BOOK XXXIII. XXI. 66-69 



ways : in the detritus of rivers, for instance in the 

 Tagus in Spain, the Po in Italy, the Maritza in 

 Thrace, the Sarabat in Asia Minor and the Ganges in 

 India ; and there is no gold that is in a more perfect 

 state, as it is thoroughly polished by the mere friction 

 of the current. Another method is by sinking shafts ; 

 or it is sought for in the fallen debris of mountains. 

 Each of these methods must be described. 



People seeking for gold begin by getting up 

 segullum^ — that is the name for earth that indicates 

 the presence of gold. This is a pocket of sand, 

 which is washed, and from the sediment left an 

 estiraate of the vein is made. Sometimes by a rare 

 piece of luck a pocket is found immediately; on the 

 surface of the earth, as occurred recently in Dalmatia 

 when Nero was emperor, one yielding fifty pounds ^-^- ^4-08 

 weight of gold a day. Gold found in this way in the 

 surface crust is called talutium if there is also auri- 

 ferous earth underneath. The othervvise dry, barren 

 mountains of the Spanish provinces which produce 

 nothing else whatever are forced into fertility in 

 regard to this commodity. 



Gold dug up from shafts is called * channelled ' or Goid-miidng. 

 ' trenched ' gold ; it is found sticking to the grit of 

 marble, not in the way in which it gleams in the 

 lapis lazuli of the East and the stone ^ of Thebes ^' 

 and in other precious stones, but sparkling in the folds 

 of the marble. These channels of veins wander to 

 and fro along the sides of the shafts, which gives the 

 gold its name; and the earth is held up by wooden 

 props. The substance dug out is crushed, washed, 



" Segullo is still the miners' name for surface earth in 

 auriferous deposits in Castile. 



^ Apparently some micaceous granite. * In Egypt. 



53 



