Gold abounds in Asia, especially in Siberia. The deposits at the foot of the Ural mountains are very rich. In 1826 a piece of pure gold weighing 23 pounds was found there, along with others weighing three or four pounds each, together with the bones of elephants. All the diluvium there is ferruginous; and more to the east, as already mentioned, a region as large as France has lately been discovered with a soil rich in gold-dust, resting on rocks filled with it. In 1834 the treasures in that part of the Altaï chain called the Gold Mountains were discovered, forming a mountain-knot nearly as large as England, from which a great quantity of gold has been extracted. Gold is found in Tibet, in the Chinese province of Yun-nan, and abundantly in the mountains of the Indo-Chinese peninsula, in Japan, and Borneo. In the latter island it occurs near the surface in six different places. Africa has long furnished a large supply to Europe. That part of the Kong Mountains west of the meridian of Greenwich is one of the most auriferous regions in the world. The gold stratum lies from 20 to 25 feet below the surface, and increases in richness with the depth. It is found in particles and pieces in a reddish sand. Most of the streams from the table-land bring down gold, as well those that descend to the low ground to the north, as those that flow to the Atlantic. On the shores of the Red Sea it was found in sufficient quantity to induce the Portuguese to form a settlement there. In South America, the western Cordillera is poor in metals except in New Grenada, where the most westerly of the three chains of the Andes is rich in gold and platinum—a metal found only there, in Brazil, and on the European side of the Ural mountains—in alluvial deposits. The largest piece of platinum that has been found weighed 21 ounces. Gold is found in sand and gravel on the high plains of the Andes, on the low lands to the east of them, and in almost all the rivers that flow on that side. The whole country between Jaen de Bracamores and the Guaviare is celebrated for its metallic riches. Almost all the Brazilian rivers bring down gold; and the mine of Gongo Socco, near Rio de Janeiro, is said to yield several varieties of gold-ore. Central America, Mexico, and California are auriferous countries. The quantity of gold recently found near the surface in California is very great. [There is no definite statement of the amount.] A considerable quantity is found in Tennessee, the mountains of Georgia, and on 1000 square miles of North Carolina it occurs in grains and masses.