BOOK VIII 



A — Trough. B — Its open end. C — End th.^vt may be closed. 



E — Hoe. F — End-board. G — Bag. 



D— Stream. 



with a small quantity of heavy sand, have settled in the trough, they wash 

 in a bowl and collect in bags and carry away with them. 



Some people wash this kind of sand in a large bowl which can easily be 

 shaken, the bowl being suspended by two ropes from a beam in a building. 

 The sand is thrown into it, water is poured in, then the bowl is shaken, and 

 the muddy water is poured out and clear water is again poured in, this being 

 done again and again. In this way, the gold particles settle in the back part 

 of the bowl because they are heavy, and the sand in the front part because it 

 is Ught ; the latter is thrown away, the former kept for smelting. The one 

 who does the washing then returns immediately to his task. This method 

 of washing is rarely used by miners, but frequently by coiners and goldsmiths 

 when they wash gold, silver, or copper. The bowl they employ has only 

 three handles, one of which they grasp in their hands when they shake the 

 bowl, and in the other two is fastened a rope by which the bowl is hung from 

 a beam, or from a cross-piece which is upheld by the forks of two upright 

 posts fixed in the ground. Miners frequently wash ore in a small bowl to test 



