Notice of Gold in North Carolina. 133 



Before concluding, I would mention that the manner of working 

 the different varieties of mines, as above described, are as various 

 as the different situations in which they are found, and the appear- 

 ances exhibited by the metal when obtained. A large capital is 

 necessarily invested in working the vein mines, as extensive and ex- 

 pensive machinery is requisite to pulverize and wash the ore, to col- 

 lect and purify the gold. The profits arising from the working of 

 the vein mines, although occasionally not so exorbitant as are ob- 

 tained from the others, are more sure and continual, as the veins, as 

 far as experience yet has proved, are enlarged as their depth from 

 the surface increases, and being moistened by water the ore is more 

 easil)^ obtained. 



The working of the alluvial deposits requires much less capital, 

 the only investment necessary being the price of the land and the 

 hands employed in the labor — the gold in these situations being 

 found in small pieces, generally pure ; a small quantity of mercury, 

 if any, is required to collect it ; the machinery is extremely simple, 

 and its expense compai'atively nominal — many farmers, owning from 

 ten to a hundred slaves, have found it advantageous to engage in the 

 working of these alluvial deposits, as the profits in many instances 

 are considerable, and even should the mine fail, their labor could 

 with but little loss be turned into another channel. 



The working of the third class of mines, " deposits or pockets," 

 partakes of all that uncertainty and hope which constitute the at- 

 traction and intense anxiety of the gaming table. Whole months 

 of labor may be expended without one particle of gold delightino- 

 the anxious eyes of the workman — when unexpectedly his labor may 

 be repaid and his brightest hopes fulfilled by the discovery of a rich 

 pocket, which may raise him from poverty to wealth. But these rich 

 pockets, like lottery prizes and angels' visits, are few and far between, 

 and it is only in the excitement produced by the discovery of some 

 such valuable pocket as the one described in the preceding part of 

 my letter, that prudent persons are apt to engage in their search. 



I have thus, sir, in answering your inquiry, been led into consider- 

 able detail, but in it I have endeavored to confine myself strictly to 

 points suggested by the inquiry. Indeed, were I to pursue the im- 

 portant subject of gold-mining, as followed even in this section of 

 country, through all the ramifications which naturally suggest them- 

 selves to the mind, I might at once prove tedious to you, even if I 

 should not furnish evidence of my inability properly to handle the 

 subject. 



