THE AURIFEROUS TRACT. 3G5 



a tree hard by hung his tin cup, and scratched 

 upon it with the point of a knife was his name, 

 and the words, " Dying of starvation." WiUiam 

 Dietz returned unsuccessful to Victoria, and, struck 

 down by rheumatic fever, was dependent on charity 

 at the time of our visit. 



The broken-up and irregular western flank of the 



Eocky Mountains appears to be the true gold-bearing 



region of British Columbia. Gold has indeed been 



found in nearly every part of the colony where it 



has been looked for, but never in large quantities, 



except on the streams issuing from this district, 



as the Eraser and Columbia with their tributaries. 



It has been found also on the eastern slope, on the 



North Saskatchewan and Peace Rivers. But the 



amount obtained on the Saskatchewan has been 



inconsiderable ; and it is worthy of remark that, 



while this river takes its rise just to the west of 



the middle line of the main ridge, Peace River, on 



which rich prospects have been discovered, has its 



origin fairly on the western side, flows through the 



auriferous tract for a considerable distance, and 



then turning east, passes through a wide rent in 



the Rocky Mountains. In crossing by the Yellow 



Head Pass, we met with carboTiiferous limestone, 



then Devonian, and near Robson's Peak, on the 



western slope, saw for the first time the dark slates 



and schistose rocks, with veins of quartz — probably 



of the upper Silurian strata — which mark the 



auriferous tract. West of this, an extensive region 



of what appears to be eruptive trap commences, and 



