G O 
was originally imbedded, the labourers are fometimcs 
but ill-paid for their^trouble. Minute particles only of 
this heavy metal can be carried by the current to any 
confiderable diftance ; the larger muft remain depofited 
near tlie original fource from whence they came. Were 
the gold-bearing dreams to be traced to their fountains, 
and the hills from whence they fpring properly exa¬ 
mined, the fand in which the gold is there depofited 
would, no doubt, be found to contain particles of a 
much larger fize ; as was found to be the cafe on the 
difcovery of the gold-mine at Wicklow in Ireland. 
But even the fmall grains might be collefted to con.'i- 
derable advantage by the ufe of quickfilver, and other 
improvements, with which the poor negroes are at pre- 
fent unacquainted. 
Part of this gold is converted into ornaments for the 
women, but, in general, thefe ornaments are more to 
be admired for their weight, than their workmanfliip. 
They are mally and inconvenient, particularly the ear¬ 
rings, which are commonly fo heavy as to pull down 
and lacerate the lobe of the ear; to avoid which they 
are fupported by a thong of red leather, which pafles 
over the crown of the head from one ear to the other. 
The necklace difplays greater fancy ; and the proper 
arrangement of the different beads and plates of gold, 
is the great criterion of tafte and elegance. When a 
lady of confequence is in full drefs, her gold ornaments 
may be worth altogether, from fifty to eighty pounds 
lierling. A fmall quantity of gold is likewife employed 
by the Slatees, in defraying the expences of their jour¬ 
neys to and from the coafl :; but by far the greater pro¬ 
portion is annually carried away by the iMoors in ex- 
cliange for fait, and other merchandize. 
The ifland of Celebes or Macaffar, in the Eaftern In¬ 
dian Ocean, is faid to abound very much with this pre¬ 
cious metal. Whenever the workmen begin to dig for 
gold, they firfi: condutit water to tlie fpot; and if the 
fituation of the ground will not admit of the water be¬ 
ing condufted in furrows, they make a kind of gutters 
of hollow wakka trees, which they fupport with props. 
When they have brought the water to the place where 
the mine is to be opened, they make a pit of twenty, 
thirty, or forty, feet in circumference, according to the 
number of workmen. As long as the water has room 
to run off, tliey fuffer it to carry witii it the earth, 
which they keep continually turning and Ilirring in the 
pit; but wlien the pit becomes fo deep that there is 
no palfage for the water, they bale it out till they arrive 
at the fiones. Thefe they wafh clean, and build them 
Up regularly around the fides of the pit, but without 
lime or mortar. When the pit is carried to a confider¬ 
able depth, they fecure thefe fiones by means of boards 
and beams of wood. When all the earth, clay, dirt, 
and fiones, have been thrown from the pit, and a kind 
of black fand begins to appear, tliey are then pretty 
certain that they fiiall find gold. This fand they take 
up with fmall fliovcls made for the purpofe ; and, hav¬ 
ing placed themfelves in the water, they put one hand¬ 
ful of the fand after another on fmall round wooden 
difiies named dulangs. The dulangs are about eighteen 
inches in diameter and fomewhat hollow, and have a 
fmall cavity in the mithlle which can be clofed with a 
wooden cover. When all the fand has been waflied from 
the dulang by being continuilly ftirred round wiih the 
hand, the gold, which is much heavier, remains in the 
above-mentioned cavity. When it can receive no more, 
they take the gold which has been eolleiled, and hold 
it over tlie fire in a cocoa-nut fheif till it is dry ; after 
which they blow away the remaining fiand, and preferve 
the pure gold. Frederic Diihr, a fervant of the Dutch 
Eaft-India company, vifiieU thefe mines a few years ago, 
for the purpofe of afeertaining mere fatisfadtorily their 
probable extent; and from his report i: appears that 
the ifland is very abundant in gold, both in the funds 
and rocks. He obferved that the workmen, when they 
L D. Gflj 
had dug to the depth of five, and in fome places of 
twelve, feet, came to a horizontal firatum of rock, 
which witli their infiruments they were not able to pe¬ 
netrate. ”1 hey infifted, however, that they fliould find 
gold below thele rocks, if they coifld break »tlirough 
them. He alfo faw, where a firatum of fuch rock is 
found, at the depth ot from twelve to fifteen feet, that 
there were fiffures in it, two or three inches wide, which 
contained a blackifii lubfiance almofi like rufi of iron, 
mixed with a great many pieces of gold, and whicli the 
workmen, after they waflied the rock perfectly clean, 
dug out to as great a depth as they could reach with 
their tools. In all the mines of Celebes, the gold, 
when feparated from the fand, is of confiderable iiac- 
nefs. See Macassar. 
With refpe6t: to the gold of China, fir George Staun¬ 
ton obferves, vol. ii. p. 539, that this precious metal is 
efieemed in that country more for its rarity than its ufe, 
arifing from a decree of the emperor which proliibits 
the mines from being worked. Small grains of it, how¬ 
ever, are collefted in the province of Yun-nan and Sc- 
cluien, among the fand in the beds of the rivers and tor¬ 
rents which carry it down from tiie mountains. It is 
peculiarly pale, loft, and du6i:ile. A few mandarins, 
and many women of rank, wear bracelets of it round 
the wrifi, not more for ornament than from a notion 
that they preferve the wearer from a variety of difeafes. 
The Chinefe artifis beat it into leaf, for gumming it 
upon paper to burn in their tripods, and for gilding the 
ftatues ot their deities. The lllk and velvet weavers 
ufe it in their tilfues and embroideries. Trinkets arc 
alio made of it at Canton, which the Ciiinefe do not 
wear j they being manutadtured on purpofe to be fold 
in Europe as eafiern ornaments. 
A great deal has been laid relative to the gold-mine 
difeovered a few years ago in Ireland ; but the mofi fa- 
tislacfory account ot its produftion was pubihhed by 
Mr. Mills in the Philofopliical T'ranfactions for 175'’. 
from that gentleman’s account it appears tliat eigiit 
hundred ounces ot gold, of the average value of 3I. 15s. 
per ounce, were colledied in the fix weeks during which 
the country people were allowed to carry on their 
learch. The gold is of a bright yellow colour, per- 
tecfly malleable; the fpecific gravity of an apparently 
cleanspiece i9'OOo. A fpecimen allayed by Mr. Wea¬ 
ver, in the moifi way, produced from 24 grains, 
grains of pure gold, and of lilver. Some of ciie 
gold is intimately blended with, and adherentdo, quartz j 
tome was tound united to the fine-grained iron-fione, 
but thq major part was entirely free from the matrix ; 
every piece more or lei's rounded on the edges, of va¬ 
rious weights, forms, and lizes, from the inofi minute 
particle, up to 2 02. 17 dwt. only two pieces are knowu 
to have been found of I'uperior weight, and one of thole 
is 5, and the othei- 22, ounces!"— SeelRELANo. 
The greatefi part of the gold employed in Europe, 
is brought from South America, where, except'iu 
Africa, it appears to abound in the greatefi plenty ; as 
does likewile the valuable metal plaiina \ but the Spa- 
nilh miniflry has now prohibited the exportation of pla- 
tina from America, lelt it fhould be ufed in adulterating 
their gold ; though this does not appear to be a dangeV 
which need be feared, fince cliemiltry has long been in 
pofi'ellion of leveral limple and expeditious methods of 
deteifing the fraud ; which, befides, is evident to the 
fight, wuenever the quantity of debafement is coni'i-. 
derable. It may be quefiioned, likewii'c, wlietiier tiie 
value of platina would not loon equal that of gold, if 
its properties and tiles were better known in lotiety. 
M. Guyton, the celebrated n.incrdogifi, publillied fe. 
veral interefiing experiments in 1804, on purpofe to de¬ 
termine how far platina could be made lublervienl to 
the ...bricatioii ot counterfeit pieces of gold. For this 
purpofe, it was necefi'ary to arrive at fuch proportioIl^, 
that the alloy Ihould be at the fame degree of Ipecifiv. 
weight 
