138 
Records of the Geological Survey of India. 
[vot,. vil. 
Process of washing. 
there consisted of a bed of coarse shingle mixed with clay and fine ferruginous pisolitic gravel 
(a product of decomposition of iron pyrites), overlaid by 
Section of alluvium at Soortoor. ,, , . p . _ , , . , , , , 
black clay followed by a second but rather less coarse bed of 
shingle, on which rested the regur forming the soil of that part of the valley of the Soortoor 
nullah. The yield of this washing was rather less than that of the last mentioned. For the 
two washings I had four men at work for three hours at a place of their own selection—their 
favorite place according to their assertion ; two men washed and other two dug and carried 
the material to the washing place. The quantity of wash-dirt put through the washing box, 
I estimated at 1' cubic yards, from which the quantity of gold obtained weighs a trifle over 
6J grains, worth 9 annas in round numbers, at the rate of £3-17-6 for the ounce (troy) 
of gold. 
The method of washing adopted is simple, but might bo made more effective at very 
little expense. The wash-dirt is scooped up with a small 
stout, broad hoc with a short handle, and carried in a basket 
or largo wooden tray to the washing box, which has been fixed at the water’s edge and 
propped up with stones to the required slope. The washer sits on a large stone in the water 
close to the side of the box, which is an oblong construction, made of light planks and open 
at one end. Ic is about 3 to 3J feet long, 20 inches wide, and 9 inches deep, and strengthened 
with clamps. A stick of some elastic kind of wood is jammed against the sides and 
bottom at the lower and open end to form a catch. This done, the washer begins to ladle 
water on the wash-dirt, kneading it the meanwhile with the left hand and throwing out 
all the larger pebbles. The ladle or rather. scoop used by the Jalgars was made of a long 
calabash, with one end cut off. It was held by the middle, an oblong hole having been cut into 
the incurved side, and a couple of small sticks tied across diagonally to the corners and fixed 
with strings passed through small holes. The elder man of the two, however, preferred to 
use a tin pot with cross handle, which had been given him by a former Collector of Dbarwar. 
This goes on till a layer of sand has been formed in the box, so thick that the stick at the 
lower end is no longer a sufficient catch, and a second stick is jammed in and the washing 
process re-commenees till the sand layer has risen almost level with the second stick; both sticks 
are then removed, the washer stirs up the layer of sand with a short, stout piece of wood 
and then sweeps everything into the large wooden tray held below the open end by the 
assistant. The washer then takes the tray, places it in the water, and performs the needful 
shaking and washing, technically called “ panning off,” till nothing remains at the bottom 
but fine sand, generally of black color. He then tilts the tray a little, and by judiciously 
dropping water out of his hand on the small layer of sand drives all the lighter particles 
forward and leaves the spangles of gold exposed. This small residue is then collected care¬ 
fully by washing down into a half cocoanut shell, and taken home to be treated with mercury. 
From the shortness of the washing box and the very rude way of stopping the open end, 
and from the evidently careless style of manipulation, there 
Process of washing susceptible of mug j- p, e considerable waste. Much better results would 
improvement. 
doubtless be obtained by using a box more like the Cali¬ 
fornian “Long Tom,” which is generally 12 feet long, 20 inches wide at the top, and widening 
to 30 inches at the open end, besides being furnished with various ledges to catch any heavy 
material. The first man who wrote about the Kappatgode gold tract—that admirable observer, 
Captain Newbold, f. B. s., whose early death was so great a loss to the cause of science 
generally in India—was also of opinion that the washing was very carelessly and wastefully 
performed. My friend, Major Bartholomew, Superintendent of Police in Dbarwar District, 
who with mo watched the Jalgars at work in the Dhoni nullah, was, like myself, much struck 
by the rudeness of their appliances and the careless way in which they proceeded. I find it 
difficult, therefore, to understand the verdict of a Mr. J. Seholt, apparently a practical miner, 
