i7i the United States of America, 4-37 



-which had been so long settled, native gold should occur in 

 considerable quantities, without exciting the attention of the 

 inhabitants ; particularly as it preserves its colour and splen- 

 dour, being for the most part nearly pure. For some years 

 after gold had been discovered in these states, the inhabitants 

 were contented with searching the beds of brooks and rivulets, 

 after heavy rains had subsided. But one proprietor of land 

 in which gold was obtained, having noticed that the sands of 

 a rivulet, on his estate, never yielded gold above a certain 

 point, where a small brook entered into it, was induced to 

 believe that the gold had been brought down by that brook. 

 On tracing it upwards to its source, he observed in the ad- 

 jacent rocks several veins of quartz; and recollecting that 

 some of the grains of native gold found in the sand were 

 attached to pieces of the same mineral, he very naturally in- 

 ferred that the gold might be contained in these veins. After 

 three or four days' labour, in sinking upon the vein, he was 

 rewarded by the discovery of several bunches, or united pieces, 

 of native gold. This successful experiment was soon followed 

 by others of a similar kind, carried on in a rude manner by 

 the American farmers, with little knowledge of mining opera- 

 tions, and without any acquaintance with geology or minera- 

 logy. By these means, and by searching the sands of rivulets 

 in the districts before described, a large quantity of gold has been 

 annually obtained; but the veins have been nowhere worked 

 deeper than about 40 or 50 ft., when the workings have in 

 many situations been impeded by water; to remove whiqh 

 required more skill and capital than most of the proprietors 

 possess. One farmer, who had obtained by his own labour 

 gold to the value of 25,000 dollars, immediately relinquished 

 the pursuit when the w^ater came into the mine ; being un- 

 willing, as he said, " to throw away certain gains in the search 

 of uncertain profits." Some American gentlemen, resident in 

 -and near the gold districts, have formed a company for the 

 purpose of working the mines on a more extensive scale, and 

 in a scientific manner : they have purchased 22,000 acres of 

 land, containing auriferous veins, and have obtained a charter 

 from the government of the state of North Carolina. It was 

 for the purpose of inducing some English capitalists to unite 

 with them, that Dr. Macauly visited this country; and, the 

 amount of capital required being comparatively small, he 

 found no difficulty in meeting with persons willing to unite 

 with the company, on the condition o,f previously ^H^mining 

 their estates. 



As these mines have now been worked some time, and are 

 situated in a well inhabited country, provided with good roads, 



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