BY L. A. COTTON. 821 



About half a mile further east is Kirk's Hill. This claim is 

 renowned for having produced the richest find of diamond-bear- 

 ing wash in the district. It is reported that, from four loads of 

 wash dirt, 1,100 carats of diamonds were recovered. A number 

 of large boulders were present in the wash, and these seem to 

 have acted as a series of ripples in concentrating the diamonds. 

 The usual associates of the diamond, topaz, tourmaline, tinstone, 

 garnet, and quartz were also found here. Another decomposed 

 dyke also occurs in association with these deposits. The gravels 

 overlie the dyke in part, and soft, yellow, decomposed boulders, 

 derived from it, are present in the wash. The wash here is at 

 an elevation of about feet. A notable characteristic of 



the wash at this mine is the presence of what is known as the 

 " iron-band " This name is applied to a layer of wash cemented 

 by iron oxide of a very hard and tough character. 



Following the lead further east, the Banca Mine is reached. 

 This lies on the eastern side of Kirk's Creek, and was one of the 

 earliest worked mines. Here, again, a dyke was met in one of 

 the tunnels. The " iron-band " was also found at this mine, 

 where it reached a thickness of two feet, and rested on a granite- 

 floor. Tinstone was found associated with the diamonds. 



Beyond Kirk's Hill arid on the western side of the Malacca 

 Creek, is another isolated area of basalt covering Tertiary gravels. 

 The Malacca Mine is responsible for the exploitation of these 

 deposits. The basalt has here been denuded so that the lead 

 outcrops on both the eastern and western sides of the hill. The 

 lead lies at the southern extremity of a basalt-capped hill, which 

 bears north and south : it still maintains its east and west trend, 

 and so outcrops on both the east and west sides of the hill. It 

 has, however, narrowly escaped entire destruction, for the gravels, 

 lying on its southern bank, have been exposed in several places 

 on the southern slope of the hill. The distribution of the gravels 

 is still mere obscured by the fact that a tributary stream joined 

 the main lead from the south-west at this point. The result of 

 this configuration is, that the wash outcrops at different levels at 

 various parts of the hill. This is all very confusing at first, and 

 the failure of the prospectors to interpret these facts has made 



