_A VISIT TO A GOLD-MINE._
Gold in Siberia.--Where found.--Gold-hunting.--A
prospecting party.--Thawing the ground.--Subterranean
passages.--Hardships.--Mining calculations.--Building of
barracks.--Preparations for our visit.--Costumes.--Road through
the “forest primeval.”--Luxuriant vegetation.--Crossing
mountains.--Arrival at mine.--Labour of miners.--Gold-washing
machine.--Government inspection.--Wages.--Hours of
labour.--Miners’ food.--Pay-day.--Drink and its follies.--Miners’
fortunes.--Mines of Eastern Siberia.--Return to Krasnoiarsk.
Not many Englishmen, probably, would think of going to Siberia to
seek for _El-dorado_, the fabled land of gems and gold. Many tons of
precious metals, however, are found there yearly; and there are firms,
consisting of only two or three partners, that net an annual income
of more than half-a-million sterling. The Russian empire furnishes
an eighth part of the gold found yearly throughout the world, and
three-fourths of this quantity come from Siberia. It was at the
beginning of the century that gold-washing was commenced in the Urals,
and a period of great prosperity followed from 1825 to about 1850.
Since that time, the number of mines has increased, but the profits
are less, because, whilst the value of gold has diminished, the price
of labour has risen. The sources and affluents of the great Siberian
rivers are rich in gold. The districts on the west of Lake Baikal that
are most worked are those of Yeneseisk, Irkutsk, Kansk, Nijni-Udinsk,
and the sources of the Lena, which last are the richest.[1]
Accordingly, when we arrived at Krasnoiarsk, the large town of the
Yeneseisk gold-mining district, and made acquaintance with some of the
gold-seekers’ families, it appeared a good opportunity to visit one
of the mines, since they were called “near.” It was rather alarming,
however, to discover what were the Siberians’ notions of the word
_near_, for in that huge country 100 miles or more go for nothing--in
fact, are a mere trifle, and not too long to be travelled for the sake
of a ball or a festive gathering. The gold-seekers’ daughters even
sometimes go out to their fathers’ mines within this distance, and,
when they do so, stride their horses in top-boots and knickerbockers
to save their dresses being torn in the primeval forest, or, as it
is called, the _taiga_. When, therefore, I found that a pair of high
boots would be necessary, and that it would involve a long journey on
horseback, I rather hesitated. We had, however, been introduced to the
Director of the Krasnoiarsk Hospital, Dr. Peacock; and when it appeared
that not only he, but Mrs. Peacock also, would join the party, my
courage rose, and I determined to go.
But, before we start, let me try to give the reader some idea as to
the localities in which the gold is found, and how it is discovered.
In the mountainous districts of the forest countless brooks unite into
rivulets, which, in accordance with the character of the landscape,
have a strong fall, becoming very rapid in the spring, and still more
so in the summer, after the melting of the snow. The waters uproot
trees, undermine rocks, and sweep along earth, gold, and other metals
with resistless fury, till the lowlands are reached, where the stream,
having no longer the same force, allows the heavy gold to sink to
the bottom, to be covered, perhaps, next season with more gold, or,
perhaps, by earth and rubbish. It will be easy to understand, then, how
a layer of sand containing gold may be thus formed, and subsequently
covered over with beds of earth and stone.
The professional _tayoshnik_, or gold-hunter, has to discover these
auriferous layers; but this he cannot do alone.[2] There must be a
prospecting party made up, which may consist, say, of an overseer, a
leader, 8 workmen, 10 horses, 18 saddle-bags, provisions, and tools,
the whole of which may be estimated to cost £500, which amount has to
be risked, for the party may go out into the taiga and find nothing, or
what may prove worse than nothing.[3]
The tayoshnik knows, however, that the Siberian gold deposits are
almost always to be met with on the banks of streams, or in their
beds. Again, gold is often hidden in crevices of the earth that have
evidently once served as channels for running water. Moreover, he knows
that those rivers that wash up gold are always such as have their
sources in ravines, the rocks of which are very much weather-beaten.
Gold is rarely found at precipitous spots, and is most abundant where
the water ages ago had a calmer current, and consequently no longer
possessed the necessary strength to carry the heavy metal along.[4]
The hunter must, however, dig some depth beneath the surface, the
thickness of the beds of earth covering the gold varying from 2 to 20
feet, though it increases sometimes to 150 feet. At some spots three or
four gold deposits, or _plasts_, as they are called, lie one over the
other, separated by thick strata of earth and rocks, in which case the
lowest of the plasts is generally the richest.[5]
With knowledge of this kind, therefore, the gold-hunter proceeds till
he arrives at a valley along which he judges some ancient river ages
ago may have rolled down its golden sands. He then seeks in the bed
of the rivulet for pyrites, iron, slate-clay, or quartz with a thick
coat of crystals; and at length he forms a judgment as to whether or
not he is likely by digging to find a gold deposit. If his verdict be
favourable, then all hands are set to work to cut down trees and build
a rude log hut, in which the party may have to live for months. The
next business is to dig a number of holes or trenches at a distance
from each other, to get down to the auriferous layers--that is, if
there are any; for if there be none, their labour of course is lost,
and they have to try elsewhere. But if there be auriferous layers, it
is no easy matter to get to them, for gold-hunting is usually followed
in the winter, often with the thermometer many degrees below zero, and
when the ground is so hard as not to be pierced even by a pickaxe; they
have, therefore, to make huge bonfires, whereby the earth is softened,
so as to allow trenches of considerable depth to be dug. This manœuvre
has to be repeated until the longed-for gold is found, or unyielding
stone presents an impenetrable obstacle.[6]
These trenches or holes are made under the superintendence of the
overseer. Samples of the earth are constantly tried, and so guidance
is obtained as to the direction in which other work should be begun,
and some idea formed as to the depth and breadth of the beds of gold.
Often, however, the metal lies so far beneath the surface that it would
scarcely be possible to dig out all the trenches begun. In such cases
the wider ones are sunk into wells or shafts, and subterranean passages
are made.[7]
Thus the work of testing a locality may take some little time;
meanwhile the workmen and overseer live in their wretched hut, which
often is not well roofed, and heated only by a portable stove. The wind
whistles through the cracks of the moss-calked walls, an insupportable
heat reigns in the vicinity of the stove, while, on the opposite walls,
icicles gleam like brilliants, and melting snow falls from above. The
air is rendered poisonous by the exhalations of the inmates and the
vapour ascending from damp clothing hung near the fire to dry. In fact,
as the workmen say, the atmosphere is thick enough “to hang up an axe
in.” However, in the wilderness, even such a shelter is a longed-for
refuge when a fierce snowstorm is raging and the thermometer has sunk
to far below zero.
But the climate is not the only hardship the gold-hunter has to
encounter. His provisions consist of black rusks, dried meat, tea, and
a little brandy; and often he does not possess as much as could be
wished even of this meagre fare, for he is obliged to carry with it all
requisite tools and weapons on his beasts of burden, and communication
with civilized centres or depôts is usually difficult, and in spring
sometimes impossible. My interpreter told me he had an uncle, who was
a _tayoshnik_, who made an income of about £1,000 a year, but had
sometimes, for want of better food, to eat bear’s flesh.
But supposing the overseer to have discovered a promising spot, and to
have tested the earth from several holes, he can then strike an average
as to the amount of gold that may be got from every hundred poods--that
is, every 32 cwt., or say every ton and a half--of sand. If the amount
be five _zolotniks_,--say, ¾ oz., this is thought rich; if less than ⅛
oz. it is very poor; sometimes, however, ½ lb. of gold even is found to
100 poods of sand. The overseer has next to calculate whether it will
pay to work the mine.[8]
If, when all things are calculated, the land promises to pay, he
sticks up two posts, one on each end of the area he has chosen,
despatches a courier to his employer, and the place is registered at
once by the commissary of police or other competent authority from
the local Direction of Mines. The area is then thoroughly surveyed by
a Government surveyor, who makes a map of the spot, and, when all is
secured to the finder, the proprietor can at once borrow money on the
security of his mine, paying at the rate of from 20 to 30 per cent.,
according as money is scarce or plentiful. Many capitalists, content
with this interest, employ all their money in this way.[9]
The next thing is to build the necessary houses and barracks for the
future manager of the mine and his workmen, the number of which may
vary from 10 to 2,000. Provisions and fuel provided, then the digging
begins about the middle of February, and the washing about the 1st of
May, the operations being over on the 10th of September, or, if the
weather be unusually fine, on the 1st of November. When a mine has been
registered, it _must_ be worked to some extent, or it is forfeited to
the Crown. The owner, however, may sell it if he pleases, but it must
not remain idle.
It was to a mine that had been opened the same year that we were to
start from Krasnoiarsk. It was called the Archangel Gabriel mine, and
was situated on the river Slisneva, at a spot nearly 30 miles from the
Yenesei. Our worthy doctor arrayed himself for the occasion in the
costume of a Tyrolese hunter, with a double gun over his shoulders, a
revolver and bowie-knife in his belt, and a huntsman’s horn; for he
hoped, he said, that we might chance to meet with a bear--a hope that
I cannot say was shared by all the party. I know at least of one who
hoped we should _not_ meet with a bear. However, it was by no means
unlikely, and I accordingly armed Mr. Interpreter with our revolver.
Madame Peacock wore a black velvet hat, a magenta chemisette, a brown
tweed tunic, black knickerbockers, and top boots; and thus, with a
few provisions, we started in the afternoon to cross the Yenesei to
the village of Basaïka. The water was more than 20 feet higher than
it had risen for 30 years, the ferry had been washed away, and the
force of the stream carried down our boat a good mile ere we reached
the opposite bank; and then, after wading through a great deal of
mud and water, in doing which we learned to appreciate high boots,
we reached the village, and took refreshment before mounting our
steeds. We then advanced in single file from the village through the
cultivated bottom-land, and afterwards through much grass, that was
very like penetrating a forest of herbs, to which our horses took
kindly, for they had scarcely to stoop their heads to nibble their
fodder. Although the summer was young, there were to be seen the acacia
in blossom, currants, and raspberries; and among flowers, the bitter
vetch, the spiræa, anemones, Flora’s bell, high pæonies, aconite, or
wolf’s bane, and large dragon-mouths; also abundance of ferns, among
them one strongly resembling the _Osmunda regalis_, and the magnificent
_Struthiopteris germanica_, which attains to gigantic growth in
Siberia; and even the trunks of the trees and the granite rocks were
covered with a rich variety of lichens and verdant mosses.
Thus far, therefore, everything was going well. The evening was
delightful, and all were in excellent spirits. Soon, however, our guide
turned into the forest, and we had before us the first of two mountains
over whose backs we were to climb, thinking to reach our destination
by nightfall. At this point we began to get some idea of what is meant
by “the forest primeval,” for sometimes the way was all but impassable
by reason of masses of shattered-down dry wood; now our horses stepped
over fallen trees, and now waded knee-deep up the beds of rivulets;
in some places we met with snow-white skeletons of dead trees with
branching arms; in others the way, indicated by notches on the trees,
had been cut with an axe.
As we mounted higher and higher, we had before us a fine, bold, rocky
mountain, lit up with the sinking sun. My companions called to me to
look back, and we had a splendid view of the noble Yenesei at sunset,
of its verdant bottom-lands on either side, its impetuous stream, and
magnificent forests.
We then prepared for our first descent. But it became dusk, and the
overshadowing trees made our difficulty the greater. My horse, however,
seemed to know so well what he was about, that I was minded to keep
my seat and hope for the best. But when all my companions, including
Madame and the guide, had dismounted, and advised me to do the same if
I valued my neck, I followed suit till the valley was reached. We then
remounted for a short distance, by which time it was quite dark, and
for a short space some of the party were lost to the others. All came
right, however, towards midnight, when we saw afar off the glimmering
of a candle. This we hailed with a lusty blast of the doctor’s horn,
thinking to awake the inhabitants. Our coming had not been expected,
but letters from the owners of the mine secured us attention, and such
hospitality as the place afforded. “Let us have the samovar,” said the
doctor; “and bring a good large one, please, for we shall empty it.”
And he was true to his word; for although they brought a twenty-glass
samovar, it went out empty. Russians, however, be it remembered, think
nothing of drinking from eight to a dozen glasses of tea, and we were
in need of refreshment!
Then came the question of sleep. They had but one room to offer us.
Madame, therefore, lay on what might be called by courtesy a sofa. The
bedstead was politely given to me, and the doctor and interpreter lay
on the floor. Thus we managed to rest till about five in the morning,
when we were called. Our toilets had to be speedily arranged, and our
faces washed with a handful or two of water outside the door, for there
was no sort of washing apparatus to be seen. After some tea and rusks,
we started to witness the working of the gold-mine.
I had seen the Swedish iron-mines of Dannemora, and had gone down a
copper-mine in the Urals; but the gold-mine was something new. There
was no underground work going on, and no digging of holes and sending
up the earth to be washed; but the whole surface had been laid bare.
Hence the work resembled that of English navvies making a cutting.
There were a number of small carts drawn by Siberian horses, and men
with pickaxes and shovels filling them. When full, the carts were drawn
up an incline to a platform, and emptied into one end of a large iron
cylinder, resembling a coffee-roaster, with holes all round it. This
was made to rotate by water-power, and the large stones and pebbles
were, by the formation and turning of the cylinder, tumbled out at
the end. Here they were duly watched, so that no nuggets should be
overlooked. At the same time several streams of water were poured into
the cylinder, and the earth and small pebbles, passing through the
holes, fell into a long wooden apron, inclined at an angle of 35°, with
moveable boxes or “pockets.”
In order that we might see how the gold was washed, the manager caused
some of these pockets to be emptied on to an inclined plane of clean
wood, raised at either side, and over which ran equably and slowly a
stream of clear water. One of the pockets (called _dundofka_) was then
emptied on the higher part of the plane, and the water soon washed away
the mud, the man who performed the washing having a wooden scraper,
like that of a scavenger, with which he pushed back the descending
grains of gold. This was repeated till six poods, or say 200 lbs., of
washed earth had been placed on the board. After the mud and sand had
been allowed to roll away, a brush was used instead of the scraper, and
there remained behind perhaps a small teaspoonful of gold-dust, or as
much as was roughly valued at from 40_s._ to 50_s._ The gold was then
placed in a miniature frying-pan, and held over a small fire to dry,
after which it was put into what resembled a “poor-box.” This was done
in the presence of a Government official, of whom there is always one
at every mine, and who is usually a Cossack officer.[10]
The gold thus gained is eventually poured into bags of coarse linen,
which, after having been stamped with the brand of the mine, are sewn
in leather sacks[11] and taken to Irkutsk or Barnaul, where it is
assayed; and afterwards there is deducted the tax of from 5 to 10 per
cent., according to the quantity. Gold assignats are given in exchange,
payable in six months, or they may be cashed at the Government bank at
a discount of 7 per cent. per annum. Thus all the gold found in the
country is claimed by the Government, and it is unlawful for any person
to have gold-dust in his possession unknown to the authorities.
After we had seen the manner of washing the gold we walked into
the barracks, the hospital, stables, and the houses for the 200 or
300 workmen. I have spoken of the hardships that are endured by a
prospecting party. Yet, despite all their privations and dangers, there
is never a lack of persons who volunteer their services to wealthy
projectors, for they receive large wages. The overseer who discovers
the mine generally stipulates that he shall receive from 1 to 5 per
cent. on the yield; and the percentage given to some of the others on
a lucky find is very liberal. The ordinary labourers, too, such as
we saw, are well paid. Among them, of course, is a great variety of
races and people. There meet at the mines the nobleman and the Siberian
peasant; the former officer of the army and the pardoned convict; the
Pole, the German, the Tatar, and numberless others, who work in common,
now freezing in the icy blasts of winter, and now scorching in the heat
of the summer sun. They work intensely hard (sometimes from 3 a.m. to
7 p.m.), and observe no Sundays or saints’ days, excepting that of the
patron saint of the mine. But in most cases they have wholesome food,
warm quarters, and attention in sickness.
Some of them, however, run away. It happens occasionally that a man
may have secreted gold, with which he gets off as early as possible;
and some, not reckoning aright the difficulties of travelling so far
alone, have been found starved, the useless gold clutched in the grasp
of lifeless fingers. We found some attention paid to what might be
called the fanaticism of the Mohammedan workmen; the Tatars being
placed alone, and convenience being afforded them to cook their food
in their own way. A separate barrack, too, was assigned to married
men with their wives. Over an outdoor fire hung a large caldron, big
enough to boil a donkey--the largest I had ever seen. This, I presumed,
was for cooking the meat; and in the bake-house we saw abundance
of rye bread, of which some of the men eat 7 lbs. in a day. Their
beverages are tea and quass. It is forbidden by law to sell spirituous
liquors at the mines. Only the managers have the right to keep them in
their possession, though this sensible regulation is often evaded by
contrabandists.
When the 10th of September arrives, and the workmen receive their pay,
they break forth into the wildest excesses. Before leaving the mine,
each labourer gets a ticket, setting forth what he is to receive, which
may vary from £20 to £50. This ticket he has to present some miles
away at his employer’s office, and there, awaiting him outside, are
merchants and dealers, who manage soon to empty his pockets. He too
frequently begins by drinking; and then the man who has toiled harder
than a slave for months is often at a loss to know upon what objects
and follies to lavish his money.
Captain Wiggins says that he never witnessed among the Siberian miners,
such scenes of depravity and disorder as may be witnessed among the
Australian and Californian miners, or even, at times, in the low
streets of English seaport towns. Another Englishman, however, has told
me a different story, to the effect that one miner, for instance, will
take a common woman and clothe her in satin and velvet, and then, a
week after, when money is gone, will tear the clothes from her back to
raise capital for drink. Another, of a vain turn of mind, buys bottles
of champagne, and sticks them up in a row to throw stones at; a third
will buy a piece of printed cotton, or other material, lay it down in
the dirty road, and, to indulge his aristocratic tread, will walk on
it; whilst a fourth, despising to be drawn by horses, will yoke to his
_telega_ his fellow-fools who have spent their money, and so be drawn
by human beings. The end of this, of course, is that their money is
speedily gone; and now comes the opportunity of the masters for the
following year, since they know that they shall want the men again,
and labour is scarce. Employers, therefore, advance them money, and
the poor sots start off to walk, perhaps, 500 miles to their homes or
friends, where, having arrived, they must needs return in a few months
to begin the labours of another season.
The managers of mines, some of whom make £1,000 a year, congregate in
the winter in the towns, where much drinking and card-playing goes on.
If capitalists are fortunate, they can make and keep large fortunes.
Two gold-seekers in Krasnoiarsk are reputed to have found, in about 10
years, 1,000 poods of gold, of the value, say, of £2,000,000 sterling.
We dined at the house of one of these men.[12]
But to return to the Archangel Gabriel mine. After we had looked at
the buildings, and seen what else there was of interest, we returned
to a breakfast of beefsteaks, left some books for the workmen, and
then, mounting our steeds, returned towards Krasnoiarsk; and, seeing
that four persons similarly attired might not meet again for awhile,
I proposed that, on reaching the town, we should be photographed in a
group. This was done; and so ended one of the pleasantest _détours_ of
our journey.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] East of Lake Baikal are many mines on various rivers, such as
the Nertcha, the Ingoda, and the Onon. Another famous river is the
Olekma; whilst the Amur produces so much of the precious metal that
the yield of some of its valleys is fabulous. I heard, near Albazin,
concerning the Upper Amur Gold-mining Company, that for the past ten
years they had washed 150 poods of gold annually, which, reckoned at
£2,000 a pood--its price during the year of my visit--gives a product
of £3,000,000. Also on the Vitim, during the summer of 1878, from 300
to 400 poods, I was told, had been extracted, which represent from
£600,000 to £800,000 sterling.
[2] Any one, indeed, may go into the uninhabited _taiga_ to seek for
gold (as the hunter may penetrate the same dismal region in search
of game), provided, that is, he have a certificate from the mining
officers, which he may get by giving proofs of good citizenship from
the local authorities among whom he resides. He is then at liberty,
when he has found gold, to hire the land from the Government for the
purposes of mining.
[3] A party of this kind will go where, perhaps, the foot of man has
never trodden. Fortunate is the _tayoshnik_ if he have by his side a
faithful native who can direct; otherwise he throws himself into a
labyrinth of small valleys and hills, intersected in all directions by
rushing mountain streams. He has no path to guide him save the course
of the rivers, often no compass save the sun, and in this manner he
travels--mounted, perhaps, on a small Siberian pony, or, in the far
north, on the back of a reindeer. In situations where it is impossible
for him to make use of small sledges drawn by reindeer on the frozen
rivers, he has to run on snow-shoes, everywhere encountering hardship
and dangers, with certain death in store for him should he lose his way.
[4] Large rivers hardly ever carry gold with them, and when in
exceptional cases they do, the treasure cannot be recovered, since to
turn the water from its channel would be too great an expense. The
shape of the gold grains gives some idea of its previous history and
travels. Are the particles flat and thin? Then they have been dragged
over sand and rocks. Are they round like grains? Then they have been in
some whirlpool, participants in a mad circling dance. Or, once more,
are they fine dust particles, with here and there a larger piece, or
with various minerals attached--particularly quartz, their original
home? Then in this last shape the gold has probably had a comfortable
and quiet journey.
[5] The _plasts_ vary from 3 inches to 15 feet, and their composition
varies considerably. Blue clay, coarse sand, quartz, clay-slate,
limestone, granite, and syenite occur frequently, as well as iron in
the most various combinations; and, more rarely, ferruginous red clay.
This last is very tough, and in the rainy season causes the workmen no
little difficulty. In return, however, it contains a good deal of gold.
In the district of the Olekma the gold deposit rests on a bed of firm
rock.
[6] In many localities it is in the cold season only that the trenches
can be dug with advantage. In summer they would be quickly flooded.
Even in the winter the water must be fought against, and there are some
places where the earth is dug out from under frozen rivers.
[7] These are the beginning of the so-called gold-_mines_. The
subterranean work, which is carried on principally during the winter
months, does not differ much from the ordinary work of the miner.
Poisonous vapours do not usually occur, but, when cutting through
clay-slate, the presence of sulphate of cobalt has sometimes an
injurious effect. The passages are nine feet wide and high, and two
labourers generally work from two to three tons of sand per day. The
sand thus accumulated during the winter is thrown up into heaps and
washed in the summer.
[8] He must reckon the quantity of earth and rubbish to be removed
before he gets to the gold sand, also the number of labourers necessary
to be brought to the place, and food to keep them; and, further, he
must consider what will be the summer level of the stream on which his
claim lies, because without the proper supply of water the machinery
cannot be set in motion, and to put up an artificial water conduit
would be too expensive.
[9] An area consists of a piece of land about 3½ miles long, the
breadth being determined by the distance between the two mountains in
which the gold-seam lies. This is generally from 500 to 1,000 feet. No
one can occupy more than three consecutive miles; but a wife, a friend,
or partner, having a certificate, may take the adjoining three miles,
and then the three miles below may be taken, and so on to any extent.
[10] It is his duty to supervise the washing of the gold, which is
placed in a coffer, locked by the proprietor, and sealed by the
Government agent, the quantity of gold washed at each operation being
entered in a register. If they find a quarter of an ounce of gold to a
ton and a half of sand, then 200 men can wash from four to five pounds
of gold a day. I heard, however, of a mine to the south of Yeneseisk,
where they usually found from 15 to 20 lbs., and sometimes even up to
36 lbs. a day. Gold thus found is not always pure, but is frequently
mixed with magnetic iron, which is drawn off by a magnet. Nor is the
metal all of the same colour. In some places it is found very dark, and
often still covered by a crust of oxide of iron; in other places it is
of a very light colour, and contains silver.
[11] Each bag contains about 50 lbs. of gold. Two of these, further
protected by a covering of thick felt, constitute the load for one
horse. To the two bags are fastened a long cord and a piece of dry
wood, so that, in the event of the horses’ burdens being washed away
while crossing a swollen river, the floating wood would indicate the
whereabouts of the sunken treasure. In the middle of June, or at the
end of the season, the departure of loads of gold from the mine is
accompanied with pistol-firing and the booming of cannon, and cheers
and blessings bid the caravan _bon voyage_.
[12] There are, or were, some rich gold-mine proprietors at Kiakhta.
One firm there, consisting of three partners, washed in one year enough
gold to give a net profit of £600,000; they expected the year after to
make £1,000,000; and the Government surveyor calculated that at that
rate the mine would last 50 years. Thus many fortunes are realized in
Siberia; but hardly a month passes without chronicling some one’s ruin,
which may often be attributed to the fast life and gaming propensities
of the miners. Hence, although between the years 1833 and 1870 about
30,000 poods of gold were sent out of Eastern Siberia alone, to the
value of £50,000,000, the finding of which gave employment in some
years to upwards of 30,000 workmen, yet it will be seen from the
foregoing that this great wealth has not proved an unmixed blessing,
for the discovery of a gold-mine never brings to it a population
permanently thriving and industrious.