age SR gee eee ee ee ee eee ee - 
Olmsted on the Gold Mines of North Carolina. 13 ; 
goose quill or two of it, and a small pair of scala na 
box like a ea case. The value as in patriarchal 
times, is ascertained b y weight, which, from the dexterity 
acquired by practice, is a less troublesome mode of count- 
ing money than one would imagine. I saw a pint of whis- 
-_ for by weighing off three and a half grains of gold. 
e greatest part of the gold collected at these mines 
is bought up by the country merchants at 90 or 91 cents a 
pennyweight. ‘They carry it to the market towns, as oo 
etteville, Cheraw, Charleston, and New-York. Much of 
this is bought up by jewellers; some remains in the 
anks; and a considerable quantity has been received at 
the mint of the United States. Hence it is not easy to 
ascertain the precise amount which the mines have afford- 
ed. The value of that portion received at the mint before 
the year 1820, was 43,689 dollars. Itis alloyed with a 
small portion of silver and copper, butis still purer than 
Rag gold, being 23 carats fine. (Bruce, Mineral. 
our. I—125 
It will wa 0 appear evident to geologists, from the 
foregoing statements, that the gold of N. Carolina occurs 
ina diuvial formation. Such indeed seems to be its usual 
bed ; and, in this respect, it resembles the gold countries 
of South America, of England, of Scotland, of Ireland, 
and of Africa. (Buckland, Rel. Diluv. 218—20 -) 
I have already adverted to an impression entertained by 
the inhabitants of our gold country, that the precious metal 
exists somewhere in the vicinity in an ample bed or vein, 
from which the pieces found are derived. It may not be 
uninteresting to inquire, whether we can obtain any light 
respecting its origin. 
1. Is it brought down from the sources of the rivers ? 
That this is not the case is ; because i it is not 
or on the summits of an armen of one or two hutdeult 
feet above the beds of the streams, isrich in metal. Itis 
found on both sides of the Vadkin® and in the bed and 
