precious metal, but the discovery that only quartz gold, and not alluvial, was to be obtained, damped their ardour and soon thinned their ranks. Various companies were formed to carry on the work, but they were ultimately obliged to abandon it on account of the insufficiency of machinery. The real cause of the failure was the distance from the coast, every piece of machinery, however simple its character, costing five or six times its own value for its transport up the country.
As a general rule not more than seven ounces of gold were found in a ton of quartz, though I was told that exceptional cases had been known where the ton had yielded twenty-four ounces. As well as carrying on his own business, Mr. Brown was now acting as agent for the companies in liquidation, as some of their property was still undisposed of. I saw the remains of the steam-engine by which the quartz had been pounded still standing in the Tati valley, a short distance below the settlement; the rock containing the gold had been brought from a spot some way inland, but when the pits, although they were by no means deep, once became filled with water, there was no second engine to empty them, and consequently the whole work was brought to a standstill.
Mr. Brown was away from home at the time of our arrival, having gone to Gubuluwayo to be married by Mr. Thompson, the resident missionary, to Miss Jacobs; his managing clerk, however, received us very courteously, and we were invited to take up our quarters in the place until Westbeech’s return.
Besides these two residents, I was not a little
