before the Workmen shewing what places they are to dig They cleave the stony marble being shewed by the strength of strong bodies not by Art but by great force with iron wedges But they drive shafts or passages not streight but that way which Nature leadeth by the gold in the shining marble But when by reason of the divers bendings and turnings they are darkned in their passages the Workmen carrying lights before them the rocks by great force being cut in pieces they carry up and cast upon the ground Others cut them so casten into very small pieces others carry them away The pieces taken from these Workmen being cut to a certain measure they beat in stone Vessels with a pestle or hammer of Iron unto the smallness of Millet seeds They then being cast into Mills are grinded unto the very fineness of meal Then the Workmen taking it ground do put it upon broad Tables a little declining and again beat or rub the Marble water being cast upon it By that means the earth being washed away the gold by its gravity doth remain upon the Tables This they often iterating they rub the Gold with their hands Then with thin and porous sponges they press forth the soft earth until it be made like unto golden sand Lastly other Workmen do put it by weight and measure into earthen pots and do superadd in a certain measure Lead Sea-weed or Tange and Bran of Barley These things compounded in a certain proportion they diligently lome or daub up the pots with clay or lute Furthermore being decocted five whole days and nights in a Furnace pure Gold is onely found in the Vessel the other things being wasted the former weight being little diminished I have the rather delivered this at large because it is a very remarkable passage and perhaps not taken notice of by many Readers and may be of some considerable use to an ingenious Mineralist 3. Gonzalus Ferdinandus Oviedus relateth two notable ways both of their finding of Gold at the Indies and of the washing and purifying of it and that not by hear-say but upon his own experience some of which we shall transcribe because I believe the Book is not very common Who saith This particular of the Mines of Gold is a thing greatly to be noted and I may much better speak of it then any other man forasmuch as there are now twelve years past since I served in the place of Surveyor of the Melting-shops pertaining to the Gold Mines of the Firm Land and was the Governour of the Mines of the Catholick King Don Ferdinando after whose departure from this life I served long in the same room in the name of your Catholick Majestie By reason whereof I have had great occasion to know how Gold is found and wrought out of the Mines c. And a little after he saith The manner how Gold is gathered is this either of such as is found in Zanana that is to say in the Plains and Rivers of the Champian Countrey being without Trees whether the earth be with grass or without or of such as is sometimes found on the Land without the Rivers in places where Trees grow so that to come by the same it shall be requisite to cut down many and great Trees But after which soever of these manners it be found either in the Rivers or Breaches of Waters or else in the Earth I will shew how it is found in both these places and how it is separate and purged Therefore when the Mine or Vein is discovered this chanceth by searching and proving in such places as by certain signs and tokens do appear to skilful men apt for the generation of Gold and to hold Gold And when they have found it they follow the Mine and labour it whether it be in the River or the Plain as I have said And if it be found on the Plain first they make the place very clean where they intend to dig then they dig eight or ten foot in length and as much in bredth but they go no deeper then a span or two or more as shall seem best to the Master of the Mine digging equally then they wash all the earth which they have taken out of the said space and if herein they find any Gold they follow it and if not they dig a span deeper and wash the earth as they did before and if then also they find nothing they continue in digging and washing the earth as before until they come to the hard rock or stone and if in fine they find no Gold there they follow no further to seek Gold in that place but go to another part And it is to be understood that when they have found the Mine they follow it in digging in the same measure in level and depth until they have made an end of all the Mine which that place containeth if it appear to be rich Their manner of washing he thus describes And when they have digged forth the Mine they fill certain Trays with that earth which other Indians have the charge immediately to receive at their hands and to carry those Trays of Earth to the Water where it may be washed yet do not they that bring it wash it but deliver it to other putting it out of their own Trays into others which they have ready in their hands to receive it These Washers for the most part are Indian women because this work is of less pain and travel then any other These women when they wash are accustomed to sit by the water-side with their legs in the water even up to the knees or less as the place serveth their purpose and thus holding the Trays in their hands by the handles thereof and putting the same into the Water they move them round about after the manner of sifting with a certain aptness in such sort that there entereth no more water into the Trays then serveth their turns and with the self-same apt moving of their Trays in the water they ever avoid the foul water with the earth out of the one side of the Vessel and receive in clean water on the other side thereof so that by this means by little and little the water washeth the earth as the lighter substance off the Trays and the gold as the heavier matter resteth in the bottom of the same being round and hollow in the middle like unto a Barbers Basin And when all the earth is avoided and the gold gathered together in the bottom of the Tray they put it apart and return to take more earth which they wash continually as before So that to conclude there are in all five persons ordinarily assigned to every Tray of Washers I have been the more tedious upon this subject because I judged it very material and profitable but now we shall come to some higher questions concerning Gold and so leave it CHAP. XII What may be thought of common Gold whether it be an ingredient into
Silver or with Copper but that which is mixed with Silver is commonly of fewer Carats then that which is mixed with Copper If there be a fifth part of silver Pliny saith it is then properly called Electrum which hath the property to shine more at the light of the fire then fine gold or fine silver That which is incorporate with copper is commonly of a higher value Franciscus Calceolarius tells us that in his Musaeum he had three sorts of the Ore of Gold 1. One brought forth of Pannonia in which there was a white colour like silver 2. Another arising with silver forth of a stone heavy enough of much what an ash colour brought from the Mines of Bohemia 3. An Ore flowing forth of a stone of a very red colour in which was seen Copper growing shining with an inset colour from the same Mines Agreeable to what is here related may be â—ound in Agricola to whom I refer the Reader and onely shall add a passage or two more from Basilius who saith To distinguish Metals by colours is a curious skill as red-gold-glass mine-green black Ore however their working is not so exactly known that way And a little after he saith Hither belong all mixt Ores which at separating are parted asunder and not before as the custom is As in Hungary there is had every where gold-silver that is in it there is gold which in its colour and ponderosity is pure hath lost nothing and is still in its working quality and if it had not been interrupted and digged up unseasonably then the silver would have been turned into pure gold Lazarus Erâ—ker that was chief Mineâ—master to Maximilian the Emperour tells us That Gold is found in a white stone like marble the Germans call it Quartz as also in a blue and yellow horn-stone likewise in a blue slate iron slats yellow and of a subtile flaming and sometimes in corn tin and iron-stone And once more Paracelsus tells us speaking of the separating of Metals forth of their Ores and one from another These sorts of Ores sometimes will contain more then one Metal as it often happens that Copper and Silver Copper and Gold Lead and Silver Tin and Silver c. may be found in one Mineral Now for the gradual differences of Gold they may be and doubtless are many for in fineness and purity there may be much disagreement and therefore Basilius offers us a notable passage thus And take notice that Nature loveth to keep her own ways orderly and keeps together two and sometimes three sorts of Ores in their ascension and descension whereby she intimateth a way unto the after-work but men in their fansies think upon other means though to no purpose View all the Mines which are in Europe you will find no other Ores but impure ones that is a mixture of them for their Nature maketh them so as much as ever I could learn If you can shew me the contrary I will assent unto it And again he saith Who could tell what gold and silver were if they were not known in their perfection for when they are perfect it appeareth when they have their colour their weight their malleableness their flux and hardness And this perfect Metal Nature hath produced compactly and purely for such perfect pure and compact gold is found in Hungary in the white marble which presently may be broken as also silver and copper The difference betwixt the perfect and pure is because Metals are not pure before they are perfect and so there may be a perfect Ore which is not pure which defect is found in many of our Metals which come to their perfection as soon as in any other Foreign parts but in their perfect purity they are defective sometimes And this we commend to the Reader to be seriously considered of Now from hence we may gather that even one sort of gold as it is gold may be more fine and pure then another And the Scripture doth shew us that in those days gold was found to be and esteemed one sort better and purer then another of which we shall now speak something largely for diversion sake and to stir up all ingenious spirits to a more narrow scrutiny after these curiosities 1. And first it mentioneth the gold found in the Land of Havillah and saith And the gold of that is Zahab to'b that is good intimating plainly that there was other gold that was worse and not so good But where that gold was found is something doubtful though Tremellius maketh Pishon there to be the River Tygris that runneth all along the Inland into the Sinus Persicus and takes it to be the Country of the Susians in the edge of Persia and calleth it aurum praestans that is excellent gold and the Vulgar Latine calls it aurum optimum And as to the place Piscator doth agree which I leave to others to be disputed of Castalio calls it aurum probaâ—issimum but that it should be the best agreeth not exactly with the Hebrew word to'b which implieth not the superlative degree and therefore the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good gold And Luther renders it that is precious gold And so do the French and Italian Bibles translate it good gold not the best 2. Though Zahab be the primitive word the Hebrews most commonly use for Gold and that some Lexicons take it to be meant of raw and unwrought Gold yet sometimes they add some other word or Adjective unto it that doth specifie some notable degree of the goodness of it or some other quality and in many places Sagur of the Verb Sagar clausit which Montanus where the Text speaketh of Solomons covering the Oracle he saith auro concluso or purissimo but Tremellius whose reason for this is the likest in this place gives it auro asservato meaning the gold that David had preserved for that purpose of building the Temple and it is not likely that David for a work of that nature would not have kept any Gold but that which was most pure and in this sense that Tremellius gives I find no place to contradict it 3. They use the word Kaethem which commonly signifieth a mass of bright and shining Gold from the word Katham emicuit it hath shined or been bright and to this they add Tahur from the Verb Taher mundus fuit and this signifieth a mass of pure and clean Gold and was most usually reckoned amongst their best sorts of Gold 4. They use the word Phas or 1. Pas from the Verb Pasas deauratus est it is covered over with Gold and that very pure for it is said And the King made a Throne of Ivory and covered it over 2. Mepasas that is with pure Gold and sometimes it is taken for that pretious stone that is called Topazion And it is not unlike but that it was brought from a place of that name for it
is said That silver spred into plates was brought from Thaâ—sis and Gold from Uphaz And again Then I lift up mine eyes and looked and behold a certain man cloathed in linen whose loyns were girded with fine gold of Uphaz Where the word Kaethem is used as coming from that place called Uphaz and Arias Montanus renders it in massa auri obrizi But it is plain that Uphaz was the proper name of a place and not to be taken adjectively and is thought to be the same with Ophir of which we shall say more presently 5. We may observe that it is probable that in the time of Iob Gold was gotten forth of the Earth or Rocks or separated from the sand For he saith as Piscator renders it and Tremellius seems so to expound it ' Surely there is a vein for silver and a place for Gold where they find it and it the Earth hath dust of Gold 6. But the Gold that was known in the days of King Solomon that had the chiefest commendation was that which was brought from Ophir or Uphaz for it is taken by all the Learned that they were both one place And this is in divers places of all other most commended For Iob preferring wisdom before all earthly things saith it shall not be compared with Kaethem Ophir naming that sort of Gold that was accounted the most excellent and pure above all other nor it shall not come in competition with Kaethem tahur the mass of the purest Gold And David setting forth the glory of Christs Kingdom and the Church under the person of a Queen saith Upon thy right hand did stand the Queen in Gold of Ophir Kaethem Ophir in massa auri Ophir as that sort of Gold that was most pure and excellent in esteem in those days And that this gold was fetched by Hiram from Ophir these places do testifie Then went Solomon to Ezion-Geber and to Eloth at the Sea side in the land of Edom And Huram sent him by the hands of his servants ships and servants that had knowledge of the sea and they went with the servants of Solomon to Ophir and took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold and brought it to King Solomon For the Kings ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing Gold and Silver Ivory and Apes and Peacocks Now the great question being amongst the Learned where this Ophir or Uphaz was from whence was brought the most pure Gold that was known in the days of Solomon Sir Walter Rawleigh a person of profound judgment and great learning hath extreamly laboured to prove that it was not from Peru in the West Indies but brought from an Island in the East Indies called by the name of Ophir and to make this good he hath strained all possible or probable arguments to assert it And so hath Iosephus Acosta and many others But notwithstanding the authority of such learned persons I am of an opinion that theâ—r arguments are not of such force but that they may be easily answered as having no other ground but probability and conjecture but we have no time to bestow that way but shall lay down that proof that may demonstrate that the land of Ophir or Uphaz was the two Peru's now known to Europe For that text is so plain that no reasonings can be able to overthrow it For it is said in the text And the gold was the gold of Peruaim And all men know that the Hebrews put a-im in the dual number as Peru being the singular number when a im is added to it in the dual it makes Peruaim Which must of necessity be the name of a place or Country Which Epithete they could not have given to their best and purest gold if there had no such Country been known to the Iews in the time of Solomon and indeed could be no other then the two Peru's now known to the Europeans And the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in a manner is the same And the French Bible Et l' er estoit or de Pharuaim which agreeth with the Hebrew And Tremellius renders it Aurum autem ipsum erat aurum Paruaimorum and to the same purpose the Italian Bible saith Et l' oro era oro di Paruarim as though it were the Gold of the people of the Country so called which amounteth to the same purpose And Luther calls it Das Goldt war Parwaym Goldt And therefore an Author of great learning and credit saith Terra igitur illa ex qua tanta optimi auri copia Solomoni advecta fuit ad alias gentes asportata jam tum Paruaim dicta fuit quam hodie Peru vocamus quae ad Europaei orbis notitiam Mercimoniorum usum Christophori Columbi sagacissima pertinacia anno supra millesimum quadringentesimum nonagesimo secundo traducta Hebraeis autem veteribus fuit exploratissima Verba Ariae Montani in libro Phaleg id est de gentium sedibus situ orbis ita habent Dictio Paruaim iis qui vel tantum sciunt Hebraice legere duas regiones olim Peru dictas clare demonstrat unam quidem quae eodem vocabulo hodierno etiam die Peru dicitur alteram vero quae nova Hispania à navigantibus est appellata Ejus autem regionis aurum purissimum atque in maximo pretio apud omnes gentes fuisse constat Atque interpres quidem vulgaâ—us vel ob ignotam sibi regionem vel potius in ejus quod illa regio exhibebat auri laudem cum in Hebraeo ita scriptum legatur aurum illud aurum Peru Peru nam Peru in numero duali Paruaim dicitur convertit aurum erat probatissimum Quocirca quicquid auri inter alias gentes priscis illis seculis in usu fuit id fere totum ex illius terrae cavernis elicitum esse existimamus c. And thus much by way of digression for the curious to consider of 7. We shall not insist upon that place in the Revelation where it is said And the City was pure gold like unto clear glass And the street of the City was pure gold as it were transparent glass Because it is a prophetical place and also that it was but like unto or as it were transparent glass not that the gold was really transparent of which it may be doubted whether any such gold were ever existent either by Art or Nature Besides these foregoing sorts mentioned forth of the Scripture we find several sorts of gold gradually distinguished according to the Regions from whence they are brought as the Arabian Spanish Hungarian and German gold which all differ one from another in the degrees of goodness or pureness And the purest that we have in these days that I know of is the sand-gold brought from Guinea and some other places which is so near pure and
forth of a granulated fire-stone or Pyrites 1. One kind of this golden Pyrites is plainly barren yielding no Copper at all when it is excocted in the fire 2. There are two sorts he saith whereof an hundred pound weight of Ore doth afford one pound of Copper 3. Another a pound and a half 4. Another four pounds and an half 5. Another four pound and three quarters 6. Another six pound and an half 7. Another nine pound and an half 8. Another nine pound and three quarters 9. Another ten pounds 10. Another fourteen pound and an half 11. Another fifteen pound 11. Lastly another sixteen pounds which is the highest 1. For several sorts of Ores he reckoneth first that which is yellowish in which is inserted whole plates or leaves in an ash-coloured stone tending to blackness being very fruitful of Copper and having particles adjoyned in certain places of a whitish-coloured flint 2. A purple Ore of Copper or of a violet colour tending to blue called of the Miners Braun ertz having little crums or grains of a â—ire-stone of a golden colour mingled with it on the other part purple shining Ore mixed with a stone of a grey colour on the other part it hath more of blue in the midst of the body sparks of Copper growing whitish mixed with golden ones 3. English Copper Ore consisting of a black stone and hard in which doth intermingled shine here and there a golden colour In some places it shineth with the various mixture of black blue and golden colours 4. A golden Pyrites friable or crumbling shaped like dice having certain spots of a purple and hyacinth colour admixed with it And from Osterdale in Norway he had brought without square and shining with divers colours 5. A more base Ore of Copper growing blackish in which is inspersed here and there golden Veins going unequally through the body of the stone Then also an ash-coloured stone having golden-coloured grains interspersed in it in course fruitful in Copper insected on one of the outsides with certain Oker 6. An ironish Ore of Copper in which a Vein of a square golden fire-stone doth shine and here and there portions of rubiginous iron I have by me very many sorts of these squared or diced golden Marchasites and some of other figures but whether they hold Copper or not I have not tried The Author of the Musaeum Calceolarianum mentioneth these four sorts of copper Ore 1. One that is red containing some silver in it from the Carpathian Mountain which is most fruitful of Metals 2. Also the Ore of copper at Kepnice in Misnia which is not red but hath a leaden colour replenished with certain little yellow Veins for every hundred pound weight of which by the help of the Furnace is extracted two and twenty pound weight of Copper 3. The Ore of Copper from Inaceburg like to a cloven or slat stone of almost an ash-colour in which little Veins imitating a golden colour are seen growing an hundred pound weight of which yields twenty pounds of copper 4. The Ore of copper from Anneberg shining with a reddish colour forth of an hundred pounds weight of which the Vein being poor yieldeth onely sixteen pounds of Copper We have enumerated these several sorts of copper Ores that the laborious Miners may be better enabled to judge of the several sorts of Ores Now for the several preparations that the Ore of copper undergoeth before it be made good valuable copper Wormius tells us thus saying I have six differences in respect of the excoction of copper 1. Of which the first is the crude Pyrites or fire-stone it self of a golden colour as it is digged forth of the Mine and rich with copper 2. The second is of the Ore burned by the space of fourteen days or three weeks For then the mass is rendred copper-like of a blackish colour forth of which viride aes doth flower 3. Thirdly the Ore so excocted and fluxed that it is reduced into thick plates which the Germans call Ruffer-stein 4. Fourthly These plates being put into other Furnaces are burned six or eight times and are carried forth of one Furnace into another until they acquire a rubicund colour this they call Robber werk 5. Fifthly again it is excocted into a spongious and light matter black and porous which they call Raw copper 6. Sixthly It is melted again and then becomes pure copper fit for uses So many mutations it is meet that the Ore of copper undergo before it become pure Copper CHAP. XVIII Of native and factitious Orichalcum of Corinthian Copper or Brass and of some other Compositions that Copper undergoes with other Metals or Minerals and of the Medicines prepared forth of it THat native Orichalcum and not Aurichalcum as though it were compounded of Gold and Copper which learned Salmuth quoting Scaliger doth deny and that with reason was digged in ancient times forth of the earth so produced as Salmuth and Kircher do probably conjecture by some natural commixture of Terra Cadmea or the Lapis Calaminaris with it not as mixed of Gold and Copper but a certain kind of native Copper which had the colour and splendour of Gold or which was like unto Gold There is little or no mention made of it by the Ancients except Pliny in these words speaking of Copper that he saith was first found in Cyprus Reperto in aliis terris praestantiore maxime Orichalco quod praecipuam bonitatem admirationemque diu obtinuit nec reperitur longo jam tempore effoeta tellure That there was better Copper then that of Cyprus found in other Lands especially Orichalcum which for a long time obtained the chief esteem in goodness and admiration neither was it to be found for a long time before the age of Pliny But Salmuth saith there did remain of it certain sorts or masses and many fragments And that it was of so great esteem with the Ancients that when it was no where to be had notwithstanding as if it were to be had it was esteemed more excellent then gold and gives thereof some notable proofs that the Inquisitive may find in the place before cited And Pancirollus saith Orichalcum was a Metal of Copper which was like to Gold Of which kind he saith I suppose the Toreumata were The Toreumata were Works embossed in Metal which the Ancients he saith did suppose to be of Corinthian Brass but falsly for the Corinthian Copper or Brass was a mixture of Copper and Gold But that these embossed Works of Metal being destroyed or dissolved had nothing in them of Gold or Silver and therefore he saith he doth believe them to be of native Orichalcum And though Pliny thought it lost yet he saith it is manifest that the Lawyer Martian who lived in the time of Alexander the Emperour in the Year 225. did make mention of it as though it had been extant also in his Age. And that Lattone or Orichalcum he saith that they