the Commissioner of Mines or Collector, in the sum of 25l. for himself and of 127. 10s. for each of the two sureties for the due and proper repair of any surface damage done by him on the land of any owner, and for the due payment of the sum accruing to any owner from the prospector on account of the daily payments such prospector is required to make under Section 6 of this Ordinance for the grazing, wood, and water rights referred to therein.

9. Such bonds shall be as near as may be in the form of Schedule (B) hereto.

10. Any person being the holder of a prospecting licence may beacon off for himself a prospecting area, which area he may hold (subject, however, to all such Regulations as may from time to time be in force) until the expiration of the period for which the licence was granted or may have been renewed: Provided, however, that no prospecting area shall be beaconed off on any public field within a distance of 880 yards, though prospecting operations may be carried on within such distance, from any known portion of any discovered reef, or of the site of the discovery of any alluvial gold, diamonds, or precious stones. No person shall at any time occupy more than one prospecting area, either by himself or his servants.

11. It shall be the duty of any person about to turn to marketable or profitable account any discovery or find which he may have made of gold, silver, or precious stones whilst prospecting under such licence, to at once make a solemn declaration of the finding of the same, and to lodge such declaration with the Collector of the district in which any such find shall have been made, and any person who shall fail to do so, shall be liable, upon conviction thereof, before any Collector, to forfeit his licence and to pay a fine not exceeding 501., and, in default of payment, to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any period not exceeding six months.

12. Any person who shall make such declaration whilst prospecting or otherwise, well knowing that the gold, silver, or precious stones declared to have been found were, by himself or by some other person, placed or deposited in or on the spot, or in the soil or stuff dug out or removed from the spot in which such declarant was prospecting, or in which the discovery of such gold, silver, or precious stones is declared as aforesaid to have been made, and were not naturally situated in or on the spot, or in the soil or stuff in which they were declared to have been found or discovered, or well knowing that the said precious stones or minerals were not found or discovered in or on the place where they were declared to have been found or discovered, shall upon conviction be liable to such punishment as is by law provided for the crime of perjury. 13. Any person who shall wilfully place or deposit, or be

accessory to the wilfully placing or depositing, of any gold, silver, or precious stones in any spot or place for the purpose of inducing any person to make such solemn declaration as aforesaid, or for the purpose of misleading the Government as to the payable nature of a spot or place where gold, silver or precious stones have been declared to have been found, and previous to such spot being proclaimed an alluvial digging, or mine, or being let out on a lease as hereinafter provided, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall, upon conviction thereof, suffer such punishment as shall be by law provided for the crime of fraud.

14. In any proceedings taken for the contravention of the last preceding section, if the accused person shall be proved to have placed or deposited, or to have been accessory to the placing or depositing, of any gold, silver, or precious stones in any place where the finding thereof would be likely to lead any person to make a declaration of the finding of the same, or would tend to mislead the Government, he shall be taken to have so placed or deposited such gold, silver or precious stones in contravention of the last preceding section, unless he shall produce satisfactory evidence to the contrary.

15. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner from time to time, by Proclamation, and when satisfied as to the existence of gold or silver ores or precious stones in payable quantities, to constitute and appoint any portion of the territory to be a mining centre, or public field, under this Ordinance, to assign boundaries to such centre or field, to enlarge, contract, or otherwise alter such boundaries, and to declare by what local name, if any, every such mining centre or field shall be designated, and to abolish altogether such mining centre or field. The proclaiming of a mining centre or public field by the Commissioner does not carry with it any guarantee of the existence of gold, silver, or precious stones in payable quantities on such mining centre or field.

16. On every public field or mining centre the Commissioner may, if necessary, appoint one or more officers to carry out the provisions of this Ordinance, and such officer or officers shall be constituted the authorized deputy of the Commissioner of Mines, and such officer or officers shall receive such salary out of the general revenue of the Protectorate as the Commissioner may think proper.

17. Any holder of a prospecting licence who shall have complied with the provisions of this Ordinance, and who shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Mines, or of any officer or person deputed by the Government for that purpose, that he has found any gold, silver, or precious stones under such licence, shall, on abandoning his prospecting area, be entitled, instead, to select four claims at the place where such

gold, silver, or precious stones shall have been found, and shall receive a certificate from the Commissioner of Miues that he is so entitled. Such claims shall be marked off and registered as prospectors' claims: Provided, however, that in no case shall such a discoverer be entitled to select such claims, or receive any such certificate, should his discovery be situated within a distance of three miles of any previous discovery for which a certificate has been applied for or granted. The holder of any such certificate, being the original prospector to whom such certificate was granted, shall, whether the claims be included in a public field or not, have the right to work, dig, or mine for gold, silver, or precious stones therein without being required to take out or keep up any prospector's or digger's licence for such length of time as he may remain the owner of such claims, provided that he works such claims to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Mines. Each of such claims shall be of the size fixed and determined under this Ordinance as the size of a prospector's or digger's claim.

18. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Mines, or any officer or person deputed by the Commissioner for that purpose, when satisfied as to the existence of gold, silver, or precious stones in payable quantity on any prospecting area on any public field, to call upon the owner of such prospecting area to relinquish his prospecting right over such prospecting area, and to take out a digger's licence as hereinafter prescribed. Such owner shall be entitled to mark off his digger's claims upon the site of his prospecting area, and shall be empowered to mark off diggers' claims, not being more than 12 in number, exclusive of his own or prospector's claims.

19. The question as to whether gold, silver, or precious stones in payable quantity has been discovered on any prospecting area on any public field, shall be determined after due inspection of such area by the Commissioner of Mines, or by any officer or person deputed by him for that purpose, and the determination so arrived at shall, if approved by the Commissioner, be final and conclusive, and not subject to any kind of appeal.

20. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner of Mines or collector, or for any other person appointed for that purpose, to issue a digger's licence to any person, authorizing him to dig for gold, silver, or precious stones on any land on any public field not previously occupied under the provisions of this Ordinance, whether as prospecting claims or otherwise. Such licence may be granted to any person applying for the same upon payment in advance of a sum at the rate of 20s. for each month, or portion of a month. Each licence shall entitle the digger named therein to beacon off a claim on the public field named in the licence, upon such conditions and in such

accessory to the wilfully placing or depositing, of any gold, silver, or precious stones in any spot or place for the purpose of inducing any person to make such solemn declaration as aforesaid, or for the purpose of misleading the Government as to the payable nature of a spot or place where gold, silver or precious stones have been declared to have been found, and previous to such spot being proclaimed an alluvial digging, or mine, or being let out on a lease as hereinafter provided, shall be guilty of an offence, and shall, upon conviction thereof, suffer such punishment as shall be by law provided for the crime of fraud.

14. In any proceedings taken for the contravention of the last preceding section, if the accused person shall be proved to have placed or deposited, or to have been accessory to the placing or depositing, of any gold, silver, or precious stones in any place where the finding thereof would be likely to lead any person to make a declaration of the finding of the same, or would tend to mislead the Government, he shall be taken to have so placed or deposited such gold, silver or precious stones in contravention of the last preceding section, unless he shall produce satisfactory evidence to the contrary.

15. It shall be lawful for the Commissioner from time to time, by Proclamation, and when satisfied as to the existence of gold or silver ores or precious stones in payable quantities, to constitute and appoint any portion of the territory to be a mining centre, or public field, under this Ordinance, to assign boundaries to such centre or field, to enlarge, contract, or otherwise alter such boundaries, and to declare by what local name, if any, every such mining centre or field shall be designated, and to abolish altogether such mining centre or field. The proclaiming of a mining centre or public field by the Commissioner does not carry with it any guarantee of the existence of gold, silver, or precious stones in payable quantities on such mining centre or field.

16. On every public field or mining centre the Commissioner may, if necessary, appoint one or more officers to carry out the provisions of this Ordinance, and such officer or officers shall be constituted the authorized deputy of the Commissioner of Mines, and such officer or officers shall receive such salary out of the general revenue of the Protectorate as the Commissioner may think proper.

17. Any holder of a prospecting licence who shall have complied with the provisions of this Ordinance, and who shall prove to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Mines, or of any officer or person deputed by the Government for that purpose, that he has found any gold, silver, or precious stones under such licence, shall, on abandoning his prospecting area, be entitled, instead, to select four claims at the place where such

or administration shall not injuriously affect the rights or interests of any person outside such centre or district, and such Bye-laws shall have effect upon their being approved of by the Commissioner and published in the "Gazette," or otherwise published as may be determined by any Regulation.

26. The officer referred to in section 16 as the authorized deputy of the Commissioner of Mines on every public field shall be Chairman of the Diggers' Committee, with a casting vote in case of equality of votes.

27. Save as hereinafter excepted, every registered claimholder or working prospector shall be eligible to be a member of a Diggers' Committee, and every claim-holder or working prospector shall have one vote, and no more, in the election of members of such Committee.

28. No claim-holder or working prospector shall be eligible as a member of a Diggers' Committee, or be a voter for members thereof, whose estate shall be sequestrated as insolvent, and if after election any member shall cease to be a claimholder or working prospector, or shall become and be declared insolvent, his seat shall, ipso facto, become vacant. No claimholder or prospector shall be entitled to vote for, or to be elected as, a member of a Diggers' Committee unless he is engaged in actual prospecting or digging upon such public field or in such district on his own account or for others.

29. The owner of any private land included in any public. field shall receive one-half of the amount paid to Government for stand licences or other fees payable in respect of such land.

30. Every owner of land shall, on giving notice to the Commissioner of Mines, be entitled to prospect his own land within the boundaries of his own property, without taking out a licence. No private landowner shall be allowed to throw open his ground to the public as a public field, either in respect to alluvial or quartz diggings, nor shall he be allowed to permit any digging or mining on any portion of his land, except under the provisions of this Ordinance and any Regulations issued thereunder.

31. Every owner on discovering gold, silver, or precious stones on his own land, and attempting to turn such discovery to profitable account, shall make such declaration as is required of the licensed prospector in section 11.

32. The owner of any land which has been proclaimed a public field, or annexed to an already existing field, shall, after the prospector has beaconed off his prospector's and digger's claim, be entitled to beacon off certain claims, to be known as owners' claims, according to the extent of the said land, to wit-one claim for each 100 acres: Provided, however, that the number of owners' claims shall in no case be less than two, VOL. XXI.

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