1865.] PERLEY — GOLD MINING IN NOVA SCOTIA. 199 



the existence of these auriferous deposits should have remained so 

 long undiscovered even by the road-maker or the agriculturist, 

 and after the many scientific explorations of the country, which 

 have been made during the present century, by men eminent in 

 Geology and Mineralogy. Principal Dawson, in 1855, suggested 

 the probability of the discovery of gold, and with some accuracy 

 indicated the region in which it might possibly be found, but he 

 made no search for it. 



The first discovery of gold was made in the early part of the 

 year 1860, on the Tangier River ; and since that time, other 

 localities have been discovered, nearly the whole of which are now 

 being worked upon. During the excitement of first discovery, 

 individuals fancied that fortunes were to be made speedily, by the 

 aid of a shovel, a pick, a pan, and with the expenditure of but 

 little capital. Mining-lots were laid off by the Government, fifty 

 by twenty feet, for which high rentals were asked ; and in one 

 or more of these the miner, whether practical or amateur, expended 

 his labor and his capital, and in the end all failed; — the practical 

 man from the want of space on which to deposit the debris of his 

 underground excavations ; and the amateur, because his patience, 

 his hopes of making a speedy fortune, and his capital, were all 

 exhausted. Individual enterprise having thus proved unsuccess- 

 ful, companies were formed ; and the Government, seeing the 

 absurdity of leasing such small areas, increased their size to 

 150 by 200 feet, and modified and improved the law relating 

 to the Gold Fields. Even with these advantages, many companies 

 failed or sold out to others ; and now a large proportion of the 

 mining areas in the province are held by companies raised 

 and incorporated in Massachusetts and New York, having capitals 

 ranging from 8100,000 to 11,000,000. A number of these com- 

 panies have proved to be stock-jobbing operations; speculators 

 having taken advantage of an excitement created on the stock- 

 markets of Boston and New York, to palm off unproductive and 

 almost valueless properties ; and to aid their operations, exami- 

 nations and reports were made by able and scientific men brought 

 for the purpose, who were capable of investigating thoroughly the 

 geological phenomena and characteristics of the auriferous districts. 

 It is to be regretted that their reports are only servicable to 

 assist in the sale of stock, and add but little to the otherwise 

 scanty information of the geology of the gold districts. The va- 

 rious companies at work have had indifferent success; a few are 



