A—SIEVE. B—TUB. C—WATER FLOWING OUT OF THE BOTTOM OF IT.
D—STRAKE.
E—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE. F—WOODEN SCRUBBER.
earth or sand is found on the slopes of mountains or hills, or in the level fields
which are either devoid of streams or into which a stream cannot be diverted,
miners have lately begun to employ the following method of washing, even
in the winter months. An open box is constructed of planks, about six
feet long, three feet wide, and two feet and one palm deep. At the upper
end on the inside, an iron plate three feet long and wide is fixed, at a depth
of one foot and a half from the top; this plate is very full of holes, through
which tin-stone about the size of a pea can fall. A trough hewn from a tree
is placed under the box, and this trough is about twenty-four feet long and
three-quarters of a foot wide and deep; very often three cross-boards are
placed in it, dividing it off into compartments, each one of which is lower
than the next. The turbid waters discharge into a settling-pit.
E—THREE-TOOTHED RAKE. F—WOODEN SCRUBBER.
earth or sand is found on the slopes of mountains or hills, or in the level fields
which are either devoid of streams or into which a stream cannot be diverted,
miners have lately begun to employ the following method of washing, even
in the winter months. An open box is constructed of planks, about six
feet long, three feet wide, and two feet and one palm deep. At the upper
end on the inside, an iron plate three feet long and wide is fixed, at a depth
of one foot and a half from the top; this plate is very full of holes, through
which tin-stone about the size of a pea can fall. A trough hewn from a tree
is placed under the box, and this trough is about twenty-four feet long and
three-quarters of a foot wide and deep; very often three cross-boards are
placed in it, dividing it off into compartments, each one of which is lower
than the next. The turbid waters discharge into a settling-pit.
The metalliferous material is sometimes found not very deep beneath
the surface of the earth, but sometimes so deep that it is necessary to drive
tunnels and sink shafts. It is transported to the washing-box in wheel
barrows, and when the washers are about to begin they lay a small launder,
the surface of the earth, but sometimes so deep that it is necessary to drive
tunnels and sink shafts. It is transported to the washing-box in wheel
barrows, and when the washers are about to begin they lay a small launder,