The Arizona sentinel., 1886-10-02
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 a certain condition of life and elements of dan 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 by advancing civilization. So the hardy gold-hunter finds that modern machin- cry 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 nuggets 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 longed-for metal, and surrounded with enough of danger and uncertainty to suit even the morbid thirst of a mono maniac. Ills 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 royal family of the land. Within this city is sad 10 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 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 tidy appearances in the rooms of 8 dwelling it must be when the housewife knows that it is paying dust she is gath ering and sure of rewarding her with d fair amount of pin money. The native method of mining gold is very crude and simple After the ground is dug up the women put it in calabashes and wash it carefully, when the particles of gold are precpitated 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.
 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. For convenience in exchange it is put in small auills that are handy to carry and serve to establish standard of value in & general way, but for more particular purposes all traders are provided with small scales, which are made by the na- tives and very accurately adjusted. The weights are the seeds of a tree-gold enough to equal the weight of one seed being valued at twenty-five cents This makes easy estimating the worth of any quantity of the metal, and the method of computing is well understood by all the nativeswho have gold to sell or wish to buy. Boure is engaged quite exten- sivelv in trade with the other interior countries and with the coast. The Mandingo traders supply them with many goods from European makers, consisting of guns, powder, calico, cot ton goods and hardware. It is said to be real prohibitory country, not by law. but from peculiar circumstances. Alcohol is unknown, and no one tries