THE RECORDS OF GOLD-WASHING. 17
The earliest record of the Egyptian mines dates from the twelfth dynasty. The principal mines of Kordofan are between Darfur and Abyssinia. These mines are mentioned by Herodotus.
Nearly
all the gold obtained in Africa has come from alluvial deposits. The
country south of Sahara, from the mouth of the Senegal to Cape Palmas,
contains numerous gold-bearing alluvions, which are worked by the
negroes. The product of these mines is conveyed by caravans to Morocco,
Fez, and Algiers, and forms a principal article of export from the
Guinea coasts. Gold-dust is obtained also on the southeast coast,
between lat. 250 and 220 S., opposite Madagascar,
in the country of Sofala, by some writers identified with the region
from which Solomon obtained his wealth. Recently alluvial deposits
have been worked in the Transvaal, Leydenburg district (lat. 250 S., long. 350 E.), where coarse nuggets of gold, weighing as much as eleven pounds, have been found.
The approximate gold export of all Africa from 1493 to 1875, according to Dr. Soetbeer, amounted to .£106,-857,000.
India.—In
the Bombay Presidency gold-bearing deposits are reported to exist in
the districts of Belgaum, Dharwar, and Kaladgi, in the southern
Mahratta country, and the province of Kattywar. The sands in the
streams arising from the Surtur series are auriferous, as are also
those of the river Aji. The central provinces of India contain numerous
small deposits of gold, but the number of gold-washings reported is
comparatively very limited. The gold-fields of Madras have recently
attracted considerable attention. The ancient mines of these regions
have latterly been rediscovered. The known accumulated wealth of the
ruling dynasties of southern India is supposed to have been obtained
originally from these sources and from Malabar.
Brough Smyth, in his report on the Wynaad gold-
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