The Isthmus Of Darien In 1852 Journal Of The Expedition Of Inquiry For The Junction Of The Atlantic And Pacific Oceans With Four Maps PDF Download

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1853 edition. Excerpt: ... GOLD MINES AT CANNES. 173 more than 50 per cent over English prices, so that with care and economy small fortnnes are rapidly made, which, when put into trade, often raise a humble mechanic to the position of a rich merchant. Such is the real history of fortunes, and not, as is generally supposed, a lucky gold digging, which in a few months has realized thousands. Some have made large sums at the diggings, and thousands are now earning a livelihood at them; but I feel satisfied that prudence and foresight in commercial speculations, at a time when the demand commanded high prices, has raised more people to affluence than the gold discoveries, which set the whole system in motion. There is at present a French company that have received certain concessions in Darien on the " Rio Grande," whose object is to open the gold mines at Cannes, which the Spaniards worked successfully until they were driven out of them by the natives and freebooters. There is no doubt these mines are very rich, probably more so than any found in California, and yet they must remain a dead letter until some turn of events shall induce emigration on a sufficient scale to carry with it the facilities and requirements of a trading community. The want of labour is the real difficulty to be contended with, and will always be the stumbling-block of all gold-mining companies in un 174, NIGGER TREATMENT. inhabited regions. Gold washing requires but little skill and less machinery, and is much more adapted to individual exertion or the combined efforts of a community of workmen, than to a body of men who are not themselves executives, but depend upon others to raise an article so easily secreted, and so certain in its market value. Native labour, by which I mean Negro or...