Olmsted on the Gold Mines of JSorth Catolina. 15 



lumps. The inference is, that this gold existed originally, 

 that is, before its removal to its present position, in pieces 

 somewhat larger than those found at present, but still of a ^¥( 



moderate size. Whether these pieces lay contiguous to 

 one another in a large vein, or whether they were flattened 

 abroad in individual masses, it is, perhaps, impossible to 

 decide. The fact that small veins have been found, trav- 

 ersing quartz, favours the idea that this was the original 

 mode of existence. 



There are some circumstances which induce the belief, 

 that the materials of the deposit itself were derived from 

 the great Slate formation before mentioned. The green 

 mud may be supposed to have been formed out of the 

 Chlorite and argillaceous rock, with which the formation 

 abounds ; the greenstone pebbles correspond with a class 

 of rocks of the same formation ; and the quartzose frag- 

 ments answer well in appearance to the larger fragments, 

 that are profusely scattered over the ridges of the slate 

 country. Moreover, two masses of gold, each weighing 

 several pwts. have been found in the county of Orange, 

 over the same formation, 60 or 70 miles north of the gold 

 region. Hence might be derived some faint hopes of find- 

 ing the gold in native veins or beds ; but still these may 

 have been in the " fountains of the great deep" that were 

 broken up. 



If we suppose that gold dust is universally derived from 

 diluvial action on lumps of the same metal, it will account for 

 two well known facts; — first, the very general diffusion of 

 particles of gold among the the sands of all countries ; 

 and, secondly, the circumstance of many rivers that were 

 anciently auriferous, having now ceased to be so ; as the 

 Tagus, Po, and Pactolus (Kirwan, Geological Essays, 402.) 

 This author also adds, that it appears by the testimony of 

 Di'sdown that some of the rivers of France were much 

 more abundantly auriferous in former ages than they are 

 at present. The dust derived from diluvial action may be 

 conceived to be exhausted or washed out in the course of 

 ages, while there is now no process going forward for sup- 

 plying the waste. 



