A GOLD MINE IN THE WILDERNESS. 185 



sized trees, which are heavily draped with vines and parasitic 

 plants, although these are not dense enough to shut out the 

 sunlight. Thus in many places a heavy undergrowth is 

 found, making it difficult to get about, while the steep ascents 

 and equally precipitous descents into the numerous inter- 

 secting valleys make extended exploration an arduous task, 

 especially in the directions away from Hoorie Creek. But 

 in this land of superabundant life, one needs but a short 

 walk to fill one's note-book with interesting facts. Let us 

 spend a day in the jungle. 



In light marching order, with glasses and note-books only, 

 we started out in the direction of the great pit of golden gravel, 

 and finding Nasua, the coolie, we persuaded him to pan a 

 few shovelfuls of earth from the surface of the ground within 

 reach of the spray of the water spouting up towards us. 



It was fascinating to watch his slender deft fingers and 

 his skilful manipulation of the gold pan. Filling it to over- 

 flowing with gray or red clay, he half sank it beneath the 

 surface of a little pool and began rocking and turning it. 

 Soon the large pebbles were all eliminated and only a muddy 

 sediment left. This was washed and revolved until there 

 seemed nothing but clear water, when as the last dirt was 

 flowed over the rim there came the flash of the golden grains. 

 Pressing his fingers on these, the pan was reversed for a 

 moment, and then dipping his finger tips in the clear water of 

 our glass vial the yellow grains sank swiftly to the bottom. 

 Sometimes only a half penny's worth would reward us, while 

 again as much as a shilling's value would be shown. 



Passing over the ridge we saw before us a deep and very 

 narrow valley with precipitous sides, down which we slid and 

 crawled, hanging on to vines and saplings to break our de- 

 scent. At the bottom we found an interesting advance in the 

 evolution of gold mining over the simplest form of gold pan- 

 ning. Two blacks were operating a "Long Tom," which in 



