58 GOLD IN 



CHAP. II. 



on their sides ; for the vein of the earth they 

 dig runs lengthwise, and is only of the 

 depth of two feet, though considerably more in 

 breadth, and it is enclosed on every side with 

 hard stones, from which the ore is drawn 

 forth 1 ." 

 Southern Having thus taken a view of the state of 



Africa. 



mining and the productions of the mines in 

 Egypt and Nubia, we may have recourse to the 

 intimations of ancient authors respecting the 

 precious metals extracted from the interior of 

 the more southern parts of eastern Africa. 

 Their representations of the barbarous state of 

 society in which the inhabitants of those coun- 

 tries lived lead to the conclusion, that they had 

 not sufficient intelligence or industry to exca- 

 vate the earth, and separate the metals from the 

 ores, and that, therefore, the gold they pro- 

 cured was .obtained, as in the present day, 

 from the streams that descended from the lofty 

 mountains. 



Among these tribes, one is especially noticed 

 by Herodotus. When Cambyses had overrun 

 Egypt, he wished to extend his influence still 

 farther by means of negotiations with the people 

 of the south. Among 2 these, the Macrobians 



1 Theophrastus de Lapidibus, cap. cxix. 



2 Herodot. book iii. cap. 2026. 



