The Gold Industry in Guiana. 83 
About the year 1849, Dr. PLASSARD re-discovered 
gold in the distrift where RALEIGH placed his mine. 
After exploring the mouth of the Caroni as far as the 
catara6ts, Raleigh went back to the Indian town where 
TOPIAWARI was chief, which is supposed to be the 
present Las Tablas. Here he was told that the nearest 
town of the Epuremei nation was Macareguarai, four 
days' journey from TOPIAWARI'S town. From the 
Epuremei came all the gold plates that " were scattered 
among the borderers, and carried to other nations far 
and near." New Providence, which is the centre of the 
present gold diggings, is just about four days' journey 
from Las Tablas, it is almost a certainty therefore, that 
the original manufafturers of the gold plates lived on 
the Upper Cuyuni and Yuruari. Fragments of pottery, 
stone axes, an old mortar, and the remains of mining 
shafts, have been found by the diggers in the Caratal 
distrift. 
For some years after Dr. PLASSARD's discovery of 
gold at Tupuquen nothing was done towards working 
the mines. At last, however, about 1857, numbers of 
people began to flock to the distrift and commenced 
washing the sands of the Yuruari. Afterwards pits were 
dug on the side of the river, and quartz crushed in 
wooden mortars with iron pestles. There are now 
several mining companies at work crushing the quartz, 
which is very rich, although there is nothing to equal 
RALEIGH'S £26,900 the ton. The largest nugget hitherto 
obtained weighed 180 ozs. this was got by washing what 
is called the Tierra de flor ) found at about eight feet 
below the surface under a stratum of gravel and pebbles, 
having been probably the old river-bed. 
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