tensive deposits are reported. Dr. Soetbeer states that the gold production of New Granada from 1537 to 1875 was £169,422,750.
Mexico.—Cortez's
exploring parties in Mexico* obtained gold from the beds of rivers
several hundred miles from the capital. Prescott says that gold, either
cast into bars or in the form of dust, was part of the regular tribute
of the southern provinces of the empire.f The gold product of Mexico at
present is principally from quartz-mines, only a small amount being
obtained by the " gambusinos," or native prospectors, who wash with the
batea in the placers scattered here and there through the country.
There are rumors of large bonanzas in the beds of streams in certain
localities, and several attempts have been made to reach this wealth by
turning the rivers, but hitherto without success. ,
The
gold in the placers is sometimes distributed in the sands, in small
quantities so far as known. In many districts the gambusinos obtain
it, principally from crevices in the bed-rock, to reach which small
shafts are sunk, often to a considerable depth.
Australasia.—The
most important gold-fields of Australasia^: are situated in the
colonies of Victoria and New South Wales; Queensland and South
Australia likewise contain gold alluvions.
Victoria.—The
gold product of Victoria, according to the mineral statistics for 1880,
aggregated 529,129 ounces, of which amount 299,926 ounces came from the
alluvial deposits. Although the old placers have been worked
extensively, and exhausted in many cases, the yield has been increased
latterly by the opening up of new gold-producing areas and by improved
methods of work. The total quantity of gold produced in Victoria from
its discovery in 1851 to the end of 1880 is placed officially at
*
See Helps, " Spanish Conquest of America" ; also Las Casas, " History
of the Indies." ■t Prescott's "Conquest of Mexico," vol. i. p. 139.
% See "Gold," by A. G. Lock, from which work the above notes on Australasia are condensed.
