=e 
Olmsted on the Gold Mines of North Carolina. 9 
Large pieces of gold are fou in this region, although 
their occurrence is somewhat ra Masses weighing four 
five, and six hundred penny- weighs, are occasionally me 
with, and one mass was found that weighed, im its ¢ 
28 Ibs. avoirdupoise. This was dug up by a at 
Reed’s mine, within a few inches of the surface of the 
ground. Marvellous stories are told respecting this rich 
mass; as that it had been seen by gold hunters at night, 
reflecting so on a light, when they drew near to it, 
with torches, as to make them believe it was some super- 
natural ppennicnay and to deter them from farther exam- 
ination. But all stories of this kind, as I was assured by 
Mr. Reed the old proprietor, are mere fables. No unusual 
circumstances were connected with the discovery of this 
mass, —— its being nearer the — than common. It 
was me! rs soon after its discove- 
ry. The spot whens it was found b has been since subject- 
ed to the severest scrutiny, but without any similar harvest. 
Another mass weighing 609 pwts. was found on the surface 
of a ploughed field in the vicinity of the Yadkin, twenty 
miles or more north of Reed’s mine. Specimens of great 
elegance, as I should infer from the descriptions of the mi- 
ners, are occasionally found, but for want of mineralogists 
to reserve them for cabinets, they have always been thrown 
into the common stock and melted into bars. Mr. 
of the size of a large pin’s head. m ves = ae. 
the proprietor could not inform me. Althoug 
of greenstone and of several argillaceous rine tle ote occur 
among the gravel of the gold-stratum, yet, in the opinion of 
the miners, the precious metal is never found attached to 
any other mineral than quartz. Indeed it is rarely attach- 
ed to any substance, but is commonly scattered promiscu- 
ously among the gravel. Its colour is generally yellow 
with a reddish tinge, though the surface is not unfrequently 
obscured by a partial incrustation of iron or manganese, or 
by adhering particles of sand. The masses are flattened 
= Blige te ces rounded with evident marks 
2 
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