GOLD AND ITS USES.

ANTIQUITY OF GOLD. ITS WORSHIP. ANCIENT GOLD MINES.-KING SOLOMON. GOLD IN AMERICA. - STORY OF A HUNTER. — THE SHEPHERD AND THE CHILD. — HOW PIZARRO EUCHRED THE PERUVIAN KING. SUTTER'S FORT AND SAW-MILL. MARSHALL'S DISCOVERY IN THE MILL-RACE. — ROMANCE AND REALITY. SPREADING THE NEWS. NAVIGATION UNDER DISADVANTAGES. THE GOLD EXCITEMENT.- THE PAN AND ROCKER. — THE AUTHOR AS A GOLD MINER. HOW HE WORKED THE ROCKER. HARRY AND HIS TIN DIPPER. DISAPPOINTMENT AND DINNER. — VICISSITUDES OF GOLD MINING.

THE most valuable metal generally known is gold, and it is likewise one of the most ancient. It is found in various parts of the globe, and is sufficiently scarce, and sufficiently hard to obtain, to make it precious. No doubt there is enough of it in the composition of this globe, if it could be easily obtained, to make it a very common metal. An Irishman once said, speaking of the gold mines of California, that there was suffi cient of the precious metal there, but it was terribly mixed up with dirt. If it were not for this mixing with dirt, and the difficulty of separating it, all of us might have gold enough and to spare, though it is quite possible that it might be of no more value than tin or brass.

The peculiarity of gold is, that it is never obtained entirely pure. Silver is always alloyed with it, but in no definite proportions. One of the purest specimens ever obtained gave, when analyzed, ninety-eight hundredths of gold, while the remaining two hundredths were about equally divided between silver and copper. Sometimes gold is found alloyed with silver in about equal proportions.

Gold is frequently referred to in the Scriptures, both in the

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GOLD IN ANCIENT TIMES.

Old Testament and in the New; in one of the earliest books of the Old Testament many applications of gold are described similar to those of the present day. It was beaten into plates, drawn into wires, and even woven with threads of linen for priestly robes. It was fashioned into breastplates, wrought into chains, and used as a setting for precious stones.

Sometimes it was made into gods and idols, and in some parts of the world it is worshipped as an idol up to the present day. A great many men and women in this nine teenth century worship gold more earnestly and more devotedly than they worship anything else.

The ancients, when they wrought their gold into idols, evidently had a keen perception of human nature.

An idol of iron or of wood may be of little account; but let one be made of gold, especially of solid gold, and with diamonds for eyes, and the whole world will fall down and wor-. ship it.

Where the ancients obtained their gold is not positively known, but it is supposed that it was brought from Africa or the East Indies, for the reason that the fleet of Solomon, in addition to gold, brought back ivory, spices, precious stones, ebony, peacocks, apes, and sandal wood. The cargoes of King Solo mon were evidently of a widely assorted character, and doubtless found a good market. Gold mines were evidently worked in the desert of Gobi in the early days, and along the Ural Mountains there are now found the traces of ancient mining operations supposed to date back to the time of King Solomon.

In the time of the Romans gold was not so abundant, and in the middle ages the production was very small. At the date of the discovery of America, it was estimated that the whole amount of gold and silver in the old world was about one hundred and seventy millions of dollars, and that the supply obtained each year did not exceed the loss by wear and other forms of destruction.

To enumerate all the gold mines of the world would require much more space than I have at my disposal. Nearly all parts of Europe contain deposits of the precious metal, though

THE RICHEST GOLD MINES.

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in many places where the ground is known to be auriferous the deposits are too poor to pay the expenses of working. The richest gold mines of Europe are in Russia, particularly along the Ural Mountains. The eastern slope of the Ural Mountains is more productive than the western, and the richest portion of Northern Asia, so far as gold is concerned, is in Eastern Siberia. Gold mining in that region, although not productive, is comparatively in its infancy, and great results may be looked for before many years. Until quite recently all mines in Russia were owned by the government, and were operated by officers in the interest of the crown. The result was, that there was very little enterprise displayed in mining operations. The officer in charge of a mining district would be unwilling to take any active steps, or run great risks in the explorations in the interest of the gold mines, as he would know that if he failed to return a profit to the government he would very likely lose his place. Consequently nearly all the mining operations were conducted on a sure basis.

Some years ago the Russian government changed its policy, and began throwing open its mining works to private enter· prise, exacting from the miners a liberal percentage of the gross amount of gold and silver which they had obtained. The result was, that under the stimulus of the enterprise,-in which private organizations will always excel the government, the mining interest in Russia increased rapidly, and the government now obtains from its percentage a much larger annual revenue than it had obtained before from the gold.

The discoveries of gold in America date from a very early period. There were large quantities of gold and silver in the hands of the Peruvians and the Aztecs at the time of the famous expedition of Pizarro and Cortes. A story is told of one of the captured kings of Peru, who, in order to secure his ransom, agreed to bring together in two months gold and silver enough to fill his room. This would have been a sufficiently great undertaking had he been confined in an ordinary

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DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN AMERICA.

prison cell; but his captor, with an eye to business, had put him in a large apartment, suited to his royal state. The room is said to have been twenty-two feet long, seventeen feet wide, and nine feet high. Such was the richness of Peru in the precious metals, that the old king had no doubt of his ability to meet his contract; and he did fill the room in the time. When his work was finished, and the metal was melted, it was found that he had collected over fifteen millions of dol lars a very handsome sum to pay for his liberty, which he did not get after all.

From the time of the discovery in America until 1520, there was more gold than silver exported to Europe; but about that time Mexico was conquered, and large quantities of silver were obtained. In the first three hundred years succeeding the discovery of America, the receipts of American gold were estimated at three and a half times the production of the old world, and those of silver at twelve times the amount of this metal produced outside of America. Gold was dug in America many hundreds of years ago. In some portions of Georgia the ruins of ancient huts and utensils were uncovered a few years ago in working some of the mines, and they are supposed to have belonged to a race of men now extinct, though it is contended by some persons that these gold works belonged to the period of Ferdinand de Soto. In the early part of this century gold mines were suc cessfully worked in the Carolinas, Georgia, and other states; but latterly the yield from these mines has greatly declined, and the returns of gold are quite small.

The discoveries of gold in California in 1848, and in Austra lia three years later, are events in the history of the human race of more importance than the discoveries of Mexico and Peru in the days of Cortes and Pizarro. These discoveries have given a new impetus to the migratory population of the whole world, built up large cities and regions where before there was only a wilderness, carried civilization and commerce where they were never known before, brought together strange people of all nations, mingling them in harmony side

by side, and have done more, perhaps, in the cause of universal peace and good will among all nations than any other discoveries of the present day.

In California, more than in any other part of America, people of all nations are assembled. In the streets of San Francisco one may see the synagogue, the church, and the pagoda. Christian and pagan, Jew and gentile, are mingled in the crowds that pass along the streets, and they are found laboring side by side to obtain the chief end of a large part of human existence the possession of wealth.

The discovery of gold in California, like many discoveries of gold and silver elsewhere, was not the work of science. It very often happens that those find who do not seek. A shepherd, a poor laborer, and even children are chosen by Nature to reveal to the world the treasures which she holds beneath the surface. It was not Columbus, nor Cortes, nor Pizarro who discovered the silver of South America, but an Indian hunter. The most famous silver mines of Peru were found

in the same way. One day a shepherd, leading his flock to feed on the slopes of the Andes, lighted some bushes to prepare his frugal meal. A pebble heated by the flame attracted his attention through its brightness, which reflected the rays of the sun. He found the stone massive and heavy, and finally carried it to the mint at Lima, where it was tested, and proved to be silver. The poor shepherd through his discovery became a millionaire.

A hunter, climbing the rocks in search of game, pulled up a bush, and found pieces of silver imbedded in the earth which the roots retained. A child, playing one day in the valley near the cottage of a poor peasant in Russia, picked up a shining pebble, and brought it home. The pebble was found to be very heavy, and on examination proved to be of gold. Investigations followed this discovery, and an extensive gold field was opened.

The discovery of gold in California was accidental. Captain Sutter, who had seen many vicissitudes and adventures in Europe and the wilds of America, arrived in California in