As I reached them and watched
them work I was greatly disappointed. It seemed like very ordinary dirt
they were handling; I saw no gleam of the yellow sands of which I had
heard such stories. I followed one of the men who carried the buckets of
earth to something that looked very like our family cradle with the
footboard knocked out. Where the slats might have been there was nailed
a piece of sheet iron punched full of holes. Above this was a chute in
which the dirt was emptied. The cradle was then rocked violently while
water was poured over its contents. The lighter earth and gravel were
carried away, while the gold, being heavier, rested either on the sheet
iron or between the slats on the cradle bottom.
"Some of the men had no cradle, only a large pan made of sheet iron.
This pan, when half filled with dirt, was sunk in the water and shaken
sidewise until the dirt and gravel were washed away and only heavy
grains of gold remained. There were enough of these to make my eyes open
wide. The men who had the cradle were making pretty steadily from
eighteen to twenty dollars a day apiece.
"After a day or two I visited the dry diggings.
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