In Asia, the island of Japan is most productive of gold, which is found in several of its provinces, and is, in by far the greater proportion, melted from its ore. It is also procured by washing the sands, and a small quantity is likewise found in the ore of copper. The emperor claims a supreme jurisdiction, not only over the gold mines, but over all the mines of the empire, which are not allowed to be worked without a license from him. Two-thirds of their produce belong to him, and the other third is left to the governor of the province in which the mines are situated. But the richest gold ore, and that which yields the finest gold, is dug in one of the northern provinces of the island of Niphon, a dependency of Japan, where the gold mines have, in past times, been highly productive, though now they have much fallen off. In the Japanese province of Tsckungo, a rich gold mine, having been filled with water, was no longer worked: as it was, however, so situated, that by cutting the rock and making an opening beneath the mine, the water could be easily drawn off, this was attempted. At the moment of beginning the operation, so violent a storm of thunder and lightning arose, that the workmen were obliged to seek shelter elsewhere; and these superstitious people imagining that the tutelar god and protector of the spot, unwilling to have the bowels of the earth thus rifled, had raised the storm to make them sensible of his great displeasure at such an undertaking, desisted from all further attempts, through the fear of incurring his displeasure, and could not be induced to go on with it.
Thibet, a mountainous country of India, contains a great abundance of gold, which is traced in the rivers flowing from that territory into the Ganges. In Hindoostan there are not any mines of gold; but in the Irnada district gold is collected in the river which passes Nelambur in the Mangery Talui, a nair having the exclusive privilege of this collection, for which he pays a small annual tribute. Silver is in general rare throughout the oriental regions, and there is not any indication of this metal in India; but in Japan there are several silver mines, more particularly in the northern provinces, and the metal extracted from them is very pure and fine.
Turning to Europe, Dalmatia is said in ancient times to have produced an abundance of gold. Pliny reports that in the reign of the emperor Nero, fifty pounds of this precious metal were daily taken from the mines of that province; and that it was found on the surface of the ground. It is added, that Vibius, who was sent by Augustus to subdue the Dalmatians, obliged that hardy and warlike people to work in the mines, and to separate the gold from the ore.
Bossina, in Sclavonia, contains many mineral mountains, and has rich mines of gold and silver. The district in which the latter are found, is named the Srebrarniza, being derived from the word srebr, which signifies silver in all the Sclavonian dialects. Their produce resembles the native silver of Potosi, and is found, combined with pure quartz, in small, thin leaves, resembling moss.
The kingdom of Norway formerly produced gold; but the expense of working the mines, and procuring the pure ore, being greater than the profit, these have been neglected. There are, however, silver mines, which are extremely valuable, and give employment to several thousands of persons. The principal of these is at Königsberg, and was discovered in 1623, when the town was immediately built, and peopled with German miners. In 1751, forty-one shafts and twelve veins, were wrought in this mine, and gave employment to thirty-five hundred officers, artificers and laborers. A view of one part of this mine is given in the cut on the next page.
The silver ore is not, as was at first imagined, confined to the mountain between Königsberg and the river Jordal, but extends its veins for several miles throughout the adjacent districts, in consequence of which new mines have been undertaken in several places, and prosperously carried on. One of the richest and most ancient of the mines, named “Old God’s blessing,” has sometimes, in the space of a week, yielded several hundred pounds’ weight of rich ore. The astonishing depth of this mine, which is not less than a hundred and eighty fathoms, perpendicularly, fills the mind of the beholder with amazement; and the circumference at the bottom forms a clear space of several hundreds of fathoms. Here the sight of thirty or forty fires, burning on all sides in this gloomy cavern, and continually fed to soften the stone in the prosecution of the labors, seems, according to the notions commonly entertained, an apt image of hell; and the swarms of miners, covered with soot, and bustling about in habits according to their several employments, may well remind one of so many evil spirits; more especially when, at a given signal that the mine is to be sprung in this or that direction, they exclaim aloud: “Berg-livet, berg-livet!” “Take care of your lives.”
SILVER MINE AT KÖNIGSBERG.
The gold mines of Cremnitz, in Hungary, lie forty miles south of the Carpathian hills; and twenty miles further to the south are the silver mines of Shemnitz. These are called mining towns; and the former is the principal, its rich ores being found in what is styled metallic rock. Its mines also produce a certain proportion of silver. Hungary is beside enriched by a mineral peculiar to itself, or one, at least, which has not hitherto been discovered elsewhere, namely, the opal, a gem preferred to all others by the oriental nations. The opal mines are situated at Ozerwiniza, where they are found in a hill consisting of decomposed porphyry, a few fathoms beneath the surface. Their produce is of various qualities, from the opaque-white, or semi-opal, to the utmost refulgence of the lively colors by which this noble gem is distinguished.
Transylvania and the Bannet, contain numerous and valuable mines, consisting chiefly of gray gold ore, and white gold ore. The finest gold is found at Olapian, not far from Zalathna, intermixed with gravel and sand. The sands of the Rhine, also, in various places contain traces of gold.