2o8 Men, Mines, and Animals in South Africa. 



co^■e^ies and of their value were vague and un- 

 certain ; on the whole, however, not encouraging, 

 a yield of from 1 oz. to 30 qwts. per ton being as 

 much as was claimed for the best reefs. Some- 

 thing very much better than this will be required 

 liere for a payable mine under present conditions. 

 No deep shafts have yet been sunk, and the depth 

 of the ore is unknown. The regulation 30 ft. hole 

 had been dug on many claims, which of itself gives 

 little or no information. Water had arrested 

 deeper sinkings, and sti^ange to say, among all the 

 minino- plant brought into this country, including 

 three or four stamp batteries, there was not to be 

 found one single pump. 3. The Hartley Hill dis- 

 trict. — This a gold district, wide and scattered, 

 about thirty or forty miles to the north-westward 

 of Fort Salisbury. On my arri^-al at Fort Salis- 

 bury I found quite a '■ boom "' of claims pegged 

 out on the Umfuli River, flowing near Hartley 

 Hill. Reports of very rich reefs having been dis- 

 covered, yielding many ounces to the ton, were 

 common, and some excitement prevailed. At the 

 time of writing these pages nothing definite or 

 precise is known, or can be known, about the 

 gold deposits of Mashonaland. There had been 

 no one in the country possessing expert know- 

 ledge, on which reliance could be placed, and, even 

 if there had been such persons, no sufficient de- 

 velopment work had been effected to enable an 

 opinion of any value to be formed. ]\lany months, 

 probably a year or two, must elapse before any 

 certaintv can be arrived at as to whether Mashona- 



