The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1897-10-22
"NE;Ng0LD|' COUNTRY
Madagascar. the East African Island
--f a Good Mineral Section. a'
BUT LITTLE EXPLORATION DONE
France Now Has Supreme Control and
Has Thrown the Country Open
to the World.

coast of Africa, 800 miles. almost di-
rectly opposite the Rand gold district.
The island is $50 by 300 miles in size.
and contains 23O. 900 square miles, more
than twice as large as Colorado, with
two or three New England states
thrown in for good measure. 1t is a
remarkable fact that it contains Il largo
extent of totally unexplored country.
though, there is nothing about either
climate or topography to make it's ex-
ploration difficult. It's most northerly
point is IL degrees south of the equa-
tor. A range of mountains. from
5000 to 5000 feet high. extend it's full
length near the eastern shore, and west
of it the country is high table land,
from 5000 to 5000 feet above sea level,
and in that region little rain falls. On
the eastern shore. however, rain falls
to an enormous depth. All around the
island for distance Of thirty TO fifty
miles from the sea shore there is a
heavy belt of tropical timber. Beyond
this comes mountains on the east side
aud table lands on the west. The noun
tains are granite, with many extinct
volcanoes. About the geological CON
ditions little is known. But 1t is
known that gold and silver are found
there. No systematic effort has been
made to explore or prospect the coun-
try. ..s.
n rS,I ro1<
RADIO, lately from there, and he gives
some later information about the coun-
try than any we have seen in print.
Mr.. DurnfOrd is a man apparently 45
years of age, who has spent 70 years in
the tropics, and during the past few
years has made the gold possibilities
OF Madagascar a special study. He is
enthusiastic over the prospects OF this
new country and gives good reasons
for his belief in it's wealth. Mr.. Drrn-
ford is in Colorado to make study of
the ores Of that state and existing min
ing conditions and machinery, and
will remain there some time.
''The existence of gold deposits in
Madagascar. says Mr.. Durnford,
"has been known from the accounts
written by the earliest travellers to that
country. A work written more than
100 years ago mentions the fact, and
even prior to that time there were fire.
quent references to the gold obtained
from the natives. Little is known
positively about the extent of these
deposits except by the natives Of the
interior, from whom most Of the gold
has been obtained, and European in
vestigation has been confined to pros
pecting. mostly of crrsory character.
No lode mining has been done at all.
and but few veins have ever been dis
covered. You must remember that the
country has been opened to civilization
but little more than a year, and there
has been little opportunity for thor
ough exploration of the country's re-
sources. The one salient fact that W"
do know is that gold exists there in
placers and in paying quantities. The
fact that the country is now in the
possession of France is due to the pres
ence of gold.
"a Frenchman obtained a conces-
sion from the Hovas, the dominant
native race, for placer mining, enter
ing into a partnership with the prime
minister of the Hovas, under the terms
of which the latter was to furnish the
labor and the Frenchman to pay over
55 per cent Of the proceeds. The
Hovas are very keen, intelligent peo-
pie, aud the prime minister soon be-
came aware of the fact that the con
cessionaire was not paying over the
amount agreed upon. He therefore re.
fused to funish any more slaves to work
the mines. and the concessionaire an.
pealed to France. The result the world
knows France now has supreme con-
troll and has thrown the country open
to che world.
. ''All the gold must be purchased
from the natives, and their mining is
of the simplest character possible. A
man and woman will go to the river
beds with their little machine, similar
to the rockers used in this country.
The man goes into the water and
brings up gravel from the bottom, or
goes to the pit which he has dug, and
the woman washes out the gold. The
gold which l have here is fair sam
pie, and,is coarse andshows that it has
not been moved very much. The man
and woman will wash out not far from
balf an ounce of gold per day. and the
gold is saidto be the finest in tile world.
It is. exchanged for silver at the rate
Of from I to 10 ounces of silver for one
of gold.
''The mining regulations which have
just been published by the govern.
ment, are very liberal. They are based
upon the French mining regulations in
Tonquin and permit man to take 100
hectares of land, about $50 acres, fer
which he pays fee of about $25 per
year. ........... r. ...-
"The government imposes no fur
ther tax at present, and if a tax on the
output is imposed it will be very light,
as the government is extremely desir-
ous of having the country settled up.
The formation of the mineral districts
is very similar to that Of Cripple
Creek, diorite and phonolite being
found in abundance. and in the higher
attitudes the direction of the mineral
veins-north and south-can be easily
traced, the upper portion having been