Hydraulic mining on the Gold Coast, owing to the conformation of the
country, will be a far simpler and less expensive process than in
California or Australia. In the latter water has first to be bought, and
then to be brought in pipes, flumes, leats, or races from a considerable
distance, sometimes extending over forty miles. It is necessary to make a
reservoir for a fall. The water then rushes through the flexible hose, and
is directed by a nozzle against the face of the excavation. The action is
that of a fireman playing upon a burning house. Most works on mining
insist upon those reservoirs, and never seem to think of washing from
below by the force-pump.
I have shown that the surface of the lands adjoining the Ancobra is a
series of hummocks, rises, and falls, sometimes, though rarely, reaching
200 feet; that water abounds, and that it is to be had gratis. In every
bottom there is a drain, sometimes perennial, but more often a blind gully
or creek, [Footnote: The gully feeds a 'creek,' the creek a river.] which
runs only during the Rains, and in the Dries carries at most a succession
of pools. Here Norton's Abyssinian tubes, sunk in the bed after it has
been carefully worked by the steam-navvy for the rich alluvium underlying
the surface, would act like pumps, and dams would form huge tanks.
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