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20                 OUR "SOUTH INDIAN" ESTATE.
and moderately charged with pyrites—a metallic com­bination of iron, arsenic, sulphur, silver, and gold. The presence of copper also is indicated. Free gold —that is, gold uncombined with other metals—is but seldom met with. When it is found, it is found, as a rule, in quartz near the surface, where atmospheric influence has been brought to bear upon the metallic deposits in the stone. Decomposition then sets in, and the metals subject to oxidation having become resolved, the precious metals, which are unaffected by the atmosphere, remain as granular or flaky or filmy deposits in the crevices of the rotten and honey­combed quartz, which is called gozzan.*
Captain G-ifford very frequently crushes the quartz taken from these tunnels, and states that after having washed it, he almost invariably obtains colour, or a few specks of gold; quite enough to establish the auriferous character of these reefs. But assays of samples will always vary considerably, and can never be relied upon to indicate with any certainty how much profit may be calculated upon. Working
* This is the general character of the quartz in this neighbour­hood, but there is a probability that true fissure veins may be reached at greater depth, where the gold has come up from below unmixed with pyrites. If so, it will obviously in this condition be much more easily recovered than from pyritous quartz. Where the gold is free, simple stamping and washing will suffice; but the amalgamating process is very tedious, and the risk of loss is greater. Thus, with the St. John del Bey Company, which has been working on a kind of pyritous ore for many years, with great success, there is still a certain percentage of loss which is ascertained by a careful analysis of the tailings.