22 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



taking the same course as the defile itself — this bed of 

 gravel rests on the slate of the country, (talcose slate 

 generally,) which is from nine inches to three feet in 

 thickness of strata, and placed from three to six feet 

 from the surface of the ground ; it is however, met 

 with occasionally much deeper under the ground, and 

 several strata of gravel have also been found to exist, of 

 which the lowest only contains gold. 



It is unnecessary here to describe the process of 

 washing the gold from the gravel in which it is contain- 

 ed, as the machines in operation are generally known, 

 and drawings of them already published. It differs from 

 the process used in the Ural mountains and in the Bra- 

 zils, and is superior in all respects, whether for the 

 amount washed per day of the gravel, or the fineness of 

 the gold saved, to any machine in operation in any other 

 country in the world. The 66 Burke rocker," as it is 

 commonly called, was the combined improvement of va- 

 rious miners in N. Carolina 5 it is estimated to wash from 

 700 to 1000 bushels or a cwt. of gravel per day, and 

 costs about twenty-five dollars, when completely fur- 

 nished and ready for use. 



Many theories have been started, and many opinions 

 entertained relative to the origin of these gold deposits 

 of the U. States. During the researches and private 

 operations on an extensive scale, in this class of mines, 

 the writer of this essay has become satisfied, as regards 

 the manner in which these gold deposits have originated 

 and been made. 



In working the trenches or pits of a branch mine, nu- 



