636 Original Articles. [Oct., 



Wicklow famous.* That the Eomans discoverod gold in England and 

 Wales is certain. We have the statement of Tacitus already quoted, 

 and we have the evidence of the remains of Roman mines, which were 

 worked for gold, in several parts of the country, the most remarkable 

 being the gold mine — Ogofau or Gogofau — near Pumpsant, in Caer- 

 marthenshire. Here, situated on the left bank of the Cothy, and 

 forming part of the grounds of Dolau-Cothy, are the curious remains 

 of mining, which have been well described by Mr. W. W. Smyth. f 

 For some distance the quartz lode has been " worked open to day," 

 and galleries and levels have been driven 170 feet through the slate. 

 In evidence of the auriferous character of this working, are the facts 

 that the officers of the Geological Survey discovered gold in one of 

 the quartz lodes at Dolau-Cothy, and that a metallurgical workshop 

 was found ; and amongst other curious remains a gold necklace, which 

 is now in the possession of Mrs. Johnes, the wife of the gentleman to 

 whom this property belongs. Other instances might be cited, if it 

 were necessary, in proof of the former existence of gold in tolerably 

 large quantities in many parts of these islands. J 



The streams which were washed in ancient times were, without 

 doubt, exhausted of their treasures by the eager searchers, and hence 

 the reason why we find traditions of the existence of gold clinging to 

 spots where no gold can now be found. We have witnessed, within 

 our own time, the exhaustion of many an auriferous district in 

 California and in Australia, and without doubt the same process went 

 forward in this country, as has been for some years active in those 

 distant lands. Even now the " tin streams " of Cornwall are not 

 entirely exhausted of their gold. From the earliest period the 

 " streamer " has carried his " quill," in which he deposits the little 

 spangles of gold, which from time to time present themselves to his 

 discriminating eye. These quills of gold, when filled, are sold at the 

 nearest town. Occasionally little nuggets have been found. In the 

 Scorrier Collection of Minerals are two as big as small beans ; and 

 examples are to be found in other private collections, in Cornwall, in the 

 British Museum, and in the Museum of Practical Geology, in London. 



There has been a constantly prevailing idea that gold mines were 

 to be discovered in this country, and we find our monarchs, with 

 much avarice, claiming, under the term of " Mines Royal," the right 

 to all the precious metals which might at any time be discovered. 

 Sir John Pettus, who was especially the agent of Prince Rupert, thus 

 defines a " Mine Royal : " § — 



" When the ore does not yield so much gold and silver as will 

 exceed the cost of refining and the loss of the baser metal, it is 

 called a poor mine. But when the ore yields gold or silver to an 



* See a discussion on this question, ' Transactions of the Royal Geological 

 Society of Ireland,' 11th January, 1865. 



t " Note on the Gogofau or Ogofau mine, near Pumpsant, in Carmarthenshire," 

 by W. W. Smyth, M.A. ' Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United 

 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.' 



J See 'Lectures on Gold,' delivered in the Museum of Practical Geology. 



§ Fodinas Regales. 



