Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/494

 478 COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION OF The gold of the Indian Islands, whether obtain- ed from veins or mineral deposites, always appears in the commercial transactions of the country in the form of coarse sand or dust, that of the alluvial deposites being, from attrition, always smooth, and is of intrinsic value, usually in proportion to the size and coarseness of the grains. In commercial lan- guage, gold-dust is designated by the name of the country which produces it, and that of the same country is without any extraordinary variation, pretty constantly of the same touch or fineness. Independent of the quantity of copper or silver al- ways in chemical mixture with the ore, it inva- riably contains a considerable mixture of earth, iron, and other adventitious matters. The most productive mines, it may be remarked, afford gold of the lowest test, and that which contains the largest portion of mechanical admixture. The fol- lowing table presents at one useful view an analy- sis of some of the most common descriptions which appear in the markets.