304 TRAVELS IN THE 
of the naked eye ; and as the natives generally search the sands of 
streams at a considerable distance from the hills, and consequently 
far removed from the mines where the gold was originally 
produced, the labourers are sometimes but ill paid for their 
trouble. Minute particles only, of this heavy metal, can be 
carried by the current to any considerable distance ; the larger 
must remain deposited near the original source from whence 
they came. Were the gold-bearing streams to be traced to 
their fountains ; and the hills from whence they spring, properly 
examined, the sand in which the gold is there deposited would, 
no doubt, be found to contain particles of a much larger size ; * 
and even the small grains might be collected to considerable 
advantage by the use of quicksilver, and other improvements, 
with which the natives are at present unacquainted. • . > 
Part of this gold is converted into ornaments for the women, 
but, in general, these ornaments are more to be admired for 
their weight, than their workmanship. They are massy and ' 
inconvenient, particularly the ear-rings, which are commonly 
so heavy as to pull down and lacerate the lobe of the ear ; 
to avoid which they are supported by a thong of red leather, 
which passes over the crown of the head from one ear to the 
other. The necklace displays greater fancy; and the proper 
* I am informed that the gold mine, as it is called, in Wicklow, in Ireland, 
which was discovered in the year 1795, is near the top, and upon the steep slope, 
of a mountain. Here, pieces of gold of several ounces weight were frequently 
found. What would have been gold-dust two miles below, was here golden 
gravel ; that is, each grain was like a small pebble in size, and one piece was 
found which weighed near twenty-two ounces troy. ^'''^ 
