character, and the bulk of this has to be puddled and so disintegrated before the actual separation of the gold is attempted in the cradle or dish.  This is done in the tub by constantly stirring with a shovel, and changing the water as it becomes charged with the floating argillaceous, or clayey, particles.  The gravel is then placed in the hopper of the cradle which separates the larger stones and pebbles, the remainder passing down over inclined ledges as the cradle is slowly rocked and supplied with water.  At the bottom of each ledge is a riffle to arrest the particles of gold.  Sometimes, when the gold is very fine, amalgamated copper plates are introduced and the lower ledges are covered with green baize to act as blanket tables and catch gold which might otherwise be lost.

A long tom is a trough some 12 feet in length by 20 inches in width at the upper end, widening to 30 inches at the lower end; it is about 9 inches deep and has a fall of 1 inch to a foot.  An iron screen is placed at the lower end where large stones are caught, and below this screen is the riffle box, 12 feet long, 3 feet wide, and having the same inclination as the upper trough.  It is fitted with several riffles in which mercury is sometimes placed.

Much more work can be done with this appliance than with the cradle, which it superseded.  Of course, the gold must be coarse and water plentiful.

When, however, the claim is paying, and the diggings show signs of some permanency, a puddling machine is constructed.  This is described in the chapter called “Rules of Thumb.”

Hydraulicing and ground sluicing is a very cheap and effective method of treating large quantities of auriferous drift, and, given favourable circumstances, such as a plentiful supply of water with good fall and extensive loose auriferous deposits, a very few grains to the ton or load can be made to give payable returns.  The water is conveyed in flumes, or pipes to a point near where it is required, thence in wrought iron pipes gradually reduced in size and ending in a great nozzle somewhat like that of a fireman’s hose.  The “Monitor,” as it is sometimes called, is generally fixed on a movable stand, so arranged that the strong jet of water can be directed to any point by a simple adjustment.  A “face” is formed in the drift, and the water played against the lower portion of the ledge, which is quickly undermined, and falls only to be washed away in the stream of water, which is conducted through sluices with riffles, and sometimes over considerable lengths of amalgamated copper plates.  This class of mining has been most extensively carried out in California and New Zealand, and some districts of Victoria, but the truly enormous drifts of the Shoalhaven district in New South Wales must in the near future add largely to the world’s gold supply.  These drifts which are auriferous from grass roots to bed rock extend for nearly fifty miles, and are in places over 200 feet deep.  Want of capital and want of knowledge has hitherto prevented their being profitably worked on a large scale.