stones, which seem to have specks of Gold in
them, but upon tryal they say, they find none in them. These round stones
are some of them very ponderous, and well impregnated with _Mercury_;
others light, having little or none in them. The manner of getting the
_Mercury_ is this: They take of the Earth, brought up in Buckets, and put
it into a Sive, whose bottom is made of wires at so great a distance, that
you may put your finger betwixt them: 'tis carried to a stream of running
water, and wash'd as long as any thing will pass through the Sive. That
Earth which passeth not, is laid aside upon another heap: that which
passeth, reserved in the hole, G. in Fig. 1. and taken up again by the
second Man, and so on, to about ten or twelve sives proportionably less. It
often happens in the first hole, where the second Man takes up his {23}
Earth, that there is _Mercury_ at the bottom; but towards the farther end,
where the Intervals of the wires are less, 'tis found in very great
proportion. The Earth laid aside is pounded, and the same operation
repeated. The fine small Earth, that remains after this, and out of which
they can wash no more _Mercury_, is put into Iron retorts and stopt,
because it should not fall into the Receivers, to which they are luted. The
fire forces the _Mercury_ into the Receivers: the Officer unluted several
of them to shew us; I observed in all of them, that he first poured out
perfect _Mercury_, and after that came a black dust, which being wetted
with water discover'd it self to be _Mercury_, as the other was. They take
the _Caput mortuum_ and pound it, and renew the operation as long as they
can get any _Mercury_ out of it.

This is the way of producing the _Mercury_, they call _Ordinary_, which
exceeds that, which is got by washing, in a very great proportion, as you
will perceive by the account annext. All the _Mercury_ got without the use
of Fire, whether by washing, or found in the Mines (for in the digging,
some little particles get together, so that in some places you might take
up two or three spoonfuls of pure _Mercury_) is call'd by them _Virgin
Mercury_, and esteem'd above the rest. I inquir'd of the Officer what
vertue that had more, than the other; he told me that making an _Amalgama_
of Gold and _Virgin Mercury_, and putting it to the fire, that _Mercury_
would carry away all the Gold with it, which common _Mercury_ would not do.

The Engins, employed in these Mines, are admirable; the