ACCOUNTS OF BAMBOUE. ^65 
calculous emery, and very hard red marble* 
These substances cannot be submitted to ablu- 
tion for the extrication of the gold, without being 
first pounded, and reduced completely to powder* 
This constitutes a very tedious and laborious 
process, especially as the instruments employed 
are merely a pestle and mortar of hard wood, 
which are soon worn by the supeiior hardness of 
the pounded substances. At the depth of about 
thirty feet the miners find a solid stratum of red 
marble, richly impregnated with gold, but upon 
which their skill does not enable them to make 
any impression. For these reasons the mine of 
Semayla, though probably richer than that of 
Natakon, is considered in Bambouk as only of 
secondary value. The other two repositories are 
those of Nambia and Kombadyria, both contained 
in similar hillocks ; the gold combined in the 
same mechanical manner with the other substan- 
ces. The gold of Nambia, from its peculiar duc- 
tility, being easily worked, is niore prized by the 
negroes than any of the rest. 
It appears, from the information of Mr Gol- 
berry, that the pits are sunk considerably deeper 
than had been reported by Compagnon — often as 
low as 30 or 40 feet. The sides are made per- 
pendicular, without any precaution to prop them, 
up. At first, the soil thus dug is merely thrown 
into baskets, and handed to the women for wash- 
