The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-09-24
THE GOLD OF BOURE.
Treasures Found ON the West Coast of
Africa by Natives.

hsTiCh ny AN'ts'S"'
The genuine pioneer loves certain
condition of life and elements of danger
without which living is to him an emp
ty void. lie is cOntented in his lonely
cabin until half dozen neighbors
gather within rs 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 unadultorat-
ell adventure, wildness of scene, and
plenty of shining dust or the lonely mug
gets can be found PrOsaic law and
order have too much sway in Australia,
and he naturally turns to the wonders
of the dark continent, from which come
whispers of piles of the lOnged-for met
al. and surrounded with enough of dan
ger and uncertainty to suit even the
morbid thirst OF q mOnOmaniac. His
dreams point to the gold-iiclds of Boure,
some six hundred miles from the west
coast of Africa, at Freetown, or at Sier-
ra Leone.
The chief city is Sego. from which
come wonderful stories of riches and
treasures, mostly gold. belonging to the
royal family of the land. Within this
| city is said to be small house, con-
stantly guarded, which is filled with the
gold gathered by different chiefs during
the past two hundred years. The OBJ
| ject of the French invasion of the coun-
try 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 i'm nearly
every case of the kind. What inccn-
tive to tidy appearance i'm the rooms of
dwelling il must be when tho house
wife knows that it is paying dust she
is gathering and sure of rewarding her
with 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 parti-
Giles of gold are precipitated to the bot
tom of the vessel and then collected
sold or go out of the country it is melt
ell 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,
tincnt that uses it for that purposes
For convenience in exchange it is put
in small quilts that are handy to carry
and serve to establish n standard OF
value in general way, but for moro
particular purposes all traders are pro
vided with small scales. which are mad,
by the natives and very accurately adj
justed. The weights are the seeds of ;
tree-gold enough to equal the weigh,
of one seed being valued at % cents
This makes easy estimating the worth
Of any quantity of the metal. and thu
method of computing Is we'll understood
by all the natives who have gold TO sci
or wish to buy. Boure is engaged quit
extensively in trade with the other in
terror countries and with the coast. TIL,
Mandingo traders supply them will
many goods from European makers
consisting of guns, powder, calico, cot
ton goods and hardware. 1t is said t.
he real prohibitory country, not by
law. but from peculiar circumstances
Alcohol is unknown. and no one tries I,
get acquainted with the cup which in
toxicates. Formerly the people wer
pagans, but within few years the,
have changed to followers of NOLAN
med. The population is small, tire
thousand or four thousand, and hav
established schools and made consider
able progress. They are not favorable
inclined toward foreigners, however
and the trouble with the French has in
tensified the prejudice against outsiders