To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. IIBurton, Richard Francis, Sir
History
To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. II
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Ghana -- Description and travel; Gold mines and mining -- Ghana
They found the strike of the hill approximately north 22º east (true);
[Footnote: In laying down limits great attention must be paid to
variation. As a rule 19º 45' west has been assumed from the Admiralty
charts--good news for the London attorney. At Tumento this figure rises to
20º; upon the coast it must be changed to 19º 15' (W.), and in other
places to 16º 40'.] the dip appears to be easterly, and the natives have
worked the _Abbruch_ or _debris_ which have fallen from the reef-crest.
This wall may be a continuation of the Akankon formation; both are rich in
a highly crystalline quartz of livid blue, apparently the best colour
throughout the Gold Region. The surface-ground, of yellowish marl with
quartz-pebbles, is evidently auriferous, and below it lies a harder red
earth rusty with iron. From the southern boundary of the Inyoko
concession, and the village of that name, runs a strong outcrop of a
kindly white quartz, which, when occurring in conjunction with the blue,
usually denotes that both are richer than when a single colour is found.
Such at least is Cameron's experience.
Mr. Walker, who secured this concession also, notes that the native pits
were very shallow and superficial. He was pressed for time, and sunk his
trial-shaft but little more than three fathoms: here free gold was visible
in the blue quartz, which yielded upwards of one ounce per ton.
My companion found the shaft still open, and observed that the valley
contained many holes and washing-pits. One was pointed out to him by Mr.
Grant as having yielded twenty ounces of dust in one day: these reports
recall the glories of California and Australia in the olden time. The
little Etubu water, which runs 200 yards from the shaft, would easily form
a reservoir, supplying the means of washing throughout the year. Here,
then, are vast facilities for hydraulic work; millions of cubic feet can
be strained of thin gold at a minimum expenditure. There will be less
'dead work,' and 'getting' would be immediate. Thus, too, as in
California, the land will be prepared for habitation and agriculture, and
the conditions of climate will presently be changed for the better.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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