28-t Scientific Proceedings, Royal Dublin Society. 



the fact that the apparently exhausted gravels afford on re- 

 washing a fresh supply of gold is a proof that it grows there. 

 This, however, is more probably due to weathering and disin- 

 tegration, as at Goldhill, North Carolina, where apyritous quartz 

 is crushed to fine sand, amalgamated, and the gold extracted ; 

 this sand after lying for about a year is again amalgamated, 

 and yields a crop nearly equal to the first, and this operation 

 may sometimes be repeated four or five times. 



In conclusion, we may consider what probabilities there are as 

 to any quantity of gold remaining undisturbed in the county. 



In the recognized auriferous valleys the peasants worked in the 

 shallow deposits, and all subsequent explorers appear to have 

 been unwilling to break new or deeper ground ; while Weaver 

 was directed only to continue the workings till the covering he- 

 came deep enough to prevent the peasants ivorldng it profitably. 



It appears that there are yet places in the county where 

 trials might well be undertaken with a fair chance of success, 

 such as ; — 



I. The shallow deposits or gravels {shallow placers of the Cali- 

 fornian diggers), on the tributaries of the Ovoca river. It appears 

 remai'kable that Weaver did not seek after some of these in con- 

 nection with his own mine (Cronebane), although portions of the 

 lode were known to be auriferous. His trials round the summit of 

 Croghan Kinshelagh, and his choice of the streams of Croghan 

 Moira, seem to suggest that he had some peculiar idea as to the 

 occurrence of the gold.* 



II. The "bench diggings," i.e., placers on the narrow benches 

 on the slopes of the valleys above the present level of the rivers ; 

 these have not been looked for in any of the valleys of this dis- 

 trict, nor are there many places where they could exist. 



III. The deep gravels in the Ovoca river and its tributaries ; 

 the Daragh water and Gold Mine river : f these deep gravels have 

 never been explored, although Fraser in his statistical survey 

 (1801), recommended the estuarine flat above Arklow as a proper 



* Captain P. Argall, who conducted the Cronebane mine for some time, informs me 

 that "the Connary Mining Co. crushed and amalgamated a considerable quantity' of 

 quartz collected from the neighbourhood of their mines without obtaining any gold." 



t Such accumulations could scarcely be analogous to the deep placers of California, 

 which are in the ancient river system, above the present system of the country, often 

 crossing it. 



