The learner, if he be far afield and without appliances of any kind, can only guess his prospect. An old prospector will judge from six ounces of stuff within a few pennyweights what will be the yield of a ton. I have seen many a good prospect broken with the head of a pick and panned in a shovel, but for reef prospecting you should have a pestle and mortar. The handiest for travelling is a mortar made from a mercury bottle cut in half, and a not too heavy wrought iron pestle with a hardened face. To be particular you require a fine screen in order to get your stuff to regulated fineness. The best for the prospector, who is often on the move, is made from a piece of cheesecloth stretched over a small hoop. If you would be more particular take a small spring balance or an improvised scale, such as is described in Mr. Goyder's excellent little book, p. 14, which will enable you to weigh down to one-thousandth of a grain. It is often desirable to burn your stone before crushing, as it is thus more easily triturated and will reveal all its gold; but remember, that if it originally contained much pyrites, unless a similar course is adopted when treated in the battery, some of the gold will be lost in the pyrites. Having crushed your gangue to a fine powder you proceed to pan it off in a similar manner to that of washing out alluvial earth, except that in prospecting quartz one has to be much more particular, as the gold is usually finer. The pan is taken in both hands, and enough water to cover the prospect by a few inches is admitted. The whole is then swirled round, and the dirty water poured off from time to time till the residue is clean quartz sand and heavy metal. Then the pan is gently tipped, and a side to side motion is given to it, thus causing the heavier contents to settle down in the corner. Next the water is carefully lapped in over the side, the pan being now tilted at a greater angle until the lighter particles are all washed away. The pan is then once more righted, and very little water is passed over the pinch of heavy mineral a few times, when the gold will be revealed in a streak along the bottom. In this operation, as in all others, only practice will make perfect, and a few practical lessons are worth whole pages of written instruction.