d and panned for our instruction.
We went out into a yard, where there was quite a crowd of curious people
assembled. The lump of rock was put into a small iron mortar, and in a
few minutes it was pounded into a dusty looking mass. It was then
passed through a fine sieve and the larger fragments were returned into
the mortar to be again pounded. A sufficient quantity of the greyish
dust having been obtained, the mortar was emptied into a broad iron pan.
The pan was dipped into a tub full of muddied water, a dexterous turn
or twist of the wrist, and the coarser material was emptied into the
tub. Frequent dippings and twists reduced the quantity of material in
the pan, until at last there was barely a tablespoonful of it left, and
still I saw no glitter. Again the dipping and twisting and rinsing were
repeated, until at last there was only a teaspoonful of the dirt left;
but all around the bottom of the pan was a thin thread of unmistakable
gold dust. It was beyond belief that such a barren-looking piece of
quartzose rock should contain gold; but then these experts are wonderful
fellows. I pay them my most respectful homage.

How the Ancient Miners Worked.

Returning to the Hall under the influence of this very needful lesson, I
resumed my examination of the exhibits. Beyond the Unit and Unicorn
exhibit stood some planks of a teaky quality, beautifully polished, and
showing numbers of small dark knots, and wavy patterns, which gave a
walnuty appearance to the wood. The next exhibit was from the Gwanda
district by the Geelong Gold Mining Company, taken from a 90-foot level.
In this district the ancient workings are found deepest. The
prehistoric miners were accustomed to build charcoal fires on the
quartz, and when the rock was sufficiently heated threw water on it,
which soon disintegrated it and enabled the picks and gads to be used.
This reminded me how often I had done the same to huge rocks which
blocked the way for my wagons on the Congo. The broken quartz, being
brought to the surface, was handed to natives who crushed it to dust on
blocks of granite with diorite hammers, or ground it as the modern
natives do mealies. The dust was then panned in much the same way as is
done by prospectors of to-day. In one of the old shafts, over 60-foot
deep, was found the dome of a human skull and some pieces of human bone.
These relics lay side by side with the quartz exhibits. One could
moralise here if one had ti