*[Ich bin gerne in den Bergen.]
Gov. Lane of the First Colony at Roanoke Island reported to Sir Walter Raleigh that Gans was very impressed by the copper, especially the ornaments, that the Indians showed the Englishmen. Gans felt that it must be a very rich ore since the Indians had no refining capabilities. The content of the copper in the ore must been high enough that the copper could be worked immediately by beating and hammering. It required 1,981 degrees Fahrenheit to melt copper so today we do not believe that the Indians had any smelting ability. In Central and Southern America, the natives could smelt ores with furnaces that were very similar to the European ones. The difference seems to be in the method used to force air into the furnace.
Gans and his co-workers set up their laboratory on the northeastern tip of Roanoke Island in what is today Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. Very few items have been found at the site but a few clearly show the parts of an assay furnace, especially the bricks used in the fire box. The true meaning of these objects had been missed when they were first found but Noel Hume correctly identified them. It appears there was little ore to assay as the mines were too far to the west in hostile country. The work was done mostly with copper objects obtained from the Indians. The hope was that gold and silver might be found in this copper. The English did not find the copper ore which was reportedly about a hundred and fifty miles into the interior.
The ovens that Gans and his people used had to be built in Virginia. Probably they brought equipment on the ships but it was lost when the flagship, Tiger, ran aground trying to negotiate the entry in the Outer Banks. It was feared that it would break apart. At this time some of the heavier items were thrown overboard. Gans probably had a book of instructions on constructing assay furnaces, as he well familiar with a book published in Prague in 1574 on the subject.
The temperature in the oven had to be controlled carefully because the different metals melted at different temperatures. The chief way of controlling the temperature was by the air supply. In order that the stray winds did not affect the furnace, it was set low in the ground with surrounding walls of logs to prevent the winds from having an adverse effect. The first excavations at Fort Raleigh found ruins which were consistent with this.
*[I like the mountains.]
(17 Jan 07)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.