To the Gold Coast for Gold (Complete)

A Personal Narrative

Nonfiction, Travel, Africa, History, Adventure & Literary Travel
Cover of the book To the Gold Coast for Gold (Complete) by Sir Richard Francis Burton, Consumer Oriented Ebooks Publisher
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Author: Sir Richard Francis Burton ISBN: 1230000325271
Publisher: Consumer Oriented Ebooks Publisher Publication: March 28, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Sir Richard Francis Burton
ISBN: 1230000325271
Publisher: Consumer Oriented Ebooks Publisher
Publication: March 28, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English

The following extract from 'Wanderings in West Africa,' a book which I
wrote in 1862 and published (anonymously) in 1863, will best explain the
reasons which lately sent me to Western Africa:--

In several countries, for instance, Dinkira, Tueful, Wásá (Wassaw), and
especially Akim, the hill-region lying north of Accra, the people are
still active in digging gold. The pits, varying from two to three feet
in diameter, and from twelve to fifty deep (eighty feet is the extreme),
are often so near the roads that loss of life has been the
result. 'Shoring up' being little known, the miners are not unfrequently
buried alive. The stuff is drawn up by ropes in clay pots, or
calabashes, and thus a workman at the bottom widens the pit to a
pyriform shape; tunnelling, however, is unknown. The excavated earth is
carried down to be washed. Besides sinking these holes, they pan in the
beds of rivers, and in places collect quartz, which is roughly pounded.

They (the natives) often refuse to dig deeper than the chin, for fear of
the earth 'caving in;' and, quartz-crushing and the use of quicksilver
being unknown, they will not wash unless the gold 'show colour' to the
naked eye.

As we advance northwards from the Gold Coast the yield becomes
richer....

It is becoming evident that Africa will one day equal half-a-dozen
Californias....

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The following extract from 'Wanderings in West Africa,' a book which I
wrote in 1862 and published (anonymously) in 1863, will best explain the
reasons which lately sent me to Western Africa:--

In several countries, for instance, Dinkira, Tueful, Wásá (Wassaw), and
especially Akim, the hill-region lying north of Accra, the people are
still active in digging gold. The pits, varying from two to three feet
in diameter, and from twelve to fifty deep (eighty feet is the extreme),
are often so near the roads that loss of life has been the
result. 'Shoring up' being little known, the miners are not unfrequently
buried alive. The stuff is drawn up by ropes in clay pots, or
calabashes, and thus a workman at the bottom widens the pit to a
pyriform shape; tunnelling, however, is unknown. The excavated earth is
carried down to be washed. Besides sinking these holes, they pan in the
beds of rivers, and in places collect quartz, which is roughly pounded.

They (the natives) often refuse to dig deeper than the chin, for fear of
the earth 'caving in;' and, quartz-crushing and the use of quicksilver
being unknown, they will not wash unless the gold 'show colour' to the
naked eye.

As we advance northwards from the Gold Coast the yield becomes
richer....

It is becoming evident that Africa will one day equal half-a-dozen
Californias....

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