Much time is lost in the mines by those who are led, by exaggerated stories of success, from a place where they are working with some advantage, to seek a better location. Leave the work of prospecting, principally, to the more experienced miners. There is an excitement connected with the pursuit of gold which renders one restless and uneasy--ever hoping to do something better. The very uncertainty of the employment increases this tendency. A person may be making his quarter ounce a day, and hears that a person a few miles from him is making an ounce. He is accordingly dissatisfied, and removes to the new diggings, there, probably, to be again disappointed. These exaggerated stories are most generally got up by traders in the place, in order to bring customers to their stores. I have noticed that those who remain most constantly in one place are in the end most successful. When you have marked off your claim upon a bar--a place which has been proved--_dig down to the rock_! Many have been losers by relinquishing their work before it is finished. The gold is generally scattered upon the primitive rock. All the rich deposits are here. You may dig over the quarter part of your claim and find little gold, while a parcel containing pounds may lie concealed in the last corner. A friend from Philadelphia, who marked off a claim at the Chinese diggings, dug it partly out, came to water, which disheartened him, and gave it up. Three miners went into it at once, and in a few hours had taken out $375. The necessity of perseverance in such an employment must be apparent to all. You can not hope to accomplish any thing without it. Your motto must be, “_Hope on, hope ever!_” The treasure you seek may lie at the bottom of your next claim--it may be beneath the next stone.