328 JOUHNET* 



mined the load in which the gold ore m 

 found, and found it of a reddish, gravelly- 

 sand, mixed with large and small stones. 

 This ran in a vein, over what the natives 

 call piSdra (stone), but what appeared to me 

 to be a kind of very hard marl, of a grey 

 colour; above the load, in some mines, was 

 a brownish sand, and in others a dark slimy 

 clay. These mines are worked in what they 

 term the dry way, as they have first to ex- 

 tract the load, and then wash it. The na- 

 tives consider the mines would be more 

 valuable if water could be introduced into 

 them by canals, (which is impossible, as 

 there are none in the neighbourhood above 

 the level,) and if they were open from the 

 surface, as the labour would be less, and 

 the expense of lighting the mine with 

 candles, which consume rapidly, could be 

 done away with. I extracted some of the 

 load myself, which I washed at the mouth 

 of the mine, and found some grains of very 



