206 Remarks on the Gold Mines of North Carolina. 



It will follow of course, that at some places the gold will be 

 further removed from its vein, or native bed, than at others, 

 for the reason, that at some places the action of water was 

 more powerful than at others. 



The gold is most commonly found in the natural channels 

 or beds of the water courses from the larger rivers and creeks 

 to the smallest rivulets, and in the hollows formed by hills. — 

 When found on hills or level ground, it is always in the vicini- 

 ty of the veins, from which the weakness of the current could 

 not remove it very far. (m.) 



If we look at the gold deposited in the alluvial spots, we 

 find a great resemblance to the gold as found in the veins ex- 

 cepting the changes which are produced on it by the action 

 of water. 



The gold found in alluvial spots in the ranges of the first 

 formation, is most generally deposited in a soil partly compo- 

 sed of red oxid of iron, and magnetic iron sand. This bed or 

 layer containing the metal, is nothing else than a mass of the 

 vein, decomposed, and scattered over a greater or less surface. 

 The proof of this is : first, that we discover the gold only in 

 this peculiar layer, while we find it neither above nor below 

 it, and secondly, the gold we here find is like the gold found 

 in the veins. 



Near the veins, we find the gold much in appearance as it 

 is in the vein ; while as it is removed, it becomes finer, and is 

 washed smoother : and it becomes purer in the proportion it 

 has been acted on ; for the water and atmosphere purify it 

 from those metals which are subject to oxidation, (w.) 



The gold which is found in the alluvial deposits in the ran- 

 ges of the second and third formation of veins, is always dis- 

 covered in a decomposed greenstone, mixed with pebbles of 

 quartz, the angles of which have been worn off by attrition. 

 Here may be seen very distinctly the different layers, which 

 at different times have been deposited. On the surface of 

 the greenstone below all the other layers, is found a bed of a 

 greenish colored substance, sometimes three or four inches 

 thick, which is nothing but materials proceeding from the de- 

 composition of the greenstone itself, (o.) The next bed is 

 the one in which the gold is generally found. The thickness 

 of this bed varies at different deposits and often at different 

 places of the same deposit. In lower places, where the water 

 stagnated or had less force, it is sometimes three or four feet 

 thick, or even more. At other places, where the water had 



