302 RESOURCES OP CALIFORNIA. 



lost ; in some processess a considerable proportion. The general 

 estimate in California is, that one-twentieth of the gold in the 

 dirt which is washed is lost. Many of the particles are so 

 very small as to be invisible to the naked eye, and so light 

 that their specific gravity does not avail to prevent them from 

 being carried away by the water, like sand. The larger pieces 

 will sink to the bottom and resist the force of the water ; the 

 smaller the particles, the greater the danger that they will be 

 borne away. Many devices have been tried to catch all the 

 gold, but none have succeeded perfectly ; and some which have 

 caught a portion of what escaped from the ordinary modes of 

 mining, have been found to cost more than their yield. The 

 miner does not grieve about that which he cannot catch. He 

 is not careful to catch all that he could. His purpose is to 

 draw the largest possible revenue per day from his claim. He 

 does not intend to spend many years in mining, or if he does, 

 he has become thriftless and improvident. In either case, he 

 wishes to derive the utmost immediate profit from his mine. 

 If his claim contain a dollar to the ton, and he can save five 

 dollars by slowly washing only six tons in a day, while he 

 might make ten dollars by rapidly washing fifteen tons in a 

 day, he will prefer the latter result, though he will lose twice 

 as much of the precious metal by the fast as by the slow mode 

 of working. The object of the miner is the practical dispatch 

 of work, and his success will depend to a great extent upon 

 the amount of dirt which he can wash within a given space of 

 time. He regrets that any of the gold should be wasted, be- 

 cause it escapes from his sluice and his pocket, not because it 

 is lost to industry and commerce. 



222. Ditches. Water is the great agent of the placer 

 miner, and the element of his power. Its amount is the 

 measure of his work, and its cost the measure of his profit. 

 With an abundance of water he can wash every thing ; with- 

 out water he can do little or nothing. Placer mining is almost 

 entirely mechanical, and of such a kind that no accuracy of 



