QUARTZ-LEADS AND GOLD. 367 



quartz have not, so far, been discovered, altliougii con- 

 jecture points to tlieir probable position. Lightning, 

 Antler, Keighley's, WilHam's Creek, and many 

 others, all take their rise in a range known as the 

 Bald Mountains, and most of them radiate from 

 one of them, the Snow-Shoe Mountain. Here the 

 matrix is presumed to lie, and although it may have 

 been denuded of its richest portion, carried down 

 as the drift gold of the creeks, fortunes still lie hid 

 in the solid rock ; and when the quartz-leads are 

 discovered, British Columbia may emulate Cahfornia 

 in wealth and stability. The hundreds of mills in 

 that country, crushing thousands of tons of gold 

 and silver quartz per day, have proved that this 

 branch of mining is far more paying and reliable 

 than the uncertain and evanescent surface diggings, 

 which formerly there, as now in Cariboo, famished 

 all the gold obtained. Several different qualities 

 of gold are found in Cariboo. In William's Creek 

 alone, two distinct "leads" are found; one where 

 the gold is alloyed with a considerable proportion 

 of silver, the other higher coloured and m.uch purer. 

 All the gold of this creek is battered and water-worn, 

 as if it had been carried some distance from the 

 original bed. At Lowhee, only three miles distant, 

 it is found in larger nuggets, less altered by the 

 action of water, and almost pure. On Lightning 

 Creek the gold is smaller, much more water- worn, 

 but of the first quality. 



The great drawbacks to the mining in this dis- 

 trict are, the nature of the country, the mountains and 



