LUMPKIN COUNTY. 393 



feet below the water level, nor more than 140 feet below their 

 outcrop ; whereas, in the old world, they have gone more than 

 2,000 feet. We consequently can form no opinion relative 

 to their productiveness. Generally the mines are abandoned 

 as soon as the water appears ; the operators being men of but 

 little capital, and ignorant of the proper mode of working be- 

 low the water level. Another and more powerful reason is, 

 that, with but few exceptions, the veins become poorer as you 

 descend, and below the w^ater very poor. The mode of work- 

 ing the mine or ores is by amalgamation. The ore is first 

 reduced to powder, either wet or dry, by the action of stamps 

 or pestles, weighing from 100 to 500 pounds; after which it 

 passes through different sized screens or grates, and then 

 through various amalgamating machines, by which the quick- 

 silver is made to take up the particles or dust of gold, forming 

 an amalgam, which is distilled in a retort, saving the quick- 

 silver for further use, and the mass of gold is melted in a cru- 

 cible, into bars or ingots for coining. Its average fineness is 

 23 carats. From the best information I possess, the amount 

 obtained from 1829 to 1838, was 16,000,000 dwts., and from 

 that time until now, 4,000,000; every year diminishing, not- 

 withstanding the great improvements in machinery and in- 

 creased practical knowledge. I am of the opinion, however, 

 that by introducing the smelting process, as practised in Russia, 

 the mines of Georgia and North Carolina could be made to 

 yield several millions per annum with the same force that 

 now digs but half of a million. Mr. Van Buren, while Presi- 

 dent, was kind enough to send a special despatch to the Em- 

 peror of Russia, at my request, for information on the subject, 

 which only confirmed me in the opinion I had formed. The 

 result of over a hundred trials, made here and at the north, on 

 auriferous pyrites, gave a mean yield of 42 times as much as 

 by the best system of amalgamation extant. This seems ex- 

 travagant, but nevertheless it is true. I speak of sulphurated 

 ores — iron or copper pyrites, in which the gold is in a state of 

 chemical combination, without metallic properties — a salt, on 

 which quicksilver cannot act; and, having no specific gravity, 

 it is impossible to save it ; nor do we get any except such as 

 have been revived by volcanic heat, and aggregated, so as to 



