nt time, $876,000,000 of gold.
The annual product of gold, in South America, at the present time is
$8,000,000. The total product, from 1513 to the present time, has
amounted to $2,176,000,000. The gold mines of North America extend from
Costa Rica to Alaska, between the parallels 8 deg. and 71 deg. of North
latitude, and the parallels of 82 deg. and 168 deg. of West longitude, comprised
between the Caribbean sea and the Arctic ocean, and the Rocky mountains
and the Pacific ocean. The Mexican gold mines were discovered by Cortez
in 1526. Their annual product has decreased from $3,000,000 in former
times to $1,000,000 at the present time. Their total product to the
present time has amounted to $652,000,000. Gold was discovered in
California by William Marshall, on the ninth day of February, 1848, at
Suter's mill on the American fork of the Sacramento river, and the mines
extend from 34 deg. to 40 deg. of North latitude. Their annual product has
decreased from $81,000,000 in 1853 to $14,000,000 at the present time.
The annual product of the gold mines of Colorado, Dakota, Nevada,
Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Oregon, and other parts of the United States,
at the present time, is estimated to be $16,000,000. Their total product
has amounted to $200,000,000. The annual product of the gold mines of
British Columbia is estimated to be $2,000,000. Their total product has
amounted to $52,000,000. In estimating the gold product of California
Messrs. Hussey, Bond and Hale, of San Francisco, (Hunt's Mer. Mag., vol.
XXVII, p. 43) state,--"that there should be added to the amount
exhibited upon steamers' manifests fifteen to sixty per cent, for the
amount carried in the valises and pockets of returning passengers,
overland to Mexico, exported to Chili, and retained in California for
purposes of currency." Fenton (Tasmania, p. 430) states,--"that the
product of gold, $850,000, in Tasmania, in 1883, does not include the
value of gold which left the colony by private hands, when it is
considered that the alluvial auriferous deposits are worked by men who
are constantly on the move and who sometimes take with them, to the
other colonies, the product of their washings, without leaving behind
them any record of the weight or value of the gold thus removed." This
rule should be applied to Australia, Russia, New Zealand, and all
countries which are producers of the precious metals. The annual product
of the gold mines of North America is $32,000,00