MINING. 259 
to the upper end of it. Across the bottom of the cradle-box 
are two riffle-bars about an inch square, one in the middle, the 
other at the end of the box. The dirt is shovelled into the 
hopper, the “ cradler’’ sits down beside his machine, and while 
with one hand with a lad!e he pours water from a pool at his 
side upon the dirt, with the other he rocks the cradle. With 
the water and the motion the dirt is dissolved, and carried 
down through the riddle, falling upon the apron which carries 
it to the head of the ecradle-box, whence it runs downward 
and out, leaving its gold, black sand, and heavier particles of 
sand and gravel behind the riffle-bars. The man who rocks a 
cradle learns to appreciate the fact, that the “golden sands” 
of California are not pure sand, but are often extremely tough 
clay, a hopperful of which must be shaken about for ten 
minutes before it will dissolve under a constant pouring of 
water. Many large stones are found in the pay-dirt. Such 
as give an unpleasant shock to the cradle, as they roll from 
side to side of the riddle-box are pitched out by hand, and 
after a glance to see that no gold sticks to their sides, are 
thrown away; but the smaller ones are left until the hopper- 
fal has been washed, so that nothing but clean stones remain _ 
in the riddle, and then the cradler rises from his seat, lifts up 
his hopper, and with a jerk throws all the stones out. The 
water and the rocking are both necessary. Without the 
water, the dirt could not be washed; and without the rocking, 
the dirt would dissolve very slowly, and the gold would 
most of it be lost. The rocking keeps the dirt in the bottom 
of the cradle more or less loose, so that the particles of 
gold can sink down in it, whereas if the cradle stood still 
the sand there would almost immediately pack down into a 
hard floor, over which the gold would run almost as readi- 
ly as over a board. The whole business of washing with a 
cradle is a repetition of the process already described—some 
dirt, about one-third or one-fourth of what the hopper would 
hold, if full, is put into the hopper, and while the cradle is 
rocked with one hand, the other pours in the water. The 
