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THE PRECIOUS METALS IX THE WEST OF ENGLAND. 

 By J. H. COLLINS, F.G.S. 



Gold. 



The remark has often been made that if the West of 

 England mineral region had been specially searched for gold 

 this metal would probably have been found in paying quantities 

 in many places ; and the further remark has been hazarded that 

 our laws, by which gold and silver are reserved to the Duchy of 

 Cornwall or the Crown instead of being held the property of the 

 ground landlord, are, in some degree at least, the cause of the 

 neglect to search for such metals. This latter contention at any 

 rate does not seem to be well-founded.^ 



As to the first remark, what follows may help us in arriving 

 at a just conclusion. 



It is matter of common knowledge that particles of native 

 gold have been found in most, if not all, of the alluvial gravels 

 of the West of England (now almost completel}^ exhausted) that 

 have been worked for tin. Thus Carew, writing in the reign of 

 Queen Elizabeth, says in an oft-quoted passage " Tynners doe 

 also find little hoppes of gold amongst their owre." - And 

 Beare about the same time says " Two blocks of tin. . . .carried 

 to Bordeaux in Queen Elizabeth's time were valued to be worth 

 all the rest of the tin there by reason of the gold contained in 

 them." 



So far as is known, the largest piece of gold yet found in 

 the West of England is specimen No. 1]2 from the Eashleigh 

 collection recently acquired by the Eoyal Institution of Cornwall. 

 Unfortunately the quartz formerly attached to this specimen has 

 been carefully picked out: it still weighs 1 oz. 18 dwts. 

 8 6 grains. 



I It is common experience that the Crown and Duchy have always been 

 considerate landlords, much more so indeed than the private owners. 

 2. Survey of Cornwall, p. 7. Quoted by De la Beche, Rep. V. 613. 



