And then a burst of bitter wo, But of that blessed One who gave So close her sigh, her prayer entwined, Sweetest, let me dry thy tear, Thou art like that mother dear, And I fain would be to thee, What that mother was to me." GOLD MINES. The most ancient gold mines, of which we have any account, were in Spain, in the northern provinces. Thither the Phoenicians used to repair for the precious metal. The Romans also, when they conquered Spain, employed the native Spaniards to dig their own mines for them; much as, in later times, the Spaniards have forced the Indians of South America to dig for their profit. The mines in Spain consisted of veins of gold, running in the rocks; but they have been long neglected; indeed, ever since the discovery of America has enabled the Spaniards to obtain gold in a more easy and plentiful manner. In the time of Nero, fifty pounds of gold were obtained daily from the mines of Dalmatia. It was found on the surface of the ground. The island of Thasos, in the Ægean Sea, also yielded a considerable quantity. France has never been famous for gold; yet some has been found in a few of her rivers. At Gardette, in the hard rock, were some veins of native gold; but not in sufficient quantity to be worth the working. A little is found in Mount Rosa, in Piedmont, just enough to pay for obtaining it. We find yet more among the craggy mountains in the Tyrol. Hungary has been much celebrated for its mines, and not without reason. The modes of operating, and the machinery, are not equal to those in use in England; but they are very carefully wrought. It is supposed that nearly six hundred thousand pounds, in gold, is raised every year at Schemnitz and Cremnitz. One third as much of silver, besides lead, is drawn from thence. These are the only gold mines in Europe, of any importance. Sweden has some gold mines at Edelfors; where native gold, in veins, traverses a rocky mountain. Russia has a mine at Voetsk, north of the lake Onega; but not in sufficient quantities to be worth the working. In Scotland, gold was found, ages ago. And in the reign of Elizabeth, considerable quantities were collected between Leadhills and Elvanfoot. The traces of the works then carried on yet remain. The gold was found immediately under the vegetable soil Hither a small stream of water was conducted, in order to wash away the light earth into pools, or basins, dug on purpose; in this state of loose mud, the heavier particles sank in the pit, while the mere earth was carried off. All those heavier matters which sank, were afterwards well washed, and examined for the grains of gold. Gold is still found in Scotland; but the increased expense of seeking it, renders the search unprofitable. Some of those who work in the adjacent lead mines, amuse themselves in their spare time, and now and then pick up a little. article of commerce with all the Cafilas which traverse its dreary deserts. This is evidently the produce of the rivers; as it comes only in the shape of dust, or very small grains. It is brought for sale in quills of the ostrich and the vulture. The centre of Africa has always been esteemed rich in gold. Herodotus tells us, that the king of Ethiopia brought to Cambyses all his pris Much was said, a few years ago, concerning the mountains of Wicklow, in Ireland. There some large lumps of gold were found, in a sandy soil. Several were of an ounce weight each, and one lump weighed twenty-oners bound with chains of gold. That two ounces. We expect to find gold in Asia; especially as all our histories of the earliest ages, even long before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image, ninety cubits in height, was erected, speak of gold being in great plenty. Solomon made it to abound so, that silver was little thought of. Nay, as far back as the time of Moses, and the erection of the tabernacle in the wilderness, we find it in plenty. The whole continent of Asia seems to furnish it; from Siberia to India, and from the western provinces to Japan. The mines of Beresof, in Siberia, are still wrought; those of Tcherepa Nafskoy are very rich in gold. In the southern parts, as in India, many rivers furnish the precious grains. A river in Lydia, called Pactolus, which empties itself into the Archipelago, was famous in ancient story for its golden sands. The river runs by Sardis, and is said to have been the chief source of the long famous, riches of Græsus. In the east, the islands of Japan, Vonnosa, Ceylon, and most of the islands in the Eastern Sea, much gold is found at the present day. Africa has always been rich in gold. The ancients had much from it. That Ophir, from which Solomon received his supplies, is thought, with great probability, to have been on the eastern coast, somewhere about where Sofala now stands. Gold is still an part of Africa which lies more to the southward, which we trade with on the western side, by the ports of Guinea, Upper and Lower, produces much gold from its rivers, such as the Senegal, the Gambia, and the Niger. But America has afforded this precious metal in the greatest profusion, and we shall have something to tell our young readers in a future number about the gold mines of our own country. THE NOOTKANS. Though fish and fruit were the main articles of food among these people, they sometimes used to eat the flesh of the bear, deer, and other animals. But they had an odd superstition that obliged them, whenever they had eaten of the bear, to abstain from eating fish for two months afterwards; for they believed, that, if they ate fish immediately after having fed on the bear, the fish would know it all around, and be so offended as not to come within their waters or suffer themselves to be taken. Most of the natives were, therefore, unwilling to suffer the penalty of indulging the appetite by a taste of this animal; and when one was taken and dressed, scarcely a dozen of the tribe would be induced to eat of it. places most remote from man for their residence, and build their nests on the inaccessible cliffs. These are sometimes protected by a jutting crag but are frequently wholly exposed to the winds; for they are flat, though built with great labor. It is said that the same nest serves the eagle during life, and the pains bestowed in forming it would seem to authorize that belief. When a male and female have paired they remain together till death. The eagle is at all times a formidable neighbor. He carries away hares, lambs, and kids; often destroys fawns and calves, to drink their blood, and carries a part of their flesh to his retreat. An instance is related in Scotland of two children being carried off by eagles: they fortunately received no harm by the way, and were restored unhurt out of the nests to the affrighted parents. Some time ago, it happened that a peasant resolved to rob the nest of an eagle, that had built in a small island in the beautiful lake of Killarney. He accordingly stripped and swam in upon the island, while the old ones were away; and robbing the nest of its young, he was preparing to swim back, with the eaglets tied in a string. While he was yet up to his chin in the water, the old eagles returned, and missing their young, quickly fell upon the plunderer, and in spite of all his resistance, despatched him with their beaks and talons. Of all animals the eagle flies highest, and on this account he was called by the ancients the Bird of Jove. Of all birds too he has the quickest eye, but his sense of smelling is far inferior to that of the vulture. His principal aliment is raw flesh. The plumage of the eaglets is not so strongly marked as it is when they come to be adult. They are at first white, then inclined to yellow, and at last light brown. Age, hunger, long captivity, and diseases, make them whiter. It is said that they live above an hundred years; and that they at last die, not of old age, but from the beak turning inward upon the under mandible, and thus preventing their taking any food. They are indeed equally remarkable for their longevity and for their power of sustaining a long absence from food. The descriptions of the golden eagle given by systematic authors correspond but little with the name. Willoughby says, that, “the small feathers of the whole body are a dark ferruginous or chestnut;" Linnæus, that "the body is variegated with brown and rusty;" Latham, that the “head and neck are deep brown, the feathers bordered with tawny, hind-head bright rust color, body dark brown;" Bewick, that "the general color is deep brown, mixed with tawny on the head and neck;" Fleming, that the acuminated feathers on the head and neck are bright rust color, the rest of the plumage dusky brown;" Baron Cuvier, that it is "more or less brown;" Temminck, that "the young at the age of one or two years have all the plumage of a ferruginous or reddish brown, clear and uniform on all parts of the body; and in proportion as they advance in age the colors of the plumage "at first is white, then faint yellow, and afterwards it becomes a bright copper color." Belon even ventures to infer that when Aristotle first used the term golden, he did not mean that it was gilded, but only rather more reddish than other species. But on turning to the passage in Aristotle, we find that he says expressly, that "the color is yellow." |