The gold fields of St. Domingo; by Courtney Wilshire S

Author:Courtney, Wilshire S. [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Gold mines and mining
Publisher: New York, A. P. Norton
Published: 1860-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

perfection and consequently when the loss was ezcessive. The persons concerned in the operation, hid a great deal of the gold and did not count that in grains and scales, but only that in lump,"

This writer in describing the territory above Santiago, into which idso the Oiboa mountains penetrate, observes further.

^' The territory of Santiago is Very fertile in mines, in the first place the Green river has grains of gold among its sands, and there was on one side of this river a mine of gold, the principal vein of which was three inches in circumference of gold, very pure and unmixed with other matter. It was closed up by order of the President, because the Alcade of La Yega wanted to seize upon the mines that were working along the Green riVer. !Bf tlch superficial gold was formerly collected on the hights near this river also, and which came from very abundant mines never yet opened. Originally the town of Santiago was peopled almost altogether with goldsmiths, which circumstance alone is sufficient to show the abundance of the mines."

^^ The sand of the Yaque is also mixed with

gold, and according to Mr. Biittet, there w^s found in 1708 a lump of nine onnces. Almost all the rivers that fall in from both banks of the Yaqne, wash down gold from the monntainsi which BXQOsyet hardly known. Twelve leagaes to the south of Santiago at Bishops-stream and that of the staneSj there are many mines of silver. To the West, in the counties called the Tanoi^ the abundance of such mines caused these cantons to be looked upon as a second Potosi. Lastly at Yasica, twelve leagues from Santiago, on the bank of the river, there is a little hillock abounding in silver. There is copper also in the terri* torj of Santiago, and mercury at the head of the river Taque."

^^ The canton of Port^e-Platte greatly abounds in mines of gold, silver and copper. There are also mines of plaster."

But the riches of the mines opened in the southern and western portion of the island were, if at all, surpassed only by those of the Oiboa region. The same writer in speaking of the region around St. Thamaa and San Jtutn^Ma-Mofftiana to the South-West of the Oiboa country remarks.

* • -*

120 DOMINICA. •

" The country we are at present describing has in divers places mines of dififerAnA sorts. In the district of Quaba there are some very abundant: among others the Gilded HiU, which Valverde says may be called the ' Golden Hill.' Many persons he adds, have there enriched themselves clandestinely by the labor of their own hands and those of a single negro; for, fearing to take more assistance for fear of a discovery, they acquired fortunes without the necessary talents or knowledge—a strong proof of the abundance of the metal."

So again in speaking of the territories of Azua and Manuel on the South side of the island ho says:

^^ Azua contains also many gold mines which were formerly worked, but are long since abandoned.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.