Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	earth_n	great_a	part_n	5,843	5	4.8807	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44605	Royal institutions being proposals for articles to establish and confirm laws, liberties, & customs of silver & gold mines, to all the king's subjects, in such parts of Africa and America, which are now (or shall be) annexed to, and dependant on the crown of England : with rules, laws and methods of mining and getting precious stones, the working and making of salt-petre, and also, the digging and getting of lead, tin, copper, and quick-silver oars [sic] ... / by Thomas Houghton ...; Royal institutions	Houghton, Thomas, Gent.	1694 (1694)	Wing H2935; ESTC R8964	13,512	140

for the Future whereby all those Grants relating to the Mines in America may be Null'd Revok'd and made Void only in such Clauses as concern Mines by the King 's most Excellent Majesty and the Prudence of this Present Parliament and that the KING hereafter may remain sole Lord of the Field and Royalties in all Parts of Africa and America that are now or shall be Annexed to the CROWN of England c. The Indians both on the South and North Side the Aequinoctial had Found the Mines and Wrought in them after their Fashion for above Three Hundred Years before the Spaniards came there or else most of the Mines had layn Undiscovered to this Day by Reason of the Spaniards Laziness for the Indians of Peru having Lived some Hundreds of Years in a civiliz'd Government before the Spaniards Arrival had Wrought the Mines and got great Quantities of Silver and Gold although they were in no proper way of Working them nor had any Iron or Steeled Tools fit for the Service of the Mines but only Tools of Copper which they Valued more than Silver or Gold in regard the Tools and Utensils of Copper were most serviceable for their Domestick Affairs and all other Occasions in their Times So that for many Years where-ever the Spaniards came unless they Found Vessels of Silver and Gold in the Indians Houses or somewhere Wore about them at their Ears Lips Necks or Noses or was conducted by the Indians to the Mines and Places where the Silver and Gold had been got The best and Richest Mines the Spaniards now have lay Void and for a long Time Unwrought being no more taken Notice of than some Mineral Countries now are by the English in several Parts of America And the best Method for Gathering and Taking up Gold most of the Spaniards had for many Years was only to Cleanse and Scower up the small Rivers and Brooks of the Countrey falling from the Mountains from the Sands whereof they Gathered much Gold without the Experience of Digging Mining and Sinking of Shafts to seek for Veyns and Rakes The Knowledge of which hath not been many Years Understood and Practised by them nor is yet Understood Used and Practised to that Heighth and to such Advantage as it might be So that in many Places which are now in the Possession of the English there was never any Shafts Sunk and put down either by the English or the Spaniards their chief Objects and Places of Tryal being only the Surface of the Earth with the Brooks and Rivers as afore-said And therefore it remains without Contradiction there is all the probable Signs and Symptomes of Rich Veyns to be had and Found for Digging and Seeking for And to this Day the best Method and Way that is Known Practised and Used by the Spaniards and Indians for Gathering and Taking up Gold in Flat-Work is as followeth The Spaniards set their Indians and Negro Slaves out a Parcel of Ground Forty or Fifty Yards Square more or less as the Patroon or Master thinks fit which Ground the Indians and Slaves Dig up as Deep as they Find any Gold in it and as they Dig it throw it into Wheel-Barrows which being done their other Slaves run it away to the next River or Running-Brook and there lays it down and Returns for more and in this Manner they Labour till their Days Work is done in Digging and carrying of Earth At the River or Running Brook there are also several other Indian Women Boys Girls or Slaves at Work having Bowls or small Treays with Handles where a Negro Boy or Girl having first broken and beaten the Lumps of Earth small where by Reason of the Heat it immediately dryes which when it is dry they put about an English Peck of that small Earth so beaten and dryed into one of those Treays as afore-said at a Time and then the Woman shakes and dances it about in the Water turning the Bowl or Treay about and about till the Water hath Washt away all the Earth and Rubbish and what Gold is in it sinks and remains at the Bottom which not being fully Cleansed from the Earth is put into a Bowl that stands by to undergo a second and a third Cleansing And in this Manner the Women Boys and Girls renew filling of their Treays and Bowls with that Earth till their Days Work is done and so daily gather more or less Gold according as it happens and as that Flat-Work is more or less Plentiful of Gold Pursuing this Method in Digging Carrying and Washing as long as that Earth hath any Gold in it worth their Labour and then they remove to another Place After this Way they Work out all their Earth and Land that lies near Rivers or Running-Brooks that hath Gold in it but where the Gold lies at a great Distance from any Running Water they are obliged to let all alone or else to lose the greatest Part of the Gold that is small for in such Places that are remote from the Water as on the Tops and Plains of the Mountains where there is generally the most plentiful Store of Gold the best Ways they Use or Understand to gather it there are these They Dig the Earth Dry it then Beat it small and Sift it which done they Spread or Strow it thin upon the Ground and there it lies till the next Showers of Rain Wash it and then they pick out what Gold they can which being done they draw the Earth up and down with Coal-Rakes or turn it with Shovels and spread it thin again and let it lye till other Rains wash it and so pick it over again which Operation being twice or thrice Repeated and having taken what Gold they can out this Way they then shovel all the Earth together upon Heaps and if there be no Pools or standing Waters near they make Ponds or Pools which when the Rain-Water hath filled they carry that Earth so laid upon Heaps thither and wash it with their Treays and Bowls in those Pools as aforesaid And by this Means they get some more Gold although most of the fine and small Gold is quite lost because the Water of those standing Pools soon grows dirty and muddy and thereby rendred unfit to seperate the fine dust Gold from the Earth for want of clear running-running-Waters which Error and Defect might easily be amended and all the Gold though never so small preserved if they understood the way of Hushing and using long Buddles and Landers As much Gold might be taken up in a Month by the same Number of Hands as they now take up in Seven Years But whether this be a proper Place and a fit Time to Shew and Describe the Way of Hushing and Using these Buddles and Landers I know not till I find what Reception and Countenance these ARTICLES will meet with And if the Design of this Book meets with Encouragement I will Publish a Book Entituled The Royal Miner in which the whole