A RUN THROUGH KATHIAWAR. 287 



quartz of Gi'rnar might very well contain gold ; the 

 name of the river is the Sonarica, or " golden-flowing " 

 stream, and there is a tradition that, in ancient times, 

 gold was collected in its bed, though none appears to 

 have been got there of late years. It consequently 

 struck me that if the quartz of Gi'rnar did contain 

 gold to any appreciable extent, deposits of it would 

 almost certainly exist in the sand and gravel of this 

 basin, which must have been washed down from the 

 great mountain. Accordingly, I collected some speci- 

 mens of the deposit, and had it sifted after a rough 

 fashion. This was done by putting portions of the 

 sand into a basin of water, stirring the water gently, 

 and then throwing it out by handfuls. Supposing 

 there is gold in the basin, it, being the heaviest 

 substance, will keep to the bottom, and for the most 

 part escape being thrown out. Repeating this process 

 several times, I then tested with quicksilver, but 

 failed to find any gold. I am not at all convinced, 

 however, that there may not be a gold-field in that 

 basin underneath Gi'rnar ; and that not because my 

 testing was roughly done, but because, in taking my 

 specimens of sand, I did not get down deep enough, 

 or reach any basis sufficient to arrest the downward 

 progress of particles of gold. There is also an old 

 tradition, which the Jemadar Bhaoaddin mentioned 

 to me, that diamonds used at one time to be found 

 on Gi'rnar ; but I made no attempt to follow up this 

 suggestion. 



