The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1851-06-20
The Gold Washers of III hungary.

DR.. Clarke, in his travels, passed through Hungary
and visited the mines of Cremntz. The descrip-
ton he gives is remarkably similar to those which
now reach us from California:
"The Gipsies of the Bannat get their livelihood
like those OF Wallachia, by rambling about as black
smiths and musicians. In winter they cut spoons,
ladies, troughs, and other implements of wood
During the summer they 60 nearly naked, and are
then employed in washing gold from the sand oil
the rivers and plains. Their manipulation has been
fully described by Francis Dembsher, in an ap-
pendix to the Letters of Born to Feber its very
simplicity denotes its antiquity; and it is probably
pracced now, by these Gipsies, as it was by the
Romans in the same country. 1t consists in moth.
ing more than pouring the sand, mixed with water
an inclined plane the heavier particles of the
gold remaining upon the surface while the lig liter
slceous particles and impurities are washed away
This, in fact is the plan pursued in the great wash
lighthouses at Schemnitz, only upon larger scale
Sometimes the inclined plane is covered with
wooden cloth, to which the gold adheres: wanting
the cloth, the Gipsies now and then use, for the
same purpose, the more ancient substitute of
fleece. The manner of collecting gold dust il
Sleeps leeces upon inclined planes, is represented
in the curious old work OF George Agricola. In tn.
rivers OF Colchis, the custom is still retained o
placing sheep-skins in the beds of the Phasis, ant
other auriierous streams, to collect particles o
gold hence the dedication of such feeces to tn,
gods, and the fabulous history of the Argonaute a.
far as it related to the golden fleece. The more
common manipulation among the Gipsies of the
Bannat is very like that of Wallachia, which W,
have already described. 1t is performed by mean.
oil plank of lime tree, six feet in length, and al
inch and half in thickness. Atthe upper extremity
IS small trough and across the board are ten o
twelve grooves burrows cut in the wood Thi.
plank is elevated at one end, at an angle of abou
forty five degrees The sand is put into the trough
at the upper end; and thence, by plenty of water
washed down the sioping Of the board The golt
dust falls, during this process, into the hghe
grooves, whence it is scraped brushed Off !
might be supposed that great deal of gold is los
by this careless method of collecting it but lon
experience has made the Gipsies very expert the
know how to distinguish the richer from the poore
sands and careful examination of the sand, afte
they have washed it, proves that hardly partel
of gold escapes them during the operation Tn
families supported by gold washing are very nj
merous but the gains of each are very inconsiders
ble being barely sufficient to excite their industr,
although the value of thousands of forms of gold b
annually produced in this manner. The auriferou
sand is not only taken from the beds of the river
but likewise from the banks, and even from pits
the adjacent ground. These pits are commonl
four feet more in depth. In digging them, tn
workmen find four strata. The first is stratum
vegetable mould the second loan, and an alluv
deposit of pebbles the third consists of the aurife
Gus sand and pebbles and the fourth of slate cla
mari and coal. The auriferous stratum is col
SANITY parallel to the bed of vegetable mould, an
the coal as constantly lies below it. The gold oil
tanned by washing is always native, and in the for
Of fine dust the sand containing it is also mike
with black and splendent particles Of highly mas
netic iron, garnets and mica