As The Negroes Dig Through The Different Strata Of Clay Or Sand, A Calabash Or Two Of Each Is Washed, By Way Of Experiment; And In This Manner The Labourers Proceed, Until They Come To A Stratum Containing Gold; Or Until They Are Obstructed By Rocks, Or Inundated By Water.

In general, when they come to a stratum of fine reddish sand, with small black specks therein, they find

Gold in some proportion or other, and send up large calabashes full of the sand, for the women to wash; for though the pit is dug by the men, the gold is always washed by the women, who are accustomed from their infancy to a similar operation, in separating the husks of corn from the meal.

As I never descended into any of these pits, I cannot say in what manner they are worked under ground. Indeed, the situation in which I was placed made it necessary for me to be cautious not to incur the suspicion of the natives, by examining too far into the riches of their country; but the manner of separating the gold from the sand is very simple, and is frequently performed by the women in the middle of the town; for when the searchers return from the valleys in the evening, they commonly bring with them each a calabash or two of sand, to be washed by such of the females as remain at home. The operation is simply as follows: -

A portion of sand or clay (for gold is sometimes found in a brown coloured clay) is put into a large calabash, and mixed with a sufficient quantity of water.

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