GOLD 689 



tho characters of the basaltic rocks ; thus in France, the Cezo and the Garden, auri- 

 forous rivers, whore they afford most gold, flow over ground apparently derived from 

 tho destruction of the trap rocks, which occur in situ higher up tho country. This fact 

 had struck Eeaumur, and this celebrated observer had remarked that the sand which 

 more immediately accompanies the gold spangles in most rivers, and particularly in 

 tho Khone and tho Ehine, is composed, like that of Ceylon and Expailly, of black prot- 

 oxide of iron and small grains of rubies, corundum, hyacinth, &c. Titanium has been 

 observed more recently. It has, lastly, been remarked that the gold of alluvial form- 

 ations is purer than that extracted from rocks. 



Spain anciently possessed mines of gold in regular veins, especially in the province 

 of Asturias ; but the richness of the Mexican mines caused them to be neglected. 

 Julius Caesar is said to have paid his enormous debts, and have added largely to the 

 Eoman treasury, from the wealth which he derived from the Spanish mines. The 

 Tagus, and some other streams of that country, were said to roll over golden sands. 

 France contains no workable gold mines ; but it presents in several of its rivers auri- 

 ferous sands. There are some gold mines in Piedmont ; particularly tho veins of 

 auriferous pyrites of Macugnagna, at the foot of Monte Eosa, lying in a mountain of 

 gneiss ; and although they do not contain 10 or 11 grains of gold in a hundred- weight, 

 they have long defrayed the expense of working them. On the southern slope of the 

 Pennine Alps, from the Simplon and Monte Eosa to the valley of Aoste, several auri- 

 ferous districts and rivers occur. Such are the torrent Evenson, which has afforded 

 much gold by washing ; the Oreo, in its passage from the Pont to the Po : the reddish 

 grounds over which this little river runs for several miles, and the hills in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Chivasso, contain gold spangles in considerable quantity. 



In the county of Wicklow, in Ireland, in the year 1796, some fine specimens of 

 gold were found, one mass weighing twenty-two ounces. The gold is found in the 

 debris of the valley at the base of Croghan-Kinshela ; and it would appear to be derived 

 from the granite of that mountain, or the hornblendic greenstones by which it is tra- 

 versed. Messrs. Weaver and Mills, however, prosecuted extensive mine-workings in 

 search of the source of the gold without any success. As we have already stated, 

 the pyrites of Wicklow contains gold, but no auriferous veins have been discovered. 

 In Cornwall gold has been found in the tin-streams of Carnon vale, in the Pentuan 

 stream works at Menaccan, and some few other spots ; and some of the quartz veins 

 traversing the slate have been found to contain gold. Many of the gossans of tho 

 copper lodes are known to have gold in them ; but it is only in a few rare instances 

 that the precious metal has been separated. 



In Devonshire, near North Molton, at the Britannia and at the Poltsmore mine, 

 gold has been found in small quantities, associated with the minerals of the district ; 

 but it has never paid the cost of obtaining it. In Scotland also gold has been found. 

 Pennant says : ' In the reigns of James IV. and V. vast wealth was procured in tho 

 Lead Hills, from the gold washed from the mountains ; in the reign of the latter not 

 less than the value of 300,000. sterling.' We are told that in another locality a piece 

 of gold weighing thirty ounces was found ; but we cannot find any good authority for 

 this statement. Tho gold-bearing districts of Scotland are described at p. 698. 



The Gold Mines of North Wales having acquired a large share of attention, it has 

 been thought desirable to insert the following notice from the pen of a gentleman who 

 has most industriously investigated the quartz lodes of Merionethshire. 



In North Wales, the older slaty rocks are auriferous. Professor Eamsay has ex- 

 amined and described the district, and especially the mineral and quartz veins of Cwm- 

 eisen-isaf and Dol-y-frwynog, which contain gold. At Gogofau, not far from Llan- 

 dpvery, the Eomans worked for gold, the remains of their workings being still to be 

 discovered. Gogofau has been described by Mr. W. Warington Smyth in the ' Memoirs 

 of the Geological Survey.' 



The existence of gold in the British Isles was known at a very remote period of 

 history, and it is certain that many adventurers, in crazy craft, came to this country 

 in search of metallic wealth. Julius Caesar, probably, invaded these islands more for 

 the acquisition of supposed riches than the conquest of a rude and barbarous people. 

 This opinion is strengthened, if not confirmed, by the expression of Galgacus, 

 whilst attacking the Caledonians, Britain produces gold, silver, and other metals, the 

 booty of victory.' l 



A celebrated j Triad ' makes three Welsh chieftains the enviable possessors of golden 

 cars, and Meyrick reasonably infers from this, that gold mines were worked by the 

 Welsh (Cymri), at a very early period. 2 



1 ' Fert Britannia nurnm et argentum et alia metalla, pretium victoriae ; gignit et oceanus marga- 

 rita sed subfusca et liven tia.' Tacitus, Vita Agricolce, cap. xii. 



2 ' History and Antiquities of the County of Cardiganshire.' 1810. 

 VOL. II. Y Y 



