is occa- 
 sionally evident to the naked eye, but it may be present in many cases 
 in quantities so small that neither the microscope nor ordinary analysis 
 will detect it. That it has been collected in veins from the granite rocks, 
 by means of lixiviation, is rendered very probable from the fact of the 
 auriferous pyrites occurring in the " zone of permanent saturation." 
 Arsenic is scarcely known in any form in the field. 
 
 A good deal of surfacing has been done on the field at one time or 
 other. One party was engaged in December in stripping surface from 
 the flat between the Moonstone and Welcome reefs. The surface on 
 being tommed at Sandy Creek, about a mile distant, yielded i dwt. to 
 the load. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 587 
 
 The annexed table shows the progress of the gold-field, and its yield 
 of gold : — 
 
 Year. 
 
 Stone 
 crushed. 
 
 Yield of Gold from 
 crushing. 
 
 Average of 
 
 Gold per ton 
 
 of ^itone. 
 
 Tailings 
 treated. 
 
 Yield of Gold 
 from Tailings. 
 
 Gold escorted. 
 
 
 tons. 
 
 or., dwt. g 
 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 tons. 
 
 02. 
 
 dwt. gr. 
 
 or. dwt. gr. 
 
 1872 
 
 12,054 
 
 20,063 '9 
 
 ? 
 
 I 14 5 
 
 , , 
 
 
 ,. 
 
 31,287 2 5 
 
 1873 
 
 37,937 
 
 59,835 
 
 I II 13 
 
 , , 
 
 
 ,, 
 
 74,746 
 
 1874 
 
 33.097 
 
 52,872 14 21 
 
 I II 23 
 
 , , 
 
 
 ., 
 
 62,345 
 
 187s 
 
 36,876 
 
 62,214 
 
 I '1 17 
 
 ,, 
 
 
 , , 
 
 69,277 
 
 1876 
 
 37,500 
 
 58,068 2 10 
 
 I ID 23 
 
 1525 
 
 779 
 
 
 
 67,615 
 
 1877 
 
 36,030 
 
 66,479 3 i< 
 
 J 
 
 I 16 22 
 
 297« 
 
 1799 
 
 14 
 
 87,200 14 20 
 
 
 Difference 
 between yield of 
 
 
 
 2B 
 e > 
 
 Number of 
 
 a 
 J 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 •3 
 
 1 
 •3 
 
 
 kM 3 
 
 
 
 **T3 
 
 X 
 •0 
 
 ■3 
 
 II 
 
 Year. 
 
 Gold from 
 Crushing and 
 
 '=! 
 
 
 J 
 
 .,,i^ 
 
 in a 
 
 0, 
 
 
 amount escorted. 
 
 E M 
 
 
 s.s 
 si 
 
 
 OS. 
 
 mber 
 indin 
 achin 
 
 ■S.g 
 6.3 
 
 t6 
 
 S2 
 
 
 
 Z'^ 
 
 ^J 
 
 3 2 
 
 z' 
 
 52 
 
 K- 
 
 |sa 
 
 1^ 
 
 c^-S 
 
 
 
 oz. dwt. gr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ft. 
 
 ft. 
 
 1872 
 
 11,223 3 
 
 2303 
 
 2000 
 
 800 
 
 6 
 
 79 
 
 ., 
 
 
 .SO 
 
 1 20 
 
 1873 
 
 14,911 
 
 2418 
 
 850 
 
 .so 
 
 ? 
 
 84 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 7.S 
 
 120 
 
 1874 
 
 9.472 5 3 
 
 I7I7 
 
 1200 
 
 SO 
 
 1 
 
 94 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 I. SO 
 
 150 
 
 1875 
 
 7,063 
 
 I3S9 
 
 1030 
 
 30 
 
 7 
 
 93 
 
 ? 
 
 10 
 
 226 
 
 225 
 
 1876 
 
 9,546 17 14 
 
 1224 
 
 1140 
 
 130 
 
 9 
 
 104 
 
 20 
 
 26 
 
 250 
 
 230 
 
 1877 
 
 20,721 10 4 
 
 1286 
 
 IIOO 
 
 20 
 
 II 
 
 123 
 
 13 
 
 29 
 
 420 
 
 240 
 
 It appears from the above figures that (excepting the first year, 1872, 
 which includes only a few months) the annual quantity of stone crushed, 
 and the amount of gold produced have been practically the same, the 
 last year (1877) showing the best return of gold since the opening of 
 the field. Steady employment seems to have been afforded by the 
 reefs for about 1 100 men. So far, therefore, as experience goes, there is 
 nothing to indicate a falling off in the production, or even (in spite of 
 some exceptionally rich finds in the brownstone) any serious average 
 difference between the yield of the mundic and brownstone. (For the 
 first year or two, the workings were mostly in brownstone, and for the 
 remaining years mostly in the mundic.) Taking into account the in- 
 creased difficulty of extracting the gold from the mundic, the difference, 
 if any, would appear to be rather in favour of the latter. 
 
 There is no reason to expect any material change in the nature of 
 the reefs within the limits of the zone which the workings have now 
 almost all reached, viz. that of "permanent saturation," unless it be, 
 perhaps, an increase in the quantities of heavy metals or ores — gold, 
 silver, sulph.'des of iron, and perhaps of copper. Wliether the source of 
 the gold, &c., in the reefs was the adjacent coun.ry, or whether the 
 metals and ores were derived from below, the heavy precipitates from 
 
588 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 their solutions would tend to be deposited in the lower parts of the 
 fissures more than in the higher. Jack does not mean to predict that 
 every reef in the field will prove richer below than above, but the observa- 
 tion, he is firmly convinced, will be true of the field as a whole. 
 
 Admitting that granite rocks in a region of low rainfall may not be 
 permanently saturated below 2000 ft, it will be seen from the table that 
 the workings at Charters Towers have hardly yet reached more than a 
 fifth of this depth. It must, therefore, be some time before the question 
 of the continuance of the gold below the limit of " permanent saturation" 
 can be put to the test. 
 
 It is true that the difficulty and cost of the workings must augment 
 with the increasing depth, but, on the other hand, there is to be set 
 against this the inevitable cheapening of materials, carriage, labour, and 
 cost of living, which must fo'low the natural growth of population, as 
 well as the gain from improvements in the method of treating pyritous 
 tailings, and the utilization of the abundant lead-ore associated with the 
 gold. Taking all these into account, it will probably be a very long 
 time before the gold will not pay for working. 
 
 The horseshoe arrangement of the principal reefs has already been 
 alluded to. An important group of the principal reefs in the field 
 ought, if they continue in depth, to converge at some point within the 
 horseshoe bend. The reef fissures, if protracted beneath the surface, 
 would converge along a vertical line — the axis of elevation, centre of 
 depression, or seismic vertical, according to the theory adopted for the 
 cause of the fractures. This line may be expected to lie to the N. of 
 Millchester, probably between the township and Mosman's Creek. The 
 upper reefs may reach it at a depth of perhaps a mile. It is not to be 
 expected that those reefs will ever be worked down to this depth, still 
 less that the underlying and more distant reefs will be worked till they 
 impinge upon the imaginary vertical line ; but it may reasonably be 
 expected that as they approach the centre of disturbance, they will 
 prove richer in metallic deposits. The region between Millchester and 
 Mosman's Creek, as being directly over the focus of disturbance, may 
 also be pointed out, theoretically, as one where reefs may be expected 
 to prove exceptionally numerous, and perhaps exceptionally rich. The 
 force of an earthquake shock, and consequently the chance of fracturing 
 the rocks, is, of course, greatest above the seismic vertical. The seismic 
 vertical is also, of course, the shortest line from the focus to the earth's 
 crust, and a fissure at or near it would have the best chance of receiving 
 deposits from solutions brought up from below. 
 
 Thomas Buckland, assayer, has furnished some notes on the quality 
 and value of the gold of Charters Towers and neighbouring fields. The 
 best gold lies within a circle of 2 miles radius around Oueenton, with 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 589 
 
 the single exception of the Union Jack, where the best gold on the 
 field has been obtained, value 3/. 15J. dd. per oz. The Union Jack 
 is surrounded by poor gold. Bucklands results are given in the 
 annexed table : — 
 
 Reef. 
 
 Mint Value ufgold. 
 Inilrownstone.l In Miindic. 
 
 Reef. 
 
 Mint Value of gold. 
 
 
 In Drownttone. 
 
 In Mundic. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 s. 
 
 ./. 
 
 St. Patrick .. .. 
 
 •» 
 
 Q 
 
 2 
 
 Nortli Australian . . 
 
 \ 
 
 n 
 
 I 
 
 Just-in-Time .. 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 Qu:en 
 
 ^ 
 
 Q 
 
 II 
 
 Papuan 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 Cil 
 
 7 
 
 AR 
 
 Rose, Shamrock, Sii\ 
 Thistle .. / 
 
 2 
 
 16 
 
 II 
 
 II 19 
 
 2 
 
 IS 
 
 10 
 
 Southern Cross 
 
 2 
 
 IQ 
 
 2 
 
 Stockholm 
 
 ■\ 
 
 I 
 
 s 
 
 Newton Butler 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 >• II 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 >• n 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 Merry Monarch^ 
 (lowest) . . / 
 
 3 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 Bluff (Alice P.C.) .. 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 II II 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 b 
 
 „ (Livingstone \ 
 P.C.) .. / 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 II II 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 >> II 
 
 2 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 »f M 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 Charters Towers, Inside Reefs. 
 
 Rainbow 
 
 i '. 
 
 d. 
 
 3 S 
 
 2 
 
 3 10 
 
 
 
 3 4 
 
 10 
 
 3 7 
 
 
 
 3 .■) 
 
 7 
 
 General Wyndham 
 
 Charters Towers, Outside Reefs. 
 Puzzler 
 
 £. 
 
 
 d. 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 Imperial .. 
 
 Old'Warrior 
 
 II 
 Alexandra 
 
 II 
 Union Jack 
 
 Reefs at a Distance. 
 
 Dreghorn 
 Rochfort . . 
 
 306 
 
 2 19 10 
 368 
 2 O 
 
 o 5 
 
 5 II 
 
 6 8 
 
 5 3 
 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 
 Seventy-Mile allu- 
 vial, heavy nug- 
 gety .. .. 
 
 Full Values. 
 
 3 13 4 
 
 Seventy-Mile (reef) 
 " (Pyle's reeO 
 
 Brook's alluvial,'^ 
 finer nuggety / 
 
 3 IS 6 
 
 3 18 6 
 
 3 2 II 
 
 3 1 10 
 2 17 6 
 2 14 6 
 
 2 14 10 
 
 Full Values. 
 
 3 13 o 
 
 The alloy is silver with a little iron. Alluvial gold contains 0*003 P^i" cent, of iron, crushed 
 gold o'oi per cent., supposed to be derived from the stamps. 
 
 The best gold of the field, as will be seen by the table, compares 
 unfavourably with the gold of Victoria and New South Wales. The 
 quantity, however, atones for the deficiency in quality. 
 
 It is incredible that all the reefs on the field have been discovered, 
 or estimated at their true value. Every miner knows that the best reefs 
 present frequent blanks, or contain for a time only " buck " stone, and in 
 the course of denudation these unpromising or irrecognizable portions 
 of a reef may just as well occupy the surface as unmistakably auriferous 
 mundic or brownstone. The field cannot be considered as thoroughly 
 explored until a systematic course of tunnelling shall have been carried 
 
 »< 
 
S90 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 out in ever/ direction, especially at riglit angles to the courses of reefs 
 already known. 
 
 Gyvipie gold-field. — This gold-field is described in a report by A. C. 
 Gregory on the geology of part of the districts of Wide Bay and Burnett, 
 publishLd in 1875. 
 
 Approaching the Gympie gold-tield from the sea-coast, the principal 
 geological feature of the country is the extensive development of the 
 porphyritic rocks, which, rising through the Carboniferous strata, form 
 the range dividing the valley of the Mary river from the Maroochydore 
 river, and, extending in a S. direction, exhibit the remarkable outbursts 
 known as the Glass House mountains. Descending from this porphyritic 
 range into the valley of the upper Mary river, the Devonian slates 
 appear on the surface ; the stratification is apparently much disturbed, 
 and the dip is generally at n high angle. 
 
 At Gympie, these slates include a thick bed of calcareous rock, con- 
 taining numerous impressiois of Spirifera and other Devonian fossils, 
 and also laj'ers of rounded pebbles of crystal; '.i'. felspathic rock. These 
 fossils and boulder-beds are interstratified with a hard dark-blue rock, 
 having the external appearance of being of igneous origin ; but the 
 excess of carbonate of h. ne, and the fact that thin beds of the same 
 rock are regularly interstratified with slates in other parts of the district, 
 indicate that it is a sedimentary rock, and not a greenstone-trap as 
 originally supposed. 
 
 The determination of the sedimentary character of this rock is of 
 considerable importance, as it indicates that the auriferous reefs which 
 traverse it are likely to preserve the same character to a very great 
 depth ; and that the working of the mines will only be limited in depth 
 by the increased difficulties attendant on deep mining, or penetration to 
 the siliceous slates which dip under the gold-field from the N.E. 
 
 The Devonian slates, in Queensland, where composed chiefly of silica, 
 with littlf alumina, seldom contain metalliferous veins of any im- 
 portance, and it is only v.here lime or magnesia is combined in con- 
 siderable quantity that the quartz veins which traverse it present any 
 notable i i.neral deposits ; and it seems that the presence of the alkaline 
 earths forms conditions which are specially f-^vourable to the deposition 
 of metals. The rockj in which the productive gold-reefs at Gympie are 
 worked, belong t"; the series which contain a large proportion of lime ; 
 while the slates which dip b-^low them fiom the N.E. are nearly devoid 
 of ''me and niapf^Crild, and have not shown indications on the surface of 
 any valu. /!e mineral deposits ; and it may be expected that, on pene- 
 trating through the calcareous rock, the reefs will cease to be productive 
 as they enter the siHccous slaies beneath. The great thickness and high 
 angle of dip of the lime rocks would indicate that, except near their N.E. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 591 
 
 margin, there is little prospect of the siliceous slates being within the 
 scope ot even deep mining ; though it tends to the inference that the 
 S. extensions of the known reefs are likely to afford the best field for 
 deep mining. 
 
 The general strike of the rocks on the Gympie gold-field is N.W. 
 and the dip S.W. ; the auriferous veins or reefs average a little W. of N., 
 but the band of greatest auriferous development is parallel to the strike, or 
 N.W., crossing the various reefs diagonally, so that the productive portion 
 of each is seldom of any great length ; and they are sometimes cut off by 
 slides in the rock, which dip N.E. and bear N.W. The N. sides of these 
 slides seem to have been forced to the N.W., and consequently these 
 fractures have remained closed, and contain little if any veinstone ; 
 while the fractures which have a N. bearing, or across the strike of the 
 rock, have opened, and subsequently filled with quartz, calcspar, iron- 
 pyrites, and gold. The fractures appear to have been vcrj' irregular, 
 and large fragments of the side rock have fallen into them, so that the 
 spaces subsequently filled by the veinstone ait vci^ irregular, and the 
 deposited quartz and calcspar are sometimes so mixed with fragments of 
 the side rocks that it is dilificult to form any accurate estimate of the 
 average thickness of the auriferous veins. 
 
 The quartz and calcspar contain much iron-pyrites, which also 
 abounds in the side rock near the quartz veins ; and although the gold 
 is generally mixed with the pyrites, yet far the larger proportion is in 
 separate and distinct pieces, and there is a tendency to form separate 
 groups ; but the manner in which the crystals of quartz, calcspar, and 
 pyrites cut into each other, and ere indented by the gold which is in 
 other parts moulded to the angles ot the crystals, shows that they were 
 all deposited at the same period, while the lime taking the form of 
 calcspar indicates that the deposition was at a low temperature. 
 
 Proceeding W. frori Gympie, the Devonian slates extend for about 
 3 miles, but on ascending the range which forms the watershed between 
 the Mary river and Glastonbury Creek, granite, with a cap of coarse 
 sandstone, forms the higher hills ; the slates form the lower ridges as 
 far as Widgee Creek, the S.W. heads of which rise in the granite table- 
 land on which the Black Snake gold -workings are situated. They and 
 o'.ner adjacent gold-workings are on thin veins of quartz, which traverse 
 the granite, and contain iron- and copper-pyrites with a little gold and 
 silver. 
 
 The quartz and pyrites being much decomposed near the surface, 
 when the reefs were first opened, there was a considerable quantity of 
 free gold easily extracted by crushing and washing ; but on sinking, the 
 rock was not only harder, but the pyrites interfered with the crushing, by 
 cutting the gold with its sharp angles, and at the same time it acted 
 
 i 
 
592 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 chemically on the mercuty in the battery, forming a crust over which 
 the smaller fr ;ments of gold passed, and the production of the precious 
 metal did not pay the expenses of working. Subsequently, attempts 
 were made to extract the gold, silver, and copper from the pyrites, by 
 collecting it below the crushing-machine and smelting in furnaces, which 
 were erected on the spot at great expense ; but the results do not appear 
 to have been satisfactory, as the works are no longer in operation. 
 
 About 4 miles to the N. of the Black Snake table-land is the Kilkivan 
 gold-field, situated on the E. side of a range of slate and serpentine 
 hills, which trend N. and S. The alluvial gold was found at the foot of 
 a remarkable mass of quartz rock, on the E. face of a hill of blue slate ; 
 the quartz consists of very fine grains, which, by their aggregation, form 
 a compact white stone ; there are, however, small cubic cavities with 
 stains of oxide of iron, indicating that they have been occupied by 
 pyrites, which has decomposed. Rolled fragments of this rock, with slate 
 and serpentine, but little quartz, formed the alluvion, and the principal 
 deposits of metal nearly follow the existing ravines now draining the 
 country. Gold was also found in the earth filling the fissures of the 
 quartz rock nearly to the summit of the hill, which is 700 ft. high ; but, 
 though several shafts and tunnels were cut into it, no gold was found in 
 the rock itself. 
 
 About I mile to the N. of Kilkivan hill, a quartz vein, called the 
 Rise and Shine, is being worked. The bearing is nearly N. and S. ; 
 dip, 80° to E. ; thickness, i ft. The quartz contains iron-pyrites, galena, 
 traces of copper, and gold. The rock is serpentine-slate ; and the 
 workings have reached a depth of 100 ft. The prospectors' claim, and 
 those next N. and S., show some good specimens of gold ; but as there 
 has not been any large quantity crushed, it is difficult to form any 
 estimate of the probable returns in the large way of working, as the gold 
 is in very small grains, and so mixed with the pyrites that it is not easily 
 distinguishable in the masses of quartz. 
 
 There are 3 small reefs parallel to the Rise and Shine on its E. side ; 
 the first consists of decomposed iron-pyrites ; the second, calcspar, quartz, 
 and pyrites ; and the third, quartz and pyrites ; but no gold was observed 
 in them. A south continuation of these reefs would cross the slate hill 
 which rises on the W. side of the quartz mass at Kilkivan ; and it seems 
 probable that the gold there resulted from the disintegration of a rich 
 portion of the vein which was washed down the hill on itt E. side. The 
 alluvial workings have been abandoned, and only one shaft was in use, 
 the wash-dirt appearing very poor. 
 
 Gold, but in very minute quantity, was found at the crossing of 
 Bongmillcrcr Creek, about 8 miles N.E. of Kilkivan ; but, in conscque ice 
 of the heavy rain and flood, the bed of the creek could not be explored. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : ()UEENSLAND. 
 
 593 
 
 The rocks in this locality arc slate and serpentine ; and it is possible 
 that some part of the channel might be worked in dry seasons to 
 advantage. Gold has been frequently found in the gravel of the creeks, 
 and pieces of several grains' weight have been discovered in a quartz 
 vein near the Normanby copper-mine. 
 
 Marengo. — This gold-field was dcsc'-ibed by Robert L. Jack, in a 
 report dated May 15, ii^/Q. It occurs between Sclina Creek and 
 Boundary Creek, tributaries of the Don river. It lies S. 32" W. from 
 Bowcn, the direct distance being 23 miles, and by the road up the Don 
 valley about 25 miles. 
 
 In this region, a low table-land spur of the Clarke range projecting 
 N. divides the head-waters of the Bogie from the parallel valley of the 
 Don. The lithology of this limited area may be described as essentially 
 a white granite,, in w'hich the mica is .sometimes supplemented and 
 replaced by hornblende, with frequent bosses of intrusive pale-pinkish 
 felspar-porphyry (the felspar highly acidic), and occasional small 
 patches of gneiss and mica-schist, and of still-recognizable .shales and 
 greywackes. Most of the spurs in which the reefs occur drain N. into 
 Marengo Creek, which joins Selina Creek near Marievale. 
 
 Marengo was opened up about 1871, but cannot be said to have 
 flourished at any time. The claims as a rule were taken up by working 
 miners, who founu it impossible to repay themselves for their outlay in 
 time and money without the intervention of a capitalist. The place, 
 therefore, died a natural death before the completion of the initial stages 
 of the work, when "backing" is indispensable. Whether with backing, 
 the field might have paid, is a question to be discussed after the reefs 
 have been individually described. 
 
 Seymour's reef is on a ridge on the left bank of a gully which falls 
 into Marengo Creek above Toomey's camp. It runs W. 1 1° N., and 
 underlies to N. 1 1° E. The country is hornblendic gneiss, mica-.schist, 
 and slate, with a N. and S. strike. The reef was opened in 1877, and 
 gave 3 oz. of gold from a patch in a short drive into the hill, by ham- 
 mering the quartz on a stone ; from another drive, 20 ft. lower, 8 oz. was 
 got by crushing in a machine ; and from a shaft sunk 36 ft. on the 
 underlie, 2 tons of stone w-hen crushed yielded i oz. ii^ dwt. of gold to 
 the ton. 
 
 The reef occurs in bulges from a few inches to i ft. wide. It is a 
 cavernous quartz, with long thin cry.stals (hexagonal prisms). Crystals 
 of copper-pyrites arc '"requently imbedded in the quartz crystals, and 
 the spaces between •.' . quartz crystals are filled up with decomposed 
 pyrites (brownstone) and yellow ochre. Joint surfaces arc frequently 
 coated with carbonate of copper. The reef adheres to the lower wall of 
 a 2-ft. dyke of syenite. In Seymour's upper drift, a vein of hard white 
 
 2 o 
 
594 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 granite, 4 to 8 in. wide, follows the line of strike of the slates (N. and S.), 
 and pierces the syenite dyke, but stops short on the upper side of the 
 reef 
 
 About 200 yd. down the gully, Toomey and a few others have 
 recently been sluicing. They got some coarse gold (largest nugget about 
 5 dwt.) pretty equally distributed throughout 2 ft. of red sandy and 
 cla}'ey half-consolidated gravel, above a rocky bar. The surface of the 
 rock (the bottom) is channelled into potholes, 6 ft. deep and upwards, 
 often full of large stones. The gold is very little rounded. It has a 
 ragged scraggy appearance indicative of a large proportion of silver, 
 and has cavities coloured brown from the decomposition of the formerly 
 adherent iron-pyrites. 
 
 Some 200 yd. up the gully on the left bank, the outcrop of the 
 Venture reef is visible. It is here white cavernous quartz with small 
 hexagonal crystals. It runs W. 31° N., and underlies at a high angle to 
 N.E. Toomey got 6 dwt. of gold in the gully about 100 yd. below 
 this. He also sunk a few feet on the reef near the gully, and got a little 
 gold. The reef is only 8 in. wide at that place, with, however, a 
 promising stone ; it is traceable across :; ridge and gully to the W. On 
 the left bank of this gully, 2 shafts were sunk on the reef to the depth 
 of 65 ft. Toomey made two crushings of the surface stone with his own 
 small battery, the first giving 15 dwt., and the second (7 or 8 tons), 
 8-J- dwt. of gold to the *-on. The next lot (40 tons) was of mixed brown- 
 stone and mundic, from the lower levels, and was crushed at machine 
 for 3 J dwt. to the ton ; 18 tons from a higher level gave 12^ dwt. to 
 the ton. 
 
 In the brownstone of the foot-wall, a red leader with kernels of blue 
 carbonate of copper carried the gold conspicuously well. Some speci- 
 mens are visible of quartz mixed with brown decomposed pyrites and 
 green carbonate of copper. This also carried some gold. At the 65-ft. 
 level, the brownstone was replaced by undecomposed iron-pyrites, with 
 some copper-pyrites. A little water was coming in from the foot-wall. 
 The walls are said to have been well defined at the lower level, the 
 average width of the reef being about 3 ft., with mundic mixed through- 
 out. A "horse" of the country came into the reef at the mundic level, 
 but seemed to be dying out in a drive to the W. A parcel of mundic 
 (very pale iron-pyrites in minute cubes), picked clean from quartz, and 
 assayed, was reported to contain i oz. 6 dwt. 3 gr. of gold and 6 oz. 
 12 dwt. of silver to the ton. 
 
 About 1 50 yd. S. of the Venture, another reef crosses the ridge on 
 which Seymour's mine is situated. The reef runs W. 1 1° N. and dips to 
 N. 11° E. at a very high angle. Sometimes the reef is only represented 
 by a I -in. vein of reddish quart'.. Where the reef bulges out, sometimes 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 595 
 
 to 2 ft. in width, the reddish vein keeps the foot-wall. At the opening 
 of Marengo, Toomey and others " dollied " a little of the red vein, and 
 obtained about 6 dwt. of gold to the ton. 
 
 On the left bank of the gully to the W. of the Venture, is another 
 reef running W. 4° S., and dipping slightly N. A shaft 10 or 12 ft. deep 
 was sunk on the reef at the opening of the field, and fair prospects were 
 obtained by hand-crushing. The quartz has a good deal of brown- 
 stone. 
 
 Some 20 yd. S. of this is another shaft sunk for 50 ft. on the underlie 
 of a reef running W. 6° N., and hading N. 6" E. The reef is 8 or 9 in. 
 wide, with a red leader on the hanging-wall. Some of the stone is 
 coated with yellow ochre, and contains brownstone and a little copper- 
 pyrites. 
 
 About \ mile W. of the last-named workings, on the crown of a low 
 ridge, is the Caledonian reef. It runs W. 1° N. and dips to N. 1° E. at 
 55°. The reef was worked about 1871. It is a mass of parallel quartz 
 veins about 3 in. thick, with mullock (ganguc) between. The quartz 
 shows a moderate amount of green carbonate of copper, besides brown- 
 stone. The whole of the stone taken out was crushed, and gave 16 dwt. 
 to the ton. One shaft was sunk 20 ft. vertical and 40 ft. on the underlie. 
 
 At a point on the W. side of the Marengo and Pretty Bend road, 
 bearing W. 40" S. from the West Brother, and W. 38^ S. from the Mid 
 Brother, is a group of reefs. A \s& large reef of white quartz, with joints 
 stained with peroxide of iron. B is about 10 to 20 in. wide, underlies 
 at 60° to N., and has cavities well filled with brownstone. C is a vein of 
 I or 2 in. traversing granite, or, more strictly speaking, a joint in the 
 granite faced with small dog-tooth quartz crystals. Toomey got colours 
 in B, but none in A. McDivott got specimens (quartz showing free 
 gold) in C; one stone weighing 15 lb., containing 14 oz. of gold. He 
 washed 200 oz. of gold from 2 ft. of surface on the top of the hill about 
 4 years ago. Toomey afterwards got 100 oz. from the same place, and 
 4 oz. down the slope from reef C. Very little gold was got in the gully 
 below C; but a good deal in tl:e creek into which the gully empties 
 itself Down the hill along the line of the reefs B and Cto their junction, 
 the gold obtained from the surface was loose " rccf-gold," very open and 
 porous, and quite unworn. Below the junction of the reefs, "specimens " 
 only were obtained — pinkish-white rubble from the larger reef, specked 
 with visible gold. From the position of the auriferous surface on the 
 top of the hill, as well as from the unworn character of the gold, it is 
 evident that the surface here was not v.ashed from any distance, but 
 resulted from the decomposition, on the spot, of the granite and the reef 
 
 Manchester reef lies on the top of a ridge at a point W. 34° S. from 
 the West Brother, and W. 12" S. from the Mid Brother. It runs E. 6° S. 
 
 _' (^ 2 
 
 i 
 
 ■1. 
 1*1 
 
 .'if 
 
596 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 and dips to N. 6 E. at 50 . It was worked about 8 years ago in an 
 opencast 50 or 60 ft. in length, and a vertical shaft reaching the reef at 
 40 ft. in depth. In the opencast, the reef was 5 ft. wide in places and 
 very white. At a greater depth, it averaged 18 in. The cap stone only 
 crushed 12 dwt. to the ton, the next 16 dwt, and the lowest 18 dwt. A 
 heap of about 2 tons of picked brownstone lying at the surface looks 
 very good. The country is tourmaline-porphyry, with a band of chlorite- 
 slate underlying the reef The quartz near the foot-wall and the foot- 
 wall itself arc a good deal stained with carbonate of copper, of which the 
 slate also contains some specks. The reef is traceable for nearly J mile 
 down the ridges to the W. At the end of the J mile, a small opening 
 was inade in the reef (simultaneously with the Manchester workings), 
 but no crushings were taken out. The quartz is a good deal stained 
 with carbonate of copper. Some specimens of selenite stained green 
 with carbonate of copper are also obtainable. This spot was marked 
 out for a copper selection, as was the whole distance from here to the 
 One-mile Mountain (about 2 miles). The proportion of the copper is, 
 however, much too poor to pay for extraction. 
 
 James Frankie reef occurs on the top of a ridge at a point bearing 
 W. 15° N. from the Mid Brother, W. 1° N. from the West Brother, and 
 E. 41° S. from the One-mile Mountain. Its course is W. 41° N. It is 
 vertical or nearly so. The country is grey granite, impregnated with 
 carbonate of copper near the walls. The reef is quartz, varying from 
 nothing up to 9 in. wide. It occupies the centre of a course of greywacke 
 about 2 ft. wide. The quartz is intersected by horizontal joints, and has 
 vertical cavities parallel to the sides of the reef, lined with small crystals, 
 the interstices b Mng filled up with decomposed pyrites. Dipple worked 
 the upper part of the reef (opencast) ; he crushrd 14 tons, at the rate of 
 12 dwt. to the ton. Toomey and others worked a lower level (15 ft), 
 from which they took 5 tons, which gave them 7^ dwt. to the ton. 
 
 Toomey's reef is on the top of the same ridge as the James Frankie. 
 The place bears W. T S. from the West Brother, and E. 44° S. from the 
 One-mile Mountain. Its course is E. 8" S., and its underlie 65° to N. 8° E. 
 The reef was opened up in 1878 by Toomey, who sunk a shafL 50 ft. 
 down the underlie. It varies from I to 18 in., and has a good deal of 
 brownstone, derived from large crystals of pyrites, whose form is still 
 recognizable. Quartz crystals, coated with crystals of specular iron, are 
 common. The country is grey granite, specked near the reef with fine 
 pyrites. The walls are stained with carbonate of copper. To the W. of 
 the shaft, the reef splits up into two ; 10 tons gave i oz. 2 dwt, and 
 2 tons, I oz. I dwt. to the ton. 
 
 Albion reef lies due W. of the Mid Brother and S. 20" W. of the 
 One-mile Mountain (which is about ^ mile distant across the valley). 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND, 
 
 597 
 
 The reef is vertical, and occurs on the crown of a ridge. Its course is 
 W. 19° N. The reef, where it has been left, is about 10 in. wide, and 
 consists of a white quartz with ferruginous cavities. From a .shaft about 
 50 ft. deep, some quartz-stained or joint-planes, with carbonate of 
 copper, has been brought up. It is not richer in copper than several 
 other reefs on the field, but it was taken up for copper at the opening of 
 M trengo, and all the country between this and the Manchester was 
 pegged off for copper selections. Only 2 cwt. of copper-ore were sent 
 down, and are said to have yielded 1 1 per cent, of copper, besides gold 
 at the rate of ^ oz. to the ton. Toomey crushed i ton from the bottom 
 level, which yielded 16 dwt. of gold. The country is grey granite. 
 
 One-mile Mountain consists of coarse white granite ; several reefs 
 '" visible all round it, some with very good-looking brownstone. One 
 on the tongue connecting the mountain with the table-land behind, 
 lu. i-I. 6° E., and hades to E. 6° N. A little opencast work has been 
 done on it, and about 6 tons of stone are lying at grass. About i mile 
 W. of the One-mile Mountain is a huge blow of white quartz. The reef 
 must be at least 20 ft. in thickness. It runs W. 21^ N., and hades N.E. 
 at an angle less than 45°. A few holes have been sunk on it, and some 
 brownish stone has been taken out. , Some specks of decomposed pyrites 
 are seen. 
 
 A few holes have been made on a reef N. of Bodc's old killing-yard. 
 The reef runs N. & E. Some fair brownstone lies at the surface. 
 
 The alluvial gold found in the Marengo gullies has a very scraggy 
 or ragged appearance, betokening a large amount of silver alloy ; is 
 pitted with red cavities, due to the decomposition of the pyrites with 
 which it was originally associated in the reefs ; and is very little rolled. 
 Gold of this character is usually found only in the neighbourhood of the 
 reefs, the finer particles, which form the bulk of the gold in the reefs, 
 having been, as at Normanby, disseminated too widely to be ever 
 collected in payable quantities. Alluvial gold found on the top of the 
 table-land is said to be more water-worn, and in good " shotty " nuggets. 
 Payable patches of gold are few and far between, both on the table-land 
 and the underlying spurs. 
 
 Whether they will pay is the great practical question regarding the 
 gold-fields just described. Any part of the Coast Range in which a 
 group of reefs occurs is a gold-field in the same sense that Marengo is. 
 A limited amount of gold is present in the reefs, associated with pyrites 
 and (above the water-level) with decomposed pyrites. The proportion 
 is too low to cover the expenses of working, while wages, rations, and 
 appliances remain at or near their present rates. The situation of 
 Marengo is about as favourable as could well be hoped for, with a good 
 road to a port within 25 miles, and machinery on the spot. When the 
 
598 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 conditions approach more nearly to those which obtain on some of the 
 Victorian gold-fields — a large population steadily employed in alternate 
 reefing and lead-work, economical living, and machinery in constant 
 employment — Marengo, and a dozen similar localities, will undoubtedly 
 pay. The Marengo reefs are so closely grouped that a single set of first- 
 class machinery would be sufficient for the wants of the whole district. 
 One or two of the reefs are almost good enough to pay even now, but 
 could not bear alone the whole of the expenses necessary to put the field 
 in going order. A gold-field in its infancy offers an exception to the 
 usual laws of trade. The mines must bear in common the expenses of 
 the machinery, &c., without which they are themselves worthless. 
 Instead, therefore, of there being a struggle for existence, each individual 
 miner is directly interested in the prosperity of his neighbour. 
 
 Nonnanby. — Robert L. Jack's report (May 15, 1879) on the Normanby 
 gold-field may be summarized as follows : — 
 
 The Normanby gold-field lies 41 miles due S. of Bowen. It is 
 reached by a road which follows the valley of the Don to its source, a 
 distance of 48 miles, and then crosses the heads of the Dart [Emu], a 
 tributary of the Broken river, for about 3 miles farther. 
 
 The Clarke Table-land consists almost entirely of metamorphic rocks. 
 That these have undergone metamorphism, followed by extensive denu- 
 dation, prior to Carboniferous times, is proved by the relations they bear 
 to the coal measures of Pelican Creek and the Bowen river. There is 
 much probability in favour of a pre-Devonian metamorphism. Here and 
 there, as in Jack's and Flagstone creeks, shales, slates, quartzites, grey- 
 wackes, Lydian-stone, and mica- and hornblende-schists are met with, 
 having a still recognizable stratification, and there is little doubt that the 
 whole range was originally composed of stratified rocks of similar 
 character. In the immediate neighbourhood of Normanby, howev'er, the 
 occurrence of stratified rocks is notably rare. The N. edge of the table- 
 land, including Mount Roundback, the Round Hill, and the Mamelon, 
 consists of a well-marked white granite, occasionally passing into a 
 syenite, the mica being either wholly or partially replaced by hornblende. 
 Similar granite breaks out in isolated "tors " and cliffs on the N.E. side 
 of the Normanby range. The Grant range is also for the most part 
 granite. The Normanby range, on the other hand, consists almost 
 entirely of tourmaline-porphyry, a ternary compound of quartz (for the 
 most part amorphous), black mica (sparsely), and large or small crystals 
 of black tourmaline (schorl). The whole rock is mixed up with minute 
 crystals and streaks of iron-pyrites, and streaks and veins of serpentine. 
 Occasional specimens may be found showing a passage from greywacke 
 to the rock just described. 
 
 The Normanby gold-field was discovered, about 1872, by Sam Verge 
 

 AUSTRALASIA : OU;.ENSLAND. 
 
 599 
 
 (better known as Long Jim), a stockman at Havilah, when camping out 
 in search of wild cattle. He got "colours" in Green Creek, about 3 miles 
 above its junction with the Dart, rollowing up these indications, he first 
 lighted on Hibernia reef, from which he got some gold in white quartz at 
 the surface, and took up a prospecting claim. The Marciuis, Welcome, 
 Star of Hope, Albion, Grace Darling, and other reefs were taken up 
 almost immediately after, and for about 18 months the place bore the 
 aspect of a flourishing reefing district. 
 
 The principal reefs lie along a line running S. 44'.^ K. across the 
 heads of the gullies draining the S.W. side of che Normanby range. A 
 less important parallel line of reef intersects Hungry Gully and Green 
 Creek near their junction, striking towards Oakcy Creek on the N.W. 
 The reefs on both lines invariably underlie to the N.E. 
 
 Hibernia reef occurs on the ridge between the gully of the same 
 name and New Zealand Gully. Its course is N. 17° W.; underlie, E. 
 17° N. at an angle of 75°. The prospectors worked the claim for about 
 a year. As already mentioned, free gold was found in the quartz at the 
 surface ; | ton of stone was sent down to Sydney a few months after the 
 opening of the reef, and gave a return at the rate of 4 oz. to the ton. An 
 underlie shaft was sunk on the top of the ridge, and was met by a drive 
 a few feet above the level of Hibernia Gully. The drive has now fallen 
 in. John Smith, who visited it after the prospectors abandoned the 
 mine, found the reef to be about 6 in. wide, and obtained a few colours 
 from it. The prospectors had only one crushing, which j-iclded gold at 
 the rate of i oz. 5 dwt. to the ton. The 6-in. vein which carried the gold 
 is a crystalline quartz with interlacing dog-tooth crystals, the interstices 
 being filled up with brownstone (decomposed pyrites) and occasional 
 specks of copper-pyrites, less decomposed. A vertical shaft was sunk a 
 few feet to the dip, but was abandoned at a depth of 10 or 12 ft. without 
 having cut the reef. 
 
 About 130 yd. S.E. of the underlie shaft of the Hibernia, 3 shallow 
 shafts have been sunk on the left bank of one of the heads of New 
 Zealand Gully. The uppermost (S.E.most) shaft has struck no reef; the 
 country is fine-grained tourmaline-porjihyry. The second has followed a 
 trifling leader for a few feet. The third cuts, at a vertical depth of 15 ft., 
 a 2-in. leader of white quartz, containing a little pyrites. The leader has 
 a N.W. course, and dips N.E. at 65''. The country is grcywackc. The 
 same leader is seen in a trench in the gully, where it has widened to 
 15 in. — a very white, vitreous, poor-looking quartz. Sonic 70 jxl. S. of 
 the last-mentioned leader, a small opening has been made on a leader of 
 white quartz, i to 5 m. wide. Its course is E. 6" S., with an underlie at 
 85° to S. 6'^ W. An underlie in this direction is rare in the neighbour- 
 hood of Normanby. 
 
6oo 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Marquis reef crosses the crown of the ridge S. of the head of New 
 Zealand Gully. It has .» N.W. and S.K. course, and underlies to N.E. 
 at about 40^. The reef was taken up by the prospectors within a few 
 months of the opening of the Ilibernia. They began work at a shaft 
 near the W. corner of their claim, which they sunk on the underlie for a 
 distance of about 90 ft. They had two crushings of brown honeycombed 
 quartz, which gave 2 oz. and a few dwt. to the ton at machine. They 
 left the white quartz untouched. In another shaft to N.W., the pro- 
 spectors struck the reef at a depth of 16 ft, and followed it on the 
 underlie to the level of the workings in the first shaft. They also sank 
 about 12 ft. on the underlie down the hill to S.E. After being worked 
 for about 18 months, the claim was abandoned by the prospectors. 
 Having lain idle for some time, it was taken up by Duffey and others. 
 This party sank a vertical shaft 71 ft. deep, on the dip side of the pro- 
 spectors' first shaft, and struck the reef at the depth of 60 ft. They took 
 out 9 tons of brownstone, which were crushed at machine and gave 
 2^ oz. to the ton. In spite of this encouraging crushing, the claim was 
 again abandoned in September 1874, owing to the removal of the 
 machine from the field, and the opening of Happy Valley diggings. 
 When the claim was for the second time abandoned, the water-level had 
 been reached in the bottom of the vertical shaft, and the brownstone had 
 begun to give place to undecomposed pyrites. 
 
 In the hope of getting brownstone similar to that obtained by 
 Duffey's party, an extended claim was taken up by the Venture Co., 
 about May 1 877. They sank a shaft on the slope of the ridge, 58 ft. 
 S.E. of Duffey's shaft, and struck the reef at a vertical depth of 45 ft. 
 They then drove 15 ft. up the underlie, and broke into the old workings 
 of the prospectors. They next drove from the bottom of their shaft to 
 the bottom of Duffey's. The reef was found to vary from 6 in. to 2 ft. in 
 width, with not very distinct walls, except at the bottom of the company's 
 shaft, where the foot-wall was hard and smooth ; brownstone was obtained 
 in patches, although the quartz was mostly white. The company having 
 brought their 4-stamp machine from the Grant valley, and erected it at 
 the junction of New Zealand Gully and Marquis Creek, crushed 40 tons 
 of brownstone, which gave 14 dwt. of gold to the ton. At the bottom of 
 the company's vertical shaft, the water became too heavy for hand-baling, 
 and the mundic was coming in. In the heap left at the surface is a good 
 deal of copper-pyrites and some stains of carbonate of copper. The 
 company also sank a shaft on the underlie side of the prospectors' 
 S.E.most shaft. This shaft cut the reef at the depth of 20 ft., and followed 
 the underlie for 6 ft. The reef was here 12 in. wide — a poor, dull, white 
 stone, from which even " colours " were not obtainable. Three shafts 
 have been sunk about 100 ft. to the N.W. of Duffey's vertical shaft, to 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 60 1 
 
 catch the Marquis reef, but without success. The N.E.most shaft has, 
 however, cut a leader of quartz about 3 in. wide — poor, dull, while 
 stone. 
 
 New Zealand rer*" occurs to the S.K. of the Marquis, on a ridj^e 
 between two of the heads of Marquis Creek. Its course is about 6" S. 
 of E. It underlies to N., but at a very low anj^le, its outcrop following 
 the contour of the ridj^c. It has a large " blow " at the surface, and was 
 worked extensively in an opencasf Much of the outcrop is, therefore, 
 still visible. Up the hill (to \V.) is a It^ng opencast working, from which 
 the reef has been almost all taken out. Judging, however, by the 
 remaining parts of the walls, it secni^ to have been 3 or 4 ft. in width. 
 Numerous leaders enter the reef from the S. (foot-) wall — a circum- 
 stance which renders the existence of an underlying reef more than 
 probable. A crushing of 90 tons from this working gave 2 oz. of gold 
 to the ton. The country is decomposed greywacke. In the W.most 
 shaft in the prospecting claim (on the top of the ridge) the reef was cut 
 at a vertical depth of 10 ft, and followed on the underlie for about 60 ft. 
 At this depth, the reef got narrower, and became a white "buck" with 
 but little brownstone. A crushing from this shaft only yielded i oz. 
 to the ton. A drive was made from the bottom of the vertical shaft for 
 10 ft. to the W., and for a much longer distance to the E., and from this 
 level a great part of the first crushing was taken. The reef at the W. 
 end of the drive is about i ft. wide. 
 
 In a shaft, 70 ft. deep, sunk on the underlie side of the E. end of the 
 opencast working, the reef was not reached ; at least only a 6-in. reef or 
 leader was found. But, as the reef was found to thin away so much 
 in the bottom of the deep underlie shaft, it is quite possible that the 
 leader in the 70-ft. shaft really was the reef. The quartz at the 
 mouth of the shaft is dull-white, with large crystals in cavities, their 
 surfaces coloured bright-yellow. Very small " nests " of brownstone 
 occur in the quartz, as well as a little carbonate of copper. Among 
 the large quartz crystals, cubes of brownstone occur, still retaining 
 perfectly the crystalline form of the original pyrites. The decomposed 
 pyrites crystals are clustered on the faces of the quartz crystals, but 
 never indent them, and appear therefore to have been formed after 
 the consolidation of the quartz. The workings of the prospectors 
 commenced a short time after the Marquis was taken up. When the 
 Venture Co. abandoned the Marquis, they sank a vertical shaft, 12 ft. 
 deep, in the gully, on the outcrop of the New Zealand (E. of the 
 opencast workings), but found the reef pinching out. 
 
 The prospectors found a leader in the same line on the opposite side 
 of the gully from their workings ; but, as the rise of the surface on that 
 side should carry the outcrop of the reef a good way to the S., Jack 
 
 V 
 
602 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 doubts if they were correct in supposirifj this leader to represent the 
 New Zealand. The Venture Co. trenched about 30 ft. up the slope on 
 this side of the gully, and discovered a reef of very white stone (no 
 colours) about i ft. in thickness. Jack is inclined to think that this was 
 the real New Zealand reef It occurs, at any rate, where the reef mi[4ht 
 be expected to be met with, and the stone is very similar in character. 
 The country of the New Zealand is greywacke and tourmaline-porphyry, 
 specked with pyrites. One small specimen was picked up of half- 
 metamorphosed greywacke, traversed by a vein of chalybite (carbonate 
 of iron). The broken-up country (mullock or gangue), between the 
 walls of the reef, is frequently impregnated with carbonate of copper. A 
 shaft was sunk W. of the prospecting claim to a depth of 30 ft, in a line 
 with the opencast workings. But, as the curve caused by the fall of the 
 ground was not taken into account, the attempt to reach the reef was 
 fruitless. In a shaft N. of the one last mentioned, a small quartz leader 
 was found at the depth of 20 ft. The leader underlies to E.S.E., and is 
 probably the representative of the New Zealand, although no gold was 
 obtained from it. The country is tourmaline-porphyry, with a little 
 greywacke. A shaft, 20 ft. deep, between the last-mentioned shaft and 
 the Marquis (in greywacke country, with a little tourmaline-porphyry), 
 has struck a 3-in. vein of very poor-looking, vitreous, bluish-white 
 quartz. 
 
 Dillon's reef lies S.E. of the New Zealand, on the next branch of the 
 Marquis Creek. Its course is S. 36° E. ; underlie, E. 36° N. The reef 
 is 2 ft. wide and upw^ards. It is a very white quartz, but is highly 
 crystalline in the central parts, the cavities being filled with brownstone. 
 On the right bank of the gully, the reef is very flat, except in the deepest 
 shaft (30 ft.), where it pitches more steeply. On the left bank, the 
 underlie is much greater, about 75^ Three crushings were taken from 
 this reef, the first realizing i oz. 5 dwt., and the second and third, i/dwt, 
 of gold to the ton. 
 
 Star of Hope reef was taken up about the same time as the Marquis, 
 and worked by the prospectors till the removal of the machine (about 
 18 months). It bears S. 35' E., and underlies to E. 35° N. The workings 
 in the prospecting claim consist of two shafts on the crown of the ridge 
 (the N.W.most in the' claim), an opencast 20 ft. in length along the cap 
 of the reef on the slope of the hill, a shaft 40 ft. vertical on the underlie 
 side with a drive back to cut the reef, and a drive into the hill at the 
 level of the gully (one of the heads of Garibaldi's Creek). Besides the 
 above, two small shafts were sunk to the underlie, but failed to reach the 
 reef. A little free gold was obtained from white quartz on the cap of 
 the reef. The quartz is generally white, with occasional large crystals, 
 now and then showing patches of decomposed [jyritcs. Joints and 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 603 
 
 id 
 
 cavities are sometimes coated with green carbonate of copper. The 
 country is fine-grained tourmaline-porphyry, but some fine-grained horn- 
 blcndic grcywacke, veined with serpentine, has been brought up from 
 the 40-ft, shaft on the underh'e side of the reef. The country in the 
 neighbourhood of the reef is specked with pyrites. The prospectors had 
 two crushings, which yielded about i^ oz. of gold to the ton. 
 
 On No. I Claim N., on the N.W. side of the hill from the prospecting 
 claim, very little has been done, and it is believed never to hcivc had a 
 crushing. The workings consist of three shallow shafts and an opencast. 
 A small heap of fair crystalline quartz lies at the surface. 
 
 No. I Claim S. (S.E. of prospecting claim) was worked opencast 
 over the whole length. The underlie was about 45° at the surface, but, 
 at the depth of 20 ft., the reef pitched at a much higher angle. The 
 brownstone gave out where the steep underlie commenced, and the reef 
 became very white and barren. Water and mundic came in shortly 
 after the steep underlie. The reef appears to have been here about 2 ft. 
 wide, judging from some of the blocks at the surface. Some of the 
 quartz in the heap lying at the surface contains a little pyrites, with 
 which the country (fine-grained hornblendic grcywacke and tourmaline- 
 porphyry) is also specked. The pyrites in the reef is very similar in 
 character to that of the Welcome, to be afterwards described. A shaft 
 at a distance of 1 5 ft. from the outcrop reached the reef at a depth of 
 20 ft. Another shaft, farther to the dip, did not reach the reef, being 
 abandoned (at 15 ft.) owing to the results of the second crvshing (from 
 a deeper part of the reef). A third shallow shaft, still farther to the dip, 
 did not, of course, reach the reef, which must there be at a considerable 
 depth. The first crushing (70 tons) of brownstone from the surface of 
 the reef gave 3 oz. 7 dwt. of gold to the ton. The second and last, from 
 the deeper workings, gave only a little over i oz. to the ton. The claim 
 wa abandoned after this crushing. It is believed that the owners took 
 out the greater part of the payable brownstone within the h'mits of their 
 claim. 
 
 No. 2 Claim S. lies S.E. of No. i S. The continuation of the reef 
 was never found, although 5 shafts were sunk for the purpose — one to a 
 depth of 50 ft. The explanation is, that in 4 of the shafts th j reef lay at 
 a greater depth than that to which the sinking was carried, while the 
 fifth was sunk below the outcrop. The country is similar to that of 
 No. I S- and is copiously specked with pyrites. 
 
 For the next 500 yd. along the line to the S.E., the reef was never 
 found, although the two ridges (site of the Sharkeytown camp) were 
 diligently searched by trenching in all directions. 
 
 Welcome reef runs E. 44° S. and underlies to N. 44° E. at about 70°. 
 The prospecting claim was taken up by Hugh Clerkin and others about 
 
•/ '• < 
 
 6o4 
 
 GEOGRAl'IilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 6 months after the Marquis, and was abandoned prior to December 1874. 
 The N.W.most shaft .s 15 to 18 ft. in vertical depth, and follows the 
 underlie for 70 ft. farther. The reef was also taken out between the 
 bottom of the vertical shaft and the surface. At 45 ft. down the underlie 
 from :;he bottom of the vertical shaft, water (not vciy hca\y) and mundic 
 were met with. A drive to the S.E. connected the workings of this shaft, 
 at the 50-ft. level, with two other shafts. The country is a dark, fine- 
 grained tourmaline-porphyry, poor in quartz, with pale i'-on-pyrites 
 scattered throughout. The prospectors sank a second shaft 50 ft. N.W. 
 of the first. It cut the reef at the depth of 40 ft, and followed it up to 
 daylight and down the underlie. The shaft was also connected by the 
 r.bove-mentioned dri':c with the shafts to right and left. The mundic 
 level was reached in the underlie workings. The country in the shaft is 
 a fine-grained, cream-gioy, syenitic granite, with cream-coloured felspar, 
 quartz, hornblende, and niinute scales of thin white mica. The pro- 
 sp-^ctors' N.W.most shaft is 41 ft. N.W. of No. 2, in fine-grained, some- 
 what crystalline, hornblendic greywacke. It cut the reef at a vertical 
 depth of 50 ft., followed it down the underlie, and ^vas corniccted by 
 the drive with the other two .shafts. There is said to liave been a 2-ft. 
 mundic reef in the underlie. Two crushings of brownstonc realized about 
 2 oz. of gold to the ton ; J ton of the white mundic stone, stamped and 
 roasted, ga.-e 2 oz. of gold (4 oz. to the ton). Some of the stone was 
 sent to Ravenswood, where it gave a result variously stated at 5 to 7 oz. 
 to the ton. 
 
 The Venture Co. took up (in December 1877) an extended claim 
 (3600 ft. along reef by 400 ft.). They sank a shaft, 45 ft. to the dip of 
 the N.W.most shaft of the pro. pectors, to a vertical depth of 30 ft., at 
 which depth they stopped short of the reef The country is similar to 
 that in the S.E. shaft of the prospecting claim. They raised ii ton of 
 mundic from the bottom of the prospectors' N.W. shaft, where they found 
 a mundic reef v^arying from 9 to 20 in. Having been beater, off by a 
 suffocating and poisonous air, in which a candle would not bu n, evidently 
 carbonic acid gas accumulated owing *o want of ventilation, they made 
 up 2 tons by taking ^ ton from the old heap left by the prospectors ; this, 
 crushed by machine at New Zealand Gully, yielded 22 dwt. of gold to 
 the ton. The tailings, on being roasted and amalgamated, gave gold at 
 the rate of 5 oz. to the ton. The gold from the tailings was sent to the 
 Sydney Mint, and pronounced only worth ^ys. per oz. On receipt of this 
 return, the sinking of the straight shaft was stopped, and the claim aban- 
 doned The company, exhausted by unprofitable work at the Venture 
 reef, "dead " work at the Marquis, and prospecting at the New Zealand, 
 gave up the struggle, and thus entlcd the last reefing done at Normanby. 
 
 The mundic heap now lying at the surface (about 5 tons) is, of course, 
 
AUSTRAL/vfIA : QUEENSLAND 
 
 605 
 
 .do 
 lis, 
 to 
 at 
 
 sc, 
 
 all oi' the prospectors' raising, and has probably been picked again and 
 again for the best specimens. The inundic is mostly in minute crystals, 
 and occurs in white uncrystallized quartz. It is a mixture of very pale 
 iron-pyrites and yellower copper-pyrites. Occasionally a little green 
 carbonate of copper is mixed up with the copper-pyrites. A specimen of 
 the mundic assayed by Thos. Buckland, Charters Towers, gave a gold 
 return of 8 oz. 9 uwt. 20 gr. to the ton, and a silver retuni of i oz. 12 dwt. 
 6 gr. to the ton. The specimen was pure pyrites, picked free from 
 quartz. 
 
 No. I Claim N. (to the N.W. of the prospecting claim) was taken up 
 while the prospectors were still working. Two shafts were sunk to the 
 depth of 20 ft., but without coming on the reef Taking the fall of die 
 ground into account, it is proh able that both shafts were sunk below the 
 outcrop of the reef Thi, r )untry is dark-grey tourmaline-schist and 
 fine-grained hornblendic greywacke (frequent junctions seen). The rock 
 is specked throughout with pyrites, and is fresher than usual on the 
 field. 
 
 On No. I Claim S. (S.E. of prospecting claim), 2 shafts were sunk, 
 neither of which seems to have reached the reef A little quartz at the 
 surface has probably come from small leaders. One specimen shows 
 pyrites far gone in decomposition towards brownstone. The country is 
 similar to that in the S.E. .shaft of the pro.specting claim. 
 
 In No. 2 Claim S., the N.W. shaft caught a reef or leader, and fol- 
 lowed it down the underlie ; this was probably a leader parallel to, and 
 above, th'; Welcome reef What little is left cf it is of white barren- 
 looking quartz, with only a few specks of bro\ nstone, and seems mostly 
 to have come from a vein not more than 2 in. wide, as evidenced by the 
 slickensided faces on each fragment. The country is similar to that o*" 
 the S.E. Miaft of the prospecting claim ; but there is also mixed up wth 
 it some amygdaloidal porphyry, probably from a dyke. The mid shaft 
 is of no d^pth, and has not caught the reef The country is the same as 
 in the N.W. shaft. The S.E. shaft appears to have been sunk on a cross 
 leader bearing N.E. and S.W. A little quartz has been got from a 2-in. 
 leader with crystalline cavities in the middle. Sometimes a little brown- 
 stone occurs in the casing. The country is mixed tourmaline-porphyry 
 and serpentine. No stone was crushed from No. 2 claim. All attempts 
 lo find the Welcome reef to the S.E. have proved fruitless. 
 
 On the ridge 7>.W. of the Hibernia is a vertical shaft, about .■'5 ft. deep. 
 It then follows for some distance the underlie of a quartz vein about 5 in, 
 in width, well slickensided on both sides. The stone has a particularly 
 " hungry " appearance — dull-white and uncrystallized, with scarcely a 
 trace of brownstone. The underlie is N.E. ; country, greywacke. On the 
 left bank of the next gully (a branch of Mibernia Gully), 2 shafts have 
 
6o6 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 been sunk, one vertical, the other from the surface clown the underlie 
 (45^) of a 9-in. reef of white cjuartz, with interlacing crystals in the 
 middle. There is but little brownstonc. The amount of work done has 
 evidently been trifling. Country, greywacke. On the S.E. slope of the 
 next ridge are 2 litde shafts. In the lower, at the depth of about 12 ft, 
 a ver}'- white quartz vein, poor in brownstone, has been cut The shaft 
 appears to have been abandoned at once, owing to the unpromising 
 character of the stone. Some specimens of the stone are veined with 
 chalybite. In the upper shaft, at the depth of about 20 ft., a 4-in. leader 
 is cut, and followed for a few feet. The quartz is white, and looks pecu- 
 liarly unpromising. The country is fine-grained tourmaline-porphyry. 
 
 On the N.W. side of the same ridge is a group of trial workings, 
 consisting of 2 openings on a leader of 8 in., heading to the N.E. at 
 45'', and a vjrtical shaft about 15 ft. deep. The latter shaft has probably 
 cut the sane leader. The stone brought up (very little) is white and 
 barren-looking. Farther down the slope of the same ridge are 2 shafts. 
 One appears to have caught (at 12 ft) a joint in the rock, possibly 
 representing the Glengarry reef, for which it was doubtless sunk. The 
 prospectors seem to have been disappointed in this, as no quartz has been 
 raised. The country is shivery, much-jointed greywacke. The other 
 shaft (to N.E.) is only 8 ft deep, and has caught no reef The country is 
 dark-grey, coarse-grained tourmaline-porphyry, the tourmaline crystals 
 being occasionally grouped tcigcthcr in black shining masses. 
 
 Glengarry reef occurs on the side of the hill, below the two last- 
 mentioned reefs. It bears W. 1 5° N., and underlies to N. 1 5° E. at about 
 50°, being e\idcntly a continuation of the Grace Darling. It is 10 in. 
 wide, of highly crystalline white quartz, with the spaces between the 
 cr)'stals fillc/1 up with decomposed pyrites. The hanging-wall is of grey- 
 wacke, and the foot-wall of a hard, white elvan — probably a dyke. The 
 reef was worked opencast, at first, and then from 3 shafts sunk to the 
 dip, the deepest about 25 ft. At this depth, the reef is said to have split 
 up into leaders. Only one crushing was taken out (from the opencast 
 workings). It gave J o/.. to the ton. The goki from the Glengarry had 
 the highest Mint value of reef-gold on the field — viz. 3/. ^s. per oz. A 
 shaft was sunk about 15 ft deep, between the Glengarry workings and 
 the gully to the N.W., but the reef was not found. The country is dark- 
 grey tourmaline-porphyry, with some greywacke. 
 
 Grace Darling reef is by far the longest continuously-worked reef on 
 the field. Including the Glengarry, it extends for 420 yd., in a line run- 
 ning E. 38" S., to E. 15° S. The prospecting claim was taken up very 
 shortly after the Hibernia. The "blow" is visible on the Grant road, 
 and in two shallow shafts to the W. It is about 18 in. wide, and leads to 
 the N.E. at about 40°. 1 uc hanging-wall shows debris of fine-grained 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 607 
 
 tourmaltne-porphjny. The quartz is white, but well honeycombed (from 
 the decomposition of pyrites), brown on joints and faces, and with decom- 
 posed pyrites in spaces between the crystals. The iirst crushing, of about 
 100 tons, from tlie surface of the reef, gave I oz. 15 dwt. of gold to the 
 ton. The prospectors sank 2 deep shafts : the shallower was about 40 ft. 
 vertical ; the deeper, on which a horse-whim wi s erected, was 45 ft. 
 vertical ; the reef was not reached at this depth, in the bottom of this 
 shaft, the water-level was reached. About the same time, there was a 
 rumour that King's machine w:as going to leave the field. The prospec- 
 tors, to be in time, drove back and caught the reef at the 45-ft. level, and 
 took out 30 tons of brownstone, which crushed li oz. to the ton. The 
 white stone was richer in gold in this claim than was usual on the field. 
 The country is coarse-grained tourmaline-porphyry. 
 
 No. I Claim S. has 2 deej) shafts (about 35 ft.) and 4 shallow ones on 
 the underlie from the outcrop. The reef is a little over 8 in. wide. It is 
 a highly crystalline, yellow, ochreous stone, the crystals being stained 
 yellow on the faces. Some cavities arc pretty rich in brownstone. The 
 owners of the claim had only one crushing, which gave about i oz. to 
 the ton. 
 
 No. 2 Claim S. had 3 shafts, two sunk vertically to the reef (rvbout 
 25 ft.), and one on the underlie from the outcrop. The stone is in bivcks 
 of 9 or 10 in. in thickness, and this appears to have been the size of the 
 reef. It is a very white quartz, with crystalline cavities, and joints .stained 
 red and yellow with iron oxide. The country is fine-grained tourmaline- 
 porphyry. The only crushing from this claim realized 3 or 4 dwt. to 
 the ton. 
 
 The owners of No. i Claim N. .sank 2 shafts on the left bank of Green 
 Creek. Both caught the reef, the upper at 25 ft., and the lower at lO ft. 
 from the surface. On following the reef to the underlie, the water was 
 found to interfere seriously with the wurk. One crushing (i oz. 5 dwt. to 
 the ton) was taken out of the upper shaft. The quartz is white, v, ith 
 some crystalline cavities filled with ochreous decomposed brownstcne, 
 and coated on joints with yellow ochre. The country is fine-grained 
 tourmaline-porphyry, with some greywacke. 
 
 In No. 2 Claim N., the reef is seen in an underlie shaft on the outcrop. 
 It is a very white quiUtz, like that in No. i N., but the specimens visible 
 appear to be raLhcr richer in decomposed pyrites. A crushing from this 
 shaft gave : oz. 2 dwt. of gold to the ton. Two shafts, 20 ft. deep, show 
 coarsely crystalline tourmaline-porphyry, with specks of pyrites through- 
 out. T-ese shafts did not reach *^he reef. 
 
 Neai the head of the \V. branch of Green Creek are 3 small openings, 
 apparently on an insignificant leader. Some very small fragments of 
 quartz are all that is to be seen. Some 500 yd. farther N.W. arc 3 
 
 "W't^ 
 
6o8 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 shallow shafts, which have followed something on an underlie to the S.E. 
 A little quartz has been taken out. It is crystalline, and brown on joints, 
 although very white inside. On a hill-top, 300 yd. S.W. of the last- 
 mentioned shafts, and 600 yd. N.W. of No. 2 North Grace Darling, is a 
 shaft in which a 5-in. quartz vein has ! ^en followed down from the 
 outcrop. It strikes W. 1° N., and dips N. i'^ E. at 65°. This is believed 
 to be the place from which "Scotch IClliott" crushed 5 ton.s, which gave 
 3 oz. to the ton. Two small shafts sunk higher up the hill have failed 
 to catch this (or any) reef 
 
 Leaving the principal line of reefs, a (cw are found on the summits 
 of the Normanby range. One of these crosses the Grant road just on 
 the W. side of the pass which carries the road over into the Grant valley. 
 It runs N. 21" VV., and dips E. 21° N., a spring rising on its upper side 
 forming the head of Green Creek. It has been opened out a little in a 
 hole on the S.E. side of the road, and appears unusually rich in brown- 
 stone for tbis locality. From its appearance, it would be considered a 
 very promising reef, but it yielded no " colours " to the prospectors. 
 With a view to testing whether any gold had been washed from the 
 surface, Jack had the bottom of the gully tried at an angle where much 
 of the wash from the reef must certainly have been caught, but with a 
 purely negative result. On a long summit of the range, N. of the 
 Marquis and E. of the Glengarry, a large " blow " of quartz occurs. Its 
 course is E. 36° S., and its underlie N. 36'' E. It is 6 ft. wide at the S.E. 
 end, and the quartz is white with joints stained with peroxide of iron. 
 To the N.W., the reef not only narrows, but becomes more mixed with 
 decomposed pyrites. Three shallow holes have been sunk on the 
 outcrop. The country is greywacke, dipping at a high angle to N.E. 
 N, of the Welcome and E. of the Marquis, another reef is seen on a 
 summit in the range. It runs E. 31° N., and underlies S. 31° E. at 85". 
 It is white and uncrystallized, and averages i ft. in thickness. The 
 country is fine-grained pyritous tourmaline-porphyry. 
 
 On the ridge between the Welcome mines and the head of Spring 
 Creek, is a quartz reef 3 or 4 ft. wide, bearing N. 6'^ E. and underlying 
 E. 6° S. As a rule, the stone is white and vitreous, but a fair-sized heap 
 (5 or 6 tons) of picked stone lies at the bank. There are two openings 
 on the outcrop, and one vertical shaft. The latter has tumbled in, but 
 does not seem to have reached the reef, although only about 5 yd. distant 
 from the outcrop. The underlie appears to be steep. The quartz in the 
 heap is coloured yellow and brown with iron oxide on surfaces and joints, 
 and contains (rather rare) blotches of copper- and iron-pyrites, and stains of 
 green carbonate of copper, besides frequent " nests " of chlorite. It is full 
 of cavities, v/hose interior is lined with quartz crystals, much browned, as 
 if masses of iron-ore had weathered out. The walls are of decomposed 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 609 
 
 3Ut 
 tant 
 
 the 
 ints, 
 IS of 
 
 full 
 I, as 
 )scd 
 
 tourmaline-porphyry. Fine " colours " and some thready gold were 
 obtained. 
 
 Albion reef occurs on the gully of the same name, fulling into the 
 W. fork of the Grant. It runs W. 39° N., and underlies N. sg'" E. at 
 about 55°. It varies from 2 to 6 ft. wide, bulging out to 10 ft. in places. 
 It is generally a very compact white vitreous quartz, with brown stains 
 only on the joints. In places it is " rubbly," or intersected by frequent 
 joints, all iron-stained. It is rarely crystalline. The country is grey- 
 A\'acke and shale. The mine was taken up by Long Jim and others 
 about two months after they took up the Hibernia , h ton of stone, sent 
 to Sydney shortly after the opening of the reef, gave gold at the rate of 
 2 oz. to the ton. They had afterwards a crushing (at King's machine) 
 from the top of the reef, which gave i oz. 5 dwt. to the ton. The Albion 
 Co. next took up the claim in 1875. They made a drive 50 or 60 yd. in 
 length into the hill, and worked the reef up to daylight (about 80 ft. on 
 the underlie) and down the underlie for about 1 5 ft. The company had 
 a machins on the Grant, about ^ mile from the mine, and had several 
 crushings, the best giving 1 1 dwt., and the worst 2^ dwt., to the ton. 
 Their machine was afterwards removed to Marengo. A little below the 
 mine, the bedding of the rock is .seen — a rare occurrence in this neigh- 
 bourhood. It is quartzose greywacke and chlorite-slate, nearly on end, 
 but with a slight dip N.E. 
 
 Venture reef lies about ^ mile S.S.E. of the Albion. It runs E. 26° 
 S. with a very slight hade to N. 26° E. The mine was taken up by 
 Fred. Burstall about the same time as the Albion. He took 25 tons of 
 brownstonc from the top of the 70-ft. shaft, which crushed i oz. 18 dwt. 
 to the ton at King's machine. He sank the 70-ft. shaft to the depth of 
 about 40 ft. The rest of the work was done by the Venture Co., who 
 took up the claim prior to their operations at the Marquis. They found 
 water (not heavy) at the depth of 65 ft. in the 70-ft. shaft. Their first 
 crushing was 70 tons at their own machine, beside the mine. It yielded 
 1 1 dwt. to the ton. Only 1 1 tons more were taken out, from the bottom 
 of the 25-ft. shaft. This parcel gave a somewhat better result, viz. 
 18 dwt. to the ton. In the 2S-ft. shaft, the reef was only 6 in. wide ; in 
 the 50-ft. shaft, it averaged 18 in. ; and in the 70-ft. shaft, 2 ft. Below 
 the 50-ft. level, the stone was very white, with yellow coatings. A good 
 deal is now lying at grass. It .shows specks of fine cubical iron-pyrites. 
 The country at the mouth of the 50-ft. shaft is fine-grained j^eywacke 
 and shale, and at the mouth of the J 5 ft shaft, fine-grained to,L"ualine- 
 porph)-ry. 
 
 Enterprise reef occurs on a spur on the right bank of Enterprise 
 Gully. It runs E. 29^ N., and underlies at 80° to N. 29"^ W. The 
 mine was worked about 1876-7. The reef is 6 to 12 in. wide; it was 
 
 2 R 
 
6io 
 
 GEOGRAI'IIICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 worked at two levels on the hillside. In the upper level, the reef is seen 
 to thin downwards in an opencast. It is a white vitreous quartz, with 
 cavities faced with very large crystals, the interstices filled up with 
 decomposed pyrites, and with some faces coated with copper-pyrites. 
 About 8 tons of quartz lie at bank here, but none was crushed from this 
 level. The walls are of decomposed granite. At the lower level, the 
 prospectors drove into the hill, and also went down on the reef for lo or 
 12 ft. Where the reef has been left, it has pinched out to 2 or 3 in., but 
 it must have been 10 in. wide in places, as evinced by the size of the 
 blocks taken out. About 4 tons from this level and 3 from a lower level 
 (at the edge of the gully) were crushed at the Venture Co.'s machine 
 before its removal from the Grant valley, and gave 8 dwt. gold to the 
 ton. Two tons of this stuff are left at bank. It is much whiter than the 
 stone from the upper levels (with a little blue carbonate of copper), but it is 
 said to have given much better prospects. In the Enterprise Creek, below 
 the reef, one ^-oz. and one 14-dwt. nugget were found, besides coarse 
 " colours." Above the reef, no gold could be obtained. 
 
 Just-in-Time reef lies between Hungry Gully and Oakey Creek, S. of 
 the Bowcn road. It runs W. 25° N., and underlies N. 25° E. at about 
 45". The prospecting claim was taken up by John Smith and others 
 some 6 months after the Hibernia, They took out 25 tons of brown- 
 stone, which crushed i oz. 8 dwt. to the ton ; the next crushing, of 40 
 tons, gave i oz. 12 dwt. ; the last, I oz. 7 dwt. The reef averages 5 in. in 
 width,' but thins away to 2 and bulges out to 9 in places. The pro- 
 spectors went down about 70 ft. on the underlie. They had not reached 
 the water-level even at that depth. The claim paid while King's machine 
 remained on the field. The gold was getting a little rougher in the 
 deeper workings, and the stone rather more stained with carbonate of 
 copper. The Mint value of the gold was 3/. ys. What little is left of the 
 stone is of the usual character, essentially white and vitreous, but with 
 frequent crystalline cavities filled with decomposed pyrites. The country 
 is a somewhat coarse-grained pyritous tourmaline-porphyry. It was soft 
 and easily worked in the prospecting claim, requiring little blasting. In 
 No. I Claim, the reef is narrow, as in the prospecting claim. The claim 
 was first held by the prospectors, and afterwards by King, who put two 
 men on it. The reef was sunk 45 ft. on the underlie, and cut at the depth 
 of 40 ft. in a vertical shaft. Two crushings of the brownstone yielded, 
 the first I oz. 8 dwt., and the second i oz. 5 dwt. of gold to the ton. At 
 the bottom of the vertical shaft, the mundic began to come in. A speci- 
 men of this mundic (free from quartz) assayed 6 oz. 4 dwt. 3 gr. of gold, 
 and 5 oz. 11 dwt. i gr. of silver, to the ton. On No. 2 Claim, a shaft, 
 20 ft. deep, was sunk, but did not cut the reef A ticnch failed to 
 discover the outcrop. 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND. 
 
 6ir 
 
 On the gully S. of the Just-in-Time workings are 5 shafts, and a line 
 of opencast workings on a reef running W. 1 1° N., and heading N. 11" E. 
 at about 70°. A shift at the junction of this reef with the Just-in-Tiinc 
 may explain why the latter was not found in No. 2 Claim. The reef is 
 6 in. to I ft. wide, and shows a mixture of brownstone and very fine 
 white quartz. The quartz and ganguc of the reef are often a good deal 
 stained with carbonate of copper. The country is tourmaline-porphyry. 
 This reef was worked simultaneously with the Just-in-Timc. It had two 
 crushings, the first (20 tons) giving i oz. 5 dwt. of gold to the ton, and 
 the .second (30 tons) l oz. 7 dwt. 
 
 A reef running W. 16° N., and underlying to N. iG'' E. at 65^, occurs 
 between the Just-in-Time workings and the Bowen road. At the E. end, 
 the reef is 2 to 6 in. wide. It was sometimes 12 in. It is a white crys 
 tallinc quartz with yellow joints. The country is tourm.ilinc-porphyry. 
 This mine was worked simultaneously with the Just-in-Time. The 
 workings reached a depth of 30 ft. in the underlie. Only one crushing 
 (30 tons) was taken out; it gave 15 dwt. to the ton. The gold was 
 rough for this field, the particles being visible to the naked eye. One 
 speck is said to have weighed 3 dwt. 
 
 Lardyda reef lies N.W. of the Just-in-Timc, on the E. side of the 
 Bowen road. Its direction is W. 26° N., and its hade to N. 2(f E. at 
 about 50°. The mine was worked at the same time as the Just-in-Timc. 
 The quartz sometimes bulged out to 6 or 8 in. in width, and sometimes 
 was only represented by a " mullock vein " (gangue without reef). The 
 workings only reached a depth of 30 ft. ; 11 tons crushed at King's 
 machine yielded 17 dwt. to the ton. The country is fine-grained 
 tourmaline-porphyry. 
 
 A reef occurs between Hungry Gully and Green Creek, on the right 
 bank of Green Creek, opposite Campbell's stockyard. It runs W. 36'' 
 N., and hades to N. 36° E. ; 25 tons of brownstone crushed at King's 
 machine yielded gold at the rate of i oz. 2 dwt. to the ton. The country 
 is tourmaline-porphyry and greywacke. 
 
 In Campbell's Paddock, near the slip-panel, S.E. of the stockyard, 
 two shallow shafts have been .sunk on a small leader running W. 26° N., 
 and hading to N. 26° E. at 60°. The country is fine-grained pyritous 
 greywacke. At the head of the gully, between the garden and stockyard, 
 are 3 or 4 shallow openings on a quartz leader, which runs N. 39° W. and 
 hades to E. 39° N. The country is tourmaline-porphyry. A small 
 quantity of brownstone was raised from this leader ; 3 tons crushed at 
 King's machine gave 2 oz. to the ton. The leader was found to pinch out. 
 Near this reef, just outside the paddock, two shafts were sunk on a small 
 leader of poor white stone, striking N. 39"* W., and hading at 45'^ to E. 
 
 39° N. 
 
 2 1; 2 
 
6l2 
 
 GEOGRAnilCAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 Wild Scotsman reef occurs on the E. slope of Mount High, with a 
 course S. 34° VV., and hades W. 34° N. at 70°. At the S.P:. end, it is 
 represented by a lo-in. granite vein (in fine-grained tourmaline-porphyry 
 country), which soon pinches out (as may be seen in the opencast work- 
 ings), and gives place to a 3-in. leader of quartz with brownstone. Some 
 brownstone from the N.E. end of the reef crushed for about I oz. to the 
 ton at King's machine. The reef was too thin to pay. Between the 
 opencast working and the upper gully, is a vertical shaft which catches 
 the reef at a depth of 25 ft. and follows it on the underlie for a short 
 distance. As seen in the upper gully, the reef or leader is only about 
 I in. wide. The shaft above the upper gully is 15 ft. vertical, and follows 
 down the underlie a few feet. From this shaft, only a little quartz has 
 been raised, similar to that of the i-in. leader in the gully. 
 
 Perseverance reef occurs on the E. side of the Bowen road, between 
 two of the heads of Oakcy Creek, nearly in a line with the Wild Scotsman ; 
 it runs W. 21° S., and hades to N. 21° W. at about 65°. It has been 
 worked opencast for the whole length of the prospecting claim, and two 
 deep shafts have also been sunk. The reef was " bulgy," like the Lardyda, 
 sometimes pinching out altogether. A little of the stone lying about is 
 white, with yellow stains on joints, and has come apparently from a 
 narrow reef. Only one crushing of 35 tons was taken out ; it yielded, at 
 King's machine, gold at the rate of i oz. 5 dwt. to the ton. The country 
 is fine-grained pyritous tourmaline-porphyry and greywacke. On the 
 crest of the Normanby range, between Mount Flattop and Mount High, 
 is a small quartz reef dipping at a low angle to the W. The quartz is 
 white and highly crystalline. 
 
 The summit of Mount Flattop is seamed with reefs running from N. 
 11" E. to E. 29° N., and all underlying to the W. or N.W. At the W. 
 end of the hill, a i-ft. reef of fine-looking, shivery, honeycombed, red 
 quartz, running N. 11° E., and hading to W. 11° N. at 80°, has been 
 worked in a surface drive. It splits into two leaders at the N. end of the 
 drive. E. of this are two leaders of brownish quartz, i to 2 in, wide, 
 running N. 26" E., and hading at 80° to W. 26° N. Still farther E. (up 
 hill) is a short drive on three small leaders of promising reddish shivery 
 quartz, with gangue of decomposed granite between. They run N. 26^ 
 E., and underlie at 80° to W. 26° N. Higher up the hill, a short drive 
 has been made on two leaders, 3 ft. apart. The lower is 8 in. wide — a 
 fine-looking honeycombed quartz, with cavities filled with red decom- 
 posed pyrites. The quartz of the upper leader (3 in. wide) is white and 
 compact. They run E, 39" N., and underlie to N. 39° W. at 80°. Some 
 50 ft. higher up the hill, is a short drive in a 4- to 8-in. leader of while 
 quartz, with small cavities filled with decomposed pyrites ; it runs E. 24° 
 N., and underlies at 80° to N. 24" W. Within the next lOO yd. up the 
 
AUSTRALASIA : QUEENSLAND, 
 
 613 
 
 hill, at least half-a-dozen thin leaders, pa.allel to the last, have been 
 worked opencast or in shallow drives. Near the E. end of the hill-top is 
 a reef, bearing E. 29° N., and underlying to N. 29° W. at 65". It is 8 or 
 9 in. wide, of white crystalline quartz. The country is granite. The 
 stone from some of the Flattop reefs ought to be pretty rich. The 
 opportunity for distinguishing between the payable and non-payable 
 leaders was, however, lost by crushing them all together. It gave 1 1 dwt. 
 to the ton. A tunnel in a N.W. direction through the mountain would 
 probably lead to the discovery of several payable mundic reefs. 
 
 On the VV. side of the Bowen road, N. of the Gap, through the 
 Normanby range, a little leader, running W. 5'' S., and hading to N. 5° 
 W., was followed a few feet in an underlie shaft. A vertical shaft was 
 also sunk on the underlie side, but it does not appear to have reached the 
 leader. The work was done about 6 months after the opening of the 
 Hibernia. It is believed that no crushings were taken out, unless it 
 might be that the stone was mixed up with that from the Eureka reef. 
 About J- mile N. is a reef 3 or 4 in. wide, which was taken up by 
 Macartney about the same time as the last. It was worked opencast, 
 except towards the gully, where it was followed down the underlie to the 
 depth of 25 or 30 ft. It crushed at King's machine at the rate of 3 oz. 
 and a few dwt. to the ton. The country is tourmaline-porphyry. 
 
 Eureka reef, situated N.W. of Mount High, between two of the heads 
 of the Dart, was opened out simultaneously with the Just-In-Time. It 
 runs W. 24° S., and is almost vertical. The reef is about 3 ft. wide, the 
 quartz shivery and jointed (" rubbly "), and .split up by courses of gangue. 
 The joints of the quartz are generally coater' with yellow, and sometimes 
 stained with blue carbonate of copper. L^.rge quartz crystals are rare. 
 There are frequent cavities filled up with good-looking brownstone. The 
 appearance of the stone, indeed, would warrant a higher estimate of its 
 value than the crushings justified. The first gave 1 1 dwt., the second, 
 13 dwt., and the last, 9 dwt. of gold to the ton. The Mint value of the 
 gold from the first crushing was only 2/. 6s. per oz. The deepest shaft is 
 40 ft. The country is greywacke, stained in the neighbourhood of the 
 reef with carbonate of copper. 
 
 The general character of the reef-gold from Normanby is said to have 
 been very fine, as a rule, occurring in specks invisible to the naked eye. 
 Alluvial gold from the field is, on the other hand, generally coarser, up 
 to about the size of a small pea. The banks buy it at 3/. \2s. per oz. 
 Specimens are only slightly water-worn, and have numerous minute 
 cavities coated with red peroxide of iron. This appearance is no doubt 
 due to the decomposition of the pyrites with which the gold was originally 
 associated in the reefs. The difference in the characters of the reef- and 
 alluvial gold have led some of the miners on the field to the belief, that 
 
 P-' 
 
6x4 
 
 GEOGRAPIIICAL DISTRIUl'TION. 
 
 the latter has been derived from other reefs than those which have been 
 known and worked ; but, although the existence of reefs still unknown is 
 in the highest degree probable, Jack sees no great necessity for this ex- 
 planation. Gold so fine as that which is said to have been commonly 
 obtained from the reefs would be distributed by the streams so u idcly as 
 to render its collection unprofitable, while only the larger and heavier 
 grains would be detained by natural obstacles in the beds of the creeks 
 and gullies near the reefs. The alluvial gold is very partially distributed. 
 Diggers sometimes work for months without seeing more than "colours," 
 but occasionally drop on a payable patch. From all Jack can learn, he 
 believes that the alluvial gold taken from Normanby has cost in labour 
 a great deal more than its money value. The largest nugget he heard of 
 weighed 2 oz. 
 
 A miner named Brown informed him that he had found a few dwt. of 
 native gold-amalgam in Green Creek, just below the junction of Oakey 
 Creek, in alluvial gravel. 
 
 Jack concludes by stating his opinion that Normanby ought to pay 
 now. It will be answered, however, that it has been fairly tried, and has 
 failed. This is not so true as it appears at first sight. The field lived 
 for about i8 months, and was killed by the removal of the crushing-mill. 
 It is quite true that the few hasty crushings taken out in that time did 
 not in many cases repay the heavy preliminary outlays. The wonder is 
 that they did in any case ; but some of the reefs paid fairly well. In a 
 few of the mines the mundic level was attained, and as there was no 
 machinery on the field for treating stone of this class, the workings were 
 promptly abandoned. The unusually rich assays of the mundic from the 
 Just-ir. Time and Welcome reefs warrant the hope, that, at no distant 
 date, Normanby may again rank among the busy centres of mining 
 industry, and that the field will do well as a whole. 
 
 It might be impossible on the large scale to pick the mundic as clean 
 as in the specimens assayed, or to extract the whole of the gold ; but 
 there is a large margin, and half the quantity contained in the Just-in- 
 Time and Welcome mundic would be a good return. 
 
 The metamorphic rock (tourmaline-porphyry), among which the 
 Normanby reefs principally occur, is a somewhat unusual variety, and 
 therefore few observed facts exist to guide in judging the success ot 
 reefing in such country. In all probability, the gold was precipitated 
 simultaneously with the deposition of the original sedimentary rocks 
 collected together and associated with the pyrites when the metamor- 
 phism took place, and finally aggregated in the reefs. 
 
 At present, the mining population is limited to 3 men, who live in the 
 hope of "dropping upon a patch" of payable alluvial gold. Their per- 
 severance deserves success. 
 
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