Much more work can be done with this appliance than with the cradle, which it superseded.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 and illustrated in Chapter XII., 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.
Fig. 9. Flume, Great Southern Gold-field, Shoalhaven, N.S.W.
