Cradling

Cradles, similar in design to a baby's cradle, rely on gravity to separate and trap the heavier gold particles from the lighter washdirt. Cradling was more efficient than panning with a tin dish, and allowed miners to process greater quantities of gold-bearing dirt in a shorter period of time.
Samuel Thomas Gill, watercolour, 1869
Accession number: H86.7/8
From the State Library of Victoria's Picture Collection.