626 Further information an the gold washings of Assam, [July, 



more or less gold in their sands, and the soil of which their banks 

 are composed ; the most noted however are the Bor-oli, Subon- 

 shiri, Desue, and Joglo, the two latter containing the purest and best 

 gold, and in the Joglo it is said that this precious metal is found in 

 large grains, about the size of a grain of rice. The color of the 

 gold also in both the last named rivers is of a deep yellow, and it was 

 so much prized, that the jewels of the raja's family of Assam were inva- 

 riably made up from what was collected in them. 



The gold of the Buramputer is considered the Worst, and it seems to 

 be a general opinion, that the gold is best, and in greatest quantities, 

 when the bed of the rivers is composed of a mixture of sand and small 

 pebbles. I cannot however speak with confidence on this point, further 

 than to observe, that the whole of the rivers I have enumerated have 

 their sources in the mountains, and they have naturally for a consi- 

 derable portion of their course a pebbly and stony bed. 



The Desue is a small river, and has sometimes little or no water in 

 it ; it has a short course from the mountains south of Jorehaut (where 

 it rises) to the Buramputer, and a heavy shower of rain near its 

 source causes it to rise suddenly. The gold-washers carry on their ope~ 

 ration one and a half days' journey above Jorehaut, where the bed is 

 stony. 



The Joglo rises in a range of small hills, which stretch across from 

 Jaiporc towards Sudiya, and after a very short course of a few miles 

 falls into the Eooree Diking ; it has throughout a pebbly bed, and towards 

 its mouth the banks are high, and composed of yellow-colored clay, 

 similar to the soil of the hills and the tract of country through which 

 the Joglo passes. At the mouth of the last named river the bed of the 

 Diking is conglomerate rock, rich in iron, and the hills in which the 

 Joglo has its rise, abound in iron and coal. 



The sonewahls endeavour to keep their art as secret as possible, 

 and wish to make people believe that they have particular methods of 

 washing for gold, and that they alone know the most favorable spots 

 for carrying on their operations. A few of these peculiarities however 

 have been pointed out to me\ 



The best time to wash for gold is after a rise of the waters in the 

 rivers, and the most favorable spots are where beds of the rivers are 

 composed of small rounded pebbles of quartz and sandstone, with a 

 mixture of sand, and also in spots, where from natural causes, there is 

 an extensive deposit of this. In the Joglo however the soil is scraped 

 from the banks, and washed, and I am told that the soil and sand which 

 has collected about the roots of trees on the banks, is considered rich 



