Mr, Weaver on the Gold-'workifws 



D" 



was finally abandoned. The limited portion of the stream in 

 which any gold could be discovered, we might suppose, should 

 have directed to the adjacent banks, and the hills which rise 

 from the spot on either side. These might have been ex- 

 plored at much less expense; and judging by the uncom- 

 monly great size of some of the lumps which had been found, 

 it seems not unreasonable to expect, notwithstanding the past 

 disappointment, that much will hereafter be brought to light." 



A judgment thus gravely pronounced from a presidential 

 chair demands attention. From what source the deliverer of 

 that sentence drew his information does not appear ; yet cer- 

 tainly a more strange misapprehension of facts has seldom 

 been embodied in words. In justice to the Government under 

 whose auspices I had the honour to act, as well as to the 

 memories of the individuals concerned in directing the opera- 

 tions (of whom I am the only survivor), it becomes incumbent 

 on me to disabuse the public by recalling their attention to 

 the real circumstances of the case ; and this I might briefly 

 do by a simple reference to the succinct and faithful history 

 I have given of the proceedings in my memoir on the East of 

 Ireland, published in the 5th volume of the Geological Trans- 

 actions, First Series. But as those Transactions are, compara- 

 tively speaking, in the hands of few persons, it appears expe- 

 dient to enter* into some details, through the medium of a 

 scientific Journal of extensive circulation; for which purpose 



1 subjoin the following extracts from my memoir on the East 

 of Ireland, merely transposing a few passages for the sake of 

 greater distinctness*. 



" §§ 105. 106. The discovery of native gold in the Ballin- 

 valley stream at Croghan Kinshella mountain was accidental ; 

 and, as it subsequently proved, the principal depot of the gold 

 in that stream extended about twelve hundred yards below 

 the ford. In other quarters the gold obtained was compara- 

 tively of small amount. The largest piece found in any of 

 the other streams was on the Coolbawn side. It weighed 



2 J ounces. But in all these cases the gold was accompanied 

 by most of the metallic substances that occurred in the Ballin- 

 valley stream, and which will be enumerated hereafter. Under 

 the Act of Parliament for managing the undertaking, the di- 

 rectors established regular stream-works ; and up to the un- 

 happy period of the rebellion in May 1798, when the works 



* The publication of this article has been delayed in the hope of re- 

 covering the plate of the Geological Map of Croghan Kinshela mountain, 

 which would have thrown a clearer light on the subject ; but as, unfortu- 

 nately, that plate is not forthcoming, I must necessarily refer in this respect 

 to the 5th volume of the Transactions of the Geological Society, First Series. 



