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Rh to be in the province of Szechuen and along the branches of the Kuenlun mountain range, which, extending in a general E. and W. direction, penetrate far into central China, between Szechuen and the Wei river. There are also numerous washings at the base of the watershed between Kweichow and Hunan, and through the centre of Shantung from S. W. to N. E. In these localities placer gold is found, and some of them are mentioned as furnishing nuggets; but little is known of the production of these washings. It is said that extensive sources of gold have long been known in China, but that the working of the mines has been discontinued by the government in accordance with some of their financial theories. The gold-bearing formations of eastern Siberia are believed to extend into Chinese Tartary, and to connect with those of central and southern China. For several centuries Japan has ranked high for its production of gold, which constituted a chief article of the commerce carried on by the Portuguese and Dutch traders. According to a Japanese authority, the value of the gold exported from Nagasaki from 1611 to 1706 amounted to $68,000,000, and of silver to $157,000,000; while Hildreth states that the value of the precious metals exported from Japan during the two centuries beginning with 1540 could not have been less than $200,000,000. But little is known concerning the present production of gold in the empire, or the localities where it exists. The gold regions on the island of Yesso were surveyed in 1862 by Blake and Pumpelly, while in the service of the tycoon's government. According to Blake, the gold region extends along the Kunui and Pusibets rivers and in the range of mountains dividing Volcano bay from the west coast. Deposits are also supposed to exist in the northern and interior portions of the island. No veins have yet been found, the gold being obtained from washings. It is in fine scales, and occurs in the gravel along the streams; it is also found in high terrace deposits on the hillsides. The annual product of the island does not probably exceed $25,000. There are also extensive mines upon a large vein of mixed silver and gold ore on the island of Sado, off the N. W. coast, which is supposed to have furnished a large amount, but the facts regarding it are jealously guarded by the Japanese. Gold is largely used in Japan for gilding, for inlaying and overlaying metals, and for alloys with copper and silver of various colors and degrees of fineness. Gold has long been found in abundance in Borneo; according to Kloos, the metal occurs in varying quantities throughout the entire island. Placer gold is found on the river Kapola, associated with iron ores, sulphuret of antimony, and diamonds. The production of gold has also been reported in India, Thibet, Ceylon, Sumatra, Celebes, and the Philippine islands.—Africa is believed to have been the source of a large proportion of

the gold possessed by the ancients, and is reported by modern travellers to be still rich in it. The unmanufactured gold obtained from that country is in the form of dust, evidently obtained from alluvial washings. Russegger, who travelled through Nubia in 1838, reported the mountain chain extending across the interior of Africa from E. N. E. to W. S. W., and the streams flowing from it, to be auriferous. In Sennaar and southern Abyssinia gold occurs in placer deposits and in quartz veins traversing granite, gneiss, and chloritic slates. The greatest portion of the gold brought to the coast is from the fields of Bambook, south of the Senegal, the most important mines in Africa. There is a gold district in Kordofan on the upper Nile, between Darfoor and Abyssinia, and it is obtained in small quantities opposite Madagascar. A few years ago the annual production of Africa was estimated by Birkmyre at 4,000 lbs., valued at about $900,000. In 1866 the existence of extensive gold fields in south Africa, between lat. 17° and 21° 30′ S., was discovered by Hartley, an elephant hunter, and a German scientific traveller named Mauch. The gold fields occupy the interior region between the Zambesi, W. of Tete, and the middle course of the Limpopo river. The distance to them, from the Portuguese settlement of Sofala is about 350 m. The region containing the gold is an elevated table land about 7,000 ft. above the sea; it is chiefly occupied by the Matabele section of the Caffres, a warlike tribe. The travellers above named found beds of glistening white quartz rock extending over this table land, which were found upon examination to contain gold. Particles of gold were also found along the sandy margins of rivulets. It is supposed by some that these mines were known to the Portuguese as early as the 17th century, and by others that here was the Ophir of Solomon. Although the discovery of the south African gold fields attracted considerable attention, the production hitherto seems to have been unimportant.—The first known discovery of gold in Australia was made by Count Strzelecki in 1839, and by him communicated to Sir George Gipps, then governor of the colony of New South Wales. In deference to the wishes of the latter, who was of opinion that a widely spread knowledge of the existence of gold would prevent the maintenance of discipline among the 45,000 convicts there collected, the discovery was not proclaimed to the world. It was rediscovered in 1841 by the Rev. W. B. Clarke, a geologist, upon whom also silence seems to have been enjoined by Governor Gipps. Without knowledge of these discoveries, it is said, Sir Roderick Murchison in 1844 publicly asserted the high probability of the existence of gold in Australia. It is also said that gold was found at Clunes, Victoria, in 1850. The discovery, however, which led to the extensive working of the mines was made in 1851 by Mr. E. H. Hargreaves, who had just returned from