On the Li-ti-ping 21 
through and the yellow mud collects below, whence it 
is taken to the river side to be rocked in a shallow wooden 
cradle. The light mud is soon suspended in the water and 
gradually slopped over the side, leaving at the bottom of 
the cradle a heavy black sand, in which lie the still heavier 
flakes of gold. This black sand is cradled more carefully, 
and finally we have the specks of gold alone glittering in 
the cradle. 
Operations are best carried on by seven or eight 
persons, one half being engaged in extracting the auri- 
ferous sand, which lies usually a few feet below the surface 
shingle, the other half cradling the sand; but sometimes 
there are only three or four people to a syndicate, men, 
women and children being employed indiscriminately, 
though of course it is not particularly arduous work. The 
earnings vary considerably, but a hundred and fifty cash 
(about 74d.) a day per person seems a fair average. 
I have never seen this business carried on north of 
Pang-tsi-la, though it must be remembered that when I 
next saw the Kin-sha the water was at summer level. 
However, near Batang facilities for gold-washing certainly 
existed, and | believe I am right in saying that it is never 
undertaken ; consequently I am inclined to ascribe a local 
origin to the gold. 
On the Salween gold-washing seems to be entirely 
unknown, though I heard of it near the headwaters of the 
Irrawaddy, and on the Mekong I only once saw a few 
abandoned diggings; hence there is little ground for 
supposing that the gold originates from big reefs far up 
in Tibet, otherwise one would expect to find auriferous 
sand in the Mekong and Salween. Still I am inclined to 
think that, in this localised area, gold exists in considerable 
quantities along the Kin-sha, for even with these primitive 
appliances the men washed sufficient gold from the mud 
for me to see in a few minutes, 
Nuggets are rarely found, and for obvious reasons, since 
they must be for the most part at the bottom of the river. 
Dredging or some more rapid and thorough treatment of 
the auriferous shingle would doubtless be a_ profitable 
undertaking, but it is not likely that innovations of this 
sort would be viewed with favour by the local families who 
