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282 Of course it was wonderful, and I believe that my friend expected to see me very much surprised, for, previous to entering it, he made no reference as to the character of Cliff Harbour. However, I had now become used to witnessing the wonderful and unexpected; so I gazed with apparent indifference at the cliffs, but made no inquiries. Yet it was quite plain they were solid gold, yellow and black in colour. He steered the Berero almost beneath them, and I could now distinguish several rocks of many other metals.

We did not attempt to land, but proceeded right round it—it was metal everywhere—then out again.

"If it were possible to communicate with the other continents, we could give them abundance of that commodity," he said, looking in the direction of the gold.

"Yes," I replied; "but in that case I am afraid it would not be sought after so much by my countrymen, for the very large quantities you have here would diminish its value. It is partly on account of its scarcity that it is so valuable in other parts of the world; however, there is no doubt that a few ship-loads of it would be very acceptable to them at the present time."