The New York herald., 1873-12-26
Tho Great Gold Discoveries I'm south
Africa.

The recent tidings of South African gold
discoveries furnished by our Natal CORE
spondent bear strong internal evidence of
boldt first pointed out the striking geo
logical fact that the gold bearing fields are
found in mountains having northerly and
southerly trend. So far in the history of gold
discovery this geological rule has held good,
as seen in the auriferous regions of the Ural,
Australia, the Alleghanies and that long band
Of gold which threads the continuous Andean,
Isthmian and Rocky Mountain chains, from
Patagonia to California, q distance Of six thou
sand statute miles. ALI Of these richly stored
chains, it will be observed, have no east and
west trend but from southeast to northwest or
from southwest to northeast, as in the Austria
liam Blue Mountains and Australian Alps.
The largest gold nugget ever seen was OBJ
tanned from the latter, and weighed one hun
dred and eighty-four pounds and sold for
over ten thousand pounds sterling; and it ap-
pears from our correspondents information
the gold bearing reefs Of the Transvaal Re-
public have the same geological and geographic
position as those Of the Australian mines. This
circumstance, if alone, would give credibility
to the accounts Of profitable 'gold reefs" in
this long shut up land Of the African. The
specimens of the quartz from the vicinity Of
Marabastadt ought to settle the question be-
yond all doubt, for the geologist is now able to
predict quite correctly from the nature Of the
quartz, and even the associated rocks whether
the precious metal is near by. This was
actually done in 1S40 when Count Strzelech
ascended the sienitic dome Of Mount Kos
cuisko, in Southeastern Australia. He sub
mitted specimens of the rocks he had
collected in his wanderings to Sir Rod
erick Murchison, and that sagacious scien-
tist, perceiving their correspondence with
those Of the auriferous Ural mountains,
announced the existence Of the Australian
gold mines some time before their ac-
tual discovery. The outcome from this scien-
tifc forecast was illustrated at the Interna-
tional Exposition at London in 1862 by a
pyramidal trophy representing the quantity Of
which was eight hundred tons in weight and
one hundred and four million six hundred
and forty-nine thousand pounds sterling in
value
Such an enormous yield may lie in the
stores of the South African mountains, wait
ing only the axe and pick of the pioneer and
digger. If, as seems probably true alluvial
gold has been extensively discovered in the
Leydenburg district, the mysterious Ell Do
RADIO may yet be realized in that far-of, but
not inhospitable, cline.
One thing, however, should surely damp
the ardor Of any adventurer who would go
forth, as so many went to California, alone
and moneyless. The machinery necessary
for extracting the shining metal must be
transported over great distances and at
great cost, and the solitary miner, unless he
can afford to wait a long time for his harvest
must undergo great perils and hardships. For
large moneyed corporations and companies
the prospect is very bright for an abundant
gold crop if they can put their faith and funds
into it.