PART 2.] 
King: Gold-fields of S.-E. Hf ndd. 
31 
very poor, but his perseverance at the work was marvellous under the difficulties, real and 
imaginary, with which he had to contend. A committee was then appointed, consisting of 
Mr. I’. Clementson, Principal Collector, Major A. Ross, Superintending Engineer, Malabar 
and Canara, and Dr. F. W. Ward ; and an able report, dated 25th May, 1833, was the 
result. These three gentlemen practically condemned the working for gold, as an European 
industry, in the low country of Malabar. My own examination of the plains has as yet only 
been a cursory one; but without going so far as this decision, I am inclined to agree to a 
great extent with it, more especially as it -would appear from what we now know that there is 
sufficient evidence to show that European energy is more likely to meet with success in the 
Wynad. 
In 1865 or 1866 Mr. Stern (of Australian experience) paid a prospecting visit to Wynad 
and made trial of the alluvial deposits, of which there are several in the form of flat swampy 
land along the courses of the streams. He tried near Dayvallah by sinking pits to ‘bottom 
rock ’ and always got gold, but not in sufficient quantity to make it worth while continuing 
his work. 
Within the last year or so attention was again called to the occurrence of gold in the 
Wynad. Some of the planters had lived in Australia previous to their coffee experiences, 
and being more or less acquainted with quartz and its occasional associated minerals, they 
were naturally struck with the quartz in Wynad, while they also knew that gold was, and is, 
obtained by tbe natives. There was, however, a want of capital, and no one had seen gold 
in the quartz until Mr. Withers, the present Manager of the Alpha Company, came down to 
Wynad. Mr. Withers, who knows how to -wash for gold, and is acquainted with quartz 
reefing, prospected the country for a long time until he felt convinced that nothing was to 
be done at alluvial and surface washing. He then explored tbe old pits and workings of the 
Koruinbars and finally settled on a quartz reef in which he found gold visible. This reef 
and the ground alongside had been extensively worked in old times by the Korumbars. In 
one of the numerous caves he found tlie remains of one of these native miners, and thus the 
lode came to be called the “ Skull Reef.” 
Tbe Alpha Gold Company was then started, the prospectus of which states on the 
authority of “the Company’s Manager and two of the Directors, who have had much experi¬ 
ence of quartz-reef mining in Australia,” that the stone will yield about one ounce of gold 
to the ton of quartz. 
The most common mode of occurrence of gold in South-east Wynad is naturally in 
Alluvial sources of gold, the Recent deposits, such as the surface soil on the hill-sides, the 
not neh ‘ stream sands and gravels, or the true alluvial flats (Vayals or 
Veils) which are so frequent a feature in this upland as to have given it the name of the 
“landof swamps”; but in none of these ways does it seem that any large quantity of gold 
is stored up, except perhaps in the swamps which have as yet only been tried by Mr. Stern 
when they were found to be as poor as tbe rest of the land. 
The surface soils are generally very thin, and they are not extensive enough to justify 
From surface soils. large attempt at washing by hydraulic sluicing. Still they are 
perhaps the favorite resort of the Eannirs who can always from 
known patches of ground produce a certain small amount of gold. On four occasions these 
men worked for me at places around Dayvallah, but they never got as much gold as would 
pay for their employment at five annas a day for each man. Occasionally, however, they 
chance on richer finds. The largest known fragment of gold found within the last few years 
in Wynad weighs over seven pennyweights, but it contains some quartz. It is of pale color, 
and is not much rolled ; in fact it has evidently not been washed far from the present reef. 
