writing about a country where many at home have friends and
relatives. Of course they desire to have as much detail about it as
possible; hence the reader will probably pardon my 'curiosity.'

The Appendix discusses at some length the various objections made to the
Gold Coast mines by the public, which suffers equally from the 'bull'
and the 'bear' and from the wild rumours set afloat by those not
interested in the speculation. I first dispose of the dangers menaced by
Ashanti invasions. The second number notices the threatened
labour-famine, and shows how immigration of Chinese, of coolies, and of
Zanzibar-men will, when wanted, supply not only the Gold Coast, but also
the whole of our unhappy West African stations, miscalled colonies,
which are now starving for lack of hands. The third briefly sketches the
history of the Gold-trade in the north-western section of the Dark
Continent, discusses the position and the connections of the auriferous
Kong Mountains, and suggests the easiest system of 'getting' the
precious metal. This is by shallow working, by washing, and by the
'hydraulicking' which I had studied in California. The earlier miners
have, it is believed, begun at the wrong end with deep workings, shafts,
and tunnels; with quartz-crushers, stamps, and heavy and expensive
machinery, when flumes and force-pumps would have cost less and brought
more. Our observations and deductions, drawn from a section of coast,
will apply if true, as I believe they are, to the whole region between
the Assini and the Volta Rivers.

I went to the Gold Coast with small expectations. I found the Wasa
(Wassaw) country, Ancobra section, far richer than the most glowing
descriptions had represented it. Gold and other metals are there in
abundance, and there are good signs of diamond, ruby, and sapphire.