and lower ends of the cradle should not be more than two inches: a steeper inclination will make the current running through it too strong, and the gold will be carried off; and, on the other hand, if the cradle be nearer a level it will be hard to rock, and the dirt in the bottom will pack more rapidly. The amount of dirt that can be washed in a day with a cradle, varies from one to three cubic yards. The dirt is usually shovelled into a pan or bucket, from which it is thrown into the hopper. The miners usually measure the amount of dirt washed by the number of "pans." One man working alone with a cradle ought to wash from seventy-five to one hundred and fifty pans in a day, and two men will wash twice as much. A pan may contain one-third or one-half of a cubic foot. Two men can work more conveniently with the rocker than one. There is enough work to give constant employment to a cradler and a shoveller. The latter has a couple of buckets or pans, which he fills alternately, always keeping one full and near the cradler, so that without moving his feet he can pick it up and empty it into the riddle-box. If the rocker have only one man, he must stop rocking after washing every pan and get more dirt. This delay is injurious to the process of washing, because it allows the dirt in the bottom of the cradle to harden and pack, and some gold is always lost as a consequence. If the dirt and water be convenient, not more than two men can work to a profit with a rocker. But sometimes it happens that water cannot be led to the claim, and in such case the dirt must be carried to the water, a greater weight of which is used than of dirt. At least three times as much water as dirt is required for washing. If the distance from the hole to the water be not over ten or twenty feet, the miners will usually carry the dirt in buckets; if farther they will use wheelbarrows; and sometimes for greater distances pack-mules or waggons. The greater the distance, the more the men required for carrying the dirt. Sometimes, too, it happens that the claim is troubled by water, and then one man may be constantly employed in bailing.

It is of great importance in mining with the cradle, to have the cradle placed within four or five feet of the hole from which the pay-dirt is obtained, and to have a good supply of water at the head of the cradle, and then to have a good descent below the cradle, so that the tailings may all be carried away by the water, so as not to accumulate. The rocker washes about one-half the amount of dirt that can be washed by an equal number of men with the tom, one-fourth of what can be washed with the sluice, and one-hundredth of the amount that can be washed with the hydraulic process; but it is peculiarly fitted for some kinds of diggings. Many little gullies, containing coarse gold in their beds, cannot obtain water for washing except during rains, and then only for a few days at a time. In these gullies the cradle can be used to the best advantage, for it can easily be transported, and it is very good for saving coarse gold. While dirt that would pay from ten to twenty-five cents, was abundant at the surface of the earth in the Californian mines, the cradle was extensively used, but now it has been abandoned by the whites, and is left to the Chinamen, who think themselves doing well if they make seventy-five cents or one dollar per day.

The great difficulty in mining with the cradle is, that the sand will "pack," or make a hard mass on a level with the top of the riffle-bars, and the gold then is lost. So long as the cradle is in motion the dirt does not pack, but when the rocking ceases, the mass hardens in a few minutes. If the miner leaves his cradle standing for fifteen minutes, he stirs up the dirt with his spoon before commencing again to wash. One device to prevent packing is to put a little block under each end of the rockers, so that at the end of every motion the cradle receives a shock. Quicksilver is sometimes used in cradles, but not usually.

Pan.—The pan is used in all branches of gold mining, either as an instrument for washing, or as a receptacle for gold, amalgam, or rich dirt. It is made of stiff tin or sheet-iron, with a flat bottom about a foot across, and with sides six inches high, rising at an angle of forty-five degrees. A little variation in the size or shape of the pan will not injure its value for washing. Sheet-iron is preferable to tin, because it is usually stronger and does not amalgamate with mercury. The pan is the simplest of all instruments used for washing auriferous dirt. Some dirt, not enough to fill it full, is put in, and the pan is then put under water. The water ought to be not more than a foot deep, so that the pan may rest on the bottom, while the miner inserts his fingers in and under the dirt and lifts it up a little, so that the whole mass is wet. If the water be deep, the pan may be held in one hand while the other is used to stir up the dirt, but it is more convenient to take both. The dirt having been filled with water, the miner catches the pan at the sides, raises that part toward his body, and lowers the outer edge a little, and commences to shake the pan from side to side, holding it so that all the dirt is under water, and so that a little of the dirt can escape over the outer edge. The earthy part of the dirt is rapidly dissolved by the water, assisted by the shaking of the pan and the rolling of the gravel from side to side, and forms a mud which runs out while clean water runs in. The light sand flows out with the thin mud, while the lumps of tough clay and the large stones remain. The stones collect on the top of the clay, and they are scraped together with the fingers and thrown out. This process continues, the pan being gradually raised in the water, and its outer edge depressed, until all the earthy matter has been dissolved, and that as well as the stones swept away by the water, while the gold remains at the bottom. Panning is not difficult, but it requires practice to learn the degree of shaking, which dissolves the dirt and throws out the stones most rapidly without losing the gold. If the shaking be too mild and slow, the process consumes too much time; whereas if it be too rapid and violent, the gold is carried off with the stones. Sometimes the pan is shaken so that the dirt receives a rotary motion. This is the most rapid method of washing dirt, but also the most dangerous. The pan must always be used in cleaning up the dirt which collects in the cradle, in prospecting, and frequently in washing small quantities of dirt collected in other kinds of placer mining. Amalgam can be separated from dirt by washing, almost as well as gold. In panning out, it frequently happens that considerable amounts of black sand containing fine particles of gold are obtained, and this sand is so heavy that it cannot be separated from the gold by washing, while it is easily separated by that process from gravel, stones and common dirt. The black sand is dried, and a small quantity of it is placed in a "blower," a shallow tin dish open at one end. The miner then holding the pan with the open end from him, blows out the sand, leaving the particles of gold. He must blow gently, just strong enough to blow out the sand, and no stronger. From time to time he must shake the blower so as to change the position of the particles, and bring all the sand in the range of his breath. The gold cannot be cleaned perfectly in this manner, but the sand contains iron, and the little of it remaining is easily removed by a magnet. The blower should be very smooth, and made of either tin, brass or copper.

Dry Washing.—Dry washing is a method of winnowing gold from dirt. In many parts of the mining districts of California, water cannot be obtained during the summer for mining purposes. The miner therefore manages to wash his dirt without water. He takes only rich dirt, and putting it on a raw hide, he pulverizes all the lumps and picks out the large stones. He then with a large flat basin throws the dirt up