. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . ce in the wilderness. As we watched, itseemed to take on a semblance of dull life. Stolid-faced,naked Indians fed it vast quantities of cord wood, and in returnit sucked up a great pipeful of water from the lake. Thepipe lay quietly on trestles, winding up and around a lowhill out of sight, giving no hint of the terrific rush of waterwithin. Following the pipe line we turn a sudden corner on thehill-top and the heart of the clearing lies at our feet. At theend of the pipe, far below
. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . ce in the wilderness. As we watched, itseemed to take on a semblance of dull life. Stolid-faced,naked Indians fed it vast quantities of cord wood, and in returnit sucked up a great pipeful of water from the lake. Thepipe lay quietly on trestles, winding up and around a lowhill out of sight, giving no hint of the terrific rush of waterwithin. Following the pipe line we turn a sudden corner on thehill-top and the heart of the clearing lies at our feet. At theend of the pipe, far below, a man stands, barely able to guideand shift the mighty spout of water which gushes the hill has been torn away by the irresistible stream,which shoots upward in a majestic column and dashes witha roar againsl the cliff of clay and rubble. The ever-widen-ing gorge which the water has eaten into the hill glows in 168 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. the sunlight with bright-colored strata. On each side thered clay is dominant, while between runs the strip of palegray which holds the precious Fig. 77. The Wilderness Trail. It is an ochreous clay carrying free gold. The rock isin place and perfectly decomposed to a depth of seventy-fiveor one hundred feet. This decomposition is the result ofthe constant infiltration of warm rains carrying carbonic A GOLD MINE IN THE WILDERNESS. acid and humous acids from the rapidly decaying tropicalvegetation. Through the clay are scattered nodules of im-pure limonite. In a tumbling, falling mass the muddy water washes backupon its path, confined in a trough under the pipe, and as itgoes it gives up its yellow burden. As the grains and nuggetsdrop to the bottom they touch the mercury and behold! tothe eye they are no longer gold but silver! As we had been impressed by the grandeur of the forest,so we now began to see the romance of the wonderful golddeep hidden beneath the centuries of jungle growth. Gold,which we had known only
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