MINING. 313 



of water, a steep descent for it, and much poor dirt. The stream 

 is turned through a little ditch, which the miners labor to deepen 

 and enlarge ; and when it is deep they prize off the high banks 

 so that the dirt may fall down into the ditch. This is a very 

 cheap and expeditious way of washing, but it is not applied 

 extensively. 



233. Cradle. The rocker or cradle is still less than the 

 torn and inferior in capacity. It bears some resemblance in 

 shape and size to a child's cradle, and rests upon similar rock- 

 ers. The cradle-box is about forty inches long, twenty wide, 

 and four high, and it stands with the upper end about two 

 feet higher than the lower end, which is open, so that the tail- 

 ings can run out. On the upper end of the cradle-box stands 

 a hopper or riddle-box, twenty inches square, with sides four 

 inches high. The bottom of this riddle-box is of sheet-iron, 

 perforated with holes half an inch in diameter. The riddle- 

 box is not nailed to the cradle-box, but can be lifted off with- 

 out difficulty. Under the riddle is an " apron " of wood or 

 cloth, fastened to the- sides of the cradle-box and sloping down 

 to the upper end of it. Across the bottom of the cradle-box 

 are two riffle-bars about an inch square, one in the middle, the 

 other at the end of the box. The dirt is shoveled into the 

 hopper, the" cradler" sits down beside his machine, and while 

 with one hand with a ladle he j>ours water from a pool at his 

 side upon the dirt, with the other he rocks the cradle. With 

 the water and the motion the dirt is dissolved, and carried 

 down through the riddle, falling upon the apron, which carries 

 it to the head of the cradle-box, whence it runs downward 

 and out, leaving its gold, black sand, and heavier particles of 

 sand and gravel behind the riffle-bars. 



234. The Sluice. The board-sluice is a long wooden 

 trough, through which a constant stream of water runs, and 

 into which the auriferous dirt is thrown. The water carries 

 away the clay, sand, gravel, and stones, and leaves the gold in 

 the bottom of the sluice, where it is caught by its gravity and 



