Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-09-16
THE GOLD OF BOURE.
Rich Treasures Found on the West Coast
of Africa of Natives.

Rich Treasures Found on the West Coast
of Africa of Natives.
The genuine pioneer loves certain
condition of life and elements of dam
Ger. without which living is to him an
empty void. He is contented in his
lonely cabin until half a dozen neigh
bors gather within as many miles, and
then he feels he must move on to get
more room and have game undisturbed
bv advancing civilization. So the hardy
gold-hunter finds that modern machin-
ery and crowded claims with business
methods have stripped California OF its
romance and spirit of adventure, and
he looks for new fields where unadul-
terated adventure, wildness of scene
and plenty of shining dust or the lovely
nuprets can be found. Prosaic law
and order have too much sway in Aus
tralia. and he naturally turns to the
wonders of the dark continent, from
which come whispers of piles of the
lonoed-for metal, and surrounded with
enough of danger and uncertainty to
suit even the morbid thirst of mono
maniac His dreams point to the gold
fields of Boure, some six hundred miles
from the west coast OF Africa, at Free
town or at Sierra Leone.
The chief city is Sego, from which
come wonderful stories Of the riches
| and treasures, mostly gold, belonging
, to the roval family Of the land. Within
this CITY is sa d to be a small house. con-
stantlv guarded, which is filled with the
gold gathered by the different chiefs
! during the past two hundred years.
/ The object of the French invasion of the
| country was said to be the possession OF
the wealth thus gathered in a pile The
country is wild and hilly and full of
mines of gold, the metal being found
! both in the hills and on the plains. The
natives have only very indefinite idea
of the extent and Importance of the de-
! posits. but when yards or houses are
swept the dirt is saved and found to
| contain particles of gold dust. The
amount, of course, varies, but some IS
| discovered in the washing in nearly
| every case of this kind. What incentive
| TO tidv Appearances in the rooms of a
! dwelling it must be when the housewife
knows that it is paying dust she is gath
erinc and sure of rewarding her with a
fair amount of pin money. The native
method of mining gold is very crude
and simple. After the ground is dug
M the women put it in calabashes and
wash it carefully, when the particles of
gold are precipitated to the bottom OF
the vessel and then collected with in
finite care If intended to be sold or GO
out of the country it is melted and made
into twisted rings. g.
Gold dust is the currency of Boure,
and probably that is the only political
division in the interior of the dark con-
tinent that uses it for that purpose. Fol
convenience in exchange it is put in
small Guills that are handy to carry and
serve to establish 4 standard of value in
a general way, but for more particular
purposes all traders are provided with
small scales. which are made by the ma
tiyes and very accurately adjusted. The
weights are the seeds of tree-gole
enough to equal the weight of one seee
being valued at twenty-five cents This
makes easy estimating the worth OF any
quantity of the metal. and the methot
of computing is we'll understood by al
the nativeswho have gold to sell or wisl
to buy. Boure is engaged quite extern
siyely in trade with the other interio
countries and with the coast Tn
Mandinco traders supply them wit
many goods from European makers
. consisting of guns, powder, calico, cot
s ton goods and hardware Lit Is said t
be real prohibitory country. not b
law, but from peculiar circumstances
Alcohol is unknown. and no one trie