[Mihalic] Si param

[John Burton]

That's a good question. Padam (or badam) puzzled me when I first heard it,
but I'm pretty sure the original miners would commonly have used the English
word 'bottom', e.g. in 'has this gold line bottomed out yet?', 'we've
reached bottom' etc, and so it's a different etymology.

Fathom -> param
Bottom -> padam/badam

I am willing to be corrected of course.

Bombom along creeks - excellent point.

John Burton
ANU

> Is param the same as padam? People familiar with alluvial 
> mining would know this.Padam is the hard rock bellow the 
> loose soil & gravel. Alluvial miners sluice for gold until 
> they reach the padam. Bombom is not only night fishing with 
> light/lamp at sea, but along rivers and creeks as well.
> 
> Ngawae Mitio
> University of Technology
> Lae