266 UNITED STATES. 



CHAP. XXV. 



otherwise. At present, as in all mining under- 

 takings, the expectations of the persons engaged 

 are very sanguine. 



It may not be improper to notice a kind of 

 mania on the subject of gold mines, which at present 

 prevails in some part of the United States of 

 America, although it is of too recent a date to 

 have any influence on the subject of this inquiry. 

 As far as it extends, it may be compared with 

 the excitement created in Ireland a few years ago 

 by the discovery of some small portions of gold in 

 the mountains of Wicklow. 



Some gold had been found in North Carolina 

 as early as 1824 ; the amount was then only six thou- 

 sand dollars ; in 1825, it increased to seventeen 

 thousand; in 1826, it rose to twenty thousand; 

 in 1827, to twenty-one thousand ; in 1828, to 

 forty-six thousand; and in 1829, to one hundred 

 and twenty-eight thousand. Besides the attempts 

 made in North Carolina in the year 1829, the 

 same spirit of searching was extended to Virginia, 

 where it obtained two thousand five hundred dol- 

 lars, and to South Carolina, which yielded three 

 thousand five hundred dollars. This tendency 

 has extended southward to Georgia, where a mine 

 is said to have been discovered near Gainsville, in 

 Hall county. It is called a ridge mine, and the 

 rocks, when pounded, produce gold in a greater or 

 less quantity. "On the 21st September, 1830, 

 seven hands procured two hundred and five penny- 



