1838.] Native account of washing j or gold in Assam. 623 



There are other rivers falling into these which produce gold, but the 

 best gold is found in the most winding streams with the strongest 

 currents. 



Not having any old papers on this subject there ma)' be some trifling 

 errors in the above estimates, but it is a positive fact that 4000 tolahs 

 of gold at the very least were received annually by the Assam raja. 



There are four methods of collecting gold as follows : — 



1. The Kacharees wait until the river rises and when it falls again 

 suddenly they scrape up the sand and wash for gold. 



2. All other sonwals collect and wash for gold during the dry sea- 

 son. 



3. The sonwal of the Rydegeea Phookun's Bhag go up into the 

 hills and collect the copat, which they burn to produce gold. 



4. The gold-washers in the Seedang river get the gold by washing 

 the moss and slime which they scrape off the rocks in the bed of the 

 river. 



These are the four methods by which geld is collected, but the gold- 

 washers generally collect the gold during the dry season. 



Method of washing and collecting gold from sand. 



Wherever the current is strong with a falling bank above it ending 

 in a sharp turn of the river, the sonwals examine the opposite shore 

 where the sand from the falling bank is l thrown, and if this should 

 contain gravel mixed with the sand it is accounted a good place to find 

 gold in. 



Each party consists of a patoee and 4 pallees, who wash in one 

 trough (or dorongee No. 5) ; when they find a proper place to commence 

 operations they begin by working about in the sand with a sharp pointed 

 bamboo (No. 1, or sokalee) to find the depth at which the gravelly sand 

 is, they then take it up in a piece of split bamboo, (No. 2, bans chola) 

 and examine whether there is any gold dust in it ; if they see 12 or 14 

 bits they immediately build their houses and comme.ice operations. 

 They first bund up the deep part of the stream, if it be a small one with 

 sand, and if large with stakes and grass : the stream then takes a differ- 

 ent direction over the sand ; they allow it to wash away the upper sur- 

 face of sand so as to expose the gold sand, when the bund is re-opened 

 and the stream returns to its original bed. The upper sand is then scrap- 

 ed off and the good sand collected with a kind of wooden spade (No. 3, 

 kater dohtal) ; this shovel is 1^- cubits long by 1 cubit in breadth, with 

 a handle 4 cubits long ; the blade is of the form of a crescent with holes 

 at each corner through which a string is passed and two men lay hold 

 of and pull this string, while a third person keeps pressing the spade 

 4 i 



