authenticated nugget ever found was 2268 1/2 ozs., and it was sold for
10,000 pounds, but it was rendered useless as a specimen by the finders,
who spent a night burning it to remove the adhering quartz.

But the ordinary digger neither hopes nor expects to unearth such
treasures as these. He is content to gather together by means of
puddling machine, cradle, long tom, or even puddling tub and tin dish,
the scales, specks, dust, and occasional small nuggets ordinarily met
with in alluvial "washes."

Having sunk to the "wash," or "drift," the digger, by means of one or
more of the appliances mentioned above, proceeds to separate the gold
from the clay and gravel in which it is found. Of course in large
alluvial claims, where capital is employed, such appliances are
superseded by steam puddles, buddles, and other machinery, and sometimes
mercury is used to amalgamate the gold when very fine. Hydraulicing is
the cheapest form of alluvial mining, but can only be profitably carried
out where extensive drifts, which can be worked as quarry faces, and
unlimited water exist in the same neighbourhood. When such conditions
obtain a few grains of gold to the yard or ton will pay handsomely.

Lode or reef mining, is a more expensive and complicated process,
requiring much skill and capital. First, let me explain what a lode
really is. The American term is "ledge," and it is not inappropriate or
inexpressive. Imagine then a ledge, or kerbstone, continuing to unknown
depths in the earth at any angle varying from perpendicular to nearly
horizontal. This kerbstone is totally distinct from the rocks which
enclose it; those on one side may be slate, on the other, sandstone; but
the lode, separated usually by a small band of soft material known
to miners as "casing," or "fluccan," preserves always an independent